For the first year since I've ridden with the Apaches, I was finally able to help with and participate in the team's annual 40K time trial. In years prior, I was either racing or had a conflict with my Luna Chix obligations. It was great to finally be able to be a part of this race.
I arrived early with broom in hand to head out on the course to sweep all the corners to keep the riders safe. About 5 of us rode the course, following the guys putting up the signs for the race, and got out at each turn to thoroughly sweep all the gravel off the road. It was nice to be able to ride the entire course so now I knew I was in for some hills. On the flip side, it took us a while to complete this task, so by the time we were finished and back to the check-in area, we had very little time for warm up.
I headed out to the start, pinned on my number, got the bike out, put on my aero bottle, pumped up my tires and got my gear all on. By this time, I had about 15 minutes to warm up. Not good at all. I'm one of those people that needs a long warm up. I try not to let it stress me out because there's nothing I can do about it now. I just want to get out there and put in a good effort.
At the start line we were waiting for the "all clear" direction to be given. The officials handed a couple of us timers to test them out before the start of the race. Within a minute or two, the green light was given for the race to commence and I took a few deep breaths. As always, they give you a nice little countdown and it was time to go!
I very quickly got into a nice, steady rhythym. It was about 68 degrees at the start and I was a little chilled. But I sure warmed up in a hurry! Everything felt good, though I had already lost sight of my minute-man. I just tried to put forth steady effort on the pedals and downshifted to keep from making my effort too much. About 15 minutes into the race, it started to rain. Just a little sprinkle and I thought, OK, no big deal. But then I heard it before I felt it, the rain started shooting out of the sky full force. It was a cold, pelting rain, stinging my bare arms and I got very chilled. Now I was wishing I hadn't come out for this race. I was just a couple miles into a 25 mile race and I was now freezing cold. And now the pavement is soaking wet and I get squeamish about taking the corners. I wished the rain would go away. Miraculously, the rain stopped. It went away just as fast as it came! A couple miles later, I was already warm again and the sun started peeking out from the dark clouds.
My legs felt a little sluggish, which was to be expected due to the running I'd done just 2 days before this race. But I felt comfortable and strong. Then I hit the section of rolling hills....up, down, up, down. I knew this wasn't going well for me and it was confirmed as I was passed for the first time this day. I tried to stick with my fellow Apache and could do it on the down hills. But as soon as there was any incline in the road, I started to lose ground. It was very quickly after that when another Apache teammate passed by. I couldn't believe how easy they were making this look. The three of us rode together but separate for quite some time. I think having those two in my vision helped push me to work harder.
I came to the turnaround and took it ever so cautiously. Now I was halfway done and still feeling strong, but a little uncomfortable. It is clear to me that I haven't spent enough time in the aero position. Up ahead I notice a big piece of farm equipment moving slowly along our side of the road. I watch as one of my teammates goes to pass on an uphill and I cringe. Man, I hope this thing gets off the road before I have to pass it. Now I start to see other riders coming toward me, on their way to the turn around. Just a few minutes later, I watch my other teammate pass the same wide piece of farm equipment....shoot, I'm next.
I move up to make my pass and I see another rider coming toward me. As I get close to this tractor thing or whatever it was, I notice that the wheels are about twice the size of me and my bike and it makes me a bit nervous. I go to pass when I see that there is a guy making a pass around the biker headed toward me. I fear that I am going to either crash into that rider or be pushed into the big wheel of the farm vehicle, so I quickly grab the brakes. I slow down enough to let the other two riders go by and then try to get up to speed again to pass the tractor. I might have been too cautious on this one, but I'd rather keep the rubber side on the road!
Back along the stretch of rolling hills, I start to feel fatigued and wonder how it is that I sometimes do 112 miles on my bike. I'm quite uncomfortable now and I have to keep getting out of the saddle just to "adjust". One more sharp right turn and now it just feels like I am crawling. What is going on, why am I so slow? Does my computer really say 15 mph? Am I going uphill? Do I have a flat? It was a brutal last 10K of a race that felt like it was never going to end.
I could finally see the finish and I just hammered as best I could. It was at that point that I realized that I once again left a little too much in the tank. I felt very strong and was almost disappointed that I was going to be done without feeling more drained. I was really happy to be a part of Team Apache today.
About Me
- MJ
- After 10 Ironman races including Kona - the World Championships, triathlon has turned into my lifestyle. I've enjoyed the sport so much, I've now started coaching. A "one size fits all" plan is not for everyone. To find out about what customized coaching can do for you, click on the Tri Smart Coaching logo below for more information!
IM Louiville
Bikes racked at Ironman Louisville 2010
Showing posts with label bike racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike racing. Show all posts
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hillsboro-Roubaix Road Race
Before I start with this race report, I just wanted to share that I was not able to make the final 3 in the voting for Team Evotri. Thanks to all of you who voted, it means a lot to me. But I believe in fate, so I must have better things to do this year than add another team to my ever-growing list of memberships!!
NOW - on to Hillsboro-Roubaix!
I drove with awesome cyclist, Kristen Meshberg and her Flatlandia crew down to the race on Saturday morning. I was a bit concerned we didn't leave ourselves enough time, and as the boys needed to stop every HOUR for a bathroom break, my nervousness deepened. However, conversation with Kristen made the 4 hour trip go by quickly. As we drove, we watched the temperature slowly creep up from the 28 degrees we started at here in Chicago.
It was about 40 degrees when we arrived in Hillsboro, the parking lot already packed with cyclists decked out in their gear. We hurriedly went through registration, picked up our numbers and came back to the car to change and try to sneak in a quick warm up before the race. I wavered on what to wear...my race was a 22 mile, 1 loop course with rolling hills, technical turns and cobblestones! The sun was in and out and at the last minute, I decided with the yellow lenses, big neoprene booties and that second pair of wind gloves. Yes, I hate being cold!
All the cyclists were staged, with the women's cat 4 being just before the juniors. This meant all the other racers were before us. That was OK, because they'd only have to pass by us if we started before them, anyway. These roads were narrow. They had some gravel...even on turns. And the cobblestone section - shoot, I was even nervous riding on it in the warmup! There were some parts with big pieces of brick missing. Not fun to ride over!
All the VQ'ers lined up close together and AK discussed a little strategy with us. For all but 4 of us, it was our first road race. Unfortunately we had already lost one of our stronger riders, JC, on a little spill in the warmup that caused a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, she's fine, but we missed her during the race! I really had no idea what to expect and my "plan" was to hang on with the pack for as long as I could. That's it. Not much more strategy than that...I knew these women could kick my a$$.
We start off, and where the adrenaline is pumping, we're ready to go, but we need to follow this pace car out...and we're basically coasting and braking, making it a really sketchy start. I thought to myself, "I really hate drafting off people I never rode with before..." You never know what they're going to do and if they make too quick of a movement, they end up taking you out while they continue to ride on. So there was a lot of pedal...BRAKE....pedal...BRAKE, OK, need to veer out to as not to hit the tire in front of me! The tension was building in my hands and wrists and I wondered how long this would continue.
The field was maybe 50-60, I'm not sure. It was really quiet. Then the pace car started to move and the pace picked up. Those that weren't ready were dropped in a hurry. But surprisingly quickly, the pace settled in and it really didn't feel like a race. We were riding along and I was following some squirrley girl who kept making erratic movements. I wanted to get out from behind her, but I was rather trapped. Bikes in front, to the left, to the right and behind...very close together. Something, as a triathlete, I am not at all used to, even in a training ride. Just stay calm... Next thing I know, squirrley girl starts shaking. Her handlebars jerk to the left and I hear tires sliding...I see her falling...she is just to my right in front. She falls left, hitting the girl DIRECTLY in front of me and I see her start to fall. SH*T!!! Now I have 2 bikes down, right in front of me. I think, "CRAP, I'm going down...where should I steer to make the fall the easiest?" I look at the bike going down and I look at the girl. The scraping of metal on the pavement is terrifying. I decide that the girl would be easier to go over...so I steer just a bit to the left to avoid the bike. Unfortunately, I hit the girl. I clenched my teeth and gripped the handlebars so hard, I swear I put indentations in them. I prepared for the worst, but somehow, I ended up going right over a small portion of her calf and remained upright. I couldn't believe it. It took me a few moments to get my head back in the game. Now I had to pedal hard to catch the main pack.
With my heart rate skyrocketing, I manage to jump on the back of the peleton. The pace was again comfortable and I regained my breath and tried to forget what just happened. I watched a girl take a turn too wide, ride off the road and flip completely over her bike! She got back up, got on the bike and started riding again...I thought, "Holy crap, these are some tough chicks!!" We rode for a little bit, then a sharp turn would come, I'd fall off the back. Pedal like hell to catch the pack. Then a hill, I can't get out of the saddle and the hamstring is hurting...wait to the flat...pedal like hell to catch on to the pack. This happens for most of the race. Any hill or turn and I am dropped like a hot potato. At one point I was dropped and was pedaling hard to get to the pack. I watched them get further and further away and wondered why I was doing this.
Luckily, there were 2 women who passed me. Not being a quitter, I jumped on a wheel and asked if I could ride with them until we caught the pack. Oddly enough, they almost seemed insulted. I was thinking, "Hey ladies, 3 of us taking pulls is easier than 2 of you!" (and if not, I'm just going to draft off the 2 of you WITHOUT taking pulls...your choice!) But we got into a rhythym and started making ground on the pack. It was so energizing, getting closer and closer. It took us what seemed like forever, but we made it and I was fired up. I think we had about 7-8 miles left at that point and I was ready to RIDE! But once we caught up, the pace seemed so slow. I caught my breath and soon became bored. I chatted with teammate LL and asked her if she thought I should attack (like I know what that means). She said, "No, the XXX girls are doing all the work. Enjoy the draft." So I listened. We rode another few minutes and I was like, "Come on, I drove 4 hours to get here, let's shake things up, I want to have some FUN!" So LL advises me to wait until the straight-away (very smart, thank you LL!). We make the turn, I move to the left and take off. I was leading the race for all of about 2 seconds, but WOW, what a rush!! I was caught quickly by girls on other teams, and I wondered if AK and NS were going to be mad at me for screwing up their race. I wanted to be able to bring those 2 up to the front, but it just didn't work that way.
Now the whole peleton passes me and I just jump on the back. The pace slows again and I want to talk to AK to ask her what to do. I have no idea what I'm doing, I know I can't win, so I just want to help my teammates. Hanging on the back of the pack is too easy...there has to be more to this. I politely move up next to AK and try to ask her to tell me what to do. I can see by her face that she's not working hard, but she's thinking about the next move. I wished we had those things in our helmets that would allow us to talk to each other...the wind was strong and it was difficult to hear. I saw her smile and say "This is it, here we go!" I look up and there's this big hill. You're kidding, you want to attack on the hill? As much as I'd love to, my hamstring says no and the whole group passes me by up the hill. I struggle up the hill and get a little cheer from some VQers in the feed zone...then it becomes flat and I pedal like hell...but there is no more "peleton". Everyone is spread out and it's every man (woman) for himself (herself)! Here come the cobbles...yikes, I hate these...here we go and I feel like I'm in last place, just chasing all those women into the finish. There were 2 quick turns, so I don't even have any idea how far they are ahead of me, I just know I'm close to the finish, so I pedal as hard as I can. I crank up the gears and just push...head down!
Ah the FINISH LINE! I believe I was redlining from the time AK said to attack, and to stop pedaling felt wonderful. I have no idea how I placed, but I do believe I was in the top half of the group. Two of my teammates finished really well, 3rd and 5th! EXCITING! This was such an educational experience for me. It is obvious where my weaknesses are I hope to work on those for the next race. There is nothing that can describe the race...you just have to get out and do one of these for yourself!
NOW - on to Hillsboro-Roubaix!
I drove with awesome cyclist, Kristen Meshberg and her Flatlandia crew down to the race on Saturday morning. I was a bit concerned we didn't leave ourselves enough time, and as the boys needed to stop every HOUR for a bathroom break, my nervousness deepened. However, conversation with Kristen made the 4 hour trip go by quickly. As we drove, we watched the temperature slowly creep up from the 28 degrees we started at here in Chicago.
It was about 40 degrees when we arrived in Hillsboro, the parking lot already packed with cyclists decked out in their gear. We hurriedly went through registration, picked up our numbers and came back to the car to change and try to sneak in a quick warm up before the race. I wavered on what to wear...my race was a 22 mile, 1 loop course with rolling hills, technical turns and cobblestones! The sun was in and out and at the last minute, I decided with the yellow lenses, big neoprene booties and that second pair of wind gloves. Yes, I hate being cold!
All the cyclists were staged, with the women's cat 4 being just before the juniors. This meant all the other racers were before us. That was OK, because they'd only have to pass by us if we started before them, anyway. These roads were narrow. They had some gravel...even on turns. And the cobblestone section - shoot, I was even nervous riding on it in the warmup! There were some parts with big pieces of brick missing. Not fun to ride over!
All the VQ'ers lined up close together and AK discussed a little strategy with us. For all but 4 of us, it was our first road race. Unfortunately we had already lost one of our stronger riders, JC, on a little spill in the warmup that caused a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, she's fine, but we missed her during the race! I really had no idea what to expect and my "plan" was to hang on with the pack for as long as I could. That's it. Not much more strategy than that...I knew these women could kick my a$$.
We start off, and where the adrenaline is pumping, we're ready to go, but we need to follow this pace car out...and we're basically coasting and braking, making it a really sketchy start. I thought to myself, "I really hate drafting off people I never rode with before..." You never know what they're going to do and if they make too quick of a movement, they end up taking you out while they continue to ride on. So there was a lot of pedal...BRAKE....pedal...BRAKE, OK, need to veer out to as not to hit the tire in front of me! The tension was building in my hands and wrists and I wondered how long this would continue.
The field was maybe 50-60, I'm not sure. It was really quiet. Then the pace car started to move and the pace picked up. Those that weren't ready were dropped in a hurry. But surprisingly quickly, the pace settled in and it really didn't feel like a race. We were riding along and I was following some squirrley girl who kept making erratic movements. I wanted to get out from behind her, but I was rather trapped. Bikes in front, to the left, to the right and behind...very close together. Something, as a triathlete, I am not at all used to, even in a training ride. Just stay calm... Next thing I know, squirrley girl starts shaking. Her handlebars jerk to the left and I hear tires sliding...I see her falling...she is just to my right in front. She falls left, hitting the girl DIRECTLY in front of me and I see her start to fall. SH*T!!! Now I have 2 bikes down, right in front of me. I think, "CRAP, I'm going down...where should I steer to make the fall the easiest?" I look at the bike going down and I look at the girl. The scraping of metal on the pavement is terrifying. I decide that the girl would be easier to go over...so I steer just a bit to the left to avoid the bike. Unfortunately, I hit the girl. I clenched my teeth and gripped the handlebars so hard, I swear I put indentations in them. I prepared for the worst, but somehow, I ended up going right over a small portion of her calf and remained upright. I couldn't believe it. It took me a few moments to get my head back in the game. Now I had to pedal hard to catch the main pack.
With my heart rate skyrocketing, I manage to jump on the back of the peleton. The pace was again comfortable and I regained my breath and tried to forget what just happened. I watched a girl take a turn too wide, ride off the road and flip completely over her bike! She got back up, got on the bike and started riding again...I thought, "Holy crap, these are some tough chicks!!" We rode for a little bit, then a sharp turn would come, I'd fall off the back. Pedal like hell to catch the pack. Then a hill, I can't get out of the saddle and the hamstring is hurting...wait to the flat...pedal like hell to catch on to the pack. This happens for most of the race. Any hill or turn and I am dropped like a hot potato. At one point I was dropped and was pedaling hard to get to the pack. I watched them get further and further away and wondered why I was doing this.
Luckily, there were 2 women who passed me. Not being a quitter, I jumped on a wheel and asked if I could ride with them until we caught the pack. Oddly enough, they almost seemed insulted. I was thinking, "Hey ladies, 3 of us taking pulls is easier than 2 of you!" (and if not, I'm just going to draft off the 2 of you WITHOUT taking pulls...your choice!) But we got into a rhythym and started making ground on the pack. It was so energizing, getting closer and closer. It took us what seemed like forever, but we made it and I was fired up. I think we had about 7-8 miles left at that point and I was ready to RIDE! But once we caught up, the pace seemed so slow. I caught my breath and soon became bored. I chatted with teammate LL and asked her if she thought I should attack (like I know what that means). She said, "No, the XXX girls are doing all the work. Enjoy the draft." So I listened. We rode another few minutes and I was like, "Come on, I drove 4 hours to get here, let's shake things up, I want to have some FUN!" So LL advises me to wait until the straight-away (very smart, thank you LL!). We make the turn, I move to the left and take off. I was leading the race for all of about 2 seconds, but WOW, what a rush!! I was caught quickly by girls on other teams, and I wondered if AK and NS were going to be mad at me for screwing up their race. I wanted to be able to bring those 2 up to the front, but it just didn't work that way.
Now the whole peleton passes me and I just jump on the back. The pace slows again and I want to talk to AK to ask her what to do. I have no idea what I'm doing, I know I can't win, so I just want to help my teammates. Hanging on the back of the pack is too easy...there has to be more to this. I politely move up next to AK and try to ask her to tell me what to do. I can see by her face that she's not working hard, but she's thinking about the next move. I wished we had those things in our helmets that would allow us to talk to each other...the wind was strong and it was difficult to hear. I saw her smile and say "This is it, here we go!" I look up and there's this big hill. You're kidding, you want to attack on the hill? As much as I'd love to, my hamstring says no and the whole group passes me by up the hill. I struggle up the hill and get a little cheer from some VQers in the feed zone...then it becomes flat and I pedal like hell...but there is no more "peleton". Everyone is spread out and it's every man (woman) for himself (herself)! Here come the cobbles...yikes, I hate these...here we go and I feel like I'm in last place, just chasing all those women into the finish. There were 2 quick turns, so I don't even have any idea how far they are ahead of me, I just know I'm close to the finish, so I pedal as hard as I can. I crank up the gears and just push...head down!
Ah the FINISH LINE! I believe I was redlining from the time AK said to attack, and to stop pedaling felt wonderful. I have no idea how I placed, but I do believe I was in the top half of the group. Two of my teammates finished really well, 3rd and 5th! EXCITING! This was such an educational experience for me. It is obvious where my weaknesses are I hope to work on those for the next race. There is nothing that can describe the race...you just have to get out and do one of these for yourself!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
More on the TTT
Well, we did better than I thought! Our team placed 3rd. One of the very cool things about bike racing is that you actually WIN MONEY! OK, it's not a lot, but it more than covered our race entry! This was so much fun. I'm a little bummed I won't be doing any more bike racing until next season.
Monday, September 10, 2007
4 Man Team Time Trial
When I got a message from P2 about joining in for the Apache Team Time trial, I had mixed emotions. I was elated to have been asked, nervous that I was out of my league and saddened by the reason the originial 4th teammate had to drop out of this race. Though I haven't really ridden much with these women lately, I was excited about the opportunity to be able to participate in such an intense, team-focused event.
I arrived at P2's house just a minute or two ahead of schedule. We had to swing by to get Ginga, stop by a gas station to get some Gatorade and we were headed out to Utica! We were on the road for about 20 minutes when P2 needed to pull over. FLAT TIRE! I started walking down the side of the road to see what mile marker we were at to call for assistance when a car with a bike on top pulled over. It was our 4th teammate, Kristen! She, her husband and 2 kids had gotten a little late start and didn't even realize it was our cars pulled off to the side of the road. It was me walking in the Apache gear that caught her attention! They came over to help us quickly change the flat and we were back on the road!
We had to make a quick pit stop and decided it would be best to add some air to that spare tire that was now on the right rear axle of the van. Though we thought we were moving along pretty quickly, time was slipping away from us. Back on the road once again, I kept nervously looking at the clock. It was getting really close to our start time.
By the time we got there, the place was crowded. It was difficult to maneuver vehicles on the street. There were teams of 4 cyclists, each team with matching jerseys, covering the road in both directions. We sat on the side of the road, waiting for the cyclists to move and Kristen courteously offered to take our waivers and get us checked in while her husband parked the car. We needed all the extra time we could get. We were directed into the very tiny parking lot and I was glad I had a small car! I followed a guy (I think he goes to my Y) who said he was leaving for SAG support. Cool...he was in an SUV. Plenty of room for my little cruiser to fit right in. I parked and hurriedly got out my trainer, pulled my bike out and put the front wheel on, put on my shoes, got my water bottles in place and secured my bike on the trainer. Wait...another pit stop...ok, now I'm ready to warm up.
Shoot...we have less than 20 minutes before the start! I was set up next to P2 and Ginga, got on my bike and started pedaling away, trying not to be so nervous about all the hard work that I was about to put forth. The bike seemed to be working fine and Kristen rushes over to us saying that we have 3 minutes! YIKES! We quickly started putting the trainers away, filling the water bottles just one last time and we rode on over to the start. Alright, they were a little behind, we had a few more minutes. We took a nice, short ride the opposite direction of the start. I was breathing deeply and trying to calm down. I wanted to give this team everything I had today.
We lined up, wished each other luck and were sent off in a flash. Our order was a little screwed up for a few seconds in the beginning as we had a little clipping in issue, but this was corrected swiftly and seamlessly. The race was on. I think it took me all of 30 seconds to start breathing hard and wondering what the heck I had just gotten myself into. I am sucking wheel here and I am barely able to hang on. The heart rate zoomed up way too quickly and as it was my turn to take a pull, I tried not to push any harder than I already was. In fact, I think I tried to let up just a little. We had 37.2 miles to race and there was no way I could make that distance redlining the whole time. And I was no good to my team if I had to drop off so early in the race.
We took our regularly scheduled pulls for the first 20-25 minutes and then I think my teammates noticed I was struggling. I didn't say a word, but something in my posture or lack of power on the front told them I was just trying to hang on at this point. And this was the beauty of working in a team. They forced me (and Kristen) to not take pulls for a while. They wanted us to recover. P2 and Ginga rotated the lead for at least 10 minutes, maybe more...couldn't count. All I could do was try to bring my breathing and heartrate back to normal.
We stayed amazingly close together, taking advantage of the draft and tucking in on the side away from the wind. Our turns went very smoothly and we all managed to stay close togther, reminding each other to call them out ahead of time and lay off just a little to bring the group back together. We were all back in normal rotation now and Kristen showed just how much she recovered by taking these monstrously strong, long pulls. I was at the very back of the train and I felt like I was hammering just to stick with them! SO THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO RIDE WITH EXPERIENCED CYCLISTS!!! We communicated, watched out for each other, encouraged each other and suffered with each other.
These women were amazing. Now it seemed Ginga was struggling. All those pulls she was forced to take early on had apparently caught up to her. We all took turns pulling, getting back in rotation just before Ginga to let her sit back there and hang on. We lost her for a little bit, but her determination wouldn't let her slip away...just a minute or two later, she was right back with us! Now I could tell P2 was struggling because she became quiet. The sweat was pouring off my face and I wondered how much longer we had to go. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up this pace. But I can't let the team down! My computer wasn't working, so I really had no idea how far we went nor how fast we were going. I just left it all out there.
Not soon enough, we could see the finish. HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER! Kristen easily pulled ahead of all of us and though I tried to catch on her wheel, she was much too strong for me and I had to yell to her that I lost her. But just as soon as I'd gotten back on her wheel, she'd give another burst of her powerful pedal strokes and in the blink of an eye, I'd be off her wheel again. P2, Ginga and I just put our heads down and pedaled our hearts out. We all crossed the finish line together!
I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing team of women. We all gave our best and though we didn't place, we are very proud of our accomplishment. We couldn't have communicated any better. You'd think this team had been riding together for years, it was all so smooth. It hurt. Oh boy, did it hurt! This was one of the hardest rides I've ever done, but it was also one of the most fun. Thanks, Apaches, for letting me be a part of this awesome team. Hope we're able to do it again in the future!
I arrived at P2's house just a minute or two ahead of schedule. We had to swing by to get Ginga, stop by a gas station to get some Gatorade and we were headed out to Utica! We were on the road for about 20 minutes when P2 needed to pull over. FLAT TIRE! I started walking down the side of the road to see what mile marker we were at to call for assistance when a car with a bike on top pulled over. It was our 4th teammate, Kristen! She, her husband and 2 kids had gotten a little late start and didn't even realize it was our cars pulled off to the side of the road. It was me walking in the Apache gear that caught her attention! They came over to help us quickly change the flat and we were back on the road!
We had to make a quick pit stop and decided it would be best to add some air to that spare tire that was now on the right rear axle of the van. Though we thought we were moving along pretty quickly, time was slipping away from us. Back on the road once again, I kept nervously looking at the clock. It was getting really close to our start time.
By the time we got there, the place was crowded. It was difficult to maneuver vehicles on the street. There were teams of 4 cyclists, each team with matching jerseys, covering the road in both directions. We sat on the side of the road, waiting for the cyclists to move and Kristen courteously offered to take our waivers and get us checked in while her husband parked the car. We needed all the extra time we could get. We were directed into the very tiny parking lot and I was glad I had a small car! I followed a guy (I think he goes to my Y) who said he was leaving for SAG support. Cool...he was in an SUV. Plenty of room for my little cruiser to fit right in. I parked and hurriedly got out my trainer, pulled my bike out and put the front wheel on, put on my shoes, got my water bottles in place and secured my bike on the trainer. Wait...another pit stop...ok, now I'm ready to warm up.
Shoot...we have less than 20 minutes before the start! I was set up next to P2 and Ginga, got on my bike and started pedaling away, trying not to be so nervous about all the hard work that I was about to put forth. The bike seemed to be working fine and Kristen rushes over to us saying that we have 3 minutes! YIKES! We quickly started putting the trainers away, filling the water bottles just one last time and we rode on over to the start. Alright, they were a little behind, we had a few more minutes. We took a nice, short ride the opposite direction of the start. I was breathing deeply and trying to calm down. I wanted to give this team everything I had today.
We lined up, wished each other luck and were sent off in a flash. Our order was a little screwed up for a few seconds in the beginning as we had a little clipping in issue, but this was corrected swiftly and seamlessly. The race was on. I think it took me all of 30 seconds to start breathing hard and wondering what the heck I had just gotten myself into. I am sucking wheel here and I am barely able to hang on. The heart rate zoomed up way too quickly and as it was my turn to take a pull, I tried not to push any harder than I already was. In fact, I think I tried to let up just a little. We had 37.2 miles to race and there was no way I could make that distance redlining the whole time. And I was no good to my team if I had to drop off so early in the race.
We took our regularly scheduled pulls for the first 20-25 minutes and then I think my teammates noticed I was struggling. I didn't say a word, but something in my posture or lack of power on the front told them I was just trying to hang on at this point. And this was the beauty of working in a team. They forced me (and Kristen) to not take pulls for a while. They wanted us to recover. P2 and Ginga rotated the lead for at least 10 minutes, maybe more...couldn't count. All I could do was try to bring my breathing and heartrate back to normal.
We stayed amazingly close together, taking advantage of the draft and tucking in on the side away from the wind. Our turns went very smoothly and we all managed to stay close togther, reminding each other to call them out ahead of time and lay off just a little to bring the group back together. We were all back in normal rotation now and Kristen showed just how much she recovered by taking these monstrously strong, long pulls. I was at the very back of the train and I felt like I was hammering just to stick with them! SO THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO RIDE WITH EXPERIENCED CYCLISTS!!! We communicated, watched out for each other, encouraged each other and suffered with each other.
These women were amazing. Now it seemed Ginga was struggling. All those pulls she was forced to take early on had apparently caught up to her. We all took turns pulling, getting back in rotation just before Ginga to let her sit back there and hang on. We lost her for a little bit, but her determination wouldn't let her slip away...just a minute or two later, she was right back with us! Now I could tell P2 was struggling because she became quiet. The sweat was pouring off my face and I wondered how much longer we had to go. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up this pace. But I can't let the team down! My computer wasn't working, so I really had no idea how far we went nor how fast we were going. I just left it all out there.
Not soon enough, we could see the finish. HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER! Kristen easily pulled ahead of all of us and though I tried to catch on her wheel, she was much too strong for me and I had to yell to her that I lost her. But just as soon as I'd gotten back on her wheel, she'd give another burst of her powerful pedal strokes and in the blink of an eye, I'd be off her wheel again. P2, Ginga and I just put our heads down and pedaled our hearts out. We all crossed the finish line together!
I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing team of women. We all gave our best and though we didn't place, we are very proud of our accomplishment. We couldn't have communicated any better. You'd think this team had been riding together for years, it was all so smooth. It hurt. Oh boy, did it hurt! This was one of the hardest rides I've ever done, but it was also one of the most fun. Thanks, Apaches, for letting me be a part of this awesome team. Hope we're able to do it again in the future!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
It Takes Two
As CJB and I drove down to the 2 Man TT (Time Trial) this morning, I think we were both sort of "testing" each other out. What did we expect from one another? He's been riding very strong all year and I wondered how much I would hold him back. We always say things like, "Yeah, we're just in this for fun," and yadda, yadda, yadda. But the truth is that we're both super competitive and neither of us wants to let the other one down, so we end up pushing each other to the limit.
As with the other bike races I've done, there were lots of different team jerseys and a pretty huge bike-geek factor going on. Lots of aero helmets (sorry, CJB!), disc wheels and even those fancy shoe cover things that supposedly make you more aerodynamic. The intimidation factor is high and I start to wonder why I even try to compete at cycling events. I said hi to a few Apache members and CJB and I headed back to our bikes to get in a quick warm up. Even though we were one of the early starts, it was already getting hot out.
We waited nervously in the corral waiting for our turn to start. Neither of us was feeling very spunky today, but I think we both knew we would be laying it all on the line today, no matter how bad it was going to feel. The starter guy gave us a countdown and we shot out of the start quickly. Within seconds, our speeds shot up to 25 and 26mph. WOW, I thought, we're really flying! Even though CJB and I haven't done a ride together in....hmmm...6 months?....a year?....well, no matter, our exchanges, planned every 30 seconds, went very smoothly. We soon caught and passed the team that started just one minute ahead of us. The pace was still very strong, but it was early. And soon we would pay as we made our first right turn and headed into the wind. Crap. It was tough. With each pull, I could feel my legs working much too hard for so early on in the race, so I started cutting my pulls short. And CJB was a trooper and he held to the 30 second rule and sometimes even pulled longer. He knew I was struggling. The sweat was dripping off both of us as I kept trying to focus on keeping my cadence up. I couldn't wait for the next turn.
Around the turn we went, me in front this time (I was dropped fast on the first one), and stronger, more powerful winds smacked us in the face. I wanted this to be over. Dare I tell CJB that I couldn't do this any more? This was so hard, and every time he pulled in front of me, I would drop and have to ask him to slow down. I certainly wasn't having any fun at this point and I couldn't believe we had a whole second loop to do. The team we passed now passed us back and we had nothing more to give at this point. I again tried to focus on my cadence and kept waiting for the next turn.
On the third turn, we were met with a huge relief from the wind. Our speeds picked up again quickly and, once again, we passed that same team. I must admit, it felt good, but I also knew that we had to face those two terrible stretches again, so we shouldn't be hammering just yet. But it felt so good to go fast! We had to slow down considerably around the next turn as the team in front of us deliberately threw down a water bottle, but didn't make it to the side of the road, so it rolled around in the middle. A volunteer jumped out in the street to pick it up, but missed just as another team was passing us with their disc wheels. There was too much going on - the other team, the volunteer, and the rolling water bottle. The best way to get through that turn was to take it slow and make sure we stayed with rubber to the road.
Then we saw another team and I began the chase. CJB kept trying to slow me down, conserve energy. But the eye of the tiger gets the best of me and I pull and keep the pull enough to pass that team. It didn't take long for them to pass us back. UGH! I can't give up that easily, and I go after them again, this time just before that dreaded turn into the wind. Surprisingly, I take it much better this time and it doesn't feel quite as painful. CJB seems to be struggling a little and I realize that I made him do most of the work on the first loop. Oh man, this better not come back to bite us! So now I try to take a little bit longer pulls and our speed seems agonizingly slow. However, a look down at the computer shows 17-18 for most of the stretch and I decide that's not so bad for this ridiculous wind. We make the turn into the second-to-last stretch and once again, the headwind hits us like a ton of bricks and the speed drops considerably. Once again, every time CJB pulls ahead of me, I drop a bit back. But I refuse to ask him to slow down for me anymore, I just start hammering, knowing that once I jump on the wheel, it will feel better.
Now I'm counting down the miles for us. Our conversations are at a minimum as we both struggle for breath. I do feel like we were drawing strength from each other. Deep down, I was wishing he would just slow down so I could catch a break and I have to wonder if he was thinking the same thing. It would be so easy for us to slow down. But of course, neither of us said a thing as we kept pushing on.
I couldn't help but smile as we rounded the last turn. We were greeted with a nice tailwind and, just as in the first loop, our speeds skyrocketed back up to the mid-20s. GO! We have just 2.5 miles left. We went back to our 30 second pulls and with each one, each of us got stronger. I think this was our fastest stretch of the race and it was brutally hard, but neither of us let up. I could now see the finish and I shifted into the highest gear I had. I heard CJB yell "I'm off!" and I yelled "KEEP GOING, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" I knew he could give a few strong pedals and he'd be right there. And so he caught up fast and we crossed the line with a strong finish and feeling great about the effort.
I know I couldn't have gone as fast without him. I only hope I was able to hold up my end of the bargain. Time trials are a great way for teammates to bring out the best in each other and encourage each other to continue and push on, even when you think you can't. I have no idea how we ranked compared to the other teams yet, but no matter what, we gave it our best effort and that feels good.
As with the other bike races I've done, there were lots of different team jerseys and a pretty huge bike-geek factor going on. Lots of aero helmets (sorry, CJB!), disc wheels and even those fancy shoe cover things that supposedly make you more aerodynamic. The intimidation factor is high and I start to wonder why I even try to compete at cycling events. I said hi to a few Apache members and CJB and I headed back to our bikes to get in a quick warm up. Even though we were one of the early starts, it was already getting hot out.
We waited nervously in the corral waiting for our turn to start. Neither of us was feeling very spunky today, but I think we both knew we would be laying it all on the line today, no matter how bad it was going to feel. The starter guy gave us a countdown and we shot out of the start quickly. Within seconds, our speeds shot up to 25 and 26mph. WOW, I thought, we're really flying! Even though CJB and I haven't done a ride together in....hmmm...6 months?....a year?....well, no matter, our exchanges, planned every 30 seconds, went very smoothly. We soon caught and passed the team that started just one minute ahead of us. The pace was still very strong, but it was early. And soon we would pay as we made our first right turn and headed into the wind. Crap. It was tough. With each pull, I could feel my legs working much too hard for so early on in the race, so I started cutting my pulls short. And CJB was a trooper and he held to the 30 second rule and sometimes even pulled longer. He knew I was struggling. The sweat was dripping off both of us as I kept trying to focus on keeping my cadence up. I couldn't wait for the next turn.
Around the turn we went, me in front this time (I was dropped fast on the first one), and stronger, more powerful winds smacked us in the face. I wanted this to be over. Dare I tell CJB that I couldn't do this any more? This was so hard, and every time he pulled in front of me, I would drop and have to ask him to slow down. I certainly wasn't having any fun at this point and I couldn't believe we had a whole second loop to do. The team we passed now passed us back and we had nothing more to give at this point. I again tried to focus on my cadence and kept waiting for the next turn.
On the third turn, we were met with a huge relief from the wind. Our speeds picked up again quickly and, once again, we passed that same team. I must admit, it felt good, but I also knew that we had to face those two terrible stretches again, so we shouldn't be hammering just yet. But it felt so good to go fast! We had to slow down considerably around the next turn as the team in front of us deliberately threw down a water bottle, but didn't make it to the side of the road, so it rolled around in the middle. A volunteer jumped out in the street to pick it up, but missed just as another team was passing us with their disc wheels. There was too much going on - the other team, the volunteer, and the rolling water bottle. The best way to get through that turn was to take it slow and make sure we stayed with rubber to the road.
Then we saw another team and I began the chase. CJB kept trying to slow me down, conserve energy. But the eye of the tiger gets the best of me and I pull and keep the pull enough to pass that team. It didn't take long for them to pass us back. UGH! I can't give up that easily, and I go after them again, this time just before that dreaded turn into the wind. Surprisingly, I take it much better this time and it doesn't feel quite as painful. CJB seems to be struggling a little and I realize that I made him do most of the work on the first loop. Oh man, this better not come back to bite us! So now I try to take a little bit longer pulls and our speed seems agonizingly slow. However, a look down at the computer shows 17-18 for most of the stretch and I decide that's not so bad for this ridiculous wind. We make the turn into the second-to-last stretch and once again, the headwind hits us like a ton of bricks and the speed drops considerably. Once again, every time CJB pulls ahead of me, I drop a bit back. But I refuse to ask him to slow down for me anymore, I just start hammering, knowing that once I jump on the wheel, it will feel better.
Now I'm counting down the miles for us. Our conversations are at a minimum as we both struggle for breath. I do feel like we were drawing strength from each other. Deep down, I was wishing he would just slow down so I could catch a break and I have to wonder if he was thinking the same thing. It would be so easy for us to slow down. But of course, neither of us said a thing as we kept pushing on.
I couldn't help but smile as we rounded the last turn. We were greeted with a nice tailwind and, just as in the first loop, our speeds skyrocketed back up to the mid-20s. GO! We have just 2.5 miles left. We went back to our 30 second pulls and with each one, each of us got stronger. I think this was our fastest stretch of the race and it was brutally hard, but neither of us let up. I could now see the finish and I shifted into the highest gear I had. I heard CJB yell "I'm off!" and I yelled "KEEP GOING, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" I knew he could give a few strong pedals and he'd be right there. And so he caught up fast and we crossed the line with a strong finish and feeling great about the effort.
I know I couldn't have gone as fast without him. I only hope I was able to hold up my end of the bargain. Time trials are a great way for teammates to bring out the best in each other and encourage each other to continue and push on, even when you think you can't. I have no idea how we ranked compared to the other teams yet, but no matter what, we gave it our best effort and that feels good.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Team Time Trial
Today was my first ever TEAM time trial. Not that I've done many time trials before (3, to be exact), but I've always done them alone. The art of a team time trial includes peeling off smoothly and drafting...2 people working together for the benefit of both. The clock only stops when both people have crossed the finish line, so it does you no good to leave your partner dragging behind.
I headed up to Garden Prairie, otherwise known as middle-of-nowhere in IL, with Brett Petersen and Sally, fellow Salt Creek Triathlon Club members. I learned a few things in talking with Brett on the way up to the race. First, if you list a team you are racing for, you must wear that jersey. If you race as "unattached" or no club listed, you must wear a jersey with no writing on it. Additionally, you must have sleeves. Therefore, the tri club uniform tops were no good...we had to wear shirts underneath. I guess it's a safety issue, your shoulders need to be covered. Therefore, even the top (which has no sleeves) with arm warmers is considered "illegal." This wasn't really an issue for me...it was chilly anyway, so Sally and I had decided to wear thin, long-sleeved under armor shirts underneath our jerseys.
We arrived in Garden Prairie with plenty of time. We met other club members, Tom, Chris and Miguel there.
It was a beautiful day, sunny, seemed like very little wind, but it was a bit chilly. I actually wondered if I should keep the long pants on and pull on arm warmers over my thin under armor!
We quickly pulled the bikes down off the car and prepared to warm up. I don't really know the protocol for warming up for a bike race. I mean, in triathlon, I typically use the swim as the warm up. But a 40K bike race is so short, you need to warm up before the race. But how long? How fast? Guess I could use a little education on that sort of thing.
For Sally, this was her first time trial ever. Sally and I planned to practice riding together at last week's century (or should I say 75 mile) ride, but the courses split up too early and we had no time to practice. We rode together once during the past week and it seemed to go smoothly. We planned on taking 1 minute pulls and when one of us got tired, we'd just shorten the pull for the tired teammate. Sounds great in theory!
We rode around and I realized that, once again, it was pretty windy out! Fellow Apache, Lisa, told me to stop thinking of it as being windy. She said I should figure there will ALWAYS be wind and on the day you get to ride with no wind, consider it a miracle. Interestingly put. Sally and I roll up to the starting line. We are surrounded by teams of men. Men who looked FAST. Majority of them had disc wheels and aero helmets.
Same team of officials at the start line as the last time trial I did. We chatted with them and they commented on the nice paint job on Sally's bike. There was literally no stress or tension as we awaited our start. 5-4-3-2-1 and we were off! As planned, Sally immediately moved to the front. She started hammering and our speed climbed up to 24 mph! I struggled to get on her back wheel and I thought to myself, "Holy cow, this is going to be a fast race!" and I wondered if I was going to be able to stay with her. It's amazing how fast that 1 minute goes by when you're taking advantage of the draft. I pulled in front and my speed dropped to about 22 mph. Then I heard Sally yell, "I'm back!" which meant I had dropped her. In other words, if you are not 6 inches or closer to the wheel in front of you, you are no longer getting the advantage of the draft. And this is the whole point of the team time trial, so I eased up to let Sally catch back on to my wheel.
The wind was strong and it was a nice break when I was able to draft behind Sally. For the first quarter of the race, I'd say we struggled to make smooth transitions, but as we rode along, our communication improved and we learned to read each other better to anticipate what the other rider was doing. The course was flat for the most part, but there were several sections of road with rather large pot holes. As long as you were paying attention, though, they were not difficult to avoid.
As we turned to go out to the "loop", we were passed by an ABD (Athletes By Design) team. They were riding really far apart and the guy trailing looked at me, shook his head and said "I can't catch his wheel!" It was then that I told Sally "There is no way I want us to look like THAT!" That simply defeats the whole purpose of a team time trial. Besides, as I said earlier, it's not an average of your two times, the clock only stops when your 2nd man crosses the line. So why drop your teammate? Just doesn't make sense.
Sally and I cruised along, much slower than I think we both anticipated, but the wind was also stronger than we thought and at times the gusts would threaten to take control of my front wheel. I wondered if my jerking the bike back in line would throw Sally off. I know from riding with other people, you don't want to make any unpredictable, sudden moves. Everything should be smooth and subtle. I didn't hear her complain (then again, the wind was loud!). Slowly but surely, we made our way to the turnaround, where I got confused by the guy telling me "TURN HERE." He was pointing in front of him, but when I asked if I had to go behind him, he said yes. Huh? Confusing. But, the turnaround meant we'd have a little wind at our backs!
As one of my pulls was ending and I was letting Sally slide to the front, I noticed her breathing was pretty heavy. However, she was riding stronger now than she was in the beginning of the race! I told her to take shorter pulls, catch her breath! Now was no time for either of us to blow up. As we continued riding along, we got better at reading each other's signals and we seemed to be making smooth progress toward the finish.
As I saw the grainery ahead, I remember the guy at the beginning of the race tell us to crank it up when we saw this grainery because the finish was near. So I yelled to Sally, "Let's Hammer!" And with that, we picked up our speed maybe 2-3 mph. However, as quickly as we sped up, Brett and Tom passed us with ease. I knew they started about 15 minutes behind us and one of my goals was to not let them catch us. Darn - we were so close! So we pumped our legs even harder. Even though we were only doing about 20 mph when we crossed the line, I felt like we were flying!
This was way more fun than an individual time trial! You get to take a little break in the draft, and you can draw off the energy of your teammate. Though I would have liked to have gone faster, I'd still say this was more fun than any of the other time trials I have done. Can't wait to do another one.
I headed up to Garden Prairie, otherwise known as middle-of-nowhere in IL, with Brett Petersen and Sally, fellow Salt Creek Triathlon Club members. I learned a few things in talking with Brett on the way up to the race. First, if you list a team you are racing for, you must wear that jersey. If you race as "unattached" or no club listed, you must wear a jersey with no writing on it. Additionally, you must have sleeves. Therefore, the tri club uniform tops were no good...we had to wear shirts underneath. I guess it's a safety issue, your shoulders need to be covered. Therefore, even the top (which has no sleeves) with arm warmers is considered "illegal." This wasn't really an issue for me...it was chilly anyway, so Sally and I had decided to wear thin, long-sleeved under armor shirts underneath our jerseys.
We arrived in Garden Prairie with plenty of time. We met other club members, Tom, Chris and Miguel there.
It was a beautiful day, sunny, seemed like very little wind, but it was a bit chilly. I actually wondered if I should keep the long pants on and pull on arm warmers over my thin under armor!We quickly pulled the bikes down off the car and prepared to warm up. I don't really know the protocol for warming up for a bike race. I mean, in triathlon, I typically use the swim as the warm up. But a 40K bike race is so short, you need to warm up before the race. But how long? How fast? Guess I could use a little education on that sort of thing.
For Sally, this was her first time trial ever. Sally and I planned to practice riding together at last week's century (or should I say 75 mile) ride, but the courses split up too early and we had no time to practice. We rode together once during the past week and it seemed to go smoothly. We planned on taking 1 minute pulls and when one of us got tired, we'd just shorten the pull for the tired teammate. Sounds great in theory!
We rode around and I realized that, once again, it was pretty windy out! Fellow Apache, Lisa, told me to stop thinking of it as being windy. She said I should figure there will ALWAYS be wind and on the day you get to ride with no wind, consider it a miracle. Interestingly put. Sally and I roll up to the starting line. We are surrounded by teams of men. Men who looked FAST. Majority of them had disc wheels and aero helmets.
Same team of officials at the start line as the last time trial I did. We chatted with them and they commented on the nice paint job on Sally's bike. There was literally no stress or tension as we awaited our start. 5-4-3-2-1 and we were off! As planned, Sally immediately moved to the front. She started hammering and our speed climbed up to 24 mph! I struggled to get on her back wheel and I thought to myself, "Holy cow, this is going to be a fast race!" and I wondered if I was going to be able to stay with her. It's amazing how fast that 1 minute goes by when you're taking advantage of the draft. I pulled in front and my speed dropped to about 22 mph. Then I heard Sally yell, "I'm back!" which meant I had dropped her. In other words, if you are not 6 inches or closer to the wheel in front of you, you are no longer getting the advantage of the draft. And this is the whole point of the team time trial, so I eased up to let Sally catch back on to my wheel.
The wind was strong and it was a nice break when I was able to draft behind Sally. For the first quarter of the race, I'd say we struggled to make smooth transitions, but as we rode along, our communication improved and we learned to read each other better to anticipate what the other rider was doing. The course was flat for the most part, but there were several sections of road with rather large pot holes. As long as you were paying attention, though, they were not difficult to avoid.
As we turned to go out to the "loop", we were passed by an ABD (Athletes By Design) team. They were riding really far apart and the guy trailing looked at me, shook his head and said "I can't catch his wheel!" It was then that I told Sally "There is no way I want us to look like THAT!" That simply defeats the whole purpose of a team time trial. Besides, as I said earlier, it's not an average of your two times, the clock only stops when your 2nd man crosses the line. So why drop your teammate? Just doesn't make sense.
Sally and I cruised along, much slower than I think we both anticipated, but the wind was also stronger than we thought and at times the gusts would threaten to take control of my front wheel. I wondered if my jerking the bike back in line would throw Sally off. I know from riding with other people, you don't want to make any unpredictable, sudden moves. Everything should be smooth and subtle. I didn't hear her complain (then again, the wind was loud!). Slowly but surely, we made our way to the turnaround, where I got confused by the guy telling me "TURN HERE." He was pointing in front of him, but when I asked if I had to go behind him, he said yes. Huh? Confusing. But, the turnaround meant we'd have a little wind at our backs!
As one of my pulls was ending and I was letting Sally slide to the front, I noticed her breathing was pretty heavy. However, she was riding stronger now than she was in the beginning of the race! I told her to take shorter pulls, catch her breath! Now was no time for either of us to blow up. As we continued riding along, we got better at reading each other's signals and we seemed to be making smooth progress toward the finish.
As I saw the grainery ahead, I remember the guy at the beginning of the race tell us to crank it up when we saw this grainery because the finish was near. So I yelled to Sally, "Let's Hammer!" And with that, we picked up our speed maybe 2-3 mph. However, as quickly as we sped up, Brett and Tom passed us with ease. I knew they started about 15 minutes behind us and one of my goals was to not let them catch us. Darn - we were so close! So we pumped our legs even harder. Even though we were only doing about 20 mph when we crossed the line, I felt like we were flying!
This was way more fun than an individual time trial! You get to take a little break in the draft, and you can draw off the energy of your teammate. Though I would have liked to have gone faster, I'd still say this was more fun than any of the other time trials I have done. Can't wait to do another one.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Harvard 30K TT: Waiting for a Tailwind
Lisa and I arrived in Harvard well before our start. After much confusion, we were able to move our start times up by about 15 minutes. Fortunately, the sun was shining and the wind seemed pretty calm. It was a little cooler out than I expected, but I didn't bring long pants, so I was chilled before I even started my warm up.
It seemed to take forever for me to gather my things, put on the necessary clothes and get my bike ready to go for a warm up. In that time, I saw several other people I knew, so I chatted a bit with them and the first time I looked at my watch, I realized we only had about 12 minutes before our start. Quickly, we got on the bikes and headed out for a short warm up.
We headed toward the start line and as soon as we turned west, the wind hit us. Now where did that come from? We were standing around outside for the last 30 minutes and it certainly didn't seem windy! It seemed like it was a bit of a crosswind from the southwest. I knew the course was a lollipop course and that it was a bit longer than a 30K (more like a 32K).
I didn't feel like I had much of a warm up, but it was time to get in line for the start. Some guy rolled up and had missed his start so he kept trying to "sneak in" between riders. This confused the volunteer working there and the official and this late rider didn't seem to care. He wouldn't get out of Lisa's way when the official was trying to tell her she was leaving in 30 seconds. Thankfully, Lisa spoke up and the official scooted this guy out before she was to go off...now he was standing in front of me, but the volunteer kept telling him to move back.
Finally - I get my countdown, I get out of the saddle and try to get a good pace going quickly. The first section of the course was south (I think) and seemed to be going smoothly. I haven't spent much time on my bike lately, so I had no idea what to expect for this ride. In fact, I wasn't on my bike the entire week between the half ironman and this race, so I just did the best I could.
The road curved and it felt like we were going straight into a headwind. It curved again and I thought the headwind would subside...nope. My nose started running. I wasn't wearing a heartrate monitor, but I was trying to keep my breathing controlled. Though the roads were pretty flat, I found myself struggling to get into a comfortable rhythym. I was struggling against the wind and tried to stay aero the entire ride. I kept sliding off the seat forward and would have to stop pedaling to get myself back centered (or even pushed toward the back) of the saddle.
I saw the riders who started earlier coming back. They all looked like they were just churning away in their biggest gear possible. I thought to myself "cool, we'll have a sweet tailwind on the way back!" I continued to fight the wind and my nose continued to run. I've never been a "farm blower" type of chick and I just felt like there was a river running down my face, coming from my nose! It was quite disgusting and made it a little difficult to breathe.
I was passed a few times - by men, but then again, most of the riders today were men. They don't say anything when they go by, like "nice job" or "hang in there." No, cyclists just whiz by you and really crank up the power just to show you how much faster they are than you.
Finally, I reach the point where we start to turn around...I keep waiting for the tailwind. It wasn't there. Ironically, the wind felt just as strong going back as it did on the way out. There was one small section where I felt a tailwind and my mph was at the highpoint of the day - 24 mph - but it didn't last nearly long enough to be fun. I was wondering if my nose was ever going to run out of snot as I wiped it away with the back of my glove.
Finally, I saw the finish and pushed as best I could. Once again, the mph really went up, and I felt like I still "had some left." So I pushed to the limit until I flew across the finish line. I was thankful that someone told me the race was over a 30K or I would have turned on the heat too early. But maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing as once I was finished, I really didn't feel exhausted. I was very tired of riding in the wind, but wasn't physically tired.
I'm thinking 2007 is going to be known as "the year of the wind!"
It seemed to take forever for me to gather my things, put on the necessary clothes and get my bike ready to go for a warm up. In that time, I saw several other people I knew, so I chatted a bit with them and the first time I looked at my watch, I realized we only had about 12 minutes before our start. Quickly, we got on the bikes and headed out for a short warm up.
We headed toward the start line and as soon as we turned west, the wind hit us. Now where did that come from? We were standing around outside for the last 30 minutes and it certainly didn't seem windy! It seemed like it was a bit of a crosswind from the southwest. I knew the course was a lollipop course and that it was a bit longer than a 30K (more like a 32K).
I didn't feel like I had much of a warm up, but it was time to get in line for the start. Some guy rolled up and had missed his start so he kept trying to "sneak in" between riders. This confused the volunteer working there and the official and this late rider didn't seem to care. He wouldn't get out of Lisa's way when the official was trying to tell her she was leaving in 30 seconds. Thankfully, Lisa spoke up and the official scooted this guy out before she was to go off...now he was standing in front of me, but the volunteer kept telling him to move back.
Finally - I get my countdown, I get out of the saddle and try to get a good pace going quickly. The first section of the course was south (I think) and seemed to be going smoothly. I haven't spent much time on my bike lately, so I had no idea what to expect for this ride. In fact, I wasn't on my bike the entire week between the half ironman and this race, so I just did the best I could.
The road curved and it felt like we were going straight into a headwind. It curved again and I thought the headwind would subside...nope. My nose started running. I wasn't wearing a heartrate monitor, but I was trying to keep my breathing controlled. Though the roads were pretty flat, I found myself struggling to get into a comfortable rhythym. I was struggling against the wind and tried to stay aero the entire ride. I kept sliding off the seat forward and would have to stop pedaling to get myself back centered (or even pushed toward the back) of the saddle.
I saw the riders who started earlier coming back. They all looked like they were just churning away in their biggest gear possible. I thought to myself "cool, we'll have a sweet tailwind on the way back!" I continued to fight the wind and my nose continued to run. I've never been a "farm blower" type of chick and I just felt like there was a river running down my face, coming from my nose! It was quite disgusting and made it a little difficult to breathe.
I was passed a few times - by men, but then again, most of the riders today were men. They don't say anything when they go by, like "nice job" or "hang in there." No, cyclists just whiz by you and really crank up the power just to show you how much faster they are than you.
Finally, I reach the point where we start to turn around...I keep waiting for the tailwind. It wasn't there. Ironically, the wind felt just as strong going back as it did on the way out. There was one small section where I felt a tailwind and my mph was at the highpoint of the day - 24 mph - but it didn't last nearly long enough to be fun. I was wondering if my nose was ever going to run out of snot as I wiped it away with the back of my glove.
Finally, I saw the finish and pushed as best I could. Once again, the mph really went up, and I felt like I still "had some left." So I pushed to the limit until I flew across the finish line. I was thankful that someone told me the race was over a 30K or I would have turned on the heat too early. But maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing as once I was finished, I really didn't feel exhausted. I was very tired of riding in the wind, but wasn't physically tired.
I'm thinking 2007 is going to be known as "the year of the wind!"
Monday, April 02, 2007
John Fraser Report
Cyclists must not like to get up early. As I reviewed the information before the race, I realized that the first cyclist didn't take off until 10:00am. I had requested an early start, which turned out to be around 10:30. I've been to some triathlons where I've arrived to transition, had 90 minutes to arrange my transition area and chat with other triathletes, I then swam, biked and ran, took advantage at some of the post-race food, chatted with other triathletes, gone back to my transition area and packed up my stuff and was in the car heading home before 10:30am!!
On the drive out to the race, I must've glanced at the temperature guage in the car at least two dozen times. I watched it slowly move from 51 degrees to 56 degrees. Another difficult thing for me with cycling is that I am still not sure how to dress. For this event, I brought just about everything. I had a thin hat for under my helmet. I had a thin under armor and a thick, long-sleeved one. I had a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers. I had half-finger gloves and full-finger gloves. I had a thick jacket and a thin windbreaker. I had shorts and long tights. Oh, and toe covers, of course. The temperature this day, however, isn't what scared me. It was the wind. Now, I know the weather forecasters said we were in for some wind, but as we drove by and saw flags standing completely out and the ends flapping uncontrollably, I knew this was going to be an uncomfortable bike ride.
Check in at bike races is also completely different than triathlon. It's quick and hassle-free. There is no Expo, there are no goody bags, you don't wear a chip for timing, etc. Pretty much, you just go in, give your name and they give you your bib. And you get out. Cool, now it's time for a warm-up.
I dressed a little cooler than I thought I'd need to be dressed, pumped up the tires on my bike and headed out for a little spin. As I headed north on the main road, I reached close to 30mph almost effortlessly. Uh oh, I thought, this only means that coming back is going to be painful! I rode up a few minutes, enjoying the beautiful tailwind and then turned heading west. Almost immediately, I had to get out of the aero position because I couldn't control the front wheel. The wind was a bit gusty, and it never really stopped. This tired me quickly so I turned around earlier than I planned. The way back, same thing, extremely difficult to control the bike. Then I turned heading south and....wow, I felt like I was stopped in my tracks. It was like hitting a brick wall. The wind was so strong, I was pumping hard, but the mph showed only 12 mph. As I watched other bikers coming out on this same stretch, enjoying the tailwind, I just thought to myself, "wait until you guys have to come back this way!"
I headed back to my car to drop off some things I wouldn't need for the race, made a pit stop and headed over to the start line. Here is where things go surprisingly fast. They send of a cyclist every 30 seconds. It's amazing how chaotic it all looks with everyone in their colored uniforms all riding around haphazardly, but as soon as they reach the cones, everyone immediately gets in line according to start time.
Before I knew it, there was a guy holding up my bike from behind so you can clip in with both feet. I was given a 10 second warning then a 5 second countdown. Before I even have time to get nervous about the race, it's go time! The guy holding the bike gives you a little push and just like that, you're on you're way. I started spinning and shifting up quickly.
Just when you get into a groove, here comes the first turn. I'm not really comfortable with turns, so I'm sure I slow down a lot more than some of these more experienced cyclists, but right after the turn, I start pushing again.
Almost immediately, I have to remind myself that I have 10 miles to go and coming back is going to be really difficult. Now is not the time to expend too much energy. The course is really smooth and flat, for the most part. I put the bike up into the big chain ring and tried to find a good, strong rhythym. I think I was only 3 miles into the course when I was passed for the first time...and then got passed again almost immediately after that. Well, that sucks! This means these guys were already 30 seconds and a minute ahead of me and I wasn't even half way through the course! (I learned later they were even further ahead of me than I thought). The wind didn't seem so bad, so I was trying to take advantage of that without blowing up. However, as I watched the cyclists coming back (this was an out and back course), I could see the grimaces on their faces and I knew the ride back was NOT going to be pleasant!
Then came the turnaround. And I'm VERY slow at this one. I know I need to practice it! It just seems like such a narrow space to turn around. The volunteer pretty much shakes his head at me for how slow I go around, but hey, I didn't unclip this year! And then the wind hits. Truth is, it was there on the whole way out, which I didn't feel so much, but on the way back, it once again tried taking control of my front wheel. As soon as I was able to get a little speed going, I had to put it back down into my small chain ring in the front.
OK, I thought, a little less than 5 miles of this. This strong wind made going up the couple of small hills on the course seem very difficult. Once again, I saw the speedometer drop to 12 mph and I couldn't believe that was as fast as I could go given the effort I was putting out. My nose was running, but I didn't dare take my hands off the handle bars. The wind was gusting almost regularly which, again, gave me trouble steering. I felt like my whole bike was leaning to the left in order to prevent being blown over by the crosswind. And toward the last 2-3 miles of the ride, it felt like the wind would slow down and it became quiet, so I'd crank up the gears on my bike to try and pick up speed. Unfortunately, the wind only subsided for a few seconds, so as soon as I'd get my bike in a higher gear, the wind started up again and I'd have to shift back down. My front wheel was all over the place and it was more than just a bit unnerving.
I was really happy when this ride was over! I think this was one of the toughest rides I've done. I can only remember one that was tougher - a century ride where we had strong winds coupled with much colder weather. And at that time, I was completely unprepared with what to wear on a ride in those conditions.
I saw lots of Apaches during the ride, but everyone is so hard to recognize when they're going by so fast! As I went back to my care, I saw some other Apaches preparing to race and wished them well. Here's Pascale warming up.
And then we have Liz and Stan warming up.
Unfortunately, I had some things to do in the afternoon, so I couldn't stay to watch the rest of my fellow Apaches race. There was a bit of concern about the wind, of course, but now it looked like it might rain. However, as I look at the results I can see they did well and I'm honored and proud to have them as friends and call them my teammates!
On the drive out to the race, I must've glanced at the temperature guage in the car at least two dozen times. I watched it slowly move from 51 degrees to 56 degrees. Another difficult thing for me with cycling is that I am still not sure how to dress. For this event, I brought just about everything. I had a thin hat for under my helmet. I had a thin under armor and a thick, long-sleeved one. I had a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers. I had half-finger gloves and full-finger gloves. I had a thick jacket and a thin windbreaker. I had shorts and long tights. Oh, and toe covers, of course. The temperature this day, however, isn't what scared me. It was the wind. Now, I know the weather forecasters said we were in for some wind, but as we drove by and saw flags standing completely out and the ends flapping uncontrollably, I knew this was going to be an uncomfortable bike ride.
Check in at bike races is also completely different than triathlon. It's quick and hassle-free. There is no Expo, there are no goody bags, you don't wear a chip for timing, etc. Pretty much, you just go in, give your name and they give you your bib. And you get out. Cool, now it's time for a warm-up.
I dressed a little cooler than I thought I'd need to be dressed, pumped up the tires on my bike and headed out for a little spin. As I headed north on the main road, I reached close to 30mph almost effortlessly. Uh oh, I thought, this only means that coming back is going to be painful! I rode up a few minutes, enjoying the beautiful tailwind and then turned heading west. Almost immediately, I had to get out of the aero position because I couldn't control the front wheel. The wind was a bit gusty, and it never really stopped. This tired me quickly so I turned around earlier than I planned. The way back, same thing, extremely difficult to control the bike. Then I turned heading south and....wow, I felt like I was stopped in my tracks. It was like hitting a brick wall. The wind was so strong, I was pumping hard, but the mph showed only 12 mph. As I watched other bikers coming out on this same stretch, enjoying the tailwind, I just thought to myself, "wait until you guys have to come back this way!"
I headed back to my car to drop off some things I wouldn't need for the race, made a pit stop and headed over to the start line. Here is where things go surprisingly fast. They send of a cyclist every 30 seconds. It's amazing how chaotic it all looks with everyone in their colored uniforms all riding around haphazardly, but as soon as they reach the cones, everyone immediately gets in line according to start time.
Before I knew it, there was a guy holding up my bike from behind so you can clip in with both feet. I was given a 10 second warning then a 5 second countdown. Before I even have time to get nervous about the race, it's go time! The guy holding the bike gives you a little push and just like that, you're on you're way. I started spinning and shifting up quickly.
Just when you get into a groove, here comes the first turn. I'm not really comfortable with turns, so I'm sure I slow down a lot more than some of these more experienced cyclists, but right after the turn, I start pushing again.
Almost immediately, I have to remind myself that I have 10 miles to go and coming back is going to be really difficult. Now is not the time to expend too much energy. The course is really smooth and flat, for the most part. I put the bike up into the big chain ring and tried to find a good, strong rhythym. I think I was only 3 miles into the course when I was passed for the first time...and then got passed again almost immediately after that. Well, that sucks! This means these guys were already 30 seconds and a minute ahead of me and I wasn't even half way through the course! (I learned later they were even further ahead of me than I thought). The wind didn't seem so bad, so I was trying to take advantage of that without blowing up. However, as I watched the cyclists coming back (this was an out and back course), I could see the grimaces on their faces and I knew the ride back was NOT going to be pleasant!
Then came the turnaround. And I'm VERY slow at this one. I know I need to practice it! It just seems like such a narrow space to turn around. The volunteer pretty much shakes his head at me for how slow I go around, but hey, I didn't unclip this year! And then the wind hits. Truth is, it was there on the whole way out, which I didn't feel so much, but on the way back, it once again tried taking control of my front wheel. As soon as I was able to get a little speed going, I had to put it back down into my small chain ring in the front.
OK, I thought, a little less than 5 miles of this. This strong wind made going up the couple of small hills on the course seem very difficult. Once again, I saw the speedometer drop to 12 mph and I couldn't believe that was as fast as I could go given the effort I was putting out. My nose was running, but I didn't dare take my hands off the handle bars. The wind was gusting almost regularly which, again, gave me trouble steering. I felt like my whole bike was leaning to the left in order to prevent being blown over by the crosswind. And toward the last 2-3 miles of the ride, it felt like the wind would slow down and it became quiet, so I'd crank up the gears on my bike to try and pick up speed. Unfortunately, the wind only subsided for a few seconds, so as soon as I'd get my bike in a higher gear, the wind started up again and I'd have to shift back down. My front wheel was all over the place and it was more than just a bit unnerving.
I was really happy when this ride was over! I think this was one of the toughest rides I've done. I can only remember one that was tougher - a century ride where we had strong winds coupled with much colder weather. And at that time, I was completely unprepared with what to wear on a ride in those conditions.
I saw lots of Apaches during the ride, but everyone is so hard to recognize when they're going by so fast! As I went back to my care, I saw some other Apaches preparing to race and wished them well. Here's Pascale warming up.
And then we have Liz and Stan warming up.
Unfortunately, I had some things to do in the afternoon, so I couldn't stay to watch the rest of my fellow Apaches race. There was a bit of concern about the wind, of course, but now it looked like it might rain. However, as I look at the results I can see they did well and I'm honored and proud to have them as friends and call them my teammates!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Changing Tubular Tires
In preparation for this mornings time trial (bike race), I decided that I needed to re-mount my tubular tires on my racing wheels. I wasn't very stressed out about it because I haven't even decided if I would be using the race wheels for this short, non-triathlon race. But, either way, I knew it was recommended to re-mount the tires every year or so just to make sure they stay on properly.
About two weeks ago, I bring the wheels (Zipps) up from the basement. They proceed to sit on my living room floor for a few days before I go back down to the basement to retrieve the tubular tire tape and levers to get the tires off. So one evening, I sit down to try to pry the tires off. For 30 minutes, I pulled, yanked, tugged, pryed and anything else you can think of! And I was still on the first tire! These things were really mounted on well! I was sweating profusely and getting more frustrated by the second. This made me think - if and when I ever get a flat with these in a race, I'm out. This is ridiculous!
I was finally able to get the first tire off (total of about 40 minutes). This tire had a big gash in it. It wasn't totally through, but a good section of the tire was just missing. Good thing I decided to take on this little project as now I need to not just re-mount the tires, but I needed to put on new ones. I moved on to removing the second tire. This was a bit easier and took me only 25 minutes. This one had been taped on vs. glued on. But by the time this was over, I had had enough. I was done with the wheels for today. Too much effort.
Several more days go by and I go back down to the basement to bring up my new tubulars I had "in stock". I planned to put them on the rims to stretch them out before I actually taped them on. With the type of race wheels I have, you need to put on a valve extender. I tried this little trick BC taught me of putting a little bit of tape on the threads of the valve before putting on the extender. And here we go again with the pulling, stretching, yanking, etc. I was cursing these tires and I swear they were the wrong size. I think it took me at least an hour to get both of them on...and this was just the stretching out part!!! Once again, I don't see how people can do this when they flat in a race. Putting the stupid tire on is harder than the doing the race itself! Once again, frustrated and thinking this whole process was taking too much time, I left the wheels, with new tires just stretching out on the rims, out in the family room floor for another day.
So when I finally go out and get the pump and try to put air in these tires, it doesn't stay. It just leaks out as fast as I can pump the air in. You've got to be kidding me! I take the tires off, mess around with the valves and extenders and here we go again with the monstrous task of getting the tires to go back on the rims. The good thing here is that it DOES get easier the more times you do this. But, after about 3 attempts, I still can't get the air to stay in the front tire. This is when my hero, BC, offers to help me get this right. And, like magic, he gets this to work in all of about 15 minutes. I tried to pay such close attention because I need to learn how to do this myself! I greatly appreciate his help, but it sure makes me question my mechanical abilities!!
So FINALLY, the tires are all mounted and ready to go. Just hope I am.
About two weeks ago, I bring the wheels (Zipps) up from the basement. They proceed to sit on my living room floor for a few days before I go back down to the basement to retrieve the tubular tire tape and levers to get the tires off. So one evening, I sit down to try to pry the tires off. For 30 minutes, I pulled, yanked, tugged, pryed and anything else you can think of! And I was still on the first tire! These things were really mounted on well! I was sweating profusely and getting more frustrated by the second. This made me think - if and when I ever get a flat with these in a race, I'm out. This is ridiculous!
I was finally able to get the first tire off (total of about 40 minutes). This tire had a big gash in it. It wasn't totally through, but a good section of the tire was just missing. Good thing I decided to take on this little project as now I need to not just re-mount the tires, but I needed to put on new ones. I moved on to removing the second tire. This was a bit easier and took me only 25 minutes. This one had been taped on vs. glued on. But by the time this was over, I had had enough. I was done with the wheels for today. Too much effort.
Several more days go by and I go back down to the basement to bring up my new tubulars I had "in stock". I planned to put them on the rims to stretch them out before I actually taped them on. With the type of race wheels I have, you need to put on a valve extender. I tried this little trick BC taught me of putting a little bit of tape on the threads of the valve before putting on the extender. And here we go again with the pulling, stretching, yanking, etc. I was cursing these tires and I swear they were the wrong size. I think it took me at least an hour to get both of them on...and this was just the stretching out part!!! Once again, I don't see how people can do this when they flat in a race. Putting the stupid tire on is harder than the doing the race itself! Once again, frustrated and thinking this whole process was taking too much time, I left the wheels, with new tires just stretching out on the rims, out in the family room floor for another day.
So when I finally go out and get the pump and try to put air in these tires, it doesn't stay. It just leaks out as fast as I can pump the air in. You've got to be kidding me! I take the tires off, mess around with the valves and extenders and here we go again with the monstrous task of getting the tires to go back on the rims. The good thing here is that it DOES get easier the more times you do this. But, after about 3 attempts, I still can't get the air to stay in the front tire. This is when my hero, BC, offers to help me get this right. And, like magic, he gets this to work in all of about 15 minutes. I tried to pay such close attention because I need to learn how to do this myself! I greatly appreciate his help, but it sure makes me question my mechanical abilities!!
So FINALLY, the tires are all mounted and ready to go. Just hope I am.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
New Year's Resolutions
I'm not one of those people that waits until the end of the year to try and do/change something about myself. The way I see it, why do we need to wait until the start of a new year to try and improve something? That being said, I also like to think back to the events over the last year and try to set some new goals for myself for the upcoming year.
In fact, I have been carrying around a piece of paper that had 5 goals on it. The date was 2.27.04 (as I said, I don't just make "resolutions" around the new year!). Up until this month, I had already accomplished 3 of the 5. Number 4 was qualifying for Boston. I still have to reach Number 5. What is it, you ask? It's to run a 21 minute 5K. And even as I type that, I cringe because I know how tough that will be for me. However, in all fairness, I haven't run a plain old 5K in...well, I think it was 2004! And I don't think 2007 will be the year for me to tackle this one, either. There are just too many other things I want to do. But that goal will stay on my "list" until I can scratch it off with all the others. And I will continue to carry the tattered piece of paper these goals are written on to remind me that I still have some things to do!
To recap 2006:
-Worked with a coach from Dec 2005 - August 2006
-Traveled out to California for 2 races, a marathon in Feb and the Wildflower Half Ironman in May
-Placed in my age group in two MERCRS races
-Dropped almost a half hour in my second Ironman
-Had a couple really poor triathlon performances
-Qualified for the Boston Marathon
Without a doubt, qualifying for Boston was the highlight of my year. What a bummer that I had to wait until DECEMBER for the accomplishment that made it feel like I really "did" something in the past year.
So now I've been thinking about what things I want to do/try/improve/accomplish in 2007:
1. Transfer my recent running improvements to my triathlon performance. I don't know how to translate my latest running times into triathlon at this point. There are so many variables, the biggest one being that I was dedicating 5-6 days a week to running to achieve these times. This isn't possible when training for triathlon, so I know the times will be slower. But how much slower? I can't tell. So I will set an A, B and C goal. The A goal is the best-case scenario and I'm running out of my mind; the B goal is something that isn't a specatular improvment, but it's noteworthy and still something to be proud of, the C goal will be the ever-so-slight improvment, so like going from a 54-minute 10K in an Olympic race to a 53.
2. Do some bike racing. I went into last year thinking I was going to do all these bike races. I did one...in the springtime and never looked back. The thing was, it was fun and I did well! It's just that the bike training and racing never fit into my schedule when I was working with a coach. I was tied to a pretty strict workout plan and couldn't figure out how to make bike racing fit in. I thought "after my Ironman, then I'll have time." But I was so wiped out and unmotivated after the Ironman, I didn't care about bike racing. Heck, I didn't even care about racing triathlons after that.
3. Start looking into ultrarunning. This one is going to be tricky. Ultra running is anything over a marathon. I think I'll want to start with a 50K (30 miles). If I can do 26, I can do 30, right? Then maybe eventually move to a 50 mile. I don't know. I think this is something I'd like to do once just to say I did it...well, wait, that's what I said about the marathon. I also said that about adventure racing and after this year's Scallion, well, let's just say I can see another adventure race in my future. OK, back to the ultra running...this will be hard to time. There are events in the spring and I think they have one here in Chicago in late fall. I really need to get more familiar with the sport before I can target any specific races. Actually participating in one might not happen until 2008...have to talk to some people and do some research.
4. Volunteer. I've volunteered at a few races this year. We all know our sport wouldn't be successful without the help of the many volunteers. Volunteering at this year's Ironman Wisconsin was a very rewarding experience. I'm not sure I will volunteer at that particular race again, but I will pick at least one, and hopefully several, races where I can help out. For all the racing I do and all the volunteers that have helped me out, this is the least I can do.
Well, those are the ones at the forefront of my mind. I have a few other ideas floating around in my head, but I'm not quite ready to share them. But that doesn't mean I will wait another whole year to start working on them, they just need more thinking through before I commit.
Here's to a healthy, successful, and of course, speedy 2007.
Bring it!
In fact, I have been carrying around a piece of paper that had 5 goals on it. The date was 2.27.04 (as I said, I don't just make "resolutions" around the new year!). Up until this month, I had already accomplished 3 of the 5. Number 4 was qualifying for Boston. I still have to reach Number 5. What is it, you ask? It's to run a 21 minute 5K. And even as I type that, I cringe because I know how tough that will be for me. However, in all fairness, I haven't run a plain old 5K in...well, I think it was 2004! And I don't think 2007 will be the year for me to tackle this one, either. There are just too many other things I want to do. But that goal will stay on my "list" until I can scratch it off with all the others. And I will continue to carry the tattered piece of paper these goals are written on to remind me that I still have some things to do!
To recap 2006:
-Worked with a coach from Dec 2005 - August 2006
-Traveled out to California for 2 races, a marathon in Feb and the Wildflower Half Ironman in May
-Placed in my age group in two MERCRS races
-Dropped almost a half hour in my second Ironman
-Had a couple really poor triathlon performances
-Qualified for the Boston Marathon
Without a doubt, qualifying for Boston was the highlight of my year. What a bummer that I had to wait until DECEMBER for the accomplishment that made it feel like I really "did" something in the past year.
So now I've been thinking about what things I want to do/try/improve/accomplish in 2007:
1. Transfer my recent running improvements to my triathlon performance. I don't know how to translate my latest running times into triathlon at this point. There are so many variables, the biggest one being that I was dedicating 5-6 days a week to running to achieve these times. This isn't possible when training for triathlon, so I know the times will be slower. But how much slower? I can't tell. So I will set an A, B and C goal. The A goal is the best-case scenario and I'm running out of my mind; the B goal is something that isn't a specatular improvment, but it's noteworthy and still something to be proud of, the C goal will be the ever-so-slight improvment, so like going from a 54-minute 10K in an Olympic race to a 53.
2. Do some bike racing. I went into last year thinking I was going to do all these bike races. I did one...in the springtime and never looked back. The thing was, it was fun and I did well! It's just that the bike training and racing never fit into my schedule when I was working with a coach. I was tied to a pretty strict workout plan and couldn't figure out how to make bike racing fit in. I thought "after my Ironman, then I'll have time." But I was so wiped out and unmotivated after the Ironman, I didn't care about bike racing. Heck, I didn't even care about racing triathlons after that.
3. Start looking into ultrarunning. This one is going to be tricky. Ultra running is anything over a marathon. I think I'll want to start with a 50K (30 miles). If I can do 26, I can do 30, right? Then maybe eventually move to a 50 mile. I don't know. I think this is something I'd like to do once just to say I did it...well, wait, that's what I said about the marathon. I also said that about adventure racing and after this year's Scallion, well, let's just say I can see another adventure race in my future. OK, back to the ultra running...this will be hard to time. There are events in the spring and I think they have one here in Chicago in late fall. I really need to get more familiar with the sport before I can target any specific races. Actually participating in one might not happen until 2008...have to talk to some people and do some research.
4. Volunteer. I've volunteered at a few races this year. We all know our sport wouldn't be successful without the help of the many volunteers. Volunteering at this year's Ironman Wisconsin was a very rewarding experience. I'm not sure I will volunteer at that particular race again, but I will pick at least one, and hopefully several, races where I can help out. For all the racing I do and all the volunteers that have helped me out, this is the least I can do.
Well, those are the ones at the forefront of my mind. I have a few other ideas floating around in my head, but I'm not quite ready to share them. But that doesn't mean I will wait another whole year to start working on them, they just need more thinking through before I commit.
Here's to a healthy, successful, and of course, speedy 2007.
Bring it!
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