wow… feelin’ GREAT April 29, 2006
Posted by Kylie in : General, running, Training Thoughts, biking , 10 commentsI just did an awesome ride (my first with the Inland Inferno Tri club). We rode out to the Santa Fe dam, and then climbed up GMR (Glendora Mountain Road). Now, I’ve done the dam ride before… it’s just under 40 miles round trip from the bike shop. With the addition of GMR it made for a 60 miler. And not just any 60 miler… but a 60 miler with just over 4700 feet of climbing! Hot damn. Heh. Oh, and was I done then? Nope… rode the 4 miles home right after the club ride, and turned it into a brick with a 4 mile run.
I felt really really strong today. Yes, most of the climb was very slow. But it was tons of climbing for me, and I did it. I climbed a road that has been somewhat intimidating to me. And I climbed it fairly easily (as far as HR is concerned). I got over my fear of just cruising up in my lowest gear (I’m often cautious about using it in case I turn a corner and have a steep hill. But hey, this way I don’t burn up my legs climbing in a higher gear. My run was floating on clouds… I just did it, and felt strong and smooth and powerful. Which is great after a ride with that much climbing.
Last week I did a 50 miler and a 3 mile brick run, and felt strong there, too. But it was a 50 mile ride with 3400 ft of climbing at 14.2 mph (3 hr 40 min), and then a 3 mi (30 min) run at a 9:33/mi pace. Today was a 60 mi ride with 4700 ft of climbing at 11.8 avg (5 hr 2 min) (70 mi total with riding to and from the start, but I’m not counting that in the elevation — also, the club regrouped a number of times). And the run was 4 mi (40 min) at a 9:43/mi pace. My HR stayed relatively low and comfortable the whole time 
And tomorrow is the first tri of the year! Ok, not a smart day before, but hey, I’m going with new clothes that I haven’t tested in the race, so I figured I might as well break every rule . Really, it’s a little local sprint (3.5 mi run, 10.5 mi bike, 150 yd pool swim) and reverse order. So it turns out it should be a great time to try out new stuff (since it’s shorter than many of my workouts, and since I’m doing it for fun). I’m excited to see the club folks there… they were great fun to ride with!
So I was going to skip the hill climb of the ride today. Was worried about being able to hang with the group, etc. Bobbi would have none of it… Bobbi is many times over an Ironman. She has started 17 of them, and finished 12. Oh, did I mention she was the oldest woman racing at IM AZ last year? She is in the 70+ division. Amazing, inspiring woman. I am lucky that she is in my club and that I got to ride with her. Oh, another inspiring rider today. His name is Alan. He was talking about how he doesn’t want to take the number off his bike… but will have to for Brazil. What number? Oh, just his number from Kona last year. He got 4th in his age group there… you know, the M75-79 group. And the other riders were great to talk with as well. I’m looking forward to the next ride.
So definitely as great day… I felt great and was surrounded by great people. I felt strong, and my fitness confidence was definitely boosted by it! Heh… I’m such a girl. Today leaves me feeling fairly in shape, and pretty. And boy was that pasta and veggies and bbq chicken great after the ride!!!
As for tomorrow’s race… bring it Should be good fun.
