Off to CA to the Waves to Wine, Bike MS150 Ride! :o)

Wow!! I can't believe it's finally here...well...almost.

First I have to apologize for neglecting this journal.  I have been so busy training and getting ready for the trip I haven't had much time to actually sit down and reflect all I have been through and what I am about to go through.

Tomorrow at 4 AM Ruby will get placed on her brand new bike rack, purchased just for this trip, my husband and I will sleepily hop in to the car...stop for a cup of joe so we can find our way out of town and start our 18 hour journey to California. Wow. 

My last few training rides have been going good. I did suffer a minor knee injury that has been causing problems and affecting my training, but I rested last night and feel it's definitely on the mend) I feel I have done all I can do to prepare for next weeks challenge. I have this crazy desire to really rock it in CA. I would love to ride fast and have it be easy.  I know that's asking a lot and know it's probably not realistic.  But, it is what my heart desires.  We shall see.

Okay, I'll confess I want to ride faster than my brother-in-law who is an ex-marine, star athlete, marathoner and triathlete.  I feel he has always looked down on me because of my "extra" weight and I would love to just really show him! :o)  There, I said it and I fully understand it is both unrealistic and just plain silly.  But a girl can dream, right?

This weekend I rode 75 miles, I didn't quite get to the elevation gain of the actual ride of day one next weekend. I will confess it was a tough ride for me.  For some reason I never really found my "zone" I tried, but I just never found it and the ride was never easy or enjoyable for me. When I finished the ride my confidence was pretty shot and I was starting to think next weekend might be a nightmare. The fast girl who was going to ride circles around her competition was nowhere to be found.  Up until this last weekend I was actually starting to feel like an athlete, dear I say endurance athlete. But, after this weekend I felt like anything but.

Tonight was completely different for me.  I went out for a 25 mile quick paced ride with the local bike group.  I found the ride to be very Zen for me.  It was like a meditation and helped me to regain my confidence. During the whole ride I was checking in, do I feel pain, nope I feel great. Do I feel tired, nope, I have lots of energy even after working all day...I can do this. Do I feel that feeling of hopelessness, nope, I a full of hope and confidence.

I might actually be ready to do this! Wow, feels great!

Tonight was exactly what I needed for next weekend. I have heard that an endurance event is 90% mental, well...I feel I am 100% mentally ready. I can and will do it.

Well,there it is. I am going to try and enjoy the ride and the experience and the scenery....I really will.  Honestly, I will be proud of myself for doing two MS150's in one year.



Well I'm Off to CA, wish me luck and I will be back to give a full report.

Hey! Why are you riding so much? Oh, I'm training...wanna see my plan?

During several group rides, I've told my riding-mates that I am following a training plan to prepare for the MS150 and thought I'd share it with all of you.  It has been SUPER helpful in getting me ready for both of the MS150's this year.  While I will admit that it is A LOT of riding and when I'm at the stage I'm at now, it tends to feel I am constantly on my bike.  It really does help to prepare you for the magnitude, length and give you the endurance needed to complete the event semi-comfortably. I say semi-comfortably because it does take effort, and my definition of comfortable is more like lounging on my couch with my pup cuddling next to me while I'm watching a great chick-flick. Riding 150 miles in two days is not that, but it's an different kind of great. :o)

Okay, here is the plan, if you're interested: 

"1) Take a rest day—here it is on Thursday, but you can adjust to meet your personal schedule. 2) Try to ride most days of the week - especially getting closer to the ride date. 3) Don’t increase your weekly total more than 10-12%. To do so risks injury. 4) “EASY” means relax. This is a recovery period for your body. 5) “BRISK” means 2-3 miles per hour faster than your target speed for the ride 6) “PACE” means your target speed for the day of the MS150 7) The big mileage days on Saturday are critical to the program. It doesn’t have to be on Saturday, but they should be more than 4 days apart, and once a week. Program to help you ''comfortably' complete the MS150" More from the blog: http://teampwcms150.blogspot.com/2007/02/training-schedule.html

Please note that I found the training schedule here: http://teampwcms150.blogspot.com/2007/02/training-schedule.html

I just finished week 8 and am embarking on week 9. I have actually deviated from this schedule quite a bit, changing the mileage to fit my schedule (adding mostly or incorporating a spin class).  You'll see that I was supposed to ride 65 miles on Saturday, but rode 25, making Sunday my big day ride, 50 miles, and 50 miles today instead of the suggested 15. I am finding that it's pretty easy and takes little effort to complete a 50 mile ride, so I'm hoping that jumping to a 75 mile ride in a little less than two weeks will be easy as well. 

I am trying really hard during this training schedule to not feel so run down.  I felt really run down when I trained for the first MS150, but to be honest...I don't think I rode as much, rode alone mostly (endurance sports is mostly psychological, so spending hours upon hours alone can take a toll). But most of all, and this I think is the key, I hardly did ANY hill training.  As you know from my frustrating blog entries, I've done TONS of hill training this time around, I think that will not only help during the actual event with the hill climbing, I think it will help with my endurance as well (at least I hope it will).

I think I can feel myself getting to be a better and stronger rider, but still do not feel like I'm ready for the big event weekend.  I am going to try and ride 100 miles this weekend, I'm hoping that will give me to confidence to know I am ready.  (fingers crossed)

I will be back later to report about how this weekend's rides went, for the most part I think they went well.  I will be back with details.

Back to the scene of the climb...hill climb that is

So, as reported on my last entry, I promised to tackle that hill climb that we did last Thursday a few more times to see if it would get easier and I would become more efficient. Today was day 1 of fulfilling that promise to myself.

I had volunteered to valet park bikes at the farmers market this afternoon from 11 AM to 2 PM.  So, I needed to get this challenge done before then. I actually ended up oversleeping a little and woke up about when I was supposed to leave, oops! At first I was starting to talk myself out of it. But, then I said, naw...you really need to do this. Put your bike clothes on before you wake up too much and realize what you're done. Ha! Success, bike clothes on before I was completely awake and couldn't change my mind. Next, only one thing do...tackle this blasted hill.

I am happy to report that I successfully climbed the hill. What is a success you ask? I climbed it without thinking I was going to have a heart attack. I did manage to still go slow, I think at one time I looked down and my speed was 4.5, but I did it...I made it...and well, it was almost pleasant. Okay, I wouldn't go that far...I'll just stick with the I didn't feel impending cardiac arrest starting to set in. I'm proud to say my heart stayed (semi-comfortably) lodged in my chest.  I snapped a pic on my way down (yes I was stopped) you don't really get the full impact, but it was sure fun riding down that crazy hill I just conquered! :o)

Here is the view of the mountains near the top of the hill:

And here is the view down the hill I'd just climbed...you can see it, but I an promise you that the ascent goes on for miles...and miles...and miles. ;o) Okay, only bout 8 miles..but that's miles and miles, right?

 

The other good news, is that I finished the ride and still felt like I had enough energy to help out at the farmers market for 3 hours, running around parking bikes. 

The bad news is, I am a pretty tired girl right now and am wondering how I will do on my ride tomorrow. 

Oh, my ride, I didn't tell you guys about that.  I am riding 50 miles, a pretty difficult hill climb.  The one above is a 7% grade, the one tomorrow is 11.5% grade. Yikes! The good news is that it's only 50 miles (the ride, not the climb) but still....I am a little worried I will lag behind and keep everyone from going as fast as they want.  But, I've already decided that I am going to tell them to go ahead if I lag behind, I know they area fairly well and can find my way home.  I am certainly not going to race.

In other news, I got to park a bike identical to my new bike at the market today. :o) It is so freakin' adorable!! I got a chance to talk to the owner and she was gushing about it and said she LOVED it!! She also said the bike was great on hills (which I was worried about, cruisers are typically horrible on hills with their limited gearing).  But, she said the gearing was great. Yay!! Now, it just needs to get here!! Grrrrr. 

What goes up, must go slow.....

First things first, I am excited to say that I went ahead and picked the adorable Woman's Trek bike from the previous post.  I think I would have been disappointed if I didn't get it. So, I went ahead and made the leap.  Now, I get to wait for delivery...they are shipping it to me. Yippee! 

So now back to that crazy tittle of this post...

Yep, I think that is my motto when climbing hills on my bike. I seriously don't get it and I can honestly say I am super frustrated with my hill climbing.  Well, between you and me....I think I know what it is...but I don't know what I can do about it. I think it's my weight. It makes perfect sense,pulling all of this weight up a hill is going to slow me down, no matter now strong I am.

I feel like I'm doing everything right, I'm climbing, challenging myself with difficult hills. I am going to spin class to increase strength and endurance and I am seeing improvements on the flats, I can average (comfortably) a pace of 20 miles (once warmed up :o) but put me on a challenging hill and not only to I should like a freight train, but my speed slows to a snail, honestly and snail could probably pass me!

I had a really great ride tonight, and feel I did pretty good, except for that hill.  So, on Saturday, I'm going to do the exact same ride and see how I do.  The only thing I can think of (and I read this in an article somewhere) is to pick a challenging hill and do it over and over and over again until it's not only doable but easy.  Supposedly this is supposed to help wiht hill climbing.  I feel like I've done everything else (except lose weight, which I've tried...but no luck) so I am going to climb, climb, climb that challenging hill and see what that does for me.

If that doesn't work...well...I guess I will just rock the flats and have my friends take a break and wait for me at the top of this hills. It will still be fun, right? :o/