Easter Hill Country Bike Rally Report - 4/10/04

Short Version:
Friday - 75 hilly miles - fabulous wildflowers
Saturday - 75 hilly miles (of planned 102)
Sunday - Off day due to rain (wuss)
Monday - Off day due to surprise Stars hockey tickets

Long Version:
I had initially planned to ride 71 miles on Friday (+ 30 min. run), 102 miles on Saturday and 41 miles on Sunday (+ 30 min. run). It was not as massive as planned, but good. Most importantly, I think I've got my saddle issues worked out and my legs felt great for the rides that I did do :)

Friday:
We ended up riding 75 (got lost in first mile - oops) & then running for 20 minutes afterwards and could've kept going - HR was good & no side stitches. Friday's ride was hilly and the wildflowers were awesome! Perfect day!

Saturday:
I'd planned on riding the 102 route, but knew bad weather was to roll in later in the day - so had some concerns (I don't ride in the rain, especially on hilly courses I'm not familiar with). My legs were a bit tired to start, but I kept ahead of my riding partner through the first 50 miles. Right about then, she hooked onto a group and they pulled her up to me and then I hooked on to the group too! That was nice and I was having no problems hanging on! The storm started to roll in about mile 65, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, the wind picked way up & I decided I'd sag it in at mile 85 (before it really hit & then I wouldn't be able to get a ride). We hung w. the group until at mile 75 when at a low water crossing I was going up the hill on the other side & dropped my chain. As I'm spinning my cranks madly, going nowhere fast uphill & there's a car behind me, I'm certain I'm going to just fall over in the middle of the road. But, I manage to get unclipped, not topple over & do not get hit by the car. The car goes around me & pulls over, I look up & it is my friend John. To me, this is a SIGN FROM GOD - so I load up my bike & jump in. We catch up to the group, who has now stopped and one of them is coming back to look for me. I let them know I'm sagging & also take their picture & thank them for the 20 mile pull!! Not 10 minutes later it starts to pour! I am SO glad I was in John's car - he's my Saint!! After the ride I hear the three people in that group flatted at mile 85. Then another flatted about a mile later. My riding partner got a sag in about then & upon unloading her bike from the sag vehicle realized she had a flat too - good thing she's sagged because at that point the group was out of tubes, CO2, etc. She'd have been walking her bike....

Sunday:
The storm that moved in on Saturday stuck around through Sunday - 45 degrees, 15 mph winds and rain. Had planned to ride 41 miles, but no riding for me! Instead we headed back to Dallas w. a stop at my parent's house for enchiladas & Easter candy - yum! So, Sunday was an unplanned off-day.

Monday:
Since I'd taken off Sunday, I knew I needed to get in a good run and swim on Monday after work. But, I got a phone call Monday morning with an offer for Suite/Box seats to the Stars/Avalanche game and...... whoops - two off days in a row!! WOOHOO!!

Happy Training,
Kate

Du-2-Du Long Course RR - 4/4/04

Short & Sweet Version:
5K 25:23.1 (8:08/mile)
T1 0:43.1
40K 1:20:56.6 (19.3 mi/hr)
T2 0:53.2
5K 26:01.8 ( 8:20/mile)

Overall 2:13:57.8
2nd Athena (out of two), but no hardware as R.D. didn't order past first place for Athena :(

Long Version (WOW - this is REALLY long for a "D-Race" - sorry):
Saturday (day before Du-2-Du):
Went down to Salado, TX for a rally on Saturday and Coach Debi had told me to go ahead & ride the 102 mile route easy. Well, the rally was very small and from mile 35 on, I was by myself, without another biker in sight between rest stops. When I got to mile 75, where the 86 & 102 mile routes split, I decided that I'd gone a bit harder than I'd anticipated, especially w. no one to draft of, and decided to cut the ride short at 86 miles. Not to mention, I've been having some saddle issues and my pubic bone literally felt bruised at this point. (This is very relevant, 18 hours later). The rally was excellent with some good hilly routes and decent roads, so I plan to head back to this area for some IMC training later this year. Arrive home about 7 pm, stopped by a co-workers birthday party for a margarita (scarfed down lots of tasty food here, as was starving by this time) and then home and in bed by 10 PM (which was really 11 PM due to DST). Rally was 86 miles w. total time of 5:03, ride time 4:53 (17.7 mph).

Sunday - Race Day:

Wake up at 5:15 AM (which FELT like 4:15 due to DST) and get dressed, coffee, powerbar and out the door by 5:45. Arrive at race site about 6:15, pump tires (in the dark), and head off to set up transition. Decide I don't want to walk to transition, so I'll ride my bike the 1/4 mile. Oh My God - Very Bad Move. I had just put my "seat" on notice of what was in store for it for 25 miles - it wasn't pretty.

There was actually two races this day, the Long & Short Courses. Long course went off first in two waves (40 and under, then over 40s). Didn't mention Athenas/Clydesdales, so I assumed you were to go off w. your age and I went w. the first wave.

Run 1: Had a nice 5K and legs weren't really complaining about the previous day's ride. Of course, I got passed by the speedy people in the second wave, but am used to that, so no big deal. 25:33.1 (8:08/mile)

T1: 43 seconds (uneventful)

Bike: This is where it got UGLY. Flat course, with a couple sections over the lake, so the wind can really blow. Somewhere around mile 8, I decide that I have Never, Ever in any race, ride, rally, ironman, etc. suffered as much as I was at that moment! My bruised pubic bone was screaming, my quads, calves, gluteus, shins, feet - everything was rebelling all at once. I almost broke down and cried, but did some serious self-talk (out loud - I think I may have scared some of the people that passed me). I passed about 10 people & about 10 people passed me - but I wasn't paying attention if these were Short or Long course participants - didn't really care. Finally, talked myself into a groove and was convinced it was all about the training, focus on IMC and get through today - it worked, but it sucked. 1:20:57 (19.3 mph) - very happy w. this average speed.

T2: 53 seconds (got sunglasses wrapped up in helmet chin-strap, so a few extra seconds there).

Run 2: By this time, the first place finishers were coming in and I was heading out. Legs felt strong and rest of body was SSOOO happy to be off the bike! The run was really spread out and the last mile is an out and back, so you get to see who is ahead of you. I didn't see many women in front of me that I thought were Athenas, and there were only two people within about 1-2 minutes right in front of me and they were both guys - tried to catch the one in the red shirt, never did, but didn't let him get any farther away either. 26:01 (8:20/mi).

OVERALL: 2:13:58

Thought I might have gotten first in Athena, which would have been pretty exciting for me, considering the hard riding I'd done the day before. But, alas, apparently the one other Athena (who was 33 years old) started in the Over-40 second wave. So while I never saw her (because she started 4 minutes behind me), she beat me by 45 seconds........ Kinda bummed me out, just wondering if I'd known she was in front of me - could I have pushed myself to catch her? Guess I'll never know. Oh yeah, the fact that I didn't get any hardware for my second place finish didn't make me too happy either!

If you read this far, you really should get a life :)

Train happy, be safe,

Katie