Sunday, October 2, 2011

Running after Levis

After a big event I'm usually tired and need time to recover...but in this training mode of building mu my body I need to do long rides and runs at the weekend.

So I woke up after a long sleep (lovely to catch up on the hours, but the dreams are still not very restful) of 10 hours!

And decided to get out there for  run. Saw a organized run ad was tempted but decided to go out on my own...getting stronger about this and good practice for me. Thought I'd explore the area and would run to the Piers along the water...felt like a good distance and some nice natural sights in there. Went to Pier 39 and saw the sea lions! bark bark



Was a lovely day as well with the sun shining....made it easier to get outside.

Final run was 10 miles and a 10:10 minute mile pace. Did a run-walk approach and good to know I can keep a good pace like this for longer distance....will continue to work on the speed and the distance as a combo....seen a nice marathon in Las Vegas in a few weeks that looks tempting....

run stats...happy there was no elevation today!

Levi Gran Fondo - Another Century on the Books

Another bike century on the books! The Levis Gran Fondo was in town, I had missed registration, and it was 4 hours before the transfer deadline was up.

this race has cool shirts!
I scoured facebook and saw a Gran ticket (103 miles) and was thinking I would go for the Medio (60 mile) race option.

But I signed up for the full....and thought I'd decide in the week....when my bike trainer coach at M2 revolution sad "you are a sponge and under trained...you should get as many of those under your belt as you can before Arizona"

So I guess decision made at that point...I was thinking...take it easy, don't wear the body out....and I guess I was just taken the easy route!
Levis Gran Fondo route

Turned up and found it was a BIG race with over 7,000 people involved, all with a mass start. So that was fun to take 15 minutes to get over the start.
7000 biker mass start
Not that I was going for a "goal time" on this race. Let's just look at the elevation....holy cow!! race map says 9,000 and my garmin says 10,000 elevation. Either way, a lot more than my biggest ride at ~4,000.



Goal = finish with out being road kill


Had the usual hub-ba-ba-loo getting to the start line. Had 3 flat tires last week, so cleaned out my tire rims. Then checked it all the nigh before and another flat tire??? Changed t up and the tube had a hole...so 5 flats in 7 days. Jeez! One more change and good to go....

The morning of went to pedal around the parking lot and my gears would not change? My chain just kept falling off. I know how to fix that one, but not the gear change?? Found a helpful van quick pronto and he looked at me like I'm stupid and said "blah blah isn't connected, no wonder!" To which I smiled and said "can you fix it?" Some cable thing tightened and off I go....

Race Start
Started off strong, first 20 miles were nice and easy cadence to warm things up. Chain came off from my bad gearing change, but a quick 1...2 and back on again.

Then comes the tough part...7 miles of non-stop uphill. Good for a couple but then had to stop and breathe.
hills that never stopped
I noticed everyone was looking at me with a weird face....so I asked why..."cause you are crazy doing this hill race on a time trial bike." Hmmm...agreed...Christmas pressies people...need a road bike for hills

getting my breath back on the hills

My standard pattern in biking is 20% feels great. 20%-40% is my mindset funky junkyard. When I get to 50% I always cheer up saying "if I got halfway then I can certainly finish" and after that just keep counting the % with a happy face on me. Last 20% I try and push it with all I have left.

This race was no different...the added fun was the weather. In my 20-40% funky town mood the weather decided to get horrible! I mean fog you could not see more than 10 feet in front of, rain that spat at your face with, and cold that made my legs so cold I had no warmth in the muscle to move them with....uuurgggh!
the weather was not my friend....see the fog and rain
I nearly quit at the Mile 45 rest stop....so many people looked like they did...and shouts of "roads are slick and dangerous and steep....watch out" just made me scared that I was gonna die.  I don't know why I kept going...just seemed like I thought "1 more mile and then you can stop" and then a "get to the lunch stop for a sandwich then you can stop"...."just get to the ocean"....

Well soon it was the Mile 75 stop at the ocean and there was no rain, just wind and cold, and 1 more kick-ass hill (that I walked for a good section of). Good at least to have a nice view for a minute.....whilst I crouched behind a truck and liberally applied some chamois cream (party in the pants returned for a happy biker!)

some ocean views to ride along...but that weather! uurggh

carried on and after mile 85 knew it was time to bring it and took advantage of have a time trial bike...aero position, hammering it on the bike in a great gear and cadence...thinking "i could soo run after this"

Wasn't exactly in the top group for this. I think the top finishers are in a 5 hour range and I was like 9 hours + (it could even be as bad as 10 hours!) but again my goal was to finish and feel strong. And I did. Eating all that food and resting at each stop made a big difference to how I felt at the end...a big note for me to consider as I would be doing a marathon at this point...
the results from my watch

at the end...loving this hair...looks great after a 103 miles!
Goal = finish without being road kill (ACHIEVED - See Sunday!)