Training Begins, Bring on the Doubles

[Veronica]

It's hard being back at work and trying to train. For AM workouts this week I managed to do Core one day, a Spinervals one day and yoga one day. I was exhausted at the end of every day, so there were no PM workouts. 33 fifth graders will wear you out!

Yesterday Thom and I drove much of the Knoxville Double course. I'm doing the staff ride 9/22. He's doing SAG the actual day of the ride, 9/29, on the motorcycle and we both wanted to see what we were in for. There is a lot of climbing, about 12,000 feet, but no really long sustained climbs, like Hamilton. I think Howell Mountain, the second climb of the day, will be the worst. Hopefully it won't get too hot on Knoxville Rd. MP was right when she described it as kind of creepy. We're starting at 4:15 AM. I'm hoping to finish before dark at 7:45 PM.

Today Thom and I did 30 miles. It was an attack fest. Once we warmed up we kept attacking each other on hills, on the flats, whenever. He's naturally faster than I am, but I can push myself longer above my lactate threshold than he can. So as long as I could stay with him until he gave up, I'd "win." It was a lot of fun, although kind of painful at times. Fortunately this was a rolling course, that we do a lot, with some definite recovery zones - downhills!

It was really cool doing 30 mph side by side on a road closed to cars. It's slightly downhill and usually has a tailwind. On the first of the hills, 1/2 a mile, 6% average grade, he caught up to me, but couldn't pass me. He hollers out, "What are you doing?" I replied, "Circles!" He's always telling me to focus on my pedaling action, yelling circle, circle, circle at me as we ride. I was doing 9.1 mph at the top of that hill. I'm thrilled with that, since I usually top it at about 6 mph or less.

Towards the end on a fairly flat, but slightly upward tending section, we did about 6 miles where we tried to keep the speed between 19 and 20. Our average for that section was only 16 though because of all the stoplights. Gotta love suburbia! It was fun seeing how fast we could get back to 19 though.

We finished and Thom accused me of sandbagging on our last few rides. I told him I just didn't want to work hard before. Working hard hurts!

I was pleased when he said that he thought if I kept working like that, my climbing would get much faster. I've still got that goal of the stage race double centuries next year. I need to get a lot faster to finish Terrible Two within the cutoff.

Ideally I'd like to be training twice a day, 30 - 60 minutes in the morning, 90 minutes or so in the PM. That doesn't mean riding twice a day - training for me also includes the Core stuff, yoga and weights. I'll be happy if I can get in 3 AMs and 2 PMs this week. I have Back to School Night Thursday, otherwise I'd go for 3 PMs.

Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it.

V.

[Starfish]

Hey V, wow, what a great ride description! Gotta admit, sometimes I'm a little envious of how you describe all the great cycling you two do together. It just always sounds like you guys have such a healthy cycling relationship, in addition to your healthy marriage. So glad for you!! That's the way it should be.

Congrats on such speeds. How amazing to have roads closed to cars!

I saw that someone else called the Knoxville Road "creepy." Creepy how? Kind of intriguing.

And, boy do I hear you about training & working. These days, I'm doing 8-12 hours or so in the office, and then doing about 2-3 hours in the evenings at the family business. REALLY having a hard time training. Next week or so, the woman whose house I'm sitting will leave for southern climes, so I'll move the bike in on the trainer. And, this year, I'm going to invest in a couple Spinervals (which you recommended to me last year).

I DO wish you luck! Better you than me for your upcoming rides. But, next year, I am REALLY hoping to do the Shasta SUPER century, not just the SUMMIT century!! So, I really need to go into January with a great base, lower weight, and more strength/speed.

Rock on, Veronica!!

[Veronica]

Yeah, I feel really lucky to have such a great guy. Don't know what I did to deserve that. He's not perfect though. He leaves his dirty socks in odd places, wherever he happens to take his shoes off.

Knoxville Rd is like 30 miles long, about 1.5 lanes wide. There are no houses on it. A stream crosses it several times and in the rainy season, the road becomes impassible - according to the signs. There is barbed wire lining both sides of the road, sometimes right at roadside, sometimes back a bit.

Yesterday we saw lots of people camping on the edge of the road, all driving pick up trucks. Towards the end of the road we saw guys in cammies. I thought maybe it was National Guard, but Thom said the rifle he had was a hunting rifle. Just weird. I hope they are not out there in two weeks. Gun shots creep me out.

How much longer will the long hours go on Starfish?

V.

[maillotpois]

So does the course go up the back side of Cobb? I think that will be the toughest part, and I thought it did that - at least last year. Howell Mountain is a great climb - nothing steep. And it is early enough that you'll be glad to have a bit of a climb. I remember when we did Knoxville at the rest stop there in Yountville being colder than I have ever been on a ride in my LIFE - and I was so glad to hit Howell just to warm up a bit!!

Cobb (Loch Lomond or Seigler Grade or whatever) will be later, hotter, and it is steeper. Unless they're not doing it (she said hopefully)? That's what we had to do at Davis double this year with the course alterations. It blew.

Those are hunters on Knoxville Road. Wear bright colors and hope they don't aim toward the road. (I'm serious.)

[Veronica]

Yep, Seigler and Loch Lomond after lunch. They didn't seem too bad on the drive, but driving can be deceiving. The descent off Cobb looks great! There is a cheese hill sign that says 11% for 2 miles. On the past staff rides, lunch has been at the Foster's Freeze just before Seigler. Jesse warned me last week not to eat the French Fries. I think I'll have Thom bring me a PBJ.

Hunters... great. AV jersey it is. Unless you can think of a red and purple animal.

V.

[Starfish]

How much longer will the long hours go on Starfish?

Kinda hard to tell. I am starting up a new career. It is going quite well, so I'm excited. But, I need to be available when my ultra-busy mentor is in the office, so that I can learn. And, because it is straight commission, for the first 2-3 months or so, I am also still doing a little evening work in our family business, just to keep a little planned-for cash coming in.

The good news is that I really don't have a boss (except me), so I'm working on how to order my life so that I can take the bike to the office and make it easy for myself to get out during a spare hour during midday.

I think that despite the long hours, once I really see what the days are going to go like (and when my house-sit owner leaves), I will be able to squeeze in the shorter, weight loss workouts I need.

The good news is that despite the current long hours, they won't stay that way forever, and I am really enjoying myself so far, and there are some early signs that it is all going to work out just fine!

Also, despite my interest in getting into Triathlons, I have to admit, I went back over my Arnie Baker book last night, and I just feel really excited about continuing to pursue my biking goals. I think I might have one more year of just biking before I start seriously cross training. I'm definitely going to swim more this year, though. It is SUCH great cross training for the bike. That easy, 2-beat-kick for distance swimming is PERFECT recovery for cycling.

Oh, and MP's right. It is hunting season. We all should be careful about using our hi-viz stuff right now. When I had horses and lived out beyond the range of power, I festooned the horses with surveyor's tape, and I quit taking walks in the woods for awhile. Even so, one day, a bullet came whizzing through the yard! I'm not anti-hunting by any means, but I'll tell you, when I went out for my weekly target practice, I would ALWAYS walk all the way behind the barriers we would shoot against, just to make sure no one was back there...even though the barriers seemed to block all shots and were in established target practice areas.

[Veronica]

Hey that's great! I'm glad the new gig seems to be working out.

V.

[Starfish]

Hey that's great! I'm glad the new gig seems to be working out. V.

oops, sorry I kind of took over your thread with my huge reply!

Someday, at least once, I want to do a double like you can. So amazing to me.

[Veronica]

Ideally I'd like to be training twice a day, 30 - 60 minutes in the morning, 90 minutes or so in the PM. That doesn't mean riding twice a day - training for me also includes the Core stuff, yoga and weights. I'll be happy if I can get in 3 AMs and 2 PMs this week. I have Back to School Night Thursday, otherwise I'd go for 3 PMs.

Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it.

Well my week did not go as planned. I got in two AM workouts - Yoga and Core. By the end of today I'll have two PM workouts, only because we got out early today because of Back to School Night last night.

Monday Thom and I did a great mountain bike ride. It's a 3 mile climb with an average grade of 6% and a couple of super steep sections. I got distracted on one of the steep sections and had to step off. I tried it again and was so mad at myself for goofing up the first time. I messed up the second time. The third try at it, I was determined. This time that hill was going down!

After this steep section, the climb levels out a bit and I usually take it easy. But this time I actually got out of my granny gear and hit it hard so I could catch up to Thom. There is one more steep section and when I caught up to Thom, he suggested we race up the last section. I whined and told him I had nothing left. But he took off anyway, so I had no choice. I caught him, and he starts yelling stuff like, "Come on, beat me! Spin! Spin! Spin! Circles!" And I am just cursing him inside. This last section is a little more technical. It is a little loose and has some embedded rocks and so I'm concentrating on picking a good line and trying to go as hard as I can. He edged me out at the end. But then as we were drinking and catching our breath at the top, he says, "I thought you said you had nothing! That didn't look like nothing!"

The descent was what really made this ride. Since my accidents, mountain biking descents have filled me with trepidation. For no good reason - neither accident was on a gnarly descent.

I was still cautious on this one. But I was pedaling hard on all the little swoops up, instead of coasting. When Thom caught up to me back at the truck he said that it seemed like I was finding my mountain bike place again. My max speed was 31 on the descent.

Today I'm heading out for about twenty miles - just to stretch my legs a bit.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing Morgan Territory. That will be about 50 miles with around 3500 feet of climbing.

Sunday another mountain bike ride, but longer.

Ahhh... the work week.

I have a meeting with a parent Monday, a Leadership Team meeting on Tuesday, a staff meeting Wed. a meeting on Thursday about testing our ELD kids. I'll be amazed if I get in one after work ride next week.

Three AM workouts is the goal again.

I keep hoping things will get into a routine. Work is causing me a bit of stress. I've got a fairly good class. But I have one girl who can't read. Seriously, she cannot read much of anything. She's new to our district and needs so much help. I have 34 students in my room and someone needs to read her everything! I feel like a failure because I can't do it all. I can't meet all of her needs and help my other students. Almost all of them have some issues.

Time to go ride.

V.

[DirtDiva]

Urgh. Classes like that are such hard work.

[Veronica]

Yep, it's sad! I've taught nearly 500 5th graders in my 16 years of teaching and I don't recall ever having a student quite like this. Just talking to her can be an ordeal because she seems to have such a hard time processing. She tries though. I read every question to her on the quiz I gave on Friday and she answered every one. I can barely read it and a lot of them are incorrect, but she tried.

She's moved at least once a year every year she has been in school. That doesn't help her because as soon as a district begins to work on a plan - it looks like she has moved. Once she gets to middle school I'm afraid it will be all over for her and she will never learn to read.

Back on topic - only rode 8 miles today. Thom's rear derailleur cable snapped. But I still managed to lose two pounds this week.

V.