Today our tired asses rode the Gaps. Well, actually, a Gap. Times 3. You guessed it - Neels Gap and Neels Gap and Neels Gap. Mo and Z were my riding companions for the day. Lucky Girl!! Thanks Coach Amy for letting Mo ride along with us today. ;)
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| Z and the Italian Stallion at the top of Neels |
Learned a lot today on the ride. We parked a ways off from Neels, just under 7 miles, giving us about 20 minutes of warmup on the rollers before we hit the big boy. My goal was to see if I could go a little lighter up the first time and stay consistent over the multiple climbs. Truth be told, I'm still not clear on my target for the race. And while I am not 100% certain yet, I will likely not have power on my race wheels. I could if I wanted to...could rent the TSF zipps with power (assuming they're still available)...but that throws in a whole 'nother issue around tubulars, and I'm still debating on that one. So, at this point, I have to focus in on what my heart rate is so that I can try to replicate it in the race. With that in mind, I decided that I'd put a HR cap of 155 on the first climb, and see where that got me. We started the lap timer right at the very bottom, at Turners Corner. From that point, it is a 7.5 mile, 1750 foot climb. Actually, it is technically two climbs split up by a small plateau - the first a Cat 4 over 2.2 miles, and the second a Cat 2 over 4.2 miles. I managed to stick to my heart rate ceiling on all but the very last push where the grade is a little steeper, and only bumped out of range for a few seconds. I hit the top at 44:30, with an average power of 166, and average heart rate of 145. I promptly proceeded to fall off my bike, while standing, left foot still clipped. Nice, Kat. Thankfully there were no other riders up there yet, so my only witness was Mo. Been a while since I did that!! Knee is actually a little sore and stiff, exactly what I don't need right now, especially heading into an 18 mile run tomorrow. So will be icing that all night. Oh, and ran into Yellow Jersey from last week's ride at the top of the mountain! Pretty funny.
Then came the fun part! Downhill!! Damn I love it. I will say I have noticed that I've lost a little of my top end speed with the compact crank, though it is absolutely worth it on the uphill. Still managed to peak out at 42 mph. Mo also loves the downhill, and so we raced down together, flying around those curves, banking left then right then left again; over and over. My favourites are the ones that have the "SLOW 20 mph" posted; they're the tightest curves and therefore provide the best slingshot effect! You do definitely have to "FAUkus" on these ones though! (that's focus for those not versed in Mo's Italian accent). First time down, we hit it in 17 minutes. Pleased to tell you we managed to smoke that time with the next two descents. 16:28 in the second, and 16:07 in the third (though Mo actually beat me down the third time, so he was even faster).
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| The Flying Foreigners |
As said, we originally had planned to do 4ish climbs, but after 3, we decided it was enough, we've had long weeks, and quality runs today and tomorrow are paramount. Plus we still had 7 miles of rollers back to the cars, and it was more uphill on the way back. Besides, I "accidentally" logged an extra 35 minutes on Thursday night, getting lost from Z's house back to TSF. Yep, if there was a wrong turn to be found, I found it. Not once, but THREE times. Riding around Roswell with no FREAKIN clue where I was. And the only time I haven't had my phone with me! Anyway...
On the drive home, I realized it wasn't even noon yet. Quite unusual to be done our long ride so early! Before noon, yet Z and I were both yawning like a couple of toddlers past their bedtime. Nevertheless, we got there and headed out for the run. Always glad to have Chris run with me, as he pushes me harder than I sometimes push myself, all without really saying anything. It had been raining while we were in the Gaps, so humidity was higher, and of course the sun decided to make an appearance. Z used to live in the neighbourhood too, so we went his route. Out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing, especially as we get closer to the big day. Round the 17 minute mark, we were going up what seemed like a hill - though when I look at the elevation profile we ran, it is barely even a blip - I started feeling shaky. It was almost instantaneous. One second fine, next one not. I knew I needed calories. Downed a gel, some water, a wee sip of coke, and was off again. Actually was really good to push myself to that moment of waiting just a little too long...get that memory imprinted into my brain so that I can avoid it in the race, or at least recognize it right away when it comes. It did take about 10 minutes to really start feeling good again, but it did come. So ended up running my longest run ever off the bike - 7.7 miles, and at a truly amazing (for me) 8:14 pace. REALLY happy with that. As Z said, 8:30 pace in the race will feel slow compared to this, so it's all good. My coach is the best. :)
So, a really great training session today, with two really great guys. Lots learned, all critical to my success at IMC. Missed Kevin and James today, and Jim too, hope you guys are tapering up well, and can't wait to track you (along with Rod and Ilana) NEXT WEEK!!!! Man, it's gonna be a TSF explosion at Placid!
Happy Training!!
Kat
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