Yesterday we did a great ride in the Gaps. For all my homies (aka those back home in Canada) these are mountain passes in north Georgia. Some serious climbing to be found here. Very popular with serious cyclists, and home of the famous Six Gaps Century held every September. I've only ridden in the Gaps once - that was the Brasstown Bald century in May. In that ride we did two of the Six Gaps, plus Brasstown (harder than the 6). The plan for our ride yesterday was to do 6 climbs, but doubling up on Neels Gap, leaving out Hogpen from the Six. Neels, Jack, Unicoi followed by a bunch of shit we like to call rollers followed by Neels, Wolfpen, Woody. Here's the profile from my garmin:
Drove up just past Dahlonega and pulled off in a random spot on the road, got the bikes set up and took off. Nice and early still, before 7. Here's Jim and Kevin at the start, still looking fresh. :) Damn, it was still cool, might almost say cold, as we took off downhill on our way to Turner's Corner to start up Neels for the first time. I was excited to get to this one...as I've said, it is a good replica of the first mountain climb at IMC, if not a bit tougher. Of course, I didn't know where the hell we were really, didn't know when we started that we were heading up Neels... I felt really good, going up, and really was focused on my heart rate. As Chris reminded me about a week ago - it's not about the power, it's about the heart rate zones. Check. So though I looked at the speed, and looked at the power, it was more out of curiosity and data gathering to see what I could do holding my target heart rate. Since we were going to be doing Neels twice, I was going to get some good comparative data out of the day. This first run up I tried to keep the heart rate around 160. This is a mid-high zone 2 for me, and a good target to see how I can hold up over a long tough ride. To be honest, I'm really not sure where Neels officially starts...if I look at Mapmyride it shows it split into two sections. The steeper second section is just over 4 miles at a 5% grade, according to their calculations, and they consider it to be a Cat 2 climb. I felt GREAT after we got to the top. I was certainly the last up, which would be the tale for the day as usual, but I don't think by too too much on this first climb, and I managed to pass several people. Once at the top, I looked at Chris and said - was that Neels? He says yep, that was Neels. Woohoo! Ok! So I'm not scared of Richter now!
After a rather prolonged "rest" stop for they guys, we continued on. And oh man! The glorious reward of the downhill!!! Damn I love it. Jim does too, and we sped down that mountain together. Despite the fact that Jim is much bigger than I am, I somehow do manage to really bust out those downhills. Passed by the road to the cabin where we got stranded at Christmas for several days with all the Georgia snow, and on to Jack's. I don't really like Jack's. It seems so much harder! And yet the map does not support that. Then Unicoi, which honestly I think was my favourite climb of the day. And second favourite descent.
Despite several in the group wanting to stop for a waterslide on the river, Coach would not let us. ;) We filled up on fluid though, and headed back to the "start". This meant going through a shitload of rollers...just gotta say - I'd rather climb mountains than ride through those freaking rollers. Hate them. They really take it out of me. That was all we did on that century last weekend, and you know, you just never can get into a rhythm. The guys definitely waited for me on that section - don't know for sure, but I'd guess more than on the actual climbs. I'd been feeling really great after the first 3 climbs, but now was definitely starting to feel a little tired.
So. Neels the second time. It was definitely harder, but I still did it, and it turns out not all that much slower. Couldn't keep my heart rate up quite to the same level, and the power dropped too. But I made it up, nonetheless. This is me at the top of Neels the second time around - and can I just say, I'm pretty sure the temp was a good 30 degrees higher than the first time too.
First time: 177 avg watts (holy crap), max 295 watts, avg HR 160, avg cadence 79
Second time: 142 avg watts (dang), max watts 289, avg HR 149; avg cadence 69
Interesting comparison. One might say I went a little hard on the first one. 177 average watts is pretty high for me. One would probably be right. :) Ah the endless learning that comes from all these training rides!! Most surprising, given the contrast in power, 28 minutes vs 31 minutes - not all that different.
Speaking of cadence - I switched over to a compact crank, and this was my first shot using it. And Holy Smokin Cadence Batman - what a difference!!! Not only did I have gears left going up Neels, look at my average cadence going up that mountain. Compare and contrast to recent similar rides, when I have seriously been down into holding 35-40 rpms going up these mountains! What a refreshing difference. My speed was up, my cadence was up, and I am saving my legs for the run because I'm not spending hours mashing the gears. Thanks to my main dude Curtis at www.cannoncyclery.com for getting that ordered and put on in short order! You rock Dude!! I love it, and it is going to make a huge difference at IMC.
After a short stop, and another freaking great speed-fest down Neels, we headed onto Wolfpen. This was a tough climb, and I have only one thing to say about it - that is a total bullshit downhill on the other side of that. It sucked!! However, redemption was provided with a short and comparatively easy climb up Woody and the best downhill of the day. Curves and turns are wicked crazy, but holy mackerel, it was AWESOME. According to my Garmin, I averaged 30.3 mph for 10 solid minutes coming down that gap. Peak speed of the day was 45.2 mph. AAAWWWEEESOME!!!!
One thing I did get right, or closer to right, today was my nutrition. Again, using the Infinit - 1500 calories today. I also tried the baked potato - and though I didn't eat much of it, it went down well, and worked to stave off the minor hunger pangs perfectly. And my stomach tolerated it well. Drank more water today than any other ride - I think about 130 oz if I calculate (and remember) correctly. Biggest difference for me today - I remembered to start early. I often find that I am not taking in enough in the first hour, and then find myself in a deficit situation - and once you are there, it is REALLY hard to get out. Oh, and some coke! Damn that stuff really works.
Thanks as always to the guys for letting me hang with them and waiting a few minutes while I try to keep up. Here are my boyz from Saturday...you guys are amazing, and thanks for making me faster.
Oh, and can I just say - look at our shiny new cycling kits!! They finally came in, and I have to say, although mine is WAY too big (I'm swimming in my small jersey), it was really cool to all be out there in our kits.
So today was my longest run of the year, and the final training session before I get to Recovery Week. First mile sucked. I told myself I had 2:15 to get done, so I needed to get my head out of that space. By the time I hit a mile and a quarter, I had myself turned around. Thought about Heather doing her Ironman in Austria, and with some quick calculations on time difference, thought at this time she is probably about to start her run. That actually helped me get through, though I turned out to be wrong on my knowledge of what time zone Austria is in. (Heather rocked her race by the way! Congrats!!).
Decided today that I would move out of my comfort zone, and take Chris's advice to do some long out and back runs to more closely mimic IMC. I did (almost) 16 miles today - an out and back route x2. No stopping today, with the exception of my "aid stations" which I set up every 2 miles or so, again, trying to mimic what I plan to do in the race. Certainly had a few out loud conversations with myself, that sounded a lot like "Ok girl, only 1:15 of running (...45 more minutes...12 more minutes) stands between you and a Recovery Week...let's go!"
Overall pleased with the run. First half slower than I'd like at a 9:05 pace, but the second half pretty good at an 8:27 pace, for about 7.5 miles. Very happy with my negative splits these days - this will reap dividends come race day. Overall 8:47 pace for 16 miles. Given this is a long run at the end of a long hard build session, I'm happy with this. Definitely humidity continues to be a factor - though I went out early, and the temp was only 73 when I finished, I literally left a puddle on the pavement when I stopped at the car. I'm not exaggerating. THAT is how humid it is. It is ridiculous!
So, here I come Recovery Week!!! YAY!!! A beer with the coach tomorrow after the Peachtree, and then lots of sleep for me! Gotta work hard at resting up this week. Don't forget kids - rest is just as important as training. (see I do listen).
Happy Training and Resting!!
Kat
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