Sunday afternoon at about 3:30 (ok, and maybe a *few* miles before that) literally every muscle in my body hurt. And a few things that aren't technically 'muscles'. lol. But man, did I feel good. That muscle between my ears felt AMAZING. I had ridden a total of 220 miles - 120 on Saturday and 100 on Sunday. Back to Back Centuries (and then some!). What???!!! All with my new tri family at Dynamo. It's hard to even begin putting this experience into words. There is one thing for sure - the mind is a powerful thing, whether we choose to use it for good or evil is what it's really about.
I walked into the cabin at Callaway on Friday night and said, okay well I pretty much don't know anyone here (and then I saw Vallee!), but I'm Katrina. One of the best parts of the weekend, in all honesty, is this group just welcomed me like I'd been a part of them for a while, and it was pretty fantastic. As I said to my roomie, Tanya, that night, and Linda, while riding on Sunday, I just felt like it was a Family, and that I was already part of it. Later that evening, I had a dialogue with Christine (who I first met via Vallee at the inaugural San Juan 70.3 in 2011) that went like this:
me: "I'm a little freaked by the idea of 120 miles tomorrow"
C: "how long has Matthew been your coach"
me: "since January"
C: "ok, so you might have had the 'don't project' speech by now."
me: "not really, but I think I know what you are talking about"
C: "well.... don't project. if he didn't think you could do it, it wouldn't be on your plan"
Right! Pretty straightforward. And actually rather encouraging. (thanks Christine!) And so I didn't. And when Saturday morning came, I got dressed and got out there. Super huge thanks to Linda for loaning me a Dynamo cycling vest (and her favourite one to boot!), it really made me feel like part of the team. Love you for that!
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| Saturday Group |
And off we went. I knew my marching orders. Get out there and ride Z2, in such a way that I could back up that ride with one as strong or stronger on Sunday. Tall order. And pretty much I rode alone as a result. I knew I had to stay at or under about 130-135 bpm. I could not be focused on power numbers. And more importantly, I couldn't try to keep up with anyone but myself. Definitely had to check the ego. I was basically last of the 120 group to arrive at each rest stop. Not by a lot I don't think, but still last. In the past I definitely would have busted my ass to keep up, and the reality is that I would not have been able to finish. So I knuckled down and kept within my own limits.
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| Lunchtime for the 120-milers |
Had a good long lunch stop at the 62 mile mark. I was hanging in but not what I would call 'great'. Big thanks to Grover for his awesome PBJ sandwiches - I completely misunderstood the lunch instructions and so found myself without much to eat, but he had turned back early, and so I got to eat his sandwiches. (yes, gluten and sugar bans be damned at this point). And I will just say this - his patented 'Peanut Butter Barrier' really does work. We took off and I stayed with the group for a bit, got a nice pull for about 15 minutes, but then had to back off - even with the pull my heart rate was too high (which is funny to say that since it was only just breaking 150, something I would have NEVER considered 'high' before, but rather my target for a ride like this). At the next stop, about 80 miles, I left early in an attempt to not hold everyone up again, since they were all kind enough to wait for me each time.
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Back to it after lunch, and
yep I'm bringin up the rear! |
Around mile 85, I really started hurting. My glutes were honestly the biggest issue. Damn Ass. ;) They hurt so bad! But I kept pedaling. By 90 miles, I was hitting a wall. I was on the verge of that 'triathlete body tension cry reaction' as I like to call it, when your body is just so tired, and mentally you are tired, and at least for the women I talk to (and some of the men!) the automatic reaction to release that stress is to cry. I've talked about it here before, and at least for me it isn't so much an emotional cry but a simple physical reaction to the physical stress. I couldn't fathom the idea of another 30 miles. I kind of decided then that I would get through the next 10 miles, and SAG it back. Now this time around I didn't actually cry but that may have been because about that moment Vallee caught up to me. She wasn't with me for long, but long enough to get my mind off the tension, and focus back to the remaining few miles to the SAG. Glad to say I had left at pretty much the right time from the last rest, because the last of the group caught up to me just as we pulled up to the final rest stop. I rode up and said 'I'm ready to carve', grabbed a coke, and lay down for a second on the verge of the road. Thankfully I did get up before the Subway truck came by ;) We had some seriously rib-cracking laughs at some very witty comments, and then I decided "Fuck it. I'm doing it. If I have to spin all the way back to Callaway, I'm going the distance."
After all, it doesn't normally look like that ;)
And I did. It was damn hard, but I committed and I did it. And let me tell you the last section had some serious hills. And also. It's amazing how inexplicably comforting a PBJ sandwich can be in moments like this. When it's kind of mushed up just a little bit, and the peanut butter and the bread have joined together in such a way that they have become one...if you didn't have to take your lunch on the bus to Catholic school and eat in the gym with everyone, maybe you won't understand...but I was sure grateful to have Grover's perfectly made PBJ with me on that last 20 mile leg.
When I got back to the cabin, after showering, and starting to eat, I had to check to see if that had in fact been my longest ride ever. And sure enough, it was. Previously that record was 113 miles. What caught me off guard though was that I hadn't ridden more than 63 miles since IMC. August 2011. I honestly forget sometimes that it has been that long since I have done real endurance training. And in retrospect, I am so glad I did not look at that before. Given the choice of distance, I would have chosen 80. Maybe 100. Never 120.
And then it was Sunday. I got moving, and Carmen asked me how long I was going. We were at mile 1. I said, "I'm supposed to do 100. But honestly, I feel like that is impossible right now. So I'm not focusing on that. I'm focusing on this mile. We'll see what happens." I honestly felt like I was in serious trouble in that first leg. Linda, my fast friend, god love her, hung back and rode with me that first 20 miles. I had already fallen quite a ways behind, and I could see from my power that it was going to be a tough day. (umm hello. that's projecting.) In today's first leg, my power was where yesterday's last leg had been. And so we rode (the toughest section too I must add) and chatted. And suddenly it was 53 minutes in. She took off after the first rest, but I had conquered that first part, and I was ready to keep going. And I did. And I got stronger. The middle 20 miles was my best. Somewhere I found some extra power, though I wasn't consciously trying for that. I was riding strictly by feel. I turned at 50 miles, and man, the wind. It had been rough on Saturday. It was way rougher on Sunday. Scott had also turned at 50, and I was catching up with him at each rest stop. I was definitely resting a lot less Sunday than Saturday. Partly because I had a plane to catch. And thank God for Scott and the few good pulls I managed to get from him. Helped so much. And helped to periodically have someone to wallow in misery together with, lamenting over the wind. Our last SAG was at mile 75 and the thought of another 25 at that point was a little bit of misery. Again, mile 85 was just killing me. And Sunday it was more than the glutes. I was riding my roadie, since the tri bike is in Richmond. MAN did I miss my aero bars. My hands/wrists/shoulders were just killing me. And I could NOT find a comfortable place on the saddle. And that was right from the beginning of the ride. Add that to the obvious muscle pain and it was tough going. After the 75 mile stop my left achilles tendon was really really sore. The sides of my feet really hurt. Let's just say, there was a lot of 'M-Fer!'coming from my Focus, and by the time I got to mile 90 - "You have ridden 210 miles this weekend, you are not giving up now in the last 10 miles, get your ass moving!" I literally could feel my quads starting to seize up around 93, and realized I couldn't stop moving the legs even on the downhills, or they might not start again. Mile 94 I caught up to Scott again, and we brought it home. And it was AWESOME. Beyond Epic.
And ya, at the end of each day I did a quick run too. But that's triathlon. It's what I do.
Here's the thing guys. Yes, I got some seriously good time in the saddle. More than I ever thought possible in one weekend. I worked the muscles in my legs. But the biggest win here? truly? -- the muscle between my ears. I just continue to be amazed at the power of believing. It's one thing to say it, and really, to believe it...but it's a whole 'nother thing to experience it on this level. I worked that muscle from a confidence perspective, AND I worked it from the angle of reinforcing this idea of a real base. I struggled over the weekend with whether I was being true to the workout. Was I pushing too hard? Can I back this up on Sunday? Am I going to be tired from the volume (intended) or from intensity (not intended)? I struggled with falling back into old habits and pushing to metrics and trying to keep up. (I definitely won that one!)
And today I can say with confidence that I did stick to the plan. Ya, it was hard to walk around Sunday night. The three hours in the car and the hour+ on the plane immediately following the ride didn't help that. :) But Monday and today, I feel great. Tired, but not sore.
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| GREENies ready to rock and roll |
Huge thanks to Coach for giving me the workout he knew I could do even if I didn't. Huge thanks to Shanks and
All3Sports for providing some awesome SAG support. Huge thanks to Linda, Tanya and the rest of the girls in my house for an awesome team camp experience. Huge thanks to the whole Dynamo family for the amazing support and 'family-ness' that I experienced this weekend. It was just fantastic. I'm so excited to be GREEN.
Happy Training!
Kat
