The first time I heard the saying ‘sweet as’ was close to 10 years ago, as Kayla and I were on a backpacker bus heading to Paihia from Auckland. The hip surfer dude driving the van kept saying it, to everything we or anyone would say, and the two of us kept looking at each other asking ‘what the heck is he saying??’. Sweet Ass? Sweetahs? Sweet…what?? Of course we finally learned that it was a Kiwi saying, much like we would say ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’. “Sweet as..” as in sweet as (insert the best thing you’ve ever experienced). I’ve always liked it, it’s just so simple and …open! I should say it more. And…it needs to be said...I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that trip.
The first time I did Wolfpen Repeats was 2 weekends ago. Wolfpen is one of the Six Gaps we athletes like to climb in north Georgia. Great training ground, and on any given weekend, you will find cyclists riding up and down any number of them. Of course, I’ve ridden Wolfpen before, quite a number of times, but never 4 times in a row, and NEVER with a brick run in between each ascent. When I first saw the workout in TP, I am pretty sure I blanched a little. Holy F#%$ is what I (am sure) I said.
Turns out, I literally LOVED this workout. Yes, I know,there’s potential grounds for asylum lockup there, but I am just going to say it. I loved it. I totally did not expect that. And it was not as hard as I truly expected it to be. Which yes, goes to the true magic of being in the moment and not projecting. It’s a cat 2 climb -- 3 miles rising about 1000’ ...about a 6% average grade (according to mapmyride anyway), with quite a few switchbacks. There are certainly sections that are way more than 6%.
The goal of the workout was to do each ascent faster than the last. And no, my wiley coach sets it up so you can’t sandbag it either, with target zones for each. #1 is strictly warming up the legs, getting ready for the day. #2 is a negative split in Z2. #3 is 70.3 pace (mid-upper Z3/low Z4) and #4 is faster!!. And, to make it even more fun, a corresponding 15 min run between each. Same deal on the run splits as with the bike. And I had awesome company with Carmen and April suffering along with me. Shared suffering always seems to make it so much better...and so much more fun.
Turns out I shocked the hell outta myself and nailed this workout. Like, NAILED IT. And that’s a great thing – it was prep for Knoxville 70.3 which is this weekend. The confidence I have going into this race is pretty high, thanks in large part to this workout. Combined with the Clover 9 from the previous weekend, and I’m feeling the most prepared for a race that I’ve felt in a really long time.
So Wolfpen Repeats – definitely Sweet as…
ALWAYS, stay in the moment. And please, donate to my fundraising efforts for Crohn’s and Colitis right here:
Happy training y'all.
Kat
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