HOLY CRAP… in 2.5 weeks I'll be in Mont Tremblant for Ironman. How did the time go by so quickly!
After a pretty tough weekend training wise (mentally), I knew I had to get back at it and quick to build back my confidence leading into the biggest race of my life (like literally, the longest race I've ever done). Yesterday I got out and went for a 60k ride with a good training buddy, stopped at the bake shop in Erin and got some good hill training in along the way. I got home feeling pretty good, and set about changing my bike tires. I had a brand new pair sitting waiting for about this time - so got that done, and boy do they ever look nice.
Then today I got up and met Trent (one of the best training buddy's EVER) - to ride long. We started in Caledon East, head out along old base line up towards Erin. There is a stretch that is about 2.5k from Mclaughlin to Creditview (past the badlands) that is ALL uphill. Actually very similar terrain as the Lac Superior section at Mont Tremblant. I got up that quite well today - and felt really strong to boot. We continued on getting only slightly lost up near Orangeville - and then head into Hockley. As we were riding up Hwy 10 (thankfully a fairly short ride as it's a busy road) the rain starting coming down big time! We were lucky and able to stop at a gas station for shelter, and thankfully in about 15min the rain eased up and we were on our way to the Hockley general store. At this point there had been a lot of hills so from hwy 10 basically to the general store was a nice long swooping downhill. It was lovely. You work so freaking hard to get up those hills so a nice downhill section is just such a wonderful.
Trent and I stopped at the Hockley general store and had the best Bacon Grilled Cheese EVER! Seriously it was incredible. Just what we needed about 80km into the ride. At this point Caron Shepley called. She knew we were out riding and I guess there was a nasty storm where she was, so she thought we might need a rescue. Luckily we really didn't get caught in too much of a storm - actually the sun was shining at this point. We enjoyed our 'lunch' and hit the road again. There is a fairly steep climb out of hockley, and today I hit it hard and road strong up it. Really today's ride was a pretty good one for me. It was just the confidence boost I needed this close to the big day.
I ran out of my infinit nutrition stuff, so while I wait for my order, went to sport chek and got some bounce bars, they are actually really good and totally did the job for me today. The other thing I've noticed is lately I'm really enjoying coffee again… Plus today we were a little chilled by the time we got to hockley so it helped warm me up!
This weekend is likely the last big volume weekend and then it'll be taper time… HOLY CRAP!!!!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Someday's are better then others...
So it's been a while since my last post. Lots going on really. I was off to Europe for a week, which was an absolutely unreal experience, but it did cut in to Ironman training since I really didn't have a chance to train much over there. I did walk a LOT - and I got a short 30 min run done. But that was about it. Now I'm back home and back at it.
Yesterday (Saturday) I had planned on a nice long bike ride. So I set off from home to ride up to Inglewood (about 25k) to meet up with my C3 teammates. Unfortunately with a lot away for races and training camps, there weren't a lot of people out. Worse, nobody who was my speed was there either. Everyone took off and there I was at the back of the pack with just one other person behind me. She struggled up the first few hills so I hung back to wait for her so that we could ride together. Well that was my first mistake. Turns out, once she got warmed up and feeling good waiting for me wasn't in the game plan at all and she left me in her dust pretty quick. Not going to lie I was seriously annoyed at that move. I didn't have to wait for her early in the ride but I did, because in my mind its much more fun to ride with people than alone. I guess she didn't feel the same way. I really struggled mentally with the ride, but on the plus side I did manage to get up the ski hill without getting off my bike and walking (it's a tough climb). I got myself back to the spirit tree, where I stopped in for a coffee and a cheese bun. I was hungry and tired and frustrated and the stop was just what I needed to keep going for the rest of the 20+ km ride home. All said and done it was a little shorter then planned at 105km but it was a 4.5 hour mostly solo ride and I got it done. I didn't feel great, but I figure at this point every little bit counts. Took the rest of the day to rest and eat and recover. I'm not going to lie I was feeling pretty down about the ride. It's hard mentally when you can't keep up and have to ride alone as a result. I mean seriously I thought going to a team ride would give me people to ride with, but wow was I ever wrong. I got home, and ended up talking to Shanta as I was really down after the bad training day. Thankfully she was awesome, and really reassured me that I've done a lot of work already and that I will be fine come race day. It really helps when everyone is reassuring you that everything will be fine.
This morning (Sunday) I head out the door early for a 24k run. I started from home and met Andrea at the running room (11k) and we did 13k together. I ran most of the 11k to get to the Running room but struggled a lot in the second part of my run. We ended up walking quite a bit, but I'm trying to remind myself it's all time on my feet and that it does matter. It was hot, and slow, but overall I'm glad I got the distance done. I think it's important to remember that not every training session can be awesome, and I've had my share of those this year. I'm getting complimented consistently about how much my biking has improved, and even though I don't see that quite yet, I'm sure people aren't lying about it :)
Another couple weeks of training and then taper and race time. I just can't believe the race is 3 weeks away. That is just incredible to me how much time has flown by.
Race day will be here before I know what's hit me… yikes… better get back at it tomorrow.
Yesterday (Saturday) I had planned on a nice long bike ride. So I set off from home to ride up to Inglewood (about 25k) to meet up with my C3 teammates. Unfortunately with a lot away for races and training camps, there weren't a lot of people out. Worse, nobody who was my speed was there either. Everyone took off and there I was at the back of the pack with just one other person behind me. She struggled up the first few hills so I hung back to wait for her so that we could ride together. Well that was my first mistake. Turns out, once she got warmed up and feeling good waiting for me wasn't in the game plan at all and she left me in her dust pretty quick. Not going to lie I was seriously annoyed at that move. I didn't have to wait for her early in the ride but I did, because in my mind its much more fun to ride with people than alone. I guess she didn't feel the same way. I really struggled mentally with the ride, but on the plus side I did manage to get up the ski hill without getting off my bike and walking (it's a tough climb). I got myself back to the spirit tree, where I stopped in for a coffee and a cheese bun. I was hungry and tired and frustrated and the stop was just what I needed to keep going for the rest of the 20+ km ride home. All said and done it was a little shorter then planned at 105km but it was a 4.5 hour mostly solo ride and I got it done. I didn't feel great, but I figure at this point every little bit counts. Took the rest of the day to rest and eat and recover. I'm not going to lie I was feeling pretty down about the ride. It's hard mentally when you can't keep up and have to ride alone as a result. I mean seriously I thought going to a team ride would give me people to ride with, but wow was I ever wrong. I got home, and ended up talking to Shanta as I was really down after the bad training day. Thankfully she was awesome, and really reassured me that I've done a lot of work already and that I will be fine come race day. It really helps when everyone is reassuring you that everything will be fine.
This morning (Sunday) I head out the door early for a 24k run. I started from home and met Andrea at the running room (11k) and we did 13k together. I ran most of the 11k to get to the Running room but struggled a lot in the second part of my run. We ended up walking quite a bit, but I'm trying to remind myself it's all time on my feet and that it does matter. It was hot, and slow, but overall I'm glad I got the distance done. I think it's important to remember that not every training session can be awesome, and I've had my share of those this year. I'm getting complimented consistently about how much my biking has improved, and even though I don't see that quite yet, I'm sure people aren't lying about it :)
Another couple weeks of training and then taper and race time. I just can't believe the race is 3 weeks away. That is just incredible to me how much time has flown by.
Race day will be here before I know what's hit me… yikes… better get back at it tomorrow.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Long riding...
Well - I have been slacking in the posts but I've been pretty consistent with training. Yesterday I rode from my house to Cafe Domestique in Dundas, ON. The route was weird as it was longer getting to Cafe Domestique than coming home. There were some crazy hills to climb and even some crazy decants that had me on my brakes the whole time. Once we got to our "halfway" point - we had a grilled cheese with bacon *super yum* and then back out on the road. I knew there was a big climb coming up (Snake Rd) since it was one that we had come down on our way out. In my head it was a long and fairly steep climb, so I was a little worried about it. Funny enough when we got to it, it ended up not being nearly as steep as I thought and I had absolutely no problems getting up. Thankfully. After that there was a lot less climbing, so that was a big relief. We did encounter a nasty bit of torn up road and since we didn't know the area well we ended up walking our bikes through it which sucked but was better then messing up our bikes. All said and done it was a 168km bike ride. Wow was it long - by the end I was getting a little grumpy and just wanted to be done. But I will say my legs felt strong the whole time. I got up a lot of nasty climbs and was just generally happy to get that kind of distance under my belt. After the run I went for a 10 min run and while my legs felt funny I was running at a pretty good clip. Tremblant is so daunting. To think I have to ride another 12k and then run a marathon. YOWZA!!!! And it's crazy how fast IMMT is coming!
I was pretty bad today though. I was supposed to do a long run, but my running buddies bailed because the weather sucked (ok it was pouring rain and thunders storming) so I have basically done nothing all day. But my allergies have been driving me nuts and my legs are DONE.
I think the plan is to get up and go for a run tomorrow. Gotta get something done that is for sure! But I'm happy so far with my training, could be better but could be worse I think.
I'm sure when the day comes I'll be ready and thats what matters.
I was pretty bad today though. I was supposed to do a long run, but my running buddies bailed because the weather sucked (ok it was pouring rain and thunders storming) so I have basically done nothing all day. But my allergies have been driving me nuts and my legs are DONE.
I think the plan is to get up and go for a run tomorrow. Gotta get something done that is for sure! But I'm happy so far with my training, could be better but could be worse I think.
I'm sure when the day comes I'll be ready and thats what matters.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Wednesday ride, poutine, lovely garages and freak storms
Ok - so yesterday Trent and I hit the road for a planned 120-130k ride. Started off well - we were heading up the Gore road towards Hockley Valley and it actually seemed substantially easier than I remember it being a few months ago (YAY) 30k flew by really quick and we stopped at the general store for a drink and a gluten free cookie. Then back on the bikes and we head north past Hwy 89 and into a small town that I cannot actually remember the name of. It was small - we were in and out of there quickly. We stopped to figure out where we wanted to go next and Trent asked if I was interested in a big hill - I quickly shot that idea down knowing full well that we had Mount UnPleasant in the plans for later in the ride. Off we went again starting to head back towards home (at this point we were at about 45k I think. Around 60k we stopped for poutine at a chip stand. It was awesome - NY Fries not even close! Have to laugh at the insanity of riding 60k and stoping for poutine :)
So as we are sitting there eating, the clouds were looking super ominous. A storm was definitely on the way but we were hoping that it wouldn't be too bad. Sadly - that was not the case. As we started to ride back south the sky literally opened up and we were pelted hard with hail, and rain and some of the craziest wind I've ever experienced. It was actually terrifying. The wind was literally blowing me across the road and making it really hard to stay in control of my bike. At one point a truck came and all I could do was pray that the wind didn't blow me into it's path (it didn't). Looking around there was literally NO place to take shelter - we were literally in the middle of nowhere… some houses and some farms but no shelter.
Thankfully a lovely man saw us riding and offered us shelter in his garage. We sat there, called Caron for a rescue pick up and hung out with the lovely family who's garage we were seeking refuge in. It was actually cool - they must have thought we were nuts with our fancy bikes having already gone 60k and still with another 50 or 60 to go… turns out they are chicken farmers. One of their biggest clients is Swiss Chalet. Pretty cool actually. It was quite the adventure.
I'm glad we got 60k in before the storm - but a little annoyed that we couldn't get the long ride done. Just means I'll have to make sure I ride long on Saturday. Shouldn't be a problem…
Guess you just never know what you'll experience on the day.
So as we are sitting there eating, the clouds were looking super ominous. A storm was definitely on the way but we were hoping that it wouldn't be too bad. Sadly - that was not the case. As we started to ride back south the sky literally opened up and we were pelted hard with hail, and rain and some of the craziest wind I've ever experienced. It was actually terrifying. The wind was literally blowing me across the road and making it really hard to stay in control of my bike. At one point a truck came and all I could do was pray that the wind didn't blow me into it's path (it didn't). Looking around there was literally NO place to take shelter - we were literally in the middle of nowhere… some houses and some farms but no shelter.
Thankfully a lovely man saw us riding and offered us shelter in his garage. We sat there, called Caron for a rescue pick up and hung out with the lovely family who's garage we were seeking refuge in. It was actually cool - they must have thought we were nuts with our fancy bikes having already gone 60k and still with another 50 or 60 to go… turns out they are chicken farmers. One of their biggest clients is Swiss Chalet. Pretty cool actually. It was quite the adventure.
I'm glad we got 60k in before the storm - but a little annoyed that we couldn't get the long ride done. Just means I'll have to make sure I ride long on Saturday. Shouldn't be a problem…
Guess you just never know what you'll experience on the day.
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