Sunday morning I slept in (6:30am) and headed south to Del
Mar where I was crashing with my friend Roy Perkins. Before this “camp” my only outside ride had
been the 56-miles during the PR 70.3 so wasn’t sure how I could fare, but was
excited for the challenge. After helping
put my bike together, Roy and I did a quick ride (20 miles) before eating some California-inspired
Mexican food (and a margarita).
Busting the 100-mile cherry
Monday was my “epic” day of cycling which called for seven
and a half hours of riding over 100-miles.
Let’s see how I handle this one. Roy
and I headed out for a warm-up before meeting up with Kristine Entwistle
(a friend who also works at CAF), who mapped out an 80-mile loop taking us from
the coast to the mountains back to the coast.
In addition to getting a lot of saddle time, the ride was another test
in my nutrition plan. Loaded with more
PowerBar gels, PowerBar bars, and PowerBar perform (in powder as my bike can
only hold two bottles and knew I needed
to drink at least 8+ bottles) than I could imagine, we hit the road. Our ride had us on open roads consisting of
some flats, rollers, some steep inclines and nice descends. As we were riding with open traffic, we had
to wait for traffic lights. While it was
nice to rest our legs at time, some lights felt like they were taking forever
to turn.
The morning weather was chilly, so started out with a short sleeve bike jersey, bib shorts, a vest and a borrowed pair of arm warmers from Roy. Midday, when the sun started to come out more, I shed the arm warmers – and have slightly sun burned arms to show for it.
The first two hours of the ride kept me in a pure endurance zone (I had a maximum power which I could not exceed). I set the Garmin bike computer to “normalized” power (which calculates the power but includes variables such as wind, accelerations, uphills, downhills, etc.). My legs responded well to the inclines – not burning too much – but thanked me on the downhills. Drinking and eating on schedule, I was totally in focus as the miles kept adding up. Mentally I was “in the ride” and did not hit any dark spots. It was nice chatting and catching up with Kristine…She has done the “old CDA course” and gave me an Ironman 101 reality lesson (her one advice, have a plan b when the thought of another gel on the bike or ride makes your skin crawl).
The morning weather was chilly, so started out with a short sleeve bike jersey, bib shorts, a vest and a borrowed pair of arm warmers from Roy. Midday, when the sun started to come out more, I shed the arm warmers – and have slightly sun burned arms to show for it.
The first two hours of the ride kept me in a pure endurance zone (I had a maximum power which I could not exceed). I set the Garmin bike computer to “normalized” power (which calculates the power but includes variables such as wind, accelerations, uphills, downhills, etc.). My legs responded well to the inclines – not burning too much – but thanked me on the downhills. Drinking and eating on schedule, I was totally in focus as the miles kept adding up. Mentally I was “in the ride” and did not hit any dark spots. It was nice chatting and catching up with Kristine…She has done the “old CDA course” and gave me an Ironman 101 reality lesson (her one advice, have a plan b when the thought of another gel on the bike or ride makes your skin crawl).
The three hour mark called for another hour of Tempo watts (up to, but not above 165). Luckily, these also came on the rollers and some steep inclines too. Kristine and I stopped to refuel at an interesting corner store near a trailer park before hitting the infamous Circle R Drive (apparently a pretty well-known and challenging climb). As we approached the climb, I was focused on my power #s, cadence and heart rate. Kristine told me where we should meet up and I went off. At one point I could hear her saying you just climbed a 6% grade. Holy shit here comes another hill…followed by another one…While the climbs were indeed hard and my quads started to burn, I was keeping in my zones and looking at the amazing scenery. Finally at the top, Kristine and I regrouped and headed back down the hills. Still in my tempo zone, I was focused on the switch-backs and rollers on the last part of the loop. When we reached the bottom, I told Kristine “that was kinda fun” – and she commended me on tackling Circle R (felt as if I earned some creds!).
Hours four and five (120 mins) called for another endurance
session. As we approached the coast, the
winds started to pick-up big time. Kristine
and I traded blocking the winds over the next 7 miles as we headed towards
Oceanside. Keeping in aero position and
an easy gear, I kept pushing through the wind, but the pushing resulted in more
burning to the quads. I kept readjusting
and pedaling focused on the mile markers and hoping for a tailwind at some
point. Finally we hit the Oceanside –
where I just left two days ago. Talk
about full circle!
After another refuel stop and bathroom break, Kristine and I
were off. The next hour + went by pretty
quickly (maybe I just lost a sense of time), but was chugging along…chatting
with Kristine and watching the coast, the ocean/waves and eating/drinking on
cue. Through Oceanside we approached
Carlsbad when I had to start my next session – a mix of tempo and endurance (4
mins tempo followed by 10 of endurance) over the next hour +.
Taking off, Kristine said she would meet up with me on the
recover/endurance section. I was in the
zone and didn’t feel any pain, but now had to contend with side-winds (where
are my tailwinds)! While powerful gusts,
I stayed in the aero position pedaling down Highway 101 on uphills, downhills
and on flats. Past Carlsbad and into
Escondido, the winds did ease up as we made the last approach before Kristine veered
off (her ride done, mine with a tad more to go).
Now without any company, and the delicious smell from
various restaurants off the 101 hitting my nose (gels don’t smell or taste like
a good meal), the next 45 mins had me going back down to Torrey Pines, back up
to Escondido, back again to Torrey Pines (you get the idea). My mind kept wandering, the pain in the quads
and now my far right toes (something I never experienced before) increasing, I
was fending off the dark zones. Riding
along, I kept telling myself mind over matter.
Just a few more miles to go.
Looking down, I saw 99 miles…the end almost there. The last 2 miles took forever. Every tenth of a mile could not come fast
enough. 99.5 then 99.6 then 99.9. Down the final stretch and I could get off
the bike. Past the light, up the hill
leading to Roy’s driveway (like I needed another hill), I open the garage door,
take off my shoes, put on my running shoes and jog off (did I forget to mention
I had to run 20-mins off the bike!).
The first few steps were a total struggle. My legs were trying to fire, but the pain was
great. I opted to stop, take a breather
and try and start again. Heart rate in
check, I started to run (well jog really).
After 5 mins, I had a strange pain in my back, so stopped and walked for
second. “Focus,” I said to myself. Running for another 20-mins (well actually 22
mins) and was relieved when I stopped in front of a pizza place. I didn’t care how cold and crappy the slice,
I downed it and walked back to Roy’s place.
Compression socks on, I answered work emails until dinner time.
My first century ride and first 7+ hour ride in the
books. Wow that hurt.
A Tuesday’s struggle ride
My ride for the next day called for 75-miles (25 warm-up/25
tempo/25 endurance) followed by a 2-hour run.
As I was riding solo again, I opted to stay on the 101 (Roy gave me a route
out to Oceanside which he thought was about 20 miles). Knowing I had to double back at least once, I
tried to memorize the road. Earl warned
me that if I felt real pain I should stop immediately and if needed should cut
my run to an hour. Little did I know how
hard a back-to-back volume ride would is.
Starting out up a hill from Roy’s towards Del Mar, I
immediately felt the ride from Monday, but was focusing on being in the moment
and keeping to the plan. The first 10
miles went by pretty slowly, but I made my way north on the 101 checking out
sights. Keeping to the right HR/watts
combo I kept the checking miles. Keeping
in aero, I was thankful the wind wasn’t as intense as it was the day before.
Past Del Mar, Solana Beach, Escondido, Carlsbad and into
Oceanside. 22 miles done. Back to the start of the Oceanside race once
more. Quick calculation – the ride back
to Roy’s would be 44 miles, so had to make up ~ 30 miles somewhere. Figure if I did 18 miles down and back, that
would get me pretty close. Let’s
go.
A quick bathroom break and a refueling stop at a nearby
deli, I headed back south on the 101, this time in a Tempo race (I cut the
remaining 3 miles of the warm up off). In reverse order, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Escondido, Solana Beach, Del Mar. Some
side winds, but mostly decent conditions.
Focusing on keeping my watts and not the pain in my legs, I made it back
down hitting 40 miles before returning back up north. Focusing on eating/drinking/taking in
calories (practice makes perfect). Suddenly
my Garmin watch, which I needed for the run off the bike, died (thought I had
charged it the night before). An
omen? I still had my bike computer (fully charged)
and would figure out something for the run.
The stretch from mile 40-55 was really tough mentally and physically. I kept playing mind games with myself to keep in the moment, but at times that was hard considering the pain. Will I have legs to run? Right outside Oceanside, I hit a 7-11 to refuel again, hit a porta-potty and headed home. As tough as miles 40-55 were, the last section felt like I was watching paint dry, but with someone pounding on my legs (and my two right toes again). The wheels of the bus felt like they were coming off, but I tried to keep in the moment. I kept telling myself, “get back to Roy’s, re-pack the bike and then run an hour maybe (definitely not two).” I was focusing as much as I could hold on (Up and down 101 (the hills didn’t feel as bad the first few times I rode this route, but now, wow!). Despite the intense pain, my HR and watts were in check (I was in the endurance zone).
Heading back to Escondido, I knew I had only a few more miles to go. One more hill I told my legs…one more set of lights…one more burst. Finally cresting the last hill, I had a downhill leading to Torrey Pines and the turn off to Roy’s complex. Up the hill of his drive way, I stopped, opened the garage door and breathed a sense of relief. Relief I was off the bike and finished with another 5 hour ride. However, I knew my legs simply did not have it in me for a run today.
So to celebrate, I had an In-n-Out Burger (while in CA….)
