 |
| Yup...MUCH bigger!!! |
You may recall that last week was a recovery week (aka
sloth mode engaged!). I have learnt that when we have our next recovery week I
shall be even MORE diligent about
building up the energy reserves for the next block.
It has been a BIG week, a good week but a BIG week most
definitely.
 |
| Over 11hours!! A big week indeedio... |
Tuesday morning – cycling intervals. Hmmm…the first of
our hill training block. Kings park loops. A strange concoction of trying to
get us lost riding various permeations of the three main roads through and
around the park. 3 loops = 1 circuit = 16kms. 2 circuits in the bag. Sadly fortunately
coach was standing on the roundabout at the car park and “encouraged” me to get
the last loop in. It took a fair bit of strength to point the bike back down
the hill…thanks coach!
Tuesday evening – running. The traditional long slow
distance run. I have come to the conclusion that I should not be presented with
a choices. I am weak and feeble minded and will wuss out the first chance I
get. Context…the route was one we have done before, uphill clockwise around
Kings Park and down onto the river foreshore and home. This particular night
the choice was at the foreshore to turn left (away from home) to get an extra 3
kms in or to wuss out turn right and head home. Well I had mentally
defeated myself before I got to the river and as such turned right and spent
the next 3 kms berating myself for not sucking it up and running the extra.
Needless to say I did not enjoy Tuesday nights run!
Missed the sessions on Wednesday due to work commitments,
laziness and residual sulking from the previous evening.
Thursday morning – group ride. Really a great ride and
enjoying the circuit. This week the highlight was actually getting dropped at
one of the traffic lights (with 4 others) and then putting the burn on to catch
the main group. It took us 25mins to catch the pack (partly due to a few
unfavourable traffic lights) and there were stretches of roll through sprints at
over 40kph but when we did catch them it felt great!! Was so pleased with the
effort! It was stuffed but smiling!
Thursday evening – running intervals. Wow – another big
session. Ran the trails in Tuart Park (Hilly trails!). This involved a 1.6km
loop. 1km UP (66m elevation gain per my Garmin) and then 600m “recovery” back
down to the start. I know that these sessions must be good for you (other than
trying to induce a heart attack) and I am sure that when we run on the flat I
will be grateful for all of these extra muscles that I have built running up
and down the trails but at the time it is REALLY hard to see the future
benefits! 4 loops completed with minimal tears.
FRIDAY – OH HOW I LOVE FRIDAY REST DAYS!!!
Saturday – BRICK session. Target times 80 – 90min ride
followed by a 40 – 50min run. The plan was to get a steady ride in and not try
to exhaust yourself prior to the big Sunday ride that we had planned. It
started really well with a bit of a chat and a spin of the legs but ended up
being a bit of a quicker ride towards the end. In my defence the ride up the
freeway is a great path and it really is easy to build some speed along
there…39.9kms completed (83mins) and onto the run.
The power of the mind came to play here. Lesson learnt
from Tuesday (I am claiming that in any case even though I just stated it now!)
in that I decided on the ride that I wanted to get 9kms completed regardless of
the time taken! Ended up with 8.8km in 48mins (not sure where I lost 200m but
ho hum). It was a good session. Tough but good!
Sunday – long ride. This was a big one!
 |
| That first climb was over 15kms long! |
A short stop, half a peanut butter sandwich and we were
off again. Coach held back as we had splintered into a couple of groups over
the climb and I would be grateful for that later on. A great downhill section
was promptly followed by a sharp uphill section. Sadly, the realisation hit me
during the downhill decent that what goes down must go up and that took some of
the fun out of the decent. An impromptu stop to fill water bottles was a bit of
an undoing for me. Getting off my bike was not a smart idea as my legs were
concrete when I tried to get going again. Sadly I did put my foot down on the
next climb as I thought I would have fallen over if I didn’t and that then lead
way to a 60 second stop halfway up the hill. That 60sec was enough for me to
drop off the back of the pack by some way. Plugged on until we came to the next
rest stop which the group had probably been at for a couple of minutes so were
keen to keep rolling. I rode at the tail for a short while and let the last
wheel know I was doubling back to the service station to wait for the coach and
his group. I needed the rest! I was really grateful for the rest. I must have
had about 3 – 5mins total but it was glorious!! Something to eat, a coke and
some water and we were off again. I was revived. My legs felt much better and I
was happily riding along mid pack again. Apart from the exciting decent down
Welshpool Road it was an uneventful ride back to the city. It was a good ride
(92.5km / 3:36:17) and I am chuffed to have got it under my belt.
Learning for the next one…EAT! I need to snack to keep my
levels stable. I waiting far too long to have something to eat on this ride and
I suffered for it as I was in calorie deficit and as such anything I did have
was a drop in the ocean (until the coke and snack!).
Thanks for reading and until next time happy training!
