40/6 Brick

Most of my team.

Between working, working out, and napping - I've had few minutes to spare since this weekend. What a busy one it was, too! Saturday started with my alarm getting my butt up at 4am. Our workout was way out at Hagg Lake - about an hour and fifteen away from me. I had my normal egg white mcmuffin sandwich (more on nutrition later) at about 5:15am and then headed out. Polished off a banana and a 5 Hour Energy as I pulled into the parking lot and then we were rolling. And by rolling, I mean rolling hills. It's 10+ miles around Hagg Lake and the rollers are awesome practice for gear shifting and learning how to barrel down a  hill in order to make your work up the next one that much easier. This is something I have come to excel at. The first loop we had  a group of 5 girls riding together, but where Michele and I use our speed on the downhill to our benefit, the other 3 took it a little slower, so we were able to pull ahead, take a pit stop to ditch some clothes and still head out on our second loop without them catching us. Michele then sped off leaving me on my own for pretty much the rest of the ride. And by alone, I don't mean truly alone. The fast guys joined in about a loop behind us and the olympic team were headed in the opposite direction around the lake so there was plenty of camaradarie.

To put it simply, I killed the ride! I alternated fig newtons with chocolate powergels and finished off almost a whole gatorade while sipping water from my aero bottle to wash down the food. I had plenty of energy and I kept my heart rate low. The only problem was my lower back was crazy cramped and painful when I dismounted. Disappointed, I knew during the last bit of the ride that I was probably going to end up walking a lot of the 6 mile run. Coach grabbed me before I headed out to see how I was doing. I relayed my trouble and he had me drop to the ground and he stretched me out but good. I was off! And running! No walking! I felt great! For the first two miles I thought I had an extra sock rolled up in my shoe, but I knew from experience that it was nothing (well it's usually nothing, once I did find a gel in my shoe when I took a look) and to keep on moving. The run was rolling hills as well and this is where Wednesday night hill repeats really paid off. I felt fine on the the uphills.

Before the ride, we dedicated this workout to my mom in celebration of her being off her chemo for a few months now and doing really well. Towards the end of the run, all the memories of people yelling at me during the ride and first part of the run - "this one's for your mom" "this one is for Kathy" "I'm doing this for your mom" really started to fuel me even more. With tears streaming down my face, I kicked it up and headed on back to the finish line and the cheers of my teammates already back and a hug from Coach.

It was a seriously great brick! I ate another banana and then a few of the guys and I ventured down to the lake for an "ice bath". Lake Patrol actually pulled their boat over to us to see if we were ok and asked if we lost a bet or something. We told them "no - we're doing this to ourselves!" : D

Coach asked me why I thought this brick went so well. Other than his helping me with my back, my first thought was I nailed my nutrition. However, looking back, I took in way fewer calories than usual. I usually try to hit at least 250 an hour and throwing out my breakfast and pre and post-ride bananas, I really only took in about 150 an hour tops. Maybe I need to rethink my "usual" nutrition, because this felt great! Maybe it's adding in the 5 hour energy?? IDK. I guess I have 2 more months to figure it out, though!

My camera was dead by the time I got to the gorge so I have no pictures of Cherry of a Ride, but maybe someone will post some on FB by the time I put up that post tomorrow. I will tell you that Sunday was just as great as Saturday!