Scary New Pain

For the past few weeks, I've been pushing myself to become stronger and faster, but I admit that I've been neglecting my endurance. So, for today's ride, I decided to see if I could push myself to go a little farther than usual.

The Route:

Up and down Arthur Street 6 times to build a little more hill climbing endurance. On the 6th time, I rode to Diamond Avenue and followed it out to the Rails to Trails for distance endurance. I rode Rails to Trails out to Beryllium Road, turned around and headed back. I then followed the Rails to Trails all the way to Route 93 and turned around in the parking lot, heading back to Stockton Mountain Road. From there to Diamond Ave, up Arthur and back to home.

The Stats:

Total Distance: 20.8 miles

Time: 2 hrs 26 minutes -- non-stop

Average Speed: 8.5, Max Speed: 32.8

Elevation gain: 2007 ft, Max Elevation: 1860 ft

Also worth noting: I didn't go below the 3rd gear of my rear hub, even during the hill climbs. I wanted to add extra resistance and keep my speed up.

The Ride:

Uneventful. A few close calls with cars thanks to a lack of decent shoulder on some parts of the road. My hybrid bike definitely likes pavement more than the rough trail, but whatever. I still want a road bike more than a mountain bike.

I felt pretty good throughout the ride, until the turn for home, going up Arthur one last time. My legs were burning and giving me the, "Let's wrap this up, pronto," message. Despite the burn, I didn't feel fatigued or a lack of strength, but then the real fun began.

Post-ride:

As I parked my bike in the garage and headed upstairs, the situation got scary.

In the minute it took to cook some oatmeal, I guzzled 2 glasses of water and was adding protein powder to a 3rd. I just kept shaking my legs, trying to get the ants to stop marching, but it wasn't helping. I was in a lot of pain -- more than I had encountered from any previous ride. I was worried for a moment, but I knew what I had to do.

Finally, I grabbed everything and headed over to the dining room where I kicked my legs up onto the table to keep them elevated while I ate. Oatmeal with flax seed, potatoes and tuna. More water, and some rest. In about an hour, it was like nothing was ever wrong. As I write this, I'm feeling much better.

So, what now?

There are about 6 weeks left until the event. Just 6 weeks to see if I can manage to hit 31 miles (50km) without utterly destroying myself. I figure, I'll stick to my normal training regimen of intervals and hill climbs for the next few days. Next week, though, I'll see if I can't conquer those last 11 miles.

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Breakthrough!

One of my minor goals was to ride the Arthur Street route for an entire 12.4 miles, and I managed to do it sooner than I expected.

On my first attempt, I was only able to go 6.5 miles. On my second attempt, I was able to push that another 2. Today, on my third attempt, I had only intended to go 10 miles, but when I realized how close I was, I decided to dig a little deeper and go the last 2.4 miles to finish it off. I didn't even "cheat" by weaving back and forth, I just pushed straight up the hill.

The last 2 miles were brutal, but I feel great. After lingering in self-doubt about my training and nutritional regimen, I feel like everything I've been doing so far has been right.

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My 2 Best Friends

My dog Cinco is sitting on my lap, crushing my painful, sore legs, while Jonesy, my cat, is sitting on the arm of the chair, pawing at the can of tuna fish I'm trying to eat to replenish my protein.

Cinco and Jonesy

I'm covered in salty sweat, so the dog loves me because, as creepy as it sounds, I taste pretty good. The cat loves me because the can looks and smells suspiciously like his usual dinner. I'm sure, somewhere in that feline brain, Jonesy is thinking, "Why are you eating MY food? Why don't you give that tasty tuna to ME?" Because it's NOT for you. AWAY, BEAST!

It's almost as bad as when I'm trying to do yoga planks and Cinco comes over to lick my face, then crawls under me to lay down. I could collapse at any second, dog... That's really not the best place to lie down. Just FYI.

For today's ride, I stuck to the same route as Thursday. The first two laps up the hill felt pretty good. The rest of the laps were decidedly miserable, however. All in all, I managed 8 laps up the hill, which is 2 better than Thursday, so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

I finished off on the flats, taking 1 hour and 50 minutes to go a total of 11.1 miles. I'm not thrilled with that, but I'll give up some time if it means increasing my stamina for hill climbs. Eventually, I want to be able to get up that hill for an entire 12.2 miles. Confidence is high.

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