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October 21, 2006
Beat Down
So um yeah...I just got back from a beat down. A severe beat down. Ouch.
This morning I went to our team ride and although I expected to be in a world of hurt since I haven't actually ridden my bike hard in a while, I didn't expect to get absolutely killed.
We started with a very easy 5 miles as a memorial ride for our teammate Russ that was killed last month. It was very nice. Lots of other riders from other teams in the area came in addition to Russ's family. Very touching and sad. Death is painful no matter what but it seems so much worse when someone is taken prematurely. It was nice to talk with his family again though and great for them to see so many people out to honor him. Such a testament to the kind of guy he was.
After the easy 5 miles we regrouped at the shop and the hammerfest began. Because some riders from other teams were there the egos were all out and from the get go I knew I was going to be in trouble. I just haven't riden hard enough lately to be able to sustain that kind of pace! Nevertheless I hung on for about 15 miles or so and then got dropped with a capital D. And the problem was I wasn't entirely sure where this particular course went. I turned around in hopes of finding someone to ride with who knew where they were going but a lot of other people had already turned around too. Humpf.
At that point I just rode by myself, added on a loop, didn't ride too hard or too easy, etc... My legs were kind of toast from what I had just done to them for the first 15 miles so I was not riding too fast, but I got 'er done and finished up the day with about 42 miles. I'll take it. I'm hoping next week's Saturday ride won't be as brutal which I'm sure it won't because there will be less testosterone and more reason (I pray).
As painful as it was it was kind of nice to do something hard again on the bike. My running and swimming have been going great but I knew the cycling was taking a hit by me just doing easy trainer rides. I really don't mind though. At this point last year I didn't really even know how to ride a bike let alone be able to ride it 40+ miles!
And so now I'm at home and am supposed to be doing homework. Surprise, surprise, I'm blogging instead! O and I are going to a wedding tonight. Better rest up - I have some serious dancing to do!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Summary for the week:
Sunday - off
Monday - 3500 meter swim w/6x400 in AM, 9 mile run in PM, 2x25 pushups/2x100 crunchers
Tuesday - 1:45 easy spinning on the trainer, 1 hour pilates class
Wednesday - 3200 yds swim w/20x100 in AM, 1:35 easy spinning on the trainer in PM
Thursday - 6.5 mile run, core/feet exercises
Friday - 3200 yds swim w/ladder up and back in AM, 10.7 mile run in PM, 2x25 pushups/2x100 crunchers
Saturday - 42 mile ride (aka hammerfest), core/feet exercises
Pretty big week for me - about 13 hours total, over 100 miles riding, 26 miles running and 10K yds of swimming in 6 days. And (other than today) I feel great. I just need to keep up the good work, stay healthy and eat more than I can imagine, and come spring time I think I will have myself quite a base!
Posted by beth at October 21, 2006 2:14 PM
Comments
Beth, you are so good and promising maybe you could (humbly) ask your coach if for some rides you be "assigned" your very own domestique, to hack the testosterone-laden hammerfests. One teammate could have the honor of making sure to keep you in the pack by letting you draft when you need... All number ones have need domestiques to help them out. Time for you to have one too :) Get your domestique today!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at October 22, 2006 6:09 PM
I do need a domestique don't I! :) Seriously though, I already draft off those guys and I still got dropped. We were hammering away at 27-28 MPH - I knew it was just a matter of time! We don't usually hammer *that* much though. So I'm hoping next week I'll be able to deal a little better. :)
Posted by: Beth at October 22, 2006 6:41 PM