Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/97690829 (FiTT)
Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/98195599 (TT Trainer with Shannon)
Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/98195599 (TT Trainer with Shannon)
It was a surprise to wake up on Friday and see rain drops on our cars since the last forecast beforehand was 0% chance. Lisa came with me to the race and was also surprised to see the rain start falling just before we were getting ready to go. We chanced it anyway, and fortunately it ended up just holding off raining until just after the racing stopped. The grounds were a little wet here and there, which made the race somewhat interesting, but I never really felt it was dangerous.
It was a tough race this time around where it was difficult to achieve the same speeds as the last time out. There was some winds out there that was just really tough to cut through. The last half of the course was fast the last time out, but this time it was hard to keep up the pace on it. I was expecting it and thought I could push through on the first part of the course expecting the second half to be faster, so I was thrown off my pace after the first lap and struggled through the next two. I had to keep reminding myself I was racing and just pushed on every bit I could, but by the end, my time was higher and thus had a lower average speed. Ironically, my power output was higher, so it was that kind of day.
I ended up having the 7th best time overall, but I joined the 45+ class this time around where 3 of them got top 5 knocking me off for a podium spot. Had I stuck to Cat4/5, I would have gotten 2nd. That's what I get for jumping around in classes. I'm happy with the outcome though since everyone else who raced was indicating that they had difficulty out there too. Here are a couple pics:
Today's trainer was just Shannon and me and the plan was to do a hundred miles. Shannon came up with the route and after I mapped it out, we altered it slightly since it came up short. We thought we'd get a full 100, but in the end it came up to just 95 miles...95 miles of torturous misery.
I'm thankful Shannon was patient with me in the beginning because I just couldn't get any real rhythm down. I was pretty much all over the place in terms of power, and I even ended up blowing myself up a little after one of the early climbs out of Mission Viejo. It was ugly. Shannon definitely managed his output better than me, but I finally found my tempo some time after Laguna Beach. Up to that point though, I had recurring thoughts of just wanting to turn around and go home.
We had a really good pace heading out to Long Beach and back toward SART. No one would even latch on due to our pace, and we were even passing guys on TT bikes.
When we got on SART, that's when things got ugly. There was a solid headwind the WHOLE way up and it literally beat us down where we just couldn't wait to get off of it. Carrying speeds over 20 was work, but we did what we could working together running 2 minute intervals as we had been doing all day.
Getting on Taft, we expected the winds to let up, but they never really did. In fact, even going through the canyon was a bear and if Shannon didn't thankfully wait for me after Dump where I couldn't hold his pace and dropped off, it would have been painful working the canyons alone. We stayed together the rest of the way, and was just hauling ass after Cook's wanting to get back and be done. We were both on the verge of cramping by the end, but we both just made it back to our cars without doing so.
95 miles at a 21.8 mph pace for two guys in that wind...legit. Definitely worthy of the Oggi's nourishment we sought after. It was a tough day on the saddle but definitely one we hope to benefit from as we lead up to the race. Shannon and I don't know of any other group who's training like this for the race, so it'll be interesting to see how we measure up in January. Personally, I think we're gonna rock it.
Thanks for inviting me out and for all the work, Shannon!
It was a tough race this time around where it was difficult to achieve the same speeds as the last time out. There was some winds out there that was just really tough to cut through. The last half of the course was fast the last time out, but this time it was hard to keep up the pace on it. I was expecting it and thought I could push through on the first part of the course expecting the second half to be faster, so I was thrown off my pace after the first lap and struggled through the next two. I had to keep reminding myself I was racing and just pushed on every bit I could, but by the end, my time was higher and thus had a lower average speed. Ironically, my power output was higher, so it was that kind of day.
I ended up having the 7th best time overall, but I joined the 45+ class this time around where 3 of them got top 5 knocking me off for a podium spot. Had I stuck to Cat4/5, I would have gotten 2nd. That's what I get for jumping around in classes. I'm happy with the outcome though since everyone else who raced was indicating that they had difficulty out there too. Here are a couple pics:
Today's trainer was just Shannon and me and the plan was to do a hundred miles. Shannon came up with the route and after I mapped it out, we altered it slightly since it came up short. We thought we'd get a full 100, but in the end it came up to just 95 miles...95 miles of torturous misery.
I'm thankful Shannon was patient with me in the beginning because I just couldn't get any real rhythm down. I was pretty much all over the place in terms of power, and I even ended up blowing myself up a little after one of the early climbs out of Mission Viejo. It was ugly. Shannon definitely managed his output better than me, but I finally found my tempo some time after Laguna Beach. Up to that point though, I had recurring thoughts of just wanting to turn around and go home.
We had a really good pace heading out to Long Beach and back toward SART. No one would even latch on due to our pace, and we were even passing guys on TT bikes.
When we got on SART, that's when things got ugly. There was a solid headwind the WHOLE way up and it literally beat us down where we just couldn't wait to get off of it. Carrying speeds over 20 was work, but we did what we could working together running 2 minute intervals as we had been doing all day.
Getting on Taft, we expected the winds to let up, but they never really did. In fact, even going through the canyon was a bear and if Shannon didn't thankfully wait for me after Dump where I couldn't hold his pace and dropped off, it would have been painful working the canyons alone. We stayed together the rest of the way, and was just hauling ass after Cook's wanting to get back and be done. We were both on the verge of cramping by the end, but we both just made it back to our cars without doing so.
95 miles at a 21.8 mph pace for two guys in that wind...legit. Definitely worthy of the Oggi's nourishment we sought after. It was a tough day on the saddle but definitely one we hope to benefit from as we lead up to the race. Shannon and I don't know of any other group who's training like this for the race, so it'll be interesting to see how we measure up in January. Personally, I think we're gonna rock it.
Thanks for inviting me out and for all the work, Shannon!
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