New Adventure - Blackhawk Country Roads Invitational

I realize that I need help on my bike.. BIG TIME, and luckily Rich is more than willing to help me out any way he can.  So for my birthday weekend, we took Lou's advice and signed up for the Blackhawk Country Roads Invitation, in Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin.  2 days or riding, you pick the distance.  It was thru some nice ROLLING hills and wow some climbs.

The first day we did the 65 miles together. It was a big challenge.  Boy where there some rolling hills and the climb up from Brodhead, granted hitting 33mph going down that hill was AWESOME!!!  We took extra time at the SAG stops to see what was ahead of us. Rich helped me a lot getting over those hills, but it was kind of nice as we rode up from Brodhead and that steep hill was so daunting, that I didn't want to give up. So as Rich pulled over to the side to catch his breath, I just slithered past him saying, I can't stop must keep moving, see you at the top. And I DID IT!!!

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/507162939

The next day, Rich decided to go with a short local route while I went out for a continuous 30ish mile ride.  As I was out there, thinking I was on my own, I felt a shadow come over me.  Someone was behind me. I just kept thinking, come on dude go around me, I'm not gonna race you. But no he didn't. I just got annoyed and picked up the pace, I didn't want anyone behind me like that. But they stuck with me.  Dude was drafting me, WTF. Here I am busting my butt and he's enjoying it.  Little to my surprise it was Rich.. OMG I wanted to scream. He was loving it, letting me do the work. HAHA.. NOT.  Anyways, he turned back and I kept on going.  I hit the first SAG stop and I just kept on going. I wasn't going to stop, because at Boulder I won't have a chance to stop until special needs, so I had to keep moving. As I passed the SAG group they just cheered me on, felt so good.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/507162956

TrainerRoad - 8 Days of California

Ok, so on top of my regular IM training, I decided to complete yet another challenge. This challenge would put my legs to the test on the bike. TrainerRoad opened a series 8DC for a select group of riders to compete in. It was tough as you had to complete a given ride in 8 days (in which each day lasted 50 hours). So there really wasn't any way to say it couldn't be done, it was just harder to do when I had to keep up with my regular training.

8DC started on Sunday, May 11th and went until Sunday May 18th. Little did I know, that this race was actually going on at the same time, in real life, in California. It wasn't until Stage 7 that I realied the rides were occuring, so when it came to my last stage, I chose the right time to do my ride as the ride was being broadcasted. It was pretty kewl and helped to keep me motivated.

Overall, I completed every stage, as hard as some where, I didn't drop out and tried my hardest to keep the Kickr at 100%. It wasn't until the last 2 stages that I had to adjust the Kickr and drop to below 100%, mainly because my legs were logs and I just couldn't push thru it.

Stage 1: 1:15 - 28.83 miles
Stage 2: 0:59 - 14.59 miles
Stage 3: 1:35 - 22.96 miles
Stage 4: 1:10 - 30.66 miles
Stage 5: 0:56 - 8.6 miles
Stage 6: 1:28 - 13.43 miles
Stage 7: 1:10 - 24.07 miles
Stage 8: 1:21 - 18.66 miles

In 8 days I completed 161.8 miles in god knows how many hours. This on top of my regular training of running (only ran once though), swimming and biking.

Stage 5 was the killer, as you can see with my miles completed. I need to go back and see what that really had and why I went so slow, but I'm sure I was dead from something else that I just couldn't get my speed up.

I'm just happy to say that I finished, plus I won a t-shirt, from a random drawing, for completing Stage 6 :)

Now it's back to my regular training program ... fun fun.

Where has the time gone!!!!

So hard to believe that I've finished 24 weeks of my training so far. With only 12 weeks left to go, I'm scared that I may not be ready. I haven't run more than 16 miles, I did my first century ride this weekend, but it was on a trainer, and well, my swim is no concern really. Can I really do this? Do I really have it in me to spend this long racing? Why am I starting to freak out now?

With all the training I've been doing, it was nice to have a race weekend last weekend. Even thou Stephanie I, and I took it as a training day, keeping to our program, it was nice to be out there with others racing and being supported. Flying Pigs Marathon/Half Marathon was a great race, well supported and the turnout was amazing. Reminded me of Marine Corp and Baltimore. I love big races, when they are supported and the course is fun.

It was a great weekend with the Stephanies, and it did help burn off some of the pent up energy I had, but just intensified my fears for the coming races.

I'm stil terrified about my bike and whether or not I can keep the pace I want to. My goal is sustain a 15mph or better, which I did on the kickr, but there are no elements to deal with so that doesn't really make for a good comparison. Rich has been great with trying to get me out there and ride. But with my work/train schedule I seem to be stuck to the kickr more than I want to. He has already taken me on the York/Spring/31st loop and really pushed me to do 3 loops, first time this year. The first loop was hard, I went thru all my gears. The second one got easier, and the last one I kicked it. Mainly because a creepy dude showed up out of now were in front of me on his bike and I just wanted to race up to get to Rich. Funny takes one creepy dude to either run or bike faster :)

In 2 weeks we have the Country Roads Invitations in Rockton, IL. Just the way I want to spend my birthday, on a 2 day ride thru Illinois and Wisconsin. No really. Not being sarcastic at all. I really can't wait. But then again check back with me on Monday and see if I still feel the same way.

Saturday, we'll be hitting the hills on a 65 mile bike ride:

65 Mile Ride Shift into high gear for this 65-mile trek through the rolling hills of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. You'll pass sprouting farmland, visit charming villages and cruise along the scenic Sugar River.

Then on Sunday, it will be an easy recovery ride, if you think 30 miles is easy or recover:

30 Mile RideRolling countryside, quaint towns, and unspoiled views along the Sugar River sets the stage for this tour. The Duck Pond rest stop is a favorite on this route.

I'm just hoping that the weekend riding will help me in preparing for Boulder.

Well ... 12 more weeks to go. Pushing out all the stops and hitting it hard!!!