Matt Gilmartin's 2nd Quarter Group- back in the pool! FULL HOUSE (Page 6)

Mariah, that's some impressive HR data- holy cow!  Judging from your low cadence though I'm wondering if maybe you were geared up too high?  How much of this ride did you do in aero position?

Nice job!!!!

All those Sufferfest videos have turned you into a bike beast!  Congrats on a great ride!

Sounds like everyone is rolling along, or about to get back to it. I had my in-laws and my parents visiting these past two weeks, so it slowed me down some, but at least the workouts I got in were solid, quality workouts. Plus the learning to clip in thing - I've tried it twice more and only fell over once. My mom was watching me and I was having trouble with getting my left foot free. I finally started getting it down and went over to her, put my left foot on the pavement and said "I did it!" Then I fell over to the right. Forgot that foot was still attached One of these days....

Your bike race was really inspiring Mariah, I'd probably be too intimidated to try it right now.I am obsessed with biking up hills right now.

Not sure if everyone saw this, but it's in Chicago so I thought of some of you!

http://advantage.active.com/sweepstakes/Chicago-Triathlon.htm?cmp=15-2507

Hope everyone has a great week!

Thanks, Jen!

I've also got a discount code that's been floating around- 10% off:

chicago10adv

Absolutely- Mack's are the best.  I have to swim with them, as well.  I'm prone to ear infections.  A pack of 12 costs about $4 and will last you months.

Robin -

That's a pretty good little cometary there.  Truth is, I've been trying the Paleo Diet since January, however, I haven't been 100%.  Sadly, I don't think I've been even 90%, but closer to 80%.  I eat so much fruit and vegetables it's dizzying, but on the weekends I don't have the focus and structure the work week brings.  This has been a bit of a wake up call for me.

So, now I have to be more diligent with trimming visible fat from my meat and then shying away from the red meat - even if it is grass fed.  Back to the food diary!

We got bumped to the bottom- here's a worthless post to keep us on top

Seriously though, I thought I'd tell everyone about swimming in a drag suit.  I'd highly recommend everyone train in one, you'll be amazed how much faster you'll be when you need to be fast.

Not trying to get everyone to be vegetarian, but for some great plant-based recipes from an ultramarathoner, I love this blog/website called No-Meat Athlete: www.nomeatathlete.com/vegetarian-recipes-for-athletes/

My ride report:

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to do the Wildflower Ride that was held this past weekend. I don't know what possessed me to want to do it, but I decided to sign up anyway. There were 4 distance options: 25 miles, 40 miles, 100K or 100 miles. For some odd reason, I picked the metric century, or 100K. I knew I could do 25 miles and figured that 40 miles wouldn't be too hard, but I'm still not sure why I thought the 100K was the distance for me.

I really didn't train specifically for this distance, as my longest ride to date was only about 23 miles. I figured that if nothing else, I could call the SAG wagon or my husband to pick me up if I ran out of steam. During the week and a half leading up to the event, the gravity of the distance actually hit me! We decided to go and drive the course the weekend before just to get an idea of the route. It was quite hilly and I started stressing out over it. My husband kept telling me that he had every bit of confidence in me and knew I could do it.

Throughout the week, I became more and more apprehensive about the course and started self-doubting my abilities to finish. Everyone told me that it wasn't a race, just a ride and that I should just go out and have a good time. I spoke to the owner of our LTS and he said that he was confident that I could finish and just reminded me to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. He asked what type of nutrition I was planning to use. I told him that I was going to take 1 bottle of water, 1 bottle of sports drink and my Gu Chomps. He asked if I had used them before, which I stated that I had and he said that it was smart not to try new products during the event just in case they didn't work with my GI system. He suggested that I get off my bike at each rest stop in order to refill my bottles and stretch if needed.

I then volunteered at one of our LBS's for packet pick-up for a 10k that was being held on Saturday. I had a chance to speak to two different bike guys there, both of who stated that they knew I could complete the distance as well. (During the packet pick-up, I was helping customers when the regular employees were busy and was actually offered a job by the store manager - made my day)!!

I had my packet pick-up on Thursday and spoke with the owner of that LBS. He was also the guy responsible for making the course and has been in charge of this ride for um-teenth number of years. He asked me what my longest ride to date had been and was shocked that I had signed up for the metric, however, he agreed that if I took it easy, hydrated and "eat more than you think you need at each rest stop" that I would be fine, although probably pretty sore.

I commented to my husband that since everyone believed in me, that I needed to start believing in me also! He agreed...

We decided that my family would drop me off since we weren't sure if I would be in any condition to drive back home or not upon completion. We got to the ride site and I started getting nervous and at one point even told my husband that I was way out of my league and that we should just go back home. He disagreed and helped me air up my tires and sent me on my way. I was going to call him when I got to the last rest stop so he could come pick me up.

I made my way to the start and got into my corral. They had the 100 milers in front, followed by the 100K, the 40 milers and finally the 25 milers. As we were standing there, I started working myself up again and looked down at my HRM and watched it go from 85 all the way up to almost 110 - and I wasn't even moving! I tried to calm myself down, but it didn't help too much.

Once we took off, I settled into a smooth pace and let all those that decided to "race" pass me up so I wouldn't feel the need to keep up. My average speed has usually been around 14-14.5mph (I'm a slow rider) and I have never had an average over 14.7 mph. I talked with a few riders and just kind of did my thing. I stopped at the first rest stop, refilled my bottles and continued on. I knew that we were in the hilliest portion of the ride, so I really didn't even bother with my speed. To my surprise, I felt very strong on the hills. I noticed that I kept passing people as we were going uphill and even though I stayed seated, I was passing folks that were out of their seat and really seemed to be struggling up the hills.

There was one spooky downhill that was around the 14 mile point or so and I knew it was going to scare me! It was an extreme downhill and snaked down finally ending at railroad tracks. I started picking up speed and getting scared. I had both brakes on and there was no sight of me slowing down! I was really worried about making it down safely, but did so and was really happy that I had conquered that hill!

We had another rest stop shortly after that. I stopped and then after waiting for the port-o-potty (you know - the 4 they had out there for 1500 riders) continued on. There were some riders that I had been talking to right before the scary downhill that decided not to stop. They stated that they had done the ride for many years and didn't need to stop. They really looked like they knew what they were doing and were very friendly. 

I got back on the road and continued on. At one of the stops down the way (it was in the middle of a corn field) I slowed down to stop. I unclipped my right foot and then stopped my bike. As I was unclipping my left foot, I started leaning left and was having trouble unclipping! I just KNEW I was about to fall over, but managed to get my left foot free and put it down just in time! Totally embarrassed!

Around mile 44 or so, my right quad started cramping. I've done some one-legged drills and remember my coach saying that if you get a cramp in one leg that you can pedal with one leg, but leave the other leg clipped in (it's just along for the ride) until you are able to work the cramp out and continue on. I pedaled with primarily my left leg only for about 8-10 miles until my right leg made itself useful again! 

As we continued, I noticed that I had been maintaining about a 15mph pace and kind-of wanted to keep that up. I want to get faster and know that I won't get faster without pushing myself and even though this was technically a "Sunday morning" ride, I wanted to get something out of it other than it just being my longest ride. I made it to 46 miles at the 3 hour mark and was overly thrilled especially since it was pretty hilly. I also noticed that I continued eating the hills and no one had passed me going uphill, which was also a point of pride!

I made the decision to pass up the last rest stop since I knew I had less than 10 miles left and was anxious to finish. In doing so, I forgot that I was supposed to call my husband to come pick me up! Whoops!!

The remainder of the ride was uneventful and as I made it to the finish I grew quite happy that I had accomplished what I set out to do (even though I was quite doubtful in the beginning). I called my husband and went to get some food (which wasn't very good). I grabbed some HoneyMilk and sat down for a minute waiting on my family to arrive. I expected to be quite sore, but was happily surprised that I wasn't. Once they got there I loaded up my gear and we went home.

I unloaded my stuff and then showered and sat down to lunch prepared by my husband. Afterward, I told him that I wanted to take a nap. I laid down and must have fallen asleep (I did not sleep at all the night before due to nerves) right away as I started dreaming I was back out on the course. In my dream, I was getting ready to take a right-hand turn, missed the turn and then drove off a cliff! My body shook, which woke me up. I then realized that I was okay and did not fall off the cliff, but was safe in my home. I closed my eyes to try and go back to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes I "saw" the asphalt ground moving and decided that I couldn't sleep while "seeing" the ground in front of me.

I was waiting for the soreness to hit the next day, but it didn't. One of my supervisors even asked how my "sit down" was, which I replied was fine and I had no problems to speak of! 

A few lessons I learned from this were that we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. We allow our minds to dictate what we will allow our bodies to accomplish. I have decided that I will not let my mind decide what my body can do. I will also try to believe in myself a little more, especially when everyone else believes in me. 

I was happy with my hydration and nutrition choices and felt that I did a great job at staying properly hydrated throughout the ride. By the time I got home my urine output was totally clear and I have been mindful these few days since to ensure that I am continuing to hydrate and eat properly. Once I downloaded my Garmin information, I noticed that my average speed was 15.2mph - a 1/2 mile faster than my previous average!!! Needless to say, I am looking for another ride (hopefully before I leave) and might even consider doing a full century...maybe!

Edited to add: I ended up trying a few new things during the ride (which is not usually recommended). I decided that I didn't have any jersey's bright enough to ride on some of the roads, so I bought a new jersey the night before. I also bought some sun-sleeves that were recommended to me by the manager of the LBS as a method of keeping sun off of you without having to continuously apply sunscreen. In addition, one of the bike guys at the shop also recommended DZNuts chamois cream, which I had never used before. He said it wouldn't hurt and even though I haven't used it, I would be fine. Actually, I think it wore off by the time I got to the ride location and I did not end up bringing it with me...figured it was a chance I would have to take, which fortunately, it didn't matter since I was fine!

Okay, the photograph link isn't working so you can go to 

http://www.backprint.com/view_event.asp?PID=bp%18sA&EVENTID=100897

(which is Enduro photo) and then search for Fiesta Wildflower ride. You can find me under bib number 530.

Fully enjoyed reading your recap! I share many of the same anxieties and fears. You definitely conquered yours and sounds like it was a lot of fun too!

Love this, BTW :

A few lessons I learned from this were that we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. We allow our minds to dictate what we will allow our bodies to accomplish. I have decided that I will not let my mind decide what my body can do. I will also try to believe in myself a little more, especially when everyone else believes in me.

Hello, I am interested in joining your team. I have been a runner off and on for several years but never competitively. I decided that I needed to get back into shape and thought that training for a triathlon was a goal that would help to keep me motivated. I'm not having too much problem with running and biking. However, when it comes to swimming I really need help. I am not a seasoned swimmer but have been swimming on average 3 days per week since the start of the year and while I have noticed improvements in my running and cycling swimming I am not building any swimming endurance; it's all I can do to swim 100 yards without stopping. Hope you have room for one more, I am looking forward to working with this team. Thank you.

Justin Wilson

Justin, if you want to join I have room.  We're not as active as we were in the first quarter, so feel free to post your questions.  You're in the right place if you need help with swimming.

Great race, and great photos! You look like you're having fun. I can't imagine riding the 40, much less the metric. Congrats - what an accomplishment!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RLDZG8/ref=asc_df_B000RLDZG81989006?smid=A7XVM01W8PF10&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B000RLDZG8&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=619210019304903623&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

Thanks for the link, Matt.

I went to visit the venue for my first Tri in June, and came back totally depressed.  The water looked foul (man-made lake),  the ride through gentle rollers in suburbia looks more like not so gentle rollers but you will keep peddaling because it is not a neighborhood where you want to stop and look vulnerable for very long, and the run around the lake is on pavement under construction!

Hopefully, I will be ready by then and so will the venue.  The bright spot right now remains the sponsor - Seattle Dilletante chocolates. 

Headed off for a long awaited vacation - going to Moab Utah to ride mountain bikes.  Warm, and hopefully some great conditioning.

Melinda

Mariah,

Congrats on your Metric Century!  You've reminded me that with focus and determination people can push far past their known limits.  I'm very jealous of your long ride. 

Injury update: My right IT band has felt great through a handfull of short runs and rides.  Bad news, my left IT band is starting to flare up .  I'm going to do all my IT band exercises and stretched on BOTH legs now and see if I can quell the right IT band before it gets bad. 

Off to the pool!