agggggggghhhh...man it was a tough day, probably mostly self inflicted. Started the day off with a 10K run around 'A' Mountain from the hotel. The proper name is Sentinel Peak but features a large, painted, man-made rock formation in the shape of the letter "A" that was built by University of Arizona students.
Awesome run route. The route circumnavigates the "hill." If ever in Tucson, it is a must do run route.
After a small break, it was "go time" for the first long ride of camp. We had Madera Canyon which is a ride south of Tucson to the Coronado National Forest.
We broke up into 2 groups - Friendly and....Not so friendly! I was delegated to the "Not So Friendly" ride group and we rolled at 10:30. The pace was moderate until we hit the base of the climb which is about 10 miles to the base of the REAL climb which is 2.3 miles long. At the "first" base, the tempo became quite high leading into the base of the 2.3 mile climb whittling the gruop to 3. This might have been my first mistake. I haven't ridden that hard in quite sometime, maybe in a criterium bike race once. So, just before the start of the steep 2.3 mile climb, I stopped in for a rest and quick refuel, very much needed. I nabbed a Coke. After recovering, started the short climb. Took me 18:23 to get to the top, whipped it around and regrouped at the bottom.
Now by this point, we were literally at the half way point of a 96 mile ride and doubt began to creep in if I was going to be able to stay with the "Not So Friendly" group, unfortunately not by choice. So back at the rest stop, I drank another Coke and 2 gels with caffeine. We hit the road and I was feeling ok, but constantly wiery of when the bonk was gonna hit. Starting my 11th season in triathlon, I've learned a few things about bonking, mostly through personal experience. I was nearing toward survival mode and I realized as long as I kept Coke and gels in me, I'd be ok. So thats exactly what I did. We had another rest stop about 15 miles or so after climbing Madera and as you can guess, I went for my 3rd coke of the ride, and really my 3rd in the last 75 minutes. That with another gel and I was set for the last hour ride home. On our way out, Tom grabbed another Coke for the road and about 15 minutes later, rolled up next to me with a half filled Coke and offered the rest to me.....and you know what!?!?!....I drank that too!!!
By this time, we had finished most of the climbing and we where on the home stretch. Ya know, it was kinda wierd and all the sudden, the pace began to get a bit faster and I found myself at the front with Tom, hammering away. Funny how easy it is to go hard when you have a mate. :) Next thing you know, we are running full on paceline, single file, back to the hotel for the last 45'ish minutes. To be honest, I had tons of fun given'er everything I had. I haven't done that in quite a while. To be honest, I did have some permission to go hard, my coach Marilyn told me it was ok to get a little tired this week, so I'm workin' on it. We'll see how tomorrow goes, those long, hard efforts can be tough...we'll see how tomorrow's ride goes!
Day 4 Totals:
Run: :50
BIke: 5:05
Swim: 0:00
Our speaker this evening was a local legend here in Tucson, Paul Thomas. He is 43y.o. and it quite the endurance athlete. He is still riding with the Pro, Cat 1 riders here. The dude can crush it! He went 7:13 at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race and took 23rd overall, pretty impressive for a guy that has never ridden a mountain bike.
Tomorrow is an easier day, we open with 1.5 hour swim set followed by another 10k run. I think we only have a 2 hour ride of which I have a feeling that I won't have a choice in the matter but to keep it easy. Stil have a lot of riding left in camp.
Until tomorrow,
Crazy J
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