Begin Brick Work...now!

Last Sunday, I hopped an early morning flight to St. Louis to attend a conference.  When I landed in St. Louis the temps were in the 50’s and it was raining.  Mom and Gram were nice enough to pick me up at the airport so that I could spend the day with them before heading to the conference hotel. 

On Monday morning, I woke a couple of hours before the conference to 38 degrees temps and 15 mph winds (with gusts up to 25 mph).  I had sprint drills on my workout calendar, and while I knew I could do them on the treadmill, I hate not having the data from my Garmin to look at to see improvement over time.  So, I plotted out my route to the riverfront and headed out the door.

I’m fairly certain the people of St. Louis thought I was nuts in my shorts running through town.  Fortunately, at 6:15am, there were very few people out in downtown St. Louis.  As I made my way down the hill to the riverfront, I could feel the wind at my back and I knew my sprints would be really hard.  And, they were.  After a little over a mile warm up, I did 4 miles of intervals/sprints (1/4 mile all out, ¼ mile recovery).  I decided it would be better to have the wind at my face for the hard sprints so that the ¼ mile recovery would truly be recovery.  Then, I headed back to the hotel feeling exhausted and accomplished.  I can already see the benefits from the intervals, so as much as I loathe it, I won’t quit doing it.

Look - Busch Stadium in the background!

Tuesday morning I found the hotel gym and the single working upright bike and hopped on for 45 minutes.  Matt told me to make sure to go easy, but I was in a gym setting – so I had to LOOK like I was working hard, so I think it was far more moderate than easy.  When I finished, I jumped on the treadmill for a mile, just to see if I still had it in me.  I did – and knocked out an 8:45 mile. 

Tuesday evening, Mom got tickets to a St Louis Blues game – the place was insane.  The best part – she had an extra ticket so my college suite-mate, Nancy, joined us for the evening.  The Blues won, so that was cool, too. 

Friends for 22 years!

Wednesday morning, I intended to get up and run 4 miles outside, around town.  But the weather gal said, “19 degrees with windchill and 25 mph winds” – I opted to hit the gym again for a treadmill run, something I hadn’t really endured in a long time.  While I find the treadmill a lot “easier”, its so incredibly boring.  I am so happy I live somewhere where I can still run outside during the winter months. 

Then, after a lovely birthday breakfast with Michael (my brother), I hopped a flight back to Phoenix and was home by 1:30pm – and in the pool by 2pm.  2000 meters later, I felt whole again.

Thursday morning, I chose to do my hilly, difficult 19 mile ride through the Ahwatukee Foothills.   When I got home from the ride (where I managed a PR – 17.8 AVS), I quickly changed into my running shoes and headed out for a 2 mile run around the neighborhood.  I tried out my new tri-suit so I could see how it felt in the saddle and then again on the run.  Not only was it incredibly comfortable on the bike, the full-body-suit really helped with running form.  2 miles later – an AVP of 8:47/mile. 

Then, a couple hours later Kris picked me up and we spent the day at the outlet malls and wineries in northern Arizona.  What a blast!

Stop 2 of 3 wineries: Burning Tree Cellars

Fortunately, even after 11 hours together the day before, Kris still liked me enough to pick me up at 6:15am on Friday and drop me off at the trailhead for the Desert Classic.  The weather in Phoenix was drastically different than St. Louis.  It was an absolutely gorgeous 65 degrees at 6:30am and 75 degrees by the time I finished the 11 mile run.  I didn’t stop to take any sunrise shots, this time.  In truth, I realized early into the run that I really needed to have started 15-20 minutes earlier to catch the sun rise over the mountains and the valley.  I’ll know better for the next time out. 

Beautiful morning for an 11 mile trail run!

That evening, I spent some time with Anne’s fabulous kids and then she and I went out for a couple of drinks.  We had a really great chat about hitting the “wall”.  It made me think about my morning run – where almost every time I hit the 7.25 mile spot, I have a long stretch uphill and am exhausted from all of the in’s and out’s of the steep washes.  Sometimes I give up and walk a small portion just to get my head back into the game, but this morning, I’d managed to beat the ugly voice in my head encouraging me to walk and ran through the toughest spot.  I never stopped, never quit.  But, I also know that beating the voice is one of the hardest things to do.  So, Anne and I talked through it.  She told me that she always quits around mile 10, unable to move passed it.  My observation – it’s always mile 10.  She allows her mind to get the best of her at the same point each and every time.  She’s anticipating her own failure.  What makes you a better athlete is your ability to get passed those spots, beating your mind at its own game. 

After our chat I think we both felt motivated to get back at it – challenging ourselves passed our toughest spots. 

At the bar -- after we both applied Buxom lipgloss (a Ragnar flashback)

Saturday morning, I hit the Masters Swim class with Mike.  Unlike Amy who puts us through crazy hard drills (breathing, one arm, kicks, etc), Mike loves to make us do insane speed work.  After I had lamented a slow swim on Wednesday (2000 meters in 50 mins), I managed 2100 meters in 49 minutes.  Granted, the speed work is as awful as interval runs, but it pays dividends and makes me more confident going into the Leadman next month.

But the big news of the week was this morning’s workout.  Finally reunited with Matt, we headed out at 10am for a 50+ mile ride.  The route was the same as last week – 16 miles out Pecos and back (hills) and then the remainder is pretty flat (35 miles).  I am pleased to say that I felt pretty good the whole ride, but was again reminded that Matt’s is just that much better a rider than I.  He hung slightly in front of me to keep me grinding away.  He’d just returned from a trip to Disney with his family – so we both had stories to tell.  Most of the ride was filled with chatter and laughter.  I missed having him around – it was great to push out a 3 hour work-out with such a good friend. 

As we pulled into the Park n Ride, I glanced at my watch and knew we’d done well.  There were tons of winds on this ride, unlike the last time, and the temps were nearing 80 degrees, so I found myself thirstier than normal, but we kept just under a 19 mph pace for the majority of the ride.  50 miles, 18.8 AVS.  It’s MY personal best – which feels good.

In our last mile I mentioned to Matt that I was exhausted and not looking forward to throwing my running shoes on to complete a short brick workout.  We both agreed, though, that I needed to see what it felt like to run after 50 miles of riding.  We knew it would feel less good than a 20 mile ride. 

Feeling really good about our ride! All smiles!

With my running gear on, Matt knew just what to say as we headed out.  “You’re looking skinny.”  Yeah, I smiled and knew I had to hold my own.  Like the amazing friend that he is, Matt decided he’d ride next to me for a little over a mile of the run ‘til we got close to his house and then he’d let me complete the run on my own.  After about a ½ mile he said, “nice, an AVS of 6.6 miles per hour.”  That pleased me – my watch read an 8:47 pace, even though I felt super slow.  And, close to the one mile mark, Matt said, “how ya feeling?”  My response, “like quitting.”  But that’s not what Matt heard – he heard, “like pudding.”  So he carried on about my description for a solid minute.  I didn’t correct him because I found it utterly amusing and it kept me moving for another 1/10 or so.  As my watch hit 1 mile, I paused for a short walk and Matt gave me some water.  It’s exactly what I needed to finish.  Matt peeled off a little bit later and although I wanted to quit, I knew I needed to beat the voice in my head – the one I told Anne she needed to beat, as well.
  

Done!

2.55 miles later I was back at my car – the time on my watch 22:52 and just under a 9 minute mile, even with my short walk break with Matt.  It was hard – I won’t lie.  My hope is that it will get easier if I commit to doing it each and every time we finish our long rides. 

Now, time for a couple of beers!