Training Log Archive: MTBjenIn the 7 days ending Mar 2, 2008:
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Sunday Mar 2, 2008 #
MTB warm up/down (1st cruise stage) 23:00 [2] 8.0 km (2:53 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
Karri Cup
Started with an 8km paced stage - 150 impatient punters behind an erratically driven 4wd (was meant to be at 20kph but the gps says 15-36. Was interesting! Then they lead us onto the gravel, honked their horn and drove away. About 5min later most people had realised this was the official race start and by the time we hit the single track the rest had cottoned on too.
Started with an 8km paced stage - 150 impatient punters behind an erratically driven 4wd (was meant to be at 20kph but the gps says 15-36. Was interesting! Then they lead us onto the gravel, honked their horn and drove away. About 5min later most people had realised this was the official race start and by the time we hit the single track the rest had cottoned on too.
MTB race (1st timed stage) 1:49:00 [5] 28.0 km (3:54 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
This one was really hard work - mostly short steep ups and downs with some creek crossings, soft sand, and also a token lap of the Boorara race track. That was good fun - i caught the roadie chick who was in 3rd at that stage - she indicated left, saw a short steep hill, stuck up her hand and shouted "slowing!" then rode into a rock and fell off. Swore at me when i asked if she was ok so i rode off and never saw her again, til she rolled into the finish 15min after me demanding medical attention for the graze on her elbow. She did, to her credit, finish the day, wearing her bandage and shouting "rock!" "log!" "left!" at useful intervals.
Sally passed me early on, i caught her on the single track too but never got past her. She had 'listen to your heart' printed on the back of her shorts. So i did, for ages, but it didn't help. She was still 30sec ahead at the finish line. Tough stage. Felt ok though at the end and had a huge long rest cos i started in the early group with saz (who got a flat on the start line, poor thing, had to start the ride with the sweep rider, then slowly pass punters all morning) and wil (who rode well, and smiled all day - said 'i thought racing would be hard but its not nearly as hard as a training ride with tooms)
So. Finished stage 1 in 3rd. Steph was 15min ahead, she was amazingly strong.
Sally passed me early on, i caught her on the single track too but never got past her. She had 'listen to your heart' printed on the back of her shorts. So i did, for ages, but it didn't help. She was still 30sec ahead at the finish line. Tough stage. Felt ok though at the end and had a huge long rest cos i started in the early group with saz (who got a flat on the start line, poor thing, had to start the ride with the sweep rider, then slowly pass punters all morning) and wil (who rode well, and smiled all day - said 'i thought racing would be hard but its not nearly as hard as a training ride with tooms)
So. Finished stage 1 in 3rd. Steph was 15min ahead, she was amazingly strong.
MTB race (2nd cruise stage) 1:15:00 [3] 18.0 km (4:10 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
Rode to the lunch spot with saz and wil (john, dalto and rhys had started in the later group). Loved the cruise stages - a bit hilly but we just pottered along and the forest was beautiful.
MTB race (2nd timed stage) 1:17:00 [5] 32.0 km (2:24 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
This stage was much faster, mostly undulating fire trail and farm boundary tracks. Sally was much too strong again - i kept her in sight for about 3/4 of it then lost her, didn't catch her on the tricky single track at the end either. Got stuck behind some roadies for a while which is so frustrating! They won't even let you past if you say 'please'. Legs stiff to start with and i didn't have a lot of power on the hills but kept reasonably strong. Bit sad to pass john who's back had given in and he had slowed right down and was ready to give up. Didn't see many people, it strung out a lot. Occasionally someone would pass and have a chat. Finished almost 2min behind Sally, unlikely to make that up in the 10km final stage! Steph put another 15min into us. 4th place now 20min behind which took the pressure off a bit
MTB (3rd cruise stage) 1:07:00 [3] 15.0 km (4:28 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
Rode this one with John, who was still really sore and unkeen. I was a bit tired too - at one point i stopped to wait for him at the top of a hill, and didn't notice when he caught up and rode past. It was a lovely ride, or would have been in better circumstances, through the karri forest
MTB race (3rd timed stage) 34:00 [5] 9.0 km (3:47 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
Fun little track up the hill and into the round-tuit loop then through the forest back to the rec ground to the finish. They set us off in groups of 10. I rode with Jude and her entourage, a couple of roadies and 2 kids. Me and the two 11y-olds rode away from the rest of the pack in the technical single-track, which was quite satisfying, then the 11y-olds rode away from me. A bit of a pattern with me but man they are fast, it is great to watch. They did the race in a team of 2, finished second in the juniors, but would have podium-placed in the men's teams too. Ha, the male teams on the podium were pretty happy to be told that :)
Note
So overall it was a lot of fun. Luckily with some encouraging words from dalto (after i just rode on from the last cruise stage into the last race stage) john had some food and got his mojo back, raced the last leg hard and came in smiling. Wil still smiling. Poor saz had a hard 2nd race stage and left to get back to perth in time. Dalto rode really well, so did rhys. Everyone happy. Dinner was good. Shower queues were long. I got to climb a hay bale to have my hand shaken (no prizes for this one- they said, "we shall send you certificates. Definitely. Within the next two weeks we shall mail out the certificates for this race and last year too". so i'm not holding my breath for a certificate!)
Came 3rd in the end, only 2.5min behind 2nd which i'm really happy with. Steph came 7th overall! Wow...
I finished 32nd overall (of about 290). John 10 places and 10min ahead. I will catch him next time...
Came 3rd in the end, only 2.5min behind 2nd which i'm really happy with. Steph came 7th overall! Wow...
I finished 32nd overall (of about 290). John 10 places and 10min ahead. I will catch him next time...
Saturday Mar 1, 2008 #
Event: Great Karri Ride
MTB warm up/down (half-hearted warmup) 10:00 [1] 3.0 km (3:20 / km)
slept:7.0 shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
Rode to the toilet, then went back the long way as a sort of warmup
MTB race (dirt crit) 12:30 [5] 6.0 km (2:05 / km)
shoes: Rocky Mountain Instinct
They have a dirt crit on the saturday night to make the weekend seem more like a festival and less like a single race. Only about 8 of the 22 solo women entered. I managed to lead for about 3 laps after Steph fell off her bike halfway around lap 1, then she reeled me in and i stayed with her for the other 4. Thus starting the main event with a 5sec penalty. (To add to the 15min she won by in every other stage!)
Friday Feb 29, 2008 #
Roadie (commute) 56:00 [3] 23.0 km (2:26 / km)
slept:6.5 shoes: Mongoose Roadie
To work and back. Meant to be recovering for the weekend but still had to get to work, but i was really good and didn't push hard even when roadies went past. Much.
Thursday Feb 28, 2008 #
Run (study break) 40:00 [3] 6.5 km (6:09 / km)
slept:7.5 shoes: Retro green Asics
Vera and i waited til it cooled down to about 34deg to go running, so we practically needed jumpers. Nice potter through uwa and around the river, punctuated with a few short swims. Water was beautiful. Had a look at all the brand new uni students gathering for the start of the year. They are so tiny! Just like the little new fish in our pond, only slightly less likely to get eaten.
Wednesday Feb 27, 2008 #
Roadie (commute) 29:00 [3] 13.0 km (2:14 / km)
slept:5.5 shoes: Mongoose Roadie
Course record for on the way there. Rode harder than usual, perhaps pretending i was doing 2km intervals?
Note
It is so depressing looking at my graph and seeing only endless hours of roadie commuting! Only 3 days now til the exam. At last, i get to go paddling again (if only because it is the nicest colour on the graph).
Roadie (commute) 29:00 [3] 13.0 km (2:14 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
Home. Lady in the lift at work complained to me at length about how hot it would be walking to her car. Poor thing.
Orienteering race (mid-week series) 29:00 [5] 5.5 km (5:16 / km)
shoes: Retro green Asics
Feels like cheating calling this a 5. Today was the day for 29min training sessions so to keep from being back too early i trotted around and even ran up some unnecessary hills just because the course itself was so boring- they had tried hard by making it half a line course then half a scatter, but the map didn't have much on it.
C • 5 3
Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 #
Roadie intervals (Floreat service road) 18:10 [5] 10.0 km (1:49 / km)
slept:7.0 shoes: Mongoose Roadie
5x2km intervals
3.50 3.44 3.36 3.30 3.30
I've never done such short intervals so it took a couple for me to realise that you can push really hard for 2km. John started off 20sec behind me which was quite nice. Then he started leaving only 10sec behind hence the times improved more. Unfortunately he improved more than i did and passed me at the end of the last one. How rude! Great start to the day though, and lovely to have time for breakfast at home instead of heading straight to work.
3.50 3.44 3.36 3.30 3.30
I've never done such short intervals so it took a couple for me to realise that you can push really hard for 2km. John started off 20sec behind me which was quite nice. Then he started leaving only 10sec behind hence the times improved more. Unfortunately he improved more than i did and passed me at the end of the last one. How rude! Great start to the day though, and lovely to have time for breakfast at home instead of heading straight to work.
Roadie 35:00 [3] 16.0 km (2:11 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
Warm up cool down and recoveries
Roadie (commute) 31:00 [3] 13.0 km (2:23 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
I was accidentally ready to leave 5min early. John said, if you wait 5min then you'll get a flat and regret it. So i left early. Then got a flat. And ended up at work on time. Not sure whether to thank john for his timely advice, or whether to be very suspicious. Suspicion i think wins out, as he is still touchy about having his AP log infiltrated by an unidentified commando yesterday.
Roadie (commute) 29:30 [3] 13.0 km (2:16 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
Home again
Monday Feb 25, 2008 #
Run (shuffle) 45:00 [3] 7.5 km (6:00 / km)
slept:7.0 shoes: Retro green Asics
Distance only approximate, it was quite a gentle run around kings park with Vera. Legs sore today, they refused to play as soon as there was any sort of hill. I keep catching myself turning into john (not by growing freakishly long legs though), saying stuff like "this one time, in the metro series, i punched a control that was on that tree, and then i ran over there..." poor Vera.
Roadie (commute) 43:00 [3] 18.0 km (2:23 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
To Kings Park to meet Vera and then to work. I struggled so much into the wind around the river that I was almost late. Stupid legs, what reason have they got to be so sore?
Roadie (commute) 38:00 [3] 14.5 km (2:37 / km)
shoes: Mongoose Roadie
Home via the shops. As usual added 5 more things than i meant to. Tri bars have a use after all, they are just right for balancing toilet paper on.