Prior to the Xterra in Temecula I thought I was training hard and really pushing myself. I am now starting to figure out what is "hard" and where my limits really are. Having a coach that has done the races you want to do and been successful is starting to show me what it takes to take it to the next level.
Yesterday morning we met up at 6:15 for a 3hr mountain bike ride that would include some repeat climbs of black mountain. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but after a pretty hard run the day before I was feeling pretty good. The first hour was pretty much a warm up as we cruised through PQ canyon. It was on once we reached the base of our climbing session. The climb was long an sustained with varying grades and a lot of rocks. Up until yesterday the longest hill repeats I had done on the bike were 7+ minutes. This climb was a lot longer. Here are the stats:
1 - 13:43
2 - 13:56
3 - 14:05 (I was spent)
This by far the hardest I have ever pushed on the bike and was kind of disappointed with my times. I was giving it pretty much everything I had. I want to get these down in the 12 minute range... and I will. After the hill repeats we headed back and did 10 x 1 min ALL OUT! By number 10 I was crushed.
Stats for ride:
time: 2:45
distance: 29.5 miles
ascent: 2500+ ft
I was completely wiped out, but it felt good. I really thought I was giving it all in my training before. I am learning about a whole different level. Basically, when you are pushing yourself racing hard it's uncomfortable and I need to replicate that feeling in my training so I can learn to deal with it and get through it.
If I keep on the direction I am going I know I am bound to quite bit stronger and faster. This summer is going to be a tough one, but I am pretty sure I am going to learn a lot about myself through this.
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4 comments:
Hey Jameson,
I'd be wary of really increasing your training stress. From personal experience, I can say this can lead to bad things happening. You're doing awesome in your events and I think if you stay consistent throughout the season then you will be really happy with how you do in the national championships and out in hawaii.
Mike
As always - completely impressive with the level of effort. That workout just looks insane! Sounds like the new coach is definitely good though.
Wow, that's awesome. I think it's important to mix easy workouts with hard ones though. After I joined the tri club, I started attending several workouts a week, which were very intense for me. It was so fun and addictive but after 2 weeks, I was waking up sore and tired every morning. I had to take an R&R week. Now, I'm doing more solo workouts, and next week, I'm going to mix it up. Just wanted to caution you not to push it too hard.
Sounds like you're gonna CRUSH now that you're redefining hard...haha...I've realized that I haven't been going quite as hard as I should have been in races too. Especially in the run...I want to cross the finish line and then run off to the side to puke...that's my goal!
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