This past week was my HELL WEEK!

Within 7 days I completed the Sunrise Century (102 miles/7000′ elev gain); Ran 24 miles the next day; Drove from Denver to Mt Shasta California (24 hrs); Rode 2 hours; Completed my own 70.3; And rode in the Mt Shasta Summit Century Ride the next day (105 miles/ 13,500 elev gain).

I had an amazing time on the Sunrise Century Ride w/my fella Ironmaner Bine.  Bine was awesome to ride with and we had a wonderful time.  The scenery was beautiful and the people were great.  I loved the whole experience.  This was my third century ride this year and Bine’s first…she rocked it!  She was amazing!  The whole day was amazing….

And then came the next morning…I got up at 6:00 am and headed out to Waterton Canyon to run it twice for 24 miles.  I was kinda bummed that no one else was up for a run that morning as it would have helped motivate me more.  But I showed up and started my run.  It was a beautiful morning with many families starting a morning outing.  The water in the river was high and muddy. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt during the run!  I thought I would be  slow as molasses…but I wasn’t!  I actually felt fantastic and not the least bit fatigued.  I even ran my fastest time!  I could not believe it!  I continue to surprise myself as I continue to train and then try something hard and challenging and then to see myself be successful.  It completely surprises me!

As I was running back to the parking lot for the second time (around mile 22) I remembered my first run up Waterton a little over a year ago.  My coach had me run up 3 miles and back for a total of 6 miles…..well, around mile 4 I had to walk.  There is this little hill and last year I was not fit enough to run up the hill on the way back…and here I was running up it at mile 22!!!!  OMG!  It just made me realize how much I could change in one year, just by staying with it! 

So- big weekend followed by a BIG car ride!  Many hours of driving and one sore bumm found me in Mt Shasta on Wed night.  Thursday was off to Dr’s appts w/my Dad and a 2 hour  bike ride in the evening.  Friday was a short run- and then it was time for the KILLER weekend again 

On Saturday I did my own 70.3. I swam at Lake Siskiyou, biked along Old Stage Rode, and then ran around Lake Siskiyou….I started WAY to late (8:30) for how hot the day was going to be.  By the time I got to my run it was almost 1:00pm and 99 degrees.  I absolutely melted on the run!  I could not for the life of me find the umph to want to run 13.1 miles, even after dousing myself with cold water from a hose in the campground.  So I must confess- my 70.3 ended up more of a 62.1~

And then there was the next day- Sunday- and the Mt Shasta Summit Century with a 5:30am start!  This was the best century ride I have done so far and also the hardest thing I have done to date.  The climbs where BRUTAL!  ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL!  On the second climb I ran out of water about 45 mins away from the summit of the second pass….thank goodness for the “angels” who pedaled up beside me and said something, so I could take the opportunity to squeek out that I was out of water!  Both gentlemen let me have some of their beverages and I know for a fact I would not have made it had it not been for them!  (Cyclists are way cool too!).

Oh- something else that happened…that morning I had forgotten my gloves and when I went back to the car to get them I realized I locked my keys in the car…..so I rode the whole event sans gloves!!!  That was almost a brutal as the climbs because of the rough road descents!!  But every minute was worth it.  It was amazing to have roads with basically no cars on them.

So here I am….after HELL week- trying to keep my engery up to train. Track workout today was beyond slow- but I guess that can happen after the week I had.  And guess what- I loved it!  I wish I had more weeks like that…oh wait a minute—-I DO! 

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Century Ride, Distance, Running, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.