Last weekend was one of the hardest training weekends that I have experienced since I began training for Ironman.  Saturday was a 15 mile run; Sunday 4+hrs bike ride in the mountains…..

This is how it start.  I set out Saturday morning, not particularly early to run a new-to-me trail on Lookout Mountain.  Well, the instructions I got from a friend first sent me off in the wrong direction. I asked someone on the trail who told me I needed to go out the other end of the parking lot.  I then ran back to the parking lot and started in the right direction…Great- I’m on the trail now- I thought to my self.  Which I was…only problem I was doing more  boulder hoping and crossing of talus slopes than I was running for the first mile……at which point I turned around and headed back to the parking lot.   I figured I had no idea if the trail would ever become runnable, and since it wasn’t the best trail no one was on it, and I do keep the idea of possible mountain lions in the back of my mind.

I made it back to the parking lot and decided I would head to Bear Creek Lake to get my 15 miles in.  So into the car and down the mountain to the Conoco Station at Morrison.  “Great- I’m here and ready to get my run in!”  I start out on my run and within the first mile I end up eating most of the food I had brought w/me.  I had eaten breakfast almost 3 hours ago and had packed sparingly for today’s run….I decided no nutrition was not an option so I headed back to Conoco- grabbed some goodies…and this time set out on my run for real!!!!  (It’s about 3.5 hours after I left my house by now!)

I get going on my run.  I’m feeling good, it’s the middle of the day by now and in the 90’s.  I finally start to get a groove going.  I decided to run a loop around the Lake a few times….so I’m just finishing up the loop and look at my Garmin and I’ve been out almost an hour and have run only 2.94 miles!  “Man I suck today!!!!! What a lame a$$ runner!”, I’m thinking to myself.  A few more minutes pass, I look at my Garmin watch again and realized the GPS is not working as it’s permanently stuck on 2.94 miles….”OK so I’m not such a lame a$$ runner…but this watch SUCKS!  How am I going to know my mileage????  X%$#&^*! “.

I decide that I should do this loop at least twice and starting from the Conoco parking lot should make this close to 14 miles…then I wonder should I count the other 4 I’ve already run earlier or should I do 15 straight.  Then I start to have this thought that I don’t even want to do the run.  I feel like cr@&, I’m kinda pissed off, I’m definitely frustrated, and it’s hotter than hell!  I get back to the point were I would start the second loop and opt to continue!  Remember Cozumel baby, is what I’m thinking….So on I go for a second loop…….

I finish the second loop, after stopping twice and putting my head under water spigots, and head back to the car.  Thank goodness this epic day is DONE!!!!    I figured I ran somewhere between 12-14 miles…add in the other 3-4 miles and I think I came close to 15 miles today….grrrrrrr.  This 15 miler turned into a 6 hour ordeal!  Not exactly what I had planned for today……grrrrr. 

Then comes Sunday.  I wake up exhausted.  My usual biking buddies are either doing the MS 150 or some hellasious steep a$$ mountain ride.  I find myself totally unmotivated and NOT wanting to ride at all.  A get a txt from a friend of mine from California (thanks Howie) who says all the right things that get me out the door….barely. 

My friend Elizabeth and I are suppose to meet up later today after not visiting for over two months, so I give her a call and tell her that I will ride to her house after my ride.  I tell her how I’m feeling and about my plans…and ask if I can check in w/her along the way….(motivation backup!)

So my plan was- to ride from my house to Lookout Mountain-head up and over and back up Lookout- down the back side and then make my way over to her house in Denver West…..

I rode from my house over Dinosaur Ridge and to the bottom of Lookout. It took me an hour!  OMG it’s never taken that long…plus I’m still feeling like cr@#.  I am soooo wanting to bail and head to Elizabeth’s house, but I call her instead and say I’m going to head up Lookout and see how I feel….I can always turn around if I feel like cr@# (my word for the day!), and I if I make it to the top I may ride over the other side……..So- off I went, slowly.  My legs were mush, my breathing was labored and just about everybody and their grandmother (make that great-grandmother) were passing me.  This was a granny gear kinda day…

I made it to the top of Lookout, (w/out stopping), looked at my watch and saw my time was not off that much from what it usually would be- Man was I surprised by that as this felt the hardest it ever had today!  I call Elizabeth- tell her I made it to the top and am going to head down the other side and if I am feeling ok (I was never expecting to feel good today-just ok) I would ride back up the back side….And off I went again.

Well I made it down and finally started to feel ok after a few hours into riding, not great by any means, but at least ok….and decided to head to the top again.  I got back to the top after fueling up at the bottom and called Elizabeth and told her I would be headed her way soon.  She told me she figured I would ride back up and good on me for sticking w/it.  I wasn’t so sure I agreed with that- I still was feeling like cr@#!

I made it to Elizabeth’s house where she feed and watered me. We chatted on her back porch and I opted for the ride back to my house.  She had to go to Whole Foods by my house and I was just DONE for the day!  I did not want to get back on my bike for nothing…..This was another training day I was soooo very glad to have OVER!!!  Actually I was glad to have this whole weekend OVER!  I was actually looking forward to going back to work so I could “rest”, meaning my training would be lighter. 

And that’s how I was Put To The Test this weekend.  I wanted to give up both days, I felt like cr@# both days, I didn’t want to train both days….and I had never been more glad a weekend was over in my training career.  But I stuck it out, did the workouts anyway, and know that I have this time to look back on when I’m in the middle of my Ironman and hurting.  I can remember I made it through this weekend and survived, just by staying w/it and going the distance!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 7:52 am and is filed under Biking, 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.