Did the Brandywine Roubaix today. They lied about the distance and climbing. Instead of 56 miles and 4000 ft of climbing, it was 58.7 miles with 4900 ft of climbing. You might think what’s another few miles and a few hundred ft? Not that lt made much of a difference, but the ride crushed me, lol. It was the most difficult ride I’ve ever done, bar none. I’ve done 100 mile rides, 50 mile rides with 5000 of climbing but never before where 40-50% of the ride was on rutted, potholed loose gravel roads and trails which seemed to have the longest and steepest climbs, many of which were literally a mile long with 10-12% grades. I’ve been riding seriously for 23 years and for the first time ever, I had to get off the bike and walk portions of a couple of the hills. Then it didn’t help much that I was totally undertrained for the ride and didn’t consume nearly enough carbs in the 2 days prior, with the result that for the last 18 miles I had to deal with severe adductor and quad cramping on hills, causing me to stop frequently to stretch. It was so tough, when I needed to walk the couple of hills, they were so steep and I was so beat up that my glutes were firing to failure and I literally had to stop to rest as I walked because I wasnt capable of walking any further for the moment. The silver lining to all of this - my torn calf didn’t bother me one iota, :D.
Just to make things better, my bike’s performance was less than stellar. The rear derailleur became out of adjustment and wouldn’t shift cleanly when I needed to go up the cassette for those larger climbing gears. I tried adjusting it which worked for a while but the it started up again. Nothing like missed shifts when you are searching for that right gear climbing a hill. Even if that had not been the case, I don’t think that a single chainring set up is going to give me the ratios I need for intense climbing. I need to go back to the gear charts and do some research. And the saddle, oh that lovely saddle, boy is it not the right saddle for me. Time to put the same saddle on this bike as I have on my road bikes.
But you know what, notwithstanding all my trials and tribulations, it was a spectacle ride. Beautiful, quite roads and trails that were tree lined, going through horse country in Chester County Pa. could not have asked for a more beautiful route. It was the most beautiful route I have ever ridden. And at the end of the day, I finished. The ride crushed me but it didn’t beat me. Next year, I will be better trained and will have my equipment dialed in. Next year I will tame that ride.
Wow, Michael! Way to tough it out. Lessons learned about the bike setup, too. It sounds incredibly difficult. I hope you recover quickly!
This is a good read for any athlete or fitness enthusiast. My friend Bob Hearn just became the first American over 50 to run 150 miles in 24 hours. He’s an extremely bright guy, too. He missed the US 24 hour national team by 300 yards in this race he writes about that took place near Nashville. My daughter’s coach (who also coached Sabaray last year) did the race, too, but dropped at 64 miles.
This is a little long, but worth it for the understanding of the mental struggle. http://bobhearn.blogspot.com/2017/04/run4water-2017-my-masterpiece.html
Great job on a tough ride @MichaelNKat. You continue to inspire us.
Surprisingly, people were so very generous that the fundraising turned out to be easy. I think it may be a matter of b.c. being so prevalent that everyone has someone close to them who has /has had this disease.
I showed up at an official training walk 2 weeks age and ended up meeting an incredibly friendly bunch of people and now I am part of their team. I look forward to continuing to train with them and being together on walk weekend because they really are great and so very committed to this cause. They have already shared a lot of helpful hints as well as information about the 39. One of the things I learned is that there will be about 2200-2500 walkers in DC.
mowc, I was thinking about your comment upstream about getting older and your thoughts about marathons and the training required. My training partner who I rode with today, who is 65 and recently had a hip replacement, and I were having a similar conversation as we laughed about how hurting we were today. We were, I think, the oldest people doing this ride. We came in dead last. We watched young folks pass us on the hills with great dispatch. We concluded that none of the downsides of what we experienced today really matters. What matters is that we were out there holding nothing back, leaving it all on the road. Similarly, when you are training for your long races and then do a race, you are doing the same thing. And that’s all that matters. It’s inevitable that we age and as we do so, our relative ability to perform compared to our younger selves does too. So we get smarter about our training, we make adjustments like giving ourselves more recovery time or maybe doing fewer events. And we adjust our expectations. But what’s important is that we are still out there in the game, bringing our all to what we do even with the adjustments we make. And remember, you are comparing yourself to an elite population of athletes, those who do what you do including yourself and others at a younger age. I do it too. We tend to get down on ourselves when we come up short. At times like that, I remind myself to compare myself to the typical 30 or 40 year old. And then things don’t seem so glum, lol :).
Awesome post and great job, Michael! The beauty of the ride comes through in your description.
I bought a compression knee brace to try out and it’s been incredibly helpful for that loose knee feeling. I’ve started some of the strengthening exercises suggested here, and I’ve been wearing the brace for any distances of fitness walking and running. Today I ran 4 miles and walked a few more with DH. So far, so good. I am very motivated to NOT have to go through the hassle of making an appointment with and seeing the orthopedic doctor.
Post of the year, Michael! So true. It just feels so much harder… I used to do 12 mile runs BEFORE WORK in the 80s and 90s! Now I have to plan for days and make sure I can do my life after a long run!
And so much slower. I am adapting to that, to having to allow more time to do what I used to do.
But that’s okay. I am glad to still be out there.
Speaking of out there, my usual pool is closed for a week or so, so I needed a new place to swim. I tried out the outdoor pool at a local U. It looked great: 8 25 yd long lanes, wide lanes at that. Talked H into going with me. Well, the water temp was only about 74 at the most. We froze our butts off! But we hung in there and swam for about an hour. I think if the air temp had been higher it would have been ideal, but the air wasn’t much warmer.
Michael, a round of applause! Post of the year, indeed!
Filled two yard waste cans this weekend - both at House1 and at House2 (that’s what we call them, LOL). Mr. unloaded 2 truckbeds full of drainage rock into the drain he dug up… We did not do it as fast as we used to when we bought House1 18 years ago, but we still can do it without asking for help.
I got the crops in the teal/black print and wore them this morning. I love them. The waist is high and comfortable and there are two huge side pockets down the legs (invisible). I think Lulu might have scored a home run here.
Oh- Did 2.6 miles on extremely tired legs this morning. I have a 15K on Saturday, so this is going to have to be a lighter week. It’s the race that Gertrude, Pizzagirl, Fireandrain and Plantmom came in for last year.
I have the Fast and Free 7/8 and also a pair of Wunder Unders in the Nulux. The fabric has actually been out for a while, I think they just started promoting it. Nice finish, very comfortable, far better at wicking than some of their other fabrics. There’s Nulu and Nulux - for running, walking, any cardio you’re going to want the Nulux.
6.2 this morning, glad to be done. 4 years ago I had just started the Couch to 5k program - finally a FB memory I was happy to see. Reminded me how far I’d come.
Congratulations on your 4 year anniversary! You have come a long way! I guess what Lulu is calling “new” is the “Fast and Free” line. I was really impressed with the crops. Boy, are they expensive, though!
Questions on the Fast and Free. Do you think they are lightweight enough to be comfortable running in them in the summer when it is hot? And do you think an iPhone would fit comfortably in the side pockets on the legs? I am trying to find an alternative to shorts and my Flipbelt for long runs and races. I wish womens shorts would come with zip pockets to safely carry a phone but I haven’t found much that works. I like running in tights but worry about how hot these might get. The photo shows a phone stashed in the pocket in the back but it doesn’t fit all the way in so it looks a little precarious to me, as well as not really comfortable.
@MichaelNKat – sounds like a great ride, and I’m awed that you did it with a single chain ring. I have mountain bike gearing on my bike and even then sometimes my granny gear just isn’t granny enough. Your description of the ride sounds a lot like a local 65 mile gravel grinder my DH did a few weeks ago: “absolutely beautiful and really hard.”
C3B- If you could ever stand to run in anything on your legs in summer, these would be it. The side pockets would easily hold a phone- even one with a case. They are really big (and flat- so not like they are cargo pants or anything). The material is very thin. I am so used to growing up as a runner in Texas that I don’t do capris or tights over 64 degrees or so, and I have friends who are in shorts/skirts over 50. These would be fine unless it was over 75, I would think, but I know women who wear capris all the way up into the 90s.
