I spent most of last night staring at the bike profile for Couer D'Alene looking for some clue, any clue, that it was going to be easy. I didn't find one. Then I compared it to Ironman LooAvul:
The blue jagged line is the Kentucky Ironman profile. The grey one is is CDA. What I see is that neither is necessarily easier, and the distance between the lowest and highest points is similar. However, it looks like CDA gives more recovery time, whereas LooAvul was just unrelenting hills. Anyway, that's my take on it. Don't burst my bubble.Then I got all panicky and decided I needed to climb Tramway again this morning, but then when I woke up I realized: My legs are tired and I need a day of rest. I haven't taken onc since last week. I'm going to hit a Yoga or Pilates class, and I also have to get my books for my classes next week - I'm taking classes this summer on PTSD and substance abuse.
I was at 156 lbs this morning (that's about 11 stone and 71 kg for our international friends). Dood, I feel ALL small. The good kind of small. But, I'm noticing all this loose skin. I guess if you blow up a balloon enough times it's just not gonna go back to i's original size, is it?
Pee ess: Mike's hard lemonade is 5 WeightWatchers points. In case you wanted to know.
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My suggestion would be to do a recon trip where you ride one loop of the actual course with your Garmin and make your gearing plan in your head this way you know how long the hills are and how to keep easy spinning going as much as possible. You can take the Garmin output and use it to find local hills to practice on. Also, when climbing tell yourself out loud that your heart rate is "staying low"--don't think about the effort just keep telling yourself that you are relaxed and your heart rate is right where it needs to be. Yikes, sorry for my unsolicited verbosity!
ReplyDeleteMike's is awesome. My favorite is the cranberry ones you get when you buy the big pack.
ReplyDeleteCranberry. Hmmmm. And Mary, no apologies necessary! That would be awesome idea if I had the ability to get to Idaho. But you've given me an idea: I'm going to look through all my garmin data for hills that match some of what I see here.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling the good kind of small :)
ReplyDeleteI have some of that loose skin and stretch marks either from when I was pregnant or just bigger. I even have a freckle that got stretched...it's quite amusing!
Your legs will probably thank you for the day off...enjoy!
Holy Hannah - neither of those courses look remotely easy at any point. However, you've already kicked the one and you've put in your training for the other. I can't wait to hear your race report for CDA!
ReplyDeleteAnd WW should give you a kickback. :D Between you and RBR and now Jenny - you've made it seem doable! As soon as four of my five kids leave for 8 weeks of the summer - I'm joining. (Too hard to figure out food in a new way while I have to cook for all of them too.) Anyway - wanted to say thanks!
You don't exactly pick the easy ones do you. Good luck. That bike climb looks awesome! :)
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