Shifting Gears
Literally! After a winter and spring focused on running, Memorial Day is fast approaching. And that means one thing - Growler weekend. As usual, Nick will be tackling the half on Saturday and I will be enjoying two laps Sunday. I use the term enjoying loosely here... I love the course for sure, but it’s a hard day for one lap and even harder for for two laps. I keep wondering what the Half Growler is like - how nice it must be to roll across the finish line and not have to climb back up in Hartman Rocks, but that’s Nick’s day to race. In fact, the only time we haven’t done it that was was last year when Nick had his surgery. That would have been the year to test my mettle in the half! But otherwise, it’s just worked best for me to race the full. I don’t have the top end speed for the half, but can survive the hours of pedaling required for the full. Usually.
This year? Not so sure about those hours of pedaling. As in, I haven’t really done too many hours of pedaling at all. Even with sprained ankle and Nick’s surgery last year, I still got some good 5 hour rides done. Had some solid 4 hour rides with good workouts done last year, so there was plenty of time on the bike and pedaling. Sure, I wasn’t really running that much last year, with the primary running races some 25ks before Growler and then a few 50ks after Growler. So the focus last year was on the bike for the most part. This year, I really haven’t done any long rides. I’ve gotten a few four hour rides in - maybe two? A few more three hour rides. The week in Moab/Grand Junction with a number of hard, technical riding. But really, that was it in terms of riding. I was doing the interval workouts like I needed, just not the long rides.
Why? Because of the running focus this year. In 2016, when I was preparing for my first 50m race, I tried doing it all. The long runs, the run workouts, the endurance rides, the intervals on the bike. And with the benefit of hindsight, I know that it was too much. I dug such a deep hole trying to do it all, that when I got to Sheep Mountain, I wasn’t able to recover properly afterwards. This year, I had a choice - the long rides or the long runs. It had to be one or the other this year - I wasn’t going to try to destroy myself. With a few exceptions, I opted for the long runs and then quality time on the bike. Cardiovascular endurance is developed the same, running or riding and the tolerance of time on feet is more important this year then time in saddle. Sure, the specificity of training on the bike isn’t there, but the endurance still will be. After all, running for 5-6 hours is harder on the body then riding 5 hours. I kept the bike intervals focused on the top end speed, hoping that it would be enough. I know the numbers are lower then what I’d like to see, but I’ve been able to recover well after all the workouts.
So hopefully, I’ll survive the Growler this year. I’m not getting my hopes up for a super fast time - I’ll be happy to break 7:00s as usual. And of course, I want to ride all the technical stuff! That’s always the primary goal!
This year? Not so sure about those hours of pedaling. As in, I haven’t really done too many hours of pedaling at all. Even with sprained ankle and Nick’s surgery last year, I still got some good 5 hour rides done. Had some solid 4 hour rides with good workouts done last year, so there was plenty of time on the bike and pedaling. Sure, I wasn’t really running that much last year, with the primary running races some 25ks before Growler and then a few 50ks after Growler. So the focus last year was on the bike for the most part. This year, I really haven’t done any long rides. I’ve gotten a few four hour rides in - maybe two? A few more three hour rides. The week in Moab/Grand Junction with a number of hard, technical riding. But really, that was it in terms of riding. I was doing the interval workouts like I needed, just not the long rides.
Why? Because of the running focus this year. In 2016, when I was preparing for my first 50m race, I tried doing it all. The long runs, the run workouts, the endurance rides, the intervals on the bike. And with the benefit of hindsight, I know that it was too much. I dug such a deep hole trying to do it all, that when I got to Sheep Mountain, I wasn’t able to recover properly afterwards. This year, I had a choice - the long rides or the long runs. It had to be one or the other this year - I wasn’t going to try to destroy myself. With a few exceptions, I opted for the long runs and then quality time on the bike. Cardiovascular endurance is developed the same, running or riding and the tolerance of time on feet is more important this year then time in saddle. Sure, the specificity of training on the bike isn’t there, but the endurance still will be. After all, running for 5-6 hours is harder on the body then riding 5 hours. I kept the bike intervals focused on the top end speed, hoping that it would be enough. I know the numbers are lower then what I’d like to see, but I’ve been able to recover well after all the workouts.
So hopefully, I’ll survive the Growler this year. I’m not getting my hopes up for a super fast time - I’ll be happy to break 7:00s as usual. And of course, I want to ride all the technical stuff! That’s always the primary goal!
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