Today was a combo swim/bike workout in Menlo Park. The swim was okay - we only got in 2000 yards, which is a bit low for us, but there was some good speed work in there so I can't complain. We had one set of 4 x 100 yards descending each 100, which I absolutely detest because I am just crap at pacing for slower swimming. And true to form, my first 100, which I swear felt super easy and slow, clocked a 1.25 - descending from there is hard, but I guess it's supposed to be! I ended up swimming the last 100 in about 1.15, so I can't complain.
After the swim, we changed into bike clothes and headed out for a ride. There were three options: a shorter ride, a longer ride, and a middle distance ride that included a "performance" option - hill repeats. Guess which one I did?! That's right - hill repeats!
We rode from the Burgess Pool in Menlo to Huddart Park, which really was one big uphill already. I was pretty tired even getting through those 8 miles! We then hit the actual hill, where coach Keith had us do four sets - 1 minute riding up hill in as high of a gear as we could manage (so a slow, slogging, powerful pedalstroke), then turn around and come back down, 2 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear, 3 minutes uphill in a high gear/low cadence, and 4 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear. We ended back at the bottom, patting ourselves on the back for our great effort, and then Keith sprung one last hill on us - we were to ride back up all the way to the top, "only" about 300 yards. I beg to differ - I say is was more like 300 miles.
Whoo did my legs ever protest. Seriously, I thought I was going to have to walk my bike at a couple of points, but my pride wouldn't let me hop off. I got passed by just about everybody, including coach Keith, who was whipping up and down the hill like it was nothing and shouting encouragement. Out loud I was saying "this is awesome!" and under my breath I was saying "f--- you," but I know it will make me a stronger cyclist.
Once at the top, we were rewarded with a long, winding downhill through the redwoods, which lovely if chilly. Three of us were riding in a cluster, going pretty darn fast, and from behind me I heard a loud pop - the guy behind me had a blowout! We waited at the bottom for about 20 minutes for the tire change, freezing our arses off, then headed back to the starting point.
There was a lot of stopping and starting, so my GPS profile only gives me an average speed of 9.1 mph, which is artificially low. My HR got up to 179, which is quite high for me - and I held it around 170 for quite a while. Actually, even just standing there my HR was about 100 - maybe because I get nervous at these things, who knows.
But here's the fun part - my maximum speed was 33.4 mph, we gained 2525 feet over the whole ride (that includes all the ups and downs - absolute elevation gain was about 1200 feet), rode 21.1 miles, and my GPS tells me I burned 1474 calories. Can that be right? I hope so, it totally cancels out the burrito I just ate... :-)
I'm rather proud of this ride - I worked very hard and it was a fun group. And of course my reward is an afternoon in my fuzzy robe. Now I just have to pick out a good movie to watch...
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