Too Much Time Stressing

Since registering 10 weeks ago for my first bike race, a 100-miler on gravel no less, it’s felt like I’ve spent every waking hour thinking about it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been competitive in an endurance event and I’m older now. Old people fret about everything! LOL

In July, we have our second bike race, but as a 66-year-old in the “50 and up” age group, I know I have zero chance of a top 3 age group finish so I plan to ride it simply for fun. It’s also only 50 miles, but it does involve racing riding gravel up and back down Spruce Knob, West Virginia’s highest point. My strategy is to be at the back having fun!

I plan to recover from the race with a trip to the farm to see my mom. I might take my bike…

 

Overview of the Week

Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

 

Sunday

Strength training: 15 minutes of core

Cycling: 20.1 miles
• Average speed: 15.4 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:09 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66°
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

With rain continuing to fall outside, I opted to stay inside and ride on my spin bike. Later in the afternoon while readying our gravel bikes for Saturday’s race, my husband added sealant to our tires. He said he heard a little pssst as he added sealant to my rear tire and thought he might have broken the seal. To spread the sealant to the possibly compromised seal, I rode a little over a mile around the neighborhood.

 

Monday

Strength training: 30 minutes of upper body

Walking: 2.03 miles
• Average pace: 15:18 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 82 feet
• Start time: 8:16 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 64°, humid, and overcast, climbing to 69°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

My gravel bike’s rear tire had a lot of air overnight so I added air and rode another few easy laps around our neighborhood streets.

 

Tuesday

Strength training: 15 minutes of core

Cycling: 22.12 miles
• Average speed: 12.0 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 682 feet
• Start time: 9:37 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Leesburg loop
• Weather: 70° and cloudy, climbing to 81° (feels like 83°) and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

While out on a chill taper ride, I decided I needed new gloves before the race (the gel padding on the palms of my current pair was shot). I rode by Maverick Bikes and found exactly what I was looking for, bought them, and wore them home to start the break-in process.

On my way home a bird pooped on the front of my shorts. According to superstition, that’s supposed to be good luck!

 

Wednesday

Walking: 2.02 miles
• Average pace: 17:37 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 166 feet
• Start time: 5:35 PM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 84° (feels like 87°) and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

 

Thursday

Strength training: 15 minutes of core

Walking: 2.11 miles
• Average pace: 15:27 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 105 feet
• Start time: 10:33 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 69° and raining
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, nylon shell, and visor (took shell off last half mile when it stopped raining

 

Friday

Balance and stretching: 45 minutes

I canceled my morning clients so I could sleep in the day before my race, but woke up at 6 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep. My husband and I spent the afternoon getting our water bottles, fuel, etc. ready for the big day.

We ate dinner early so we could pick up our race packets at the race venue. As early birds to picket pickup, we each received shoe warmers (the next day at the race I picked calf sleeves at a raffle giveaway).

Once home we had a snack and were in bed by 9 PM.

 

Saturday

Cycling: 102.73 miles
• Average speed: 11.9 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 7,497 feet
• Start time: 7:30 AM
• Location: Bluemont Station Brewery
• Weather: 48° and cloudy, climbing to 61°, then dropping to 54° and raining
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, light jacket, bandless ear warmers, and fingerless gloves over nitrile gloves (took ear warmers and nitrile gloves off at the 30-mile aid station.

There is so much to say about this race, which will come later in a recap. But I’ll give you a little teaser by saying that I finished dead last (even behind the sag wagon) when my Garmin sent me out for a third loop on the double loop course instead of straight ahead to the finish line. I also finished second in my age group. Sometimes it’s just about showing up.

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

Questions:
  • • Thinking back to your first marathon, how much non-training energy did you put in leading up to race day? ~ Probably not as much as for this race.
  • • Has your Garmin ever sent you on a wild goose chase? ~ Not until yesterday
  • • Did you participate in a race this weekend? ~ Yes!

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

 

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