While it started with a nice, leisurely morning, waking to no alarm, walking the dog, lounging about, by about 1PM, it was time to head over to the House of Pain, aka, Harpoon Brewery. Now most would think of the Brewery as a neat tourist spot, a place to catch a tour, have a few drinks in the pub, buy some beer. But for me, yesterday, it was the house of pain. The spot of the 2010 Harpoon Indoor Time Trial presented by Fast Splits.
It would be a long day, as I was slated to race first in the women’s pro heat, then again in the team competition some 3 hours later. Oh, and coach threw in a quick 35’ run in the middle just for measure. That would be the easiest part of the day.
They were running a bit behind with the heats, so our women’s pro heat, scheduled for 2:45 went off at more like 3:40. More time for warm up. That’s a good thing, if, for no other reason, that it would delay the inevitable!
Now I hate to take the mindset of being a “glass half empty” kind of girl. But here are the facts:
• My natural speed ranks somewhere in the realm of negative
• Where in past years, I’d done at least a little top end work in preparation for the Indoor Time Trial season, this year, I’d done a total of none.
• The 8 mile course would take somewhere just over 20 minutes to complete, meaning that my heart rate would be some 30 beats above where it’s been in 3 months for at least 19.5 of those 20 minutes.
• While there would be free beer (thank you, Harpoon!) because I had a second go of it some 3 hours after the fact, with a run in between, Davey G would be the beneficiary of my free beer. Not me.
In spite of all of this, I still somehow thought it was going to be a fun day. And in the end, if you subtract out the last 15’ of my individual TT, where I thought seriously about whether anyone would notice if I just stopped pedaling, dismounted my bike and cheered on the rest of the riders, it was fun! This, in spite of the fact that I was at LT+3 bpm within about 5’ of the start, and things were looking like what we in the business call UGLY!
I went out exactly at the effort my coach, Jesse had instructed. I couldn’t and still can’t decide if a) Jesse is a masochist, b) Jesse had been smoking a bit of the herb prior to coming up with said instruction or c) if he genuinely thought I could hold the wattage he’d indicated.
At the base of the 5% hill, a small napalm cloud went off over my Compu Trainer. I could hear Caitlin snow grunting and wheezing on the trainer next to me. “Good,” I thought, “misery loves company.” All the company in the world couldn’t help me up that hill. Once over, I figured the final downhill stretch wouldn’t be nearly so bad. Yep. It was nearly so bad. Pain, PAIN, PAIN!!!
In the end, I was 3rd and about 7 watts below what Jesse hoped I could average. Still, not so bad, I guess, for zero quality work these past 3 months. Karen Smyers took top honors, earning herself a beer between rounds (oh, she’d be in on the team event as well), and proving that age is just a number and that she’s still a force of nature in the sport. Watch out, ladies. You thought Smyers was out? She’s just getting warmed up! Second went to a kick-a$$ cyclist I'd never met.
After a short run, some calories and some more caffeine, we were ready to take to the team competition. Team Psycho vs. Blue Hills Cycling Club vs. the Boston Tri Team. Our Psycho contingent had practiced the team event once, prior to race day. Still, the multi rider software was different that what we were all used to, and we had two teammates, NuffDaddy and JRod who couldn’t make our 90’ training camp, so we had 2 new riders in the mix. This could get interesting.
We decided, as a team, to take the first minute out at about 300w, then find our assigned positions in the pace line. Karen and I would ride in position 6 and 7, with Alec, the HairyMan, Petro riding sweeper to help collect our sorry-selves, should we get dropped. After a few minutes, we sort of settled in. Sort of. Keep in mind, some of these guys are capable of taking pulls at nearly 500 watts. I .....am not. It was like a crazy roller coaster. At one point you are thinking “WEE!!! This is FUN!” and about .4 seconds later you are thinking “MOMMY!!! I don’t want to die!”
Getting dropped from the draft was like getting hit in the face with a 2x4. My wattage would range from somewhere in the mid 300s, to zero as I’d coast to try to fall back into a draft.
In all, we were like a well-oiled machine, with 3 coaches; Shag, to instruct riders to slow down, speed up, pick up someone who got dropped…and who isn’t going to listen to a 200+ pound former pro hockey player who served more than his fair share of time in the sin bin as a hockey player?......ATB, who had ridden with us for the training camp and knew how this was supposed to go down….in theory anyway, and my own Davey G who spent the entire heat crouched in the front of the screens to update Shag on how far ahead or behind we were from the other team.
I yelped for help on a few occasions, calling for a ride back on to the pack, and thanks to Alec, the HairyMan, Petro and Double D for responding to the call.
Team Psycho made it across the line first, ahead of the other 2 teams, and I felt a small sense of relief that the double time trial (plus run) day was over and done.
Thanks to Fast Splits, and to everyone at Harpoon. What a great day, though ironic that in the 8 hours I spent at the brewery, I didn’t drink a single beer! Thanks to Jesse for making me hurt (I think it’s good for me, anyway). Thanks to Kestrel for my awesome bike. Granted, it stayed in place for the entire day, but it is still a dream to ride!
Congratulations to Scott Hammond, my Austin homestay who flew in special for the event and walked away atop the podium for the “old farts” division. And of course, congratulations to Karen Smyers who made winning look easy, proved that age is just a number, and reinforced for me, the fact that she is the BOMB!
Back to base stuff today. 3.75 hr trainer ride, 2 hr run up next. ….maybe the ITT wasn’t so bad after all!
After my last post, my "Weight Room Rant", I got a lot of positive reaction and more than a few laughs. But I also got a single response that had me a little taken aback. One reader wondered if I'd gone too far - be it with sarcasm, perhaps the hint of improper language. This reader wondered if I had offended my sponsors. I was saddened by this reader's reaction and have actually given it considerable thought. Clearly I'd be horrified to have offended anyone, MOST OF ALL, my sponsors.
So I thought about it. A lot, actually. I gave thought to removing the post because I care deeply about my reputation and wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize it in the slightest. I decided to leave it up, but thought I'd post my response to this reader, lest anyone else be offended.
" Wow.
Um. Well, I'm not sure, actually. Your message has taken me aback a little and my knee jerk reaction was to say "oh, crap....I better take it down."
But then I thought on it honestly and here's what I came to.
Was it 100% politically correct? Perhaps not.
Is my blog usually 100% politically correct? I don't really know what politically correct is, but I know I try hard to write a blog that is anything but your standard "Today I swim 5 x 1000 as my main set at the pool. The middle 400 of the 3rd one was a bit sluggish, but otherwise, I was able to maintain exactly the 1:08.7 aerobic pace coach told me to. I then went out on the bike for an 80 mile ride with the group where I consumed 5 bottles of my Infinit Nutrition blend and capped the ride off with some 1st Endurance Ultragen...." and blah, blah, blah.
I think I approach my blog from a different perspective. Oh, sure, a lot of people think it must be really cool to be a pro triathlete, and they are spot on correct. It is. But I like to talk about the lifestyle of being a pro that people may not consider.
What triathlete hasn't gone to the gym and not been intimidated by people who look like they live there? What triathlete doesn't intentionally go to the gym at distinctly low traffic times so they don't get "the look", as if to say "That's all you got?" And what person, regardless of sport background or level ISN'T frustrated by someone who can't manage to return weights to their proper place when they are done using them? It's a common space, and as a common courtesy I think it ought to be treated as such.
So do my sponsors appreciate it? Again, I don't know.
(Insert Name), I'll be the first to tell you....I am far from the most talented athlete in the world. I've spent the better part of my life as an athlete of one kind or another, and never a particularly good one. My first sports "award" if you will was a "Persistence and Determination" award I got at summer camp because I was the only darn kid in camp that couldn't pass a single skills test in one single sport. Canoeing? Nope. Tennis? Not even close. Archery? I think the camp counselor still has the scars to prove....not even a little. They felt sorry for me and gave me the "PD" award. In middle school, I played some basketball, but the practice schedule got too demanding and I had to decide between swimming and basketball. I labored over the decision, not sure which to choose. I ultimately and belaboringly chose swimming only to have a high school swim coach tell me I better study harder if I wanted to go to Stanford. My Stanford coach told that I clearly lacked talent, so it was a good thing I liked to work hard. ....come to think of it, that "PD" award was a lot easier to swallow than the head coach of the US National Team, US Olympic Team and Stanford University telling me I had no talent.
So what do I do with my talentless self? I work my tail off. Day in and day out. No excuses. And I compensate for my lack of talent with a self-deprecating humor. I can't tell you where that sense of humor came from, but it's what I got.
So my sponsors may not have loved this particular blog. I honestly don't know and I'd be embarrassed if they were offended by it. Clearly that is not my intent and I rest easier knowing that I think my sponsors know me and know that was certainly not my aim.
What I do hope my sponsors think is cool is that they have invested in someone who is thoughtful, smart, articulate, genuine, approachable and while not the best, at least one of the most consistent performers going. I hope they think it's cool that I know my place in the world. I don't have a sense of entitlement, I work tirelessly to give back to the sport, I care tremendously about my reputation in the sport and I know that while we all work hard, no one works harder.
So maybe I was off the mark with my most recent blog. Clearly I was with you and for that I apologize. Truly. I can only hope that my sponsors will see the forest for the trees.
Dear Jerk-off At the Gym Who are Strong Enough to Leg press and Squat 10,000+lbs,
I understand that the steroid use may have gone to your brain, such that it doesn’t function properly any more, but try to play along with me here. I will use small words so you can keep up.
If you are GD strong enough to be squatting such absurd amounts of weight, you think, just MAYBE you could be man enough to remove said absurd amounts of weight when you are done with the exercise? Oh, I know….you like to leave it on there so everyone can wonder, “Wow, I wonder who was strong enough to lift all that weight?”. And “Holy smoke! The weight on either side of that bar is making the bar bend.” I am sure it is your dying wish that the entire gym looks around, catching a glance of you, all sweating with your brain vein bulging out from your head like the incredible freaking hulk, and wonders “Was it him?”
I got news for you, you Roid Rage, discourteous jack-a**. I don’t give a flying gosh darn! When I go to the gym, I may not lift heavy weight. I hardly lift any weight at all, in fact. I am a weakling. That’s why I am at the gym lifting weights.
But here’s the real rub of it, you testosterone junkie….when I go to the gym, it is often my 3rd of 4 workouts on the day. I don’t have time to be cleaning up your crap after you. Like I don’t got enough stuff going on in my life that I have to clean up after your negative 14% body fat a**.
