79 Days to the TSE - Not Counting Today

Gee, you'd think something really big is happening in my life that I'm counting the days. It's not like I'm moving, or retiring, or getting married, or building a new house, or even having a baby! It's just a little 'ole bike race - what's to get excited about?! It's not like I didn't climb mountains before on my mountain bike -- maybe not 30,000 feet worth -- but I DID make it to 6500 at one time. It's not like I haven't ridden 40ish miles at a time before. Maybe not for 6 days in a row, but I DID hit 50 miles in one day. And it's not like I haven't trained or been coached before. Maybe not for 32 weeks solid building up to one single event, but yeh - I had a coach and followed training plans. So what could possibly have me counting days?! Can't figure it out. As of yesterday, there are now 13 girls entered in the Trans-Sylvania Epic, with the most recent gal being a professional athlete -- Rebecca Rusch. She raced it last year and had issues with her asthma and ended up third. I think she's back for unfinished business. But then again, maybe it was just such an aweseome time she couldn't stay away. I think its very cool to look at the registration list and see Donna Weiser in the Open women mix with Sue Haywood, Rebecca Rusch, and the other pros racing this thing. Me? I'm still just a little old lady all be herself in the granny category -- but that'll likely change as the day gets closer and they mix me in with the other Open women. Then I get to see MY name next to Sue Haywood and Rebecca Rusch. Ha! Tonight's training will be interesting. Today is supposed to be a 2-hour trail ride, but its pouring down raining and it's also the last week of darkness. So my ride will be on the trainer and I decided to really give my bike a little workout and designed my own "trainer workout." I plan to stand, shift to a hard gear, shift to an easy gear, sit, spin, mash, get off and pretend I'm pushing, run up and down the steps, get back on and stand, climb a little (well, a LOT), and just imagine I'm on a trail. It's all about attitude, right? Well I'm going trail riding tonight -- in my brain. Damn weather. 80 days to the TSE! Yeh baby.

Day 1 of the next 84 Days of Training

Sloppy, slushy roads from a freak snowstorm had me on the trainer for 1 hour in place of an outside road ride. Actually, I think the trainer was more precise for what was scheduled: 90-100 rpms consistently for 1 hour keeping the heart rate between 65-75% of max. There's no consistency in road riding around my house with all the hills and dales we have. My average HR for the hour on the trainer was 72% (130 bpm), and while I can’t record average rpms on my computer, I think it hung around 85-90. Being more a masher than a spinner, getting to 90 rpms and keeping the HR down is a huge accomplishment for Chili, holding these rpms for the duration was a plus. I’m sure Donna – the excellent spinner she is – breezed through this workout.

First Day of School

Yup... today's the day.... the first day of spring training and it feels like the first day of school. Exciting, nervousness, and anticipation of what's to come in the next 12 weeks of training. And then we graduate to the race itself. It's a rare occasion you can find a mountain bike training plan specific to a certain race but Donna and I did, and we both are now proud owners of the Transylvania-specific 12-week training plan by Chris Eatough. Chris is a multi-time world champ of 24-hour races. He's an animal, to say the least, and a nice guy to boot. He's smart, an incredible athlete, and put together a training plan that working stiffs can manage. The shortest weeks are 8 hours in the saddle with the longest being 15 hours. It's ALL bike - no cross training in this one. It's interesting too how he starts you with a mix of road and trail and gradually adds more trail hours as the TSE gets closer. Road days are typically easier days to give you some rest. The Weisers planned a Raystown Weekend for the Mountain Bikers of Michaux for April 15 and it coincides nicely with 3 days of trail riding on the training plan. There are three weeks in April where there are some looonnnggg hours in the saddle. I can't wait to finally get on the Rattling creek trails and ride my butt off. At some point, I'd like to ride 40 miles of the Rattling Marathon on one of the 5-hour days. It's been a long winter. So keep watching kids. You'll be getting updates on how the continued training is coming along.

I Like Slo Mo

Rest weekends are SUCH welcome animals. There's something to be said for riding slow and accepting the fact that it's ok to be in the granny gear. Today was a 2 hour easy mountain bike. "As slow as you need to stay fresh." And so I was. It took me 1.75 hrs to go about 7 miles. There was a climb in there and I felt my heart beating a little too fast so granny paid a visit and she was SO glad to see me. The coolest part of the ride was discovering virgin singletrack. Well, virgin for bike tires. It appeared to be a hunters path, or maybe a deer path, but it was beautifully clear and easy to follow. I love finding virgin trail that's easy to ride. It wasn't much -- only about 200 yards or so -- but it was nice enough that I did an out and back on it. Many logs made it a bit of challenge which was nice to have after a long winter void of log hopping. The ride was awesome and even though mother nature looked like she was ready to throw up, she held it back all day. I like slo mo.

Raring to Go

A couple days of rest and the engines are tuned up and raring to start churning again. But wait! Hold on jumpy.... there's 3 more days of rest and we DO mean rest until you start up again. The old bod is feeling very happy with its reaction to all this training. Everything is falling into place the way it's supposed to: you train for 20 weeks following a pro's plan with scheduled weeks of building and resting with highs and lows (and dead tiredness then bouncing off the walls), you rest again, and then start in for another 12 weeks with yet another plan from a pro. Things start to happen. Muscles get stronger, power comes, energy abounds, and you just feel so damn good about yourself that you can't stand yourself. I even have a friggin' six-pack underneath that jiggly belly. How 'bout that! Training is worth ALLLL the effort. Yes, if you have a chance to train for something like we are -- the Transylvania Epic -- do it! You'll never regret it. Oh, and find a friend to do it with ! You can both commiserate together.

Sortin' Potatoes

I hit 25 years at the state a couple weeks ago and the R word is on the horizon. For years, I used to joke with people I couldn't wait to retire at 25 years and NOT have to commute 100 miles a day and I'd ride my bike to work 5 miles away at the local potato plant.

Guess where I just was filling out an application. Damn that felt good.

www.masserspuds.com

Bouncing Back

Donna thinks I'm human 'cause I got tired and had to take a break. I think I'm human now that I'm bouncing back to life and feel full of vim and vigor. It took 48 hours to feel "normal" again after a interval-laced two weeks of training. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 3:00 am this morning, I did core work, read, and am about to get on the trainer for a very easy 1 hour spin while I watch the morning news. Later today, I take mom to the doctor in Hershey for her follow-up hip surgery appointment. This afternoon, I may walk for eggs if its nice (1 mile round trip) and read some more. I feel human again! Human, yes, but totally refreshed, no. This week is rest week and I'm taking full advantage of riding very little and when I do, it'll be super easy. With warm temps, this will give the trails a little more time to dry out and will be ready to be ridden come March 7 when the official spring training starts. Every Thursday starting March 10, will be "trail night." And whether Rick likes it or not, he'll have to drag his bike along every Thursday to ride somewhere. More than likely it will be either Swatara or the Rattling Creek Trails. Day light savings time starts on March 13, so we'll likely do Swatty that week if its dry. Rick is a stickler for not riding in muddy conditions. I guess I agree.