The Spring brought an early, unanticipated event: The River-Rail Relay from somewhere in Davis County (Roy?) to West Jordan, along bike/running paths that followed the Front Runner Traxx route and then the Jordan River.
The run went well (per Jenn, I was at work). She covered about a half marathon distance split into two legs and averaged around a 9 min/mile and felt like she could have run all the way home from the finish line at that pace. Couldn't stop talking about it as a matter of fact. She spent the rest of that weekend in a post runner's euphoria, eagerly anticipating the next week of training.
The next Thursday we crewed up with our friend Skinny-Stewart (not his actual name but certainly an accurate description) for a ride up Emigration Canyon/Big Mtn.
Just Emigration for Jenn, she already ran five miles and did an hour of Yoga before the ride.
Done climbing for the day and happy about it.
(Skinny) Stew and I soldiered on and took advantage of the fact that the road over Big Mtn was clear of snow but the gate (allowing motor vehicle traffic) had not yet been opened. Nobody out here but those of us riding on two wheels under our own power. In a perfect world every scenic road would have a Golden Week set aside just for biking. Failing that, we'll take what we can get.
Every bike ride with (skinny) Stew is a working ride. He must have taken half a dozen business calls while we rode, hardly breaking cadence, if anything he rode faster while directing operations remotely.
I think it was in the middle of one of these inquiries from the office that he forgot to concentrate on dragging my tired legs up the mountain with him and he dropped me like cell call in a dead zone.
(Skinny) Stew is still (barely) in my site line, no matter what the above photo says
The deeper I dug and the harder I tried, the farther I fell behind. Incredibly frustrating and painful. I pushed with everything I had and thought "I don't remember this climb hurting like this, even at the beginning of the season". I thought maybe I had just logged a PR, even as I got worked over by a barely breathing hard (skinny) Stew. Strava gave me no love on that front. Five minutes slower than I was on this mountain last Memorial Day. I was despondent and not a little worried. Rockwell in five weeks, Ultimate Challenge in three months and LOTOJA a month after that. Lots and lots (and still more) climbing in my future. I was in for some long days (and huge disappointments) if something didn't change, and soon. In desperation I went to my teammate/mentor/mechanic/coach (that enough hats for you Thad?) Thad (aka 'Juice) with my concerns. Overtraining was his* diagnosis. I needed time off the bike. How much time? A week, at least.
*Jenn pointed out to me that she has been telling me THE SAME THING! for months, maybe years now but for some reason when Thad gave voice to this idea, suddenly it was a revelation. I can neither confirm or deny her claim and I blame the selective hearing that over 21 years of marriage we have both developed. But to whichever of you I owe a shout out, here it comes: Many thanks!
Jenn's rest week
My rest [week]
I lasted exactly five days, but I was circumspect, no training other than 30 minutes of spinning and some weights. It was maddening ... but it worked!
Free at last!
First day back on the bike I rode 54 miles with 4100 feet of climb (basically Rockwell Relay leg one) in just over 2 hrs and 54 minutes, an easy 20 minutes better than I've ever done that distance and climb in competition. I followed that performance two days later (full rest day in between) by crushing my PR for the 25 mile (40km) Time Trial ride by a full three minutes! That level of improvement felt surreal, like I was using somebody else's legs & lungs. It's not that the effort didn't cost me in sweat and pain but the results were vastly better than any I had ever experienced.
The next week we met up with (skinny) Stew again. Big Cottonwood Canyon this time. I was summarily dropped (again) as soon as the road pitched above an 8% grade but this time I finished the ride within a minute of my fastest time on that climb. I had to wait for Stewart to arrive at the mouth of the Canyon (riding in from Sugarhouse) so Jenn had about a twenty minute gap on us by the time we got underway. Riding at what for him amounted to a leisurely pace, S-Stew caught her just past Solitude (I was about 200 yards back) and goaded her into finishing strong (and ahead of me). I pulled to within about 20 yards of her just as we pedaled past the Guardsman turnoff, then the road pitched uber-steep for the last quarter mile. Jenn toyed with me for a bit (or so it seemed from my vantage point) then dropped the hammer and pulled away to finish about ten seconds before me.
All in all a pretty good day.
Next up: final prep for The Rockwell Relay Moab to St George and Jenn [writes] her final exam in her Run Less Run Faster course: An all-out 10K* run on the friendly (and oxygen rich), shady lanes of Kanata, Ontario.
*Maybe one of my friendly Canadian in-laws will be kind enough to get me some photo/video documentation of the event?
Check back with us every once in a while. We'll be here (all summer).
