Training Weekend with Beth

Ok, so I am a bit slow on the blogging front these days! Beth wrote a great recap up of our training weekend here, but I wanted to share some of my own lessons I learned from training with someone far more experienced than me.

So two weekends ago, I was absolutely overjoyed to have Beth come train with me. Oscar may have given Beth a tough time for inviting herself down to ride Skyline, but I was thrilled to show her one of my favorite riding places. And I was even more excited when she came down Friday evening to do a 6 hour brick with me Saturday. The only way this weekend could have been more perfect is if Libby was here to join us!

Kona 2011 - Lava Java with Beth and Libby

I woke up extra early Saturday, so I had lunch pre-made before we headed out right around 7a for the 95 mile route I had planned. I do this route almost every weekend and like usual, we had very little traffic, which allowed us to ride side by side for almost the entire way and talk. Because Beth now races pro, I definitely picked her brain a bit on why she made that decision, what it was like to race pro, etc. I may or may not want to race pro someday. . . :)

Riding by one of many orchards

I was a little worried what Beth would think when I got my miniature Reeses Cup at the 7-11 stop, but much to my surprise, Beth got a Snickers and a Coke.  It was a perfect ride since we are fairly evenly matched (besides the ever present headwind), so the nearly five hours flew by. I had a one hour run scheduled after the ride and in typical fashion, I started running much too fast, but Beth helped me manage the pace and before I knew it, the hour was done and I didn't walk at all. 

Afterwards we took Beth out to Marker Miller Orchard so we could all get some fresh apples and samples of apple cider donuts.  I tested out her recovery boots that evening and can attest that they do wonders. I was a bit worried how I would feel Sunday, but I woke up feeling fresh and couldn't tell I had done a six hour brick the day before.

Skyline Drive

Sunday was an equally awesome ride. We headed down to Front Royal to ride Skyline Drive. I ride Skyline quite often, but hadn't gone up to mile 32 on my TT bike since August of 2011. I was beyond excited to realize Sunday evening that our time on Sunday was 34 minutes faster than what I did last year.  YES. Progress is definitely a good feeling and the confidence and lessons I got from training with Beth will definitely stay with me, and hopefully, we'll train together again.

hmmm, I should learn to put my helmet on properly

Beth and I come from different backgrounds; I grew up swimming and she grew up running, so I think for both of us it was good to get some tips on each of our respective sport. It was very enlightening to realize that even for a true runner, you still don't feel great running off the bike. I've always enviously watched runner after runner pass me, especially in Ironmans, and it's easy to get very discouraged. This past year I learned my running form as a big limiter, but after some conversations with Beth and Chris, I think part of it is I need to be as mentally tough running as I am swimming and biking.

So this past weekend when I went out for my hour run after a 75 mile ride, instead of being nancy negative, I told myself to focus and I'd start feeling better. Not surprisingly, I did and had one of my best ever runs off the bike. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll run any better off the bike at Kona this year, but I at least finally have some confidence that I can do it.  23 days to go and I'm dreaming of this!

2011 Finish