2007 Cartersville Century and Megaworkout

The alarm went off at 4am. A pretty good night of sleep thanks to a 10pm bedtime. Lisa and I met at Kendy's pool at 4:45 and were in the water at 4:50am. By 5:50am we had an hour of swimming under our belts and our megaworkout was under way.

We headed to Cartersville and met up with Dana, Marc, Matthew, other Dana, Danielle, Keith, Blair, Michelle, John, Hunter and Lynne. (Sidenote: I was able to confirm that Lynne was the one who gave me a "go Joe" when I was blowing up on the run at Gulf Coast... greatly appreciated.) Got registered and set up the bike.

We didn't leave with the lead group, unlike last year. The goal today was a base ride. Unfortunately we didn't stick to that plan early on. We had to weave in and out of slower riders, eventually getting into some nice little groups that had good pacing. Lots of accelerations and over-LT work.

The Cartersville course is a rolling hill course. I remember one hill of maybe two minutes that required some rhythm. I was in my big chain ring the entire time. It's a pretty course and the weather was clear. Hot though. Few clouds.

Lisa and I worked on our tri thing while Marc and Dana pulled. I can't tell you how amazed I am with their fitness. I checked in with Dana's heart rate a couple times and it was always 20 bpm less than mine. It isn't worth checking Marc's out because he's a high-pulse freak of nature. But suffice it to say that those two are incredibly strong these days. They were humoring me with the pacing.

We stopped at rest stops as the heat rose. By mile 50 we were all feeling the heat but after some sandwiches we were refreshed and set out at a more comfortable pace. Keith had joined our group. I haven't ridden with Keith and his shiny new machine. It's great to see him with such nice gear.

Elbows and asses.

By mile 75 the heat was overwhelming. We all took a long break and dreamed the finish. As we departed one of the guys who had been sitting in our group went off the front. It was on. Marc and Dana jumped and rode him to the ground. They were restrained for quite some time and I applaud them for supporting our tri ride for as long as they did. It was hard for them to hold back.

At that point we had some long sun-exposed stretches. I set a base pace for Lisa. It was good for her to experience steady state output. Going at a constant rate allows the body to stabilize respiration rates, digestion rates, sweat rates, etc. The whole body comes into focus. At least it does if you're training for that sort of thing. The change was noticed quickly in contrast to the accelerate-decelerate style of the roadies.

At the end of the ride we headed out for a 30 minute run. After Dana counseled us on sun visors, cheering us on. It was hot but we took it easy and got it done.

Megaworkout, accomplished. Congrats to Lisa who should now have a ton more confidence for IM Wisconsin. Completion isn't an issue for her. I'm more concerned about pacing for her.

This workout has me concerned. My heart rate was high. Logic says it's because I've been training steady state base stuff for a good couple of months. So this ride was definitely outside my recent norm. But maybe that's an excuse. Maybe my recent miles are just junk miles. Stay the course? Or adjust? I need to review my workouts of the past month and get a better read.

After the ride we had burgers and hung out a bit before heading home. Heard that Olga had to ride the whole thing alone... ouch! I wish we had caught up with her so that she could have joined our group. Always great to see everybody!