Training Log Archive: AliC

Day off. Woke up early and flew from ROC -> LAX. AirBnB-ing in Long Beach for the night before a ferry to Catalina Island for a conference. Exercise for the day involved walking ~4 miles since I didn't rent a car and am using public transport and LA was meant for cars...

Visited with Tom's cousin Erin at the park at the north end of Lake Canandaigua, stopped by Scottsville to see what the color of my bridesmaid dress actually looks like and then off to a 5k in East Rochester.

Saw the speedy-looking women, 4 of them in actual racing flats and all. Ok, cool, so they'll actually be a race! I passed two of them in the first mile and had the other two in my sights the whole way. One dropped off in the last mile and I very nearly got her at the end, but didn't so ended up in 3rd. Happy enough with that result and the time.

3rd in this race won me $300. Pleasant surprise!

C • wow 2

And a last joggeroo here at Canandaigua! Has been a good stay in the Finger Lakes - lots of family time, lake time and luckily getting some work done during the days.

Four hill repeats up Jones Rd, a bit over 3 minutes each and then finishing the loop I did with Tom yesterday. Jumping in the lake afterwards was delightful!

Morning joggeroo with Tom around a loop here along Canandaigua. It was longer than the 5 miles I promised him, but not too wrong for just a Google-Maps eyeball. Switches very immediately from lakeside cottages (or mansions) to farmland up in the hills.

Canoe-ing a mile up the lake with Tom.

Woo! Tom's cousin Mike's wife is also a runner! She's marathon training and her workout was 3 x 2 miles at her intended race pace, 6:40. So we tried that, but she's run a lot for the past few days, so wasn't quite up to the pace. Just so great to have company.

Oh, but it did thunderstorm and downpour starting with second set. Actually kinda nice to run in the rain besides the glasses.

Wow, what a wedding! Full Catholic mass + some bonus Phillipino traditions, wonderful food, happy dancing (Tom and I got to enter to Timber!) and just generally merry times had by all. Yay!

Today's run featured a re-do of Friday's intervals, actually done with some intervalness. It's interesting running down not-at-altitude - you have to think harder about pushing - at 7000 ft you're pushing pretty much no matter what you do, so doesn't take much mental effort...

1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 intervals with half rest.

Pre-Patti's wedding joggeroo with Tom. Oh I miss NY/NE woods!! It felt like home, even the familiar glimpses of poison ivy...

Hmph - lower back was weirdly in pain - I bet due to being cramped up on busses so long yesterday. Made it hard to run fast, so I tried intervals, but they really weren't up to snuff. Hopefully will be better tomorrow.

Now in Rochester (Scottsville) for Tom's sister Patti's wedding tomorrow!

Canoeing over to Rockhaven with Tom - his thumb/wrist was able to paddle (lightly) yay!

First mile with Tom, thereafter a bit faster. Right quad was DOMSy from fastish run two days ago.

A nice row behind Hill Island down Grant's bay and back. Saw three loons and didn't run aground on any of the Grant's bay rocks, woo!

A 8 mile run before our big food shop for while we're here. Ran the first mile with Tom, then on my own, keeping between 7.10-7.30 pace. 4 miles from Denne's Marina pretty much gets you to the railroad tracks on Kilworthy Rd. Felt good!

Tom and I made it to the lake after a full day of travel! Much more oxygen and humidity.

Rowed around Boyd Island, busy with many motor boats because Sunday, but the wind wasn't too bad. Nice to get out and row!

Tried again. Ran two faster hill repeats up, but then quads got crampy again on the second time down. So again, threw the towel in and hope that legs recover more...

Huh, that was really strange. The idea was hill-tervals, five repeats up this super-steep hill. I felt good going up, had a reasonable time then first trip down my quads started to feel crampy right at the bottom. Felt ok on the second time up, similar time, but this time my quads really cramped only halfway down.

So, I gave up the workout and walked the rest of the downhill and then jogged the flat on the way home.

Dehydration? Strange repairing-muscle chemistry leftover from DeathRide? A mix? Very strange.

CSA pickup afterwards. Tomatoes this week! Many veggies to eat before leaving Sat morning...

Morning joggeroo with Tom around the Observatory Mesa loop. He was being super-speedy at top after the hill climb, but then an evil rock tripped him. His turn for a significantly skinned knee now...

Ended at Kickstand Coffee for double shots of espresso (and a biscotti and a chocolate muffin) and chatting with Owen.

Soooo.... now what am I training for?

Priority: NAOCs

Others: Xterra duathalon, Gaspin in the Aspen 15k, Classic Champs

So should attempt to keep some bike fitness, at least through duathalon, which will be hard with 3 weeks of upcoming travel. Hm.

For orienteering, priorities will be: 1) ankle strengthening, 2) simply looking at more maps, 3) compass work.

Team Run Flagstaff workout + Mama Burger social

So the workout was 2 x 5 min tempo (1 min break) and then a three person 200m relay for 12 minutes. Tom and I teamed up and formed team Astronomers with another guy from Lowell.

And then! Quickly home, changed clothes and out to Mama Burger for the team social. Free shakes for all! Mmmm. And the burger + sweet potato fries weren't bad either.

Woke up in Vegas at 6am, drove the final 3h45 stint to Flag (lots.of.desert) and then went into work. But was totally zonked. Could only manage the most mindless of tasks.

Carol + Greg suggested a great hike around Echo Lake - so, so pretty and great to see them! A bunch of the DeathRide crew came along too and Thabo the tongue-dog.

DeathRide!!

Yeehaw, finished and actually went up a 6th pass just to get home… =)

Unfortunately, Garmin died on top of 5th pass.

The prescribed route goes up 5 major passes and has about 15,000ft of climb. If you know the Vermont gaps, you might compare it to the Vermont Gran Fondo loop which does App, Roxbury, Lincoln and Moretown Gaps. Except there's 5,000 extra feet of climb and 25ish more miles and you're at altitude the whole time...

If you don't feel like reading the take-by-take below, know it is an amazingly beautiful ride - the name 'Alpine county' is very well merited! Having the roads closed to cars for 4/5 passes was also really great. The ride was made a bit tougher this year by atypically strong wind (especially up final Carson pass!). Still, I really enjoyed the whole thing and look forward to doing it again sometimes in the future!

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#1: Monitor, take 1
We started in the morning gloaming ~ 5.20am, some flat in the valley and then up to Monitor. Rode mostly with Sam, felt good and in control, we chatted, some about bikes. Turns out his is a carbon frame he built himself with electronic shifting. I didn’t even know electronic shifting was a thing. Whee downhill! Much fun, beautiful views! Lowest pass of the day at ~8300.

#2: Monitor, take 2
We rode together as a group of 4 for the first half, Suzy, Tamara, Sam and I. So, so, so beautiful - probably the most scenic portion of the whole ride. You can just see forever (including how far you have left to go up). At the top, becomes flattish and we were going into the wind. Sam and I had pulled away during the second half, in the windy section I pulled, he enjoyed the ride, we were flying past everyone around us which was kinda fun. Descent was a bit hairy due to cross-wind - Sam had larger rims and reported some serious speed wobble, which sounds un fun.

#3 Ebbetts, take 1
We de-layered after the cool morning weather (although I should have kept arm warmers for the descents!), then I rode my own game from on out as I was feeling good. Picked off riders continually heading up the pass, working on cadence, which is something I should work on for biking, I have a tendency to power through. Ebbetts is a much narrower road and had some crazy hairpin corners. A bit hard to pass on the left while some of the super-fast riders were hurtling down on their side. Highest pass of the day at ~8700. Saw speedy Brian heading down as I crested.

#4 Ebbetts, take 2
Only went down 7 miles or so to turn around at Hermit Valley and come back up. I grabbed a gu and some oreos and water and headed back up. Latched on to two different guys passing me and held on for a mile or two. Probably could have kept up, but this is endurance, no need to bury myself still at this point. Saw Suzy and Tamara near the top coming down. Kinda crazy narrow descent, on cyclist injured off the road, saw the ambulance coming up for them.

#5 Carson
Lots of flat, including lunch stop before Carson pass climb proper. Had the sandwich offered for lunch, and two pickles. Then we joined up with the road in the valley and it started to be open to cars. Made it less pleasant, then in addition it was getting hotter and more head-windy (the whole day was epicly windy, as proclaimed by all locals we talked to). Still I was mostly overtaking people, but latched on to two guys who passed me at least for a little bit. Fun to have people cheering through Markleeville, mostly this is a very low-spectator route, being in the gorgeous middle of nowhere.

Stopped at the Woodfords rest stop, re-sunblocked, got some ice water (amazing!) and I think another mocha cliff shot. After riding harder for the previous two passes, I was now surrounded by more seriously looking cyclists. Then up and holy moly headwind. It was simply howling at us. And gusty and because we were going uphill and so slow drafting was only very minimal help. Still, I drafted behind a guy in green for a bit at the beginning, then a few miles later behind a train of 4 guys who were going strong. I peeled off that with about 2 miles to the next rest stop, Pickett’s junction, because it was just a smidge to much for me.

Refilled on gatorade, maybe some more oreos at the stop, then was surprised to find a few miles of flat riding before the final climb began. It started off ok, but then had this epic 1.5 miles straight into the headwind. Ouch. The very last 1.5 miles was sheltered though, much appreciated.

Happy to get to the top, got scanned in as a 5 pass finisher, signed the poster, got some more food and then headed back down- was chilly up there. << GARMIN DIED HERE>>

#6 Luther pass
What? A sixth pass? I thought this ride was 5 passes? True. But our group of 5 hadn’t really planned how we were all going to reconvene and get back to the house. Speedy Brian finished earlier and came up in the car (he usually picks up Suzy from the top of Carson- they’ve done this before). He encountered me about halfway back to Pickett’s junction, we chatted about what I wanted to do. I could ride all the way back to where we started, or just jump in car there, or cycle home. Cycling home seemed like it was going to get me home and showered and comfy the fastest, so I opted for that.

So I jumped back on my bike, went down to Pickett’s junction. Asked around and found Tom, who had hike/run out and just missed spectating me coming through there, but had since been conscripted by the crew there and was handing out sodas to riders. Chatted for a bit, grabbed more gummy bear and told him I’d come back to pick him up if he wasn’t successful hitchhiking back.

Ride up Luther pass was pretty chill, it was only 7700 and I was starting from close to 7000, so not too much. More car traffic and going faster because there weren’t oodles of riders alongside, but luckily they were mostly cyclists themselves and respectful. Ascent wasn’t windy, but descent was. Tom passed in the car of friends Jamie and Heather at one point. Happy to get off bike at the end!!


Anyone want to play next year?? Fun times, but probably only if you train for it…

C • "but probably only if you train for it" 3

C • Quite the ride, well done! ... 6

C • I can't believe you tacked ... 2

Morning joggeroo around the Obsevatory Mesa loop with Tom - he's more and more fit, can't just count runs with him to be an easy jog anymore!

My left knee bruise is still there and right ankle is painful upon twisting inwards - ligaments/tendons on the outside hurt when that happens. More strength?

Today it's to Las Vegas after colloquium about updates to interferometric telescopes here at Lowell, en route to the Deathride!

Signed up for the Petrified Forest Mini-Rogaines last night. Psyched!

C • If you enjoy death ride 9

Up and at it! Final Snowbowl climb before Deathride. Felt good. Wore my new snazzy armwarmers for the first time and they kept me snug. Men's sizing means they are long enough (yay!), but my biceps aren't quite making the grade... ah well, they didn't try too hard to fall down.

Tons of other folks out cycling, including two serious-looking women who'd made it to the top before me and I saw heading back down. Others apparently try to get this ride in before work too!

C • What arm warmers are you us... 11

Made it home at 12:30am, Pacific time, phew. 15.5h after finishing the race. Tom gets major points for driving the last 2.5h in the dark through the reservation, I was sleepy-pants for sure!

4 Mars Hill repeats. Making the hill-biking muscles work a little!

Busy day at Lowell, the visitors office was full to the max! Listened to a talk about a business/science venture to make artificial meteor showers. Pretty cool.

Oops, forgot my SI stick at assembly the first time I went to the start. Luckily had enough time to jog back and forth again to get it!

Laramie Daze - A meet Day 3 - Diamond Bay

That was fantastic! More challenging navigation due to lower visibility, so I definitely had my bobbles here and there. (Including right at the end when I lost just a few seconds and Craig overtook!) Happy to not have had major mistakes though - I bet had this been the first out of the six events of the week I definitely would have!!

Red - Splits

Laramie Daze - A meet Day 2 - Remarkable Flats

More fun times orienteering! It's like an orienteering playground out there. A very visible one, but very fun nonetheless.

Ran more aggressively today. My reach goal was to win every split, which didn't happen, but much faster than yesterday's pace. Number 6 I seem to have been most off - I do remember wobbling a bit and being unsure close in to the circle, guess that must have cost those seconds!

Tom also did well on his green course today, which is great to see!

Red - Splits

Rocky Mtn O'Fest - A meet Day 1 - Twin Boulders

Had a blast, yay orienteering! My goal was to run on the safer side given the past few days of a few bobbles in this terrain and given it was an A-meet. Pretty much worked according to plan, never felt like I was killing it, but did feel confident finding things.

Here's a few where I lost time when I compared splits to Alex + Hannah:
1: Oops, I went over the hill instead of around to the left.
3: Hannah was speedier - just confidence about running to a close, clear, not far-away feature?
8: Totally surprised that Hannah got me by a bunch on this very hilly one! I wasn't pushing it because I wanted a good brain for sorting out the detailed rocks at top and was perhaps a bit hesitant once I got up there, but still, 30-40s or whatever it is was a whole lot to lose!
10- Should have gone more direct, I didn't leave 9 well.
13 - Ended up more left of the line than I wanted, Alex smoked it! Maybe could have tumbled down the hill faster too, but still being careful with this not-stable-feeling right ankle.

Red - Splits

Laramie Daze 3: Devil's Claw

Fun times. A few misses, but better than yesterday. Missed 4 coming too far right, making a wrong choice from a reentrant. One reentrant too early to 5 and then probably not the best route to 13. Trailing Eric and Nick through 3, when I lost them. Aiden M. caught me at my mistake at 4, we ran around each other until 9, which was fun.

Knee hurt on warm up, but not while racing at least. Ankles still feel wobbly.

Let the A-meet begin!