Zack's Triathlon Blog

So I'm looking at my title for my post yesterday "Training is easy - motivation is hard" and thinking "or not". Allow me to explain:

This morning we went on the longest bike/run (brick) of the season. This involved a 50 mile bike ride followed by a 30 minute run. When we finally arrived at the Point Reyes Bear Valley Visitor Center we had little time to prepare before rolling out on our ride. It was raining (of course) so I aimed to wear material that was good at transferring moisture. It probably mattered little, but it seemed to work well. As I digested the bagel I had just scarfed down and the course that we were supposed to follow, I realized that I was in for a challenge. The ride consisted of over 4000 feet of elevation gain! This was not going to be an easy ride. We rode up Highway 1 at a pretty substantial pace. The scenery was nice, despite the rain, but I imagine it would have been spectacular on a sunny day. Roughly 20 miles into the ride, we passed a bunch of pastures with grazing sheep and cows. One of the sheep was stuck outside the fence and baaa'd at us as we rode by, as if to ask for help getting back to his friends. When we got to the top of the climb, Coach Rand was there with the car and we chatted a bit as we waited for a few of our teammates to catch up. On the descent a cow, also trapped outside the fence, attempted to chase/race me as I rode by. He kept pace with me for about 30 seconds, speeding up as I sped up, until I finally exceeded his top speed and pulled away (thanks to the hill). It was a long ride - 3:19 in the end and a couple of riding buddies and I were playing around with drafting, both up and down hills, and fine tuning our shifting skills.

Midway back to the starting point, our route had us turn off Highway 1 again and head up a steep 2.9 mile climb known as "Marshall's Wall". Thankfully, I didn't know the name until the end of the ride or I may have turned back. As it was "Marshall's Wall" was one of the most difficult challenges that I have faced all season. I can't say that it was particularly steep, but it was long and after 30-some miles my legs just didn't have the energy the push the pedals very hard. I resorted to zig-zagging up the hill at a steady pace (which kept my cadence reasonably efficient). Our little riding group split up completely, and I was riding along for most of the climb. There were many times when I began to question my sanity for commiting to doing this triathlon in the first place. In the end, I focused on the multi-year battles that people diagnosed with blood cancer have to face, even in the best scenario. My short-lived pain and suffering climbing the 'wall' was insignificant in comparision. Thankfully my stomache and my legs held, and I was able to reach the top without stopping, walking or puking (others weren't so lucky).

The rest of the ride was a blur other than the distinct memory that my butt was sore as hell by the end. Upon arrival in the parking lot, I switched shoes, stretched a tiny bit, and ran off up the trail. The run was an out-and-back run, and the first half was all uphill. After the ride it felt pretty strange and I was working on keeping my breathing even and my heartrate steady. I was very encouraged by the people who were running down the hill on the second half of their run. They were all yelling encouraging things, and promising that the way back was all downhill and easy. They were right. When it was finally time to turn around, I felt as though I had already finished. I ran down the hill and out of the trees, revealing a beautiful view of the parking lot where everyone was either arriving from their ride, heading out on their run or returning like me. A few people cheered, and there were some high-fives, and I have to say that those go a long way after almost 4 hours of hard exercise. My average heartrate for those 3 hours and 50 minutes was a mind-boggling 153 bpm, or 80% of my max (I hope that's not bad for me) and I burned a whopping 2700 calories.