Update! I can't believe the last post was from February 2017. I would have guessed 2 years ago so obviously my ability to understand time is lacking. I'm guess I'm going to make this a long one...
I started this thread/blog after I had a bunch of health issues, broke my collarbone and decided to get much further into cross. Oh how things have changed since then. Is cyclocross still alive?
Probably bigger race things I can think of shortly after last update in this thread:
So in 2019 I did what was either my most painful, or 2nd most painful race which was Monster Cross down in Pocahontas State Park in VA about a half hour south of Richmond. It's two 25 mile loops on gravel/singletrack that most people ride cross bikes on. About 3/4 of the way through the race it started to rain while the temperature was around 30 degrees. My gloves turned into ice, couldn't physically move my fingers to pull in the brakes. My brakes of course completely stopped working when the weird wet mud got into the brakes. Freezing cold, no brakes, could hardly hold onto my handlebars. Was awesome.
After that the plan was to do it again in 2020 and to do even better with more preparation. Trained all year, spent lots of time on the cross bike. Somehow either didn't set an alarm or slept through it and *barely* made it to the start line thanks to
@Magic . Of course I started without checking tire pressure, proceeded to flat going through a creak crossing, blowing through a few Co2 cartridges because my rim was bent and then completely and totally destroyed my rear derailleur while riding along when it went into the spokes for no reason. So ended up doing 25 miles probably 10 of it with the bike on my shoulder. So good lessons learned there on race prep...
Then two weeks after that I got married on leap day because I'm awesome at wedding planning as @MissJR would agree.
Then a few weeks after that we went on a biking trip/honeymoon in Arizona that turned into a biking/hiking trip since it rained most of that trip so we turned oranges into mimosas.
Then a global pandemic happened.
So as everyone knows no more races, no more events. Can't even get together with some friends for a group ride as some Karen will call you out on social media because riding outside in a group will melt the planet or something.
What changed when everything in the world changed:
-I hardly road my road bike due to everyone trying to kill me on the roads. With pandemic pricing sold anything without disk brakes which meant the road bikes were gone.
-Obviously stopped racing which was awesome. Not dealing with everything involved in bike racing really freed up a lot of time. While I like cross racing it can be a complete time suck and takes away time from mountain biking.
-Put more effort into planning out more fun trips as we realized you gotta enjoy life while you can. 2020 actually had a ton of travel as we would get out when we could. When things started to open up in NH for instance we went up there with
@Norm and
@Dominique for mountain biking. Our old neighbor planned a trip to Asheville/Brevard/Hendersonville for all the riding down there once things calmed down a bit. Etc etc.
-I started hiking and running WAY more. I'm not sure what happened here. Actually I do. Once I figured out how to run slowly and put more time into running I became way more efficient at it and it was a great way to get 1hr+ of exercise in while being in a zen mode listening to podcasts. Also it's doable every day as the trails don't have to be in good condition.
-Went back to the Grand Canyon and hiked down to the bottom to the river, Phantom Ranch and back up in one day which was one of the coolest things I've done in my life.
-I come to hate mountain biking in the winter and there's alternatives I can do. I'm no longer of the mind that I need to go out and suffer on the bike for a mediocre ride where I can't see shit with my eyes tearing up.
Racing during a pandemic:
-Bike racing was pretty much dead and I had little interest in it anyway. I really enjoy riding my bike more than I do racing it.
-Trail races opened up so I hopped into a few mostly for the social aspect. 2020 I did one of the first races when permits were being given out which was 10 miles at Wildcat. Then I returned for 20 miles at Wildcat last year. Half Marathon Trail run in Harriman State Park and a Half Marathon at Breakneck Ridge. That last one was painful as it's a ton of elevation with my quads destroyed within the first few miles. And of course it rained for a good portion of it.
-2021 I dropped into the local Wednesday night XC 5k race on a 95 degree day and got a PR, so felt good about that considering I was doing nothing but slow-slow running all year but a ton of it. 2nd to last race last year was a shakedown 10 mile trail running race at South Mountain to work on nutrition.
Somewhere along the way I was reading how awesome the Richmond Marathon was and on a fluke decided to sign up as I had plenty of time to prep for it. Oh how wrong I was. While I was trying to take it easy with running I ended up with some weird injuries prior to the marathon which kept me from getting in needed long runs. Longest run I did was 14 miles with no issues 2 weeks before the race with as proper of a taper I could do.
-
RIGHT hip would hurt on runs. MRI showed nothing bad and I would take it easy and PT eventually fixed it.
-
RIGHT leg a few weeks before the race would be completely painful from my lower back down to my foot, and my calf/foot would be locked up. Diagnosed as sciatic issue, PT helped but this was the week of the Marathon. Packet Pickup the day before the race was at the NASCAR track in Richmond and I literally could hardly walk due to my leg locking up.
Intervals.icu is awesome for showing where my running completely dropped off before and after my race.
I was ready to skip the race but did a short shakeout run that night before the race and felt good, so figured I'd give it a shot and if I hurt I'd call it quits, no reason to cause any permanent damage. I've never done a marathon before, had nothing to prove and just wanted to basically finish and not blow myself up at the beginning.
Race happens and I go out slow according to plan. I felt GREAT. The entire time I just kept at a very conservative pace and didn't allow myself to speed up. I remember clearly someone calling out 16 miles in and I laughed at how great I felt and 10 more miles would be easy. Then when I hit 5k left I still couldn't believe how great I felt. Nothing hurt and I felt like I could run that pace all damn day.
Cruising along and at basically exactly mile 25 my
LEFT foot started hurting. That's never happened before but I'll just slow down to a jog for a little bit. Nope, I could muster a fast walk but anything more than that my foot was unbearably painful. So 25 miles of a marathon I took it easy and felt great and now I'm walking the last 1.2 miles at a speed walk pace while everyone I remember passing for the prior 10 miles flies by me with their finishing spring.
Missed my goal time by 2 minutes...
Doctors/X-Rays couldn't tell if it was a stress fracture or something else. Couldn't walk for weeks and was on crutches and still have foot pain months later. So of course I signed up for the Richmond Marathon 2022...
SO ANYWAY, THE POINT OF ALL THAT BABBLING - 2022 PLANS:
January - Ray's indoor biking. Did this last weekend was an absolute blast and the weather killed our third day. I felt awesome and never really got tired so I'm carrying some fitness.
February - I may do a trail running race and take it easy if I'm feeling up to it. Not pushing the envelope just yet.
April - Hitting up the Grand Canyon again to go to the bottom and staying two nights.
May - Breakneck Ridge half marathon again with goal time of under 4 hours. I find it comical to have a goal of under 4 hours when I was out of shape and did a half marathon on the road in less than 2 hours. This race is hard - Plan will be adding in more elevation to my hikes along with weights.
July - Kingdom Trails and other spots in the NorthEast- Plan involves consistent trainer riding through the winter (which I've been keeping up with) along with more MTB leading up to the trip but mixing in running.
August - Bike trip at the end of the month, TBD location.
November - Richmond Marathon. I haven't set a goal time as I need to see how my body is responding once I get back into running. - Plan is easing back into the long easy runs and starting an actual marathon plan ~18-22 weeks before the race.
TBD - I have Bikereg credit so I am planning on at least one bike race next year. I may just do whatever
@Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST signs up for that isn't a gravel race.
I actually only meant to type out this last section with more details on what my plan was in place to actually reach the goals. That detail may come later. I think
@jShort nailed it in the Biggest Loser thread with a post that most people probably glanced over that I paraphrase as "It's not the goal, it's the system you put in place to reach that goal."
