I did about 75 miles on the bike today and climbed 4 hills, one of which OWNED me (i.e. I called it 'daddy'). I think what made it worse is that I attacked this hill at the END of my workout, so I had roughly 55 miles already but I think I need to get used to this if I want to be a competitive cyclist and runner.
The ridge is called Halekoa Drive and it's basically the second hardest climb in Honolulu. I'm pretty sure it would be called an Hors Category simply because it's so ridiculous. Imagine if you can, 2.88 miles, straight uphill at an AVERAGE grade of 12% with a few 19-20%ers thrown in for good measure. There were no false flats, not parts to build momentum, just straight uphill HELL. I distinctly remember two things about the climb:
1) The gaping look on the drivers coming down in awe that a cyclist was climbing this hill.
2) My legs felt like rubber afterwards. Seriously, but it was an awesome climb.
Every turn there was a new climb and it seemed to get steeper. I know this was the first time I climbed that hill but I know I'll get better at it. I want to train here a lot so that I get used to the intensity of that hill. I'm telling you, if I can climb that hill, I can climb almost* any hill.
Here's the thing, overtraining. Positive I was doing this the first week. This week should be nice though. Going to have some easy rides and a fun 65 miler tomorrow. Food diet was all over the place. I'll spare you the details and say it was filled with bananas, nuts, oatcakes, oatcakes (many of them), dates, acai berry, salad, burritos, black-bean soup, flax crackers and pizza. Oh, it was a feast. Take it from me, really tasty food. This week is my taper week so green smoothies galore plus light workouts.
Today's workout log:
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AM: 75 mile bike + stupid hill workout.
PM: 9.25 mile run at a light, light pace. This is tone-down week and carbo-loading on bananas and other starchy fruits.
I have some relatives coming into at midnite tonite. Fun times. Hopefully I'll get enough sleep before tomorrow's workout. Aloha all!
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