Lessons from the Last Week of Training

1. 1000 meters is not the same as 1000 yards.

Our training program assumes you're swimming in a pool measured in yards and for the first week+ of training we were, although I hadn't realized it. The pool at the university usually is divided into two 25-yard segments during the school year and then switches over to one 50-meter segment for the summer. Only they switched it early and last week we arrived at the pool to 50 meters. Now this is awesome for training, you really get into a better grove and just swim, but not so good for the ego. It took most of the first workout to realize that we'd been at 25 yards, not 25 meters and consequently my times for intervals were soooo SLOOOOOW. Note to self: meters are longer than yards.

2. Long rides take a long time.

We were supposed to do 30 miles for our long ride this weekend and so I picked a loop without mapping it out because I "remembered" from last year that it was the right distance. Then we proceeded to head out at 3 in the afternoon (because of weather) when I needed to be home, showered, dressed up, and out the door for Paul's work event by about 5:30. Hah! Turns out the loop was much closer to 35+ miles and we were a bit slow. I arrived home at 5:40 after Paul had already left without me, and proceeded to have the fastest shower/dress combo ever. My stretching post-ride included stretching my quads in the shower while rinsing my hair, and that was about it. Note to self: long rides ALWAYS take longer than I think they will.

3. A bike that shifts properly really is a plus when biking.

I've had issues with my front gears shifting since the fateful day two summers ago when I fell in a ditch. Yes, you read that right, I fell in a ditch. The best part of this story--and why it cracks me and Tricia up every time we talk about it--is that I was fully stopped at an intersection and needed to turn around because we'd taken a wrong turn. Unfortunately, I always unclip on my right side, but that's not so helpful when you're trying to pull a 180 to the left. So I started to turn, and promptly fell in the ditch on the other side of the road. And this was a seriously deep ditch. The best part was that my one foot was still clipped in and the bike was on top of me, so I couldn't get out without Tricia pulling me out. So wonderful.

Anyway, my bike has some shifting issues and no matter how many times I take it in to the bike shop, it's never perfect. It did ok for the long ride on Saturday, and thankfully I had Paul do a bit of maintenance on Sunday. But apparently bad shifting is contagious. Tricia and I headed out for a ride yesterday and her back gear refused to shift out of the easiest position. Even if you stopped and physically moved the chain, it would switch her back there. On the one hand, this really sucked for trying to go fast at all and Tricia looked a bit silly just spinning her legs way too fast. On the other hand, it gave us a nice excuse to go slow and easy for yesterday's ride which was probably for the best.

Hope you're ready to hit the training when you're back from Maui, Tesia!!! Can't wait to see all the photos!