A lot of people ask me how I transition from track cycling to road cycling. Doing two cycling sports year 'round at age 38 has become a bit tricky and we still have not figured out how to rest me while peaking almost monthly between October and March and then again May through August. We almost had it figured out when a few random mishaps/crashes and my pursuiter's hack put a wrench into the program. I finally decided to drop the pursuit for a while to ease up on the hack which was a solution to one of the problems. The 2nd problem was recovery of my back and hamstring that had been severely strained in a dumb spill the week of LA World Cup. I was given the edict that I needed to recover my back so Dicky and I decided I should go back to an old regiment I used when I trained for Ironman and had little niggles come up. This regiment mostly includes a prescription of patience. So with patience I am starting my road to recovery.This time my regiment starts with Kona Base Camp. I am lucky because Kona is my 2nd home and I can work and train there when needed. Dicky sent me off solo to KBC last week. Without too much boring detail, Kona Base Camp highlights look something like this:
- 500 miles on the bike- most of it at snail slow speed
- 26 miles running up volcanos
- 5 miles of ocean swimming
- 20,000' of elevation- did you know Kona Ironman has over 5,000' of elevation?
- Weight loss of 5 pounds- hopefully not water weight
- 1100 ounces of water- ok, definitely not water weight
- 32 packs of PowerGel
- 8 PowerBars
- 16 bananas- I hate bananas but Teedy the Ozzie says stick to bananas
- 30 apples- had to alleviate with ginger tea
- 10 pounds of seaweed salad- things have turned VERY green
- 5 pounds of raw ahi
- 2 chickens
- 20 oz almonds
- 1 pound of Kona Coffee
- 80 hours of sleep
- 2 full Tyra's next "top model" marathons
- 22 life changing revelations
- 1 condo re-painted
- 1 bike cleaned thoroughly for the first time in 2 years
Kona base camp is pretty mind and body blowing. The general training conditions are wind and steady heat. The rule is I do all my training solo. The scenery is lava and blue water. The road is the Queen K- straight out and back, same route everyday. Temperatures have been in the mid 80's and the winds steady but not intolerable. Everyday I ride into stiff headwinds, the tailwinds almost non-existent because the winds turn. When I get a tailwind it is a great motor pace session- the other day I averaged 32 MPH in a 53/12 for 18 miles. The worst is when the headwinds reduce me to a 7 mph push for miles but the winds have been nice to me this trip.
I am really proud of what I have accomplished in such a short time this trip. My endurance base was shot and a two hour ride hurt a lot a week ago. I came in at a very heavy personal weight. I rarely diet nor worry about my weight but this time my weight was affecting my back; thus impeding my performance on many levels. I have had to cut my calories significantly without compromising my training trying to get back to regular weight. My diet has been the trickiest but I have been spot on- definitely on the edge, but I know enough not to put myself in a hole.
Today I used Ironman pacing for 35 miles out and then struck a blistering pace home for 25 miles ending with an all out final 20k. I paced .5 MPH faster than my last Kona when I was in tip top endurance shape. My pacing and nutrition were brilliant (I can't believe how much I learned as an Ironman athlete and I still remember the stuff too!). My back held out well for the most part. I could feel my strength the entire ride. This ride tells me I am on target on every level. Only Kona can put me back into the right place mentally and physically in a week; it is a pretty amazing place.
I have two days left of base camp and will make the most of it. Today I treat myself to ocean swimming and Hyashi's sushi, maybe I'll see the turtles on my swim! Aloha, Neva
