Sunday, June 8, 2008

Stick a Fork in Me...I'm Done

Part 1: Albuquerque "Metric Century"

Summary: I put the distance in quotation marks, because this ended up being closer to 112K than 100K. My Garmin measured 68.85 miles with 1238ft of climbing. Add on the distance from/to the car and we easily did 70+miles. Despite this, I was smiling as we packed up the car to return home.


The course proflie: I messed up something on my Garmin, so I ended up capturing the ride data in 2 chunks. The first 10miles looks a lot like the last 10miles, nothing too exciting, just imaging an extra 10 at the beginning that look like the last 1o. It's pretty obvious where the hard part was.

Thoughts from the experience:

* Love the Novarra Mezzo shorts (those are the ones I mentioned in an earlier post...only with the pro chamois rather than the recreational gel). I bought a second pair on the way home.
* Love the event jersey that we purchased for an additional fee. Worth every penny.
* Don't love climbing. Probably never will.
* Don't love riding downhill on streets with traffic and no bike lane. In fact, downhill is scary for me. I start reaching for brakes when I see 24+ mph.
* Definately need gloves for long rides. Didn't have any, but bought some on the way home for next time.
* The aqua rack rocks. So do the insulated polar bottles that I bought to load into the aqua rack rock.
* So do the boy scouts that held my bike at rest stop #2 while I used the porta-potty
* 70miles is a long way. I increased my longest ever cycle distance by 32miles. Experts don't recommend increasing you distance by this much in one ride. Several parts of my body agree.
* Yes, I would do another one, but I would inquire more carefully about the exact distance in advance. Every inch after mile 60 was a struggle for me. The fact that the course ran long was almost enough to put me in tears at the end.

Part 2: Mariposa "Death March"

Summary: The Mariposa run was this morning. We chose the 10K distance. This was supposed to be fun and scenic. Okay, I admit it was scenic, but fun was totally missing for me. No happy face at the end of the race. In fact, I was quite grumpy. This is a first for me.


The course profile:
First off, please note that the starting elevation is basically up where the top of that bike ride was on the day before. The first mile or so was downhill. Yikes. That means we have to go back up hill. And then it just seemed to go up and up and up. I did a lot of walking. And grumbling. It seemed like we should end up going downhill for the last mile, but instead, this is where the course took a left, offroad and onto the mesa. And it was mostly uphill in sand. What the font?!? I felt like I should switch to hiking shoes. Who designed this course and what made them think that this little stretch at the end would be fun?


Thoughts from the experience:

* The race was very well organized, but the course must have been designed by sadists. I won't be back next year.
* Final time was 1:14:something. For the record, I'm not unhappy because of my finish time; I'm unhappy because (in my opinion) the race course sucked.

33 comments:

  1. Sounds like fun! The bike part anyway. I have yet to ride for that long. Congratulations on finishing and having fun!

    As for the run, ugh, that sandy uphill part sounds familiar . . . we have similar terrain around here and race directors aren't afraid to include it.

    Great job though for doing both back to back that is AWESOME!

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  2. Sounds like a great weekend. The run does seem a bit psycho, but you made it.

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  3. What a tremendous weekend :-) To run a 10K after that just proves you are one tough chica!!! Woot!!

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  4. "What the font"...LOL ... I LIKE THAT!!

    You've had a GREAT weekend.... How come you haven't entered a 70.3 yet - you could sooo do one!! (If you choose to of course!)

    Anyhow... CONGRATS on your long (long) bike and challenging run (up hill on sand indeed!)

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  5. Great job Lisa! I saw someone out there that looked like you and said "Hi Lisa" She (looking blankly at me) said "I am not Lisa" Ohe well, I guess you have a look-alike!

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  6. What a weekend. Sorry the run course sucked and that's amazing that you did the longest ride ever. And it was even longer than you planned. Nice job!

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  7. lisa----
    1. hitting 70 miles... kicks the previous high in the arse...great job...
    2. then a 10 k...and finishing it in somekinda sand...wow.... nice job......

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  8. I tell you what, I MUST go shopping now you've metioned all that cool bike stuff!
    That run sounded STUPID.
    well done not throwing your chip down a ravine and storming off

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  9. OMG Lisa Awesome job on that 70 miler!! Dang that's a l-o-n-g way to bike! Totally rockin!

    I am LMAO at the "Mariposa" Death March pic! Too cute! Did you at least see butterflies?!? Mariposas are butterflies, right? At least make it a little worth your while with some nice animal (insect) attractions. Or were you all supposed to be the butterflies :P

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  10. The ride sounded fun. The run in the sand, however, does not sound like my cup of tea! Great job this weekend!

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  11. Way to go. Sounds amazing to me!

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  12. You are hardcore. 70 miles bike and then a 10K? Amazing! :)

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  13. What an awesome weekend!! You totally rock!

    I totally reach for the breaks at anything that fast too! And my other thought is that I HAVE to get those polar bottles. I have been too cheap thus far but my liquids were HOT today...gross! :>P

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  14. Great job - two big events in one weekend! The run may have been sucky, but at least you did it. Kudos!

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  15. Wow, the bike ride sounds great. 70 miles is my longest ever too, and I built up to that very slowly! I hope you're enjoying a nice recovery day after all of that!

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  16. First, your bike distance really rocked! That is quite a jump! And I had a long bike ride this weekend where after a point, every minute was a struggle. Second, I know EXACTLY how you felt on your run. I seem to have had quite a similar experience last week! But you made it. Live and learn! I figure people who find courses like that probably are sadistic to a point, but on the other hand this is probably a normal course for them. They think everyone should want to enjoy it too.

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  17. Great pictures! What a great smile you have after that looong bike ride :) The one after the run is funny...even though I know you weren't happy.

    You had an amazing week of training. What an accomplishment to finish 70 miles of cycling...and then run such a gruelling 10K the next morning. Congratulations!!

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  18. That is quite the weekend! Sux the corse was bad...sounds like you really pounded it out!
    Much respect on the 70 miles!
    YOU ROCK
    Rest up and Take Care

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  19. Regardless of how you feel about the run, the entire weekend is quite an acomplishment. You rock!

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  20. The entire weekend does sound like a complete success, despite the bad course for the run. It looks like the day was hot during your run--that makes it for no fun.

    Isela

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  21. congrats on finishing both! you did an awesome job. the hills on the bike look intense!

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  22. You did it, you did it!! Excellent! The run does NOT sound enjoyable but way to stick it out. And your bike? Wahoo! Love your pics!

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  23. I guess if it was designed by sadists, it was meant for masochists. Sorry that it sucked! At least the ride was awesome.

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  24. 1:14 on a tough course with lots of uphills - you're one tough chick!

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  25. Way to go Lisa,

    Now I know I have to get a bike (a real one)...you guys kick butt and all I do is run...

    Good job on the 10K, you are hardcore girl!!

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  26. Hey Lisa. I tagged you. Check out my blog for details. :D

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  27. That's a tough 10K course! Your bike ride distance increase was astounding, all of those tough rides paid off!

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  28. Congrats on finishing. It looks like a very hard course!! That hill was just mean!!

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  29. I'm not digging that elevation chart in either event. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

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  30. I agree that 10k race course sounded sucky. But way to rock out the bike ride!

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  31. Great 10K after the long ride. You are strong.

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  32. Gak. That Mariposa course does look intimidating. Duly noted: Stay away from courses mapped out by sadists!

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  33. Well done. You made it. Very proud of you! :-)

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