OK, here goes

I'm not going to give you a blow by blow account of the training camp - I don't have the energy and plan on being asleep with my cat tucked up against my side in about 30 minutes. The weekend was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting and I have yet to absorb everything deeply enough to determine whether or not the training was out of this world successful or if it was a dismal failure. Truth to tell, I may not know the answer to that question until about midnight on July 26.

The Bad Bits
The first 56 mile loop sucked big time. Not only did I have a rubbing brake for the entire ride, it started off rubbing so hard it stopped my front wheel from even spinning. Plus, the day started off with fairly heavy rain and stayed that way for about 75 minutes. That meant we were cold even though we were climbing out of Lake Placid (what a shock that climb was!) and the descent we'd practiced the day before was slick. I descended in my drops, with my hands hovering over my brakes and still managed 41mph. I actually felt pretty comfortable. Still fearless on the downhill.

Second tempo riding section was fine, but then the rollers start. That was my least favorite part of the ride. The out and back was OK, except for the sand all over the road and the slices of road that were missing and packed full of loose asphalt. Consequently, sand completely buggered up my chain which was already exposed thanks to the oil that had been lost in the rain. Clink clink clink ratchet wrench clack clack clack went the drivetrain. With every pedal stroke I felt inefficient and as though I was working far harder than I had to. I stopped in Wilmington to adjust my brakes (again) and took my jacket off to face 11 miles of uphills. Only to find a stiff headwind for the entire climb. Then at the top, I missed the turn and did 2 more miles to backtrack. I saw Ed for about the millionth time in the aircraft carrier he calls a car and asked for chain lube. None to be had, I muttered some very rude words not under my breath and took off again. First loop - average 13.7mph.

This loop had me seriously demoralized and questioning my ability to do this race. My right knee (back of it) was hurting - hopefully due to a loose cleat, but worst case scenario is something wrong with my fit. I did what I hadn't wanted to do and that was despair.

I was hurting and cold and wet and my bike wasn't working properly and those hills seemed endless. I'd watched my average go from 15.2 to 13.7 in the three hours since the bottom of the Keene hill and I'd been out there about 15-30 minutes longer than my worst assumption. I have to be honest - I am embarrassed and upset about the time. I think of myself as a strong cyclist and I had been proven wrong. As Melody reminded me, this is a humbling course.

The Good Bits
I had a great half marathon on Saturday. Stuck to my 10/1 run/walk with the exception of the two steep uphills which I walked in about 3 mins and then ran through the next 1 min rest, so lost no time over all. The run was pretty good for building my confidence for the marathon.

On the ride, my nutrition went well - nothing upset my stomach, although I did spit out the pretzel crackers - too dry. Uncrustables rock - my very first peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Combos also rock, especially when mixed with yogurt covered raisins.

I stayed in Z2 completely for about 90 minutes and then ONLY went out of Z2 for the big hills on the first loop. My average HR for the first loop is well within Z2 and even overall, I averaged comfortably in Z2 - never going above 3.3/3.4 until right at the very end and even then never into Z4. I even managed to climb most of the hills in Z2, a feat I would have thought impossible not long ago.

I negative splitted, meaning that I went faster (14.3mph) on the second loop than I did on the first. This is HUGE and not many people do that. Ed said "You did it right." I know intellectually that I did the right thing and that if I can do this on the day then I will finish stronger than those who did it the other way around. I guess I'm just assuming I'm going to collapse on the run anyway, so what's the point of trying to be disciplined on the bike and put up such crap times?

I found a new heroine - Melody, who calmly went and got lube and lubed my chain for me, despite my very unhappy face. Indy practically sang with joy and it was exactly the help I needed to get me back on the bike to go out for the second loop.

Where I felt about 100x better. Not great, mind you. But better. I caught one of my fellow team members who had been a ways in front. When I stopped to get some water from the aircraft carrier sag wagon that was blasting rock music and sporting several Team Zers dancing out the windows and sun roof, Ed told me that I still had jump in my legs and that I was a rock star and that there were 3-4 others up ahead that I'll catch soon. I didn't believe him, but blow me down, if he wasn't right - I slowly but surely reeled in three others on the big hills back into town. Huh. Waddayaknow.

After having failed me with the lube, Ed (suggested by Kim) rubbed it in by driving slowly beside me at mile 105 and dangling my single, precious, ice cold bottle of cider that I'd given him 8 hours beforehand out the window of the car. Bastards.

The cheer that erupted from the balcony of the brew pub next to the car as I rolled in was enormous and very gratifying. I took the opportunity to put on the running shoes and do a 10 minute brick (and from the balcony I heard a few "Where are you going, Mary?"). I took off like a bat out of hell, but ratcheted it back pretty quickly and managed an entire mile so now I know what it might feel like on the day. I am going to have to be very careful about taking off too quickly. Thank the maker for the Garmin which told me what pace I was on.

I wore my tri shorts the entire time and had NO saddle/ass issues whatsoever. A christmas miracle! I also had no lower back pain, although the shoulder blade pain was pretty bad, no surprise - need to remember to stretch and loosen my neck and arms more than I did.

The next day was pretty painful - hamstrings were tight and everything in the back of my legs felt like it'd snap if I stepped sideways too quickly. Turns out you need your legs to turn over in bed. Owie.

This will do for now. I think that on balance it was a successful weekend. Certainly extremely valuable. I'm now looking forward to testing out what I learned in two months.

Look for the more cheerful companion piece ... When Team Z Attacks!