Monday, July 29, 2013

A Simple Post about Training

Life has been good in the mountains. We are finally getting some much needed moisture and training has been good as ever!


Last week my teammates came to Vail to train: Noah, Tad, and Ryan. We live all over the state and rarely get to train together or see each other all at the same time so it was quite the treat getting to do some fun training with them.

It was a fairly intense week but not terribly rough. Just what I needed for this time of the summer. Plus it was good to do some "team" things like get some photos taken and talk about the coming year.

The most drastic change in my training has been my switch from biking to running. I have been running much more than I was in May or June and it has been a nice switch. It's hard for me because one of my biggest and most supportive sponsors, StreetSwell Longboards, sponsors me a bike, kit, and basically whatever I need they take care of on a whim, so I like to try and repay them by racing my bike and doing well so I can promote their company. 

Now I will represent them running for the rest of the summer. Running has been going well though and I'm happy to make the switch. I will go for rides still (like the 5hr one I went on today) but at a lesser rate.

I'll be hitting training pretty heavy for the next two weeks. Can't wait!

Best,
S



New suits in from our sponsor, Mt. Borah







Sunday, July 14, 2013

Triple Bypass

This last week has been a bit of a shorter hour week for me. Standard 2hr sessions in the morning with varying length sessions in the afternoon.


However, I jumped on my bike for 9hrs on Saturday to ride the Triple Bypass. My a Uncle Greg, for the last three years, has bought an entry for Sarah and asked to join him for the 121 mile tripe from Evergreen to Avon, CO.

This year we were joined by Greg's brother Mike and my mom's fiancé Mike. We had a 5:45am start up the first pass called Squaw Pass. Not too bad of a pass but long and gradual. I'd call it a good warm up for the hills to come.

Right around 8:45 we started the daunting stretch from Idaho Springs to the top of Loveland Pass. This took about 3:30 and is about a 30 mile stretch but with two aid stations and quite the support team, made up of my mom, Kathy Wright, John Wright, Shawn Wright and Greg's parents, we were drawn to conversation and snacks longer than in years past.

The climb from Loveland Ski Area to the top of the pass is the steepest, shortest part of the ride. We made it to the top with no problems.

The hard part was over. We cruised into Summit County, met again for SAG support, and continued on our way up to Vail Pass, our third of the day. When we got to Copper Mountain the hardest rain I have ever experienced in my life came down. It was so hard that I was actually starting to look for cover with everyone. Like most Colorado storms, the weather subsided relatively fast and we continued on our way to the top of the pass.

At the too of the pass, we were all a little "wobbly" so we out down some good food and cruised out for our last part of the ride, the 20 mile ride into Avon. We made it with a couple quick stops to cure stomach cramping from too many sweets at the Vail Pass stop and finished the 3rd Triple Bypass of my life.

A great ride and a great training day. Big thanks to my Uncle G for buying our entries every year and to Sarah, Uncle G, Mike and Mike for a great year of riding!

Hope all is well!