I had a great time training with some friends in Deep Creek Maryland over the long July 4th weekend. I don’t know how many of you have heard of the Savageman Triathlon, but it was recently recognized by Triathlete Magazine with the #1 ranking in the World’s Hardest Triathlons category. http://www.savagemantri.org/ Our plan was to ride the Half-Ironman bike course on Saturday, the Olympic Distance course on Sunday, and run on Monday. And of course to barbecue on Saturday and Sunday and eat a great breakfast at Perkins on Monday!
I was really looking forward to the weekend but with some fear along with the anticipation. Last year on the same ride, we’d run into a bear in the middle of the road on a 40+mph downhill. After some pretty intense braking and screaming, the bear moved and we’d continued downhill. But braking like that had created so much heat on my rims that on the next corner, the rear tire blew off. I went down and the guy right behind me overshot the corner to avoid hitting me and ended up in a tree. We were both okay other than some major road rash but I’ve been pretty hesitant on downhills ever since. Added to that, I haven’t been riding enough lately and wasn’t sure I would be in shape for that bike course.
On the positive side, I was going to have the opportunity to share my Compex Sport Elite with my friends over the weekend giving them the opportunity to know what I was raving about.
Knowing how challenging the ride was going to be, I decided to try Hornet Juice for the first time before this ride. I was definitely going to need the promised benefits of burning more fat calories and having greater endurance! We met another group from our club for the start of the ride on Saturday morning so about 13 of us started the Half-Ironman course ride while another 3 did the Olympic Course. The first challenge was a long downhill on recently laid down chip/seal paving which until it’s been driven on a lot is like riding on loose gravel. I almost pulled over to the side of the road to stop and cry but my friend Mike talked me through it and we all made it safely down. After that, I was really not looking forward to the next downhill (the one I’d crashed on). But first, it was up the Westernport Wall (a 30% grade climb) and then the rest of the climb up Savage Mountain. Most of our group made it up Westernport Wall, a few fell over on the way up, and I was so trashed on the two block climb leading up to it that I didn’t even try, just walked up the wall. (My friend Mike rode it 3 times. I think he rode every climb 3 times.) Of course that’s only the beginning of the climb: 3 miles to go so up I went.
We started on the downhill which is listed on the cue sheet as a “3 mile dangerous downhill” and immediately encountered large, gravel filled potholes across almost the entire road - just what I needed on a descent I was already worried about. I took it conservatively as did my friend Kara who’d recently crashed. Saw the corner I’d fallen on last year - my friend Glenn had joked that he was going to stop and take pictures but he wasn’t waiting so on I rode. Finally made it to the bottom (to find Mike heading back up to make sure we were okay) and was extremely relieved that I hadn’t crashed or killed anyone. Of course, that’s not the end. 5 more categorized climbs, 5 more descents, some pretty sketchy. The second to last climb, known as Killer Miller is a 1.3 mile climb with an average grade of 8% and a max of 22%. I was going so slow on that climb that I fell over going uphill! And then it was still so steep that I had a hard time walking my bike until I could get to a level point where I could get back on! (And to add insult to injury, at this point one of the Olympic course riders texted to let me know she was done with the ride, and the dip in the lake, and the hot tub, and heading back to our rental house to shower and nap!). By the time we finished, I was tired of descending, tired of pedaling, and my feet hurt. I definitely was doubtful about my ability to get back on the bike the next day for the Olympic course ride.
But after returning to our place, I hooked up my Compex Sport Elite on Recovery Plus and ran as many programs as I could - quads, feet, calves, back, traps. After everyone else woke from their naps, I hooked one friend up for some Recovery Plus on her calves (she talked about how her toes tingled) and another for some Active Recovery on his quads and calves. He joked about me electrocuting him but also took some video of his muscles twitching (which I’ll attach if I can get a copy). Some good food on the grill, some champagne to celebrate our accomplishments, and some watching of the Tour de France for inspiration and we were off to bed, ready for the next day’s riding.
I felt good when I woke up in the morning, but still ran some of the Massage programs while I waited for everyone else to wake up. Then it was time to tackle the Olympic bike course! Some advantages to the Olympic course - it isn’t as hilly and the roads are wider and not as twisty. As a comparison, our max speed on the downhills on Saturday was 38 mph but it was 43 on Sunday on shorter, less steep hills. But most importantly, after a little bit of a warmup (didn’t think of using the Compex pre-warmup that morning!) my legs felt great. I wouldn’t say that I was flying up the hills but I felt strong and definitely wasn’t sore or tired. When we finished, I really felt like I could have ridden further and was even planning on running with one of my friends that afternoon. Unfortunately a few too many late nights working and a few too many miles of driving knocked me out and I fell asleep and didn’t wake when she tried to get me up to run. However, after another night of grilling, some local wine, and watching fireworks - and more Compex Active Recovery - I had a great run on Monday morning. Again no soreness, not tired - my only problem was the heat and humidity.
So a very successful weekend! No crashes on any descents, no sending any of my fellow riders into the trees, and we achieved our goal for Sunday - finishing a ride with no blood! Plus, I introduced my friends to the fun of “electrocuting” themselves with Compex. Looking forward to later this month when an even bigger group is going to go back to do it again!
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