More Hills, Please!

It has been three weeks since racing World's in Germany.  I have been pleasantly surprised at my training post race.  I had completed minimal training the week of World's--about 3 hours total.  Now, I did do a lot of walking while being a tourist, but mostly a week of sitting in the car, driving from place to place.

The first surprise is how quickly I feel I recovered.  The day after the race I, again, did no training.  After all, I was sitting on an airplane from Frankfurt to Houston for nearly 11 hours in a window seat two people away from the aisle seat (two people that wanted to sleep the entire way...no one I knew), so how much could I really do.  LA Fitness called me the day I got back and asked me to substitute teach a spin class that evening, so I did.  From there on, I've been pretty much back on schedule.  I did keep my longer workouts not-so-long, but haven't felt the extreme fatigue I expected.  I will mention, the Houston heat has been quite fatiguing, though.

Secondly, I was surprised at how much my speed has picked up.  I've seen about 2-4 second improvement in my 100s in the pool, a nice increase bike speed, and incredible running improvement.  Even in this heat my easy runs have improved by 20 seconds a mile.  I keep wondering if my Garmin has a problem because there has been a heat advisory nearly ever day this month in Houston, and I'm still able to maintain a good running pace.

I could try to analyze and figure it out, but my guess is that it was the massively insane hills on the bike course in Germany that has added to my fitness.  So I'm going to focus more on hills.

Train safe!

ITU World's Race Report

I continue to describe this race as the most challenging and most fun race I've ever done!  The water was cold (65 degrees F) and I only brought my sleeveless wetsuit.

The bike course was extremely hilly and technical with skinny roads, and I used the same gearing I use in Houston.  On the steep climbs, the locals came out and cheered.  It is the closest I'll ever get to the Tour de France like riding!  According to my iBike, the steepest climb was 16.2%.  Of course what goes up, must come down--translating to a maximum speed of over 44 mph! 

The run was three loops that included a jaunt through downtown Immenstadt.  I saw family and friends multiple times!  Additionally, there were two good friends from Houston, Josh and Jonathan, racing as well.  We saw and encouraged each other throughout the run.

The finish was in the local schools stadium/track arena that included a big screen TV broadcasting the finish!

Additionally, we made new friends while traveling with our exchange student's family.  The Linsler's were gracious in giving us a tour of the "real" Germany, allowing us to stay at their home as well as host us around the country in their personal vehicle.  Not only do I have a "daughter" in Germany, but gained a close friendship with her father, Ralf (thanks, Ralf, Eva, and your entire family!)  

First three photos were taken by Ralf Linsler.  

Train safe!