PREPARING FOR THE THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE WEEK 5 TO WEEK ONE

Making my way up to Falls Creek from WTF corner .

T - 5 WEEKS UNTIL PEAKS CHALLENGE FALLS CREEK

Only five weeks to go until the Peaks Challenge and this week’s theme revolves around, “I get by, with a little help from my friends”. After my mental dog training ride to Mt Tamborine and Beechmont, it was time to face the new week with some strength endurance tempo training on Tuesday, and a coaching session on Mt Gravatt for my triathletes on Wednesday. Thursday also involved tempo training, and by Friday, it was definitely time for a sleep in!

It was time to start mentally and physically preparing for Sunday’s monster ride, the Cam’s Cycle Coaching “Peaks Challenge Test Ride”. Cameron Hughes runs a comprehensive Peaks Challenge program, which includes some very tough training rides. Every year he runs what he calls a “test ride” – a ride that mirrors the Peaks Challenge in terms of duration, road conditions and elevation. I had participated in some of Cam’s rides before my first Peaks Challenge, unaware that my then undiagnosed full hamstring rupture was contributing to my inability to go the full distance on many of them.

Thus I had no expectations of actually making the distance yesterday. My game plan was to turn up and complete as much of the ride as I could before the intense heat or the sun setting ended proceedings. The prospect of riding 225km and 4000 plus metres of elevation as a training ride seemed so surreal that the thought of being nervous about it seemed like a waste of time. 

We met at the Upper Beechmont Hall just before 5.30am. I had underestimated the time it would take to travel to Beechmont from home, so I started the ride with that uncomfortable feeling of being late, and therefore ill prepared. I stuffed my ride nutrition into my pockets, slapped on some sunscreen and took off towards Lower Beechmont with my group (the 11.5-12.5 hour finishers). Starting with a descent reminded me of Three Peaks and completing the first twenty or so kilometres with ease made it hard not to be overconfident about the next 200km. We were to stay together as a group until we reached the first climb of the day, Springbrook. Surprised to be feeling quite fresh, I felt like I danced up that climb like a springy little pony. I met fellow group rider, Michael, at the top of Springbrook and we had a fantastic time gunning it down the Springbrook descent, which is fast and furious. Together, we tackled the five lumpy hills on the road back to Advancetown. It soon became quite obvious that Michael was the stronger of the two of us and when we finally reached the Beechmont turn off, he climbed away from me and I continued to chug up at my own, slower pace. By this stage it was about 9am and as I transversed my way up the hill, the temperature was beginning to rise.

The Upper Beechmont Hall was a welcome sight as I refilled empty water bottles, drank 750ml of Gatorade in less than a minute, applied more sunscreen and UV protection sleeves. I had been advised by Peter, my sports dietitian, to work on getting enough carbohydrate into me to cope with the demands of the ride, however I’m sure my gut isn’t used to consuming so much carbohydrate in such a short period of time. I set my timer on my Garmin so I could keep an eye on my feeding times and then set off towards Binna Burra. Along the way, two riders, Tuan and Paul, passed me. However, my alter ego, “Pierre-Pierre, wheel sucker (you need to pronounce it “wheel suckaiiiirrre” for full impact), decided to make a showing, so I inched my way up so that I was sitting on Paul’s back wheel and we made our way up Binna Burra and then across Beechmont and to Canungra, rolling turns and managing to pick Michael back up along the way. Cam’s wife, Sheree, was also with us, which meant that we had a group of six of us heading out to O’Reillys together, rather than just myself. 

The road to O’Reillys would have to be one of the most unforgiving I have ever ridden. It’s an energy sapping ride to the base of the climb, in full sun. It was now midday, and I looked longingly towards Canungra’s Outpost Cafe, where I knew some of my teammates from Koiled were having lunch after finishing their ride. At this point, there was a fair bit of mental rot starting to sink into my psyche. At Canungra, there had been murmurs of riders that were behind me being turned around and I wondered when it was my turn. At this stage, I couldn’t fathom the idea of climbing O’Reillys and then tackling the back of Beechmont. In the 37 degree heat, it seemed impossible. I forced down some chomps, and some electrolytes, my stomach howling in protest. If you were ever wondering how you could quit sugar, this would be the ideal situation to find yourself in. However, I know how important keeping up carbohydrate intake is, so I pressed on. For the duration of the thirty kilometre climb, I made deals with myself about how I only had to reach the Alpaca farm or do one more winding corner before I could stop and rest. Again my timer came in handy as I stopped every forty five minutes to consume carbohydrates and water. On one particularly horrible corner, I saw some blue chalk on the road. “Gooooo Liz!!!!!!” it read. My Shebeast teammates knew I would be suffering and had left me a message of encouragement. It was just the tonic I needed to lift and press on. Further down the road – our war cry – “#shebeastsarereal”. I thought of my team mates who had been there a few hours back – Brooke, Vickie and Tanya. Brooke and Vickie fit in training at the oddest hours around their families, and Tanya, who prefers crit racing, was testing her mettle on some climbing. 

“Despite our challenges,” I thought, “Shebeasts are real – and Shebeasts are the first to support their fellow rider, no matter what their preferred riding style is”. I visualised telling them all that I was back and that my “crabs were smashed”. I also received texts from other friends– all encouraging me at different points of the ride. 

Finally, the Alpaca farm loomed. It was time to refill my bottles and buy a Diet Coke. However, my mind was changed by the store worker who told me I was nuts for drinking Diet Coke and that “full strength” was the only way to go. Shall we say, I knocked it off at record speed and then one of Cam’s volunteer cars turned up. They had ice, and loads of it, which I stuffed down my jersey in an attempt to lower my body temperature. Feeling cooler and more energetic, it felt like I reached the O’Reillys turn around point in record time. 

The O’Reillys turning point for me, signalled not just a physical change in the terrain from ascent to descent, but a mental shift. It was at this point that I knew I would climb the back of Beechmont and finish the ride. I had my Garmin switched to average power and the timer and I couldn’t see the distance that I had travelled. I decided not to peek until I made it to Beechmont Hall. To ascend the back of Beechmont I decided to play a game with myself. It would be a good way of distracting myself from the pain. My goal was to keep my average power in the tempo range for this climb, thus ensuring that there would be no chance of me blowing up. Despite the distraction, it was tough and there were several points where I wondered whether I should give up and walk. However, I reminded myself that I was physically in good shape and using good technique and that there was no need. A text from Liz at that oh-so-hard 300m to go point gave me a bit of a giggle and welcome distraction. How did she know to send a message of support just when I needed it the most? 

Rolling in eleven and a half hours after we started was a delightful experience. I switched my Garmin screens so the distance ridden was displayed! 220km and 4200m elevation! The enormity of the ride still hasn’t sunk in, but I’m immensely proud of myself for completing it.

 T - 4 WEEKS UNTIL THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE FALLS CREEK

Last week’s post revolved around endurance and a little help from my friends to get through a 225km ride with 4000 metres of elevation. This week was all about recovering sensibly, yet maintaining the gains that I have made in my fitness. In exercise science, we call this concept “overreaching”. An athlete is knowingly pushed past their limits, but not to the point of doing physical damage. During the recovery period, the athlete “super compensates” for the added training load, resulting in an increased level of fitness. My volume of training halved and the longest ride? A mere 100km.

Whilst coaching South Bank Tri Club on Wednesday, I was lamenting a lack of pep, which was confirmed physiologically by my heart rate not being particularly responsive. However,by Saturday, the fatigue seemed to be lifting and I surprised myself with a good hard effort up towards McAfees. When a detour via the back of Mt Coottha was suggested, I was surprised to find that although it was hard, it wasn’t the struggle it would have once been. On Sunday’s ride, I swapped volume for intensity and I found myself digging deep. Part of the ride involved a forty kilometre time trial through the rolling hills of Brookfield – and friends, Anne, Kim and myself teamed up to slay the dragon. We marvelled at the strength of Nicky, Gary, Cherie and Liz as they sped off in front of us. The scenery is spectacular, but I didn’t notice it – my lungs and legs were too busy burning with effort! However, the intensity party wasn’t quite over as we rode hard for another five to ten kilometres towards the Moggill ferry. It reminded me of when I was last racing, that fight to stay with the leading wheel and the feeling that your heart was about to explode out of your chest. Again, Anne and I teamed up to take on the road to the Moggill Ferry, yelling at each other to “go, go, go!’ Once we reached the ferry, I was overcome by the feeling of slight nausea that occurs after a super hard effort. Spent, but happy, we wound our way home via the local service station, indulging in cold water and jelly snakes (thanks Cherie!). 

Overall, I was delighted with how this week of training went. I recovered well, and then was able to extend myself on the harder ride yesterday. Mentally, I’m grateful for the changing of internal narrative from, “I’m injured and broken,” to “hey, bring it on!” Recovery from my hamstring avulsion hasn’t been easy, but I’m so glad I’ve persisted. 

The “take home” message for this week is that “recovery is where the magic happens”. Don’t be afraid to back off and smell the roses after rides or exercise sessions that really extend you.

T - 3 WEEKS TO PEAKS CHALLENGE FALLS CREEK

There is now only three weeks between me and the Three Peaks Challenge, and time for another training update. Again, this week of training has involved some successes – a PB up Highgate Hill chasing Liz’s wheel (thanks, Liz), and some personal best efforts around Graceville on Tuesday. Unfortunately for most of the week, training played second fiddle to trying to recover from a cold that started on Monday evening. My plan was to rest as much as I could, so whatever virus that was in my system could be out of the building by the weekend. I was especially keen to be at 100% capacity as I had signed up to do the Audax Queensland “Esk by Night” 300km ride. I had never ridden three hundred kilometres before, but inspired by the efforts of fellow Koiled Shebeast and friend, Rachel Edwards, decided I was up to giving it a shot. I was accompanied by fellow Koiled Shebeast, Lisa and coaching client, Laura – who were testing their mettle on the 200km and 100km distances respectively. 

As I drove out towards Esk, where the ride began and finished, I began to worryingly look at the outside temperature. It was approaching 40 degrees Celsius and I was wondering whether the ride start time would be delayed due to the heat. I scrambled towards the meeting point just in the nick of time, where we were all being briefed. We had all decided that we would tackle the ride at our own pace and find our own rhythm. I think this is important for endurance riding because if you are riding efficiently and at your best pacing, you usually find that fatigue takes a lot longer to set in. 

We were given the signal to roll out. I switched on my Garmin, and to my horror, found that my preferred screen wasn’t working. I dropped back to fix it, but by then had lost the two front runners, who I later discovered were in prep for the Trans-Am (my bucket list ride). I picked up the pace, hoping that I might catch them heading into the first town of Toogoolawah but I soon realised that trying to catch two fit blokes, one with TT bars, wasn’t going to happen. The heat was blistering, and I tried to comfort myself that for every rise, there was a downhill equal in length. I transversed a bit of gravel and then a dusty old bridge over a creek, wondering if I should stop, jump in and cool off. A nice dragging climb welcomed me into Toogoolawah and I did what most locals were doing – that is, head to the pub. Only I was refilling water bottles, rather than drinking beer, much to their amusement. They asked me if I were barking mad, and I replied that the heat was making me feel a little bit “ruff!”

I kept rolling towards Somerset Dam, bidons full. There was at least another twenty five kilometres to the first control point and it was a lumpy, hot ride on unforgiving country road. I was starting to question my sanity and checking my watch. It was about 3.30pm and I was praying for the heat to dissipate. Two of the 100km riders, Emery and Justin, caught me just before the Somerset control and we rolled into the control point together. Little did I know that it would be the last time I rode with anyone during the event. I hadn’t expected those first 57km to be among some of the toughest I had ever ridden.

One thing I love about Audax riding is the people who support you. When John and Kym handed me that first magic can of Coke, I was very grateful. I decided not to linger at the control, but rather, put my head down and keep at it. Accompanied by a waning sun, the ride back to Esk seemed quick and soon I was on the dog leg out of town heading towards Crows Nest. This twenty kilometre stretch is essentially an uphill climb and it was there that I met my first snake, a King Brown, slithering its way across the road trying to find respite from the heat. It was beginning to get dark and the turnaround point back to Esk loomed. I was rather looking forward to meeting other riders on the road coming the other way, however, timing meant that only Brian Hornby and I crossed paths. 

Finally, it was back to the Esk control point (112km) and as I scoffed more Coke and a hot cross bun, I mentally prepared myself for the trip down the Brisbane Valley Highway towards Lowood. It was an uphill climb out of Esk, and then, thankfully it flattened out a little bit, even though the road was rough and unforgiving. I decided that some big ring tempo was the order of the day and I did a solid forty to fifty kilometre effort all the way to Fernvale. It was a little daunting, riding the highway as a lone female in the dark of night – no street lights exist out here, but the reward was the best view of the stars and constellations that you are ever going to get. On my approach to Fernvale, I got an encouraging text from Anne, who had guessed where I’d be. 

After Fernvale, it was time to head off the main road out towards a tiny place called Glamorganvale. I knew that Glamorganvale was hilly, but didn’t realise just how steep some of the climbs were. The worst part was only being able to see a short distance in front of you, so you weren’t really sure how much climbing you had to do or how steep it was. I thought I had snapped a gear cable and was riding up in my big chain ring at one stage – but a quick look on the map confirmed the fifteen percent incline in a few places, so I felt a bit better. 

Eventually I arrived in Lowood where I was welcomed at the control point by Kym, who kindly offered me noodles and sandwiches. Again I spied some magic hot cross buns and Coke and headed off to do a loop around Coominya, happily chomping as I went. I passed the two front runners as I went out and they returned. It felt good knowing that I was riding so well, given that my effort was solo. The sky was being lit up by storms in the area and in Coominya, I felt like I was out of harm’s way. However, once I returned to Lowood, and checked the BOM, I started to become concerned. The storms were headed my way. I decided to start the run out to Gatton and see what happened. At that stage, I could see sheet lightning and hear thunder, but it didn’t seem that bad. 

However, once I passed the Minden turn off, things became ugly. Fork lightning struck the ground and I was taken back to the news reports of the young American tourist killed on Mt Warning by lightning recently. Then, a big splosh of rain hit my helmet. And then another. Before I knew it, I was a drenched, shivering mess in the Lockyer Valley in the middle of a thunderstorm. I thought of my family and how irresponsible I would be to keep going when there wasn’t a true need – so I pulled the plug (almost literally). I called Kym and pedalled back towards Lowood, drenched, but glad that I had made the right decision. We ran into Brian, who had been about 45 minutes behind me and he elected to tough it out. Amazing effort, Brian.

It felt strange to be logging a DNF, but I knew in my bones that I had made the right decision. I am still struggling with this cold and I now know that my Castelli knicks aren’t the most gooch friendly. Lisa knocked out 150km and Laura knocked out 70km – we were all DNF, however, that in no way, shape or form reflects how well we all did in the unforgiving weather conditions. I am just as proud of the girls’ efforts as I am my own and am sure at some stage we will be lining up to have another go – possibly in winter! Thanks to Kym and John for being such an excellent support crew and ambassadors for Audax. 

To sum up:
208km ridden
Snakes spotted: 5 dead, 1 live.
Dragonflies swallowed: 1
Cans of Coke consumed: 4
Other food eaten: Too much to mention 

That 208km marks my last long ride before Three Peaks. That was one tough ride, but a definite character builder.

T-3 WEEKS UNTIL THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE FALLS CREEK

You know that you are getting to the pointy end of your training when you do your last hard ride and make a start on tapering for the big day! In less than two weeks’ time I will be lining up to start the Peaks Challenge. This week’s theme focuses on the concept of “redesigning your brain”, i.e. how easy is it to train your thought processes. Todd Sampson has made some interesting documentaries on the subject which are available through the ABC. “What does this have to do with riding a bike?” you might think. My answer would have to be, “everything”. My efforts on the bike last week reflect my thought processes more than my physical ability.

After my epic adventure to Esk the previous weekend, it was expected that I would feel tired. Thus when it came to Tuesday’s training session, I didn’t have high expectations for my performance. It involved doing three kilometre tempo/threshold efforts in one of my favourite areas, Long Pocket. I had teamed up with Anne, Kim and Deb – who are all strong riders. Anne was in ominous form on Tuesday and it took a bit of tenacity to try and stay with her as she led out the first two efforts. Then I surprised myself being able to hold out well for the third effort, even though internally I was thinking, “my crabs are smashed”. This led to an interesting conversation on the ride home with Liz – can athletes be taught the art of digging in and withstanding discomfort or is it an innate quality? 

Liz’s take on this question was that it could be learned. I agreed, pondering, what is it exactly that makes people want to make an effort to do something well? I also pondered the idea of internal and external locus of control – that is, motivation for those with an internal focus comes from within and externally focused people seem to do better when their motivation comes from an external source e.g. other people driving them. In this week’s training I was about to take a lesson in what I fondly call, “bulldog tenacity”.

Five Coot-tha front repeats loomed on Thursday’s program. When I saw it on the list, I felt quite nervous – not because I was worried about completing them, but rather that this was an opportunity to beat my best time up the hill, set in 2013. I knew I had been riding well and that the time was within reach, but that to do it, it was going to require effort – and that effort was going to hurt! Upon meeting the girls, I was a bit morose, explaining that my mental dogs were out and about, howling. I drifted back a little bit and tried to gather my thoughts. Once I had decided that I was heading up that hill, I blocked all thoughts of it being painful from my mind.

“NP power screen on!”
“Be consistent!”
“Let’s go!” 

I imagined myself riding like Peter Sagan up that hill, making it look effortless (NB, it wasn’t!). I looked at my Garmin. A few seconds less than my PB!

“Wow that was hard,” I thought, “but now I can relax”.

I continued the efforts and started gearing myself up for number five which was an “as hard as you can go” number. I spotted Anne in the distance. I inched closer to her wheel. Soon we were riding side by side. My legs were screaming. Suddenly a voice in my head yelled, “come on!”. It was my inner Lleyton Hewitt. Tennis player Lleyton Hewitt was legendary at his attempts at self motivation where he yelled at himself to lift his game.

“Come on!!!!”

I drew a deep breath and tried to put as much force through the pedals as I could. To my surprise, the bike responded and I jumped away. I kept pedalling, thinking my chest was about to explode. 

“Surely I’m close to my PB again,” I thought.
“Keep going!”
I glanced at my Garmin – I had recorded a similar time. I was thrilled!

When I managed to upload my data to Strava, it appeared that I had knocked 30 seconds off my previous best. No wonder it hurt! The girls were very kind, congratulating me and allowing me to swan around in a haze of endorphins for a few days. Achieving that goal gave my confidence a big boost. However, little did I know that I was to be tested on my last hilly ride before my Three Peaks taper.

Liz had kindly organised another ride up the Oxenford side of Tamborine, Beechmont, Binna Burra and back home via the Maudsland rollers. Leaving from Oxenford, we were in the company of strong men, Glenn and Dave. Inspired by my Coottha success, I went for gold on Mt Tamborine. However, I was to pay for it later, struggling up Beechmont and then Binna Burra. It was kindly suggested that I was fatigued and that it was normal to be feeling this way two weeks out from an event. Knowing that this was probably right, I tootled up towards Binna Burra with Anne, marvelling at how strong I could be one minute and how broken I could be the next. However, I decided to accept it rather than question things too much. The descent off Binna Burra involves some climbing and I was quite slow. However at one point, I found myself with a bit of momentum and suddenly I had forgotten that I was feeling bad as I flew past Dave up a hill and across the other side.

We headed towards Upper Beechmont, where the terrain still undulates and the road is rough. Suddenly, Glenn, Dave and Liz flew past me. Thinking that I wanted to get back to Oxenford as soon as humanly possible, the old racing cyclist instinct in me kicked in and I jumped on Glenn’s wheel, absolutely determined not to be dropped and not to struggle. To my amazement, I was hanging in there. Where did I suddenly get this second wind from? We headed down the hill towards Lower Beechmont, and then onto Maudsland. Glenn was putting in a solid effort on the front and I was again determined to stay with him and not get dropped. Soon we had split our group and knowing that suffering a bit would help get me back to base faster made the decision worthwhile. I ran out of steam on one of the hills but was able to catch them on a downhill where they’d had to stop at traffic lights. 

Finally we reached home base in Oxenford. I was tired but elated. How had I been able to manage to dig deep when I felt like I was shrouded in a mental wasteland on Binna Burra? Upon reflection, I think it comes down to desire. Improvement in endurance sports, particularly racing, requires athletes to learn how to “suffer” appropriately. That is to learn to push past perceived boundaries (within reason). If we don’t learn this skill and how to accept discomfort during certain parts of our training, we never improve. Liz reminds me that digging deep and hurting on the bike isn’t a permanent phenomenon and does come to an end. I held that thought in the forefront of my mind as I self encouraged; “just get over this hill, recover on the downside!”, every time I thought I wasn’t going to be able to hang on during a climb. This innate desire within me to keep improving on the bike, whether it be in fitness or in handling skills is what drives me to push myself past my perceived limitations. What is wonderful is that fitness isn’t ageist – you can improve whether you’re 18 or 84! Having had such a good preparation has seen my confidence grow and I’m so grateful to feel this desire to improve and “go for it” starting to come back. I have missed it!

Now I’m into a ten day tapering process. It feels a bit strange, but I’m looking forward to freshening up for the big day. Thanks to everyone for sharing in my journey so far and looking forward to checking in next week.

T-1 WEEK TO PEAKS CHALLENGE FALLS CREEK

With one week to go and starting my taper towards the big day, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have a riding story to tell. After last week’s epic adventure where my mental strength was tested just as much as my physical, having two days in a row where I rested seemed a little pedestrian. When I’m doing a lot of training volume, I feel my body attuning to the load. However during recovery is where the magic happens, where adaptation to toil and effort occur. By the time Wednesday rolled around and I was coaching the tri club, I was beginning to feel quite spritely, even managing to sprint onto one of the faster boy’s wheels as he flew around the track. Thursday again was slated as a day off. However, I spent the day immersed in the realities of foreign correspondence as Semester One, Year Two, started. I consider being able to go back to university to learn and stretch the mind, a privilege. 

I enjoyed a fun Friday river loop with the girls, even deciding to give Highgate Hill another crack. No PBs this week, but still a lot of fun.

On Saturday, I decided on some climbing at Mt Coot-tha. Another rider, Kim, picked me up along the way, where we enjoyed pleasant conversation. It was dark and I rode ahead of Kim towards the base of Mt Coot-tha, trying to find the sloping bit of bitumen that allows you to ride from the path onto the road. Above me, the wind whistled through the gum trees and I heard some rustling. Imagining that it was likely a bush turkey scurrying away, I gave it little thought. Suddenly, I heard a whirring noise and a loud thud as something fell from the tree landing on the tip of my front wheel. Immediately thinking it was a branch I braced myself for the worst. Surprisingly, I kept rolling. Over something squishy. I turned back, horrified. Had I just killed something? It turns out that it was a brush tail possum who seemed rather indignant that his graceful landing had been thwarted, and who was now making a hasty getaway! Immediately, I wanted to inform everyone I knew that the fabled “drop bear” in Australia really did exist…only it was a possum. 

The possum incident had me marvelling at how something so random could take opportunity away. I was relieved that I had kept my bike upright and that both of us received a fright, but thankfully no lasting damage. And the ride? Lots of fun – the pacing was challenging but I think I learn something new every time I ride. 

I finished the weekend with a hundred kilometres, again marvelling that I would have to do that again and then some, next Sunday. This week is all about getting ready, bike is being serviced tomorrow, I’m investing in a keep-my-gooch-happy cycling kit and I’m booked into have a massage. Knowing what’s in front on me on Sunday makes me feel nervous. This isn’t an ordinary ride and with temperatures forecast in single digits to early teens and potential rain, it’s one that I’m going to approach with respect. My goal is to complete the ride within the allocated time period of thirteen hours. After doing this with only one functioning hamstring in 2015 in 13:07, I’m hoping that surgical repair has worked its magic this time round!