A training trip

I'm going on a training trip to Moab!  I've known that I was thinking about it for awhile, but didn't decide for sure until last week.  And now I'm really excited and nervous at the same time.  Moab is the mountain biking mecca.  My first race in May is going to be in Moab and the course consists of a 1500m swim, a 20 mile mountain bike (gulp!), and a 10k run.  The course is supposed to be very technical so for a first race of the year it will be a long and difficult one.  20 miles is long on a tough mountain bike course. 

A while ago one of my teammates sent out an email to our team saying he was putting together a camp in Moab for a few days in March.  I was interested, but a little nervous.  I didn't have a mountain bike yet and I knew I wouldn't get to ride much before Moab.  So I knew it would be a crash course (no pun intended) in mountain biking.  I'm still a little nervous about the fact that I have the least mountain biking experience of anyone on the trip.  I just have to remember to go my own pace and not be afraid to say a ride is too technical for me and do something different. 

I don't think the lake will be warm enough to swim, so it will be mountain biking, trail running, and camping.  I love camping and while I have driven through that area before (a long time ago), I've never stayed there.  And Adam and the dogs are coming along to make it a nice vacation.  It wouldn't be the same without them. I'm going there to get in some good mountain biking experience, course scouting, and hard training, but mostly I'm looking forward to camping in a new place, taking a vacation with Adam and the dogs, and getting to know some of my teammates better.  Moab is a beautiful place, so I'll definitely take lots of pictures.  

So much goes into packing for a training and camping trip.  I hate packing.  I always feel like i pack too much because I want to make sure I am prepared for everything.  Camping at night in the 30's and running and biking in mid 60's leaves for a big range of clothing options.  I wish my clothes could pack themselves.

Training is going along pretty well.  I got out on the mountain bike 2x last week--2 hours on Saturday.  I got a new saddle the same as on m,y other bike and what a difference it made.  Even a 1 hour ride on the saddle that came with the bike was torture, but with a new saddle I felt like it was a non issue. I also got some tubeless tires which also have more grip than the ones that came on my bike.  Again, what a difference. 

I rode up lookout mountain with my team on Sunday.  My legs were pretty tired from mountain biking Saturday and my training during the week.  I could tell right away that I was not feeling great when I was having trouble keeping up a few times on the warmup ride to the climb.  The start of the first repeat up the climb, my legs felt dead.  I kept chugging along at my pace and then got a second wind later on, then dead legs again.  I made it up to the top in 27:47 and 183 NP.  My fastest time and the same for best NP (ok, this was only my 3rd time climbing it).  Then we descended back down and climbed again.  I took it a little easier and finished in 30 mins at 177 NP.  Not my best day but a solid training day in the books.  Hopefully when I'm a little more rested I go a little faster.  It would be a lot nicer climbing and descending on a road bike, but I don't have one, so I just have to stick to using my time trial bike. 

Swimming is going ok.  On occasion I've been getting cramps in my right foot.  I never used to get foot cramps in NJ, but not long after I moved here I started to get them occasionally.   I'm not sure if it's related to being at altitude, something I'm doing differently in my training/nutrition, or maybe shoes I am wearing that are causing issues with my feet?  Those are my guesses, but who knows.  I still try to swim with the foot cramps, but it really is not pleasant.