Week 1 of 42, On the Road to RAAM 2015
I’ve had a very successful first week of training for the 3,000 mile Race Across America (RAAM), set for June 16th, 2015. Only forty-one weeks of training to go!
I approached my training this week with a determined & motivated focus, knowing what mission lies ahead.
The Race Across America is widely recognized as the world’s toughest endurance bicycle race. RAAM starts on the west coast of America in Oceanside, California and ends 3,000 miles on the east coast of America in Annapolis, Maryland.
RAAM attracts an international field of competitors from over 35 countries worldwide. Competitors have to face extreme and unpredictable weather conditions and some of the most difficult terrain imaginable, as they race day and night in order to complete the Race Across America in under 12 days, and maybe even secure a spot on the podium. (This year’s RAAM champion, Christoph Strasser, completed the race in 7 days 15 hours 56 minutes.)
But RAAM is more than just a physical endeavor, it is also the ultimate test of mental, emotional, & spiritual strength.
Training Notes
I’m happy with my first week of RAAM training, but an extra week or two will be required to get into a solid routine. My precise 9-month training schedule is still under development.
Monday – The workout consisted of my 2x 45-mile commute from San Jose to Livermore, and back.
Tuesday – The workout consisted of a comfortable 2.5 hours on the trainer in the morning, followed by a fast club ride 2 hours later.
I felt good on the club ride—even tried attacking on the backside of the Carneal Loop hill—but didn’t have the power to stick with the group after exiting the Carneal Loop. I remained focused to have a strong TT finish.
I think my 2.5 hour morning trainer ride was a good warm up for the club ride—I could feel a noticeable difference. So I will start incorporating this morning warmup into my club riding days.
Wednesday – The workout today consisted of two comfortable trainer rides.
Thursday – The workout today consisted of my 2x 45-mile commute from San Jose to Livermore, and back, plus a 24-mile hilly club ride. In total, 114.5 miles and my first ever triple workout!
But after my morning commute, I was feeling unusually fatigued (one of those mornings). My plan going into the day was to try the triple workout, but after completing my 45-mile commute from San Jose to Livermore, I sat in my office thinking it best to not “over do it.”
But the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that RAAM was “overdoing it.” And as such, I had to press on, even if it meant not being able to stick with the guys.
I came to this conclusion: I have to start somewhere. I have to start sometime. Why not here? Why not now?
So I set off on the Altamont/Patterson Pass noon club ride and it turned out to be a great workout. I didn’t feel physically impaired at all from my morning commute, and I even had a strong climb up Patterson Pass, making it to the top of “Religion” in 3rd place.
I even felt good commuting home! What a great day of bicycling, and a solid 115 miles under the belt.
Friday – The workout today consisted of a morning trainer ride, plus a super successful noon club ride.
The morning trainer warmup ride was shorter today—1 hour compared to the 2.5 hours on Tuesday. The reason is because I wanted to, hopefully, have more fresh juice in the tank for the noon club ride. And boy, did I!
I felt very strong starting the club ride today. I was even hanging out on the front of the peloton (I’m usually straggling at the end). But I also wanted to be up front to, hopefully, put myself in a better position to stick with the attacks. But on every attack, I had the power to stick with the group – awesome! I even took a few shifts pulling the group on the hills – yes!
And until the final 800 meter sprint, I stuck with the group – for the first time ever! I’m so excited to have crossed this “great divide.” Needless to say, I will be approaching my future training with more confidence to be competitive. I need to keep reaching for more in order to improve my power and overall performance on the bicycle.
Saturday – The workout today was my favorite—and pretty much only—route at home base in San Jose. It was the 54-mile Uvas Reservoir route, climbing over the Silver Creek hill.
I woke up late this morning, only starting the ride at 8:12 am. I wasn’t stressing, though, because I felt like I already had a solid five straight days of training during the week. But I knew that starting later meant there was going to be more competition out on the road, or at least, more bait ☺
Sure enough, there were other bicyclists on almost every segment of my ride today, which made for a good tempo’d ride. No drag racing, but definitely a solid pace.
I finished in under 2 hours 50 minutes, averaging 19.0 miles/hour. I’m happy with the results today, considering I was only feeling about 85%, exacerbated by my mistake of only bringing one water bottle.
One water bottle is usually more than enough for this ride, but in making this decision, I failed to take into account two critical factors:
- I was on my 6th straight day of an intense training week, so my body wasn’t at 100% capacity.
- It was on the warm side, temperature-wise.
Needless to say, I was having to ration about two inches of water for the final 15 miles of my ride – not cool! But lesson learned (haha!).
By the way, my first goal is to complete this ride in 2 hours 45 minutes – that’s 20.0 miles/hour.
Today, I also enjoyed hanging out with Michael Svihura, Race Across the West (RAW) 2014 finisher, and his crew.
Hanging out with these awesome ultra-folk, and talking all about RAAM for hours, helped bolster my confidence. And I don’t mean confidence to simply ride RAAM, but confidence to race RAAM.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that I want to “win it” going across America, but what I am saying is that I will be trying to win it in my training going forward in the next 41 weeks. I want to give my very best, personally, and rather than just trying to finish RAAM in the 12 day time limit (as great as that is), I have set a goal for myself to complete the race in under 10 days.
Of course, this will not be an easy undertaking, but that is why I’m starting now. If I can train right, eat right, sleep right, and pray right, why not? This may be my rookie year riding RAAM, but I don’t want to ride a rookie race. I want to honor God and make my friends, family, and community proud – all with the utmost of humility, of course!
My Anthem Song for RAAM 2015
God gave me this song as my anthem for the next 9 months on the road to RAAM 2015.
I’m so humbled and thankful that God never gives me more than I can handle! When He gives you the vision, He also gives you the provision. Thank You God! Let the journey continue…
You must You must think I’m strong To give me what I’m going through Well, forgive me Forgive me if I’m wrong But this looks like more than I can do On my own I know I’m not strong enough to be everything that I’m supposed to be I give up I’m not stong enough Hands of mercy won’t you cover me Lord right now I’m asking you to be Strong enough Strong enough For the both of us Well, maybe Maybe that’s the point To reach the point of giving up Cause when I’m finally Finally at rock bottom Well, that’s when I start looking up And reaching out I know I’m not strong enough to be Everything that I’m supposed to be I give up I’m not stong enough Hands of mercy won’t you cover me Lord right now I’m asking you to be Strong enough Strong enough Cause I’m broken Down to nothing But I’m still holding on to the one thing You are God and you are strong When I am weak I can do all things Through Christ who gives me strength And I don’t have to be Strong enough Strong enough I can do all things Through Christ who gives me strength And I don’t have to be Strong enough Strong enough Oh, yeah I know I’m not strong enough to be Everything that I’m supposed to be I give up I’m not stong enough Hands of mercy won’t you cover me Lord right now I’m asking you to be Strong enough Strong enough Strong enough
