"NEW YORK -- His face twisted in pain, Lance Armstrong virtually walked the last couple of steps. He slowed to a halt immediately after the finish line and bent to the ground, his green shirt soaked with sweat.
No one's more familiar with how painful achieving goals can be. Still, not even he saw this coming.Armstrong barely met his lofty goal of breaking 3 hours in his first marathon, but it came at a price. No Alpine climb on his bicycle had ever been as tough as Sunday's New York City Marathon, he said.
"For the level of condition that I have now, that was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done," said Armstrong, who finished 856th. "I never felt a point where I hit the wall, it was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness." Armstrong's time was 2 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds. Afterward, he shuffled into a post-race news conference, his right shin heavily taped.
"I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier," he said. "[My shins] started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. I could barely walk up here, because the calves are completely knotted up."
Armstrong's build presented a stark contrast to the elite men's runners who preceded him on the course. The cycling champion's heavily muscled legs and powerful chest set him apart from the slender Kenyans who traditionally dominate the race. Even Armstrong compared the leaders' legs to pencils."
Thanks to Lance for providing us with some idea of how running beats up your body more than cycling. Most of us already knew that and that is one of the reasons why we ride!
Speaking of riding, Jens was down this weekend and we did some riding of our own. We talked a bit late Friday night after we all had converged on our home. They had come up from San Diego and I had flown in from SLC. We decided on a "7" type ride on a scale of 1 to 10 in difficulty. The problem is I decided on a "7" ride based upon a different conditioning time of the year.
We rode out Santa Rosa canyon to Point Magu and then down the coast to Mulholland. This was fun and powerful, flat riding. In fact, this is my HHH training ride route. We were cruising. We were catching folks. This all changed as we turned up Mulholland for the 1300 feet of climbing over the next 7.1 miles. The first two smaller hills were the indicators that this would be a challenging climb, definitely more than the "7" we discussed. Our hearts were pounding and the legs burning. We made it over the top and then hit the three "stingers" of Decker canyon and the wind picked up - the double whammy. I had to pull over for a moment because my heart was racing and my legs felt like a pair of rubber bands having just shot a few thousand spit wads. After taking a quick break, we bombed down Decker Canyon, rode into Westlake Village and found a nice shaded elementary school to meet the SAG. All told, the ride was more like an "8.76" on the difficulty scale over 55 miles of flats, hills, scorching downhills, and good fun. In hindsight, a better "7" would have been the Potrero Canyon ride with a Simi loop. This would have been a much better option. I have to remember that this is spring training time, not the middle of the season. Thanks again to Jens for the sharing of pain with me. Poor some out for the hommies!
After getting done, we hit Chipotle for some burritos and relaxation. It hit the spot, especially when you're starving. We had rode for over 3.5 hours and not eaten much. After the bite, we hit the bike shop in Northridge to check out my next ride - a Specialized Tarmac. I should pick it up next week. Here is a picture of it. It is nice and light weight.
I know I have quoted Lance as "it is not about the bike." But sometimes, to raise your game, you need to take advantage of the technology that is out there. Even Tiger Woods uses the best equipment he can find. He's not stuck on steel drivers, he uses some Nike secret metal alloy to raise his game. It is time to raise my game. I'd just like to send a shout out to the banker, "Yo Pops, thanks!" I'll let you know how it rides next Saturday.
Final note, you know you're having a bad year when the 49ers have a better record than the defending Super Bowl champions. Yoda, stay green. Could you please ask your wife if she has any friends that could help me with my depression. 2-6, I'm die'in over here. Hey, we can go 8-0 and still make the playoffs!
Only 9 months and 20 days to HHH 2007. Peace and I'm outta here.
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