Taking a flying leap into the next level of riding an working out almost put me into the
Flying Leap
worst pit for long-distance athletes. The hell of injured hamstrings. Of all muscles to kill off and develop trouble with, those seem to be the most debilitating. That massive muscle in the back of my leg gave me trouble for the first time in years.
Aaron leaping at Santee boulders
The last time I really took it to a whole new level of soreness was about 4 years ago, under similar circumstances. At least that time it was because I just hadn’t brought any water and I just died in the field. At 2.5 miles out, my legs totally gave out and I had to walk home. It was a sunny afternoon in Temecula, so there was no fear of any danger in the wilderness. It was a zen experience.
This time, I didn’t experience any trouble until 2 days after the initial assault up Tamarack
Engineer Road Elevation Profile, Julian, CA
on 10/10/2011. After seeing that the ride up Engineer Rd is nothing less than a total butt-kicker, I new that I needed some more serious training.
Enter multiple times over Tamarack. There are no hills in Carlsbad with the elevation gain of Engineer Road in Pine Hills near Julian, California.
1,300 feet of climbing at 4,000 feet elevation.
If there was a hill like this in Carlsbad, I would have ridden it by now, along with other far more serious cyclists who bomb along the US-101. Tamarack is a stunning steep hill for road bikes. If it got much steeper, it would be relegated to mountain bike status for all except professional level road riders. And at the moment, that’s not me.
In order to simulate the intensity of Engineer Road, I chose to ride over and back on
Tamarack and El Camino Real
Tamarack from El Camino Real to Carlsbad Middle School and back 5x.
1,745 feet of climbing in an hour.
That, in totality, exceeds elevation gain of Engineer Road in Julian, CA. The extra 300′ somewhat compensates for the altitude in the “mountains”. It’s a good thing I made a go of it before thinking I was ready to show up to the Tour de Julian.
I would have been destroyed.
As usual, I made sure to get home and extend my training by dragging the tire around the neighborhood for 1/2 and hour. At the bottom of the hill I usually train on, I made the turn and began to grind with the tire up the hill. At that point I had a fairly sharp jab in my left hamstring. Oh, that’s not good. I’ve only felt that one once or twice before. It wasn’t a pop or anything catastrophic. The pain was more of a warning shot across the bow.
The message was – you just exceeded your normal training and have entered new territory. Beware and be careful. Over the years, I’ve learned that working through the pain only gets you from really sore to seriously injured in 0.5. When you’re making the last 2 months toward a fairly sizeable training trip, injury is not the place to be.
And yet, I was happy to know where the new limit is.
Rubicon creek crossed.
