Justin Park

Rest day. Strolled Isabelle to church, and Brody back home. The legs, though a little sore, are feeling like they're coming around nicely.

A.M. - No running today. My body feels good, but I'm going to give the connective tissues a few days to rest up. My wife had to work today which meant I had the kiddos all day. I had planned to try and sneak in a decent morning ride before she had to go in. I was thinking Millcreek. But my buddy, Scott, texted me about 10 PM Sunday night saying that they were throwing together an early group ride.

Got down to Dayne's house a little after 6 AM and we started heading north on 700 East with the plan of doing City Creek. I realized as I started riding with them that this is only the second group training ride I've done since the MS back in June (the first was with my work buddies up Alpine Loop in mid-July). It goes to show how much riding I do alone. Leading up to MS, we had done several group rides. But after MS, I was the one with a riding goal (LoToJa).

We only made it up to the gate at City Creek and saw that it was closed to bikes for the holiday....lame! We didn't have time to hit a different canyon, but decided to make the ride at least a little more interesting on the way back by taking Wasatch Blvd. So we rode through the avenues, Federal Heights, and Research Park. Then up by the zoo and back roads to Wasatch. Made it home right at 9. Approx. 41 miles.

Nice ride. Good to ride with the guys and practice some drafting.

A.M. - 5.1 easy miles on the treadmill in 35 minutes:

10 minutes @ 8.0 mph, flat
20 mins @ 9.0 mph, flat
5 mins @ 9.5 mph, flat

Felt good to do a short easy run. Tomorrow I'll do another treadmill and try and add a little more.

P.M. - Millcreek ride (~40 miles). The canyon was pretty chili! I really need to get a light for my bike.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill, easy flat:

10 minutes @ 9.0 mph
10 mins @ 9.5
40 mins @ 10.0

P.M. - Big Cottonwood ride to Brighton (~40 miles)

A.M. - 15-miler nice and slow on my standard 15 mile course. Did the Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd triangle in normal direction.

A.M. - 60 progressive treadmill workout, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
15 mins @ 10.0
20 mins @ 10.5
15 mins @ 11.0
5 mins @ 11.5

Felt good.

LOTOJA Classic 2012

My race report is in process so I will update this when I'm done... Here's a short synopsis:

Totally awesome experience! I enjoyed every second of it (well, almost : ) and absolutely want to do it again. I finished in 09:38:49 which was good enough for 8th place in my Category 5 division (5300 series) and I think I was 174th place overall out of 1,000+ riders. I was unofficially hoping to come in under 10 hours, which I did, so I'm satisfied/happy with my result. I feel that I performed to the level that I trained. Although I didn't do a ton of long rides throughout my training, the ones I did do (e.g. MS, Ultimate Challenge, a few 70-milers) combined with the bread-and-butter 40 to 50 mile rides I did consistently 3 to 4 times a week (mostly in the canyons) proved to be enough. I'm sure the running was also great cross-training! : )

I didn't noticeably sense any residual fatigue or soreness from last week's marathon. With the exception of a short period around the Afton, WY support exchange, I felt very good during the whole race and was fortunate enough to not have any mechanical issues, wrecks, or other mishaps. Mom and Dad did a fantastic job serving as my support crew and they were very fast at each support exchange to get me on my way quickly. My fueling strategy worked well. I ate/hydrated regularly and maintained good energy levels. I estimate that I took in about 4,500-5,000 calories during the whole ride. I got to meet and ride with a ton of great cyclists. I met David Francis (2005 overall winner, from Vegas) while on course (he was riding Cat 5 with his son) and I got to catch up with my old mission buddy and three time overall winner, Cameron Hoffman, at the awards ceremony (he finished 6th overall this year; 3rd in the Cat 1 division; less than 2 mins behind the overall winner and new record).

I definitely learned some things that I'll do differently next time (I'll explain these in more detail in the full report):
-Skip the first stop in Preston!
-Figure out how to not to have to pee before the first climb!
-Wear sunscreen on the arms and quads
-Get a bike computer

Notwithstanding these few things (which really weren't that big of a deal in the scheme of things), it was a tremendous experience. So glad I had the opportunity to do it. The investment in the training was certainly worth it.