Well--March 1st...Time to get serious about this Ironman training stuff again. This little guy will be here again before you know it!
Rough week on the books after a nice long weekend in Playa. Such is life. Work hard, Play hard. You read about the track practice in the previous post, but I also threw in three swim workouts (progress happening!), a spin class, a core class, bike hill repeats on Bonnell and Balcones, an 8 mile run on Friday and an 18 mile run on Saturday.
Run was a blast...ran with Tracy, Mike and hubster. Felt beat up still from Pain's Wednesday morning core class. Those death lunges kicked my butt and hamstrings. Run/Bike switched this weekend because we had serious high winds on Saturday morning.
Winds continued this morning, but not nearly as gusty as yesterday. Still, though, it was 34 degrees at the start of our 80 mile ride. I was sporting four pairs of socks, two sets of gloves and 3 layers of clothing. My body was warm, but fingers took a while to thaw.
Hell, before we even started, some people were already coming back saying it was too cold. They were abandoning to either hit their trainers or ride later. Only made the ride more dreaded than it already was for me.
Not feeling it at all from the beginning. I tried to talk Katy into quitting in the first mile, but I just kept pedaling. She wouldn't let me. Something about the fact that I was already out there on the roads. Tried to keep up with my group that included Katy, Veronica, Jill, Esther and Eryn. Struggling...legs felt dead.
15-20 mph wind gusts in our face as we headed north on 360 to Great Hills, Jollyville, Duval, Amherst and then finally to Parmer where the real fun began.
Still on Jane's bike cuz I couldn't get my pedals switched out this morning. Damn, really wanted to be on my new bike. Would I have felt better? Who knows...probably not. Better make sure it fits well before attempting 80+ miles.
Couldn't relax at all with the direct headwind...hating every second of the ride, but was committed at this point. Just looking at the flags gusting towards my face made me resent the ride. Had already been dropped and was now alone. Is this a good thing or bad thing? Probably good...I needed to fight my own demons today and it was obvious I wasn't keeping up.
Started rationalizing different scenarios...Just ride outside for 3 hours and then do 2 on the trainer. That sounded feasible. I could do that. Was averaging about 12 mph on Parmer. It was going to take me forever to hit the turnaround.
Saw some T3ers at a gas station so I pulled in. They were also rationalizing what to do. Some were going and others were turning around. I rode up to 1431 and turned around. The thought of continuing on Parmer with the wind was too much to bear. I needed (and got) much needed relief with the tailwind. Thought about doing mini-loops on Parmer and just breaking it up in smaller chunks. Decided that I didn't want to be on Parmer at all so I headed back towards Jollyville and started doing Jollyville loops from Great Hills to Anderson Mill....Almost 3.5 miles each way. Not hilly, but definitely still battling a headwind on the way out...I was riding. That's all that mattered.
Wafting smells of the various restaurants were tantalizing...Manuels, Rudy's, Krispy Kreme...People dressed up heading to Great Hills Baptist Church. I'm bundled up wondering why I'm still riding at such a pathetic pace. Shut up, Carrie...You're still riding...
Got bored with that and then decided to ride back over to Duval....crossed Mopac and rode over to the Domain where I tooled around their parking lot for a while and rode up and down the main strip. Hell, I don't even go there to shop and yet here I was riding up and down noticing some of the stores for the first time...Lacoste, Tiffanys, Lucky Jeans, Juicy Couture...Where's Target? That's my kinda store...
Headed back over Mopac on Braker and back to Jollyville. Over 3 hours on the bike. Nice...I'm still hanging in even though I'm making this shit up as I go along. I decided to do 3 more Jollyville loops before heading back towards 360 south. Saw a runner on Jollyville wearing a 2008 Sunmart 50k shirt. Wanted to say, "Hey--I was 4th place this year," but realized I probably didn't look like I would ever place in anything. She would've laughed. Hell, I laughed.
Actually enjoyed the taste of my Perpetuum mix today...good thick consistency. Never felt hungry at all...Just felt powerless...
Finished those 3 extra Jollyville laps and started heading south again on 360. Took the monster hills really slow, but the tailwind helped my efforts. Seriously, at one point, I felt a real gust give me a boost and all I could say was, "Thank you for the lift God."
Realized I had been out for a really long time when I saw the Riverbend Church sign. I had missed all three services. Wow...I guess I was having my own conversations with God today, both good and bad, believe me. Our discussion was quite frank.
Hit the Lost Creek intersection at 74.7 miles. Thought about continuing on 360 to hit the magic 80 mile mark, but had been out for almost 5:15. Decided to end my torture for the day. The time in the saddle was more than adequate. Kinda like when your parents stop spanking you when they realize you've had enough. I wanted the spanking to end.
It wasn't pretty and my bike average never saw 15 mph today. 14.7--ouch. Not sure if today was one of those days where you stick your head in a bucket or pat yourself on the back for getting it done and beating a negative mindset for 5+ hours.
Today, it was a little of both.
5 comments:
Your average beat mine, if that makes you feel any better, and I only eeked out 65. I guess the wind was everywhere. I'm still traumatized and hurt.
Good on ya, Carrie. I wussed out and rode in the afternoon, which was windy, but nothing like what you were dealing with. 65 degrees didn't hurt, either. You = beast! In a good way, that is.
A big pat on the back for you! Good job Carrie, I laughed while reading your post :)
I should have left with you guys when I had the chance, I shall be putting my head in a bucket now...ha
You get a million points for hanging in there when you didn't want to ride and you didn't want to deal with the wind. Wind is a killer. I would rather tackle a really hard climb than ride into the wind. Hate it. Hate the powerless feeling. At least with a hill you feel like you are conquering something. With wind you just feel like you are losing ground. Well done, Carrie!
on the flip side - I have a friend who loves riding into the wind because it makes you stronger. And so it does. So - between the wind battle and the 60 day challenge you are going to be riding MUCH faster very soon. So there's always that, right?
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