by Saturday = Pedal Power ride (63.4 miles). This could’ve been really awful but thanks to some good karma, it wasn’t all THAT awful. I got practice in what to do when things aren’t going exactly right.
Pedal Power Ride Recap
It all kind of started to derail when I felt my electrolyte container slip out of my pocket and bounce away (I had sentimental attachment to it, not to mention that it held all my electrolytes). Shortly thereafter, both my water bottles flew off the back of my bike as I crossed a cattle guard. Of course, the only safe place to stop was at the bottom of the hill, and I needed to make sure those bottles weren’t going to be a problem for anyone else (not to mention I wanted my drinks), so I got to go back up the hill and retrieve them. This separated me from my hubby and Cathy; no problem, I’d just catch up at the next water stop. Uh, then my chain somehow came off on yet another cattle guard, so I stopped to fix that.
And then I came upon the guy changing his tire and I asked like always, “Do you need anything?” and do you know what? He did. Not only did he need my tire tool but it was obvious he had never changed a tire before. So I stayed and helped him (I didn’t completely do it for him, because then he’d never learn). He was very thankful and this made me feel quite happy and I tried mightily to put time out of my mind. And then THE BIG HILL turned out to be right around the corner.
Oh dear me — I blame it on the fact that I was going from a basic standstill to the mother of them all, but gentle reader…I got off and walked my bike up that hill. It did enable me to help the lovely couple most of the way up get a nice couple’s photo, so there came some more good karma, but man, did I feel like I sucked. And then I got back on the bike and really began to physically feel like crap; I thought I had a migraine coming on. My stomach was really putrid, and I was out of Nuun and Gatorade and only had Perpetuem to drink, which was making my stomach cramp up whenever I took a sip.
I just soldiered on, focusing on the next water stop, which would be where I could refuel and meet back up with the hubby and Cathy. I was imagining pouring water on my head and having a nice full bottle to drink from. When I finally rolled in, the aid station was out of everything but pickle juice. My stomach said no.
The rest of the ride was pretty much an exercise in getting from point A to point B when 1) I really didn’t want to go and 2) I felt like shit. The giant blessing of the day was my hubby staying with me at the next water stop, where I was able to get water, some Coke and the most wonderful thing in the world: a cold wet towel. I stuffed it in my bosom. Aaaaahhhhh, relief! At the last water stop, the sweetest little Cub Scout in the world put nice cold water in my water bottle — he brought it over to me so I didn’t even have to get off the bike! I was actually able to pull out a fairly decent final 10 miles or so.
I didn’t think I’d be able to run at all but seeing Cathy already making her way through the run inspired me to just get the damn shoes on; I’d start out walking at least. Well, it turns out I could run…I managed it for 20 minutes. That was enough.
The positive was that I was able to work some good things out of things going badly. And I think I learned some valuable things.
Week 13: IM Training Totals
swim 1:56
bike 6:45
run 3:10
—————-
total 11:51
