Another Long Bike

Yesterday ended up being a great day for me. Once again, I was able to get out on the IMLOU course and knock out 76 miles. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t wake up dreading my bike ride, and didn’t have one of those “cop out,” thoughts that usually happens at 5:00 a.m.

A group of us met out at Zorn and River Road to start, and knowing what to expect after last week’s ride, I was feeling a lot more confident mentally, as well as physically. I also had the forethought to keep track of the mileage between each turn so that I would always know just how far I still had to go on the course – these numbers give me a sense of relief long after my mind and body have wigged out on me.

Going down River Road I counted 7 mile to Hwy 42. Up Hwy 42 to 1694 is another 7 miles. 1694 is what it is, so I didn’t count the mileage, I just knew what to expect regarding the hills so, once again, I did the best I could, which always seems to be significantly slower than everyone else. The group waited up for me as I emerged from 1694 and hooked a right back onto 42. Of course, it wasn’t long before I got passed again as we made the three mile trek to 393.

393 was still fresh in my mind from last week, and since the hills were what I remember the most I decided to count those rather than mileage. Seven! There are seven hills on this stretch of road and I came to figure out what it was that bothered me so much about this – there isn’t a lot of time to recover between hills. Unlike 42 which truly is a rolling stretch of road, 393 is significantly more “up and down” with very little flat area.

I made my way to the gas station at the corner and was met by the group who had already had a few moments to rest and refuel. I had very little time to do more than swallow down a GU before we headed off again. This time, going 8 miles before turning onto Ballard School Road. Again, I remember this being a hilly road, although nothing compared to 1694 or 393. I counted hills (3) and mileage (2) so that I would know what to expect the next time around.

Taking the next right meant just a quick 4 miles before I saw Jeff up ahead waiting at the next turn (right). We conversed a bit down this stretch before he assured I was okay to ride alone while he trudged on to meet the rest of the group at our next rendezvous spot. I asked him how far up ahead everyone else was, and was told about 3-4 minutes. Not bad, I thought. I’m not as far behind as I thought I was.

For whatever reason I didn’t take note of the mileage on this road, or the next. I think I was just concentrating on getting to the next rest stop and being able to rest my poor bum. Luckily, I had taken heed of some advice I had received earlier in the week and simultaneously switched to a biking bib while slathering on a substantial amount of Hoo Ha Ride Glide in order to minimize the chafing issues I had been having. Note to Self: These two small changes were an excellent idea.

As I met up with everyone at the next stop, Jeff handed me a 12 oz. Coke to split with him. I was concerned that the carbonation may make me a bit bloated, as I am super sensitive about risking any GI issues. He and another gal (who just happened to be in town from S. Carolina to ride the course, Jan) assured me it wouldn’t and that, instead, would give me a jolt of energy to keep me going. I’m not sure how much it helped, but it certainly didn’t hurt, and with no GI issues to speak of afterwards I’ll have to keep this refreshment in mind for future rides.

As I looked down at the Garmin we were 48 miles into the ride so far. Jeanette asked me how I was feeling and I told her that my legs had “been talking to me,” lately, but overall I felt good. This was her first go-round on the IM course and she shared that she was feeling better than expected as well. After looking at the map on the Garmin upload from last week’s ride, I had concluded that 393 was approximately halfway between where River Road ends and where we re-enter 42 after the loop. This meant that we had approximately 10 miles to 393 followed by an additional 10 to River Road and then 7 miles to Zorn. I knew that if I broke it up that way I’d be in a much better place, mentally, to handle the longest ride of my life so far.

Off we went, once again, and I was bringing up the rear before too long. I heard someone behind me giving signals such as “car back,” and “stopping,” and was surprised that this person hadn’t yet passed me like the rest of the pack. At one point I actually wondered if the group had had a discussion at the gas station about someone staying back with me to make sure I survived from here on out. I had even yelled back at one point, “Are you supposed to make sure I don’t die out here?” The reply: “No, I’m just having fun.” Before long my new bike-mate and I were exchanging pleasantries as well as identities and it turns out that my new friend bears the name of someone I’ve seen on Facebook the past six months – John Bryant. Luckily John is another “slow and steady finishes the race,” kinda guy, so it’s nice to have another person to bike with should I need the company on these long rides (and trust me, I will!)

As the miles clicked by I noticed my shoulders and neck were bothering me more than usual. I had even stopped turning my head to call back to John since I kept feeling a little pull on my left side. I began sitting up on the bike more, steering with my hands on the elbow pads of my aero bars just to get a little bit of a stretch. Later, Jeff and John would both tell me that I probably need to have my aero bars lifted since the bending down that I’m doing is probably too aggressive of an angle. Regardless, the discomfort made for a long 7 miles back to the car once we reached River Road.

Before long John and I were pulling up to the motel on Zorn and I dismounted my bike to get a good stretch. For some reason it takes me a good 5 minutes to get my wits about me after a long bike ride. It’s like I’m fuzzy-headed or something, and can’t think straight for a while. Jeff walked up from the short run he just completed after he got off his own bike, and we all talked for a bit – including my complaints that my booty continues to hurt on these long rides. Once again, apparently I need another adjustment on the bike – a new saddle. I was under the impression that a sore booty just came with the territory, but apparently the amount of hurting that my booty is feeling isn’t “normal.” So… that’ll be another call to the bike shop I’ll be making this coming week, just a few days after my last adjustment to the seat height to help with my knee pain (it helped a lot, by the way).

My 30 minute walk/run was nothing to write home about. I had hit the potty before heading out so as not to run into any fecal emergencies like I had on my last post-bike walk/run. My plan was to do a 5 minute warm up walk and then a 3:1 interval. Well…. As I started to attempt that first run my body wasn’t having it. I was pooped (figuratively this time). My body felt like lead and I could muster little more than a quick shuffle. Still, I got it done and it gives me something to continue to work on over the next 3.5 months.

I will say something real quick here about my workout today: a 2.5 hour run. I woke up this morning thinking there was no way I could get this done without walking the entire thing. My body ached, I was fatigued, and this was all after a good 10 hours of sleep last night. Still… I knew that no matter how I got it done I had to do it. So imagine my surprise when after 2 miles I was feeling fairly decent and moving along at a pretty good clip. I did a 5 minute warm up followed by 3:1 intervals throughout most of the run. I did have to stop for a potty break at about 1 hour and again at 2 hours in, but luckily I didn’t really feel a lot of fatigue until probably that 2 hour mark. It was a beautiful day to run, even considering I got a later start, and I am glad to say that I am feeling more and more confident in what my body can do if I just remove a lot of that doubt from my brain.

Final bike stats: 75.72 miles in 5:07:51 at 14.8 mph average (.4 mph faster than last week).
Final run stats: 12.15 miles in 2:27:18 at 12:08 minute/mile average

Closing thoughts – 1) Confidence is definitely building and I think doing two loops of the IMLOU course needs to be on my agenda. 2) Started Physical Therapy this past week and hoping it can help with some minor issues I’ve been having. Apparently my hips are weak. 3) Gonna start doing some hill work to improve my bike speed – getting great feedback from some folks who are already doing this. 4) Calling the bike shop tomorrow about the aero bars and saddle issues. 5) I CAN do this. I think. 

Conquering Fears

Well I survived the IMLOU course (or, at least, the parts that count), and now my brain is mush. My 4.5 hour planned ride for yesterday was postponed due to rain, so I did my 2:15 (10 mile) run on the treadmill instead. I considered how this might influence my bike today as my legs were a bit tired and stiff afterwards, but I’ve heard that in order to get stronger you have to sometimes train on fatigued muscles.

It was an early wake-up call of 5:00 a.m. in order for me to get ready, stop by the gas station, then make my way to the Kroger in Prospect to meet up with Nick and Eric. I must admit that, once again, I had that split-second thought when the alarm went off to put this ride off and go out on my own later today on a more familiar, flat course. I was still just completely intimidated at the thought of the IMLOU course, and my lack of confidence nearly got the best of me. But…I told myself that the only way to know what it’s really like is to do it myself, and so I left for the course with a 6:30 a.m. start time in mind.

As we took off up Hwy 42 our first long incline was upon us quite quickly. I had anticipated this one, as I had gone as far as a half mile or so past this point a few times before. Pretty soon we were cruising right along and making small talk in anticipation of 1694 – or as I like to call it, “the dreaded 1694.” I have heard horror stories about two large hills that you have to take twice, as this section is an out-and-back. However, although they were long, slow inclines there wasn’t too much of a grade and when it was all said and done I thought to myself, “Hmm, that wasn’t too bad.”

Off we went again as we made a right down 42 once more, and onto 393. Now…I had also heard that this road had some hills, but I don’t recall anything about just how many. I really shot myself in the foot when, not long after we made that right hand turn I thought, “I LOVE this road.” Of course that was just prior to seeing that first hill. And then another. And another. In all, I believe I counted at least 5 nice sized hills on this road before we finally came up to our first stopping point – a gas station where we could refuel our goods if needed.

At this point Nick, who was always so optimistic and smiling throughout this course, asked how I was doing. I began to tear up and told him that the hills were getting to me. He asked if it was my breathing or legs or what. “All of it,” I told him. He gave me some words of encouragement, but since we were only 25 miles into the course, and I was imagining all the miles and hills left to come, I was starting to dread the rest of the ride. Honestly, the only thing that kept me from turning back at that point was knowing that I would have to conquer 393 once more and that was NOT going to happen.

A left we took down our next road (I think LaGrange Rd, maybe?) and it wasn’t bad at all. A few small rollers here and there and Nick even mentioned that this portion was a bit of a break after 393. A welcome break it was, and my mind started to get a little more right down this stretch. My memory is a little fuzzy, so I can’t recall if it was at this point where we took a right down some nice country roads, or a left on to Ballard School Road. Regardless, Ballard School was another portion I had heard stories about but, all in all, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe because it felt shorter. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t “fun” by any means, but after 1694 and 393 this seemed tame in comparison. Still, it was somewhere around this point that I began to wonder who I could call to come pick me up if I threw in the towel and decided I could do no more hills.

Another left down a quasi-short road and we came upon our second stop – another gas station. At this point I definitely needed some cold liquid as my water bottles had since melted and were lukewarm. Nick also bought a bag of ice and it was refreshing to plop some into my water bottles as well as rub across my arms. I’m not sure the temperature at this point, but we were looking at about 9:30 a.m. and the sun had been shining for a while. I seriously don’t know how people did IMLOU in August. I directed a question towards Nick that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know the answer to: “How many more roads do we go down that have massive hills?” Imagine my delight when I heard that we had already put the three toughest portions behind us, and all we had to do now was take Hwy 42 back into town. Shew!

Shew, that is, until I realized just how long Hwy 42 was going to be. At one point I saw a sign that said “Louisville 33,” yet knowing that we weren’t riding all the way back into the city limits, I knew we had less mileage than this to go. I was honestly just keeping my eyes peeled for 393 and 1694 again so I could at least know that we were in the home stretch and what to expect. And even though there were no massive hills on the way back, rolling hills are still hills and I still loath them more than most things in life (at least, at that time). There was also a nice headwind that had picked up, which made things tough. To the point that I looked down to read that I was going just 12.8 mph. Well that’s not gonna get me to the end of the course on time come race day, I thought. Still, I pedaled on with Nick’s encouragement and with the end in sight.

At some point a car slowed down beside me and I heard a gal calling my name. Well there was Miss Terri Torres singing her salutations to me, and this did give me a little pick me up. Terri and I did our first Olympic triathlon together in 2010, and she is a multiple Ironman finisher, including Louisville. She is a supportive and awesome chick!

Up ahead I did managed to see the signs for 393, and shortly after 1694. How happy I was to know that we had just a little ways to go. I remember thinking that if I was asked to do that course again there was no way I could. However, what also popped into my mind is that I’ve often said the same thing about running. During a 5k I can’t imagine doing a 10k. During a 10k I can’t imagine a half-marathon. After a half I couldn’t imagine if someone told me, “now go out there and do it again.” Yet, I always manage to finish whatever mileage is thrown at me. I’ve already made a mental note to keep this in mind during these training rides.

A few hills up ahead and we were back to the portion of the route that finally looked familiar to me. One more right turn onto River Road, then a left shortly after to take me back to the car gave me a total of 63 miles in 4:20 with a 14.4mph average. Nick and Eric went straight up River Road to get in a total of 70, but I was mentally and physically toast so I opted out at that point.

Back at the car I racked my bike, donned my running shoes, and strapped on my fuel belt before heading out for a 30 minute transition walk/run. I had started to feel bloated about 50 miles into the ride, so I was fairly certain this walk/run would turn into a mostly walk and I was correct! By this time it was 11:30 and the sun was going to be the hottest it was all day, and with little cloud coverage in the sky to shield me from its rays I knew I wouldn’t be worth much speed-wise. I made it a little ways up River Road before turning onto Mayfair for a 15 minute out-and-back. As per usual, my tummy began talking to me right around the turn-around point and I began looking for a place to pop a squat, knowing there was no way I would make it back to Kroger. Long story short, there is now a log in the side field of someone’s property that bears the essence of Connie. Needless to say, I felt much better afterwards and back to the car I went.

Closing thoughts: 1) Body Glide is a Godsend. 2) I hope people don’t think I’m snobby for not talking during rides. When I’m struggling mentally I find it hard to get into a conversation, and I just want to focus on how to get through the next mile. 3) My left calf isn’t bothering me thus far, but the knee is still giving me fits. 4) My booty hurts. 5) Can I really do this?

Feeling Good

I’m on day 4 of another training week and I’ve only missed one workout so far. I was looking back through my Training Peaks account, and it looks like I was doing really well for the first four weeks, and that it was only during weeks 5-8 I was experiencing some major slacking. In hindsight, I think it may have been a combination of the unseasonably cooler, overcast weather (it’s amazing how much this affects my mood), some possible burnout due to going from only minor training to a pretty significant jump in a short amount of time, coupled with that short-lived (thank goodness) stint of depression that seemingly came out of nowhere – and for no reason. But… once again, since meeting with the coach and getting back into the saddle (literally and figuratively), I’m feeling good about this race.

Muncie (host city to my first Half Ironman) is only three weeks from tomorrow, and as of right now I’m feeling fairly good about it. As I’ve stated before, that open water swim at Freeman Lake a few weeks ago really helped with my confidence in the water – at least, the confidence in being able to complete the mileage without completely bonking. And with a handful of 50ish+ mile bike rides under my belt, I’m also pretty confident that I can pull that sucker off as well. However, although the run alone wouldn’t normally be bothersome for me, the fact that I probably won’t even begin that third leg until around noon in one of the hottest months in the mid-west AFTER completing a swim and a bike, well….. let’s just say I am a bit nervous about it. I went out earlier this week for a five mile run at 3:30 p.m. thinking it might do me some good to acclimate to the heat in order to prepare. It wasn’t pretty. It’s never pretty trying to trudge along breathing in thick, humid air with the sun beating down on you. This should be an experience.

One thing that IS bothering me is my left knee and calf. I’ve had little aches and pains off and on in different areas of my body during my training, but this discomfort has been pretty consistent for about a week now. I first noticed it after my last bike ride 6 days ago, but fortunately it didn’t give me much trouble on that two hour run the following day. It wasn’t until I started getting back out on Tuesday (three days ago) that it popped up again and has been REALLY bothersome since. To the point that I walked my 50 minute run session today because I didn’t want to aggravate it prior to the 2:15 run I have to do tomorrow. The 4.5 hour bike in a few days definitely has me a bit concerned as well, as I don’t have my second bike fit for another five days, and don’t meet with the physical therapist for a week. Hopefully the pain is just a matter of a slightly different bike fit. If not, then perhaps the PT can shed some light and give me some good news on a diagnosis and prognosis. Now that I’ve rededicated myself to the training, the last thing I want is for it to be hampered by some physical ailments.

Overall, I’m definitely physically tired most days, although not to the point of exhaustion. The mental aspect of it all is getting better, and I can say that making myself get out and do the training sessions feels better than the guilt I’ve been experiencing when missing them this past month. My longer training sessions bring about thoughts regarding whether or not I will do this again – dedicate so much time and energy to a grueling race that lasts less than a day. At this point, I honestly don’t know. Having never done an Ironman it’s hard to know beforehand if all of this effort is worth it in the end. It’s definitely a commitment, and I’ve always heard that the training itself is the hardest part. To that, I would have to agree. However, I once said I would never do another half-marathon again and yet look where I am – ten years later and 27 13.1 milers deep. Never say never I guess. Of course, ask me again on October 12th. Although you may get a different answer if you wait until November.

Newfound Motivation

I had the meeting with my coach two days ago, and it seems that since then something has just clicked. I don't know if it was the validation that if I don't get out and get the proper amount of training done that the possibility of a DNF is very real or what. He also told me that if we were having this same conversation two months from now (which is two months before the race) that he'd tell me to pull out. That was a big wake up call. He pointed out my sessions on Training Peaks, and the fact that many weeks I'm only hitting 50% of the planned training sessions. What could I say? I can certainly EXPLAIN why I've been slacking, but that certainly doesn't EXCUSE it.

So... yesterday morning I woke up and got my butt out of bed for the first swim since this revelation. And it was actually a very decent swim. Probably my third 2300 meter swim, and I never felt fatigued at all. A little bored, yes, but tired - nope. Afterwards, when my work day finally ended, I hopped on the bike to do my 1:30 ride. I've begun to get very tired of doing what seems like endless loops around the park to get my rides in (okay, maybe more like 2-3 loops, not endless), so I headed out of the park after the first go round and made my way downtown to River Road and then back up to Brownsboro via Lime Kiln. By the time I reached Rudy Lane it was evident that I would be getting just at 1:30 in (a total of 21.6 miles). And considering I'm trying to keep my HR as low as possible, I was surprised to see my average pace was 15.1 mph (moving pace anyway - doesn't account for stop lights and a small break I took on River Road.)

Today, I'm feeling just as motivated even though I had a horrible nights sleep. I'm assuming it was a combination of the adrenaline post-ride and the aching I felt in my left knee and calf (side note: I have my second bike fitting scheduled for next week since I've been noticing knee pain for a few weeks now). I've also ordered some new Brooks Ghosts running shoes, as I found the Hoka Cliftons I purchased in April cause blisters and don't fit as well as my Brooks.

So my next task is to conquer a 4.5 hour bike ride this weekend, which will give me approx. 65-70 miles. Not only will this be my longest ride to date, but it will also take place on the Ironman Louisville course, which I've been wanting to ride for a while now. I honestly believe that knowing what I'm up against won't make it seem so intimidating and implausible come race day. And getting an idea of what the course looks like, what to expect, landmarks to gauge what's up ahead and how much further I have to endure are all things that can only help me on race day. Unfortunately it also looks like there is a chance of rain everyday for the next 5 days, including a 60% chance on my Saturday ride day. Blech. But... hopefully it will hold off and we can get it done.

Training (somewhat) Continues

It's been a bittersweet weekend with my training. Did a 3 hour (46 mile) bike yesterday starting at 8:00 a.m. and from the onset I really wasn't feeling it. We were to spend most of the ride doing rolling hills through Jefferson Memorial Forest, and I didn't know the route so I had no idea what to expect. It was a hot morning to start, not to mention the humidity and not a cloud in the sky (meaning the sun beat down on us the entire ride). We got about 30-40 minutes into the ride and it was decided that we would do part of the Louisville Loop, taking us out to the West End of Louisville then back up to downtown before heading to our ending point at the park. This meant that the tail end of our bike would be almost completely flat which, not what I needed or expected, but what I voted for and succumbed to given my state of mind at that point.

I took enough nutrition, and drank on my water from time to time, but I guess I wasn't drinking enough (or maybe should have brought something other than water) because I felt drained by the end of our ride, and after drinking three huge glasses of lemonade with lunch after, I still didn't have to immediately go to the bathroom. I even opted out of the thirty minute transition run I was supposed to do after the bike because I was so hot and tired - I couldn't imagine walking through the park for an additional half-hour after that bike.

Today, I had to get a two hour run in, and since I didn't want to get up at 6:00 a.m. to try and beat the heat, I decided to put it off until this evening, so I headed out the door at 7:00 p.m. The sun was still coming down pretty hard, and I had a small, 12 oz. bottle of frozen water with me. I was only running around my neighborhood, so I knew that if worse came to worse I could always head back home and finish out the run on the treadmill. The treadmill, however, sounded much worse than an 80 degree outdoor run so I was going to try and get as much of it done on the pavement as possible.

I started out with a 3 minute run and 3 minute walk warm-up before headed into my 4:1 intervals. As I said, the sun was beating down and I started sweating early on, so I was surprised at how good I felt throughout the run. I even made sure to take routes that would lead me away from home so I wouldn't feel tempted to just hang it up and succumb to the treadmill. With 40 minutes left to go, I actually ended up passing by my place not once, but twice (the second time was 1:35 in) but I still managed to keep on and took yet another turn away from the house trying to get the full 2 hours in. Alas, by the time I passed by the house once again it was 1:50 and I decided that was good enough. I ended up with almost 9.5 miles, which I believe is my longest run since the Derby mini in April.

So... despite my less-than-stellar ride yesterday, I made up for it with a better-than-expected run today. I guess it just goes to show that you never know what kind of training day you're going to have until you just get out there and do it. Which brings me to my next issue: the training itself.

My coach hadn't put up the training schedule for me for this week by this afternoon, so I was a bit concerned considering I like to plan ahead at what to expect for the week. Long story short, I've been missing many of the week-day sessions and he says that he doesn't know where to go with my training plan since it usually builds off of what I've already been doing. Since what I've been doing isn't much (by IM training standards anyway), I guess he doesn't know what to put on the schedule. This makes sense and I admitted that I have been slacking. Not due to laziness, but mostly due to still feeling overwhelmed, dealing with lack-of-motivation at times, and just plain old scheduling conflicts. Regardless, I get where he's coming from, so I told him that I'd like to talk about an option where he just creates a generic plan for me to follow for the next 4 months, taking into account what I've done so far so that he doesn't have to change up the plan when I have weeks like this. His response was for us to meet up tomorrow and talk about it, so that's what we plan to do. I guess I'll get a better idea of things once we talk things over and figure out our options.

Despite this, as well as the issues I was having a few weeks ago where I wanted to "hang it up," and back out of the race all together, I really don't want to do that now. I really do want to finish, but I want to finish and remember it as a good, fun experience - not a dreadful, awful thing that I had to "survive." I know in order to do that that I have to get the proper training in. It's just hard. Sometimes I don't know what drives me to skip those workouts. I need to do some soul searching on this and figure it out, because it would kill me to DNF in this race.

Longest Bike Ride

As usual, I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning for my long bike ride after a mediocre night of sleep (these seem to be happening a lot this week). Luckily, I had planned on a 4-hour bike with a couple of people who were meeting me at the park, so the accountability always helps to get me going. That, and the fact that I knew I’d feel much better afterwards having done it, and not put it off for another day.

The route was fairly simple and mostly flat: one loop through the park with David before picking up Jeanette for a second loop, and then on to downtown, over the bridge and up Utica Pike. As I told these two when we crossed the bridge: “The good thing about Utica Pike is its flat. The bad thing about Utica Pike is its flat.”

It was a great morning to ride as we started out at 7:00 a.m. The weather was calling for some hot temps later on, so I definitely wanted to get started before the sweltering began. The loops through the park were fairly simple and easy – I’ve ridden this route so many times it’s always a bit of a blur when trying to write about it later. As we made our way out of the park following that second loop however, a good-sized deer ran in front of us: a nice little scene of nature shortly into our ride.

Making our way down Lexington and then Spring Street before heading into downtown was a breeze. And Jeanette and I continued on over the Big 4 Bridge to the Indiana side while David stopped for a small snack at the bottom of the Kentucky side. Pretty soon though, we reconvened to start our journey out Utica Pike to 62 before turning back around. At this point we had gone approximately 27 miles in 1:42 with a 14.7 average pace.

I had eaten half a container of oatmeal in the car on the way to the bike, so I decided to take in a Gu at this point. I had also brought a frozen bottle of water as well as Gatorade. I was concerned with only 4 Clif Bloks on me that I may require some more nutrition; however, since we were already nearly halfway through the ride I wasn’t too worried about it.

Off we went and the three of us played leap frog for the lead (although I have to admit that both David and Jeanette were ahead of me for most of this ride). Wasn’t really much to contend with during this long, flat stretch of land, so I just took it in and noticed my mind wandering to a few different thoughts: first – I recall my first trek down this route was a 28-miler at the beginning of the season, and how tired I was afterwards. Second – being told that 50-mile rides would soon be considered my “short ride” and how daunting that sounded back then, and how it doesn’t now. Third – how it seems the more you ride a particular route the shorter it seems. Maybe because as you get to know a route you know what to expect and how long to anticipate the miles ahead before certain landmarks or turn-around points.

David mentioned a big hill at some point, although I didn’t recall this at all. That is, until we hit that last four miles before our turn-around spot and I found myself with lethargic legs as we made our way towards Highway 62. Not realizing it until just this ride, but most of that road is nothing but a gradual, slow incline with some smaller, steeper hills built in. I’m already making a mental note of this for next time.

At the end of this portion of our ride David sat down for a small break while Jeanette and I refueled on water and nutrition. Within a few minutes we were off again and making our way back DOWN that 4-mile climb we just conquered. At this point the conversation started picking up and we killed a few miles trading war stories about dating and relationships. This is probably one of my favorite things about long rides with others – getting to know them on a personal level while ticking away the miles without even realizing it.

Back down Utica Pike we went and, again, I was bringing up the rear. Probably half a mile to the bridge Jeanette hits a pothole and her back tire goes flat. Luckily, I had a spare tube on me and (luckily again), David knows how to quickly change a tire so we were back at it in no time. Across the bridge we went once more, through downtown, back up Lexington and into the park for the home stretch.

By the time we made our way back to our vehicles, my quads were pretty much toast. I talked Jeanette into one recovery lap around the Seneca walking path, so we got in a little bit more than a mile on that last bit. Final stats: 59 miles in 3:46 moving time at 15mph average.

Final thoughts: 1) No tummy issues on the ride and the oatmeal seemed to sustain me for quite a long time. 2) I may need to get my seat angled up a bit, and my cleats moved forward. Feeling a lot of pressure on my nether-regions and find myself “scooting back” some on the seat. Started to feel some cramping in my right calf about 3 hours in and left foot goes numb at times. 3) Hoo Ha Glide does nothing for me, but the Body Glide works great, although I do feel a bit “rubbed” in some areas. 4) Surprisingly, my mental state during these longer rides has been great – no bonking, no emotional break downs, etc., which tells me that my mental capacity and confidence are definitely improving.