Living and Learning

The bad news is today’s ride did not go as planned. The good news is I think I know why and this is all just a part of my learning process.

I woke up this morning feeling good about the upcoming 78-miler. I had done one 76-mile ride previously, and was ready to test out my new saddle and aero bars on the double-loop of the IMLOU course. I ate my oatmeal, packed plenty of nutrition, and off I went to meet a bunch of folks at the corner of 42 and 1694.

Well, for whatever reason I felt in a bit of a funk from the beginning. 1694 seemed to be more of a bear for me than I remember, and 393 was just, well….torturous. I had counted the hills on this 5 mile stretch previously and came to the conclusion that there were 7. Well, either my math was off or I was delusional because somehow there seemed to be an extra hill thrown in there somewhere. It’s quite possible that I really was delusional at this point.

Hooking a left onto our next road, for which I still don’t know the name, it was nice to get a little bit of a break from the hills as there are none too steep or too close together. Another left and we’re on to Ballard School Road. At this point there were just three of us bringing up the back of the pack as all the speed-meisters went off and left us early on. That was fine by me as my only concern was getting through the ride. At 25 miles in I remember thinking to myself, “Alright, we’re a third of the way finished.” I was still feeling decent physically at this point, although that was about to change.

I had been taking in Infinit throughout the course, but the bottle containing my Napalm had malfunctioned so I wasn’t able to take in any other type of nutrition. I told Jon B. at one point that I would need to stop at the store in Sligo, which he was more than happy to oblige. By the time we got to the store, however, I had already begun having thoughts of finishing out the day’s ride after just one loop. I had completed my first run since Muncie the day before, a hot 6-miler, and afterwards completed another 60 minutes worth of swimming. At some point it dawned on me that although I had replenished my fluids on the run, I hadn’t drank much afterwards or throughout the evening. Not only this, but since this was my first run in nearly two weeks, my quads were hella-sore and every hill felt like a mountain.

After taking in a few Clif Bloks at our stop, as well as a half-can of Coke, I had already decided that the chances of me calling it a day were more than decent. I told a few of my cycle-mates this so they would know my plans and not be looking for me on the course. Off we went up 42 once again for the remaining 13 miles (of my ride at least).

I have to admit that once or twice I did try to renegotiate with myself about the second loop. While on flat ground I would be speeding along (and by speeding, I mean, going 15-16mph) and thinking to myself, “That’s right, I’m a bad ass, I’m doing IRONMAN!” This didn’t last long though because once I reached a hill that thought turned to, “F*ck! I’m doing IRONMAN?! I’m going to die.” After breaking away from Jon (who was, in fact, doing the second loop), I knew I had just three more miles left to go. Three miles that seemed like an eternity. My quads were aching, my mind was starting to mess with me, and I just wanted to be done already!

Luckily, a sign up ahead told me that 1694 was near and I praised the 8 pound, 7 oz. baby Jesus (even though I’m not the least bit religious). Pulling into the parking lot I noted that I completed just at 47 miles in 3:12 with a 14.7 mph average. This average is what baffled me since I had been struggling so hard, or at least felt like I was. My last go-round on this course had me ending with a 14.8 average, so seeing that I went just .1mph slower this time was actually quite nice. Of course, I highly doubt that would have been my average had I completed that second loop. In fact, after I had a moment to collect myself and started pulling away in the car, my vision started to get a little wonky. Not blurry, necessarily, but it felt like I had a hard time adjusting my focus. This is more evidence that stopping after that first loop was the best thing. I now think that I must’ve been working towards dehydration, if I wasn’t already there.

So, lessons learned for today: I definitely need to HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE the days leading up to these long rides. Especially in this heat. Even though we started plenty early, that Kentucky sun is very unforgiving once it comes out and starts shining down. Also, no more longish runs the day before a long ride. I don’t know what I was thinking doing my first 6-miler in 2 weeks 14 hour prior to a planned 78-mile bike ride. But…never again. As they say, you live and you learn, and this entire process has definitely been a learning experience for me.

As a side note, because I have been having issues lately with motivation, negativity, doubt, etc. I have decided to try a new type of therapy called cranial sacral therapy which is advertised as, “A gentle, hands-on approach that releases tensions deeply in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance.” This includes alleviating stress and negative energy as well. The massages that I get are great, but I need something to help with the psychological part of my system as well. My first appointment is two days from now with a lady that comes highly recommended, so we’ll see. At this point I feel I need a little more umph to help continue propelling me forward. Once again, my perception during today’s ride was that it is “so easy,” for everyone else and they’re all, “having such a great time, laughing, cutting up,” while I’m on the struggle bus. I need to get out of my head and turn these thoughts around.