The Bike, The Run, and a Half-Hearted swim!

The Bike

Saturday was the Dairy-Land Dare, around 14,000 feet of elevation to climb on the agenda. I drove 3 hours that morning to the start line. Six of us from the TRIClub set out to do the 200k and 2 others did the 100k route.

It actually started out well for me, I was geared up so I would not make the same mistake here I did at the Horrible Hilly Hundred. By running out of hydration 10 miles from the finish, total "Bonking" is not fun.

I think I also dressed appropriately, the black and white IMooo COW jersey made me feel at home in Moo Land.

The plan was to ride at my own bike pace and ride how I felt. Everything was going okay then 12 miles from the start, I go over a little bump then pop. Crap a flat tire, took out my inner tube, so strike two, I had a tube for my 650 Triathlon bike, that's not going to work. Okay, I packed another tube somewhere else in my camelbak. Phew, I found it, finally the right size ~ 700c. I'm glad I was not a total bonehead. Okay now where is my bike pump, DOUBLE CRAP, I left it in the trunk of my car. Now I'm a total bonehead, no way to pump my tube after I change it. So I waited around and flagged down one of my teammates coming towards me. So after I fixed my tire, we went on our merry way. I figure I should stay with at least one of them since another flat would totally suck out here, no pump and only a patched up tube as a backup in case I got another flat. I was a little nervous thinking about getting another flat again so far from the finish.

Let just say the DiaryLand Dare is not an easy ride, the evil twin of the Horrible Hilly Hundred. There was some crazy climbs and one spot that had a danger sign with crossbones posted saying "get off your bike, washout". Let's say I did not do that and got thru that section somehow. I never said I had any sense when I trained. But the DairyLand Dare was a great organized ride, better food and service than the Horrible Hilly Hundred.

On to my riding, I think I rode well, I climbed all the hills, stayed in my saddle on all of them. Even-though my legs burned on some of the long climbs I put my head down and climbed until it hurt no more, which meant I was at the top. Boy it did hurt, my back got really stiff after mile 80, my arms where fatigued as well. My ASS, well, it was not a pretty feeling. I was getting really tired after awhile and wanted to get off my bike. I was not a happy camper from mile 90 to 110. But at mile 111 I felt great, maybe because I knew the end was near.

Riding in the rain the first couple of hours of the ride and then the heat for the rest of the day made things a pretty crazy adventure I will not soon forget. But I finished on top of my bike, no walking up the hills, and my calf held up..Woohooo

Ride Stats:
8 hours 53 minutes of actual ride time

A little over 125 miles total.

Avg speed 14.1 ~ Max Speed 48 mph

Elevation Gain (ft) +13,608 / -13,562

My TRI Teammate asked me If I felt better riding today than before. All I could say was, "NOT SURE, EITHER WAY THIS WAS A LONG ASS RIDE"

The RUN

So for Sunday I had this great idea, after riding 125 miles Saturday, a half marathon would be not to bad. Put another 7 miles in to make it a 20 mile training run. Sounds like fun right. The funny thing was I got two other TRI club people to join me in this little crazy adventure, Kickstandpam and Caroline. So we met up early and ran to the race, approximately 3 miles.

Then the half marathon race started at 6:30am. My goal was just to test out my calf. Actually the rest of my body was hurting as well from the 200k bike ride. But I actually ran well the first 4 miles of the race, cautiously thou. The calf was tight but tolerable, then I did another bonehead thing, or as I was reminded a "Rookie Mistake". I tried cutting across some people, just then, my cell phone flies out of my pocket, I turn back, some guy kicks it actually towards me, then I was on my way again. But after that my calf got really tight and I needed to slow down. So I just took it easy and thought about one step at a time. Walked thru the aid stations and took one or two stretching breaks for my calf. But I finished and actually was pretty happy I got through it not screaming in pain. I was happy with my 2:07 finishing time. I proved to myself I still had some running fitness in me still.

Should I have run it, Hmm, hard to say, but I had to test my calf out and see what I could do. That was my goal, nothing more.

The Half-Hearted SWIM

So after the race, the 3 of us jogged along to TRIbeach for hopefully a open water swim. Let say, I felt sooo tired even trying to put my wetsuit on. The water was a little choppy, but my goal of a 2 mile open water swim was not going to be. I had no form and I think if I doggie paddled I would have been faster in the water. So just a 30 to 40 minute open water swim for the training log this day.

Weekly stats (08/06-08/12):

21.76 hours of training,

206 bike miles,

31 running miles

Some swimming

Dang I'm tired.. So what's on my A.D.D schedule now? More bike riding, I really can't run right now, so more walking on the treadmill. Hopefully a very long open water swim this weekend. Then prepare for a dozen screaming kids to invade my home for my daughter's b-day party this weekend as well.

But for now, I'm going to try to figure out why everybody likes watching the "SINGING BEE" on TV.. I really don't get it.