One week – one week from the Olympic Tri and I am somewhat unmotivated to blog. My BFF-D got horribly ill yesterday and another beautiful friend of mine needed a place to stay after leaving her husband, last night. So, needless to say, after running chicken noodle soup, crackers and meds to D, then sharing a bottle of wine and stories with my temporary house-mate, and getting to bed after 10:30pm – I was a bit worried about my planned brick work-out, this morning.
The alarm went off at 5am and scared the crap out of me. Was it morning, already? – I thought. I tore myself out of bed, hoping not to wake my good friend, made myself a cup of coffee and prepped my bike for my ride. I had my bike in the shop this week for a tune up, so she was (for the most part) all prepped. But, with the Arizona heat this week, I was sure the tires needed air after sitting in the garage for a few days.
By 6am I was on the road still worried that I might have dehydrated myself with wine and thinking about the last time I did a solo-ride. I have been riding with my good friends a lot, lately, but Matt became horribly ill this week, too, and Jim had houseguests. I wasn’t even going to attempt to coax either one of them into helping me through my ride. (And, yes, I have considered the fact that I may be the carrier of this horrible tummy bug that both Matt and D came down with…but whatever…I swear, I didn’t lick either of them!)
I rode through the foothills of Ahwatukee and reached Pecos Road after 5 or so miles. Then I had a nice 10 mile stretch of very little interruption. The crosswinds seemed horrible at first, but after a mile or so, I barely noticed them, anymore. I was keeping my AVS on Pecos around 18.5 and feeling really pleased with my workout. It was hard, but not too hard. There are a number of lights and hills getting to Pecos Road, so it was hard to say what my average speed was prior to hitting Pecos – so I like to use Pecos as a good test of my endurance and skill. As I hit the ½ way point and turned around, I was hitting numbers (AVS’s) around 20-21 and really getting excited about it. Then, some guy with long legs and a lovely bike, flew past me like I was standing still. It was a HUGE blow.
It was also the moment I considered the fact that I was wasting myself and only ½ way through my ride. I cut back a bit and simply enjoyed the rest of my ride home – trying not to think about the fact that I never saw that guy who passed me, again. (You know I am always hopeful I will catch up to him at a light or something.)
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| ...and why I wore black...dumb. |
I staged my bike back in my garage after my 20 miles and, after grabbing a sip of water, threw on my running shorts. I was out the door in no time – not really sure what I was willing to do after the ride. However, I headed down 48th Street and was pulling 9:30’s right away, so I figured I could do a full 5 miles. The sun was beating down on me and around mile 3 I started to realize the wine was catching up. I needed water. There was very little I could do, so I committed to walking for about 20 seconds to see if I could generate enough saliva to continue my run. It worked and I actually got my second wind. My last of the 5 miles was a 9:19 – and I was feeling strong. Total time: 1 hour, 54 mins.
I know without the wine and concern for my favorite people, I might have even pulled better numbers, but I am really ok with this last brick before the tri. These are, of course, the same people who pull me through when I need it the most. See you both next weekend! HUG <3
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