Disappointment breeds success...

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally happened.  My cell phone camera has failed me.  My blog simply will not be the same until I replace my phone.  I have managed some old-school-MySpace-style photos, but I have opted to keep most of them to myself.  So, I hope you can still enjoy this – sans the reverse-phone-feature-pictures you generally enjoy…

I had to switch things up a bit, this week, because my reliable workout buddy had obligations for much of the week and weekend.  I think it depressed us both to realize that there would be no Wednesday hill-repeats or intervals and no Friday ride through the Foothills or …whatever. 
However, we did manage to get out butts out of bed on Thursday morning for our favorite event of the week – the trail.  I’d like to tell you what an incredible trail-run it was, as I have done in weeks passed, but it simply was not.  We made it a few miles into our 5 mile run and walked the last two+ miles to the parking lot.  Truthfully, I think sometimes its good to remember that we’re only human and sometimes our bodies and minds can’t support the effort we intend for them.  I say that, but as we collapsed at mile 3, we realized that the sun was just coming up over the mountains, so I snapped this.  I think it explains to all of you why I relish my Thursday morning runs so much.

So, I had originally planned a full-brick for this Saturday morning, but a friend called and asked if I might be willing to do a trail run with him on Saturday morning.  I picked an entirely new trail on the north side of South Mountain (about 4 miles long) and abandoned my brick.  Again – THIS is what we were graced with on Saturday morning.  I think I could abandon street running altogether if this was how it would be all year (but it won’t be…).

Of course, after my trail run on Saturday, I realized I hadn’t been on the bike since Matt and I did San Juan Road the prior Sunday, and I missed it dreadfully.  There was no one willing to head out with me, this weekend, at all – so it was going to be mine to own.

When I woke up, this morning, at 4am, I was actually looking forward to my solo-ride.  I know I can pull decent speeds when out with Jim and/or Matt, but I am never convinced I can do it on my own.  I also tend to avoid some of the tougher hills when I ride with them because I simply don’t want to humiliate myself as they take the lead and leave me in the dust.  So, this was my morning.  I was going to head out before 5am and put a solid 20+ miles on my legs – pushing myself over Desert Foothills, a pass that has always intimidated me (at least in front of Matt or Jim). 

My route and climbs!

I maintained great speeds (18.5) on Pecos and my legs were feeling really fresh, so when I turned onto 17^th Avenue I was sure I would knock it out of the park.  Well, I didn’t.  My 18’s were dropping to 15’s and I was working hard to push it closer to 16, but I was getting tired.  I wasn’t sure if I would snap out of it, but I was committed to the full ride up the backside of Desert Foothills.  The last time I had focused on this ride, I pulled 11’s up the hardest part of the hill – and I was ok with it.  Not today.  I know I am better than 11’s.  As I turned onto Desert Foothills, I could see my bike computer yelling back at me – 11.7.  (sad face)  But then something happened, I stood up and cranked away for just a moment and the next thing I knew I was at 13.3 all the way to the top.  My legs were on FIRE as I approached the top, but nothing felt better than to let them just enjoy the breeze on the way down.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I was ultimately pleased with my effort – and it remained solid for the last 7 miles home. 

As quickly as I could, I stripped from all my bike gear, and showered, because Jim and his wife, Judy, would be picking me up in less than an hour.  And, at 7:30am I was in their car headed to Bartlett Lake – about 75 minutes northeast of Phoenix.  None of us had ever been, but Jim and I agreed that we should probably complete another open water swim before our Tri in two weeks. 

In truth, we had a blast!  It was really too warm for wetsuits, but we figured we should don them anyway.  There were a few others out there with their wetsuits on, so we knew we wouldn’t be the only ones getting odd looks.  I realized during our drills that I was doing really well swimming a straight line from one end of the lake to the other (about 400 meters each way).  Although super fast, Jim struggled with his lines, but that just meant we finished each leg around the same time – which, naturally, pleased me enormously.  Jim is a far better swimmer than I – faster and better technicality all around.  I figure I completed somewhere around 1700 meters in the lake.  Jim?  Probably 2000. 

Bartlett Lake

Ready to get in the water - sweating to death!

I was completely wasted at the end of the swim.  Jim, Judy and I enjoyed a nice brunch lake-side when we finished – complete with muffins, juice, coffee and fresh fruit.  A successful Sunday workout for sure.