Saturday Brick

Man these are hard.

We were supposed to have friends over for dinner last night, and I have to admit to being quite a bit relieved when they cancelled. Sorry that they had a sick child, but thrilled that I could go to bed early. I had secretly been plotting what time I could sneak upstairs to go to bed while they were here. Sadly, I have a checkered history of doing that - usually when I've had too much to drink. Instead, I guilt-free went to bed when my kids did at 9:00. I didn't fall asleep until 10ish but at least I was resting prior.

Today's goals: 28 mile bike, 8 mile run
Actual: 29.5 mile bike, 6 mile run

This morning, I met Kathryn at 7 a.m. She rode to my house and then we rode to West Creek together. It is so great being able to ride with her. First, knowing she's going to be waiting for me forces me to actually get out of bed. Second, she pushes me to ride faster. She kindly let me keep up today. We rode to West Creek, did two loops (including 1/2 loop with Jonah which was fun) then headed home for a total of 29.5 miles, 17.2 mph average speed. The ride felt pretty good and since we actually rode together the whole way, it was a lot of fun. It definitely helped to have her with me on the last four miles especially when we hit some hills. I usually do those alone and start feeling really tired.

Before the ride, I had half an English muffin with peanut butter. During the ride, I had about 12 ounces of water and maybe 8 ounces of Accelerade, plus half a Cliff bar. After my ride, I ate the other half of the Cliff bar. I took 24 ounces of diluted Accelerade with me on the run. I tell you this because it wasn't enough. I don't like eating as soon as I get up, but I really need to get more calories in prior/during to my long workouts.

My new tri shorts were great on the bike, which is fabulous because I can wear them in my Olympic without fear now. However, they were less great on the run. I apologize to anyone who saw me adjusting things in my best major league baseball impersonation. It was still better than the full size diaper feel of regular cycling shorts.

I felt slug-like on the first mile of my run, which is typical, but actually clocked it at a little under 10 minutes. I carried my water bottle of Accelerade with me and found strategic places to leave it on my route. I'll definitely do that again. I hit the four mile mark at about 36:30, feeling pretty good. I retrieved my water bottle from a hiding spot behind a rock, walked for a few seconds to hydrate, then started up again with thoughts of a negative split floating through my brain.

It was then that the wheels started falling off. I got chills which I knew was a bad sign. I shook it off, blaming it on the fact that I'd just taken a little break, dropped my water bottle at another strategic location, and kept running. Yet the chills returned. At that point I was about 0.7 mi from my water bottle so I turned around and plodded back. I kept questioning whether I was being smart and listening to my body or being lazy and grasping at excuses. The time for the first five miles was 45:01 and I was really pleased (and surprised) with that - yet I slowed my pace to accomodate my clearly non-optimal feelings.

I hit my water bottle at 5.7 miles, grabbed it on the run and finished up the next 0.3 for a total of 6 miles in 55:03. Even with a last mile of 10:02, I still averaged 9:10/mile. I walked the remaining way home still feeling chills.

When I got home, Taz and Rainbow met me in the driveway and led me in some stretches. They come up with some pretty entertaining moves and some which I struggle to duplicate. I ate a banana and a big scoop of peanut butter along with two Bayer back & body pain pills and am actually feeling pretty good (albeit tired) now.

I just realized that I missed my weekly running distance goal but cutting off those two miles. Did I do the right thing by stopping?