The perfect day...

Today is a perfect day. It is Memorial Day and I got to sleep in. No alarm clock...no pool wanting to be swum in...no bike wanting to be ridden...no shoes to be run in. It is 1:24pm and I'm still in my pajamas, laying on the couch, and watching TV. It is pouring outside so I think the lake swim that we had planned on for 3:30 is going to be called off...or atleast I kind of hope so anyways.

On Saturday we went up to Clarksville and road the CRAM century ride. 100 miles of flat, windy, misery. We rode fast but I've decided I like hillier courses more than flats. With flat rides you are always working, always pedaling. There aren't many opportunities to coast and rest your legs. I also wore a pair of shorts that I usually don't wear on such long rides....yeah...bad idea. I won't get into details but the seams of the shorts basically wore through my skin. It's not chaffing...it's beyond that. And it hurts...enough said.

Yesterday we ran from Bongo Java on Belmont to Bongo Java in East Nashville and back. I felt awesome considering the 100 mile bike ride from the day before. I met Melissa and Carla for brunch at the Pancake Pantry afterwards and it was, as usual, fantastic. Last night Bert had a cookout at his house for everyone and it was awesome. Lots of hanging out, eating, drinking, talking about upcoming races, and shaving Bert's legs. Yes, Bert got his legs shaved. I'm not sure if he'll remember that happening as of this morning....

This week will be a light training week because I'm doing the Georgia Half Ironman on Saturday. Mom and Dad are coming down to Macon to see me race. I'm really excited about them coming because they weren't able to come to Gulf Coast last year. It will be interesting to see how I do at this race compared to last year. I feel so much stronger this year and I've trained so hard. There are 8 Athenas signed up right now so I have some competition out there for sure. This is a qualifier for Nationals so if I place high enough I could possibly compete in the National Championships the weekend of my birthday in Vegas. I'm trying not to think about that too much but it would be pretty cool.

Until then....I'm enjoying my Memorial Day at home, resting up, catching up on sleep, and enjoying the rainy weather.

Four what?

I have decided that there are certain hours of the day that should really be left unknown, unvisited, and just downright unexplored. I have found this time of day to be in the wee hours of the morning around 4:30am. I don't know if you've ever really been awakened at this time of the morning on a regular basis but holy crap does it hurt. (I wanted to insert a photo of my alarm clock going off at 4:30am this morning because I thought it would be a nice touch to this blog but I was too tired to turn the camera on...not kidding).

Most of us have had to get up at this hour at some point to maybe catch a flight or what not and others of us have stayed up that "late" after an all night lovefest with alcohol and friends...or if you're me, an all night lovefest with your friends sans alcohol but with lots of chauffering. The difference with those situations is that most people don't have to do it on a regular basis AND most of the time the latter is on the weekend so you have another day to "sleep it off."

Every Wednesday for the months of May and June I get to see what happens in the world at 4:30am and let me tell you, so far you aren't missing much. I'm doing a series of indoor cycling classes where you bring your own bike and it gets hooked up to these special indoor trainers and a computer system. The computer system changes the resistance on the trainer which makes it harder or easier on the rider. We watch an image that is projected on the wall that shows where the hills are and all kinds of data that I won't bore you with here. It is an incredible workout for an hour and a half and pretty much kicks our butts every morning.

So back to 4:30am...Did you know that "After Midnight with Blair Garner" is STILL on the radio at that time which means a program that started just two hours after I went to bed is still playing?! That's just wrong. Also at that time TV programming hasn't switched to back to "normal" TV. It is all infomercials and "paid programming" which means the other morning while I tried to wake up and eat some breakfast I learned all about how my colon is completely stopped up and basically killing me from the inside out. BUT...if I ordered this stuff it would clean out my colon (which probably means I'd be on the loo for a week) and I would look as gaunt and unhealthy as the man selling it. Let me know if you'd like for me to purchase on your behalf. I believe it is called the "Almighty Cleanse" and no I don't know if God is endorsing this product or not but it must be a religious experience based on the title. I can only imagine.

So all that to say, getting up at 4:30am hurts and makes a day very long. The good thing is that doing these classes is making me a stronger cyclist which is great. If I have to feel (and maybe act) like this crabby baby below once a week it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Only 9 weeks to go....

Another 100 miler...

Today I completed my second 100 mile bike ride! Woo hoo! We rode with the Ironman Cour D'Alene training group and it was awesome. Dana and I wanted to do the ride hard and with as few stops as possible. We were riding really well for the first 45 miles and hung in with all of the guys in the front....that was until I decided to run over a large piece of glass while I was going up a hill at mile 45. My tire was flat...very very flat. Of course I assumed it would be just a quick easy change of the tube but I didn't realize that the tube in my bag had a short stem which was for my other bike. Yeah...not good. The next best idea would be to borrow a tube from Dana but her tires are smaller than mine...also a problem. So then we waited...and luckily Lisa came up and I borrowed a tube from her. We changed my tire and off we went. It was a great ride from there but by then our pack of lead guys were long gone in front of us. We stopped at Fly's and then hit it hard for the last 45 miles home. It was a great ride in the end and I felt really strong.

I have to run 14 miles tomorrow...eeee! I'm most excited about the pancakes that I'm going to have for breakfast. I can't wait!

A day of firsts with lessons learned...

Yesterday I woke up at 5am to a monsoon of a rainstorm which was a bit of a problem because I was to complete my first 100 mile bike ride. I shuffled around in the dark, half asleep, while I got all of my stuff ready. I packed as if I was going to ride for a week. Between all of the food and clothing options that I packed I would have been able to survive for a quite a while if I happened to get stranded on my way to Brentwood. I ate breakfast, took a quick nap on the couch and then put my bike on the back of the car in the pouring rain. With all of my provisions and clothing in hand I headed to Edwin Warner Park around 6:40am. I was meeting up with Kathleen, Bert, and Julie to knock out a long day of riding. Julie had her high school reunion to go to that afternoon so she did a long brick of 50 miles on the bike and a 6 mile run. Kathleen, Bert, and I were doing 100 miles. Luckily it wasn't raining in Brentwood so once I got to the park I got my bike all set up, the correct attire for the weather put on, and all of my food packed up in my pockets and on my bike. I started with 7 mini Baker Breakfast Cookies, two 10 ounce flasks of Hammer Gel, two full bottles of Gatorade Endurance, 1 bottle of water, and 3 bags of Gatorade Endurance powder to mix on the road.

We headed out for our big ride around 7:30. We went south to Lieper's Fork and stopped at Puckett's then to Fly (my favorite) and then we jumped on the Natchez Trace. The toughest section was the Trace. We had to do 20 miles out and back on the Trace and I didn't know that Kathleen got a flat tire behind me so I just kept going...luckily Bert was near her to help out. Since they stopped to change her flat I ended up pretty far ahead and all by myself. It was very lonely and at one point I think I went a little crazy because I was talking to myself...out loud...ha. I stopped at a rest stop and refueled and waiting for Bert and Kathleen. We finished up on the Trace and headed back to Fly, Lieper's Fork, and our lovely cars!

Our ride was pretty uneventful until a huge scary dog came charging at us and I thought we were dead meat. Luckily he stopped right at the street but it certainly got our adrenaline flowing. I also had my first spill on my new bike. We were about 6 miles from our cars on the way home and I hesitated while crossing a big intersection...lesson learned: don't hesitate. There was a car coming and I had an option to get run over or to fall over. I chose to fall...good choice...except I ended up with a bruised butt, bruised thigh, cut ankle, and I was pretty embarassed since I fell in front of quite a few people and stopped traffic in the process. My Gatorade dumped all over me as well so I was so sticky which was the most annoying thing of all. Luckily we were almost back to our cars.

When we got back to our cars we knocked out a 1.5 mile run and then colapsed. Ha...kidding. Actually considering the 101.5 miles we just covered everyone felt pretty good. Another lesson I learned was that if I start out wearing arm warmers there is a pretty good chance that I will eventually take them off...which means I should apply sunscreen on my arms. I'm a bit burned to say the least.

Today Kathleen, Bert, and I met at Percy Warner Park to run. Bert and I ran 10 and Kathleen ran 8. I had a good run but I'm officially tired from this weekend of training. Put a fork in me. I'm done.