When we started the ride it was nice and cloudy. Shortly after starting I saw two VQ girls (Lynn and Ann) who I met while racing Triple-T. Lynn was actually the person that got me to start running during the half marathon on Sunday. She's very encouraging and very positive. Cindy and I decided to latch onto there back wheel and ride with them. It was good for me because they pushed me to hold a pretty fast pace (for me). We were riding just above 20 mph which is nice and fast for me. It was pretty fun to ride in a group of 4 ladies and fly by some of the men out there. After 46 miles I couldn't keep up with the rest of the group so I fell off by myself. I wish I was fast enough to keep up with Lynn and Ann. They are both fun and keep me on my feet. By this point it had gotten warm out there and I realized that I had only finished a bottle and a half of water. Not good. I get to the next rest stop at mile 56 and I try to drink a lot of water but it's hard at that point. I was struggling with some balance but I thought my legs were just tired.
When I got back on my bike I was with a different group of friends and I quickly fell behind. The wind had really picked up and I knew I had 22 miles back to my car which had my running shoes waiting for me for a 30 minute run that was on the schedule for after this ride. I had dug myself into a hole with my nutrition and I was struggling to get out of it. I felt like i was drinking as much as I physically could to keep riding. It also felt like every turn I took I was going straight into the wind or it was coming at a diagonal into me. Then it happened, some point around mile 67-66. I made a turn and the wind hit me and I was done. I stopped and got off my bike and just stood there. Then I screamed. For a minute I decided I was just done riding and I would just sit there. I knew (from experience) that my friend Jeff was ahead of me and he would eventually come looking for me if I didn't show up. He's the dad of the group. I figured it would take him about an hour for him to realize I hadn't arrived at the finish and come pick me up. Was it worth it? Waiting on the side of the road for an hour? The answer was no, I had 10 miles to go (she ride advertised 75 miles but the cue sheet had 78) and I could get that done in an hour even if I just peddled really slowly. I picked up maryK (she forgives me pretty easily) and started peddling. Then I hit mile 79 and everything was ok again. Something about mentally knowing I had less than 10 miles just helped change attitude. I was actually smiling at some points and cheered on some of the other cyclists in the last few miles.
When I got back to the car I was still nauseous. Cindy was waiting to run with me. I told her to go ahead and that I was done for the day. A minute later she was still standing there (almost like a dog with droopy eyes waiting to be walked) so I told her I would do 15 minutes. I filled up a water bottle, got my running shoes on and hit the road. On the way out we ran into two other Wellfit team members going out for their run so 2 more were added on We ended up running in the KOA camp grounds which was awesome because it was shaded and gravel roads. After about 10 minutes of running I decided I would do the whole 30 minutes. No point in stopping early when everyone else was running the whole thing. I was also feeling better and the run actually felt good. I guess this is one of the reasons why I think group training is so important. Without the others in the group I would have never done that run.
This sounds weird but I think it's good to have training days like this. I think it teaches you that you can fight through pain and that you will not get up. It builds confidence and a lot of race day will be KNOWING and BELIEVING that I can get myself to the finish line.
When I got back on my bike I was with a different group of friends and I quickly fell behind. The wind had really picked up and I knew I had 22 miles back to my car which had my running shoes waiting for me for a 30 minute run that was on the schedule for after this ride. I had dug myself into a hole with my nutrition and I was struggling to get out of it. I felt like i was drinking as much as I physically could to keep riding. It also felt like every turn I took I was going straight into the wind or it was coming at a diagonal into me. Then it happened, some point around mile 67-66. I made a turn and the wind hit me and I was done. I stopped and got off my bike and just stood there. Then I screamed. For a minute I decided I was just done riding and I would just sit there. I knew (from experience) that my friend Jeff was ahead of me and he would eventually come looking for me if I didn't show up. He's the dad of the group. I figured it would take him about an hour for him to realize I hadn't arrived at the finish and come pick me up. Was it worth it? Waiting on the side of the road for an hour? The answer was no, I had 10 miles to go (she ride advertised 75 miles but the cue sheet had 78) and I could get that done in an hour even if I just peddled really slowly. I picked up maryK (she forgives me pretty easily) and started peddling. Then I hit mile 79 and everything was ok again. Something about mentally knowing I had less than 10 miles just helped change attitude. I was actually smiling at some points and cheered on some of the other cyclists in the last few miles.
When I got back to the car I was still nauseous. Cindy was waiting to run with me. I told her to go ahead and that I was done for the day. A minute later she was still standing there (almost like a dog with droopy eyes waiting to be walked) so I told her I would do 15 minutes. I filled up a water bottle, got my running shoes on and hit the road. On the way out we ran into two other Wellfit team members going out for their run so 2 more were added on We ended up running in the KOA camp grounds which was awesome because it was shaded and gravel roads. After about 10 minutes of running I decided I would do the whole 30 minutes. No point in stopping early when everyone else was running the whole thing. I was also feeling better and the run actually felt good. I guess this is one of the reasons why I think group training is so important. Without the others in the group I would have never done that run.
This sounds weird but I think it's good to have training days like this. I think it teaches you that you can fight through pain and that you will not get up. It builds confidence and a lot of race day will be KNOWING and BELIEVING that I can get myself to the finish line.
Nice job! There is no "quit" in "Tory" (although there is a T).
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