....I know I should write something, but I'm still unsure as to exactly what. So this could be long.
86 miles...did that!
A year ago, coming up to the Honolulu Century Ride, I wasn't confident that I'd make the entire 100. I dreaded going to the rides, and when I went I sagged out towards the end.
What a difference a year makes. I loathe failing. One of my bigger regrets is that last year when my grandma was around, I didn't finish. So I knew if I signed up this year, it would be round two of some sorts. I knew I was in a different place, and I knew I had to finish.
Yesterday, I actually felt like "Ok, I can do 100, how about that 122 route?" It's a great feeling. A crazy indescribable feeling. A oh-wow-maybe-I-am-a-cyclist-feeling.
I'm just gonna break it down...because
it's my blog and I can write whatever I want.
Mentally:
Going into this ride. I had some conflicting emotions. I'm fully committed to no-SAG 2012. But I only went to one spin class this week, ran twice? and biked maybe 2.5 miles on Wednesday before I a)taught Andrea how to change a tire and b) realized I was supposed to be dogsitting and sped off to my bro's house. I did hydrate pretty well Wed-Fri. But Sat morning I couldn't sleep because I was nervous about the ride and I wasn't at home in my normal surroundings
So because I wasn't where I wanted to be training-wise this week I thought about it as a mental exercise. Vegas week won't be perfect. I won't have the greatest training schedule leading up to with with traveling, team events etc. I won't be on the best diet leading up to it, and I'll be in a hotel room. So this week...and the next 2 weeks of dogsitting will be my mental exercises. Because I love for everything to be the exact same way, clothes laid out the same the night before, cheerios and pb&j on the drive up, etc etc. And it will be impossible to replicate that at the actual ride, so I need to get out of my rut now.
But since this was a loop ride it helped me out a lot mentally because I hate surprises. Hate. And I knew kinda which hills were coming or at least the big ones. And with a sag stop at each end of the loop, it was easy to break it down to 10-ish miles at a time...8 times.
Physically....broken down by loops:
Miles 0-21.
And at every ride, I feel great until mile 3. Then my brain wakes and and screams WTF ARE YOU DOING?!? And I feel crappy miles 3-10. And then I settle into normal in miles 10+. Same thing happened today. It was nice and overcast though.
Miles 21-42ish.
Feeling great. Music is on, though I'm mostly talking to teammates on the ride. Still overcast...looks like rain...getting excited. Wasn't feeling the 82 miles I thought it'd be...definitely wasn't feeling the 86 miles. 4miles=huge difference. Rain delay would be super awesome.
Miles 42ish-64ish.
No rain. Dang it. Gotta make another loop! First ten out I listened to music and cursed speaker adapter for coming out of my ipod several times in the middle of songs I was singing. Particularly my kanye songs. I need to channel kanye's arrogance and bravado right now.
Because I know whats coming on this loop.
"Now that don't kill me
Can only make me stronger
I need you to hurry up now
'cause I can't wait much longer"
-kanye, stronger
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| The Wall. Last year it used to happen around mile 30. This year it pops up somewhere in 50-60. |
The Wall or rather the faux Wall. The Wall and it's faux counterpart is a total bitch. Last season I hit the wall,
the faux wall,
deaths doorstep,
and probably a frog or two. Several times.
But I didn't really hit the WALL until Honolulu. Somewhere right after I'd missed the cutoff and I was dead crazy tired, sad and disappointed in myself. I knew to do this in 2012, I'd have to make the wall my bitch.
It's still easier said than done.
Luckily miles 50 on were me and coach Tanya. Things Tanya is great at:
-general badassery. Why yes it is a word according to
urban dictionary. Definition is pretty accurate.
-distracting me. I don't think I was much of a conversationalist last season because I was...well breathing. But this year I can talk! About all kinds of stuff! Talking on the bike is super exciting.
-knowing that I'm just bitching in general.
Eff you rainless clouds!
Eff you wind!
Eff you hills!
What the...! Those fake deer all just moved. Are hallucinations a symptom of heatstroke!?!
And that while I'm tired and I'm not going as fast as I started off at, I'm not actually tired enough to sag out even though I'm bitching.
Miles 64ish-75ish.
It occurs to me that the advantage/disadvantage of this loop situation is that I have to say goodbye to my car yet again. Oh sweet sweet Jean Grey (don't judge my car's name), I miss/love/really appreciate you.
There was a stop and breathe break right before the final-giant-imported from Chappell Hill, hill, right before the final SAG stop. It was glorious.
Miles 75ish-86ish.
Last ten. Lately my 'eff it!' surge has been failing me, but not today. Or rather, I just went to hell with what I'm supposed to do:
-high cadence, granny gear pedaling up hills.
And just did:
-big gear, power up the damn hills separating me from my car.
So maybe it was the 'eff it!' surge, re-imagined.
It was a great finish if I do say so myself. I don't remember exactly what we were talking about riding into town, but I remember I was laughing as we rode into the team. Definitely not like last year. But reminded me of the pic I put on my thank you letters from last season
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| I'm totally fake smiling. Upon deaths door last year. |
Go Team.
