Race
This isn’t the post I planned on writing. It’s not an epic recap of two back-to-back 50 mile bike rides. It’s not even a tale of two 40 mile bike rides. In fact, it’s not a story of two bike rides at all.
It’s about one 18 mile ride on a Saturday morning. The end.
There’s a lot of people out there that could eat an 18 mile ride for breakfast. I’m not one of them, so I’m still proud of my accomplishment, I just wish it could’ve been more.
But let me back up and start at the beginning.
I’m a casual type A {if there is such a thing}. The night before a race or event involves knocking out The List: the to-dos, the prep, the ducks in a row. Equipment ready to go, bags packed, food prepped, maps printed, race numbers pinned, and plans made.
Friday night I put the babe to bed and came downstairs to start The List. I stopped being nervous about our upcoming ride and started getting excited. I detoured out to the garage before making dinner to give the bike tires one last pump of air and check on the husband’s bike-rack building progress.
He was holding the bike latch package in his hand, utility knife poised to cut through the zip ties, knife pointing towards him. Just as I started to utter the words, “Well that’s a good way to hurt yourself”, IT happened.
I saw the blade jam into his wrist, right where that vital artery hides. I looked up at him and said, “Hospital?”. When he barely hesitated before saying yes, I knew it was time to go- and fast.
I darted up the stairs, scooped the babe out of bed, and we were off.
3 hours and 6 giant stitches later we came home. It was way past my bedtime and The List was not getting tackled.
The husband was lucky- he missed all the important arteries and tendons, but he wouldn’t be able to ride in the morning as he was unable to squeeze the brakes on his bike.
Saturday morning rolled around far too soon and I scrambled to get everything together. I dragged the wounded husband out of bed to help me rack my bike and collect my pump supplies while I fed the baby. {Those are 2 things I’ve never had to include in race-day prep.
}
I hopped in the car with a mug of coffee and allergy-friendly granola bar and started the 45 minute trek to the park. I sat at the stoplight waiting to get on the highway and thought about turning around and going home. I was going to be late, I was by myself {my other team members didn’t meet the fundraising minimum}, I was tired, hungry, and didn’t want to leave my family. Most of all, I had serious doubts about my ability to complete even the shortest ride of the event.
I pulled into the park, jumped on my bike, and rode through the grass to the start line where I barely paused before we took off. My number was half hanging off my bike and I didn’t pack any fuel. Not the prepared approach I normally take.
The course started in the park before heading out to the local streets. The park is full of long, gradual hills and speed bumps that aren’t so fun on a road bike. It was a bit of brutal awakening and didn’t do too much to boost my confidence. My feet were already numb {they never get numb} and my hip ached where I tweaked it getting stuck in my pedals during a training ride.
As we turned out of the park onto the roads, I recognized the first part of the course from the triathlon I did in the same park. I hoped I wouldn’t be repeating that sequence of events. {Chain falling off, getting stuck, waiting for help…}
The roads were fairly quite and traffic wasn’t much of an issue. I had a couple riders in sight so I could follow their lead when it came to maneuvering around cars and waiting for traffic. At one point we got stuck behind a Bobcat –the equipment, not the animal {although we do have those in NC}- which slowed us down for awhile, but it was nice to just relax and pedal calmly for a few minutes.
Soon after we escaped the farm equipment we approached the rest stop. That was the moment I knew I could do it. Not only that, I knew I could do the longer ride the next day.The rest stop was the turn around point. The halfway mark. It took me by surprise when it came so soon in the ride.
I grabbed some sports drink and a handful of snacks, took a potty break, and stretched out my hips. As soon as I did that I felt better. The kinks were worked out, I was loose and warmed up, and I was ready to bust out the last 9 miles.
I spent most of the second half of the ride by myself on the rural roads. Instead of being lonely and scared, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew I was safe and soaked up the rising sunshine and country scenery. The weather was absolutely perfect and I felt great.
The last couple miles brought a few hills. I had no idea how much of the ride I had left and my confidence started wavering. I wasn’t sure I could do it.
But then I thought about my dad, who has MS and is in better shape than most people I know.
I thought about my mom, who rode 75 miles last weekend and finished her first triathlon last month.
I thought about my in laws, who were happily and lovingly taking care of my son so I could participate in this adventure.
I thought about the last time I rode my bike in this park, when my feet hurt so badly I could barely coast down the hills and I needed help racking my bike because my hands didn’t work.
And then I saw the entrance into the park. I’d done it. I dominated the long slow hill. I let out a cheer for the people pushing their bikes up the side and I let out a little silent cheer for myself for managing to stay on my bike.
I couldn’t help but smile as I crossed the finish line. It may have been the shortest ride of the event, but it was still a ride I pushed through and finished.
I can’t say much about the event itself. Although it prides itself on being accessible to all levels, it was clearly geared towards the longer rides of the day and the focus was on the individual fundraising teams, as opposed to riders as a whole. I planned to hang out and partake in the post-ride festivities, but there was nothing going on when I finished {even after I took a timeout to pump in the car}.
I headed home a little disappointed, but pumped for the next day’s ride.
And then at 4am I woke up to a baby and thunderstorms. I crossed my fingers and hoped it would subside in the next couple hours, but no luck. Lightening + bike spokes don’t mix. Bike ride day 2 = no go.
So instead of doing a victory dance and relishing in our amazing “endurance event” accomplishment, the husband and are I wallowing a bit in what could’ve been. We’ve decided to do another ride at the end of October when his arm has healed to make up for it- we don’t want to let those that sponsored us down!
Not the way I pictured this going, but at least I have my first post-baby event under my belt.
Training
I guess the internet gods’ way of telling me it is indeed time to get my fitness groove back was by selecting me to do a weeklong at-home bootcamp with personal trainer Jennifer Cohen right after I posted about itching to get back into some regular fitness training. A quick bootcamp is the perfect jumpstart to get back into the training mindset.
The real kicker that now is my time was a text from a friend over the weekend. Just as I was about to sign up for a triathlon {even though the training program was cancelled}, she asked if I was going to do a semi-local charity bike ride coming up in September. Registration was on sale for the holiday…
Nudge, nudge, nudge. Yup, that’s all I needed. A no-pressure event written on the calendar and a training buddy! I really think having a concrete event and training plan is what I need in order to work around the baby’s schedule. Read: not caving in and saying, “it’s ok, I’ll go tomorrow” when I feel bad about needing someone to watch the little punkster.
So mid September I’ll be doing a two day bike ride for MS– somewhere between 15-100 miles each day; distance to be determined once I figure out how the whole breastfeeding thing works into it.
As I clicked submit I got all excited about registering for my first post-baby event. Then I realized it was really my second- the day registration opened for the North Carolina Color Run I was on it. 
It’s a little far away to get my training endorphin fix going since it’s not until November, but I can’t wait. {It’s the first thing I’ll get to cross off my Fitness Bucket List!}
So bootcamp + bike ride = officially excited. Part of the bootcamp entails testing out Muscle Milk’s nutrition shake as a workout recovery tool. I make sure to have protein after every work out to help build muscle and promote quicker recovery. The convenience of not having to make a snack or shake sounds enticing. I’ll let you know how it goes, although the husband might have to be my proxy on this one due to the babe’s allergic colitis & breastfeeding. I have an appointment next week to learn more about his allergies.
So any tips on doing an endurance event while breastfeeding? I’m more concerned about the length of the actual event, not so much the training.
Muscle Milk® is an ideal blend of protein, fats, good carbohydrates and 20 vitamins and minerals to provide sustained energy, spur lean muscle growth and help provide recovery after tough days.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Muscle Milk via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Muscle Milk.
Biking
You probably don’t pay that close attention, but for some crazy reason you do, you might be wondering why I posted about the fabulous bike I got after 2 years of wishing and dreaming.
Well, let me tell you.
I became absolutely paralyzed by fear.
Fear that this bike was too good for me.
Fear I didn’t deserve this bike.
Fear that I would break it. Wreck it. Destroy it.
Fear I wouldn’t like it.
Fear I wouldn’t want to ride it.
Irrational? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Going to keep me from riding? No. I mean, eventually.
After years of researching, saving, and waiting for the day I could finally own a road bike, it finally happened.
And then I absolutely panicked. Never once did I think about what it would be like to actual RIDE that bike. That I knew NOTHING about bikes. Not about REAL bikes- bikes I could break and destroy, not hybrid bikes that fell apart every time I blinked but didn’t care about.
Not once did I think about where I would ride. Who I would ride with. How I would ever learn to ride on the road. The time it would take to ride.
What finally convinced me to go with this bike was that the bike guy said I would be significantly more comfortable on this bike when I was riding longer than 25 miles. Did I ever think about how far 25 miles is? No. Not until I took my bike out for the first time and rode 4 miles. FOUR.
25 miles on a bike is like 2 hours. Maybe more if you’re slow like me. How many days a week do I really have time to ride a bike for TWO hours?? Or more?
That four mile ride was all I needed to panic. Absolute, outright panic. The gears overwhelm me. I can barely remember what’s up and what’s down. I’ve been terrified of cross-chaining ever since I learned what it was. How do I avoid it? Doesn’t that mean you miss out on like half the gears? And how do I know I’m about to do it without staring down at the spinning gears between my legs? I certainly can’t do that on the road.
{I mean, seriously, if I Google “chain falling off bike”, a picture of my bike comes up.}
And oh the road. I thought we had enough trails to ride on so that I could avoid the road altogether. But running trails and biking trails are totally different. You cover mileage a lot faster on the bike- which means you run out of trail a lot faster. And parts of the trail turn to gravel and rough patches; wooden bridge slats; tree-root infested dirt segments. Road bikes are supposed to be on pavement. Will 10 yards of rickety bridge pop my tires?
How will I ever learn to ride well enough, or fast enough, to keep up with the “real” cyclists? The ones who meet at the crack of dawn Saturday mornings, on the way home from work on Wednesdays, or Sunday afternoon before meeting for coffee. The ones who could teach me how to ride on the road. The ones that consider 17-19mph slow. The ones who consider a 3 hour ride to a different state a “casual” ride.
How do I know if that clicking in the bottom two gears is normal, or if something’s about to break? What about the constant clatter of what must be the bearings in the back wheel? You can’t read these worries away {my usual coping mechanism}.
Insane. Irrational. I know. {Even more ridiculous considering I’ve ridden more than four miles. Including the 12 miles I rode on this very same model bike a few weeks ago.} I feel ridiculous even just typing this. But it’s real. I promise. After my first ride I called the bike store and asked them to take it back. Ok, I begged. Begged them to let me bring it back and get a bike with streamers and training wheels. One I couldn’t possibly break. One that I could leave out of my sight for .2 seconds and not freak out. There might have been tears involved. Ok there were definitely tears involved. Lots of tears. {The answer was no, in case you were wondering.}
So there’s really only one thing to do. Get over it.
So I’m getting over it. I’m working on it. I’ve promised myself I’m not going to break it by looking at it. If I break the chain, I can get a new one. I can ride the 4 mile trail 80 times in a row until I want to venture on to the road, or get fast enough to keep up with the big boys. And, well, the liking it part? Let’s just hope as the panic dissipates, that part comes back.
Training
Yes, road bikes are all they’re cracked up to be. Unfortunately I had to return my loaned bike yesterday… but not before I had a chance to take it for a spin. Luckily the weather cooperated and it was the perfect day for bike riding.
The verdict? The road bike was significantly more uncomfortable than my hybrid; it was also significantly more fun to ride. Faster, smoother, more reactive- this is why people ride bikes for 100s of miles.
But for now it’s back to the hybrid. Time to focus on running!
When I found out I had a spot in an Olympic-distance tri this May, I wasn’t running at all. I knew jumping back into things too quickly, especially with the motivation of a race hanging in there, could spell disaster for my knee. I decided a 5K at the beginning of April would be my test-run.
If I survived that 5K, I could do the tri. If not, the tri was out.
Well the beginning of April popped up out of nowhere. One day it was dreary, rainy, and frosty; the next it was sunny and all kinds of April. The 5K is Saturday.
I won’t tell you that right now I can only run a mile…
Luckily there’ll be some distractions along the course; a chance to give my knee a quick break. And while my knee’s resting, the rest of my body will be doing the work:
You know, just your typical 5K on a motocross track: crawling through tunnels, climbing 7 ft walls, hopping barricades, forging through a jungle of giant swinging truck tires, crawling through the mud, scaling a cargo net, leaping across floating barrels. Yeah, you know.
I’m excited. I was really hoping to jump over a fire pit, but I guess a mudslide will do. 
Have you ever done an adventure race or mud run? Any hints on making it through unscathed?
Biking
As someone who’s sidelined from running, it’s getting to the point where it hurts to look at Facebook or blogs or heaven-forbid Daily Mile- especially on Sundays, after everyone’s finished their long run for the week.
It’s only been made worse now that beautiful spring mornings keep popping up. Normally that means it’s time for an early morning run- without bundling up from head to toe.
But this year the warm mornings and chirping birds are just taunting me.
So it’s time to do something about it. Since jumping out of bed and going for a run isn’t exactly going to happen anytime soon, it’s time to pick the lesser of two evils: biking.
Running has always been my first choice- part of the thrill is pushing yourself to cover a longer distance and pumping your legs harder than you think is possible. Biking may not be the same, but it can certainly accomplish both of those things.
Only problem is less-than-stellar equipment.
So after alternately dragging my mom and the husband from bike shop to bike shop and bike again {and again}, I’ve finally picked out a bike. I think. Now it’s just a matter of finding it and getting it. {And learning to ride it…..}
But until then I’ll just keep eyeing the candy in the window…
Ask me about any just-above-entry-level road bike and I can probably tell you something about it. Just don’t ask me to choose one…..
Do you have a bike? What kind do you have? How.did.you.pick.one?!!
