asdlfjlk;uli Oh, sorry, I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard......... Y'know, Robbie McEwen is a little cutie pie, too, but Tom's got the eyes and smile. Sigh................................
On to the ultimate amateur in cycling... Me. I'm done with my two week house sitting stint. I mention this for two reasons: 1) My husband said I could use the money I made to buy myself a new Garmin!!!!! So... the Garmin 301, or the newer version, the 305???? Powerbar has a $50 rebate coupon for the 305... Decision made! More to follow when it actually arrives this week in the mail! 2) I BONKED HARD ON MY LONG RUN THIS WEEKEND. Why? Because I was housesitting, and had no GU or water bottle to take with me on a 2 hour and 15 minute run! I know that was stupid. I had run clothes, shoes, etc. But when do you not have 5 empty water bottles rolling around your car at any given time???? Apparently I cleaned my car out recently. Huh.
Anyways, the long run started well enough. I took it super slow... So slow I've yet to mention publicly how slow I really am. The good thing was that I thought for sure I could pull a negative split. And I truly feel I could have if I had brought proper nutrition. Ladies and Gentlemen, this will NOT happen again!!!!! I had to walk a large portion of my last two miles because I was just spent. (I made it 10 miles in that time... You do the math... not good.)
Thoughts while running (I love having a blog because it gives me something to think about while running and biking--'I'll have to put that in my blog!'):
* I love Colorado (yes, that is a recurring theme.) I love to do my long runs in a canyon just outside of Denver. It's a dirt road that follows a river about 6 1/2 miles back. It's beautiful. In the wee morning hours it's filled with runners and some mountain bikers. As the day gets warmer, it's more mountain bikers, hikers, families, and fishermen. In the spring and fall, the big horn sheep will stroll down the canyon. Pretty cool stuff. It's usually too warm for them to come down in the summer, but there was one lonely big horn roaming around this past Saturday morning. Cool. Also saw a beautiful heron.
* While running in the canyon, I noticed three mountain bikers go by. Now these aren't your average mountain bikers (there are some single track trails at the end of the canyon.) Usually the bikers here are either hard core mountain bikers, or average family Joe's on their cruiser bikes just doing the fire road. Well these three guys were DEFINITELY road bikers on mountain bikes. How do I know? They were skinny little dudes with all the gear, EXCEPT the camelback! Why oh why do road bikers refuse to wear a Camelback? Why oh why do mountain bikers insist on it? I don't own a Camelback, but when I did the Triple Bypass (120 miles, 3 mountain passes in one day) I took a backpack with food and rain gear (and it did rain mid-afternoon) and people DID comment on my backpack... but I don't regret wearing it!
Thoughts while biking on Sunday:
* Ha! I brought a stack of GU today!!!! And you know what? I DIDN'T BONK!!!! Yeah for me!!!!! I'm gonna get this nutrition thing down!
* I only did 60 miles in almost five hours, I was really hoping for over 70, but I climbed Lookout Mountain and took on a couple thousand vertical feet (after already riding for 2 1/2 hours!.) I did way more up than I did down (can't wait to get the Garmin so I can document it!) AND I DIDN'T BONK!!!!! I'm patting myself on the back big time for this one!
* Yeah for me! I also got a flat tire going 30+ mph down the mountain. I pulled over. Fixed it all by myself. (Rear wheel! ha!) and off I went. Good job me!
* Another observation of macho men: the bike path crosses over the freeway a few times. At these lights, bikers will often gather and then the green light creates a "Who goes first?" dilemma. I'm slow, I know it, so I always let the guys in all the bike gear go first. So I'm at a light, bike gear guy arrives first, I arrive second, and two guys show up after me. The two guys are on road bikes, but one is wearing hiking shorts, and the other is wearing khaki's with a leather belt holding them up!!!! I'm no stud, but I'm in all my bike gear, I arrived second, doesn't it SEEM like I should go second? I totally paused to see what the two guys are gonna do, they don't hesitate for a second and take right off in front of me! Okay, I'm not a bike snob. I'm not! But once on the trail, they start riding like 5 mph talking!!!! They felt the need to cut me off for that garbage????? They did kick it in high gear later and went flying past me, but only after another girl came through. My husband said they didn't want to let TWO girls pass them. Who knows?
* Biker chivalry: So this leads me to note. Full-on biker dudes in all their glory are on a mission to ride and ride as fast as they can. No worries. I won't talk to you, I won't even look at you. I will not interfere with your game. But, if I'm at a light with a 40 something guy, that isn't completely hard core about it--he always talks to me. ALWAYS. Why is that? Not that I mind. I've met some really nice older men. Most ask me how far I'm going and tell me what they're riding, they let me go first when the light turns green, only to pass me once back on the trail. It's nice. And then there are the guys in their khaki pants and leather belts that feel the need to cut me off!!!! What the?
* So in all my maybe, kind of, male ego bashing... I did get asked out for the first time on my long ride this past weekend. Not by a biker, but by a guy in a car on a side neighborhood road. He did a U-turn, pulled up next to me, and told me I looked "pretty." Which is great because I'm in bike helmet, sunglasses, flat tube sticking out my back pocket making me look completely deformed, and he says I'm "pretty." Yeah, whatever! I'm very complimented by the offer for coffee, but let him know that my husband probably wouldn't approve. I look down and realize my bike gloves are hiding my wedding ring. I hope the guy doesn't feel too much like a smuck. I tried to be nice. He really did make my day... Now if only Tom Boonen would ride up beside me and make small conversation... Sigh...........
GO BIG TOM!!!!!!!
6 comments:
It's probably because it's not very "aero" However, I've been thinking of wearing one at Ironman Louisville. Mine holds 70 ounces and that's a lot of fluid that I wouldn't have to slow down for.
Tom may have nice eyes, but he got beat by his own lead out man. . . :)
Also, please, please, PLEASE! Stop talking up the big CO. Your making me home sick. Right now I even miss that long, painful, left hand curve half way up Lookout Mountain that I always bonked on.
I'm going for a bike ride.
Sincerely,
matt "Stuck in the flats" H.
p.s. Little Aussie rules!
Now that you mention it, it's true about the +40 men. They're always the nicest ones to me on the road, even stopping to help.
Nice training this week with NO BONKING!
Oh...and getting a flat going downhill...you are my hero. I'm still scared of that happening to me.
Congratulations on bonking on your run...
Why congrats? Two reasons actually:
1. You learned a VERY valuable lesson
2. You finished when you were tired, which is pretty much how it's going to feel at the end of the ironman.
In fact, a friend of mine suggested that I go on a long run with a bad hangover, suggesting it's about how the end of the ironman feels....I think I'll take her word for it and wait until the race instead.
See you on November 3 :)
Andy
http://1happyathlete.blogspot.com
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