Two runs today

I've really tried to avoid running long all summer, but today I decided to see how my body would hold up to runs separated by a few hours. I'll have to do it next week for the Red Eye Relay, so I wanted a dry run. I have to say it went okay. Not fast, but okay.

The first run was with the girls' team this morning. We hit the railroad bed, and since we all stayed together, the pace was... pedestrian. Still, we were on the trails and moving. As unhealthy as we've been, that's actually a good thing. We did split the group up later, and WinD took the faster girls into the deep woods.

Later, I lifted, then met with the gang at Jimmy's. It was quite a bit warmer by then, but it didn't bother me much at all. We again ran rather slowly. Poor Jimmy was running late and only got to do a couple with us. It won't hurt him to rest some.

Tomorrow we ride from Lighthouse at 10 AM. 

The Brick, and where was Miller?

It was a light night tonight in terms of turnout - there was no Allen, no Mike, no Rand, and no Miller. We did have the addition of Arlene and Kathy (though it would have been nice to see Robin too).

It was cooler again today, the winds were light and out of the northeast. I would categorize them as favorable, though not necessarily overly so. It wouldn't cause any trouble for the ride at the least.

We rode out leisurely, everyone chatting, not thinking much about what was to come. Practically everyone had either driven several hundred miles, participated in a hot event over the weekend, or both, so it was not likely to be a fast ride. On top of that, John T. was under the weather.

Kathy and Arlene rode to Bromer, then turned back. The rest of us made our way to the tree, stopped, and decided what to do. There was a bit of confusion at this point, as Jimmy assumed we'd all ride as a group, and I assumed we'd have two groups. I was perfectly willing to pull more in Miller's absence, so it was no big deal to go in a smaller group. The first group took off.

That's when I noticed there were only three of them. DfO stayed with us, making four in our group. Then I turned and saw John T. leaning over his bars. He told me then he wasn't feeling all that great. Glancing up, the other group was still getting organized by the start mark. "What the heck, let's just ride with them!", I called. And we set out to catch.

We reassembled within a mile, Galloway's surprised face turning just as I caught on, and Dan was still on the front. He pulled around 23-24 mph from what I could see. Strunk went next, and he did more or less the same. Galloway took his turn, a little faster 24-25. I called the numbers back to Jimmy, who was behind me, saying this would be my pace.

Galloway handed over atop the first hill (past Bromer), and I was on. This is an easy stair-step downhill, and I contained the pace. It was a glide really. I held a smooth pace until we hit the Lost River hill, where I tried to let the high speed from the hill slowly bleed down over the valley floor. By the base of the bridge hill climb I was at 25. I told Jimmy I would hand over after we topped, and that we would go smoothly up the hill.

The speed dropped to maybe 19.6, which was as fast as I dared push the group. I figured it would fragment a bit, we'd top, allow it to gather again, then I would tap. I was happily surprised to see the whole group intact and in a very organized line as we topped. That's the fastest we've ever taken the hill without losing anyone, I'm practically certain!

Jimmy took it from here. He did a great job maintaining the pace, and carried it through the last climb of the course. He beat himself up a bit later because he didn't stand on the pedals on the last climb, but he carried us over in a nice pace and didn't break up the group. I thought he did just fine.

John T. finally got his pull, a short segment to the break line. It actually wound up being a bit longer due to traffic - there was a car behind and a car ahead, so we had to wait before we could break. I was a bit worried the one behind would force us to wait too long, giving the true sprinters the edge (read: Jimmy).

I don't possess the explosive power of a Miller, and Jimmy was already on my wheel. There was no real chance to drop him at the start, because he would be watching for my move. The only thing to do was jump up on the pedals and hope for the best.

Pulling wide to the side, I went for it. I took it to 31.7 (last number I saw) and passed the line. Settling back down to aero, I looked under my right armpit (the best way to look behind while in aero) and saw a front wheel waving back-and-forth behind my rear wheel. Someone was there, probably Jimmy, and I had to decide what to do. The ride's pace had not been enough to hurt him, so he had plenty of gas. Should I let off the gas, feign weakness, and jump on his wheel when he passed, or should I put in another burst and try to break him outright? I went for the latter - and it worked.

For the last 100 meters I could look back and see no wheel. I had the gap I needed. First place! I looked back and was surprised to see who claimed second - Dan Dyke! Dan had managed to get Jimmy's wheel, Galloway was boxed in by Strunk, and that left the three of us duking it out. Jimmy was played out by my second surge, and Dan was there to clean up. Great job!

Of course we did the run afterward, followed by a nice meal at Wendy's. I wore my McDonald's into the store, tempting fate, and the result may be that I might have a line on a Wendy's jersey. More on that later.

Ride Data.

Run Data.

Back on the horse

Sometimes, when you take a beating athletically, your confidence suffers worse. That was certainly the case for me after Saturday. It was a rough day any way you slice it, and I couldn't see any way I would recover any day soon.

Yesterday's weather was God's way of saying I wasn't ready to train again. I'd planned to get out in the afternoon if I could manage it, but somehow the high winds, lightning, and rain prevented me from pushing my luck. I'm funny like that.

Today was another story. It was cooler, some 30 degrees less than the last time I was out, and the difference was miraculous. I felt like a completely new rider, and it was easy, so easy to go 30 miles. The time flew by, in fact. Dan, Galloway, and I met at Lighthouse and cruised the country lanes for a couple of hours. Easy-peasy. The run later in the afternoon was likewise easy, as was the lift. 


Consider, the run happened at 91 degrees, 70% humidity, 67 degree dewpoint. That should have been miserable, but it felt downright cool. How crazy is that? I think it speaks volumes. 


Tomorrow we go to Spring Mill. I think everyone is back, and additionally I think some of the women will be showing. It should be cooler again, with light northeast winds. I don't know how recovered everyone will be from the various efforts and vacations (or both!) we've all had, but it should be fun regardless. 


Run Data.


Ride Data.

Hardest. Ride. Ever.

I could stop my post right there. What left is there to say?

The course wouldn't normally be hard at all - sure, there's the Clearspring Hill, but aside from that, there isn't much to hinder even a novice rider from going the full distance. Much of the ride is on level surface, interrupted by the occasional roller. Even those were spread quite far apart, enough so they really wouldn't be much trouble.

But there was the heat.

Our final SAG in this 77-mile odyssey (I know the Garmin doesn't match up - I forgot to start it after a stop) came at mile 25. That's right, 52 miles without an official SAG. To say this is the most egregious oversight on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year is an understatement of monumental proportions. It turned what was a difficult course into a downright death trap.

There were only two additional places past the last SAG to stop and get anything in the form of support - Freetown and Cortland. If you bypass Freetown because of the promise of a roving SAG (we did), that would take you to mile 63 before Cortland. Sadly, the roving SAG never appeared (at least, not until the last 5 miles of the ride).

By the time we hit Cortland, the temperatures were 104 and above, the pavement was hot, and the air was becoming hard to breathe. Allen had looked bad for some time, with his riding shorts heavily frosted with evaporated sweat/salt residue and drawn features. He was also nauseous. I played it off as the banana he'd eaten at the SAG, but the truth was he was entering heat exhaustion. He was in trouble.

I wasn't much better. I was frosted too, and though not nauseous, the strain was becoming noticeable. I was beginning to wonder how I could ever make it back to Brownstown, and then we saw it - the wonderful blinker light at Cortland. We were saved. A/C, cold drinks, and a chance to sit down for a bit and cool down.

Once inside, the full extent of my danger became clear. I twisted my torso, and cramped hard, a sure sign I was completely dehydrated. The second sign was it sounded to me like my head was stuffed into a bucket. Everything was muffled. Oboy. We had 22 miles to go. This was going to be tough.

I downed two 20 oz. Diet Cokes, ate a Milky Way, bought a Gatorade, and hoped for the best. Allen looked a lot better, if not fully recovered from the stop. Rand was starting to struggle though, with a couple of stingers running from inside the knee to the groin on both legs.

For a while, it went okay. Inevitably, the heat took over again, and it was clear to me I needed to find the most direct path back to my car. I warned the guys we had at least one more climb to accomplish - the run in to Ewing. We'd have to struggle up the hill no matter what. Thankfully we had a detour that shortened the course, because I would never have made the total distance. The bad part was, once we hit that final hill, I was so out of it I shifted up to the big ring, and I just about collapsed by the top of the climb. I lost the others at that point, never able to regain them. They looked back, disbelief on their faces. Believe it. The end had come.

I've never had such a hard time loading equipment into a vehicle, nor have I ever been so thankful for an extremely effective A/C unit on a car. I teetered on the edge of collapse as the car quickly cooled, frigid air blowing across my bare, sweat-soaked chest. It was touch-and-go, but I eventually came to the realization today wasn't my day to die.

Allen said we'd all meet at Dairy Queen. I debated for a second, but decided it was smarter to get something in right then rather than wait. I sat with Allen, Strunk, Rand, and Brent for maybe 20 minutes before I realized there was more trouble ahead, and I'd better get moving. There was the small matter of a 30-minute drive ahead, and who knew if I could hold it together long enough to make it.

I did, but when I got out of the car, and immediate and severe hamstring cramp sent me to the floor. There I was, garage door open, me on my back, right leg propped up against the rear tire, head laying on the lawnmower, and mouth wide-open in a shrill, school girl scream. The neighbors must have thought I was insane. I was too cramped to reach for my phone, couldn't call Leisa for help (and what could she have done anyway?), so I was stuck there until I could relax myself enough to sit, then stand. Somehow I managed to unload the car of the essentials, drug myself inside, showered, then hit the sack.

I drifted in-and-out of fitful sleep, trying to pay attention to the Tour replay (exciting day, BTW). I also finally got a report from Miller on his race (28th overall, bad swim, bad run, great bike), and I could only assure WinD that any finish today, under these conditions, was a great finish.

Today wasn't a confidence booster, but it certainly didn't destroy my confidence, either. It was a tough day, period. I ran yesterday afternoon, a mistake, but aside from that, it was dumb to try to ride the full distance. It's simple - no matter how poorly the event was supported, we have to accept the responsibility of lining up when conditions were dangerous. Thankfully, we all made it out alive. I won't push my luck like this again this summer, once was enough.

Sleeping in tomorrow.

Ride Data. 

Back and beat

It was a great, if short, getaway. Leisa and I drove down to Asheville for a little Biltmore visit, along with some RNR together. I love my kids, but it's nice to get Leisa and travel alone. Sorry, kids!

The weather was much more pleasant there than at home. We saw lower 90's, which the locals abhorred, but they should appreciate what they have. I trained every day there, and though I was careful, there was never any great difficulty in getting it done.

In total I managed two rides and a run. The first ride was Wednesday, our first full day there, and it was a typical difficult mish-mash of roads in and around town. Asheville is not a town you want to train in... the roads are too busy, there are too many lights, and you are hemmed in on all sides by Interstates. This ride was not very much fun at all. I couldn't even collect data on it as my Garmin was dead. Turns out the charger doesn't work, only the USB connection to a computer. So, I rode with only the bike computer. It was 20 miles at a little above 15 mph, and with all the stop-n-go, that was pretty good.

I ran immediately afterward, and this time I took a little side road uphill into a small suburb. This was much better. Traffic was lighter, it was shaded, and it was actually a decent run. I had to finish it by running a little in town, and it was hilly, but it was worth it. The pace was actually a lot faster than I would have anticipated given how much I had to climb - over 200 feet in a little over a mile, for starters. That may not sound like a lot, but it is. The hills weren't any steeper than ours, only longer. Imagine the 37 road cut for over a mile, and you get the idea.

The next day I found the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was pretty dang cool. I was only on it for a total of 13 miles of the 21 I rode, but it was great. Shaded, winding, great views, and perhaps best of all, a flourishing outdoor community around it. This meant drivers were used to seeing cyclists on the road, and they behaved themselves. The result is a state highway that welcomes cyclists, and it was as smooth a surface as you could ever hope for.

Of course the downside was the climbing. There was plenty of that! Uphills were in the 8-9 mph range, downhills could have easily exceeded 50 mph if I'd allowed it. The roads were winding, and though I wasn't really afraid of the curves being too sharp, you can never be certain what's around the corner in the road. 40 mph was fast enough, and that's when I'd hit the brakes.

We'd originally planned to stay another day and drive home Friday, but since Leisa had hit everything she'd wanted to see, and since Louisville was a major obstacle (Interstate 65 bridge), I suggested we leave Thursday afternoon, timing it so we hit Louisville way after rush. This turned out to be genius for many unknown reasons.

• The I65 ramp was closed, necessitating going into Louisville and crossing at the 2nd Street bridge. That would have been a disaster earlier in the day. 
• Tennessee had halted all road work from Tuesday to Thursday to facilitate holiday traffic. We'd have been delayed incessantly today if we'd waited.
• Lightning started a forest fire in the Smokies. We could see it from the road, and it was still burning out of control. The strong winds were threatening to carry it across the Interstate, which would have certainly closed it. 
• The weather was turning awful, with severe storms pounding the area. It was a tough drive, but we got through.

We were home a bit before midnight, tired and glad to be here. I unpacked my luggage and went straight to bed, and even slept in this morning. 

Round Barn ride tomorrow. We're meeting at the Red Brick at 5:45 AM.

Today's Run Data.
Blue Ridge Parkway Data.
Biltmore Forest Data.

We rode, then left

I had time for a short ride this morning before leaving for North Carolina, so I invited Dan and Galloway to join me for an early 20-miler. Though it didn't rain last night, the air was a lot cooler than the day before, perfect for a quick spin and back from Mitchell.

Dan seemed on his game again. He pulled us out to the turn, then we headed for 37. From there I brought us back to the 50/37 light, where we turned back to Dixie Highway and toward home. It seemed like we'd just started when we arrived back at my house.

We didn't leave quite as quickly as I thought we would. Family stuff and all, but I wish I'd have gone ahead and completed a short run. Next time I'll know.

The drive south wasn't too bad. The Ohio River Bridge is still down to one lane going south, and that caused a half-hour delay. We were slowed again once by construction and another by rain, but other than that, the trip was pretty smooth.

Things were closing up when we arrived, so we went to dinner and a movie. Texas Roadhouse was good. The movie, Spider-Man, maybe less so.

It's not that the movie wasn't well produced, cast, written, directed, or any of that stuff. I'd rate it top-notch in all those departments. In fact, the casting of Emma Stone as Gwynne Stacey was brilliant. The lead actor, and I admit I've already forgotten his name, just didn't pull it off for me. He was literally too... spidery. Angular, lean to nearly Auschwitz refugee proportions, it was too much visually. I'll admit, this is a problem only a comic purist would have - and to those that are, you understand how perfectly Toby McGuire was Spider-Man physically. The new guy was unsettling.

I'd still give the movie 4 out of 5 carBooms, if for no other reason than it eliminated the bizarre wrist web spitters of the Toby McGuire series. This one got it right... Parker, a science whiz, invents web shooters.

It's nowhere near The Avengers, but it's still good summer cinema. The characters have been introduced, now it's up to the writers and directors to develop the series to its potential.

Taking off, again.

Leisa and I will be leaving in the morning for North Carolina. We haven't visited the Biltmore Mansion in a while, and since this is dead week for high school sports, I have a little time to burn. It'll be a nice getaway.

The last week has been pretty awful. Daily temperatures have breached 100 since last Wednesday, and it appears they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Lucky for me I'm not running so many miles this summer, because frankly, I wouldn't survive it. Even at 25 miles per week I'm beginning to feel the stress.

Galloway, Dan, and I rode this morning from Lighthouse. I can't say I ever got comfortable during the ride. Dan seemed to be pulling us, yet when the numbers came in, it wasn't as if he was pushing. That's taking nothing away from Dan, of course - he has improved a great deal since the beginning of the riding season.

Ride Data.

Galloway wanted a run afterward, and since I preferred to get it over with before it became much hotter, I went. It was only a 5k, but it was enough. Garmin had it at a perfect 3.1 miles, so you know it was longer. I'd call that an officially sanctioned USAT course!

Run Data.

We're doing a quick ride from my house in the morning, 8 AM, 20 miles. After that - NC!