Wake Up Call

Well, I got my wish.  I had weather that cooperated enough for my first outdoor ride of the year.  It acted as a bit of a reality check, and was nothing anywhere close to the confidence booster that I hoped it would be.

Bundled up and off I went.  Feathering the brakes down the big hills and around corners.I felt incredible!  Ahh, to be outside, and actually going somewhere.  My heartrate was not where it should be, first warning sign.  I figured it would be ok, that it would settle.  And it did, but still not into the zone where it should have been.  I was pedaling along at an 18mph clip with occasional bumps a bit higher. 

Hit the shore and the winds put me in my place.  I dreamed of the Kona winds that everyone talk about, and pushed through.  A quick glance at my computer showed that my speed had slowed to between 11mph-15mph.  Oh. Boy.  The trainer had not gotten me ready for this.  I had some work to do.

Worked my way through towns on Route 1, the winds were still kicking, but not as hard.  I made the turn north and now.... the hills.  Something else the trainer really doesn't simulate well.  Oh. Boy.  Now my heartrate is toast.  Too little too late I start paying attention.  Trying to keep it where it should be.  Two hours in and the tank is rapidly emptying.  Hill.  Hill. Hill.  Oh. Boy.  Three hours in and 5 miles from home, I made it, I did it, but it wasn't pretty.

Things that kept me going:
1)  I wasn't at home.  Had I hit a wall like that in my dining room, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep going.

2) Outside!  I had 8000000 things to think about other than, "my ass hurts."  Namely the pretty shitty roads.  This was an upside and a downside.  Between traffic and the road conditions, I did not eat or drink as often as I should have.  I only made it through a little over a bottle on a 3+ hour ride.  Jeeze... feeling like a major rookie.

3) "Texas won't be like this"  Seriously, hills, cold, salt on the roads... etc etc etc.  I can only hope that a flat ride will go better than that ride did.

4) Aloe Blacc- "I'm the Man"  Enough said.

5) I knew I could do it.  It sucked, it was a huge jump into the deep end, and it was not nearly as fast as I thought I could be.  But I knew I could do it.

I did it, but the whole rest of the night all I could think was, "what have I gotten myself into?"  I'm not ready.  I'm not prepared.  It took me three hours to ride 45 miles.  How am I going to make the cutoff times for Texas?  I can't go down there not to finish.  Etc etc etc for hours :)

This morning, I have recovered, my legs feel ok, and my confidence is not as rattled.  I have two months.  The race is not next week, it is two+ months away, and hopefully those next two months will bring cooperative weather and many many outdoor rides.

Oh. Boy.  It can only get better, right? :)