Day 204 - Crash!

Update: 208.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 10 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Not on my bike, just my iPhone. But let me tell you, it was a bummer having to reset that factory settings and losing some sweet pics I hadn't sync'd yet, including C-dub in a suit playing GH at Uptown. But I digress...

Yesterday was a crazy day that started nice and early. I had planned to get up and put down another day of training first thing in the morning, but my 3 year old buddy got up with the sun and wouldn't let me slip out the door. So after some web work and solving the worlds computer issues, I took a long lunch and did 23 miles before coming back and cooking a whole mess of meat for nearly 40 of our closest buddies at the All Staff BBQ Night.

For some reason the ride just did not start off great. I think I was a little tired, and had an overwhelming sense that I still had a lot to get done for the evening, including picking up stuff at the store, unloading the bbq I snagged at the church, getting food prepped, and cooking - so I couldn't quite focus on the ride at hand. Within the first few miles I also noticed that some of my gears were acting funny, not quite shifting properly and hopping an extra gear over when I just wanted one changed at a time. If those two weren't enough to make me want to turn back around, it was already pretty windy in the afternoon and I was riding straight into it for the first half of the ride.

I had strong desire to turn back at least twice, and maybe three times in the first 15 minutes of being out there. I had to really fight the urge to call it a day and make up the miles somewhere else, but I also had the big reminder in the back of my head that the 70 miler was just around the corner, and I bad better overcome obstacles like these if I was going to make it for that distance on that ride. It's entirely possible that I'll be tired, unmotivated, with a bike giving me some sort of fit, and a wind blowing right on me for the Livestrong, and it won't really be an option to just turn back. Well, it would be an option, but what kind of loser would I be then? So I pressed on.

Somewhere around the 12 mile mark there was a pretty decent hill that felt good going up. I wondered how steep it had been so for some crazy reason I turned around, went back down and came back up it with the Garmin set to elevation so I could see. Not too shabby - it was an 11% grade for a good amount of it. Halfway up I noticed some sweet looking wild blackberries, but figured if I tried to stop I'd have a pretty good change of laying the bike down, so I passed. Got to the top and thought about going back around once more, just to do it, but remembered the upcoming bbq and decided to just get back home.

Too many times I think I'm willing to let those obstacles turn me back around, but the times I press on and push through, I'm really satisfied to have accomplished the goal I set out on. 23 more miles logged in the training journals and another several hundred feet of climbing under my belt. Not too mention I didn't feel as bad when I wolfed down more of Erika's peanut butter chocolate treats last night!

Hasta!

Day 202: The Corn Is As High...

Update: 208.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 10 lbs to 60 lb goal.

...as an elephants eye, and it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky! Although I couldn't quite say it was a beautiful morning, it was nice to be out on the ol' bike again after almost a 2 week hiatus. But my how things change.

I felt a bit like Gordon Macrae this morning as I took my loop around the backwoods of K-town. While I've been out not exercising, eating more food than I should, and generally just being a bum, the corn that was just beginning to sprout last time I looked has shot right out of the ground into big stalks. For a few moments I actually had chills as I remembered those high school summer days of moving irrigation pipe for the Zielinskis - a job I passionately hated. Although I should have felt right at home with a job my people have done for years and years, I couldn't stand being all zipped up in a hoodie in the 90-100 degree heat, lifting heavy pipe above my head and pushing through rows of corn to set it up at the next location. The only good thing that really came from my irrigation days was driving down the roads to the farm in Nick Lelacs fast back Celica, listening to Howard Jones on his cassette deck. It's a good thing I learned how to work a computer...

Anyway, it's amazing how being off a bike for the past couple weeks makes me feel out of it. I felt sloppy on my bike today even though I still kept a pace of 16 mph for the entire 15 miles. With only 39 days until The Big Livestrong Challenge 70 mile ride, with a bunch of elevation, I really need to focus on some serious training. Golf, camp, meetings and tons of other things have taken away some of the time for riding, but I'm going to have to carve out some time and get going...I don't want the medics to have to cart me off the course!

Yeah, and you read that right at the start...up 3 lbs. Seriously, the food at Triangle, a few too many Fests of All Kinds with friends and family, and I've just lost control of the Calorie Cutback. The ride today kicks off my official return to the wagon. I'm gonna get back to skinnyville one way or another.

Hasta!