Bike-210 minutes (50 miles)
Run-30 minutes (3 miles)
Swim-30 minutes
Sit-ups
Walk with pups
Ice bath
Wow. What the heck is going on with our Saturday workouts? I told Brad to bring his sense of adventure, but he decided to bring along his sense of danger too! Let me start with the carnage and then explain it.
And here's Kristi's carnage...
I was behind both of them to witness it. It was like having a front row seat to an accident in the Tour de France.
So here's the story. It started out dry this morning. Light mist forecast. Of course none of us even batted an eye at a forecast like that. It was in the 60s at 9am, with promises of the 70s by early afternoon, with clearing skies. So we headed off for an exciting 80 miler down to San Marcos. The mist picked up. So much that we had to install little windshield wipers on our glasses. No, not really. We just took them off because our eyelashes were doing a better job of keeping the water out of our eyes than the glasses were doing. We were taking it really slowly, avoiding all the painted stripes on the road, to avoid wipe-outs like you see in the Tour de France on rainy days. We were doing pretty good.
But the mist wasn't getting any better and the ground was soaked. Wayne had trouble starting at one point because his tire spun out.
And then came the train tracks on Vinson St. These train tracks take down riders in even the best, driest conditions. They are at an angle across the street, at the top of a little incline, have really deep divots for the train wheels, and have a plastic platform on either side of the tracks, with a crazy lip on either side. We all said to each other, be super careful on the tracks. We were approaching the tracks. Bonnie, Todd, and Wayne had made it safely across. I saw a car approaching us and I knew we had two cars behind us. I moved into the street a little bit to force the cars behind us to slow down. (They were only going about 15 mph as it was). Then I slowed down and backed off-I saw the car approaching again and was thinking about getting off to push my bike across the tracks.
Next thing I know, Brad's tires just slip out from under him and he starts sliding down the street, under his bike, towards the approaching car. Kristi braked when she saw Brad go down, but she was already on the tracks and her tires slipped out from under her too. I pulled off the road, all the cars stopped immediately and the guy in the approaching car jumped out of his car afraid he had hit Brad. I have to say it was one of the closest calls I've ever seen. Kristi didn't slide after her fall, so she wasn't near the car. I got Brad and Kristi's bikes off the road and thank god, they were both able to walk to the side of the road. It was all very dramatic and scary.
Having seen the whole thing and how close it all could have been to disaster, I replayed it in my head. Brad fell with such grace and determination...it was if he knew what he was doing. Turns out he did know what he was doing. He later explained that when you fall, you should try and cushion the fall with meat-ier parts of your body, and essentially roll into a ball. He did look like a stuntman. And thank god again for his ability to fall so safely. We were all a little shaken, but safe.
We road back into town extra slowly and dropped Brad off at his apartment. And wouldn't you know it, the misty rain stopped at that same time. So the rest of us decided to try and get in some more of the 80 mile ride. We ended up doing a total of 50 miles on completely dry roads.
Phew. I'm just so glad that everyone is safe and sound.
So now on to some of the highlights of the ride. I have to say that my aerobars were definitely a highlight today. Here they are close up.
I was nervous at first and didn't use them at all until after the mist stopped and the roads dried. I wasn't about to mess around with them for the first time in slippery conditions. But once I tried them, I couldn't get off them! I love them! We went up to Parmer and then back down Jollyville. Both great roads to try the aerobars. I realized that I can use them to pull on, to get a stronger turnover in my legs. I was going faster, but staying in the same heart rate. And they're fun too! I could feel that I was using different back muscles, the muscles in between my shoulder blades in particular. I know they'll be sore tomorrow because they're sore already. I may have to get re-fit on my bike to account for the new bars.
And of course I have a photo of my new melon protector.
I really like the way it fits and I think it looks pretty stylish too, in the world of helmets anyway....but my fashion director said that it makes my head look exceptionally massive. She said, "Jeez! What size did you get? Like an extra extra large?" I told her what my mom always told me to say when people make fun of my big head, "I need a bigger head to accommodate my bigger brains." Yup, with a big noggin and the maiden name "Broadhead", I've been standing up for large craniums the world over all my life. I'm just glad they actually make a helmet big enough for me! Hahaha!
And the other highlight of the day was The Pink Ladies. Pretty In Pink. The Three Amigas Roasado.
The ride director sent a text to all of us last asking us all to wear our pink England jerseys so we could be all matchy and cute! We were bright enough to be seen by cars and we even got a shout out from a stranger, "I like your shirts!".
At our favorite rest stop we texted Brad to check in and he reported that he was resting comfortably. Then we checked on Kristi who was grinning and bearing it with her injuries. Doctor Beer wanted to check her range of mobility. Kristi had no problem with the first check-"Please move your thumb up and down from the top knuckle." (Picture Doctor Beer looking at the thumb peering over the top of her reading glasses.) Then, "Please make a circular motion with your thumb from the lower joint, the one that connects the thumb to the hand." Doc Beer gave an example, holding her hand in place while she rotated her thumb from the base. Kristi said, "I can do that," and proceeded to move her entire hand and arm, from the shoulder down, around in a circular motion. She couldn't isolate her thumb from the base. Doctor Beer prescribed some Sharkies with a Gatorade chaser. And we were good to go!
Since I made up the route in my head after we left Brad, we didn't do the full distance. I missed an opportunity to add on some more mileage because I was in my aerobars and rode right past where we could have turned up Far West. Oh well, I was ok with 50. We can always tack on some more in two weeks. Kristi wanted to get on the trainers for the last ten miles, but Bonnie didn't want to put her tri-bike on the trainer and I didn't want to put my butt on the bike seat for any longer than necessary, so we didn't do the trainers. We decided to do the long end of the run today which was 20-30 minutes.
We ran 30 minutes-just over 3 miles. The pups and Chris came along as always. I love that part of the long Saturday workouts. It's fun to have a family break in there! And Chris is kicking butt when he joins us for the runs. I think it's all the Superman Muscle Building drinks he's been consuming.
He says he added half a container to three cups of water and drank it before our run. What a muscle man!
(JK-This was just a fun HEB shot from yesterday morning.)
After the run it was over to the gym for a swim. The swim was good-uneventful. Nice and relaxed with water breaks every five laps. I was thirsty today, but I didn't really get too hungry at all. I tried a new Hammer Bar (gross, gave it to Wayne), a new Protein Drink (waaaay too sugary-couldn't drink it at all, I'll add more water next time) and a new gel/goo "Electrolyte Replacement System" thing. The last one tasted like penicillin mixed with vomit and strawberry flavoring. It made my tongue numb and my stomach nauseous. Big time NO to that one. I'm glad we're trying everything early and not saving it for race day!
So I ended up sticking with the old stand-bys. Honey Stingers, a recovery bar, and a powerbar with chia seeds rolled up in it. (AKA "Pooperbar") And I was good with those three items. I didn't get hungry during the run or the swim at all. I wasn't hungry after the swim either, but I knew I had to eat so I went to Jason's Deli which is right next to the gym. I ordered half a Spinach Veggie Wrap (my fave) with a side of fruit and some chips. As soon as I ate the first chip, the floodgates of hunger were open and I couldn't eat fast enough! It was delicious. And wouldn't you know it, unlike all the Dairy Queens and McDonalds in this great state of Texas, Jason's Deli has soft serve chocolate cones! Yeeeehawww! The perfect ending to a workout! (Well, that and a piece of chocolate cake when I got home. I baked it last night and couldn't let it go to waste.)
Phew. What a day. I'll just add the map of the bike route to end, then time to rest up and do it all over again tomorrow! (Hopefully a little safer tomorrow!)
G'night!
M :)
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