I'm almost completely packed for Triple T, and soon it will be time to see if it all fits in my car! Packing for this is like packing for a full week vacation, except that you also need all your triathlon gear! Once I put everything in my car, my house will be as clean as it gets.
I probably won't have Internet access this weekend, and I wouldn't have much time to post even if I did, so you'll need to live without me until Tuesday :(. But trust that there will be a ton of pics, and when I get around to it, a HUGE race report.
Weather looks absolutely gorgeous for us:
Thursday
Partly Cloudy
70° F | 45° F
21° C | 7° C
Friday
Partly Cloudy
70° F | 43° F
21° C | 6° C
Saturday
Partly Cloudy
74° F | 54° F
23° C | 12° C
Sunday
Clear
79° F | 61° F
26° C | 16° C
Monday
Partly Cloudy
85° F | 63° F
29° C | 17° C
There will be true suffering on Sunday for some people; for me--well, I've done all this in training and then some, and this is my big celebration of finally getting away from home for the first time since NothingMan last September. There are 3 Canadian boys staying with me in the Tiki Hut, and we have a hot tub, so do the math! Gordo Byrn and Joe Bonness are racing, so when I'm back I'll be able to name drop like a fool!
I am approaching the closing of my Dad's estate, and I think he would be proud of me for getting it done quickly and efficiently, while still managing to be the Crackhead that I am. I know I'll be thinking about him and Mom many times this weekend, and if I shed any tears, they will be tears of joy for the wonderful gifts I have received from them--my intelligence, strength, drive and ambition, my constant quest for joy in my life, compassion, deep thinking, and the ability to help others find their way in this existence. This will be the first time I'm racing as an orphan, but I won't ever be alone since I'll have Mom and Dad's memory and the love of good friends with me this weekend.
Do I care how I place this weekend? Yes and no. Of course I care--I'm no slacker. But I can tell you this--I think I'll be sporting the biggest smile of any competitor. I'm just so grateful for my health and the means to do this.
This weekend is all about the Crackhead motto:
--Harder, longer, faster, tougher--REPEAT
Although I should add something to it:
--Harder, longer, faster, tougher, make it FUN and be GRATEFUL--REPEAT
Hope your weekend is great!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Back 2 Skool and Getting Ready for Triple T
Last night I went back to school. Massage school. Not to learn, but to be a volunteer body. It was heaven! The class is all women, so you guys go ahead and fantasize. The woman who worked on me is just learning, and I was telling her which muscles she was on and she was impressed by my knowledge. When she was working on my upper back, I requested work on my subscapularis, and the instructor showed everyone in the class how flexible I am and she dug right underneath my scapula, and it felt oh so good! I get to go to school for many weeks now. I ended up getting basically an hour of good massage. Of course, as is typical, I always asked for more pressure, since I am used to people going quite deep on me. So here's me laying on a table, and every few minutes it was, "Harder." Or, "Deeper." And Helen was nice enough to keep asking me, "How's the pressure?" I've learned it's good to always reinforce the person working on you with encouragement, like, "That feels really good," "Keep doing it that way," and "Right there. You are right on it."
I am also, little by little, getting my shit together for Triple T. The amount of crap I need to bring is incredible. And then there are all the little odds and ends that need to get done before I go away. I started on my race toes Sunday night and finished them up yesterday:
Race Toes
I also defizzed these happy fluids yesterday in some pitchers and put them back in the bottle where they will await their call to duty this weekend:
Defizzed Coke and Ultra Violence
Lastly, I don't know how they got there, but I spotted a bunch o' whores on LGL:
Whores on LGL
Today my objective is to make my "food bag" and make piles of crap all over the house that I'll be taking with me. Oh and there's that pesky brick workout and my job to do also. It will all get done, though.
Here's the theme song for the Tiki Hut at Triple T:
I am also, little by little, getting my shit together for Triple T. The amount of crap I need to bring is incredible. And then there are all the little odds and ends that need to get done before I go away. I started on my race toes Sunday night and finished them up yesterday:
Race Toes
I also defizzed these happy fluids yesterday in some pitchers and put them back in the bottle where they will await their call to duty this weekend:
Defizzed Coke and Ultra Violence
Lastly, I don't know how they got there, but I spotted a bunch o' whores on LGL:
Whores on LGL
Today my objective is to make my "food bag" and make piles of crap all over the house that I'll be taking with me. Oh and there's that pesky brick workout and my job to do also. It will all get done, though.
Here's the theme song for the Tiki Hut at Triple T:
Monday, May 19, 2008
Weekly Workout Totals 05/12/2008-05/18/2008
If you've been keeping up with me, you know I've been puttin' the hurt to training all over the Chicagoland area lately. And now I am able to absorb all that lovely pain. The every-3-weeks racing was a big challenge to recover from and then keep going, and then I backed that up with a big week of biking followed by a big week of running. So this week was a relatively "normal" Ironman build week, which gave my body the chance to see what it could do in a relatively rested state.
And the swimming, biking and running gods said it was good! My legs were iffy through Wednesday, but then they came roaring back for Thursday's long run and then Friday through Sunday were Cracktacular. I feel like I'm hitting a peak just in time for Triple T.
Waking up this morning, I feel awesome! I'm not even tired or fatigued or sore. I'm sure that after I swim my body will begin to remember what happened last week, but that's OK...between now and Friday it's all shorter, easier, taper-y workouts--well, except for that hard brick workout tomorrow and that 5K running stuff on Wednesday :) I mean, other than those workouts.
So here's how last week went down. Look for the subliminal messages!
And the swimming, biking and running gods said it was good! My legs were iffy through Wednesday, but then they came roaring back for Thursday's long run and then Friday through Sunday were Cracktacular. I feel like I'm hitting a peak just in time for Triple T.
Waking up this morning, I feel awesome! I'm not even tired or fatigued or sore. I'm sure that after I swim my body will begin to remember what happened last week, but that's OK...between now and Friday it's all shorter, easier, taper-y workouts--well, except for that hard brick workout tomorrow and that 5K running stuff on Wednesday :) I mean, other than those workouts.
So here's how last week went down. Look for the subliminal messages!
| Weekly Workout Totals | 05/12/2008-05/18/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by animals whose name ends in the letter 'X': fox, lynx, oryx, ox, addax, hyrax, ibex, volvox, esox, lummox, minx, sphinx, phone sex |
| Swim: | 11000 yards (6.24 miles) in 3.85 hours; 20% of weekly workout time; approx. 1347 calories burned Canadian: 10058.4 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 160.42 miles in 9.17 hours; 49% of weekly workout time; approx. 4582 calories burned; Total TSS=569 Canadian: 258.17 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 32.11 miles in 4.84 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 2185 calories burned Canadian: 51.68 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.02 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 255 calories burned Canadian: some amount of metric tonnes or is that British? |
| All Sports: | Approx. 198.77 miles in 18.88 hours; approx. 8369 calories burned Canadian: 319.89 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 7.36 hours avg./night Canadian: I have no recollection of having slept with a Canadian. |
| Stretching: | 2.22 hours. Massage: 0 hours |
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Another Great Ride and Brick Run Today
I drove to Matt's to ride with him today. Originally, I had thought I'd be there by 8AM, but it was pretty chilly this morning, so I called him and said we'd be riding by 9. No worries there!
I had not seen Matt's new Bianchi, and he hadn't seen LGL live, so there was a meeting and greeting of the two Italian bikes!
I made up a new rule--when I'm riding LGL, I will only ride with someone else who has an Italian bike :) Just kidding. I will ride with anyone who is not a loser.
I just did not want to wear tights today, which meant that I was chilly on my legs much of the day.
Today, we set a new world record in the time it took before we were talking about food: 22 seconds! As we headed out, the winds were a blowing, just as badly as yesterday, but neither of us cared much about the wind--the point was just to ride and not slack too much into the wind.
I have ridden in that area before, but I told Matt that I did not want to be on any roads with dogs. We have been chased by some mean ass dogs in the past.
After about 1 hour, I really needed to piss. So did Matt. But we had to find something other than wide open side of the road to do it, even though neither of us is shy. So we turned onto a side road, and I took a picture of Matt finishing up:
and then he took one of me WHILE I WAS PEEING:
aerodynamic peeing
Nice, huh? Then I figured I should take an actual picture of the spot we had chosen:
Next, I spotted an out building the color of Matt's bike, and suggested we should take a pic of his bike in front of it:
Somewhere before this we encountered Son of Cujo the dog, who took chase, and I screamed at Matt to get him under control. Obviously, no time for pics, and I was scared shitless, but was surprised at the amount of power I could put out in trying to outrun the dog. I was breathing pretty heavily long after that.
And then we both needed water, and headed to a Walgreen's, and we got water and Cherry Coke:
While Matt was inside, I fondled his bike :) LGL would definitely have sex with it!
Then we headed down Scary Road, so named because there were all these houses set way far from the road with lots of trees near the road, and we both knew that dogs could come running out from anywhere. And one did--a Newfoundland. He actually didn't seem that scary, and I didn't expect him to bite, but still, you never know. That dog sprint really hurt. And then we both cranked away just to get the hell off Scary Road before any more dogs could come at us!
We came upon a nice horse farm, and we both observed some rather pendulous schlongs:
Finally, as we closed in on Matt's house, I had to pee one more time, and this time I noticed some heavy duty construction machinery just off to the side and thought that would be a good place to take a whizz. Well, thanks, Matt--he had to take a shot of me about to drop trou and then several (I've included only 1 here) of me pissing. Nice!
not so aerodynamic peeing
Getting closer to Matt's house, we saw a peloton of geese and goslings crossing the road we were on, and we both thought they were so cute, and so waited until they all got into the pond:
There are about 40 goslings in that photo! Obviously, it was many families combined.
Finally, we got back, and I needed to run, and I did. I actually felt pretty good running, since it was completely flat. I ended up using my butt crack bottle holder method, so I made Matt take a pic of me with it, and also just to prove that I did, indeed, run:
After I showered, Matt made an awesome salad and homemade pizza and we chowed down, and then we sat around drinking and talking.
In case you are wondering, we rode for 3:28, and my IF was .789, so close to tempo pace again! I was pretty pleased with how well I was able to ride today considering what I did yesterday, and running wasn't so bad either! One thing I know for sure is all that food last night was key.
Perfect end to a perfect day! I hope to ride with Matt in 2 weeks, once Triple T is out of the way.
Oh yeah--I'm ready for that bad boy now. Later or early tomorrow I'll post up my training totals. Another great week, and I feel strong and ready to race!
I had not seen Matt's new Bianchi, and he hadn't seen LGL live, so there was a meeting and greeting of the two Italian bikes!
I made up a new rule--when I'm riding LGL, I will only ride with someone else who has an Italian bike :) Just kidding. I will ride with anyone who is not a loser.
I just did not want to wear tights today, which meant that I was chilly on my legs much of the day.
Today, we set a new world record in the time it took before we were talking about food: 22 seconds! As we headed out, the winds were a blowing, just as badly as yesterday, but neither of us cared much about the wind--the point was just to ride and not slack too much into the wind.
I have ridden in that area before, but I told Matt that I did not want to be on any roads with dogs. We have been chased by some mean ass dogs in the past.
After about 1 hour, I really needed to piss. So did Matt. But we had to find something other than wide open side of the road to do it, even though neither of us is shy. So we turned onto a side road, and I took a picture of Matt finishing up:
and then he took one of me WHILE I WAS PEEING:
aerodynamic peeing
Nice, huh? Then I figured I should take an actual picture of the spot we had chosen:
Next, I spotted an out building the color of Matt's bike, and suggested we should take a pic of his bike in front of it:
Somewhere before this we encountered Son of Cujo the dog, who took chase, and I screamed at Matt to get him under control. Obviously, no time for pics, and I was scared shitless, but was surprised at the amount of power I could put out in trying to outrun the dog. I was breathing pretty heavily long after that.
And then we both needed water, and headed to a Walgreen's, and we got water and Cherry Coke:
While Matt was inside, I fondled his bike :) LGL would definitely have sex with it!
Then we headed down Scary Road, so named because there were all these houses set way far from the road with lots of trees near the road, and we both knew that dogs could come running out from anywhere. And one did--a Newfoundland. He actually didn't seem that scary, and I didn't expect him to bite, but still, you never know. That dog sprint really hurt. And then we both cranked away just to get the hell off Scary Road before any more dogs could come at us!
We came upon a nice horse farm, and we both observed some rather pendulous schlongs:
Finally, as we closed in on Matt's house, I had to pee one more time, and this time I noticed some heavy duty construction machinery just off to the side and thought that would be a good place to take a whizz. Well, thanks, Matt--he had to take a shot of me about to drop trou and then several (I've included only 1 here) of me pissing. Nice!
not so aerodynamic peeing
Getting closer to Matt's house, we saw a peloton of geese and goslings crossing the road we were on, and we both thought they were so cute, and so waited until they all got into the pond:
There are about 40 goslings in that photo! Obviously, it was many families combined.
Finally, we got back, and I needed to run, and I did. I actually felt pretty good running, since it was completely flat. I ended up using my butt crack bottle holder method, so I made Matt take a pic of me with it, and also just to prove that I did, indeed, run:
After I showered, Matt made an awesome salad and homemade pizza and we chowed down, and then we sat around drinking and talking.
In case you are wondering, we rode for 3:28, and my IF was .789, so close to tempo pace again! I was pretty pleased with how well I was able to ride today considering what I did yesterday, and running wasn't so bad either! One thing I know for sure is all that food last night was key.
Perfect end to a perfect day! I hope to ride with Matt in 2 weeks, once Triple T is out of the way.
Oh yeah--I'm ready for that bad boy now. Later or early tomorrow I'll post up my training totals. Another great week, and I feel strong and ready to race!
Great Day Saturday
My friend, Pattie, had to pull out of going to Wisconsin yesterday because she was terribly sick. In hearing her voice message, I could tell just how sick she was, and I called her, and she felt so bad that she couldn't go! I told her it was no big deal, and that I was actually somewhat relieved, because, well, I've really been pushing it, and that big of a ride this week might just push me over the edge. She's not the type to bag anything--I know that if she had an Ironman scheduled on Friday she would tough it out, just like I did at Ironman Brazil 2 years ago when I had a raging sinus infection.
Not spending time driving to Wisconsin would give me some extra time in the day. The weather forecast called for a beautiful day, maybe even hitting 70, and I decided to wait to start riding until the temperature rose a bit. I took off from home at 8:00AM, and I was wearing shorts! And a tank top! And my Primal Wear samurai arm warmers!
No beanie! No booties! No toe warmers! It was glorious! I wasn't even chilled.
The winds were WNW and NNW, so I had to mostly push into the wind on my way to Fermilab. Which is fine--since I knew I'd get the nice tailwind on the ride home. But OMG, the wind was crazy! There would be these cross wind gusts, and I've learned how to handle LGL in them, that would just make me laugh! I was all smiles, all the time, because this was the first time since NuclearMan that it was such good riding weather on a weekend.
About 10 miles in, I was in this industrial area and I heard a kildeer making its usual call, and luckily I spotted a tiny baby in the road trying to get back off the road to mom.
It looked like a puff ball on sticks! Well, the curb was too tall for it to jump, so I stopped my bike and sort of shuffled back to get the baby to a cross road where the sidewalk sloped towards the road. I was so worried a car would run over it! I'm sure it looked funny, me walking on my cleats going backwards--you wouldn't be able to tell what I was doing! But baby got back up, and thing is, those adult birds are known for dive bombing, but Mom didn't do it, and I slowly backed away from baby, and Mom flew right over, and all was good.
A few miles later, coming the opposite direction was Hottie Kit Guy on a red bike. We were at a major stoplight, and we are eyeballing one another and waving, because, well, it's such a glorious day. He was wearing some mostly white with red and black kit, and I was all black except for my arm warmers. As the light changed to green, we, of course, both stood up on our pedals and took some time to check one another out. HKG had his tongue hanging out in seeing LGL from the side, which is a typical reaction (P.S. I think I look pretty good, too). He yelled, "How's it going?" and I gave a huge smile, wave, and "AWESOME!"
Onward, I've got work to do. Upon arriving at Fermilab, I stopped to pee, dropping trou right next to the big stop sign.
I also took a big swig of Infinit, since between battling the wind and traffic on the way there I hadn't really drunk enough.
Now it was time to begin my main set:
3 x (20' @ 85%, 10' @ FT, 3' @ 105-110%, 7' Easy)
When I had woken up yesterday, I didn't feel too good. Like I was on the verge of getting sick. But my warmup blew that away, and I was ready to work hard.
It was easy for me to hit the wattage targets (my FTP on LGL is 205 these days, giving me a power to weight ratio in kg of 4.1, not bad, eh?) on the first repeat, and during this one, I saw a guy on a Pinarello. Not a Dogma, like mine, but still... My first thought was I should have sex with him! Isn't that crazy? Pinarellos just aren't very common around here...anyway when we passed one another (going opposite directions again), I yelled, "NICE BIKE!" And his tongue about fell out of his mouth when he saw LGL.
Onward. The winds were so crazy, I made up a new term: SFW. Stands for Super Fucking Windy. I'm not exactly sure just how strong the winds were, but the gusts had to be in the 30's easily.
I about finished repeat #1 when I got to Wilson Hall for the first time, and I stopped in to pee and had 2 cheese crackers and got some more water. My face looked really windblown, but I was still all smiles. I decided I could remove the arm warmers.
At this point, I'm heading east, so I get the tailwind, and it was hard to generate the watts, but I still gave it a good go, knowing I would turn into the wind soon. I rode by the horse farm, and observed several of the male horses hanging ten (probably way more than that!). They were just eating grass all relaxed with their humongous schlongs dangling like, "La de da. Look at me. I'm hung like a horse!"
Finishing the second and third repeats were no big deal--it continued being SFW, I kept laughing at the wind, I was hitting my wattage targets, and life was good. Only thing was that because of the wind, I didn't think I'd need to do 3 full loops since it would take too long and I wanted to have energy for today's riding. So on loop 3, I took a different road, which I'd never been on, and I went by all these really strange buildings and devices and such. I wish I'd had my camera with me--I mean I expected to be hauled out of there by the Security guys. And for some odd reason, I felt like I wanted to pee in there. But I got out and decided I could make it back to the stop sign to pee before I left Fermilab.
As I exit, I am heading south, so I'm getting some of the north tailwind, but I turn east in about .5 mile. FUCKIN' A! Tailwind, baby! I go right up this overpass, and I just left it in the big chainring and pedaled my ass off, smiling, not caring about the watts, and then it just got better, because I get a nice downhill and I'm going like 35MPH doing almost nothing. Every cyclist I see going the opposite direction has the same stupid grin on their face as I do.
And it was pretty much like that all the way home until I get to this one area where there's another sweet downhill (about 6 miles from home) that goes under an overpass. It always scares me a bit because it's dark in there and I don't want to be in there with cars. So I always sprint it as hard as possible so I can get through. This time, I cranked my ass off, and when I got out, I could feel my heart beating wildly, but I was happy.
When I got home, I quickly changed into running shorts and a fresh top, as I was fairly pigged out, and headed out to run for :40. OMG, my legs were toasty! Which meant that I rode hard (as it turns out, I rode at 80% of FTP for 4:25. That is tempo riding, kids. That's like 1/2 Ironman watts, only instead of just for 56 miles, 75!). My legs felt like they do at the start of an Ironman marathon, although not really that bad. I was smiling because it hurt so much! My stomach felt like shit, also same as Ironman, and I wish that I had brought Coke with me instead of Gatorade, which can make me want to puke at that point. But I had chugged a full bottle of water before I left, so I was hydrated and barely had to touch the Gatorade.
When I finished running, I was laughing because I smelled so bad! That was the first time this year that I have smelled so bad! Yeah, baby! It was one of those things where I was really hungry, but I would need to shower first.
After I showered and ate, I decided to call my friend, Matt, who I haven't seen in over a year because he had been in Afghanistan, and he has had parental issues like me, and we just haven't been able to connect. I left him a wild message basically demanding that I needed to have sushi for dinner and would he go out with me? He called back and initially couldn't make it, but after we yammered for a long time he said he'd check and see if he could back out of his prior obligation, and he did.
I picked the sushi restaurant, and I ordered for both of us, and let's just say it was PILES of sushi, and Matt even got full before me! After I polished off the sushi, I asked Matt about dessert. He said, sure why not. The waiter comes over and tells us what they have, and I ask Matt if he's had mochi before--he had not. I asked what kind they have, and I told the waiter to bring one of each--red bean, green tea, coconut, mango and chocolate. They arrived cut up in 3 bowls, and of course, I ate more than Matt. We both talk non-stop when we are together, and the topic of Sunday came up. I was either going to ride to Fermilab again or do this organized ride, and I asked Matt if he would ride, so, yeah, we are riding together today from his house in Plainfield.
Matt and I after our huge dinner
I used to ride with Matt all the time, and he was a big factor in me getting stronger. When we first met, Matt wasn't riding in the winter, and I blew his doors off for awhile, but then, he being 13 years younger than me and a guy, and getting his training together (I even coached him for a year), Matt turned into a monster cyclist. He's a little out of form probably, but I know we will have an awesome ride today and some good eats when we finish. The joke is that whenever he and I ride together, how long will it take before we start talking about food? Matt and I are both good cooks, we both like great food and wine (he's the guy who sent me the wine direct from Italy), and we like to talk about cooking and eating and drinking. I remember one ride where we just left his house, and we are maybe 30 seconds into the ride, and Matt starts talking about food. I about fell off my bike laughing, because I looked down at the power meter and said, "Matt--that's a new world record. 30 seconds and we are talking about food."
When I got home last night, I thought I still needed some more calories, so I poured a pile of Cheetos onto a plate and tucked into them before going to sleep. I know, I know, I am eating like it's going out of style!
So even though I didn't go to Wisconsin, I had an awesome day yesterday, and today will be more of the same!
Happy training!
Not spending time driving to Wisconsin would give me some extra time in the day. The weather forecast called for a beautiful day, maybe even hitting 70, and I decided to wait to start riding until the temperature rose a bit. I took off from home at 8:00AM, and I was wearing shorts! And a tank top! And my Primal Wear samurai arm warmers!
No beanie! No booties! No toe warmers! It was glorious! I wasn't even chilled.
The winds were WNW and NNW, so I had to mostly push into the wind on my way to Fermilab. Which is fine--since I knew I'd get the nice tailwind on the ride home. But OMG, the wind was crazy! There would be these cross wind gusts, and I've learned how to handle LGL in them, that would just make me laugh! I was all smiles, all the time, because this was the first time since NuclearMan that it was such good riding weather on a weekend.
About 10 miles in, I was in this industrial area and I heard a kildeer making its usual call, and luckily I spotted a tiny baby in the road trying to get back off the road to mom.
It looked like a puff ball on sticks! Well, the curb was too tall for it to jump, so I stopped my bike and sort of shuffled back to get the baby to a cross road where the sidewalk sloped towards the road. I was so worried a car would run over it! I'm sure it looked funny, me walking on my cleats going backwards--you wouldn't be able to tell what I was doing! But baby got back up, and thing is, those adult birds are known for dive bombing, but Mom didn't do it, and I slowly backed away from baby, and Mom flew right over, and all was good.
A few miles later, coming the opposite direction was Hottie Kit Guy on a red bike. We were at a major stoplight, and we are eyeballing one another and waving, because, well, it's such a glorious day. He was wearing some mostly white with red and black kit, and I was all black except for my arm warmers. As the light changed to green, we, of course, both stood up on our pedals and took some time to check one another out. HKG had his tongue hanging out in seeing LGL from the side, which is a typical reaction (P.S. I think I look pretty good, too). He yelled, "How's it going?" and I gave a huge smile, wave, and "AWESOME!"
Onward, I've got work to do. Upon arriving at Fermilab, I stopped to pee, dropping trou right next to the big stop sign.
I also took a big swig of Infinit, since between battling the wind and traffic on the way there I hadn't really drunk enough.
Now it was time to begin my main set:
3 x (20' @ 85%, 10' @ FT, 3' @ 105-110%, 7' Easy)
When I had woken up yesterday, I didn't feel too good. Like I was on the verge of getting sick. But my warmup blew that away, and I was ready to work hard.
It was easy for me to hit the wattage targets (my FTP on LGL is 205 these days, giving me a power to weight ratio in kg of 4.1, not bad, eh?) on the first repeat, and during this one, I saw a guy on a Pinarello. Not a Dogma, like mine, but still... My first thought was I should have sex with him! Isn't that crazy? Pinarellos just aren't very common around here...anyway when we passed one another (going opposite directions again), I yelled, "NICE BIKE!" And his tongue about fell out of his mouth when he saw LGL.
Onward. The winds were so crazy, I made up a new term: SFW. Stands for Super Fucking Windy. I'm not exactly sure just how strong the winds were, but the gusts had to be in the 30's easily.
I about finished repeat #1 when I got to Wilson Hall for the first time, and I stopped in to pee and had 2 cheese crackers and got some more water. My face looked really windblown, but I was still all smiles. I decided I could remove the arm warmers.
At this point, I'm heading east, so I get the tailwind, and it was hard to generate the watts, but I still gave it a good go, knowing I would turn into the wind soon. I rode by the horse farm, and observed several of the male horses hanging ten (probably way more than that!). They were just eating grass all relaxed with their humongous schlongs dangling like, "La de da. Look at me. I'm hung like a horse!"
Finishing the second and third repeats were no big deal--it continued being SFW, I kept laughing at the wind, I was hitting my wattage targets, and life was good. Only thing was that because of the wind, I didn't think I'd need to do 3 full loops since it would take too long and I wanted to have energy for today's riding. So on loop 3, I took a different road, which I'd never been on, and I went by all these really strange buildings and devices and such. I wish I'd had my camera with me--I mean I expected to be hauled out of there by the Security guys. And for some odd reason, I felt like I wanted to pee in there. But I got out and decided I could make it back to the stop sign to pee before I left Fermilab.
As I exit, I am heading south, so I'm getting some of the north tailwind, but I turn east in about .5 mile. FUCKIN' A! Tailwind, baby! I go right up this overpass, and I just left it in the big chainring and pedaled my ass off, smiling, not caring about the watts, and then it just got better, because I get a nice downhill and I'm going like 35MPH doing almost nothing. Every cyclist I see going the opposite direction has the same stupid grin on their face as I do.
And it was pretty much like that all the way home until I get to this one area where there's another sweet downhill (about 6 miles from home) that goes under an overpass. It always scares me a bit because it's dark in there and I don't want to be in there with cars. So I always sprint it as hard as possible so I can get through. This time, I cranked my ass off, and when I got out, I could feel my heart beating wildly, but I was happy.
When I got home, I quickly changed into running shorts and a fresh top, as I was fairly pigged out, and headed out to run for :40. OMG, my legs were toasty! Which meant that I rode hard (as it turns out, I rode at 80% of FTP for 4:25. That is tempo riding, kids. That's like 1/2 Ironman watts, only instead of just for 56 miles, 75!). My legs felt like they do at the start of an Ironman marathon, although not really that bad. I was smiling because it hurt so much! My stomach felt like shit, also same as Ironman, and I wish that I had brought Coke with me instead of Gatorade, which can make me want to puke at that point. But I had chugged a full bottle of water before I left, so I was hydrated and barely had to touch the Gatorade.
When I finished running, I was laughing because I smelled so bad! That was the first time this year that I have smelled so bad! Yeah, baby! It was one of those things where I was really hungry, but I would need to shower first.
After I showered and ate, I decided to call my friend, Matt, who I haven't seen in over a year because he had been in Afghanistan, and he has had parental issues like me, and we just haven't been able to connect. I left him a wild message basically demanding that I needed to have sushi for dinner and would he go out with me? He called back and initially couldn't make it, but after we yammered for a long time he said he'd check and see if he could back out of his prior obligation, and he did.
I picked the sushi restaurant, and I ordered for both of us, and let's just say it was PILES of sushi, and Matt even got full before me! After I polished off the sushi, I asked Matt about dessert. He said, sure why not. The waiter comes over and tells us what they have, and I ask Matt if he's had mochi before--he had not. I asked what kind they have, and I told the waiter to bring one of each--red bean, green tea, coconut, mango and chocolate. They arrived cut up in 3 bowls, and of course, I ate more than Matt. We both talk non-stop when we are together, and the topic of Sunday came up. I was either going to ride to Fermilab again or do this organized ride, and I asked Matt if he would ride, so, yeah, we are riding together today from his house in Plainfield.
Matt and I after our huge dinner
I used to ride with Matt all the time, and he was a big factor in me getting stronger. When we first met, Matt wasn't riding in the winter, and I blew his doors off for awhile, but then, he being 13 years younger than me and a guy, and getting his training together (I even coached him for a year), Matt turned into a monster cyclist. He's a little out of form probably, but I know we will have an awesome ride today and some good eats when we finish. The joke is that whenever he and I ride together, how long will it take before we start talking about food? Matt and I are both good cooks, we both like great food and wine (he's the guy who sent me the wine direct from Italy), and we like to talk about cooking and eating and drinking. I remember one ride where we just left his house, and we are maybe 30 seconds into the ride, and Matt starts talking about food. I about fell off my bike laughing, because I looked down at the power meter and said, "Matt--that's a new world record. 30 seconds and we are talking about food."
When I got home last night, I thought I still needed some more calories, so I poured a pile of Cheetos onto a plate and tucked into them before going to sleep. I know, I know, I am eating like it's going out of style!
So even though I didn't go to Wisconsin, I had an awesome day yesterday, and today will be more of the same!
Happy training!
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