Ironman dues

Some days you wonder if you should even be riding.

Ironman Arizona is now less than 50 days away and the weekend long rides are at 100 miles, or at least they should be. This weekends 100 mile ride didn't go quite as scheduled.

For some reason I couldn't sleep in the morning of the ride, maybe I was a little apprehensive because I knew the ride was a big one and the next days run was also going to be pretty long. So while I was wondering around the house I decided to check the tires on my bike and air them up for the ride. Well wouldn't you know it I had a half inch slice in the rear tire and the Stans was oozing and bubbling out. Darn it. I took the tire off patched the TIRE, put a new tube in, filled it with Stans and called it good. Maybe this was an omen that I completely missed?

We finally meet up at Defined fitness and SWTRIGAL suggests changing our route because of the bad weather, She wants to head north for 20 miles then turn south for 40 miles, then turn back north to get the benefit of a tail wind on the way home. I really wanted to get some hill training in so we decided to play it by ear. As it turns out playing it by ear doesn't work so well

We head north to our traditional breaking point, or should I say our traditional porta-potty point. Most folks are fairly well hydrated and need one final relief before kicking the ride into high gear.

It's all going well until we leave the parking lot, I manage to get myself wedged between two riders at the parking lot exit, not good since the exit has a very solid wood post right in the middle of the exit. Darn, my left foot won't unclip and my track stand just wasn't going well, down I went. Okay, this is going to be a rough ride. At least I get a lot of sympathy from the lady outlaws, the guys were more concerned about the delay I was causing by trying to get back on my feet! Oh well, guess it's better to fall over and embarrass yourself in front of your friends, right?

The next 30ish miles of the ride out to San Ysidro was uneventful, except for the 25-29 mph that a really generous tail wind provided. We knew it was going to be rough going back, but boy, we didn't count on mother nature getting really pissed at us and throwing everything she had at us.

Brian and Paul agreed to pull the group back and most folks lined up behind them, at this point we had about a 20 mph head wind. I hung off the back, out of the draft zone so I could get a good workout in and maybe help pull any wayward riders back up to the pack.

Completely The winds were pretty outrageous and it felt like we were going to be blown over any number of times. About 65 miles into the ride the sand and gravel that was blowing into our faces was replaced by a light rain, not so bad, Then the hail started and that hurt, we made it to a gas station to regroup we discussed stopping at the local Flying star and having folks pick us up but decided to carry on, the weather looked like it was clearing up. I borrowed a jacket from Michi, who wisely decided she had had enough fun in the great outdoors for one day and called for MG to pick her up. On our way back the weather calmed down for a good few miles and the head wind picked back up. We all regrouped back at the Defined Fitness parking lot and looked at the storm front moving in. I decided to hightail it home before the storm hit. Well....While I was at the light crossing the only major street that separated my from a nice warm shower the rain hit. Now, I don't mind riding in the rain, after all I had a nice jacket that Michi lent me. No problem, Another quarter mile up the hill to my house and the hail started. Ouch, It was hailing so hard I couldn't see where I was going, The almost marble sized pellets really stung, luckily the storm was moving quickly and I was only in the hail for four or five minutes. By the time I got home I was completely soaked.

While I getting ready to take a shower I was summing up the bruises and scrapes from my little fall when I noticed all the little welts all over my back arms and legs. Those darn little hail pellets left their impression. It took several hours before they went away but at least most of them didn't bruise.

All in all, It was one of those rides that will live on in our memories. "Remember that ride we did getting ready for IMAZ back in the fall of '08?" . Yep, it was one rough ride, and I didn't even get in my 100 miles! Now, SWTriGal assures me that riding 80 miles on those conditions is equal to 100 miles of normal riding. I think we have all paid some of our Iron dues this weekend! Guess we will find out around November 23rd!

Sandia Snowshoe Challenge

It’s been pretty hectic around the office these days and I haven’t hand a chance to make any blog entries. We have finally reconfigured our server room, replete with new servers, UPSs, a new Rack and new furniture. This has been my main work focus for the last two months and the first phase is nearing completion. Yeah!! Now, those of you non-computer geeks might be falling asleep (or maybe it’s my writing) but for those computer geeks out there, you know how cool it is to have all new equipment.

On to the race report: I’m a little behind the times, the race was last Saturday (the Sandia Snowshoe Challenge), and I had a great time.

The Outlaws made a strong showing, with the Dread Pirate, Myles, Geek Girl, Flaming Mo, Iron Outlaw and Michi. It seems the gun (or yell) went off and I was still trying to figure out how to walk in those darn snow shoes, much less run. As you may recall my only experience with the snowshoes was two weeks ago for about 20 minutes. During that twenty minutes I had major problems and ended up walking back to the car in my hiking boots sans snowshoes.

Right from the get go I knew I was in trouble, I ran up right behind someone (not a good idea with snowshoes) and got stepped on. I wobbled and flailed my arms wildly but didn’t fall down, it’s amazing how stable snow shoes are. This had me a little gun shy and I fell into a nice easy “run” with a pack of runners. All the other Outlaws were way ahead of me and were disappearing fast. Oh well, I was here for fun. For about the first mile my hip flexors were killing me and I thought there was no way I could finish the race. I think exhaustion made me relax a bit and I when I finally relaxed my hip flexors relaxed too, life was good once more. Now where were those other Outlaws….

After relaxing a bit I got a little confidence and started to pick up speed and even passed a few folks, but got stuck behind Mr. “there is no way I’m going to let you pass no matter how many times you politely ask, and if you do try I’ll stick my ski poles out so you trip”. This guy was frustrating, Run a little, walk some, run a little, walk more. I finally got past him and started making up some time. I saw the Dread Pirate in front of me so I had to catch her and say Hi. Saying anything is more work that you would think. It might have something to do with two snow shoes strapped to my feet and trying to run up a hill at 10600 feet. It took forever to catch her, her easy gait was surprisingly fast. I finally caught her and shuffled past, but just to have the last word she informed me that I had snow on my @ss. So now I’m laughing, trying to run up hill with snowshoes at 10600 feet. Yeah, I got a little out of breath. Luckily the finish was just around the corner and I could relax a bit.

The Iron Outlaw finally beat me at a race. It was one of his goals to beat me this year and he’s finally done it. Congratulations to him! (even though I wasn’t racing!) :)

The race is definitely on for next year and I’m thinking about going up and doing the 10k trail. Anyone else up for some high altitude training?