Catching up - again

OK, time to catch up! It's Wednesday and I haven't written anything since last Friday. And there's a lot to write!

First was the run on Saturday. Beautiful fall day - crisp, cool air and a great group of friends: Kevin, Dan, Brenda, Marshall, and Lynne. I needed to run for 2 hrs but a few people were late (ahem!) so I got in 110 minutes instead of 120 mins. Oh well. Marshall ran for 3 hrs which is great.

It was a really nice run. I was feeling good and it was fun having such a great group of runners to run with. We ran out to Josephine Jones park and around the park, then back. Marshall and I did one smaller loop together and then i needed to head off to get Kat to her soccer game.

Then the 5 hr ride was on Sunday. Wow. What else can I say - it was an incredible ride. Another beautiful day (see pic above) and I felt great again. There was Marshall, Brenda, Sarah, and me for the first 3 hrs. We rode out to Milliken and up Mad Russian Hill, then down to Windsor's Water Valley, up the hill that was in the old Windsor triathlon, around the million dollar homes and out toward Centerra on Crossroads Blvd (love that road!), then back down to Windsor via the bike path, then back to Greeley on O street.

That wasn't all...the plan was ride 3 hrs and end up at Marshall's house to pick up Lynne and Kevin, which we did, and then go for another 2 hrs. But Sarah had a flat toward the end of the ride and Marshall stayed with her to help and I went back to nab Lynne and Kevin. On the way back, a nasty headwind came up and things started to get really hard (plus we had ridden 3 big hills and covered 45 miles at that point).

So, Lynne, Kevin, Marshall and I head north to Pierce, thinking that the horrible easterly wind would be at our side most of the way. Welllll....the route to Pierce is slightly uphill and the wind was coming out of the northeast at that point. It was torture. My legs were killing me and the wind was so loud we could hardly talk to each other. But I had to keep going to get the 5 hrs in.

Lynne and I started off ahead of Marshall and Kevin but I knew I wouldn't last. Lynne is too fast and she was fresh. But I hung in there longer than I thought I would. Eventually, I faded and everyone passed me. I drafted off of Kevin for the last push to the turnaround point. I kept praying that Marshall would turn around before Pierce because we had already passed the point where we would get 5 hrs if we turned around. Plus, I was getting light-headed and fading quickly...couldn't wait to have that tailwind push us home.

Fortuntely, Marshall and Lynne decided to turn back a few miles south of Pierce. Yay! As soon as we turned around - whoosh! We FLEW home - yippee! It is amazing how much difference the wind makes when you're on a bike! Lynne and I rode side by side for a long time and were averaging 20-21 mph - we literally were flying. It was awesome!

Then when we got in town, I faded some more and barely made it back to their house. What a ride!

On Monday, my body was toast. The weekends are taking their toll. Somehow I got my butt down to the pool for Master's swim but I was a limp noodle. Sore, tired, and unmotivated. But I got in the main set on Monday and I'm glad for that.

Tuesday (yesterday), I got out for a 45 min run. Felt good. Took Daisy for 3 miles and dropped her off...ran over to UNC and did a few hill repeats.

Wednesday (today), made it to the pool and did the warm-up and main set. Felt really good. I wish I could do the whole workout but I need to leave by 7:00 to get kids to school. Came home, got kids to school, then did a Spinervals workout - felt great! Really pushed hard for 45 mins.

Re the pic's above - the one of Todd, Jim, Duane, Dale, and Kevin was taken while on my bike - we passed them on Sunday morning. A little crazy, I know!

The last 5 days have been intense but that's all part of it. We have the hardest weekends ahead of us - next weekend we have to run 3 hrs and bike 5.5 hrs. Then the following week (Oct. 10 and 11), is the longest weekend in the plan: 3.5 hr run and 6 hr ride. Ugh. If I make it through that, it will be a miracle! One day at a time is my motto these days!