Sunday I had probably one of my longest workouts to date- 2:15 bike, 1:15 run. Luckily, as I mentioned in the previous post, a coworker invited me to a firefighter's memorial ride that he and his friends were participating in. We met up at the fire station, and headed out for the first loop of the course. It was hilly, of course, and I was nervous about keeping up with them, so I told them, go on ahead if you want. My coworker, Paul, said they had done a long hard ride the previous day, so they were looking to take it easy, so that was comforting to me. I got behind on some of the hills, but on others I was right with the slower of them. The group spread out and came back together a bunch of times, but it didn't really feel like I was too far off of their pace.
After the first loop, I took a bathroom break, then we chatted about what to do. A couple of the guys wanted to head back, so we ended up ditching the firefighters ride and rode to their houses. It was a nice change of scenery, and a little flatter (after battling some pretty terrible uphills). When we got to one guy's house, they lubed up my chain, because it was producing a rather annoying high pitched ring. From there, we headed back to the firestation, and ended at almost exactly 2:15, with about 33 ish miles. Sweet!
At this point it was around noon, and it was sunny but not terribly hot. I fueled up and got ready for the run, and off I went. I wasn't sure exactly how to go, being in an unfamiliar area, and much to my chagrin, the firestation was perhaps the highest elevation in this town, so no matter which direction I went, I'd be starting with a downhill and ending up hill. Oh well, not much I could do. So, I started to go on a nearby main road, figuring that would be a safe bet to not get lost. I took a few side streets hoping they would be more rolling, and even ran into a little campground. I passed by the aid station from the bike route, and promised myself I'd stop for a top off of my water on the way back. The run was actually going really well, and I still felt great at the turnaround. When I got back to the water station, they had closed up shop- seems like the last bikers had gone through already. So, I kept on going, back up the hills I had run down previously.
On one of the side streets, I encountered 2 friendly doggies. I stopped to pet them, hoped they wouldn't chase me, and continued on my way. When I passed by them again, I was about done with my 1:15 but realized I was so close to 9 miles that I just wanted to keep going a little more. Then the doggies started chasing me, up the hill, on the main road! (actually not going to lie, they totally passed me!). As I watched the doggies ahead of me running on the shoulder and saw cars passing by, I really hoped the dogs would be alright! They took a break on the side of the road, but I kept going and didn't see them after. I hope they got home safely! I finished my 9 miles, and walked the rest of the way up the hill back to the firestation, where they too had closed up shop and my car was one of the only ones left in the lot.
I headed home and ate lunch on my porch, determined to soak up as much of this lovely day as possible. At night, I went to a meeting of my new local tri club, and had a good time meeting a few new people and chatting about all things triathlon. The guy in charge is basically a male version of my coach from chicago, so that was kind of cool. I loved my old group, so I sincerely hope this will be just as rewarding for me, and that I can help out with the organization and get heavily involved!
Monday was a much needed rest day, and today I did a trainer ride...
And now to the title of the post- bike in the shop! On the ride on Sunday, I noticed that the gears were skipping as I was shifting around going up and down the hills. I figured, I have a race next Sunday, and of course the HIM in less than 6 weeks, so it may be good to check it out. Turns out, I need a new chain, and my brake cord may need some help and my back deraullier needs to be adjusted! At first I was surprised that I needed a new chain- my bike is only a little over a year old...but the bike guy said that they usually have a 1000 mile lifetime, and now I am not so surprised. Between last summer, computrainer all winter, and the many many miles I've been logging doing the HIM training, I feel fairly certain I've hit 1000. So, I'm glad I brought it in, and I should have it back, all fixed up in just a few days!
No comments:
Post a Comment