This past Saturday I headed to Kal-Haven for a base building ride. I am getting there, and I want to continue to build every week. Funny as it sounds, I am racing Sunday. So I want to have some semblance of fitness.
The race you ask.....is the Frosted Fat Tired that got rescheduled due to poor weather. It is a 4 person relay race, and the course is short. So I should be ok. All of us intend to just have fun and are mainly going to hang out. This is what happens when the wheels come off for everyone. I had 2 surgeries this year, Lisa hasn't ridden much since LJ100, and Tom took a hiatus after Coast 2 Coast....so....it will be a fun day of riding with friends. Anything more will be a bonus.
Last Saturday I drug myself out of bed and headed out. I really didn't feel like getting out of bed, it was just a long week. I did anyway, knowing people were going to be meeting me for a ride. I had some oatmeal and headed out. It was a fairly quiet drive to Kalamazoo. When I pulled into the lot I could see a lot of cars and people mulling around. The people I didn't see...were the ones I thought were coming riding. I didn't communicate very well through the week and made assumptions that people were coming, but alas.....this was to be a solo ride. As I was getting ready a large group of people were warming up and seemingly preparing for a run. Good to see people out and active.
Once I was geared up I started down the trail. Mind wandering but still somehow focused. Have you ever been driving and realized that you were sort of checked out for around 20 minutes....and you have no idea how you got where you are without inflicting some sort of damage? Yeah, kind of like that. I was just thankful to be out and pedaling. I was calling out my passes to the walkers or runners. Most would move, some would ignore, and others still would just not care that I was there. Overall the people were friendly.
At one point around 7.5 miles in I could see a couple walking. What I didn't see was their dog off-leash about 50 yards ahead of them. I called out "on your left" and they moved over, immediately calling their dog. He whipped around and started hauling ass back towards them. I heard the owner yell "SIT!" and he stopped dead in his track and sat as I was passing him. Good boy! Still....kind of shocked to see a dog that far away from the owners. As I continued on I passed a lady and her dog coming towards me. She stopped and grabbed her k-9 by the collar. I realized that this pooch was off-leash as well. I do understand, but with people around it seems like these people should have had their dogs leashed up. Thankfully no mishaps.
I continued on and realized that average speed was a bit higher than the previous week. Didn't feel like a tailwind, but more on that later. I continued on and reached the 10 mile mark, where I turned back on my previous ride. I was tempting fate a bit, and kept going out towards Gobles. Eventually the trees opened up and I arrived at the M-40 crossing. I was feeling pretty good overall. I also had calories in my bottle. This was my initial test of my Hammer nutrition to see how my new stomach would handle it. I was feeling just fine. At this point I was 13 miles in.
I started back towards Kalamazoo and was surprised to feel a headwind. It made sense when I looked at my average speed. I was much faster than the previous ride, and I went further. However, I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace. I just rode a comfortable speed and it was faster. That is good news. The headwind wasn't terrible, and I actually only felt it a few places where the trees would open up. I cannot express how thankful I am that it didn't last the entire way back to 10th street.
You can see from the laps above the difference though. I definitely worked harder coming back than I did going out. The main reason for the slower speed is the small amount of climbing and the cumulative effects of the ride. My endurance is being stressed to get this distance, so holding any sort of speed is a good sign for me.
I was about 5 miles from the end when I got a very stark reminder about things. Well, things were put into perspective and I had to fight off some thoughts. I had been passing people and calling out "on your left" for over 20 miles. Nobody had passed me to this point. But I heard a quiet "on your left" from an approaching rider. As he passed I nodded and noticed something. He was a big dude. I mean, I am a pretty hefty guy, and he was much bigger than me. Yet, he left me behind like it was nothing. I have respect for this dude, out here killing on on a Saturday afternoon. But....negative thoughts immediately started to creep in.
They looked a lot like this:
damn, that guy is bigger than me and he just left me behind!
all this weight I have lost...and still getting smoked by bigger dudes....what will happen in a race against lighter guys?
why....why do I continue to do this to myself if I am not getting any faster....
and so on....
But, those thoughts didn't last very long. The mental side is a part that I am working on just as much as the physical. So I was ready to combat those ill-advised thoughts. Yes I still had them, but I was able to fight them off. Instead I reminded myself that I am 7 weeks out from major surgery. That I have barely ridden in 2024. That I am doing good on this ride and to keep moving forward. That guy probably has been riding all year. I will reach my goal eventually, and then I will see where I stack up. Doesn't even matter where I stack up, my biggest fight will always be me versus me. I had to remind myself that I am doing what I can, and that this surgery wasn't a magic bullet that would make me drop 100 pounds overnight, I still have work to do. I am doing good, and just need to continue to do good. Put those negative thoughts down, and don't carry them anymore.....they only hold you down.
I kept spinning and was keeping that big guy in sight for a bit. Eventually I didn't see him anymore, but it was a win to stay within viewing distance for a few miles. I reached the part of the ride that I dislike the most. Its a low grade hill that feels like it will never end. Legs start to beg for mercy and then you can see a stop sign that indicates the last crossing before the trailhead. but it is a long way off still, and you just have to grind away. Finally it eases up and is a nice roll to the finish. I hit my goal of 26 miles with no mishaps. No bonking, no chipmunks, and no worries.
Glad to be done I looked at my average speed and was pleased with what I saw. With minimal miles and a hefty mass, I will take everything I can right now. When I looked back at my 'matched rides' on Strava it gave me more encouragement. I was almost as fast as my fasted matched ride nearly 4 years ago. I can't complain about that at all.
I will tell you this though.....legs HURT on Sunday and still a bit today. All I can do is recover, push fluids, and get back at it again. I am learning my limits. I am also learning what my recovery looks like in the aftermath of surgery. I am getting closer to my goals every day. Learning every day. Striving to do better everyday. There will be bad days. There will be hiccups. But all I can do is....
Keep moving forward.
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