Sunday, April 13, 2008

Fun Ride This Weekend

Where did the week go? It's getting harder and harder to get an update done during the week. Wednesday I ran, Thursday I biked. And it seemed like everywhere I went on the bike there was a cop. I almost felt like they were following me, trying to catch me running a stop sign or breaking some kind of law. I really think I was passed by about 8-10 cops during an hour and 15 minute ride. I have no idea what was going on. Friday was a rest day.

Saturday we did a group ride way down south. I needed to get done and back way up north for a 1:00 soccer game, so when the first folks headed out, I was right there with them. I thought the whole group would be right behind us. And for a while, they were. We had a big group. But slowly the group started breaking up. And all along I kept waiting for the fast guys to pass. They never did. And that's when I realized I was in the fast group. Oh my. But we had the wind at our backs and we had a nice pace line going. For a good bit, we had a constantly revolving pace line going. It was great. We were doing 20-23 mph and it didn't feel hard at all.

At our first rest stop, we grabbed some food, refilled our drink bottles and took off again. By this time there were about 10 of us in the group. But shortly after that, we lost four of them, which left six of us in the front. I was the only female up there. I wasn't sure how far the group behind us was, so I did everything in my power to keep up. And we were straight into a headwind. It was rough. At one point there was a crosswind, so two of the bigger guys had me ride on the side of them so they could block the wind. Let me tell you, we have some awesome guys on our team. They really take care of us females.

After our second rest stop, there were only four of us who took of in the first group. I stayed with them for a while, but the wind was too brutal. One of the other guys and myself dropped back and rode in together.

Other than the wind, it was a beautiful day and a great ride. And I finished in time to make it to my son's game. And they dominated. They played beautifully. They had several goals scored off of headers. And at their age, that's awesome.

This morning our church had one combined service and then lunch afterward. We usually go to early service, so it was weird going later. Since we had to go later, I checked out the new service. It was great, but I just don't like getting out of church that late. After the lunch, I came home to check on the beginnertriathlete forumites who are doing Ironman Arizona today. From what I'm seeing it's extremely hot there and the wind is brutal for them today. A couple of beginnertriathlete people have had to drop out, which is sad. One had an asthma attack. I feel for them. When you put that much time and energy into training and you can't compete - wow.

I've just gotten off the treadmill and will be in front of the computer for most of the day watching the Ironman online. One of these days I hope to be there in person - first as a volunteer, and then maybe one day as an athlete. If you haven't watched an Ironman, you should. It's very inspiring.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Your bike ride sounds like it's getting really easy for you to go long distance. I'm so excited at the thought of you doing Tahoe. I think the altitude will be a bigger issue than the hills.
Kudos to your son and his soccer victory!

Anonymous said...

I saw some people riding on 360 this weekend and I was thinking how crazy they all were. They were all looking happy going along and then I saw one bigger guy REALLY struggling to get up one of thee hills!

Shauna said...

Way to go on your bike ride! You are amazing! I have dreams of doing an Ironman one day, but I think with the swim, it's just a pipe dream for me. I'm a terrible swimmer. Good luck with all of your training. Take care!

Unknown said...

Hi Briana,

I asked my daughter-in-law if she had any info on where to stay near Port Canaveral...this is her reply.."I don't know of any deals, off hand, but a lot of people like to stay at the Wakulla in Cocoa Beach. They have suites, a pool and are near the beach. I don't know the prices. There is also the Country Inn and Suites that is new and right near the port. I don't know what the prices are like. Are they one their way out to sail or coming on vacation? Radisson Resort at the Port is also right near there and they have a cool pool with a water slide. Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach has a great water play area for kids."

Hope that helps some.

M said...

Greetings fromthe U.S. V.I.-
Hang with the top group and you will have no trouble at Tahoe!! I found the best challenge was "trying" to ride hill climbs with the BIG Dogs :) That is what made Spooner Pass no big deal.

Yahoo to the soccer win!!