Events for 2012, None after 12/21/12

In 2011 I got my feet wet with a few races.  In 2012 I'm looking forward to participating in more races, performing better because I'll have prepared for the races, as well as participating in a few races just because they're fun atmospheres!

I'd like to throw in two or three more 10K's as well as at least one more half marathon.  There are a few that are the same weekends as major bicycle races (which are quite fewer), so I'll keep my eyes open for future races.  

I've targeted races that I think I'll be really serious about, others I'll just show up and run.  The races in blue font are races I'll take seriously, but not train for specifically.  Those in red are things I'll train for specifically and make a real shot at accomplishing one of my time goals for the year, or a PR.

1. 1/7 Sabino Canyon 5K
2. 1/14 Great Expectations Academy 5K
3. 1/29 Old Tucson Trail run 4 Miler
4. 2/18 Duathalon 2 mile run, 17 mile ride, 2 mile run 
5. 2/25 Rangar Del Sol Relay
6. 3/4 10K with no name, SAR
7. 3/? Lucky Clover 5K
8. 4/28 Tour of the Tucson Mountains (bicycle)
9. 5/12 Nogales Bicycle Classic
10. 6/2 Tucson Downtown Night 5K
11. 6/9 Colossal Cave 5K
12. 7/8 Run with the Roosters 5 Miler
13. 7/21 Breeze Through the Trees 5K
14. 8/4 AZ Dirt Hog 5K XC
15. 8/12 Tombstone 10K
16. 9/22 Catalina Park 10.35 miler
17. 10/14 Great Pumpkin 5K
18. 10/21 Everybody Runs Half Marathon
19. 11/17 El Tour de Tucson
20. 11/22 Thanksgiving 5K
21. 12/9 Tucson Marathon
22. 12/15 Vail Jingle Trail 5K

Now I really like to just wake up and know what I'm doing that day, without thinking.  I don't like schedules, don't like to remember what's going to happen next Thursday. 

That's one more thing to get over, one more change in my new lifestyle!  Especially since I'm doing two sports, being organized is paramount.  So, as I've shared before, I'm developing an excel spreadsheet to manage everything.  It's a bit ugly, but it works.  Not only do I make sure I get planned down time, alternate intensities appropriately, but when I'm actively training for an event, I can click on the distance in the main book and it takes me to a brief description of the workout for that day.

Here it is.

 
Now of course, since the last day of the existence of this planet is 12/21/2012, I've not planned anything after 12/15!  That gives me a week of eating pork rinds and mainlining Oreo ice cream cakes.  

So Happy to Let Myself Down in 2011!

2011 brought me more change than a clever sign can bring a bum.  I figured that by this stage of my life I'd be "stable."  I'm glad I failed to meet my expectations!

There were drastic changes in my life, personally, physically, and even professionally this past year.  A lot of the changes just happened, out of nowhere.  Some happened gradually, developing as minor changes occurred.  Some were direct consequences of specific decisions made.  

In the past year my wife's parents and my parents moved to Tucson (I live about an hour's drive south).  Before we saw them maybe once a year, now we see them at least once a month, if not more!  That's pretty sweet. I got to run a lot with my youngest daughter over the summer and my relationship with my oldest daughter really got stronger this year.  We never had a bad relationship, but just sometimes rub each other the wrong way.  I changed some behaviors I had with her, and communicated my desires for a better relationship.  It helped!

This was really the year of the bicycle.  In October of 2009 I bought the first bike on the left.  At the time it was a huge investment, $300!  But, I couldn't run because I was too heavy.  At the time I weighed about 265 pounds.  I quickly outgrew that and purchased the white bike in the middle.  I put about 5,000 miles on that bike and decided to really take the plunge.  I sold my guitar equipment to finance the purchase of the last bike on the right.

 

In January of 2010 I was down to 240 and decided I'd train for a 73 mile "race" (really a charity ride) that happened to be on my 38th birthday.  I had never ridden more than 33 miles at that point and completion of that distance was a scary thing.  As the time grew closer, I knew I could make the distance (I'd done it a few times), and I developed a time goal of 5 total hours.  My wildest dream was to finish in under 4:30, earning a "silver" medal. 

Then, fourteen days before the race I tore my right hamstring.  I strained it running and it tore by kicking my leg out trying to keep the dog from running out of the door!  Now the whole thing was in doubt.

I toughed it out, literally.  I did my best effort and I finished in 3:45 and change!  It was an intensely emotional event for me, ranking with the most powerful single moments of my life to date.  I was literally overwhelmed during the latter third of the race, thinking about all of the changes that had occurred. 

That was it...I was hooked on racing. 

A few weeks after the bike race I participated in a Warrior Dash...kind of.  I limped through it really.  My hamstring was a bit touchy, but that promised to be too much fun to pass.  Plus, I had purchased entrance for my wife and oldest daughter (youngest was too young last year).  My cousin and brother-in-law joined us and we had a blast.

This past year I bought my wife a bike!  It's pretty much awesome to be able to ride together.  My dad bought a road bike.  My father-in-law bought a road bike.  My cousin bought a road bike.  My uncle bought a bike, then got my other cousin and aunt involved in riding.  My mother bought a bike.  My sister bought a bike.  My other sister already had a bike, but started riding more.  My brother-in-law bought a road bike.  How crazy that we're now a biker family!?!

One big change just happened yesterday, I sold my motorcycle.  I've been trying to sell my motorcycle for a while. First, I never get to ride it, second it's expensive, and third, none of my gear fits anymore!

However, I'm still a biker!  The picture on the left is in the summer of 2009 with my mother.  I went on a day trip with my parents to the top of Kitt Peak.  It was a great ride!

Over the summer I hoped to get into running shape.  All I did was suffer injury after injury.  Once I got all of that straightened out (for now), I was able to participate in two 5Ks, a 10K, and a half marathon.  In addition, I participated in El Tour de Tucson, the 111 mile leg.  In fact, if you throw out the first 5K, all of the events happened in a six week stretch!

My brother-in-law not only sponsored my participation in El Tour de Tucson, he participated, after only riding for about 3 months!  My oldest daughter and father joined me in the last 5K, which was a pretty cool experience also.

The thing that I'm surprised by most is how much of a family event all of this has been.  Not too much when everybody's got their own busy schedules, but on race day.  We all go to the race together and participate in some form.  Then we engage in some good people watching and spend the remainder of the day hanging out.  It gives us a fun, common experience.  I never would've guessed!

Goals for 2012?

Goals for 2012, really?  I read MsRitz's blog on Runner's World about how her goals from 2011 mostly failed and what she's learned from that.

That sounded like a smart thing to do, certainly a great benefit of keeping records of such things.  So I started thinking, what were my goals this time last year?  The question stumped me, big time!

I didn't have any.

Really.  I thought about the possibility of participating in The Tour of the Tucson Mountains, a 73 mile ride.  But at that time I didn't have a suitable bike and my longest ride had been 33 miles, which took me almost 3 hours!  I couldn't run without my knees ballooning, leaving me unable to walk without significant pain for the day.

A year ago at this time I was still just trying to exercise every day that I worked.

A lot happened in 2011.  I did the 73 mile ride, and soon that became a distance that was ... nothing to worry about.  I now run regularly and participated in a few 5K's, a 10K and a half marathon, as well as a 111 mile bike race.  I placed in my age group in all runs save the half marathon (ran in 1:42:15), winning in my age group in a 5K and the 10K (though that was crazy-small!).  Yeah, I guess I'm bragging, and really shouldn't.  But I'm also mentioning to show how quickly things changed in 2011.

So goals for 2012?  At first I thought I didn't have any, but I really do.

1. Run with structure and planing.  I've mapped out how I should increase mileage in order to promote the likelihood of staying healthy.  
2. Get my weight down to 180.  Right now I'm hovering around 200.  Every time I've reaching this point something has happened and I've not broken through.  Taking the next step would be a huge step towards accomplishing my next goals.
3. 5K time:  Break 18 minutes.  In my first 5K I was under 21.  The next was under terrible conditions and I was still in the 20's.  I've done exactly 3 speed workouts in my life.  I run about 12 to 15 miles a week.  I can do this!
4. Half Marathon Time:  Break 1:30. This is about 12 minutes faster than my half marathon this year.  I wasn't prepared for that race.  Again, this is a lofty goal, but one I think I can do.
5. Run the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim.  This is something my brother-in-law and I have talked about and would really like to do in the fall of 2012.  .
6. Run my first marathon: I'd like to run my first marathon in 2012, and break 3:45, though completion is the real goal for the first.  
7. Qualify as a Platinum Cyclist with PBAA: I'm going to make my first serious shot at this at the anniversary of my first competitive event, The Tour of the Tucson Mountains, in late April.  It'll be 73 miles I need to ride in under three hours.
8. Run 1,400 miles.
9. Ride 7,500 miles.
10. Be Humble, Thankful and Gracious: I need to keep in mind why I exercise. I want to make the most of the time I have.  I exercise as to not be wasteful.  The opportunity, and ability, to do these things is truly a gift, one I need to be thankful for.

Regarding goals:  Goals are supposed to be lofty.  The way I approach setting a goal is I pick what I think I can reasonably do and then add a touch more.

There you have it.  My goals for 2012 for all to witness as I either fail, or succeed.  Either way, I plan to struggle and know I'll suffer as I work towards meeting those goals.

Here's to a great 2012.

Three Generations 5K Race Report

Somethings start rough but turn out really great, like a child.  They complain and gripe, don't eat solid food and crap on themselves regularly.  Today was like that.

We loaded in the car for a long day in Tucson, leaving home and our warm, comfy beds at 6:15, IN THE MORNING.  My wife, daughters and myself, were all tired and grouchy.  I had a sore throat. My wife had a sore throat.  My oldest daughter was stressing about her first run.  We bickered about the radio, about people talking too quietly, complaining too much, and so on.  It's not typical for us, but we've been so incredibly busy the past two months that we've had no down time...we're worn out!

By the time we arrived at my parents' house, an hour later, we'd figured everything out.  We dropped off our bicycles, for a ride later in the day, and headed another thirty minutes in the car to the race.

The muscles in my left foot were still sore from last weekend's half marathon and my legs were a little flat feeling from Thursday's bike ride.  For the second straight night, I slept poorly (fretting over things at work), managing a solid two hours before waking, and then another three or so later as morning crept around.  Not too bad for one day, but two days in a row gets old.  Circumstances didn't appear to be there for me to break 20 minutes...and that bugged me.  I actually woke in the middle of the night worried about running too hard and getting injured, or finishing in 24 minutes!  My first 5K, in October, was 20:58, and I hadn't been running at all then.  At least I had to surpass that time.

The drive to Tucson had been very windy, blowing the car all over the road.  Weather.com said the winds were 28 miles per hour, gusts up to infinity.  Oh well, I thought.  I'll give it my best shot and see what happens.

My oldest daughter has never run save on a treadmill.  She usually runs about two miles.  She is stubborn as a goat and a cowgirl.  She owns boots and converse, doesn't want running shoes.  My dad's got a bum Achilles and walks with a limp.  I'm exhausted.  It's cold and windy and I'm wondering, what are we doing here?  Let's just make sure this is a fun experience and live to fight another day!  Words to live by, for a runner.

At the start I wanted to be up front, with some of the fast runners that I'm beginning to recognize, one of whom frequents runnersworld.com, "Run Keith."  Keith is a super nice guy and I wanted to say hello today, but there was so much going on I didn't get the chance.

At the start of the race I quickly got boxed in.  The fast group pulled ahead as we rounded the first turn (the first portion was a lap on the track).  There were two girls running shoulder to shoulder in front of me, and a person on each side of me.  The fast group was pulling away.  I knew it would be unlikely I could stick with them, but if I had to catch up to them first, I had no shot.  Still, I broke through and tried.

I'm not there yet.  But I will be.  I have a cardio base, but not a running base. 

I was running well, not sure of my pace as there were no markers and I have a Timex Ironman, not a Garmin,  (come on Santa!).  After I'm guessing three-fourths of a mile a group of three men passed me.  I decide to tuck in behind them.  One of them was wearing the exact shirt I was...and here is the difference between men and women:

Two men wearing the same shirt:  Fast Friends
Two women wearing the same shirt:  Mortal Enemies

Anyhow, I followed him the entire race, moving to his left or his right depending on the wind.  The others in his group would surge ahead, then drop back, but my wind-breaker was pretty steady...but man, he had a LONG stride.  Me, I try and keep my strides short and quick, but had a hard time not dropping in his cadence.

Anyhow, with about a half a mile left, I passed him, wondering if it was too soon.  I caught up to the next one in front.  He heard me, sped up.  I was red-lining, but knew that since we were heading straight into the wind that if I could stay there, I had a chance of passing him too.  I stayed, but as we turned the corner, he sped up and opened a small gap.  I closed the gap towards the finish line but couldn't catch him.

My time was 20:33 on my watch, and I think my overall place was 10th.  Either way, I didn't make my goal of breaking 20 minutes.  However, I will next time.  And no doubt, it was a PR. 

It was cool hearing my mom cheer me on at various times in the race, as well as seeing my wife and youngest daughter.  I always think of my wife as I'm finishing a race or a hard run.  It's doubly cool when she's actually there.

After I finished I recovered quickly and took over camera duties (by request).  My dad came around the corner before my daughter...surprising.  As he said, he walks with a limp but jogs just fine!  He said he felt that 13 minute miles were safe but was pulling down 11:30's.  That's slower than he likes to run, but with the injury, he was happy with it.

I was very proud.  He's been on a similar weight-loss journey as my own and I was proud to see him working so hard.  As far as I know, this was his first ever race that he could run!  We both walked one in July as we both had injuries.  He ended up with a time of 34:40.  Not bad.

My daughter tried to pass some people, went off trail, tripped and fell.  She tweaked an ankle, which she twisted again later.  By the time she got to where we were taking pictures, she was done.  She didn't finish.  However, she's going to try again.  

After the race we hung around for a bit, but really we weren't enjoying ourselves.  It was cold and the wind sucked...or blew.  Either way, my parents left and took my daughters with them to breakfast.  My wife and I would catch up soon.  I hoped to meet some other runners.  But as it turned out, I was in a weird mood, and not feeling quite right, so we left.  As always, food helped.

After breakfast we went back to my parents' house.  I installed a new bike computer on my wife's bike and went headed to Marana, thirty minute drive away, to ride with my wife's dad.  We ended up taking a 25 mile ride in.  My wife and father-in-law ride a little slower than I do, but still, with fatigue, and giving all I had on the 5k, I was glad we were done.

Back another thirty minutes in the car to my parents' house.  We ate dinner, and then drove twenty minutes to a guide dogs for the blind outing.  My oldest daughter is truly an incredible person.  For the past two years she has been volunteering for the organization Blind Dogs for the Blind, raising puppies.  She gets a puppy and keeps it for year, attending weekly meetings where they develop skills and strategies to promote skills with these dogs, so they may become guide dogs.  Anyhow, the outing was a walk through a neighborhood in Tucson, Winterhaven, where the houses are decorated incredibly for Christmas. 

All told, I spent almost five hours in the car, set a PR in the wind, rode 25 miles on a bike and walked around for an hour or so looking at Christmas lights on 8 hours of sleep in the past two days, all while having lost 10 pounds in the past 21 days.  And the best part...while we were all grouchy in the morning in the car, in the evening the car was overflowing with laughter and playful spirit.  All told, an awesome day.

Then I get home with a new package in hand.  This year my family drew names for Christmas.  We would make a present (not buy) for the person we drew.  My brother-in-law drew my name.

Funny what he made for me because just today I was thinking, "How am I going to keep these bibs and medals?  They're important to me and I'd like a way to have them."

He provided hangers for the bibs to be hung on the "Races" plaque, but wasn't sure of the dimensions and didn't install them himself.  What a cool present, huh?

As I near 100

I don't know exactly when I'll hit the 100 pounds lost, or if, for that matter, I already have.  It's truly irrelevant because my original goal was never to lose weight.  But as I near the point where I weighed myself at my heaviest, which was after about two months of diet and exercise where I'd lost a very measurable amount of weight, I thought I'd share some things that I've noticed, learned and experienced.

Originally I started blogging to chronicle those very experiences.  But, now, in hindsight, some things are quite different. 

There is nothing special about me, save one thing:  I can pick a great wife.  That's the only thing I have that is truly superior.  I'll spare the details, but the point is, she's helped me a lot just by being supportive and patient with me.  I also mention it because there is no secret to losing weight.  This isn't something that just works for people in group A and if you've tried to lose weight and failed you're in group B.

In this post I'd like to share what I believed help make this attempt successful.  I'm not going to suggest or advise people on things in particular, I'm not an expert at all, but rather just share what worked for me in a general sense.  Also, I'd like to remind you that this is in hindsight.  I didn't know these three things would be important before I started.  But after talking with people and thinking about how things played out, I think these three things were key.

I think I was successful because of three major things.

1.  My goal was simple, appropriate and approachable.

My original goal was simple:  I wanted to be healthier and more active.  I wanted to run, always loved it. I wanted to feel better.

I had tried other motivations like looking better, getting recognition in contests and so on.  But the truth is, while I'm as conceited as the next guy, I'm not really motivated by those things.  The push wasn't strong enough to last more than a few months at the most.
 
2.  I had an easily executed plan.

My plan was to exercise every day I worked.  So, no exercising on the weekends or holidays.  But if I worked, I'd get up early and do something.  At first this consisted of just walking a few miles, though they're very hilly and even now are exercise for me.

After a few weeks I began to sprinkle in a little running here and there.  Not only was I way out of shape, but I was so heavy (started running at about 290 pounds), that it was murder on my body.  I'd run in the morning and could barely walk the rest of the day, knees looking like balloons.

It was only at this point that weight loss began to become part of my thinking.  And this time, opposed to previously, the weight loss was in support of my original goal, to be healthier and more active.

3.  I kept it to myself, kept it low key.

There is a small scene in John Steinbeck's The Pearl, where the natives are talking and the conversation grows boisterous.  The men are bragging, become full of themselves and their language grows to match how they're feeling.

Kino, if I remember right, thinks to himself that if he speaks his intentions, he'll certainly betray them.  I have found this to be very powerful and true of me.  I certainly can be full of myself, but am usually well-intentioned.  However, I find that if I speak my intentions, I am somehow relieved of the obligation to follow through.

It's similar to someone that says, "I'll be honest with you," or, "I'll do my homework today, I promise."  Most of the time, the people are true in their sentiments, but later their actions drift away from their intentions.   It's just human nature.

The point of it all is, I didn't mention anything to anybody about being healthier for the first month and a half.  I'd say that I went for a walk, or maybe that I was exercising.  I'd share with a friend that I wasn't going to eat a double quarter pounder with cheese today because I wanted to be smarter.  But those came up in natural course of conversation.  I never looked to share news with someone for a while.  I had to own it before I could share it.

There are other factors, of course.  My cousin had started losing weight before I started and I was able to use him as a resource.  I have friends that are athletes and I pick their brains time and again.  My grandfather exercised every work day.  He'd get up at 4 am and lift weights and go on a run.  Unfortunately I never really got to know him as an adult, but I remember how he'd go about his business.  But I had him as a role model.  These made things easier for me.  I didn't have as many things to figure out, no doubts that it could be done.

While I'm doing a lot more now than exercising every work day, and at the moment I'm aggressively cutting weight (for the first time), my goal is still to be healthier and more active.  Right now I'm chasing a weight because it will help me ride and run faster...and I want to race!

A picture is worth one thousand words...so...

I hope you find this informative and encouraging.  The key to losing weight for me is this:  The goal is to be healthier, the weight will follow.

Foam Roller, Where Have You Been?

I finally bought a foam roller.  With my gift certificate, I ended up spending less than I would've on gatorades and food on a solo century ride.  I only regret not buying one MONTHS ago.

I've been having ITB issues, compiled with other weird stuff.  The other stuff went away leaving just the ITB and its classic symptoms.  My very first experience on A roller wasn't too bad.  But, I didn't have any issues at the moment.  First time on my own roller...agony.  But afterwards the muscles were warm and felt good.

The next day I used it again and it wasn't nearly as bad.

Drink or Breathe

This is the week after El Tour de Tucson.  I love the picture with a mouth full of water and a head full of a battle...focus on cramps or pushing!

Anyhow, I mention it because I was very fatigued this week.  If I remember correctly, Wednesday morning I woke up and had a pulse in the high 60's!  It's normally in the high 40's when I'm walking around the store.  You know, we read about tapering and how that feels, about post-event lows and how that feels...but to know empirically is to really know!

This week I worked in three runs summing to 22 miles and all felt good.  The one that felt the best was today's, which was also my longest, 10 miles.  I shot for a mid to low 9 mm range (because of what I'd been told by "smart coach") and was right there.  That is my longest run to date and certainly the longest I've done in toe shoes.  My feet did hurt the last three miles or so.

As I was finishing I performed some self-evaluation.  I wondered how three more miles in two weeks was going to feel.  How was I going to be able to do it?  I think I'll be alright, as long as I can keep it at a similar pace to today.  My legs felt good, muscles a little tired.  Cardiovascular-wise, I had gobs left in the tank.  My feet hurt, but that's not new.  Each new distance provides new pain there with the shoes as I'm getting used to them.

The coolest thing about today's run was that my wife went with me, kind of.  She rode her bike about 20 miles while I ran.  We left and finished at the same spot.  That was pretty cool.  Nice to have her involved.

Regarding Operation Final Cut

This is week one of Operation Final Cut.  Over the next six months I am going to build my running base so I can begin, hopefully uninterrupted, marathon training...plus a Rim to Rim expedition with my brother-in-law.  I'm also going to really focus on dropping my remaining weight.  I think I could lose another twenty pounds, but maybe 25.  

To start the whole thing off, I have a bet with my cousin.  He's been laid up for a few months with a broken leg.  So our first weigh-in was the day after Thanksgiving (after some compromise).  So, on Thanksgiving, I loaded up.  Salt, fluids, food food food.  Friday morning I weighed a surprising 211.4.  Sweet.  I think a conservative 6 pounds of that was water retention.  :D  

I hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ah, Routine and Decompression ... and Selling My Babies

I owe anybody who has been around me for more than 30 seconds over the past three weeks an apology. 

I'm sorry.

There you go.

I've been so amped up, cranked, nervous, tired and excited that I've been unusually emotional.  Too happy, too mad, whatever. 

I feel better now.  I've hatched out my game plan for the next six months and had a typical, comforting and wonderful run this morning.  I got up, worked on the jump rope for a few minutes, did my routine of lunges, squats, pushups and crunches, then hit the road for a 6 1/2 mile run.  My ITB ached a bit here and there, but I found that if I kept the pace between 8 and 9 mm, it was fine. 

There is a stretch on this run that is pretty tough, climbing about 300 feet in just under a mile.  It felt good to work hard on that hill, not having to worry about saving anything for the bike ride later. 

I've got my half marathon on 12/11, and will run it without a time goal what-so-ever.  I realize that I just don't have the running base I need.  So starting this week I'm base building and will do so until mid-April.  I should have a conservative accumulation of 500 miles running by that time, building distance slowly three weeks consecutively, then tapering off for a week.  I'm excited about it. 

During that time I hope to drop my remaining weight and be ready to just chew up some miles running.  Also, in April I'm making a serious attempt at qualifying as a platinum cyclist (which means you get to line up at the front of the line and other cool crap). 

That brings me to this.  I'm going to sell my babies.  I love playing guitar.  I haven't played in MONTHS AND MONTHS.  The past few times I played, it was for perhaps 10 to 20 minutes.  It sucks because I have slowly collected dream equipment.  I'm now ready to sell that equipment to buy a better bike. 

That's a bitter sweet thing really.  On one hand I'm very sad at the prospect of selling my guitar-stuff.  I love that "stuff."  On the other hand, though, I'm at a different stage in my life now.  I don't sit around drinking beer and making loud noise all day anymore.  I don't spend hours and hours trying to master certain phrases, or work on timing or scales and dexterity.  Instead I work on hill climbing, sprints, lactate threshold and so on. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! 

Whipping Post

My theme song for participation in El Tour de Tucson was Whipping Post, by the Allman Brothers, recorded live at the Filmore East.

I'm tied...to the whipping post, tied...to the whipping post.  Sometimes I feel like I'm dying.

Too appropriate.

Yesterday I ate so much food and drank so much I was rather miserable.  I ate dinner at 3:00 pm, hoping to have cleared everything by race time.  I didn't want to have to invoke Gandolf's fight against the Balrog, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" during the race.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had it all planned out...what to take for fuel and when to eat it.  The only thing I wasn't sure about was if and when I'd have to stop for water.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had also mapped out a cue sheet of when I expected to be where on the course, and what I expected to do next (effort-wise).

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I did exactly what I didn't want to do.  I started out too fast because I was too far behind the fast groups.  I had to skip between packs and as a result I was cramping well before mile 50 (of the 111.7 mile ride).  I spent a lot of time punching and massaging my left thigh to get it to loosen.

That early start forced me to be very weak at my strongest point...hills.  In fact, someone I'd been riding with said he looked forward to the hills so he could catch up with me.  We were tooling up the biggest hill, I'm just trying to avoid hitting the cramp stage again, so I'm not working very hard at all.  We're talking and sharing stores, in particular riding experiences.  I mentioned it was my first tour.  He asked how long I'd been riding and I shared that about 14 months ago I was around 300 pounds.  That almost cause a small accident as riders ahead jerked their heads back to see me.  At the time we are pace for 5:20!

I caught my second wind and the cramps went away for a while.  I cooked along with a group for about 45 minutes and we smoked at a steady 28-30 mph!  That was freaking sweet.  During that portion of the race a young lady asked to buy me a beer after the race.

I stopped to get water and use the bathroom before the last 28 miles, which are always the toughest of this course, and in particular today because of a strong wind directly in our faces.

After stopping for water, a few of us rode a half mile down the road only to be stopped at the train.  Not a bad thing as a large group formed, which allowed us to make better time into the wind and up the hill.  The group proved very fast, almost 30 mph uphill into the wind and I soon began to cramp again.

I dropped out of the group after 12 miles.  I still had 16 to go and found myself facing the wind and steady climb alone with cramping legs and that internal heat that says I've redlined too many times already.  I rode along pushing as much as I could.  I looked for my last cliff bar...couldn't find it (it fell out in the car!).  I recovered on the bike and went along as best I could before eventually catching another group.

When I finished I had a decent push, pulling ahead of my pack for a while...but then the cramps struck again and I just coasted in, not pedaling at all.

My unofficial time was 5:49:20.  My chip time will be quite a bit faster.  Either way, I wanted to break 6 hours and even if I hadn't, my effort was superior.  I've never worked that hard at anything.  I pushed and pushed and had nothing left...then I'd push some more.

I didn't ride alone today.  My brother-in-law, whose company sponsored me, joined me.  He's been riding just 3 months.  He did the 111 mile route and completed it in 6:40!  Wow.  Quite a special day.

The highlight of the day:  Seeing my wife at the finish line.