My century ride that wasn't, but still felt like it took one

[reginaphalange72]

I went up to ride the full IMLP bike course today (FYI, the trailers for their equipment are already there).  It was a disaster.  Worst ride ever.  I'm hoping it's the whole "bad rehearsal, good show" thing we had going on in high school drama club.  I hope...

My bike had a flat yesterday, so I changed it last night - at 10pm.  I forgot about it before that, so I was scrambling to take care of it before I had to leave for my ride this morning.  But once I changed it, I realized I didn't have any other spare tubes anymore.  So I took a shot, and went to the 24 hour walmart at 10:30pm.  (I absolutely never go there, but it was the only place open that might possibly have one.)  However, I couldn't find a tube that would fit.  Whomp whomp.  So I went home and patched the one that I had just taken out of my tire and hoped I wouldn't need it.

See where I'm going here?  Yeah...

5.5 miles out from Lake Placid, nearly to the top of the Keene Descent, I heard something weird.  I flatted.  Same stupid wheel (the back).  I put the patched tube back in, inflated it, and it seemed okay.  I didn't trust the patched tube for the whole ride (smart decision), so I called the bike shop back in town (5.5 miles away), and gave them a heads up that I was coming in.  Then I crossed my fingers and hoped I would get back without flatting again.

No dice.

I ended up having to walk the last .25 - .5 miles or so back to the bike shop (I had been occasionally reinflating with my CO2 along the way, and ran out), where they fixed it.  Turned out I had a piece of glass hidden in there that I didn't see when I checked the rim and the tire.  Repaired and restocked (2 new tubes and 2 new CO2 canisters), I headed back out, now delayed by 2 hours, and having ridden an extra 10.5 miles that I wasn't planning on.  At this point, I was still hoping to do the full 112 because I really wanted to see how my legs would feel doing the climb out of Jay at the very end (if you are unfamiliar with the IMLP bike course, the last 26 miles of the loop are uphill and it SUCKS - oh, and you do it twice).

So I headed back out, for attempt #2.  But the flat and the scrambling to fix it threw me off and I felt like complete and total crap the whole way.  Going down the Keene Descent was fun, but other than that, it completely sucked.  By the time I went to turn onto 86 and start the (first) climb out of Jay, I was a full 1 mph slower (average speed) than I normally am.  And I need that 1 mph.  I was pissed.

The climb sucked.  Everything sucked.  I started to get really mad and frustrated.  I was two hours behind where I should have been from the flat, AND I was going significantly slower than normal.  And I just didn't have any gas.

Eventually (around 2:30 pm), I got back to my car.  I had originally set out on the course at 8:15 am.  It was ridiculous.  I should have been back around 12:15 (I'm slow).  My poor dogs have been home alone since 6:15 am, and if I set out for loop #2 now, I won't be done until just before 7 pm, and not home until 8:30ish.  TB offered to stop by and let them out, thank goodness.  So I decided to suck it up and try loop #2.

That was a big fat flop.

By the time I got to the top of the Keene Descent, I was shaky and weak, and absolutely miserable.  I knew I didn't have the gas to go over the top and down into the valley, only to have to climb out again at the end.  There was no way.  I was bonking, and bonking HARD.  At the top of the descent, I admitted defeat, turned around, and headed back to my car.  When I got back to the car, I ate everything I could possibly find.  I think my blood sugar just completely tanked.  I felt like there was nothing left in my legs, arms, back, or neck.  Everything took more effort than my body wanted to give at that point.

I ended up doing just shy of 80 miles (total - including the tire debacle in the beginning).  I'm not happy with this one bit, and race day is going to be interesting.

/vent or whine, whatever this is.





ETA to fix typo.

[Wines Not Whines]

I'm sorry you had such a bad day. This was a fluke. Don't let it get to you!

[Deleted]

Ugh. I'm so sorry there were so many things working against you!! I hate those days. Just shake it off and move forward. You'll be fine!

[Brit]

Just shake it off. It was a bad ride, it does not mean that you are unprepared. Sometimes shit like that just happens. Good to get it out of the way before race day.

[sadlebred]

Sorry you had a bad day. I don't know what IM training is like, but for centuries/long rides if you can do at least 75% of the distance in training you will be fine for the day of the ride. (YYMV, IMTrainingMV)

[blndsnbrdr]

Sorry you had such a sucky ride, but remember that it sucked because of circumstances (tire fiasco) not because of your fitness. You were out there hours longer than planned and the tire had seriously messed with your mental game. Shake it off and go back at it, try not to focus on it!

[katandkevin]

Try to forget it. I had a crappy ride before my half IM and if I let it beat me I wouldn't have raced. You can do this. Use it as a learning tool and move passed it. You are awesome for even going after the flat debacle, a lot of people would have given up there. You've got this girl!

[reginaphalange72]

Thanks everybody. I'm also frustrated because my training has taken a backseat to life, so I'm not as ready as I want to be, but I still should have been able to do this today.

Now it's time to sleep it off.

[kams]

What a rough one. Better to get a bad day out of the way now - the universe owes you a great day! You're going to kill it, I have no doubt!

[joenali]

80 isn't bad for all the shit you had to put up with!!

[trigal]

You'll be fine! I only rode 65 on Saturday (that's all I had planned). There is not much you can do to help your training at this point and this won't hurt what you have done!

[katinthehat]

I seriously can't believe you got back out there - if stamina is any portion of the IM training battle, you've got that nailed. Whether or not you got your physical training in on that ride, you surely got the mental training of that nailed. I think you did a great job, even if it wasn't the job you wanted to do.

[pixy0stix]

I probably would have quit after the tire fiasco, so keeping on going is phenomenal in my book. Way to go!

[libbygrl109]

I'm sorry the ride was a mess, but I am super impressed by how much you stuck with it. If that is any indication, I think you'll rock it during the race.