the 100 mile virgin no longer!!

62 days to go!!
Holaaaa!! So here I am, ready for a wonderful week!!! Recovery week!!! So I think my injury is taking another direction. Or maybe I am actually getting better! Who knows? Now I have to use more heat pads, but I have less tingling sensation and my afternoons are less annoying, so that’s a positive. My lower back gets a little stiff after a long workout, so I do my never ending stretches, then right after I ice it and heat it, then I apply some refreshing Ben-gay, Icy Hot or the one Juana (my acupuncturist) gave me that’s natural. Yeah, I smell like an arthritic old woman! Hey, whatever works, right? Perhaps the acupuncture is actually doing something; I’d like to think that! So this weekend I did my ever first 100 miles on the bike!! I’m telling you, what a milestone!! It was a rough day, heavy wind, so heavy you could see tree branches bend! Every time I felt tail wind I kept thinking, “the head wind is gonna suck on the way back!” Of course, my group began riding at 21 mph, which for me is hard to maintain, much less in such distance, so I was ok having them dropping me. I was being pulled by my riding angel Kike, but after a while Coach Evil told him to go, and he stayed with me. Boy was I glad!! The wind was rough, so the pulling was much appreciated! I felt bad, because Frank (aka Coach Evil) stayed at a pace I could follow without killing myself. I know is a cliché, but truly is mind over body! Your body starts breaking down. My cooch started hurting, then my back was tired, then I got cramps in my toes. I didn’t know whether to ride aero or not.
So I was happy to see after 6 long hours I was done with my work out! Or was I? I still had to run the brick! So yes, I ran 40 minutes right after! I think that was more mentally painful than the ride! I couldn’t put one foot in front of the next, so I had to kick it Galloway style. I began running for 3 minutes, walking for one minute, so it wasn’t that excruciating. I just wanted to be over!!! Needless to say, I took a 3 hr nap, and ate a big wrap from Off the Grille!!
The only thing that kept me going is to keep reminding yourself why you’re doing this….but after 85 miles you ask yourself, wait a minute, why the hell am I doing this?