I’m going to bullet point since my concentration is not high enough to layout well written story.
• Pre ride we had one of our team mates speak about her reasons for joining TNT. Her story was much like mine, so much that I got teary eyed. Emily lost her partner to cancer two years prior. She joined TNT a year later to help get through those hard dates that would be coming up, birthdays, anniversaries…and to have a support group. I have not lost anyone to cancer yet (thank god) but I will and this is certain, what isn’t certain is when. As she told her story I thought about my reasons for joining the team. My sister and I have had the talk “What’s going to happen when dad passes? How are we going to handle it?” Neither of us know how to respond….we usually both grab a glass of wine/beer and just start talking about the good memories. Other then my sister who lives 300+ miles I away I will have no help with the pain. My mother is a cancer survivor but since my father wasn’t there for she when she was sick she despises the man and has no sympathy. So who will I turn to? What will I do? I now have a community of friends that have either gone through a loss or want to help people get through their loss. I feel loved by my team and know when that god awful day comes who I will be able to turn to. I allowed weakness to shine through as my eyes filled with water and I couldn’t restrain my tears. It was awful. Here I was, strong Kat…..crying…displaying weakness. I was comforted by hugs from people who cared….
• Start of the ride….I ride up at the front behind Lindsay…I don’t want to talk or be around anyone….again I feel weak.
• We tackle our first hill and my chain falls off. WTF else is new. I curse as I get off my bike and fix the chain.
• The first few hills build strength. I tackle them with ease, riding a high and equal cadence.
• Lol, we turn and OMG my jaw drops. Are we seriously going to climb that hill? Is that aerodynamically possible? Yes, yes it is with a little anaerobic threshold training. Lindsay’s response when I asked “Are we really going to climb that?” Was “You’ll thank me on race day.” I’m going to remember that.
• Then the treacherous downhill Logie Trail. I actually caught air going down this last year. Scared the shit out of me. It’s a steep descent immediately going into an extreme ascent. The middle that is flat is a curve so you can’t even get momentum to get up the ascent. Crazy to go balls to the wall fast to becoming anaerobic all in a matter or 1-2 minutes.
• First set of hills are done, energy is good. Time to refuel up on Trail Putty and my Oat/PB Raisin bars…mmm.mmmm.good.
• 8 miles or so of curves and rolling hills.
• Time for the girls to do a group pee in the bushes. So glad I got over that anxiety. It sucks riding on a full bladder.
• On to the next hill. 7 miles of steady climbing….nothing too steep just long and gradual. The only thing that was not so enjoyable was the rain pouring on the way down. My glasses need wipers.
• Over all I felt great up until the last 8 miles. I thought I’d be able to make it back without eating again but then thought to myself…why? I had fuel with me and there was no reason ride the last few miles out feeling fatigued….so I pulled over and down ¾ of a Cliff Bar. It immediately kicked in and I finished the ride strong.
Summary
• 44 miles with lots of hill climbing….Kat showing emotional weakness but becoming physically soooo much stronger.
No comments:
Post a Comment