Why is Wayne ALWAYS right?

Spent the weekend (third of three spent out of town – you should see my apartment) in Guerneville with Alex, Skeeter, Kim and her husband Jerry. I was pysched for a relaxing weekend away (no 10,000 feet of climbing), with a leisurely bike ride and a really long run.

I was exhausted for most of the week, and spent some time negotiating with Wayne re: the status of Saturday’s ride. He suggested I skip it altogether, and focus on my long run Sunday (19 miles). I was not ok with this (triple type A personality, with less than 5 weeks to go…there’s limited time left to be on the bike!), so we agreed on 50 miles. Well, he agreed. In my head, I reasoned I’d ride the full 80, then shoot off an “I’m so tough, look what I did” email to Wayne when I finished.

Yeah, well. The guy’s not the head coach for no reason. (Maybe I ought to start considering he knows what he is talking about. Nine times out of ten I take his word as gospel...but then sometimes I ignore it, and I do things like cry on bike rides.)

It was supposed to be a scorcher, so we got up at 6 and were ready to ride by 7. Off we went. Or, really, off went Alex, Kim, and Jerry. I pedaled and pedaled, and couldn’t keep up. This is discouraging any time, but it was beyond maddening when it was mile TWO. Of 80. By mile five I couldn’t even see them. They were not going all that fast (though their average for the day was 17.6, it was much less when I was still near). They generously waited for me at a turn, and we regrouped, and set off again. There they went. Again.

By now I was reconsidering my desire to do 80. I mean, really…Wayne said I could take the day off entirely, or do 50. Maybe 50 was fine. I was either going to ride 80 all by myself, and slowly (I think I was averaging about 13 mph), or I could suck it up, admit I was wrong, and do the 50. I did the latter. Alex drew me a map in the dirt, with sticks, and we agreed that in Healdsburg I would take a different route and head back to the house. No challenging ride is complete without a few tears, so in between the map-drawing and the parting, I sobbed a good bit while I rode.

(Seriously, Mo. It’s a freaking bike ride. You’re tired. Get over yourself. I realized how ridiculous I was being and tried to get it back together. I mean, at least I wasn’t going to have to ride 80 miles in 100 degree weather! Isn’t that excellent?)

We parted in Healdsburg, and I hoped that my memory of the dirt-stick drawing would work out, as I had $10 and no phone. I stopped at a gas station to pee and get more water, confirmed the next turn with some guy, and was on my merry way.

And suddenly, my day was ok. I wasn’t trying to keep up with anyone, I was just out enjoying the ride and the scenery (so maybe this is what it’s like to just…enjoy riding). It was over much too soon, and I found myself back at the house just after 2:30 of riding. 45 miles. I considered going back out for more, but reined it in and did the right thing (that is, I showered, sat on the porch, drank lemonade, and read a book. Yeah.)

Sunday 6/18
Longest run since Napa! Longest Pre-Ironman run! It's all downhill from here! Of the three of us, I’m the only one doing Placid, so I had my longest run today. I left the house at 7 to run for 40 minutes alone before circling back to get Kim and Alex for their run. It was already getting warm. Kim very nicely joined me for the next 13.5 miles , and we ran through Guerneville, out through Anderson Woods, and back. I love running with people I don’t normally run with, as we have everything in the world to talk about, and the time sped by. We got back to the house, Kim peeled out, and I ran one more loop around the neighborhood (1.3 miles) to finish things off right at 3 hours.

Check, done. 19 miles run before 10:30 a.m.!