Thursday, November 18, 2010

We Have Lift-off

This morning, as the dreams about rabbits and unicorns faded away and I slid back into consciousness, I automatically started a self diagnostic.  Head?  No pain.  Nose and throat?  Clear.  Limbs and joints?  Fresh.  "Good", I thought to myself, "I am feeling fine".  Then a I fell back into a slumber.

But I didn't stay down for long.  I suddenly realized that I felt FINE.  And feeling fine meant I was going get in some workouts today.  So like an 8 year old at Christmas (no joke), I flung off the covers, rummaged through the closet for a pair of bib shorts and cycling jersey and hit the bathroom.

My plan was for a 15 mile ride to work, a 20 mile lunch ride and then a 5 mile run back home.  Recognizing that there were some holes in the logistics, I asked my wife to drop off a gym bag with some street and running clothes and at my office on her way to work.  That way, I would have something to change into and also have my running stuff for later.  (Note to Big Daddy Diesel:  I was planning on leaving the bike overnight.  Note to Raegun: A combination of wet naps, being the boss and 4 super-cool co-workers is usually enough to keep everyone happy after a bike ride.  I have not tried this with a run, however)

I was out the door at seven thirty for the the first 15 mile ride.  After about a mile there is a short but steep climb which I hit pretty hard.  But at the crest, I settled into an easy, high cadence spin in the small chain ring.  It felt really nice to get the legs moving.  As Craig from Let's Do This Again mentioned today, we had quite a marine layer roll in last night, but by the time I got there the Coast Highway was fairly clear.  That is except for the sketchiest (on a good day) part of the route - the bridge over Anaheim Bay was completely socked in with fog.  It was literally like riding into a wall of mist from some B movie horror flick.  I could see maybe 100 feet, so it was not ideal at all.  I hugged the shoulder and got across as fast as I could.  At the other end of the bridge, I came out of the fog just as quickly as I went in.  That put me in Seal Beach, where I turned inland on the San Gabriel River Trail.  I got off after about a mile and doubled back into Huntington.

When I arrived at the office, the scheduling problems started.  My one o'clock meeting needed later, and a couple of calls got scheduled throughout the morning.  Since it's the job that pays for the bike (and the shoes, the clothing, the race fee's and Lord knows what else), priority clearly lies there.  But with some quick calculations, I figured I could sneak out at four, which would give me time for a 10 mile ride home and then the run.

I left work, and after some awkward surface road maneuvers (many traffic signals and left turns),  I found myself back on the Coast Highway riding south.  I though it was going great - I was holding steady at 21, 22 MPH despite a strong cross wind from the west, and loving every minute of it.  Suddenly, this other guy just tore by me.  Now mind you, it's not like I never get passed.  But I rarely get blown off the road like this when I'm going as fast as I was.  It's usually more like a "conversational" pass, where there is time to say "hello" and "how are you doing?".  Not today, and it was a tick on the wrong side of the ego score card for sure.  I tried to get on his wheel, but realized in about 3 seconds that it was not going to happen.  Eventually, I made the turn inland and rode home with another 10 miles racked up.

I wouldn't say I pulled off a proper "T2", because at a race you don't need to mess with the garage door opener, check your email and pet the dogs.  However, I was changed into evening running kit and back out the door in about 15 minutes.  The first mile was at a nice 8:20 pace, and I was feeling good.  For the second mile, I turned it up and dropped into a 7:30 pace, where I planned to stay for the rest of the run.  It should be noted that this pace was not selected for any training value, rather it is how fast I needed to run to get home in time to pick up Ian.  Everything was going fine until about the 2 1/2 mile mark, where I got a sudden stitch on the left side.  I NEVER cramp here, so I kept running thinking to myself "OK, so this is what these feel like.  And it kind of sucks."  In fact I was so wrapped up in the fact that I had a new kind of cramp that it took me a half mile to realize that not only did it suck, it really HURT.  Badly.  Once the realization of the pain hit me I had to slow down.  I walked a quarter mile and felt fine enough to start running again, albeit at a slower pace.  So since the clock was ticking, I decided I had to cut things short and blew off the last mile.

I picked up Ian with 5 minutes to spare.

So, yeah, my first day back.  Not quite what I planned, but I still got in just under 2 hours of training.  I'll take it.  But the best part about is that it seems that I'm feeling fine. Thanks for all your comments of well wishes yesterday, I appreciate it!!

27 comments:

valen said...

legend

Johann said...

Awesome! Great that you still feel good after the training. Cured for sure! Have a great weekend!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

- wet wipes are gold, best way to clean up while still having to work

- did the guy at least say "hi" when he passed, I dont care if I get passed, I do care when I say hi and get nothin in return, ticks me off for a bit

KovasP said...

Maybe Chris Lieto in training? He probably said hi but with the Doppler effect, just slipped right by you.

Jennifer said...

Welcome back to the world! great come back.

Shawn said...

Nothing beats getting back on the saddle....keep it up

Pahla said...

Excellent day of training? Check!
Well executed, my friend, glad you're feeling better.

Christi said...

Great workout!

Unknown said...

Congrats on getting back into training!

Jason said...

Nice job, and picking up the little one with 5 minutes to go is the perfect ending to the training.

Hope this illness is truly in the past and you can keep on keeping on.

Ironman By Thirty said...

Nice work on getting the workouts in despite the schedule.

Glad to hear you are feeling better!

DRog said...

Oof the side stitch suuuuucks! great job on that training

Unknown said...

Look at you, father, athlete, worker and you fit it all in!

Aimee said...

Wow...sounds like an awesome day! Way to fit it all in and still have 5min. to spare to pick up your son! :)

TRI714 said...

YAH !! Way to rock it. If that dude was on a Cervelo with earbuds, I hate him too. I don't really, but a guy awhile past smoked past me like that. I made the mistake of trying to take pulls with him, in which he never flintched. After I made my turn off and thought about it I came to the conclusion that A. I was not needed in his ride or B. I was not needed in his ride :-(.
Anyways, great all out effort brother. I hope you feel equally as strong today.

Big Clyde said...

and that is what they call a COMEBACK!

One Crazy Penguin said...

Yay on feeling better :)

Unknown said...

Glad you're feeling better! And that's what I would consider a great comeback day - all roadblocks and all!

Lucas R. Tucker said...

great job getting moving again!

Julie @ HotlegsRunner said...

great comeback! Woohoo! Glad you're feeling much better =)

*Please read my blog post for today. I am shamelessly plugging it coz I REALLY don't want YOU to miss it. Check it out and you'll understand why =)

Anonymous said...

This is a great example of how to fit it all in. Glad you're feeling better and able to hit the pavement. Love how you seize the seconds and opportunities to get your training in.

Teamarcia said...

Sounds like a very productive day!

Raegun said...

Back with a vengeance - well done!

Chris K said...

Patrick, sorry, I've not been able to keep up on blogs and didn't know that you were on the DL. Sounds like a crazy day. Way to stay hyper focused. Isn't it weird how we appreciate the ability to train so much more after it's been taken away from us. Well, I do at least.

Glenn Jones said...

Way to make a statement!

ajh said...

Sounds like a great workout!

Unknown said...

I live by Baby Wipes for my lunch runs. If they're good enough for the astronauts....

Nice job making time to get it in (and I love that your wife got in on the plan.)

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