Training Mistakes, Wind and Family Guilt

There were some clear lessons I learned this weekend none of them good. I'll break it down by training mistakes and then add the others. I rode a little over 80 miles this weekend in a 36 mile Saturday and a 45 mile Sunday. Saturday's weather was nearly perfect. Sunday was warmer, but the wind was a beast. I rode 4-6 degrees leaning into the wind at points and every direction on the compass seemed to be into a headwind. I lost time and energy in the wind. Wind like we get sometimes here can make a 40 mile ride feel like a 60 mile or more ride when you're done.

Saturday I took off way too fast in the beginning and I never got my heart rate under control. I ended up running 36 miles at 18.3 mph, but my average heart rate was 165 or at least 10-maybe 15 beats per minute too fast. My main problem was pace and control. I took off fast with no warm up and my body felt pretty good, but my lungs felt over used and abused when I was done and I know I lost power and speed toward the end when I was near empty. The reason possibly came from getting a later start than I wanted for my 36 mile route and wanting to beat the sun home. Dumb! I should have adjusted my route length and rode smarter.

Luckily, I felt pretty good Sunday and slept pretty well. I ate smart and got an earlier start thanks to my lovely and tolerant wife. I packed my bike in the Jeep to leave from my son's soccer tournament. Coming off the field he asked me for a drink off one of my water bottles and promptly drained half of a 24 oz bottle. I didn't think about it at the time and took off. I packed a decent amount of ride nutrition and a bit to spare since I was going longer so I was good there. Normally I take $5-$6 with me to refuel if needed while I'm out. I forgot this time, which is something I won't do again anytime soon. I was nearly bone dry at the 34-35 mile mark and completely dry at the 40 mile mark. I rode past my in-laws house to see if my mother in law would take pity on her boneheaded son in-law. Neither she nor my father in-law were home. That was at the 32 mile mark. By then I had already checked my jersey pocket and discovered no money there.

I took the most direct route home, but that was 13-14 miles from their house. I had a phone and could have called my wife to come bail me out, but I didn't want to do that, not because she would heckle me about it. I didn't want to admit I had been so dumb. Male ego strikes again! I limped home crawling up hills and trying to take advantage of the descents. My average speed on the ride when I was fueled was 19.4, that was awesome considering I was averaging 155 bpm on my heart rate. I felt good-right before the bottom fell out. I landed on my door step, very tired from the ride and the wind as well as completely empty. I crushed water bottles until I got a brain freeze and tried to get back something with a recovery drink. Both helped a little.

My wife then announced that I was cooking dinner since she had done the mom taxi thing and given me over 4 1/2 hours of ride time for the weekend. I could have whined, but I didn't. Instead I decided to make a great dinner and suck it up. The family was happy with the dinner. I announced I was dropping into the couch and the kids could get the dishes. I slept like I was in a coma and I'm sore today, if not wiser.

Now for the family guilt. I felt bad leaving my son's second game on Saturday to go ride, so I probably let that into my head as I took off. My wife was perfectly ok with me riding after both games on Sunday because she had run earlier in the day, but I didn't want to have her stop her mom time to come rescue me. My son didn't mind me riding because he thinks my training and racing is "cool". He understands training time too since he's an awesome little soccer player. I wouldn't use the "little" in front of him since he's 12 and clearly not little.

My wife would have lovingly come scrape me off the road without anything other than a smile and a knowing look that her husband had let testosterone and ego do him in as well as his legendary lack of memory. Both love me regardless and I am lucky, but I think I still feel a bit of guilty along with some sore legs and shoulders. All of that will heal with time. It was a good weekend with family that love and support me sometimes in spite of myself.