The Lake Loop

Often times it's not about being the fastest, the strongest, or the coolest, all of which I am not. Sometimes it's about, in the words of Tony Horton, "Doing your best and forgetting the rest."

*Uriah and I relax post workout.

"This is my dream and this is what I am going to do."  - Brodacious 

I woke up and knew today was my day.  This was the best day weather-wise of 2013, the winds were relatively calm, and my legs felt fast enough to catch the Unicorn. 

*Dream morning at the Tri Pad

The lake loop is my favorite bike ride ever.  It's like a Unicorn because it can be elusive and hard to capture.  The ride is nearly 70 miles that includes a lot of climbing, desolate stretches, wind, timeless scenery, and stunning views of the lake and landscape. It is like riding in a dream world.  It sometimes turns into a nightmare though, the elements can be brutal.  This ride can break your body and your spirit.

*Yes, my Hammer Nutrition/53x11 Kit matches my bike.

*The 1500 calories I would be using to get through the next 6 hours

This ride has been on my mind for a long time.  A few times I attempted it the results weren't good.  One time the winds whipped up so fierce I could barely move in my easiest gear. I abandoned and went home.  Last year about this time I was about 10 miles in and I wasn't feeling it, I went home because you have to be on the top of your game or you'll end up in a bad situation.

I have simple dreams, but I pursue them fiercely and I consider myself one of the best at making the simple dreams into drama filled adventures. :)  It was my dream to take this ride to a new level, a level I have not yet reached.  My plan was to ride the lake loop, something I've done before, but I wanted to combine it with a nearly 9 mile lake run.  I have never done the two as part of the same workout.

Honestly, the only thing I have combined with the lake loop is post ride incapacitation. It's ridiculously tiring for me to ride it, I'm a wimp. :)

*Kitted out, checking the weather and the winds.

Knowing you have to ride your bike for almost 70 miles and then run for over an hour after is a tough pill to swallow.  The thought builds anxiety in my body.  My dream was to do this workout, simple, yet it meant everything to me.  This was my dream and I was going to live it. 

*Smile if you love shorts without waistbands!

OR...

*Strike a pose if you are digging the arm sleeves!

The start of the ride, the first 16 miles, is my least favorite.  It starts with a gradual incline that drags on for miles and miles.  The wind is also prone to blowing head on as you slog up the false flat. The traffic is also at its worst for this stretch.  The starting stretch is a "just get through it" type of start to the day.  It makes you appreciate the epic-ness to come all the more.

*First few miles of a long day.

*Loooong stretch all by myself

*Where am I going?  Top left corner of this photo and beyond.

Miles 17 to 25 are my favorites, by far.  The huge hills force you in and out of the saddle to climb, the views are great, and the  downhills are furious.  This section also includes riding in close proximity to the water's edge and riding across the dam.  I love the leg burn, up and down, and pure serenity of this section.  

There was a slight problem though...

*Oh no, not good...

In the distance I saw the familiar orange signs signally construction.  I also saw the dirt road that had replaced the paved portion that should have been there.  I climbed to the start of the construction, my mind trouble shooting what I was going to do.

I stopped to speak with the flag man.  He asked if I was going through.  I believe that so many things can be remedied with a positive attitude so I smiled and I told Mike (my new best friend) about the ride I was doing.  I pretended like I knew what I was doing, like I was an expert in this situation, like it was nothing out of the ordinary and asked, "Do you have a DOT pilot truck?"  I quickly followed his "yes," with a "Do you think they'd give me a ride."  I waited for the answer with nervous anticipation... "Sure."    

*Mike wanted his picture taken. lol

*Janet Bike ready for a shuttle service.  

The feeling of "I can't believe they said yes" overwhelmed me.  It was very nice of Mike to give me a ride, and honestly I was tickled with the hilarity of the situation.  Mike seemed to enjoy himself as well, he didn't mind me taking his picture, and he talked my ear off for the mile and a half I rode with him.

He let me off when the pavement started again, enthusiastically wished me well, and I got back to pedaling.  I was gleaming from the simple fun that I just experienced. 

*Mike told me a few funny construction worker jokes.  The ride and the jokes were free.

The backside of the lake can be tough because it's relatively flat, you can see forever, and the wind can scream.  However, I enjoyed the vast fields, never ending pavement, and the wind that tugged my jersey and opposed my every effort.  I rode through a desolate stretch and saw a dump truck up next to the road.  I gave the arm-piston motion and the driver honked the horn.  I laughed out loud and found it oddly hilarious. 

*The Bait Shop, if you really hit the wall you can purchase snacks here.

*Getting ready to zoom down this hill and take a sweeping corner.

*A nice fisher-lady took my picture.  When she told me I had a "cute outfit," I smiled and replied, "Thanks, I picked it out myself." lol

*My favorite part of the whole ride

*In a word, "Wow!"

*After 9/11 it's rare to be able to ride or drive across dams.

*You get to ride right next to the water while smelling and feeling the coolness of it.

*Tunnel of trees as I climb away from the lake.

*Climb baby, climb!

*This remote campground was supposed to be my refreshment point, clearly not operational yet.

*The words "heck" and "yeah" come to mind.

*You can see the lake way off in the distance.

*What's the point of having a huge mountain and a bike if you don't combine the two?  

*I can see my house on the other side of the lake, 20 miles by bike, not that comforting actually.

*Miles and miles of farm land...and wind.

*At times I lose my identity and just feel like a blowing tumbleweed. 

*Mooooooooo

I had to fight the wind for about an hour in total, which sounds miserable, but for this ride it wasn't bad. It was still enough to take it out of me though and I was glad when I made it to town.  I stopped at the local mini mart to replenish my water supply so I would be hydrated and ready to run in another 10 miles.

*Sight for sore eyes, civilization.  This is Main Street.

*Best $.99 ever spent, I bought the 32 oz water on the left.

*When your bike is the only thing connecting you to getting home, you don't park it outside.  I parked it right next to the movies and did my shopping.

I had to fight the toughest wind of the day at the end of the ride.  Once I made the final mile I was shifting my focus from "OMG I am so tired," to "Alright big boy, it's time to run."  I took about 5 minutes to change clothes and shoes and set out.  There is no other feeling like that of starting a run on tired legs.  It's one of my favorite things in the whole world.

The most treasured moment during this workout is when you reach that edge of being so tired that another step takes all your focus and effort.  It takes hours of building fatigue to get there.  It's so simplistically satisfying to live in the moment of "just keep running for another minute."  I love being so tired that I'm right on the verge of stopping, but using everything I have to keep moving my legs.  I love getting home and being so tired that I frankenstein it around like a zombie for an hour.

*The final "dirt mile," legs get me home.

The run was just as fun as the bike.  I ran next to the lake for 40 of the 70 minutes.  The cool breeze off the water cooled me down while the first warm sun of spring radiated down.  The weird thing is that I felt great for an hour, then fatigue hit me in the head like a hammer.  I really had to focus to get home.  When I get tired I use a lot of self talk, "Come on Bry, stay tough and get what you came her for. How bad to you want this, Brodacious!"  When I did finally get home after being in motion for over 6 hours, I just sat on the step.  

*After being on-the-go cycling and running for over 6 hours, I just wanted to sit still for 15 minutes and relish in how much fun I had.

This is the most tired I have been in a long time and I felt very accomplished.  I love these workouts.  What a great day.  This was worth every second, I achieved my goal and took my dream workout to a new level. This is what I love more than anything and I had a smile on my face the rest of the day.

*The day after was hot tub recovery.  Uriah is giving you the double guns.

What did you do with your Saturday :)

Spring Classic Triathlon

*Winner's medal and a BIG smile :)

I am training through the early races so I did a pretty hard speed workout the night before.  Friday was really rainy which inspired me.  Every time I have done a rainy workout the night before a race I have had great success.  I did my speed workout sprints and tired out my legs at the baseball field by Kevin’s house.  I loved it, I had my tunes going and I felt so good, I didn’t mind being wet. 

*A picture of my dad doing his thing when he was my age

In my trophy room I have a picture of my dad running a marathon.  In the picture he is a year or two older than I am now.  It is one of my favorite things in the entire room.  My dad and I are very different in some ways, but during one point in the Friday workout I was wondering if the way I am feeling right now is similar to how my dad felt when he was doing his running thing at my age.  I read my dad’s running log and it was surprising how similar we appear to be with our workout diaries.  Based on the picture it would appear that I tend to celebrate a little more at the finish line. :)

I owe a big thank you to Kevin and Anne for their hospitality.  It was so nice of them to make dinner and to allow me to stay at their house.  I had a great time with Kevin before and after the race.  He is one of the funniest people I have ever met.  Heck, I’d even say he is the funniest.  It was so fun to relax before the race, joke, and watch movies.  It reminded us both of 4 years ago when we did something similar when we should have been studying graduate school stuff.  Those are great memories; we’ve come along way since the time we couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as one another, funny how that works. 

*We both wore sweet outfits

*Enjoyed a healthy pre race meal

*And rode in style in Kevin's new car

One of the funnier moments of the weekend was when we got to the race and asked, “Where are the bike racks?”  In respect for the parties involved, I am going to change a few of the identifying details of the explanation I received in response to my inquiry.  I will do my best to add legalese for dramatic effect, because in my opinion a crime has been committed.  J

There were no bike racks for our rides because the party or parties who had custody of said bike racks was in a dispute with the owner of the bike racks.  The custodian of the bike racks, as a result of such dispute, allegedly ignited and proceeded to incinerate the bike racks.  As a result, there were no bike racks, all that remains is the outlandish story, and the hard truth that we had to lay our bikes on the ground, lean them against garbage cans, or find some other way to prop them up.  It is undetermined at this point if the missing and undelivered race t-shirts were connected to the same bike rack destroying perpetrator.  All I know is the shirt is not in the rightful place, on my back.    

*Kevin's prime transition spot

*Murder Machine in transition

After we made our make shift transition zone, we headed to the water.  I told Kevin that this was the coldest water I have ever been in, not just swam in, but the coldest I have ever set foot in.  Triathlon wetsuits are amazing things, without them the water, which I estimated to be in the mid 40s could easily cause hypothermia in minutes.  Even with the wetsuits, we all started a ticking clock as the early signs of hypothermia set in. 

*Swim start

Lucky for us, the swim was pretty short. I would say that at most, even with the wetsuit, someone would experience hypothermia of various but serious degree within 20 to 30 minutes of being in the water with a wetsuit.  By the time I was nearing the swim exit, I definitely felt it setting in.  On the back-stretch of the swim I was in the lead, but my arms were shutting down.  When your body gets cold it starts to cease the blood flow to your extremities in order to preserve the heat in your head and essential organs.  My arms were shutting down at the end of the swim and when I exited the water my arms and legs were barely under my control.

*Swim exit, let the thaw begin

I made a good transition and left on the bike in first.  The whole bike was cold, and it’s always a suffer-fest to ride hard early in the season.  I rode hard, fought the blustery wind, had a little bit of luck come my way, and I came off the bike frozen but in the lead. 

*The weather was terrible, which was perfect for me

Transition two was frustrating.  I couldn’t feel my feet or hands and as I tried to put my shoes on I crushed the back of the shoe down.  My calf cramped when I pointed my toes to put on my shoe because of being so cold.  After getting my shoes on I took off on the run.  I ran hard, still not feeling my feet, and put time into the chasers.  I again fought the wind and cold, made it to the finish line thankful to be done, and thankful to win after knocking on the door for years.  

One of the best race moments was when Kevin went head to head in a sprint finish.  I looked up from the finish area and saw Kevin running side by side coming in.  I said, “I gotta see this.”  I ran down the finish lane in the opposite direction towards Kevin.  As he and the other race battled, I yelled to Kevin, “Kick from here, you can do it!”  Kevin kicked and won the spot.  What makes the story all the better is the fact that Kevin said he drafted the guy for two miles on the run.  The wind was super tough so it was a smart move. 

After using this gentleman to knock the wind out of the way, Kevin passed him in the final stretch to take the spot as if to say “Thanks I will take it from here.”  We all had a huge laugh about Kevin tucked out of the wind behind the guy for 15 minutes only to steal the thunder in the last 30 seconds.  I am still smiling about it.  Those are the special race moments that I enjoy, when strategy, opportunity, and execution meet it is a very satisfying and entertaining moment.  Kevin did a good job seizing his opportunity. 

*Kevin with his medal, his whip, and his new car

Tri season is off to a good start! 

Thanks for reading.