What Happened?!?

Here is my nifty report of how my rally went this weekend.

This is the Tour of Italy.  I remembered once we got there, why this one is a challenge for me..the parking!!

It takes so long that it bottlenecks at the entrance. You'd think after doing this for a few years, they'd figure out how to work around that.  The packet pickup is also kinda of wacky, so if you don't get there by 6 am (we left the house at 6 am), you sit in line for parking. I hopped out to get packets, which was actually pretty quick, so they've got that going quicker.  But it's still cumbersome. Two years in a row, we still don't get out on the road until everyone is gone.  It's not a timed event, so at least we don't have to leave with the pack.

Goals for this rally:  Only stop at the 50.  Ride at 20mph.  Ride strong.

If i had met all my goals, I would have finished the 63 miles in 3 hours.  

You'd think missing the rush out the gate would be an advantage, but we quickly realized we were having to pass all the slower riders. I have nothing against slower riders, I am one. But they aren't well versed in road etiquette.  So when you announce you're on the left, they either just sit there, or they move to the left. To get around them, I had to go into the oncoming lane of traffic. I hate doing that, but luckily there was very little traffic.  The additional downside of starting late, is that you're losing 30-45 of the cooler weather. 

I had a great push for the first 12 miles. But i'm not a fast starter, so I blew myself up trying to pass the slower people.  That means a lot of energy wasted.
I had a bit of a recovery and we pushed again.  About 30 miles, i was burning up from all the extreme pushes, and no warm up.  So we slowed a bit. IT's all sort of blurry exactly when i needed to slow down to recovery on which miles, I do know that the hills were winding me pretty good.  

Around 45 miles, I started to get really hungry, but other than my regular weariness, that's about all i felt. I realized i was running a bit low on water, and thinking i had really far to go, I opted us to stop at the last stop, which was around 50.  Turns out, it was further out than that. Had i realized i wasn't that much further from the end, I would have pushed through.

As we hopped off our bikes at the last rest stop, I suddenly was overwhelmed with dizziness and nausea. I was fine on the bike, but felt this sudden loss of...everything.  I had a hard time getting a grip on it.  Ramsey soon realized that I was having a rough moment, so he sat me down under a tent and got me some gatorade and fruit.  

That was the weirdest bonk I'd ever had. Usually i feel the hunger pangs and they get bad before i bonk. But i'd been eating and drinking.  Now i realize I probably wasn't eating enough while riding.  

By the time i had recovered enough to ride, my infamous left hamstring contracted into an extremely painful ball and my sunglasses were all smudged.  So i tried to get them cleaned up enough to see and start pedaling. Wow that hurt.  I had very little left and R man had to push me up a hill.  The more i rode,the more i recovered. Then i realized i was only a few miles from the finish. DARNIT!!!   

If i had pushed through, I could have bonked my little butt off at the end and gotten my time. As it was, I lost 15-20 minutes at the rest stop, and finished 3:30.  

Ramsey analyzed my food for the last few weeks since i started the nutrition plan, and determined that I had way under eaten the past two weeks. The cool news, is that eating like that gave me enough fuel to blow up 55 solid miles, but that I would be toast afterwards.   Lesson learned is that I need to eat more. (YEA!). Of course, eating more, means more brocolli and clean carbs. Thank god for sweat potatoes!

Resting two days before also was important.  If i hadn't done that, i would have been even more depleted.

I blew off the food plan for my cheat meal, which turned into a cheat day. I hate a whataburger and fries (OMG IN HEAVEN) and then absorbed half a large pizza by osmosis, and still didn't gain a pound!

Sunday morning, I was roused early to go run. ugh 9 miles.  So much for laying in bed and enjoying a relaxing morning.  I was reminded that the 3X is going to be like this, so i needed to get my butt going.

Suprisingly, I ran almost the whole 9 miles with a few breaks at first, and of course, slower over Norbuck to get some trail in. But i felt strong, and that's the first time i've actually enjoyed running.  What a high.

My stupid Garmin watch didn't record my run, and it's really outdated. I need to get a new watch, but I'm on the fence.

Today, i weighed.  When i started this, I went from 138 to 148 and today weighed at 139.  Why the huge gain? I went off diuretics. So my 139 today is clean, and I've lost an inch. Thank you jeans.

I am back on the plan by Sunday, and spent my rest night cooking.  Today's lunch is very lean ground turkey with rotel and a side of sweet potato. To be honest, the food I'm eating now, tastes really good and can be done on a budget.  My skin is really clearing up, and I feel and sleep better.  Damnit. I still miss donuts, tho.

More later, and clear skies.