Double Trouble

Well this weekend certainly didn't go down the way I thought it would.  Heading out Saturday morning with a smaller group, by 7:00 am it was already hot.  Looks like summer is finally here.  The plan was to ride for about 5.5 hours even though I only had 4-5 hour ride.  I had switched Saturday's workout with Sunday as it was going to rain all day Sunday and I wasn't going to ride in the rain and risk a crash or ride my trainer for four hours.

We headed east and then north to Zephyr and then to Lake Simcoe.  A pretty uneventful ride until we got up to Weir Road (about 55 km away from home).  Weir Road is a nice smooth, lightly travelled road and we were riding along when I heard a loud bang.  At first I didn't know what that sound was or who it came from.  I started to slow down and pulled over to the side of the road.  Crap, my front tire blew out.  There was a gash about one inch long in the tire.  I had something like this when I was at NRG Mont Tremblant training camp and one of the coaches used an empty gel inside the tire to prevent the inner tube from poking through the hole.  With everyone watching, I changed the tube and inserted the gel pack and inflated the tire with a C02.  Unfortunately it didn't work as the gel pack moved and the inner tube bubbled through the hole.  I didn't want to waste another C02 but there was no way I could keep riding with the group so I called Tammy to pick me up.  She mentioned that I had several tires hanging in the basement.  These were the tires that I was using for my trainer in the winter.  She would bring a couple so I could continue my long ride.  There was a small town called Udora about four km away.  It was two km to Ravenshoe (a major road) and then another two km to the town.  Hopefully my tire would hold.

I headed back south down Weir Road by myself while the rest of the group rode north.  I rode very slow and easy but it lasted only 500 meters before it blew again. I started the long walk down the road with my shoes off as the bottom of my feet were killing. Clearly, bike cleats aren't made for walking. A couple of cars past me with no hesitation to slow down but a red SUV pulled over and a lady hopped out. She was running support for a group of bikers out of Whitby. I guess she passed my group and they sent her back. Thank God as it was a long long long walk to Ravenshoe Road. She offered to take me back to Markham but I didn't want to leave her riders stranded so I asked if she could take me to Zephyr which was about a 15 minute drive. I called Tammy and told her to meet me at Zephyr instead of Udora. She waited with me as she had a pump and I wouldn't have to waste a CO2 cartilage. We were talking for a while when Tammy called. She was at Davis Road and Hwy 48 so only about 15 minutes away. The next time she called, she was in Sutton. Too far north and west. The GPS wouldn't pick up Zephyr so I gave her a couple of streets and one of them worked. The lady had to take off to check on her team and about 15 minutes later Tammy showed up.

I ended up waiting about 75 minutes and wanted to ride back to Markham as Sunday was supposed to rain all day. It was a lot hotter and windier by 11:30 am. As I rode out of Zephyr, my Power Tap conked out and was not picking up any readings. About half an hour later, I looked down and it was displaying data. I've toyed with the idea of getting a new one but I think the batteries in the hub are dying which is why the signal disappears. Extremely annoying. I ended up going only about 125 km and as punishment, I ran a 30 minute unscheduled hilly brick.

Sunday's workout was a 60 minute bike followed by a 24 km run. The forecast was for rain all night and into the morning. When I went downstairs, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't raining so I got my riding gear ready, drank a bottle of Boost Extra Calories (350 calories) and headed out the door. I was wearing sunglasses but it was very dark for 6:15 am. I didn't even make it to McCowan before big fat rain drops started coming down. I turned around and made it back home just as the rain started coming down. I took my bike downstairs and rode on the trainer for one hour. I was sweating like a pig and it was just brutal ride even though I was watching a half decent movie on Netflix (the Green Zone with Matt Damon).

After the bike, I headed outside for a 24 km run. The humidity was like a wall and hard to breath. I think this is the first time this year its been this humid. I zigged zagged around the neighborhood ending up at the Tim Hortons at Kennedy and Major Mackenzie. I had to refill my water bottle but the washroom was being used, so I waited. Finally the door opened and I looked up. It was Toraj! One of the guys I was riding with yesterday. We ran together west along Major Mac and then south on Woodbine. We were running at a pretty good pace (5:20 min/km) and Toraj was more than keeping up. We split up at Woodbine and 16th Ave as he was going south and I turned east back home. I reloaded with more water at another Tim Hortons. The air was thick and muggy and my shirt was soaking wet. It was about 7 km back home and I wanted to make sure I had enough water. Running east along 16th Ave, I reached for another gel as I started feeling weak except there wasn't any left. I only packed two gels when I could have used four. At Warden, I had a green light and over my shoulder I could see a SUV turning right. I stopped running to make sure he stopped and when I started running across the street, he accelerated and then slammed on the brakes. He gave me a dirty look as I turned around even though I had the right of way.

My run pace was dropping fast. My Polar said I was running at 5:40 pace. Liar. I know what a 5:40 pace feels like and that is a lot faster than I was running. At Kennedy, I stopped at a red light, normally I would just run through the intersection if no cars were coming. The light turned green and I didn't move so several cars turned left went through the intersection and when there was a small gap I started running across the street (the light was still green) when a small blue car driven by a white haired lady honking its horn.  I jumped out of the way and swore as she tore by.  Twice in two intersections!

By now I was less than three km from home but was running at a brutal 6:15 min/km pace.  I couldn't believe how wiped out I felt.  I had to resort to a trick I read on Jordan Rapp's blog (pro triathlete) of counting to 300 seconds (five minutes) over and over again.  Finally I made it home and as I walked by my neighbors, they stared at me and asked if I had been swimming in the pond.  I was totally wasted and soaked.

I walked in the house and could barely stand.  Tammy just stared at me.  I went to the kitchen and drank a bottle of Boost.  That helped followed by a smoothie and long shower.  My feet had giant blisters as my new othotics rubbed them raw.  Oh well, more suffering.  I spent the rest of the day lying around.