Monday was supposed to be my rest day. I worked till 2 pm and had plans to meet my friend Jon at 5. Karin was bummed that I was spending my rest day (basically my one free evening) with Jon. It was certainly a valid point, and when I realized it, I decided to change my rest day to another day. So I hopped on my trainer and started a hill interval workout. The workout ended 35 minutes later when my chain decided it no longer wanted to shift onto the big ring (ie. into a harder gear). I stopped the ride and got out my little Allen wrench set, which is conspicuously missing one wrench. Guess which one I needed? I had a wrench that I think came with some bike part I bought at some point, and fortunately it seemed to fit the little thingy (Screw? Nut? I don't know. I'm no mechanic.). I thought I knew what needed to be adjusted but that turned out not to be the case. Not only did I not fix it, I made it worse. And then I kept going...until the thingy no longer moved at all! Not righty tighty. Not lefty loosey. Nothing. I believe I had stripped the thingy. Of course I was trying to squeeze this workout in between work and Jon, and I certainly did not have time to try and fix it worse. And even if I had the time, I didn't even know what else to do at that point.
So I did the only thing I could do. I left the bike and went out with Jon. When I came home, my bike had magically been fixed! Karin had taken it to our friend Carol, who played around with her tools and the moving parts till she fixed it. All the while cursing me for having such a dirty bike. It is true that my bike has not shifted smoothly or easily for months now. I know that I need to clean all the moving parts regularly. But I also need to clean my room. Who has the time?! But it goes beyond laziness. I feel like I don't really know how to clean my bike. For example, I have "cleaned" and oiled my chain twice within the last month, and it is still a mess. So clearly I don't know what I am doing. But after Carol cleaned up some of the moving parts, along with fixing the gear shifter thingy, my bike changes gears perfectly with only a whisper! Carol suggested de-greaser and a toothbrush. I have now vowed to clean it every week! Or, at least, every 2 weeks! No less than once a month! I swear! ( My room will remain dirty until after Ironman.)
Earlier in the week the tire guys put 2 wrong-sized tires on my car, and when I borrowed Karin's car to get to work the next day (her car having all the same sized tires) she took my car and got the tires switched! Go to work, my tires get fixed! Go out with Jon, my bike gets fixed! Clearly the solution to all my problems is to leave the house!
So my bike is fixed and I had a fantastic 50 mile ride yesterday! Followed by a slightly-less than stellar 2 mile transition run. That was to be expected, as I started my ride a little after 11 am and finished about 3 pm, which left me running the 2 miles at the hottest part of the day. I got a last-minute overtime shift on Tuesday, my only day off this week, which then left me with no days off this week, which then made it difficult to squeeze in a 50 mile ride. So I had to do it on my short workday on Wednesday. It was very hot, but it turns out I couldn't really tell how hot it was on the bike. But whenever I stopped, or worse yet, ran, it was very clearly very hot. But I couldn't turn down the overtime, because Ironman is not cheap!
But all this shifting around of long rides and rest days has left me in rest day limbo. Monday was not technically a rest day, since I did 35 minutes of hard riding, but it certainly wasn't a full training day. So I will not have an actual full rest day this week. I am not sure if it is that, or the long hours at work in the hot sun, or yesterday's long workout, but this morning's scheduled 6 mile tempo run was a disaster. My legs felt like lead and I had no rhythm. That's how Sunday's run started out, and it ended up being a great run, so I stuck it out for 2 miles, but it just wasn't getting better. So I walked for a few minutes, then started running again, but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't hold my form or pick up the pace. It's possible I didn't refuel enough after yesterday's ride. Whatever the reason(s) I scrapped it after just over 3 miles. Some workouts are just like that. Two months ago that exact same scenario would have left me in tears and super frustrated. Today I thought: Well that sucks, but I haven't had a bad workout in a very long time so I was due. Then I used the extra time before work to go buy a breakfast burrito.
 |
| Attempting to fix my bike mid-ride. |
So I did the only thing I could do. I left the bike and went out with Jon. When I came home, my bike had magically been fixed! Karin had taken it to our friend Carol, who played around with her tools and the moving parts till she fixed it. All the while cursing me for having such a dirty bike. It is true that my bike has not shifted smoothly or easily for months now. I know that I need to clean all the moving parts regularly. But I also need to clean my room. Who has the time?! But it goes beyond laziness. I feel like I don't really know how to clean my bike. For example, I have "cleaned" and oiled my chain twice within the last month, and it is still a mess. So clearly I don't know what I am doing. But after Carol cleaned up some of the moving parts, along with fixing the gear shifter thingy, my bike changes gears perfectly with only a whisper! Carol suggested de-greaser and a toothbrush. I have now vowed to clean it every week! Or, at least, every 2 weeks! No less than once a month! I swear! ( My room will remain dirty until after Ironman.)
Earlier in the week the tire guys put 2 wrong-sized tires on my car, and when I borrowed Karin's car to get to work the next day (her car having all the same sized tires) she took my car and got the tires switched! Go to work, my tires get fixed! Go out with Jon, my bike gets fixed! Clearly the solution to all my problems is to leave the house!
So my bike is fixed and I had a fantastic 50 mile ride yesterday! Followed by a slightly-less than stellar 2 mile transition run. That was to be expected, as I started my ride a little after 11 am and finished about 3 pm, which left me running the 2 miles at the hottest part of the day. I got a last-minute overtime shift on Tuesday, my only day off this week, which then left me with no days off this week, which then made it difficult to squeeze in a 50 mile ride. So I had to do it on my short workday on Wednesday. It was very hot, but it turns out I couldn't really tell how hot it was on the bike. But whenever I stopped, or worse yet, ran, it was very clearly very hot. But I couldn't turn down the overtime, because Ironman is not cheap!
But all this shifting around of long rides and rest days has left me in rest day limbo. Monday was not technically a rest day, since I did 35 minutes of hard riding, but it certainly wasn't a full training day. So I will not have an actual full rest day this week. I am not sure if it is that, or the long hours at work in the hot sun, or yesterday's long workout, but this morning's scheduled 6 mile tempo run was a disaster. My legs felt like lead and I had no rhythm. That's how Sunday's run started out, and it ended up being a great run, so I stuck it out for 2 miles, but it just wasn't getting better. So I walked for a few minutes, then started running again, but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't hold my form or pick up the pace. It's possible I didn't refuel enough after yesterday's ride. Whatever the reason(s) I scrapped it after just over 3 miles. Some workouts are just like that. Two months ago that exact same scenario would have left me in tears and super frustrated. Today I thought: Well that sucks, but I haven't had a bad workout in a very long time so I was due. Then I used the extra time before work to go buy a breakfast burrito.
No comments:
Post a Comment