fish out of water

Last weekend, two friends and I did the Stagecoach Century in Ocotillo.  What a blast!  I was honestly NOT looking forward to riding this.  I had signed up in November by the prompting of a friend.  She coerced two other friends to do it also and then ended up having to bow out because of a family obligation.  In November, it sounded like a fun idea.. but by January, I was wondering how I was going to ride 100 miles when the longest ride I’d done was about 60.  Yeeeeeah.

Luckily, my other two partners and I agreed to “take it easy” (famous last words) and not go out too hard.  We drove out to BFE (really, there is NOTHING out here!) early Saturday morning and got started around 8 am.  We were extremely lucky with the weather!  There was some wind, but it could have been A LOT worse. Not too cold at the start and it warmed up to the high 70s… perfect!

I had a difficult time mentally at the start.  I was extremely unmotivated to do this ride and wasn’t sure how I was going to get through 50 miles, even if it was an out-and-back.  Plus I was demoralized when at the start, our speed was somewhere around 13 mph. Are we that out of shape?! We later learned it was a very gradual uphill.  Doh.

This was a fully supported ride with awesome volunteers and eight well-stocked aid stations.  There was plenty of water, electrolytes, cookies, pb&j’s, candy (red vines!), clif bars, Powerbar gels, pretzels, Hammer Gel… even sunblock, salt tablets and Advil!  Wow!

After the first aid station, we descended down the first “red zone” area (supposed to ride single file, no faster than 20 mph), Sweeney Pass.  It was a steep descent with some blind switchbacks.  It was nice to descend after climbing, but all I could think about was how that was going to feel coming back up at mile 90.

We climbed Campbell Grade, the only other major climb, and soon started seeing turnaround signs.  26-mile turnaround.  37-mile turnaround.  60-mile turnaround.  The turnaround signs were discouraging.  My first thoughts were, “We’ve only ridden 30 miles?!!!!  Ugggggh. This is going to be a loooooong day!”  My second thoughts were, “Hmm, maybe we should just turnaround here.  I think I’d be okay with that.”

At the third aid station, I actually voiced those words.  “You know, I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if we turned around at any point here.”  B and D just stared at me like I had three heads.  “Are you serious?!”  They laughed. “You must be tired!” Darn, no takers!!

From the third aid station to the 50-mile turnaround point was mostly flat.  We rode through the tiny town of Shelter Valley (population 300-something).  I was so happy to be at the halfway point.  I was feeling a lot better, knowing we were over the hump and that the ride back would be easier (I hoped).

We started riding back and D noticed she had a flat.  Doh.  At least it was the front wheel.  Another friend stopped to help (thank goodness for gentlemen) and thirty minutes later (yeah we’re slow), we were off again.

The stretch from Shelter Valley to mile 80 was a mental game.  I was feeling better than in the morning, but fatigue was setting in and my ass was getting sore from being on the seat for so long.  D, definitely the strongest rider, pulled a lot of it and B and I happily took turns drafting off her.

We stopped briefly at the 7th aid station, knowing that we still had to climb Sweeney Pass at mile 90.  Let’s just get it overwith!  We rode and it appeared.  I was happy for once about the triple on my bike and spun easy up the hill.  The last aid station was at the top and from there, it was about 11 miles easy downhill to the finish.  Yea!

We were tired, but happy, when it was done.  100 miles is a long way and it took us a really long time.  We are not the quickest people at the aid stations.  I think we probably spent a good 15 minutes at each one.  And believe it or not, this is faster than the last one we did in October!  We finally finished the ride around 3:30 pm and ate our free lunch of sandwiches, chips and a drink (D was sorely disappointed in the food!).

Did I have fun?
Yes.
Would I do it again?
Yes.

Success!
And yes, I’m glad they didn’t take me up on my offer to turnaround.

So you may have noticed the lack of ETL-based posts.  I decided I am not going to continue posting my daily ETL meals because I can’t promise that I’ll get on the computer and post everyday.  It’s too much pressure man.  There is something about spending the entire workday on the computer and then coming home to get back on that turns me off…

I’m still attempting ETL, though not as strictly, and will post any updates, exciting or not!

The Coach has me doing treadmill runs all the time now.  It is supposed to help improve my form, but personally, I find it boring.  I used to wonder how all those people in the gym could stand to be on those machines for so long.  Especially when there are trails to be run!  But now, I’m one of those people!

The rain doused our plans for a 4-hour bike ride so instead, three of us spent the morning in my friend’s garage on our trainers, accompanied by a run.  The Cyclist bailed on that.  He is a Cyclist, not some kind of crazy triathlete, who didn’t understand why anyone would own a trainer, much less ride one. Heh.

The t-run after the bike workout was the longest road run I’ve done in a long time.  It felt really good.  My turnover was quick, I felt like I was efficiently running up the hills, and I am pretty sure we were running at a quick pace (I would tell you if my battery hadn’t died on my footpod).  I was impressed!  Back to the treadmill tomorrow.  This time, with a little more motivation!

Had a great morning.  A friend invited me on a bike ride and even though I already did my scheduled workout (which did NOT include an extra bike ride), I did it for brownie points and companionship.  I have the slightest feeling that he might be interested but I am awful at deciphering “guyspeak”.  It was chilly, but at least not windy.  We did a flat ride, with the emphasis on “easy” since I had already huffed and puffed the day before on a group ride.  This particular route gets fairly congested, especially later in the day when we went, so when he was in front, he would occasionally sprint ahead to pass people.  Not so pleased about those sprints.  My legs are tired.

There is only one real hill on this route, and of course, it’s about 10 minutes before reaching home.  There are two ways up… one is long and gradual and the other is shorter and steeper.  I generally like the short and steep route — you get your pain over with faster — but today I wasn’t feeling it.  I asked Mr. Cyclist what he wanted to do.  “Let’s do the short and steep one.  I haven’t done that one before.”  Sadist.  He dropped me pretty quickly and I dragged my heavy legs upwards.  He waited at the top.  I tried not to look too displeased.  10 more minutes!

We finished off the ride, with him wanting to take a different way back.  I thought maybe it was a shortcut, but it ended up being longer and with another slight hill.  Definitely still not pleased.  After a little more than two hours, we were done and I was finally happy again.

So that “holiday pause” seemed to linger for a few more days.  I spent the last few days starting the day off right — green smoothie, salad for lunch — and then would have a treat and blow it.  I know that’s not the right mentality but I’m working on that.

But I’m happy to report that today I finally DID have a full on-track day!  Yippee! I think I probably overate after dinner. I wanted something sweet and had some fruit, but I think it was too much! I was eating and feeling too full but still ate until it was finished. Well, it’s better than the cookies and candy that are still leftover in my freezer…

8:00 am green smoothie
12:00 pm Indian beans and vegetables dish — a lot. 1/2 oz almonds
2:00 pm banana
7:00 pm salad: romaine heart, cucumber, 1/2 small avocado, 1 T dressing. 3 bowls of kale/garbanzo bean stew. Blackberries and bananas.

Yikes, it’s been almost a week since I last posted.  The ski trip went well, but it was a shift from ETL.  Not horrible (i.e. no bingeing) but lots of grains and sweets.  I tried to get back on track this week but with last minute Christmas events and running around, fell backwards and ate SAD foods.  So I had a slight “pause.”  Yep, that’s what I’m going to call it.  It’s not time to throw in the towel just yet.

Tomorrow, it’s back on.

I feel like the last few days I’ve been letting in little cheats here and there and I don’t want to let my eating get too lax so I tried to be strict yesterday.  It paid off!  I stuck to the plan.  Yesterday’s eating:

8:30 am green smoothie, 1/2 oz almonds
12:00 pm big salad: heart of romaine, arugula, 1/2 small avocado, 4 mushrooms, broccoli sprouts, hummus, adzuki beans, 4 small apples, 7 almonds
8:00 pm 2 bunches swiss chard, can of LS, FF black beans “refried style”, some salsa

Today through Monday will be a real test.  I’m going away for a long weekend to the mountains for some skiing.  I’ll be with friends who don’t share my style of eating and that will probably make it difficult to stick to the plan.  Wish me luck!

Weirdly, even after overeating last night, I was slightly down this morning on the scale.  Maybe I am dehydrated because that doesn’t seem right.  I was supposed to do a swim workout today also but unfortunately work was so busy that I wasn’t able to get out for that.  At least I was able to get one of the required workouts in.

I’m still snacking.  I feel like I CAN get by without it and that I’m eating mostly because of boredom and habit.

7:00 am during workout, 1 small banana
8:30 am green smoothie
11:00 am 1 oz almonds
12:00 pm salad: 1 romaine heart, 1/3 bunch arugula, 1 T hummus, 1/2 small avocado, 4 large mushrooms.  Work ordered deli sandwiches, macaroni salad and chips for us.  I had one veggie sandwich, where I scrapped off the cheese and took off one piece of bread (so it was open-faced).  Sandwich contained lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, green peppers.
4:00 pm 1/2 oz almonds, bag of LF popcorn (the last of it)
6:00 pm soup with shiitake mushrooms, bok choy and edamame

I weighed myself this morning and though I expected to see a weight lower than last week, I didn’t expect to see a 2.4 lb number lower.  Wow.  I’m slightly skeptical though… I don’t have that much to lose so I expect this process to be slow and I lost over 2 lbs??  It makes me wonder if the initial number from last week was off or if this morning’s is.  Hmmm.

I overate today and ate some things I shouldn’t have.  There were cookies delivered to the office and I had a few in the afternoon.  I did well at the social dinner tonight, even when the birthday sundae was passed around (I didn’t have any).  I also stayed up late baking cookies and didn’t have any (a first for me).  But I did end up eating late at night… I might have been slightly hungry but it’s too late to be eating and I think that the real reason I was eating was because I needed to “wind down.”

5:00 am ww english muffin + PB
during workout: a little sports drink
8:30 am green smoothie
11:00 am 1 oz almonds
12:00 pm big salad
4:00 pm oatmeal cookie, 2 shortbread cookies
7:00 pm at a social birthday dinner: ordered a salad without cheese and dressing on the side.  It had mixed greens, tomatoes, avocado, and olives.  I didn’t eat the croutons, but I did eat the piece of bread that came with it.
10:30 pm a little dried fruit, 1/2 cup adzuki beans, 1 egg white, ww bread and PB

I think this way of eating is starting to kick in for me.  I’m getting more used to eating salads at lunch and enjoying a dinner of vegetables and beans.

I am also getting better at spacing the time between meals.  I am aiming for 3 meals with minimal snacks so that I can have that “mini-fast” between meals.  I am so used to snacking and eating all the time that I tend to get panicked when I’m not stuffing my face with food.  But I’m trying to remember that it’s pleasurable to eat when you are hungry so it’s better to get hungry for the meal.

Today I had lunch around noon and then didn’t eat again until dinner at 7:00 pm.  That is huge for me!  Seven hours!  I used to have a stretch after lunch from 2 pm - 4 pm where I was constantly snacking.  I’ll admit that I did start to feel a little panicked again around 4 pm, but the reminder helped me.

Yay for little things!

8:30 am green smoothie
11:00 am 1/2 oz almonds
12:00 pm big salad: 1/2 head romaine, 1 tomato, cuke, 5 baby carrots, 2 T hummus, 7 almonds, 4 small apples
7:00 pm soup with shiitake mushrooms, baby bok choy and edamame