A Dang-it Day.
Posted by katymoe on April 18th, 2010A dang-it day, is a day when you just keep saying dang-it, or worse. Dang-it I should have done this. Dang-it I wish I would have done that. Dang-it….I need some food now. You get the picture.
Today was supposed to be a long ride day with some hilly’s. Sounds like my cup-o-tea. Anything long make me happy, and hills make me happy too. There were a few things that went wrong with today though starting last week. First of all, this weekend totally snuck up on me, and I didn’t have a great plan of attack for it. I’m kind of a planner, and if I don’t have a firm plan things either don’t get done at all, or they just don’t get done well.
I know it sounds moderately crazy to you non-planners, and my planning at times does dip into crazy town I can admit that. I thrive on it, not the crazy, just the organization and especially the planning of things. So, back to the story.
I hadn’t made a set plan for the weekend. I had on my calendar a 3.5 hour ride with a 45 minute run Saturday, and a 4 hour ride Sunday. Sounds fun. Friday night I was SUPER tired after a long awful day at work so I just went to bed, because thinking about what I needed to get ready for the weekend was even too much to think about. I Did my brick Saturday, felt pretty good, minus some minor bonking towards the end of my run. Got home fueled up, drank water all day, had dinner with my mom. Overall it was a great day. I decided that Sunday (today) I would do one of my favorite rides with lots of hills. I’d start early (8ish) so I’d be home early with lots of day left.
This morning I rolled out of bed around 9:30. :/ Sat on the couch eating, interneting, procrastinating. This was already not looking too good. I was in NO hurry to get out there on my bike. hmmm. Finally around 11am I started getting things organized. Drove out to Copper and Willow, dang-it I’m already hungry again I thought. Good thing I brought a banana. I thought it would hold me over until my first stop at Humphrey’s Station.
About 50 minutes into my ride I was STARVING! I was about 20 minutes away from Humphrey’s so I decided to wait to eat my bar (dumb). Got to Humphrey’s, filled the water bottles and chowed down. I brought more food with me than usual, and considered eating another bar, but decided to wait until the top of Wildcat to have a snack break. I headed out towards my next big climb, about half way up the steep climb, my stomach was GROWLING….I was feeling exhausted, totally bonking. Dang-it. Those of you who don’t know what “bonking” is, it’s when you just completely run out of steam and have NOTHING left to give. I finally made it to the top of Wildcat, SUPER excited to eat and drink. I ate a huge bar with tons of calories and nutrients, and thought I’d be good. Had a nice decent to let the calories sink in, started back up towards Tollhouse on Burrough Valley Rd. Probably 2 miles into this climb I felt hungry again! ugh! Dang-it. I didn’t have a lot of food left and I had a good 30 miles left to go. I ate a gel, and some cliff blocks, hoping they’d get in my system quick, about 20 minutes later I gave in and finished off my last bar hoping all of that would boost me to Prather where I could buy more food.
I made it up to Sierra Elementary School, and started to feel little better. I also knew most of my climbing was done and I just had to make it to Prather to get some calories. I toyed with the idea of stopping in Tollhouse for some food, but thought I felt so much better I’d make it to Prather no problem. About 10 minutes later, about 1/2 way between Tollhouse and Prather I was re-thinking my decision. I have never been SO depleted on a ride before, this was ridiculous. I mean I’ve bonked a lot, don’t get me wrong, but never over and over like this. At this point, I literally thought to myself, in my whiniest voice, *sigh* I just want to stop pedaling, maybe I’ll just stop pedaling. I slowed my pedaling and quickly realized I would NEVER get to food if I stopped. dang-it. 
Ok, suck it up let’s go. These are definitely the days where you are picturing race day, and wondering if that’s how you are going to feel on race day. These are also the days that on race day you think back on and realize you got through something really tough. Even if it’s tough because you didn’t prepare well, it doesn’t matter. Fact is, it was tough and you did it. But at this point I hadn’t done it….I was in the middle of it and I was miserable, dang-it. I made it to Prather. I wanted a HUGE sandwich or plate of spaghetti. Instead I got a red bull and a snickers. They were AMAZING!
I was a new woman in a couple of minutes. I hate buying water so I stopped at Brett’s parent’s house to fill up. They also had SCONES left over from breakfast (thanks Tom!) so I sat and ate two scones. At this point in my day I felt like my ride was already unsuccessful. Who cares if I sit and eat……I barely even made it there. I realize this all sounds very dramatic, but when you don’t have enough calories in your body…..and you still have to pedal yourself 25 miles home you feel pretty hopeless.
I hopped back on my bike with ice cold water, and a belly full of treats. The last 20 miles were a breeze! Another cyclist on the opposite side of the road gave me a fist-pump as I rode by. Not just a wave, a fist pump. I felt like he knew how long my day was or something. He was celebrating for me. I really was feeling great, I felt like I could just keep going! Dang-it. Clearly my biggest adversary today was my lack of preparation/nutrition. I probably needed to eat more yesterday after my long ride/run. I probably needed to eat more before I went out the door today, and I probably needed to bring more on my ride with me.
On the bright side, I did it. I made it. I learned from it. It’s in the bank for when I need it. Time to EAT!
Tags: Bonked!, cycling, katymoe, triathlon training
I REALLY like that some random stranger celebrated for you. I think that was my favorite part of the story.
I feel like that in the week before my period. Can’t get enough to eat. Have to bring more with me on a ride. Just sayin…