I was going to call this recovery woes, but I’m feeling better today, so hopefully it’s just issues.  I had a really hard time bouncing back from Sunday’s ride, and I’m not sure why.  I took Monday off, to hang out with teacher-workday-child, and felt icky all day.  I went ahead and rode 60 miles on Tuesday, but did something silly–I took off my arm warmers ten miles in, and never even thought of sunscreen.  Lesson learned.  My arms were pink by the time I got home, and got worse all evening.  My body temp was wonky all night–hot flashes, night sweats–and when I woke up Wednesday morning, my nightgown was on backward.  Okay, that was really bizarre.  There’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed putting it on wrong.  Definitely starting to have issues . . .

So I started out for my ride that morning, and it was cold and windy and I felt generally yucky.  So I bailed at 30 miles, assuming (and I think correctly, for once) that recovery was more important than miles that day.  I ran a low-grade fever all afternoon; I think it was probably the combination of sunburn and general inflammation from working so hard Sunday and Tuesday.  Yesterday I only rode to the mechanic to pick up my car–a grand total of 7 miles.

But the weather’s turned, and today was gorgeous.  My friend Amelia came to town, and we rode 50 miles on the Duke half-ironman course, and had a great time.  My legs were tired, and I was no speed demon, but I had fun the whole way, and that’s a good sign.  So I’m leaving right now in a minute for High Point, to do a 200k tomorrow morning.  Hmm.  128 hilly miles.  Definitely hmm.

I need to be better about stretching and massaging my legs.  Tonight I might just sleep, though.  Awfully tired . . .

One happy note:  Wednesday at 7:30 I finished painting our house.  Yay!  All done . . .

So today I did the NCBC spring rally century ride. 

Bad things:
–it was really cold (which was especially tough after the last few days of balmy spring weather).
–it was really windy (if you email me and tell me you looked out the window from your nice cozy couch and didn’t see any wind, I will have to smack you).
–the pavement in a couple of spots (total of maybe 10 or 15 miles) was so bumpy that I may not be able to sit tomorrow.  It wasn’t seams, like at White Lake; it was giant ruts across the road every foot or two.  I was worried about punctures.  And my tush.
–dogs.  Lots and lots of dogs.  I thought Chatham Co. was bad.  I’m never riding in Johnston Co. again.  Ever.  I think that the number of dogs that chased me just today far exceeded my lifetime total up to this point.  Every kind of dog you can think of, from some freaky, wild, vicious creature that looked like a wolf, to a huge, lolloping thing that looked like a horse, to yes, even a dachshund.  None of them were content to hang out in their yards and laugh at the crazy people on bicycles–no.  They needed desperately to defend their territories–apparently every square inch of Johnston County needs to be defended.  It was truly unbelievable.  There was one stretch where it was like they were handing us off down the road–every house had a new set of dogs that would race out into the road and chase (and bark and snarl and yap at our heels and run in circles around us and back and forth across the road, sometimes barely missing a front wheel) to the next house, where the next set would take over. And some houses had LOTS of dogs.
–the second rest stop.  Or rather, the lack thereof.  Luckily, the second rest stop was at a gas station.  Unfortunately, by the time we (I and the two folks I was riding with, who will be items on the “good things” list) got to the gas station, the second rest stop had actually packed up and left.  Not a crisis, since gas stations are perfectly happy to have actual cash, but a bit demoralizing.

Good things:
–104 miles.  Okay, that one’s debatable.  At mile 99, it seemed like a bad idea.  But from this vantage point, I’m pleased–I’m that much closer to next weekend’s brevet distance.
–Strange as this sounds, my fitness.  I was truly miserable in the wind and the cold, BUT–I did the ride in the exact same time as I did the Frostbite last month, and this was four miles longer, and WAY windier.  So while I feel much worse tonight, I also feel like I was a bit stronger today.
–Bob.  Great guy, Bob.   Interesting, talkative, smart, strong, and not afraid of dogs–always a plus.  Oh, and really tall.  Thanks for all that pulling into the wind, Bob.  I owe you one.
–Robin.  I met Robin early in the day (maybe around 20 miles?  can’t remember for sure), and we stuck together right to the end.  Robin is 23, and in her few months off between undergraduate and graduate school (which starts in May), she’s doing an Ironman (Arizona, in April).  She’s smart and fit and confident and today was her first century.  What a trooper.  Oh, did I mention she just started cycling in the fall?  Amazing.  She hung in strong all the way to the end today; it was a tough ride for a first century.  She’ll be just fine in Arizona.  She’ll also be great in grad school (a master’s in physical therapy).

So what were you doing when you were 23?

So here’s the scenario: 

It’s Thursday.  The weather is gorgeous–for several days I’ve been sneaking out midday doing intervals on my bike, just to take advantage of the warm, sunny early spring days.  But it’s about to change; rain and dropping temps are predicted.  Which means my next century, the NCBC spring rally on Sunday is going to be chilly.  Grrr. And then next week I’m planning to ride lots of miles–a bunch of 60 milers followed by the Sauratown 200k on Saturday.  So I’m painting like a madwoman, just days from being FINISHED.  I finally hired someone to do the master bath–it had wallpaper all the way up to the cathedral ceiling.  It would’ve taken me a month.  It took Armin and his buddy not-quite-two-days.  Meanwhile, I’ve done the ceiling in our bedroom, and am starting the walls, when I realize that there is a puddle under the toilet.  Hmm.  Wonder if Armin cracked something.  Call roto-rooter.

After hours of waiting (meaning I didn’t get to go to Henry’s, my favorite new incredible gelato place–they don’t seem to have a website, but it’s next door to the Panera by Inside Out Sports at the intersection of Cary Parkway and James Jackson Ave–check it out!), and multiple misleading phone calls promising imminent arrival, the roto-rooter guy showed up at 9:45 last night.  That’s, like, bedtime.  Mr. Helpful is very helpfully in his bathrobe, so I get to go downstairs, turn on lights, lead roto-rooter guy upstairs (shushing him not to awaken slumbering children), point out problem.  He sounds awfully nasal.

I’m taping the edges of the freshly painted (pale pink) ceiling in our bedroom, so that I can paint the walls (slightly stronger purple) first thing in the morning, and Mr. Helpful is on the bare mattress (the bed has been stripped and pulled into the middle of the nearly-furniture-free room so that I can paint) giving me the play-by-play of Grey’s Anatomy (the television, being An Important Item, is still plugged in, and I can hear, but not see, because I’m on a ladder taping).  Roto-rooter guy starts sneezing in our bathroom.  We look at each other–I mouth “I TOLD you he’s SICK!”  He sneezes and sneezes.  I give up on calling “bless you” after each one–too many.

At 10:45 (that’s PM!) he finishes.  He has now sneezed all over my bathroom, gone up and down my stairs and through my bedroom repeatedly, and opened and closed the front door at least four times.  When he comes back into the house with paperwork and HIS OWN PEN for someone to sign off, I go into a complete germ tailspin.  I never did go back into our bathroom last night.  Luckily we keep new toothbrushes, floss, etc. under the sink in the children’s bathroom.  I slept on the trundle in Delaney’s room (okay, that was planned anyway, because of the painting, but I certainly didn’t complain).

This morning I went into the  bathroom and used up an entire container of Clorox wipes.  All my painting stuff was in there–rollers, brushes–all the items I’m planning to hold in my hands all day!  I also threw away the old toothbrush and the plastic cup I drink out of, and I’m about to wash all the towels.

So I think I can go paint now without completely freaking out.  But I daresay my hands will be chapped from washing by the end of the day.  Mr. Helpful says I’m paranoid.  I’m okay with that.  I’d rather spend next week pedaling than sneezing.

–clean bike.  Soon.

–install dynohub and lights on bike.

–go for a ride in the dark to test position of lights and try not to crash when I can’t see the road.

–pull lights off in frustration and rig them on with zip ties and electrical tape.

–measure bike box to make sure it’s going to meet the airline requirement of 115″ and 75 lbs.  Worry when it doesn’t.

–make a packing list for Wisconsin.

–test ride in the new shorts I bought today at The Spin Cycle spring sale.

–install trunk rack on the back of the bike for carrying tools that I’m not entirely sure how to use.

–fill out the forms that I need to mail to Pac tour by April 1st with my travel/bike/health info for brevet week.

–register for two more NC brevets plus a couple other local centuries.

–order free reflective tape from RUSA (I read somewhere that they’re giving some away; wonder if it’s run out yet).

–stick reflective tape all over bike and gear, so that I light up like a Christmas tree.

–figure out how to install that darn rear light.

–read and memorize instructions for changing watch to DST, as well as programming alarm feature.  Very Important.

–buy more accelerade.

–revise packing list for Wisconsin.

–make bus reservation for self and bike and box from O’Hare to Beloit, and back again.

–find reflective sash required by ACP and RUSA.

–conclude that I never liked that sash anyway, and buy a new one.

–figure out a way to install fenders on a bike that wasn’t built for fenders.

–give up and ask Matt at the bike shop to solve fender problem.  Bike probably needs a tune-up anyway.  Clean it first.

–book a flight to Paris for self and darling son.

–select a hotel (in the city; not in the ‘burbs, where I stayed last time).

–panic when college French proves inadequate for requesting transportation to and from airport for giant bike box.

–review future tense conjugations of irregular verbs, just in case I need to tell someone what I’m going to do, rather than what I just did.

–convince Mr. Helpful that I really should take a real camera, both to Wisconsin and to France.

–plot a route to ride bike from hotel to start in St. Quentin en Yvelines.  Twice.

–figure out a way to attach mace to bicycle, in case Wisconsin has lots of vicious dogs (Chatham County does, France doesn’t).

–order some more accelerade, and clean the bike again.

–think about how to get a cell phone in France.  And maybe internet, so that I can blog!

–Pedal.

I’m still here; still thinking about blogging.  Unfortunately, composing sentences in my head while I’m stuck in traffic on the interstate isn’t enough to actually get a post online.  Some days it’s all I can do to get through the day–this has been one of those weeks.  Mr. Helpful is finally home for a while, after three out-of-town trips in the last few weeks.  All three, unfortunately, were at the beginning of the week, when the family logistics are at their worst–hockey, soccer, softball, tae kwon do, etc.  Add in doctor’s appointments (never close to home, of course–Durham, maybe, or Chapel Hill–usually at rush hour, because I so love being trapped on I-40 with a tired child in the car) and at least one all-day field trip to chaperone, and I’ve been running like a chicken with its head cut off.  Oh, and I removed the wallpaper in the children’s bathroom.  That was fun.

So those are my daily stresses that have kept me away from the computer.  I haven’t let them keep me off the bike, though (not till today, anyway).  At this point–less than three months from the start of brevet week–I’m feeling a need to stress my body as often as possible, pushing my limits in every way I can think of.  So much so, that I’m starting feel (wait for it!) kind of stressed about the whole proposition.

So Saturday before last I rode the Frostbite Tour.  Had a grand time, met some really cool new folks (including my new buddy Tim–, and rolled back into the parking lot dead last at the end of the hundred mile day.  Thanks to all the sweepers (Mike,  who hung back with me, even though they could’ve gotten home a lot earlier than they did.  It was a beautiful day and a great ride, and my first century of the season.  I felt good all day, and went out for dinner afterward, and while I was a bit tired the next day, it wasn’t too bad, so I’m pretty pleased with my training at this point.

Then on Wednesday after that the weather was fabulous, so I went for a 65-miler (that was as much as I could squeeze in between driving one kid to school in the morning and then picking up the carpool group in the afternoon).  That was a great ride; I was so energized that I decided to springboard off of it and do a mini-mileage week.  I rode 30 miles each of the four days after that, Thursday-Sunday.  My plan is to do that again at the end of the month, but up the miles to 60 per day, and then in late April do five days in a row of centuries.  In the meantime, I’ll do a bunch of organized weekend rides of 100-125 miles.

Anyway, that’s the update.  It’s chilly today, I have a child home sick, and I’m tired of the children showering in my bathroom, so I have to go finish painting theirs.  Some stresses are good; some are not.  This is me, writing to you from my zen place.