Training Update!

Well, what's that saying, "All the best laid plans"? We had great plans for last week. These pictures are of our first day training in the hills of Solvang to prepare for our 1/2 Century in November and our Century in March. The first day of training was also our last day of training for last week!

The ride didn't start out too bad...I was a little winded just preparing the bikes for the ride, but figured that was simply from not riding for so long. So we headed out on the road. I was really enjoying the smells of the area...it smells so clean and crisp out on those roads. There's no smog, no stinky car exhaust. Just fresh air. I knew I wouldn't ride too great the first day because the 13 days prior I hadn't been able to hop on Mad Dawg and get in a ride. I was slammed with work the weeks before vacation, so I knew the first couple days of rides would be tough, but had such high hopes for our training and hill work this week. John's back was out, but he's a trooper so I figured, if he can do it, let's do it!!! 8 miles into the ride I couldn't breathe! I was so upset. I got to the top of a little hill and couldn't catch my breath! I couldn't explain it to John because it wasn't like my legs gave out, nor was it like my cardio was that bad, I just couldn't get a deep enough breath...well, then try breathing when you're crying...not so good! For the first time in our training I called it quits. The scary thing was my legs were shaking, I was shivering from chills, something just wasn't right...poor John. I felt like I let him down so much, but what the heck????? We made it back to the motor home having only ridden 15 1/2 miles, at an average speed of 10.5 mph...oh, boy, how am I going to do it? John then announced we may have to rethink our goals...okay, more water works from me!! What???? Is he losing faith in me? Does he not believe I can do it anymore??? Have I totally let him down????

Well, waking up the next morning it was quite clear why I couldn't breathe, the Mother of all Bronchitis attacks decided to pick our vacation to rear its ugly head!!! I haven't had a cold in over a year and thought that was a part of my past that was well behind me...my lungs thought otherwise! Thankfully I had antibiotics in the motor home for emergency attacks such as this and was able to get right on them, but a week later, I'm still not breathing normally. John's back was out the entire week, so no training for him either. He's on his way to Dr. Duddy again tonight to assess the situation...so, that was it for our training week!! We got a lot of rest, which is obviously what each of us needed after this past 6 months of craziness in our life. My goal of at least 200 miles for the week...only 184 1/2 miles short!

You know the saying, "If you fall off your bike, you gotta' get back on." Or is that horse?? Whatever...my hope is to hop on the bike tomorrow night and get at least a few miles in...will we make the 1/2 Century Prelude ride on November 1st? Probably not, unless something miraculous happens, but I'm not giving up my hope of finishing the Century in March! I'm still planning for that one!! I keep reminding myself, this is a lifestyle change for me...it's not just about a one-day event! One day and one pedal at a time...God has given me the strength to go from giving up physically to physically challenging my body, and I know He will continue to give me the strength to get my body where my brain is!