Hattiesburg - DREAM bike ride 4-21-18

Charity Bike ride for DREAM.  

Dream of Hattiesburg is a non-profit, community-based substance abuse prevention agency.  Their mission is to prevent and/or reduce the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.  So you know I was down for riding.  I love to help out organizations that help others.   And not to mention since I am in the middle of training for my first full Ironman race, the long distance bike miles are right up my alley.  

I also had a couple of friends join me.  :>)  I decided not to do the 100 miles because I am signed up to do 100 at the Natchez Trace on 5-7-18.  We all did the 65 miles except Frank.  He did the 30 miler and then waited on all of us to finish.  He was at the finish line ready to help us with our bikes, show us where food was at, and anything else we needed.  Honestly, he's like the best thing ever!  I wish I could take him to all my races. :>)  He's such a caring friend and wants to help all of us.  We all pick at him and tell him he has a "Harem" of women. :>) 

After rain for several weekends in a row, it turned out to be a beautiful morning for a bike ride.  They started the 100 milers first at 7am and then us at 7:30am.  The night before when I loaded my bike I noticed the back tire was almost flat.  I almost changed out the tube but decided to just air it up.  I should have changed the tube!  When I arrived at the site and began unloading my bike, my tire was flat.  I have yet to change a tire on my new bike so everything seemed to tight.  I worried with it for a good 10 minutes until the guys that were parked next to me told me that they had a bike tent up at the start line where they would change it for me real fast.  So I rushed to the tent.  See I didn't arrive till 30 minutes prior to start time because I knew it wasn't a race.  But at this point, I was mad at myself for not being earlier.  A guy I know was working and quickly asked me what was wrong.  He changed my tube, but when he went to air it up the stem on the tube was so short the portable pump they had would not attach and fill my tire.  So we rushed back to the parking lot to get my gear bag with my CO2 unit.  I just did make it back to the start line to meet my friends with them announcing they were starting us in 30 seconds.  Talk about being rushed!  All I could think about was that I had probably forgotten something that I would need on the ride.  I didn't even wish my friends good luck.   Mel grabbed a quick picture and we were off.  We are all different speeds so I knew we wouldn't be together for long as soon as the crowd thinned out on the trace.  

Us at the start line... Krista, me, Sonya & Mel.... not sure where Frank was at during this pic.  Notice we are in the back.  Krista has on her clip pedals that she just got so she did not want to start up in the crowd.  Mel and I gradually weaved our way around the crowd once on the trace and finally got a pretty good speed going.  When I passed the 2nd rest stop along the course she yelled at me and said, "Are you ever going to stop?".   I just laughed and told her my plan was not to stop till the half way point.  She didn't like that too much. hee hee..  She said the pickle juice sure smelled good at the rest stop we passed. :>)   For awhile she was drafting off me and then I lost her.  

I arrived at the half way mark and was averaging 17mph.  I was happy.  Going out tends to be a tiny bit of elevation in several spots so I knew coming back I could maintain that 17mph (or I hoped).  I have not maintained 17mph on longer distance miles since the Florida half ironman where I averaged 17.8 miles for the race.  I did average 17.8 at the sprint TRI the first of April, but that was only 17 miles.  Taking off for months really showed in my speed, but it's starting to return.  I quickly went to the bathroom, filled my water bottle and chatted with a young girl that had been riding neck and neck with me for a good 15 miles.  She introduced herself and wanted to know if I was training for something, etc.  She was sweet and reminded me of my friend Serina who never meets a stranger.  

As I was leaving out of the rest stop, Mel came in and wanted me to stay with her.  I told her I had to get going.  I had already stopped longer than I wanted to.  She grabbed a quick picture and told me she'd see me at the finish line. 

Aren't we cute. :>)

I was soon back out on the route.  A few times my legs would say they were tired, but I pushed to stay at that 17mph average.  I meet a very nice couple the last 15 miles.  We ended up pacing each other.  They were doing a shorter distance than me and had came up behind me.  We got to talking when we had to stop at one of the road crossings for a car.  They too asked me if I was training or just riding.  They both have done full ironman races.  They told me that Chattanooga was their first ironman.  They said I am going to love it.  So we talked about the race and paced each other until we crossed the finish line.  They are from Madison, Ms so not too far from me.  They will also be at the Natchez Trace ride that I'm doing in May.

 Frank was at the finish line waiting and took some pictures of me.

Thanks FRANK! 

My goal was to do the 65 miles in 4 hours.  I beat that time.  I ended up doing it in 3 hours 48 minutes, average pace 17.1 mph.   It might of been faster but the last 7 miles or so we had to stop several times for cars and a 5K race that was going on.  I thought the kids were going to make us wreck.  When you are clipped into your pedals...... it can be very nerve racking knowing you might have to try to clip out real fast to avoid a bad wreck.  You can't just hit your brakes and stop then put ya feet down because your feet are clipped into the pedals.  :>)

It wasn't long until Mel, Krista and Sonya made it in.  I was so proud of Krista... her longest ride to date!  

Of course we had to get a picture holding our bikes.  I had already put mine up on my car and Mel said I had to go get it. :>)  I LOVE IT. 

Mel, Krista, Sonya, & Me

It was a great day!  I made my goal and Krista also wanted to maintain a 15mph average and she averaged 15.2mph! Whoop Whoop .... You can do anything you put your mind too! She's working towards her first full marathon in December.  I can't wait to see her complete this journey. 

I have to give thanks to MEL!  She is our spin teacher and she kicks our butts in class.  I would not be as strong as I am if it wasn't for her.  I can beat her outside on the bike, but she beats me in spin class. :>)  I guess you can call it equal.  hee hee

Well that's a wrap for the 65 mile bike ride.  This week my coach as me on recovery.  Next weekend will be the 100 miler.  I hope we have good weather for that ride.  Looking forward to seeing my other friend Kathy Byrd riding.  

Happy Training,

D

Traditions Sprint TRI 4-7-18

First TRI of 2018!  I love this event.  However, it's usually very cold on race morning.  We've typically been standing around glad to be in our wet suits to try to stay warm!  But this year was totally different!  A huge front came in the area on Friday night and led to rain most of the night and Saturday morning.  I debated on not even driving the 90 miles to the race.  The forecast was still calling for 80-90% chance of rain at race time with high humidity.  I even thought about just stopping in Hattiesburg on my drive and running the half marathon there that was also the same day.  I hated that both races were the same day because I like to do both of them.  I decided to go on to the coast and hope for the best at the TRI.  Maybe because now that I have a coach I feel a little more accountable to what I do... hee hee  Otherwise I might of just talked myself into staying in that warm bed until mid day when the rain went away. :<>) 

It rained off and on the whole drive.  I was so dreading the bike ride on the wet roads!  When I arrived at the race site and headed to transition, I heard them announcing that they had pushed the race start back to 8:30am because the weather looked like it might clear at the point.  It was 6am when I got there so now I had a good long wait till race time.  It was still raining so most of us sit in our cars.  Heck, no one even put there stuff in transition until the last minute except for their bikes.  Most went ahead and took their bike in, but did not take their running shoes, etc.  No one wanted them to sit there in the rain while we waited for race time.  So I sat in my car and read my devotion and prayed.  I actually hoped they would just cancel the race and then I wouldn't have to get on my bike on the wet roads.  I couldn't remember exactly how hilly the bike route was, but didn't look forward to flying down a hill when the road was wet.  I get nervous enough flying down a hill.  Yep, I'm one of those crazies that will actually tap my brakes to slow myself down when going down a big hill.  Have you ever looked at how skinny those bike tires are???  LOL 

This was my devotion.  and I'll never forget what my coach, Lisa said... "remember... y'all are all in it together".  I wasn't the only one dreading the rain at the race.  Matter of fact, after the race I heard so many talking about how they almost didn't come due to the rain.  :>) 

As we finally lined up to start the swim, I heard one man say, "I can't remember the last time I swam in the rain".   It was still sprinkling, but by the time they made the announcements and was ready to start the race, the rain quit.  But I was still nervous about biking.  LOL  When I entered the water and my face went under...boy it was a shock.  It was COLD>  ha   I had not done a practice swim due to the rain.   It seemed everyone just sat in their cars.  Usually you'll see people jogging or swimming to warm up.   My swim was ok.  No panic attacks.  My time wasn't as good as last year, but close.  I was however thinking about my ironman that I'm training for and how I was going to have to swim over 4,000 yards for that and this sprint was only 600 yards.  Talk about scaring me. LOL  Thankful that I have a good 25 more weeks to train before ironman.  I will accomplish that 2.4 mile swim somehow! I may have to swim on back, side, free style, whatever.. but I plan to finish it! 

Ok.. back to this race.  ...   Once out of the water, I hurried to transition.  Because it was still raining at 8:15 when we had to leave our stuff in transition, most people had left their stuff in garbage bags to keep it dry.  I had done the same.  So I had to start getting my stuff out of my bag to get ready to get on my bike.  Took a little longer than I would have liked, but best I could do due to rain.  I was finally off on the bike.  The roads were wet and I was COLD after coming out of that water.  I quickly warmed up though once I hit the main road out of Traditions subdivision.  The rolling hills started.  They were constant.  I kept reminding myself to just pedal and stay alert due to the wetness.  I was shocked when I looked down at my watch to see that I was averaging a pretty good pace.  At times going up the hills it felt like I was going 2mph.  I had to stand up on 3 hills to push to the top.  I actually didn't feel like I caught my breath since the start of the race until about mile 9 on the bike.  It was then I finally felt like I settled in on my breathing.  I think all that sitting in my car was a bad thing.  I should have warmed up and got my heart pumping before the race started!

Boy I was shocked to have this pace on a wet road.  I was just thrilled! I think it made me hurry in transition to get on the run. :>)  I kept thinking that it just might be possible that I could come out in the top 10 in my age group.  There are usually some very fast TRI women in my age group!  Seems the older we get the faster they get! Last year my hip was bothering me so bad that I mostly walked the run so this year I was determined to have a good run.  And I did.  It felt good to run even after getting off the bike.  I managed a 9:36 pace overall on the run.  I was just tickled pink about that too! :>)  

 

It felt good to cross that finish line and I was so shocked after I went and changed clothes and came back to find out that I had placed 3rd in my age group!  Wow!!! 2nd time for me place in a short distance TRI.   

Notice that I'm 6 mins behind the 1st place winner... these girls are fast!

Our cute award.  An alligator painted on a piece of wood. :>) 

My cousin was also racing.  I couldn't find her anywhere when I finished which was unusual.  She is so much faster than me in swim that she normally finishes way before me.  I finally saw her coming in and went and meet her at the finish line.  She had a flat tire on her bike.  She doesn't like to change her own tires so she waited for someone to come do it.  She laughed and told me how she knew I could change a tire because she's watched me do it on the trace before, but she had no desire too if someone else could do it for her.  LOL   Somehow, even with her flat time, she managed to get 2nd place in her age group. :>)  We had someone take our picture before we loaded up to head home. 

She always encourages me.  She's done a full ironman and has been giving me all kinds of tips.  

Well, that's a wrap for the race.  I was glad the rain had tapered off and I felt really good about my performance and couldn't wait to tell Lisa so I sent her a message.  She was just thrilled.  

If you would have asked me 5-6 years ago if I would be doing TRIs, I'd say HECK NO  ... boy time can change a lot.  You are never too old to go for a new dream or new goal!  Especially with God by your side. :<>)  

HAPPY TRAINING!

D