D's Adventures: T-8 Weeks till Ironman Chatty 144.6 & Blues, Bikes, & Bayous bike ride 8-3-19

And the countdown continues.......

I can NOT believe it is AUGUST already! I swear the older I get the faster time flies by!!

A snap shot of my week's training:

Monday - REST (Yippie...needed it after that 70 mile bike and 17 mile run that ended in cramps!)

Tuesday - 3.800 yard swim .... for those of you that don't know how far that is... well that is 2.2 miles! Just 2/10 shy of the 2.4 I have t swim for the ironman race. I did it in 1 1/2 hours so if all goes well on race day I should make the 2 hour 20 minute time limit for the 2.4 miles.

Wednesday - 35 min bike followed by 1 hour run

Thursday - 45 min run

Friday - 1,600 yard swim

Saturday - Bike ride in Greenwood, Ms (more on this coming) 62 miles

Sunday - 8 mile run

Whew... just like that another week done. It took my calves until Thursday before I could walk without them hurting. Those cramps last weekend really did a toll on my calves. There was a lot of massaging and rolling last week. :). I was so happy that by Friday I finally felt normal when simply walking at the office. LOL. I managed my runs during the week by taking it very easy..... jogging with walk intervals. Today on my 8 mile run, I had no issues. Yippie!

The week really flew by. Before I knew it the day was Friday.

Dummy me had thought Greenwood was like 2 hours away so I had not booked a room early for the Saturday bike ride. When I looked at the map and realized it was 3 hours and 20 minutes away I decided I really needed to go on Friday and stay over night otherwise I was going to have to get up at 2am to make it on time. I searched and searched for a room close by. Finally found one at a Roadway Inn. I figured it couldn't be that bad so I booked it and headed out after work on Friday. Let's just say I was shocked when I arrived around 8:45pm and found the hotel. It looked very old, but I saw many vehicles with bike racks so I figured how bad could it be. Well....... OMG ..... the smell was so old and musty! The carpet looked like it had been in there for 100 years! I almost left after seeing my room, but knew I wouldn't be able to find anything else close especially at that time of night .... Plus I was alone and just wanted to get settled with a locked door and try to get some sleep before the bike ride. Months ago when I signed up there were several of us that discussed going. But life happens and everyone had things going on so it was just me. Which y'all know me.... I'm very independent and do many things on my on. LOL.

Anyway, I did not sleep much at all. I tossed and turned and wished I could not smell that old musty smell. I think I finally dozed at 2am! Alarm went off at 5am. I had to be at the location and pick up my packet by 6am because the ride started at 7am. The ride is known as one of Mississippi's biggest cycling events. Last year they had 1,018 riders! I never heard how many they had this year, but there were a TON of bikers! I was there by 5:30am and had an awesome parking place directly by the finish line. I was also excited when I saw several Hattiesburg riders that usually ride with Jed's group from Perfect Endurance bikes. I started sweating just standing while waiting to start. All the body temperatures around and the humidity. I knew I was going to have to make sure I stayed hydrated!

Love our shirts.

Soon it was 7am and the 62 milers were starting first. They told us the first couple of miles before getting out of town had very bad roads so to use caution and stay slow until we were out of downtown. Someone had told me that they had heard the course was hilly. I had not really studied the map so I had no idea. I soon learned though that it was very flat! We only had one hill... a bridge to cross when going out of town and then it was flat as a pancake the rest of the way. Nothing but acres and acres of corn and beans for days. It was pretty.

We were not very far into the race and we came up on the first wreck of the day. I think we had been around 20 miles or so. I was averaging 19 mph. It was a big intersection. We had to cross highway 82. I could see several bikers sitting on the side of the road and some other people standing around. I heard the biker ahead of me ask if all was ok and someone said yes, so I quit looking at them and focused on the intersection. There was an officer parked there directing bikers across. I slowed down and unclipped one foot just in case I had to come to a complete stop and then the officer waved me across so I went on. I had no idea until I got home that night that a biker was hit by a truck at that intersection and died. Now it keeps running through my head as to whether he was there when I passed by. I feel bad I didn't stop myself to see if everyone was ok. I remember seeing so many out the corner of my eye. I remember seeing a bike tire laying on the road. It had to of been not too long after it happen because they said he was in the 62 mile group and they pronounced him dead at 8:30am. My heart just breaks! I've heard so many stories concerning the accident. I don't know what happen. What I do know is that it is a tragedy. I'm sure he had a family. He had a life. They need our prayers instead of everyone debating and fussing over what happen. Maybe he did have his ear buds on and didn't heed the officers warning to stop, or maybe the officer was in his car at the time instead out standing like he was when I came through, or maybe the truck didn't even slow down.... I don't know. Let's just pray for his family. I would have prayed for him as I rode if I had stopped long enough to realize it was a serious accident because around mile 40 I came up on another wreck. This was a group of bikers that had just passed me. They were all drafting and yelled to me for me to jump on the train. I almost did because by mile 40 my legs were getting tired. Yes, a flat course can be very fast, but you get no downhill for a break from peddling. You are basically peddling the whole time. I don't know what happen exactly except that 3 of them went down. I did stop and one of the guys had hit his head so they had called the ambulance. I don't know where the ambulance was stationed, but it was there in like 5 minutes it seemed. It was quick. As I left the scene to finish my ride, I prayed constantly for those riders to be ok. I just wish I had known there was another rider that I should of prayed for also.

As for the ride, it was very well organized. The aid stations were awesome. I took pictures at one. They had frozen pickle juice and a fountain flowing with pickle juice. Yummie!

I saw my friends from Jed's several times. They were in groups drafting. Heck... everyone was drafting. There were 3-4 friends all drafting all around me. When I finished one group of Jed's group had also just finished. They asked to take my picture. I tried to get them to take a group picture, but they laughed and said that I deserved a picture since I had rode the course all alone doing all the work. I didn't draft in any groups. So I let them take my picture. :). The medals were real nice too! Plus we got a cold towel with a cold chocolate mile at the finish line!

I walked through the post party and grabbed food and went to my vehicle to change and drive home. I didn't hang around so I didn't hear any news of the guy dying until later that evening. Just so sad! Last weekend a woman biker was killed at the Ironman in Ohio. I don't know what all happen. I heard she ventured out of the cones onto the side of the road that was open to the cars and was struck by a truck. So very sad! I hope that everyone... that means bikers and vehicles will take the time to drive or ride with caution. Show each other respect.

So that's a wrap on my week. Greenwood is a cute little town. They had bikes decorated all over downtime. We finished down by the river.