Mid February

So in the last week I ran a 4 miler and a 6 miler on the 19th and 20th between shifts. Then Monday I got out for a 22 mile ride. It was my "Willis3 Loop" which is a standard route I have done a hundred times or so. I was able to go 17 mph average even with very gusty winds of 30-40 mph. So that was showing a bit of improvement for me.

I had installed one aerobar on my Allez, which is pretty silly, for my Willis3 loop. It helped me against the wind but it was akward. I just did not have enough time to install the other one before I had to get the ride in. That night I installed the other one. I was now ready for a bigger ride on Tuesday.

I had the idea to try and get a fairly early start of 11am and go to Ceasars Head ranger station which is a little more than 60 miles round trip. I had to be back by about 4:45 pm. I got a late start of about 12:30 due to sleeping in. So my goal was on shaky ground. I made good time even with still strong winds from the north. Then as I was just to get off route SC11 my rear derailluer cable broke. I had a new one and really had to fix it. It took about 10 minutes. I thought about turning back but I had some time yet so I headed up the escarpment. After about 35 minutes of climbing and nearly to the top I decided to turn around.

Averaged 16.5 mph for the trip of 58 miles and got home at 4:40 pm so I probably could have made the summit but had to leave wiggle room. I will be back and conquer the mountain soon enough.

On Thursday before going to work I squeezed in a half hour swim at the Y. Did 1250 yards. My right shoulder was hurting as soon as I started so I favored it. I guess a lot of time on the aerobars yesterday had made it sore.

On Friday I went for a small 2.5 mile run. Later at work my throat felt sore and I thought "oh no", here comes a weekend in bed. I slept all Friday night and drank lots of fluid and took vitamin C and zinc... anyway. So here it is Saturday Feb 26 and I am not feeling terrible but not normal. Sure wish I could ride long and hard today as it is 60 degrees today. I may go out for a few miles really easy but don't want to make it worse.