Yesterday was the CFF Cycle for Life. There’s more on that topic further along in this post, if you’re interested. Short version: opted out of the last 19 miles, so I rode about 48 miles plus the 6 miles to ride to the staging area. I wanted to save my legs for today. I decided to not set an alarm this morning. If I needed the sleep, I’d sleep, even if that meant pushing my run into the heat of the day.

I woke up a little before six. I guess that means I chose wisely!I ran five miles. I’d told myself I’d run 5-7 miles, and I think it was best that I ran just five. I neglected to hit “lap” after my ten-minute walking warm-up, so I don’t have my pace for running alone. (I ran/walked 4:1.) My pace for miles 2-5 averaged between 13:42-14:08/mile. That’s acceptable. (My faster miles came when I was gaining elevation very slightly rather than when I was losing elevation. Interesting.)

The Leavenworth half-marathon is in seven weeks. That’s not ideal, but it does give me time to build speed. I’m fit enough to run a 10K right now, but I wouldn’t want to try a HM tomorrow. Ironically, it looks like this week is a recovery week on the training schedule, so I’m going to re-arrange things to make this a more difficult week.

I used this morning’s run to check my sweat rate. It was only around 60°F when I started, but because it was early in the morning the humidity was really high. Those are not “normal” conditions for here in the summertime, but soon enough it’ll be fall and then I’ll be training in the cold. I only sweated out a pound over the course of the hour, and I noticed my intake of water rose sharply during the last half of my run.

I should try this again when I’m running in the heat of the day, and perhaps again when it’s very cold. (My coldest run last winter was 19°F & snowing. Given that I hope to be training for the Badger Mountain Challenge 50K this winter, I’ll be out there again!)

I’m tired now, but I’m pleased. The ride yesterday went fairly well. Rev. Jane snapped a nice picture of me as I was leaving the staging area. (She was there at 6:30 a.m. to bless the bikes.)

Finally! A picture of me on my TT bike!

Notice anything missing? Yep, my gloves? That turned out to be the worst part of the day. I spent most of my day not in aero – not much point – and the grips on the brake hoods are worn. There’s a weird ridge where my palm rested. Much of the roads I was on were chip sealed, meaning a lot of road vibration. I really thought I was going to develop blisters on my hands. The vibration impacted my hands so much that I even found it hard to grasp the aero bars.

I’d started the day with the hope of riding the entire route (66 miles), and letting my body decide if I was going to climb Webber Canyon. I figured if I climbed Webber, I wouldn’t do the entire route. I felt really good leaving the first rest stop at 15 miles. The second rest stop, just five miles later, was at the local library. The approach is a tiny hill. It almost doesn’t qualify as a hill. But it was like the Manayunk Wall to me: I went from truckin’ along the highway in aero, having passed a few people, to damn near paper-boying up that little non-hill. Okay – no climbing Webber!

Team Nathan was at the third stop. Amy plied me with her snickerdoodles & whatever she calls this obscene combination of rice crispies, peanut butter, and chocolate. It was nice to lay eyes on Nathan. I haven’t seen him in a while, and he’s really grown! (He’s on a new treatment for his CF, and it’s obviously making a difference.) I mentioned looking forward to getting some Tylenol because my hands were really hurting, and Cary, Nathan’s dad, produced a couple of Tylenol. Life saver!

The next stop was hosted by Quinn, a delightful three year old. Quinn announced the arrival of each rider, and then ran up to the rider to let us know they had everything a rider could want and nothing they didn’t need. The banana sure hit the spot!

I’d debating quitting at both the Nathan and Quinn’s rest stops, but I’m glad I kept going. I was pretty tired by the time I returned to the staging area, but I knew I hadn’t over-done it.

Rest stop fueling: A pecan cookie, a rice crispie treat and some strawberries, Amy’s snickerdoodles & chocolate peanut butter bomb, and a banana. I augmented that with some Endurolytes. The post-ride lunch was a delicious brisket sandwich with slaw, potato chips, and couple of beers, courtesy of 13 Bones Urban BBQ.

Jim rode part of the 19-mile route. He hasn’t been on his bike at all this year, so I give him a lot of credit for trying!

It’s now almost bedtime. I’ve baked a couple of loaves of sourdough rye for donors, and I’m fixing to mix up some yogurt (I’m waiting for the milk to cool). It’s been a productive weekend, and I’m looking forward to this week. I hope to ride my bike home tomorrow night, but we’ll see.

Here are my Strava tracks: CFF Cycle for Life Sunday Morning Run