Group Bike & Run Training - Apr 17

Apparently our bike & run sessions have been switched around to Thursdays at 6 pm out in the boonies, so I had to leave early from work today. I had to drive back home to Troy at the start of rush hour and then head out to Kensington Park out in Milford area!!

Even though I was rushed and felt I was running late, I actually reached right on time while people were getting their gear together. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it felt good riding without all the excess gear that we have had to worry about in the past as well as not concerned about the feet freezing.

I had Bora aka Mean Machine, help check my tires for pressure and got my kit together to go. We had a brief pep talk and information on the route. The other tri group that is competing next week was also there for a bike & run, so it was quite crowded.

We headed out fairly shortly after the first group left, and Stu warned us that our riding would depend on how long the sun will be out. The first stretch was nearly 5 miles long and it felt good when we got done with that. The only problem was that I ran out of water about halfway through the bike run. This is cause for concern, because the dehydration has caused me more than a fair share of issues in the past. Unfortunately I could not find any place to replenish my supplies. On top of that, we had to pass through an area of a controlled forest fire, where not only was it toasty, the smoke was making it even worse. If my body had a reason to complain, it was now and I was feeling thirsty. I had also been cycling hard to keep with the couple of lead bikers, so I was sweating quite accordingly too.

When we reached the last leg of our running, I had my clumsy moment and found my foot stuck to the pedal, which I thought I had un-hooked and found myself crashing on my knee and hands. The gravel on the road did wonders for my knee and I find myself all bloodied as if someone had literally torn a gash in it. I was fairly frustrated considering I was not only out of water, but also injured, and the last thing I needed was people wondering if I was going to be ok. Anyways the ordeal did not last long, as since the sun had waned out of the sky, we too a shortcut using the trail and headed back to the parking area.

I had Bora give me a bottle of water to wash the wound and used some of the towels in my car to clean up the gravel some. Stu had some medical supplies, and I used some of the sterilizing fluid to clean up the wound, in case I find my knee mutated the next day. Obviously I did not think I had enough, so we changed to go for a 3 mile run, with Ron and MM as my partners. MM was supportive as always and said he would keep my pace so we make it through. The first 2 miles were not much of an issue, but the lack of water in my body was starting to cramp my quads, and I had to slow my pace down to the point where I found myself move from the head of the group, all the way to the back. I figured, it was just time to focus on getting back and not worry about anything else, so I just tried to keep whatever pace my body was going to let me and kept following Carl and Brad up ahead. At the end of it, I was probably 3o secs behind Bora and Ron, so I really did not feel too heartbroken, considering I was injured and dehydrated.

I still need more discipline in having myself hydrated and more vigilant about what is going on, so I dont make mistakes like these in the race. We did a team celebration at Gus O Connors in Novi, which lasted till nearly 11 pm, so I knew it was going to be another battle getting up in the morning! :(