The road to recovery and ass kicking

Luckily my time being sick is over. It has been a while since I was hit that hard by an illness. But it is now gone and I have been back to training for a week now. I really, really hate losing that training time but not much I can do about it. I am just focusing on the goal now. The first few days back started off pretty slow and now I am pretty much back into a normal routine.

Today's ride turned out to be a day all about ass kicking. I didn't kick any...I got mine kicked. A 3 hour aerobic ride. Usually not a problem but today there was just a little bit of wind. I decided to head out towards Cochrane on the 1A and then planned on heading up Horse Creek Rd.

As I left my house I made a quick U turn to grab my arm warmers..the wind was a bit cooling. I knew right away that the tailwind I was riding was going to kill me on the way back. Know this I decided that I was going to plan for it and turn around earlier than I had planned. Going out I was easily doing 37-45 km/hr. Going down Cochrane hill was a little sketch due to the wind, so hard to keep control.

Not long after I was on Horse Creek Rd. I really enjoy this ride. I have done a few races that have included it in the course. It is usually pretty quiet and the roads are in pretty good shape. There were only a few others riders out here today too. It wasnt long before I hit my turn around and was heading into the wind.

The free ride was over and now it was time to work. I don't think I was in my bid ring at any point of the ride back. I tried going aero a few times but I just could not keep comfortable control. I stayed up and just kept the legs moving. I was not having too much fun at this point, and jokingly thought about calling my wife for a ride home, lol.

When I hit Cochrane hill I had a "you have got to be kidding me" moment. Headwind going up that hill. Can't avoid it so might as well just suck it up. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, again I just kept the legs moving. One I crested the wind just kept coming. The road construction on the 1A has not affected the cycling really but today it made it a bit of a PIA. The machinery was just kicking up lots of dirt/dust and the wind was blowing right at me. Another not so fun moment.

I was pretty glad to roll into my hood. I did 63km in just under 3 hours. That sucked considering at Great White North I did 90km in 2:46. Totally different conditions so it may be comparing apples to oranges. At times I was in my easiest granny gear, trying to keep a cadence of 80-90 and only managing 15 km/hr! As hard as today's ride was I am definitely looking at it as a positive. It was just a hard training day that will help me at Ironman this year. Did I enjoy it...hell no. But I do see the value in getting your ass kicked every now and then.

Next week I am off to Penticton for the May long training camp. I have taken a huge liking to that place and can't wait to get out there. Gonna be lots of training in a short time but that is what I am hoping for. I am praying for lots of sun, no rain and definitely no wind.