I fall to pieces...

I should have known better than to tempt fate but this has been an interesting week to say the least. (NOTE: encrypted text dead ahead) I've been trying to get a rather large and embarrassing monkey off my back for awhile now, and every time I've tried to eradicate this deadly Orangutan it alters my normally pleasant demeanor, in other words I get my GRUMP on. So it was last night, when a perfect storm of circumstances added fuel to that inferno. On the way to Geode my truck reminded me of its pressing need for a new radiator, no harm done and I'll get to it sooner rather than later. I also had not been on the trails since the deluge last week that included at least six inches of rain in a two hour period, Des Moines county and surrounding areas experienced flash flooding of biblical proportions (if you've been on Stoney Hollow road or have seen pics on this blog be advised that right now this road no longer exists) So trying for a 2010 personal best time on flood ravaged trails was foolhardy to begin with but off I went. I've been around long enough to know that holding an 11.5 mph average on ANY trail will get you a top 10 finish in the Sport MTB class, anything over 12 mph average and your in the Expert top 10 hands down. So I'm all anaerobic at 14 mph on the front side when I encounter my first downed tree, I screw up the approach and go ass-over-tea-kettle and bend the crap out of my rear derailleur. 5 minutes of cussing and re-bending commence in ernest as an amused fisherman watches me spit and fume. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've also re-injured my "half pipe" wrist in this melee. Ok, I'm calm again and all is not lost, however the trail has taken a BEATING and has a water carved rut for miles on miles. This is about where I encounter my second downed tree at 20 mph in one of my favorite downhill sections, its about 2 feet high and I can't stop. I lift the front tire to clear it and heave into a bunny-hop attempt at speed, I clear the front but clip the back and I'm now riding a 20 mph endo towards some nice stout Oak trees, GOTTA BAIL QUICK and hit the ground right in front of them. I laid there for awhile in the mud just re-thinking my intended plan for the evening and decided to do a slow ride back to the beach and just enjoy the woods. Oh, thank goodness I got mad at the poor reception and left my Blackberry in the truck cause I would have lost or smashed it twice.

Its been quite a long time since I've pinned on a race number of any sort. Turns out to be a running race that ended this unusual streak. The Great River Bridge Race was Saturday morning, those 6 miles over the bridge and back included a trip up SNAKE ALLEY in the first mile. Again, course volunteers were calling out times as we crossed each mile marker along the route and when I heard 7 minutes and change after the first mile I knew I was going WAY TO FAST. So I settled in for the long haul. Weather was good cause last year we ran in 30 MPH sustained winds with gusts to 45, not too hot not too cold. I was wearing one of the best running shoes ever made by NIKE (in 1999) and up until 2010 had looked surprisingly good cause they've spent most of that time at the bottom of a seemingly bottomless shoe collection on the front porch but after an hour laced to the feet of someone of POOR running form they self destructed in a mess of dry rotted foam and shredded rubber. I'm absolutely stunned that the little air thingy's in the heels didn't pop. A CLASSIC shoe for a classic race. We'll have to see if this running thing merits any investment in decent running attire or if I should just go barefoot. At the 5 mile mark I was at 53 minutes and I knew there was no way I could finish in under an hour as was my goal (when in reality, this being only the second time I've ever ran this far I was happy to finish at all) I crossed the line at 1 hour 3 minutes, not too bad cause later on it took me 3 hours to climb upstairs to go to bed that night.

Try-FECTA

Three things that caused me pain this week. First one was running a timed mile. Its been almost a full year since I've run any farther than 50 feet, I dislike running for any reason, but once again I've been drafted into doing the Burlington bridge race. Missus Brakeville has been bitten by the "RUN BUG" big time and has been training alot, she usually runs the front side of Geode from the beach to the Dam and back again (6.4 miles or approx. 10K) while I RIDE the complete trail. SIX FRIGGIN miles of running. Last year I ran the 2.2 for the Bridge run with exactly ZERO miles of training and limped for a week. So, how much could one measly timed mile hurt? Quite a bit actually and it took me exactly 8 minutes and 15 seconds to complete, needless to say I could not go up stairs the next day. It was also the next day I found out I'm signed up for SIX FRIGGIN miles of the bridge run. So with legs of stone I decided to try and run SIX FRIGGIN miles at Geode (just to see if I could do it). I ended up running the entire distance, and it was not all that bad. I will say that running downhill sucks and I look older while I'm doing it, going up feels better and once I controlled my breathing I was enjoying myself...ALOT! scary right? My time, 1 hour and 20 minutes on the nose. Gee I'm glad I trained for this years race and I hope I didn't burn it all up last week. Oh yeah, I also went golfing. Golfing? Seriously? Yeah golfing is sort of an obligation each Mothers day, The other 364 days my clubs gather dust which is OK by me. Maybe someday when I can no longer do fun stuff I'll be a golfer. 1 mile run, 6 mile run, golf. YOU LINT LICKER!! WHAT-THE-FRENCHTOAST is my world coming too? BTW I spun a 44 minute Geode time, so close to sub-40 which is good for me :)