And Onto the Next!

I gave myself a whole three hours to get over my Hall of Fame 5-Miler performance... and then I registered for the Greater Cleveland Triathlon and the Akron Women's Super Sprint Triathlon on Sunday night.

Registration for the Perfect 10-Miler and the Portage Lakes Triathlon will have to wait. I still need to experience how post-triathlon feels to me!

With those two events looming, I thought it was about time I start riding my bike already. So, I woke up at 6:30 a.m. (much to Neil's dismay) on Tuesday, had a healthy bowl of Flax Plus Raisin Bran with blueberries, packed my riding backpack and cycled to work.

I went through the usual self-cursing during the first four miles of uphill, more uphill and still uphill, and then took a different route to Kent State where I was actually afforded a bike path!

What I didn't get was too much peace of mind: I've had this sneaking suspicion that my back tire is flat. I tried to patch the whole, but found none. And while my tire always ends up low after a few days in the garage, it was just fine this morning. But I rode all day with the fear I'd be low-riding at any minute!

After I pushed through the uphill torture and meandered down the bike lane, I thought I was almost at work. But it was then that I realized that Tuesday would be the day of wishful thinking. First, I swore that I was farther down the road every time I turned a corner, and then I was repeatedly confident that I had just ridden over the "big hill on Fairchild" everyone had been talking about. Until I was at the foot of it.

It was a MONSTER hill! Granted, I'm remarkably awful at cycling right now and probably won't think the same way in a few months... but it was HUGE! By my uninformed and spatially challenged perceptions, it had to be a 30 percent grade. Ahh! I felt like I was in San Francisco.

It was about nine miles into my ride, my legs were pooped and the raisin bran had been burned by mile six. I switched into one of my lowest gears and took the first eighth of the hill pedal-by-pedal. I huffed, I puffed and I nearly blew myself down.

Then I gave in: I hopped off my bike and power-walked my bike up the hill. And even the walk was difficult. It made me realize, however, how my legs will feel when they're exhausted from the bike ride. (Please: no photos of me next Sunday when I kick off into that final 5K!)

It also made my appreciate (read: love) the downhill that followed. Unfortunately, I was riding on the sidewalk where the would-be crosswalks didn't have ramped or smooth edges to them. Just curbs. And that just doesn't feel great when you're flying downhill at 20-25 mph.

With all of the uphills, downhills, flat lands, lights and stops, the ~10-mile ride took me an hour into work and then 58 minutes back. I was aiming for 50 minutes on the way home, but it didn't happen.

I don't have a handle yet whether I'm just a bloody slow cyclist, my route is excessively hilly or the stops/lights stall my progress more than I realized. If it's not one of the latter two, I'm going to be dead last in the triathlon... aren't I? I know people who can run faster than that. Sigh. At least I don't have to worry that riding a hybrid bike (instead of a tri-bike) will hurt my success too much. From the looks of it, I might just need to pick up a Vespa.

Other than the bike commute, I also pedaled to the rec. center, where I swam a quick 1,800-yard workout, including:

• 300 yards free warm-up
• 1,300 yards free
• 200 yards IM cool down

A rather speedy girl was swimming at the pool today (she was one of those major leg-slapping flip-turners), and on any other day, I would have loved the push. Finally, a formidable competitor! Only I was less than formidable today. I was already a bit creaky and exhausted before the morning ride, and I could feel my tiredness and weakness throughout my arms and legs in the pool. Perhaps it was just the tiring past week, Monday's weight training or power yoga... it's just a rare occurrence. So, I'll use it as an exercise in my own control and ability to swim for myself.

I might not be as successful next time ;-)

Neil's running tip of the day: if you want to increase your pace, just run faster.

When Neil and I were discussing my pace before Sunday's 5-miler, I admitted that I had a pacing problem and have had difficulty reaching my pacing goals. So, Neil gave me some key advice: if I'm behind pace, just run faster;-) I guess I should have followed his advice! But I'll keep it in my for the future.