Labor Day Weekend Training

Saturday commenced with a false start. I awoke early and hopped on the QR with the intent of getting a few hours of riding in before the heat hit. About half a mile out (less than 5 minutes) and I had a flat - so, I turned around to do a thorough repair and use my good air pump. When I walked in the door, the little man was crying.

I recalibrated, and exercising my agility, got the trailer attached to my other bike. I grabbed Isaac, plopped him in the buggy and scooted out the door. Navigating our front steps took a bit more agility, but within minutes we were on the open road and headed towards Tower Grove Park. The instructions said "do not exceed 25 kph" but we were hauling butt at 40 kph (just kiddding).

We circled the park 3 times and managed 11 miles in about an hour. We had to slow down for all of those speed bumps, so we think we'll be able to go somewhere between 11 - 13 mph next Sunday. We'll try to go for another cruise later today or tomorrow morning and get pictures (Momma didn't get our message to come out with the camera)!

Later on Saturday, about 2 pm , I motivated and headed up Arsenal, down River Des Peres, "up" Broadway towards the city and hooked up with the Missouri River Trail and over the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my reserve water bottle, so I had to stop every 75 minutes to fill up. Managed 60 miles in a rather slow 3.5 hours, but it was more about time in the saddle than anything.

5:00 am this morning came all too soon and I filled up with a banana and some coffee before jumping in the car and driving towards Forest Park to meet Jeremy for our 13 mile long-run. I wasn't too sore from the ride yesterday and felt fairly good for the first 8 miles. Unfortunately, when we looped back and headed up Skinker, I pushed too hard up the hill and started to overheat. I struggled through a few more miles, but at 12 miles, I had to take a walk break. I did jog the last bit, averaging a 8:48 pace for the 13 miles despite the stop. It wasn't pretty, but it was educational.

I still feel a bit overheated, so I'm off to take a cold shower and try to reaclimate.