Howdy from Atlanta,
Last I wrote, things had been a bit hectic in the airport, and I was trying oh so hard to relax. Went and hopped on the next flight, and had some really cool flight attendants, which makes all the difference in the world. So had a nice flight, got to Charlotte, and began to think about the bike race. Took about an hour to drive with Daniel Holt back to Joe McConkey's house to grab a ride. We went out for an hour, and I felt pretty crappy. Dan kept saying, we have to be aggressive and get in the early break, which was the last thing I was thinking with how I felt Saturday.
Sunday am, came. I woke up at 171 (decreased basal that night, and ran hot) gave a small rapid bolus, ate some oatmeal, and then a steak egg and cheese bagel 1 hour before the start. I was able to hit the start line at 191, which was Perfect!! So as the race went, I knew that one effort too hard, and I was going to see my McD's again. I sat dead last wheel, telling Dan "I am not making the early break!" About 7-9 miles in a small group got a gap, and had some strong riders in it. Dan lined it out down a hill, and when he came off I jumped across to the move. There were 4 of us working, and then another 6 came across, and that was the early break. After about 20 minutes off the front, and flying we had 2 minutes. Mark Hekman was flying and kept the break rolling fast. I was pretty close to losing breakfast multiple times, and after the hard effort to get established, I had a huge loss in power in my left leg, similar to pre-surgery last year. I wanted to puke so bad from these efforts, but knew I had to keep those calories in, so I avoided the quick fix. After getting the feeling back, the break started to attack each other. One guy got a minute gap, and then the 3 other strong guys in the move got close to him, leaving 6 of us behind. We worked steadily, and got the gap down to 15 seconds. There was a hill that is about 1km long, and fairly steep, and I knew that was my chance. When we hit the base I went full tilt getting across, got there with one eye half open, and sucking air through a straw. Needless to say, that really hurt, and I was in survival mode for a while. We caught Andy, and Mark immediately countered, to which I had nothing. There went the move, and not a thing I could do about it. We chased for a bit, but lost ground, and then it was "stay off the front time." About 30km's to go, we found out we had a 8 minute gap, and so kept it steady. I checked the Navigator, and was sitting at 97, which may have explained the lack of power. In about 1 hour of riding in the break, I consumed a lot of carbs, and still dropped 100 points. I was tired, and still stuffed from breakfast, but managed to take in everything I had. We stayed away, and I got smoked in the sprint for 5th by muscleman. I was able to finish 6th, which was good on some levels, but disheartening on others, cause if I would have made the front group, would have been going for the W. Oh well. After the race I was at 103, gave 6 units of rapid, then put down 75 carbs 20 protein, and then ate a muffin. This was enough rapid for a while. I ate some chips, and then about an 1.5 hours after got a bunch of junk food calories in, and was recovered. Legs didn't agree, but technically I was... Hopped in the car, drove home, and that was that. Day off Monday, and then came Tuesday, and Johnson Ferry Rd.
Tuesday was freezing cold. Went out for 1.5hrs in the am did some sprint workouts. The "feels like" on the Weather Chanel was 38F or something like that. Dan and I even got sleeted on for about 45 minutes. He the meteorologist says sleet, I saw snow... Get home, work with my little brother Jack for a while, and then set off for ride #2 to the Tuesday Crit. We head up getting a little lost, and it is looking like 1.5 ride at 44 degrees to get there. Riding N through Buckhead was ok, but then we hit Johnson Ferry Road in Cobb county, and all hell broke loose. This road is 6 lanes wide. 3 on each side, and an additional lane for any turns. Plenty of room. But we had more road rage here then any stretch of my life. One old man driving a Corvette laid on his horn. A guy on a motorcycle hung right there to watch over us, and the vetteMan so inconveniently changed lanes to pass us, and my buddy on the Moto flicked him off for us. Dan and I continued to ride, and had at least 9 more people lay on their horns.
To everyone who drives on Johnson Ferry Rd: I am sorry about your life, and that your day at work was so bad. I urge you to get on a bike and de-stress, try it out, and see that as much as it pains you to switch lanes to pass 2 guys on a bike, it hurts even more to go full gas trying to make a group ride. Maybe then you could re-think taking your frustrations out on your car horn for no real reason. I admit, I have been in a hurry, and if it was a twisty 2 lane mtn road and we blocked the whole road, I would understand. But 6 lanes!!!
Did the crit, or some of it, and then jetted back home to get 5 hours in for the day. Good times, and my legs hurt. The great thing about these 2-a-days are that the metabolism just flies!! I barely had to bolus at all yesterday, and ate close to 3800 calories for the day. Keeping steady at 16u of basal and will see how the changes happen after this week of training.
Another big day today. Dan is trying to get me to go the mtns. I am trying not too... Prolly will though. No racing this weekend, and then BattenKill with a full Team Type 1 squad in NY the next.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Philpott
www.TeamType1.org
