humbling to sick...

I went home from chiba last weekend beaten.  My lung and heart were fine.... my muscles were dead.  This was just unusual and just did not seem right, but with no real info to tell me what was wrong... It was just a bad day.

After I was home, I stayed hot.  I had some tell tales of dehydration, but not my normal signs.  I drank some water and gatorade, but never felt myself.  Then the cough developed.  It was worse at night, but still present in the day.  4 days or so of coughing all night and getting little sleep followed by days of feeling dehydrated.  Finally on Wednesday I was able to cough up some of the congestion in my chest.  It was a wad of nasty olive green sludge.  Too bad it was a one time thing...

The other problem during this time, I developed a headache.  Every cough made it worse.  To the point at times I got blurry vision and avoided sunlight at all costs.  I have had plenty of migraine in the past, but every cough left my already hurting head feeling like my brain was just rattling around.  In all honesty - this was a week of misery.

As the week progressed - I snuck out for a short ride to the beach.  It ended up being a tad longer than I expected - and my boxer brief/cotton shorts of choice were an awful choice...  but I chilled with a buddy at the beach for an hour.  I had not seen him for more than 15 minutes this entire past year, so it was worth the 'headache' to go see him.

When I got home, I took a hot shower and some of the crap in my chest broke loose.  I laid down feeling well, but my chest started tingling and the coughing fits continued.

My coughing continued right into Saturday... so I did not do to my normal road ride and tried to rest.  That did not work, so I had breakfast, then met up with the group ride a little past midway and finished up with them.  When I got home... I was ringing with sweat and my head was POUNDING.  I drank tons of water before, during and after.  I ate breakfast and salt candy during the ride...  and again, my legs were just dead for the ride.  We managed 40km at times, but I was in the draft.  My pulls never exceeded 35kph.

The cough has continued into this week, however this morning, it seems everything was breaking up.
Sadly, the weather forecast calls for rain all week......

Between the 2 times out, 76km of sick riding.
This is now how I wanted to bounce back from the Chiba disaster.

and then... the humbling experience...

The plan was 60+ km of on/off road riding on the Boso peninsula.  The forecast was going to be hot and humid.  I avoided alcohol all week and I stayed hydrated as best I could all week leading up to the ride.  I get up at 4am and try to eat breakfast.  My body is rejecting it.  I choke down some food, but feel awful about it and throw away the rest.  Yes, I am worried about calories, but throwing up is seemingly eminent if I keep eating.  I drink a cup of coffee and a few glasses of water and head out.

I started the ride with 2 other riders.  We had to ride roughly six paved miles to get to the Kurihama ferry to cross the Tokyo bay to meet up with the other riders.  Once we met up, it was time to hit 7-11 and load up on any last second things.  This ride would have minimal opportunity for food or water.

We head off and I immediately get the 'oh shit' feeling when you can tell your legs just did not wake up.  I figure somewhere along the way they will snap out of it...  nope.  It never happened.  My legs felt heavier with every pedal stroke.  There was nothing wrong with the bike... it is 100% the engine.

10km or so in, we hit the second climb and I know I am in trouble.  I am hoping my legs will wake up and behave, but it isn't happening.  I am laboring and the sweat is flowing.  I am consuming water at the rate I fear I will run out before I am able to refill...  doubt is a bitch and it is coming fast.

As we are at the 20km point - I fall behind again.  I was trying to get some food while descending and slowly lost touch with the group.  Which is rare for me to be in the back on a descent, but to be dropped?  This never happens, but feeling as I did, I needed calories and I would sacrifice the fun part to get them.  We reconnect and start another climb...  and the wheels fell off....

A couple guys circled back to check on me - and I could see they are still feeling fresh while my quads felt burnt up.  I also knew the big climb was ahead.  As I considered this a gentleman's ride - after being dropped several times, I decided it was time to bail out.  Juston looked at me and said we was hurting as well, so we headed back to the ferry while the others continued on their death march.

The ride back was pleasant as we just spun back and took paved roads.  My legs were hurt, but capable of this for a bit.

All in all - Juston and I rode 55km or so.  But by the time I got home, I felt significantly worse than out regular 70km ride.  I seem to have issues with cramps in this heat.  While I drink water and some electrolyte drinks - and this week - salt candy as well... the issues still sneak up.

Faaaack.

At this moment, it is difficult to see the light.  These past three weeks of riding in the heat have lead to slower ride times and cramps.  At least Chiba offered some beautiful views along the ride.

2 months to SSWC...  I need to figure my issues out and get back on the SS

Forgo the Fargo???

This weekend I have plans to ride in the hills of the Boso Peninsula.
80km and half off road.  Having 'jammed' my wrists this past weekend, I decided to go for a short ride yesterday.  From the get go - there was discomfort.  I toyed around with different hand positions trying to find a comfortable way to hold the bars... no luck.
I stopped to kind of stretch out my wrists or just explore how bad they are hurt... no luck learning anything.  They are just sore.

My wrists have always gotten sore on "long rides" and I attribute a lot of it to past injuries.  I think this past weekend just proved I can't let my guard down.

A few ibuprofen tablets and I should be fine....  I hope.

Saturday Ride - 75km in the heat... silly roadies...

Same ole ride - ratchet up the heat a touch...

Mentally, I figured I would do better than last week since last week I had not been on a bike for a while. This week just happened to be a bit more hot and humid. I did go into cramp management earlier this ride than the last ride, however it was my quads and I can ride around that. Reading Scout's reply to my last saturday ride, Mustard packs will be a backup for sure in the future. This week I need to search for Salt and Plum Candy.

This should help a tad on the salty side and possibly mix in some Gatorade as I have recently been going straight water only. No records were broken this week. It was just a steady pace and try to not overheat.

Actually got off road last Thursday.... for a minute...

Less than 6 miles of riding and less than half of that off road - however it was more off road than I have done in a several weeks. The ride started off fine as I headed out to hit a new to me trail. Sadly, it was a bit under maintained, so there was some hike a bike. I went so long not going off-road while living in Chinatown, I won't complain about the local trails, but I better appreciate Richmond & Williamsburg VA now. Anyhow - Cruised along the trail a bit and found some trail features. Yay! A small bridge for some air and another little ramp... but somewhere in the fun, I had a bad landing and both wrists felt jammed. Not a biggie, but discomfort. I continue down the trail into a valley. As I come out into the clearing, I feel an insect bite. It felt like a horsefly sting, but I saw no bugs flying around. Then another and another.... my back is getting lit up. I decide this is for the birds... freaking invisible blood sucking insects have swarmed my bike... I haul ass home... wrists be damned. I get home and pull off my jersey... I picked up a ton of ants somewhere on the trail. My back is red and irritated, so I drown the damn ants and take a shower. A disappointing day all the way around.

This route even kind of looks like an insect...  not cool