Every Road Has Its Thorn

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Hello, friends!  WELCOME TO HELL!  Today was 109 degrees, making it day 40 of 100 degree or hotter days in Oklahoma City!  We are up against the record of fifty 100 degree days from the year 1980.  I literally picked the hottest summer on record to train for my first half Ironman.  WOW!

Oh, it gets worse.  Tomorrow I'm forecasting a ridiculous (or as my Mom says, "reDONKulous") 113 degrees.  This is the all time record high for Oklahoma City, set back in August of 1936.  In some sick, weather nerd type of way, I really want this to happen.  Since it's insanely hot, we might as well go big or go home!  Or have a major cool down!  Needless to say, this has been the biggest obstacle with training.  Today I swam, following a work out from my friend, Marlene, one of the headmasters of the OCCC Triathlon Club.

300 warm up                                              300 100 swim, kick, pull-3x= 900                 1200 4-50's on the 1:00= 200                         1500 300 pull = 300                                         1800 4-50's on the 1:00= 200                         2000 300 pull = 300                                         2300 4-50's on the 1:00 =  200                       2500 300 pull = 300                                         2800 4-50's on the 1:00= 200                        3000 300 cool down = 300                             3300 On the 50's, you want to swim them as fast as you can so that you will have more rest before it is time to go again!!

Thanks, Marlene!  I did 3330 meters in about an hour!  Not too shabby!  I love swimming.  Too bad I need to work on the other ones!

Flat Tires Galore

So here's what's been going on since the fundraiser...flat tires!I told you in a previous entry about my first flat due to a pot hole on a bike ride with OBS.  I discovered my second flat while trying to ride while my parents are in town.  My dear Dad tried to fix the tire but these road bikes are tricky and I didn't want to mess up.  So I packed the bike and parents up to visit Astronaut John for help.  It turns out an itty bitty thorn, the size on a pencil tip, managed to give me a flat.  Not good news considering Oklahoma roads and trials are littered with these guys.  Astronaut John says they are more abundant this summer because of the extreme drought conditions and lack of rain to wash them away.  These suckers came back to haunt me again...


This Flat Out Sucks!

So about a week ago I went on a bike ride with one of my TNT buddies I've mentioned earlier, Heather.  Her dad is an avid cyclist so he came along for the ride as well.  Boy, am I glad he did!  I ended up having not one, not two...but THREE FLAT TIRES! Are you flipping kidding me? This must be a record?!  We started out at 6pm at the Louies on the Lake parking lot.  From there the plan was to ride to Lake Overholser and back.  On the way to Lake Overholser, there are a few stop lights and while starting up again for the green light, I managed to twist the clip on my shoe.  This made my knee go in and loosened the clip.  After pushing around a bit, I managed to set it back into place.

Here's where the "fun" begins.  I first get a flat on the back tire.  The back tire is much more complicated since you have to deal with the gears.  Thankfully, Heather's dad has done this before so he stepped in to help out.  As soon as he fixed the back tire, I noticed a small pebble of sorts stuck on my front wheel.  When I pulled it out, I heard a "hisssssssss"....you guess it!  Another flat!  Since we already used my replacement tube and CO2 inflater, Heather gave me hers.  We didn't have quite enough CO2 to fill the front tire, so I had to ride a bit low.  After trying to ride on it, I stopped and her dad used his (and the last) CO2 cartridge.  So we continued on our journey back to Lake Hefner from Lake Overholser....

BUT WAIT!  There's more!  I hear an all too familiar sound again...something isn't right.  Granted, I was very paranoid of flats at this point (rightfully so!)...but my back tire really WAS flat! Incredible! The sun was setting and we had to hurry back, so we flagged Heather's dad up in front and changed the back tire rather quickly.  We got back around 9pm and it was dark, so Heather let me borrow her light.  Thank you so much Heather and Heather's dad!


I felt very defeated after this ride.  I felt that this was my future - 3 plus flats a ride.  Not only is it frustrating, it's expensive!  Tubes are about $5 a piece and I thought the inflaters were $16...but I found out at my Pro Bike visit that it's just an initial fee for the applicator and that the CO2 cartriges can be purchased for $1.50.  Whew!  I visited Pro Bike a few days later convinced something was wrong with Michael Jackson (the name of my bike).  Turns out nothing was wrong, I just drew the short straws THREE TIMES that day!  They fixed up the bike, hooked me up with a new energy drink/less viscous goo, and I even chatted up with one of my OBS buddies!  Ahhh, I felt much better!

The day after my flat-tastic ride (more like flat-awful!) I had a personal best with running!  My legs were a bit sore from the day before, but I started around 7:30pm and ended around 9:30pm!  Yes, it got dark on me and yes, I know it's not safe to run by  myself in the dark...but it's the only time it is slightly cooler around here!  I iced my knees afterwards because they hurt a bit but I am proud to say I ran 11 or 12 miles!  Personal bests!  They feel great! Now if I can only swim 1.2 miles and cycle 56 miles before that....hmmm...

TEASE FOR NEXT TIME...

This past Saturday I went on a group ride EARLY in the morning followed by a clinic at Schlegels.  I've written enough for today but I will give a Cliffnotes version of his class in my next entry.  Keep cool everybody and thanks for reading!