60 Degrees and Sunny

The short version…

Love Sweden; shredded legs; sun burnt; stuffed full of pizza, snickers and blueberry soup; ecstatic with results.

The long version…

I woke up this morning not really knowing what to expect from my first large group ride courtesy of the Swedish embassy here in DC. My body was already a little sore from a hard 35 x 100m swim workout on Friday night and an all-day paintball adventure with some friends on Saturday. So while the mileage was long, I knew I wasn’t completely in the mood to push it hard, although I wasn’t opposed. I just wanted to get outside and enjoy the amazing weather that graced DC.

Those were the intentions, now comes the mini-report. The alarm was set for 6:45am and I made sure to pack as much as possible the night before because lately I’ve been getting terrible sleep and relying on the snooze to make up the extra time spent waking up in the middle of the night (any other triathletes have this problem?). Like clockwork, this was the case again and I took full advantage of that sweet sweet snooze button.

Finally, I crawled out of bed and threw on my gear. The weather was getting up to 60 degrees but it started out at 35 which made things somewhat tricky. I passed on the gloves and pants, instead hoping I could get by with my cold gear long-sleeve. Ultimately, the decision made for a very cold first hour through shaded roads but ended up being the right call when the rest of the miles were in open sun. Still though, if there was ever a time I was concerned about my fingers and toes falling off, today was that time.

(1/4 of the start group, notice the jackets and pants)

The ride was definitely a new experience for me. The start group was around 200 riders and I’ve never had to focus on holding a line in such a large group. I started near the back so I could get a feel for my first time out with the Cervelo (ohhh yea, big moment for the two of us) and quickly moved up, settling into the back of the lead pack of roughly 25 riders. I had no intention of moving into the fray because the idea of riding in the middle of the pack scared the sh*t out of me so I kept pace and hung back for the first 15 miles.

(I wanted no part of that)

Then came the hills, my strength. I’ve tried to focus on hill training throughout the offseason and on the trainer, and today I finally saw the results. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity to do my share of the work and took to the front of the chase group, pulling as many people as possible. Now, I felt comfortable with the group. From that point on, I was just pushing my legs and enjoying the speed of my triathlon bike.

(lead group pushing the pace)

From mile 30 to 60, I latched onto the cycling team at the front leading the ride and enjoyed their 24mph+ pace through a bunch of rollers. I’d like to think my build training has paid off but realistically I should probably attribute my performance today to my lightning-fast bike, not any real skill on my end. Either way, I’ll take it.

(muddy and happy)

In conclusion, the ride was a major success, as was the post-ride celebration with blueberry soup and 250 of my closest friends outside the Swedish embassy. Talk about a great way to start the day.

But could this be it? It was almost 60 degrees by that point and there was no way I was missing out on this weather. So I laced up my running shoes and decided to go log a few miles down by the monuments.

Now THAT was it. After 5 miles (sans pain from my plantar fasciitis!) my legs were shredded and I was ready to head home for some much needed recovery and, of course, massive amounts of food.

And now, after 2.5 naps, my body is finally back to normal and ready for what’s in store tomorrow. God bless spring in DC!