Sunday, May 13, 2012

An Exhausting But Great Weekend

I am exhausted!  I'm glad it's getting dark so I have no desire to go outside and take more advantage of the gorgeous weather.

Saturday I biked 50+ miles all along Lake Champlain with a friend. She tends to ride out and backs and I prefer loops so I found a 36 mile loop instead of her 40 mile out and back. She said that was fine.  Ha!  I didn't have time to copy the map so we just went with what we knew.  It was a gorgeous day. It could not have been nicer.
Parking the car and starting out

We were basically doing a loop along Lake Champlain on a road not too far from the lake and one quite close. First we went north where we made some of our first errors and added some mileage to the original route right away - although we didn't know this.  We stopped at a store about 20 miles in and I had a chocolate milk which was heaven. It is a little tricky knowing what to bring on a bike ride when you are eating just soft food.  

Great views at the general store
We continued riding with just gorgeous views along Lake Street, a fairly flat road.  We had decided we were going to ride on the new Lake Champlain Bridge as a short side trip.  Neither one of us had even been on it in a car.  It was fun but a little creepy too. There I was all clipped in and where would I go if I fell?  Over the side? Several feet down to the water?  But no worries.   I made it safely across both ways with one stop at the top to take some pictures.
On the New York side of the bridge

On the top



While on "top" of the bridge we talked to some other bikers. This one group is a group of retirees who ride at least twice a week. Two of them were more than 80.  Vermont biking isn't for wimps either!  Very impressed. Then we continued along Lake Street south of the bridge with a couple stops for more pics of it.  
Looking back at our new bridge, Cathy waits below


We went quite  a ways and I yelled to Cathy as I thought we needed to turn.  She didn't think so and we kept going but definitely got a bit lost. (Yes it was where we should have turned.)  It got hillier and hotter and when I saw Bridport School I was not encouraged as it is a long ways from where we were headed and I was tired and hot.  A woman came out of her house as we looked as lost as we were.  She then went in and got her husband to come tell us where to head.  We went basically back toward where we had been and finally finally were going in the right direction.  My spirits lifted considerably.  We ended up doing about 54 miles. My overall pace was 13.9 which is high in my world, the highest I have done. I was very pleased with that on a long ride.  

I had decided on Mother's Day that I would just do a short 10 mile or so ride. I was going to head to a nearby town to do the ride I had done with my friend,  a different day.  It was another great day so I ended up riding it, turning around and reversing direction to go back making it 23.  I ended up with a 14 mile pace for this shorter, flatter ride following yesterday's long ride.  I'll take it. And I do LOVE my clipless pedals or whatever you say.  I don't know why I waited so long.
Sunday's ride



 Then later in the day my son went for a Mother's Day run with me.  We ran 8 miles in the heat of the day. I guess it was good for me but the heat took it right out of me.  We stopped at the General Store and a friend bought us each a water.  I guess summer is here and I need to be more prepared. It was great fun running with Jameson!
A great Mother's Day run  with my son


Then he made me stuffed shells for dinner and bought ice cream to help the whole soft food thing.

Plus he brought his adorable dog down for the day.  Aside from a few stand offs with the cats I think Jaxon had quite a good time. I predict he is home sleeping now.  Keeping track of 3 cats is tiring business.  
Jaxon comes to visit




The cat goes into his kennel and refuses to budge



My face has gotten a bit black and blue I guess from the exertion I expended this weekend. I did have the doctor's permission plus I consulted Dr. Internet. I just hope  I don't scare my students tomorrow.

Lovely right?  When I told my friend I had the doctor's permission
she did wonder if he knew I was "insane"




22 comments:

Jill said...

I'm terrified to go over bridges; I am certain I would have had to ride smack down the middle of that bridge or I'd have had an pretty severe anxiety attack. Haha!

Day 2's ride is was so pretty. Love Vermont! :)

Hope the bruise goes away soon and you're back to eating harder foods!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Paul said...

HUGE training. Glad you are doing so well!
Also fun to see you have adapted to the clips!

50+ mile ride!!! Next step a HIM! 8)

And yes you will freak out your students. Good for them though ;)

Char said...

Where do you get your energy? I'd really like you to bottle some and send it over. The face looks sore but it will fade quickly. Josh's black eye has almost disappeared and it's only been 7 days.

Fran said...

Girl you've been busy this weekend and what a gorgeous weather you've had.

Jaxon is too too cute. I love that dog.

Liz said...

What Char said about your energy. I don't know how you manage to fit in such long bike rides, and then running on the same day as a cycle - that's so impressive!

Karen said...

What a great weekend! Love that you went on a 50 mile ride then did an 8 mile run. Are you secretly training for a half ironman??? :)

Kandi said...

Sounds like a great weekend! Clipless pedals sound nice. I might get cages for my bike before the tri but I'm running out of time, so we'll see.
Love all the Jax photos. Funny how I never noticed how similar Delilah's markings are to Jax (all black on the back, brown face, white legs/chest).
I like your friend's comment about being insane. haha.

Ewa said...

Hope you got enough rest overnight to go to work. You are a machine!
Seems you and I have the same doctor. I love my Dr Internet, he/she gives me just the kind of advice I would give myself and it's all free. ;-)

Johann said...

You are becoming quite the pro on the bike now. Awesome photos of the bridge! I love bridges! That run in the heat was brave. We have cat/dog standoffs all the time and it can be funny to watch.

Black Knight said...

I prefer the loops too. Your biking is impressive. And I like your way of training taking pictures and enjoying company and landscapes.

Kate Geisen said...

It's so cool that you got to run with your son on Mother's Day. I spent mine doing running and riding stuff, but not with my family. The early morning run with friends was great, and the first part of the ride was good, but as it went on and I was seeing more families out together, it made me sad that mine won't come with me.

You definitely earned a rest or a nap after your busy weekend! Hope your bruises heal. I bet your kids had tons and tons of questions. I think mine notice every little scratch I get!

On the Right Track said...

Nice black and blue...Yikes!! sounds like you are kicking it with the biking!!! love the pictures along the way...and how nice to have a mother's day run with your son...

I want your dog!!!

Ransick said...

Beautiful pics from your ride and nice distance too! Really cool you got to run with your son on Mother's day. It doesn't get much better than that and 8 miles isn't too shabby. Does he race too?

middleagedrunner said...

Your pictures are always the best! Impressive biking- you are killing it out there :-)
Nice bruise too, sometimes it's good to have something to show for dramatic dental work (ugh!)

HappyTrails said...

That is an awesome long ride - 54 miles and at a great pace, too! Looks like you had a great weekend. Although the bruising looks a bit painful - good thing it wasn't 70+ miles running, jarring your jaw :))

Giorgio said...

Congrats on your 50 mile bike! Wonderful landscape!

Marlene said...

Looks like a gorgeous day for a long ride, and nice route too!

So fun having a visit from the pup. LOL at the cat stealing his bed/kennel!

christa said...

You were so close to my house. You should call me if you get lost out here next time!

Tricia said...

lovely ride

A Prelude To... said...

Love the picture in the red and yellow. SO vibrant!

HA! Wearing your wetsuit in your bed does absolutely nothing worthwhile :D I just thought maybe I would put it on and let the anxiety happen on dry land. The thing with me and my wetsuit is that the first time I put it on each year, I "feel" like I can't get air in my lungs. Of course I can...but at that first swim, it seems impossible. So>>>even just laying around on my bed in it, I totally felt like I couldn't breath...but obviously I was filling my lungs...as I am still here to talk about it ;-)

Ransick said...

regarding you questions on my blog, the swim was 450 yards. I think I do like the Olympic distance best. Long enough that winging it isn't a good idea but short enough training doesn't have to mess up a lot of weekends like training for a half or full Ironman. It's like the difference between a 5k and a half mary. The 5k hurts bad but is over fast, while a half mary takes some training and endurance. The only thing I don't like in an Oly is the disproportionately long swim, ~3x longer than a sprint.

Kathy said...

Beautiful pics - I love all the green and water out east - but I don't handle humidity so I'll just stay here in Colorado.
Jaxon is such a cutie!!