Saturday, August 29, 2009

Do The Dew

I haven't had Mountain Dew in probably 6 years. I used to drink it while riding long in the Arizona summers. I'd wear a camelback and fill it with ice and Mountain Dew. I swear, it was the only way to get through 110 miles when it was 110 degrees.


Ok, so it wasn't quite 110 degrees here today, but it felt pretty darn hot. And we didn't ride quite 110 miles, but 104 is pretty darn close. And I tell ya what, I was having the strongest craving for Mountain Dew! So I was thrilled when my riding compadres suggested we stop at the 7/11 at about mile 90 today.

They look pretty happy for having already covered 90 miles, no? That's because they're holding Big Gulp drinks! These are some of my Pac Velo teammates who are also going to be racing in Kona. Those guys are all like 9:45ish IM guys who are all apparently trying to go even faster than that this year. They rip the legs off us girls every Saturday.

There were actually 8 of us riding today and we looked like the matching Octuplets out there on the roads. Too funny.

The first half of our ride today was flat and windy. And fast. I don't know what those guys were thinking, dragging us along at such a quick pace. Did they not know what we were going to encounter in the second half of the ride?? The second half was full of short steep hills. I think we all paid the price to some degree there on those hills. But in the end, I'm happy with how I rode today. The Mountain Dew helped me get up the last couple of hills I'm sure. Solid. Tired at the end for sure, but amazingly, I was able to run afterward at a pace that was a good bit faster than my goal pace in Kona. That was cool. I tell ya, that Jen Harrison sure knows how to train an athlete for an Ironman.

8 comments:

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

6 years? I can't seem to go 6 hours without the dew. I am hopelessly addicted *sigh*. Everytime I quit, I come crawling back!

Regina said...

I get those cravings for Dr. Pepper. And I hate soda, yuck.

you all look so cute in your kits! (of course you are the cutest!)

That is a lot of e..impressive.

Mnowac said...

You amaze me. While I seek out training partners who are a little slower than me :) You are always out there with people who are "faster" and will push you harder, you rock!

X-Country2 said...

Those are some cute outfits. :o) A Mt. Dew very well earned!

Jennifer Harrison said...

If I told you my ride started this AM @ 48F degrees you would die. I kept thinking about hot chocolate the ENTIRE RIDE. Funny, how that works. It was a balmy 54F when I finished my run. !

Great work today! :)

Anonymous said...

YES! Mountain Dew is the bomb towards the end of a long, hard, hot ride!!! I usually will fill up one of my bottles with the Dew towards the end of a ride. Something about the caffeine and sugar just give me that little kick in the ass I need to get home :)

Rebecca DeWire said...

Isn't it crazy how the combination of sugar, caffeine, and carbonation is some magical formula? I have never tried mtn dew while training and racing, but I am a big fan of coke. Coke is definitely responsible for saving some of my training and racing efforts.

You are totally going to rock Kona! I am so excited for you because you have been working so hard towards this goal!

GoBigGreen said...

Yea as Jen said it is getting to be fall here ( since we missed summer) and you are now assigned the role of posting pics of sun and surf and heat. Thanks from the midwest!