I'm Too Tired To Think Up A Witty Title For This Post

It's Sunday night and I'm brain dead (again). I find it interesting how when I'm training hard/a lot that my brain just shuts down and I'm unable to think. This was a pretty big week and I'm tired (clearly I'm brain dead b/c in reality is was a huge week but I'm in denial or something calling it a "pretty big" week). What's funny is that I find myself rationalizing that I'm not like incapacitated or anything so I'm not really that tired. Ha! What will it take before I raise the white flag? I don't know... I'm not quite raising it yet... though I think many (most?) athletes would be raising it right now if they felt like I do right now. I guess I just think that if I'm still able to go out and complete my workouts and nail 'em all exactly like they were intended, then does it really matter how I feel between sessions? Don't answer that.

So Friday night I was preparing for my bike ride on Saturday morning... got all my nutrition together (this will not surprise Kiet!) and then figured I better put my bike together... it was still in its box in the back of my car. So Scott brought the box inside for me and then I went to work putting it together. I do this a lot it seems and have not had a problem with any of it since I can remember so it was really odd to me when I couldn't get my rear derailleur screwed in... what is going on?? I tried for several minutes and then wondered briefly if it was stripped? I didn't even know this could really happen but I stopped trying  and googled it and sure enough... OMG... it's not the derailleur that gets stripped- its the hanger on the frame... which on the P3 is integrated into the frame... so at this point I was completely sick to my stomach thinking I just ruined my bike and was going to need a new one... holy crap... I tried one more time but saw the little aluminum shavings and just thought I was going to die (extreme I know but um we don't have $4K for me to get a new bike right now). I called a friend of mine who has been working on my bike and he wasn't sure what to do when the hanger isn't one that can come out and be replaced (like it can on my road bike). I put it on FB and within like a minute got a message from a local mechanic who was sure he could fix it... along with several other offers from friends who said I could borrow their bikes. I was so overwhelmed with the kindness! Colin actually came over at 10:30 PM with a tool that rethreads that hanger and fixed it for me. Which was most amazing because I don't even really know Colin... I mean, I've seen him around and know his name of course but it's not like we've been close friends for years. He's just a good guy with a good heart who understood my desperation and wanted to fix my bike for me. Amazing! Anyway, he said the smartest thing I did was stop trying to force the derailleur in there when it wasn't going. So learn my lesson- make sure that derailleur is square in there (not crooked) before you try to install it and if for whatever reason it doesn't go in, stop trying and call a professional. :)

So, phew! Even though I didn't get much sleep (was up way past my bedtime with this bike fiasco!) I got to go riding on Saturday morning. I went with the group which I don't normally do (usually I ride alone) and turns out it's infinitely easier to ride with a group on a windy day. One word. Drafting. What a huge difference! Coming home I was watching my HR and it was a difference of like 20bpm when I was out front vs when I was sitting on.

Today was interesting. On the schedule was another hour of repeats up and down a long steep hill... running this time instead of biking though. It takes ~50 min (of short steep hills) to run to and from the (long steep) hill I used... so you can do the math and figure out how long I ran... Anyway, I nailed the repeats and currently have the FKT on Old Pali, which I plan on keeping because I'm not telling anyone else where I start/finish so therefore no one can beat my time. ;)

Anyway, after the last hill repeat my water bottle was empty and I was thirsty but the closest park bathroom I knew about was over a mile away... I was desperate and wanted water before that so I went out of my way a bit to get to a church that I knew was around the corner and would certainly have a water source. So picture the scene... It was ~9:15 on a Sunday morning and every resident of Kaneohe was driving into this particular church parking lot. I was in my "I could/should wring out my socks" state when I realized that I would have to actually go inside this really nice church building to fill my bottle... so I pretended that I didn't look like a dorky triathlete (who am I kidding?) and walked inside the building, where I was greeted by the church greeters who graciously directed me to the bathroom while pretending not to stare at my compression socks. I proceeded to drip sweat all over the granite countertops as I filled my bottle. Down in one (I was thirsty) and filled my bottle again, smiled at the little old ladies as they filed into the sanctuary, and decided that next time I'll just gut out the extra mile to the park bathroom rather than subject this poor church building to my bodily fluids dripping off me like a faucet.