On staying cool and ground chuck feet.....

The Covington Century was one seriously misrepresented ride. Well, actually, not really. I was told it was hot, that part was true, and it was flat. Ummm.....the beach is flat, not this ride. To those of you who kept insisting it wasn't flat? You were right. It was 98 degrees when we finished with a heat index of 104. My nutrition was WAY off balance because I had an upset stomach. Someone claims that hot perpetuem makes your stomach upset. Don't know if that was the cause, I was thinking it had more to do with the 10 or so bottles of water I was guzzling down. Either way, my tummy was not really hungry, just thirsty, and I wasn't able to take in the nutrition required to ride 110 miles (we tacked on some at the end). The result? I was hot, cranky, half-bonky, and slower than anticipated. The fierce headwinds after mile 75 didn't make things any better. Congrats to Tat and Steven on their first century, to Reger for blowing it out like always, Sarah and Allen for rocking it, KP, and everyone else who had the sense to stay far, far, away from Covington. All in all, I felt really great after the ride and an ice bath....kind of surprised my legs weren't feeling more of the ride. I managed to stay cool today, see?


Oh, and Nat, I read your post about hamburger feet. Interesting. My mom cuts out articles for me too. But they mostly pertain to things like 50-somethings that are still able to have kids. She wants to make sure I know that there are like countless years left in my fertility. I was thinking about your reasons to not partake in ultramarathons and Ironman. Me? I am not too concerned with hamburger feet. Remember Joe's pics of his feet he posted after his 100-mile run? I was still intrigued and thought: I wonder how far I can run before my feet look like that? That's not the reason why this stuff is no longer appealing to me. I realized today while I was reading that my deal-breaker is time. I am SO stingy with my time. I am hyper-sensitive to how valuable it is (to me obviously my time is important) and there is nothing in the world that irks me more than it being 5'oclock in the afternoon and you realize that all you've done is ride 110 miles, bathed, and....well that's it. Laundry? Nope. Reading? Nope. Groceries? Not yet. Target? Maybe tomorrow. If I had an assistant who was willing to take care of all my business (including paying my bills) I would be more than happy to take on these endurance challenges. Until someone can clear off 9-months of my schedule? Not gonna happen. I get too worked up when things aren't done, and hate the feeling that I don't have time. Now if you can create a time machine? Then we might be talking........