Recovery/The Ride this weekend

Yes, I'm working on the race report from Vineman!! Should be finished today or tomorrow!

In the meantime...a little recap of how "well" I recovered in time for this past weekend's ride:

Woke up just a tad late, but had things packed to go so I was okay on that. Somehow, though, I just didn't wake up with the pep I usually do (and in general, I don't really wake up late). Spinning class was tough on Friday and I realized that I either need to vote for our rides to be on Sunday or find another evening to teach.

Backtracking -
My recovery last week seemed to go alright; on Monday I couldn't sit down without using every muscle in my arms to lower myself, because my legs still could not function. Monday evening I took Anna's advice and just lied on the floor with my legs up against my bed, meditating and I actually fell asleep!!! I was probably asleep for about 30 minutes before I woke up with my legs still up in the air. :) It must've done some good though, because Tuesday I was remarkably improved. Still a bit touchy in the quads, but overall much better. By Wed morning spin class, I had my pep back. I think that's when I sent the e-mail out about the group ride - clearly, I was feeling ready to get back into things. Took Thursday off again, and Friday evening I taught spinning and then went to the Giants game.

Back to Saturday. Showed up, voted we head east instead of west (where the fog would grow even thicker) and was ready to roll. Funny thing happened - we got harassed by a CHP officer IN WINDSOR because we were riding two abreast instead of in a single line. At 6:40 a.m., you would think it would be no big deal, but he honked at us and then turned around up ahead as if he was going to pull us over. Shouldn't he be patrolling the HIGHWAY or in a donut shop?

Anyway, on we went down Shiloh Road and made our way over to Chalk Hill. Chalk Hill felt fine, but afterward I began to wonder how pleasant this ride was going to be for me. My legs began to feel a little sticky/heavy. Because I had voted for a fast ride initially, I didn't want anybody else to slow down on account of my slow-@$$.

As we rode along 128 toward Calistoga, I looked down at my computer. 14mph? Are you kidding me? "WTF IS WRONG WITH ME?" I mused. Seriously, I knew my legs felt heavy, but I didn't think it was THIS bad.

What I did not realize however, is that 128 has a very deceptive slight (SLIGHT) grade. It LOOKS flat. However, as we sped back upon the return at 22 mph, I felt validated. Even so, I knew I was riding slowly and it just wasn't my day, period. Climbing up the hill to descend into Calistoga felt okay, and I just focused on watching John Murphy spin in front of me so that I had something to follow. "Try to spin his cadence" I told myself. While I couldn't get my legs going quite that fast, it helped to have something to shoot for.

Stopped in Calistoga and turned around, not before having a dude in his truck with a road bike in the back stop us. Pat said "Can we help you?" Dude says "well...I'm looking for a place to ride and you guys look like you might know where to go." We gave him some ideas (I love being an expert on such a beautiful place!) and took off back in the direction we came from.

A photo from the Calistoga area...looks like winter time but still beautiful!

Again, I just didn't have my legs responding well. I decided to just make it back to the best of my ability. El Falco was of course, right there with a lecture on how I probably hadn't rested properly and that was why I was feeling so dead. Thanks.

We took turns pulling and managed some decent speeds, nothing of course compared to what the other four were doing, but I was just happy to be noticing that my slow speed on the way out was due in part to having a slight grade in the road.

Approaching the turn onto Chalk Hill Rd, we saw the other guys pulled over. It looked like Pat and John were inspecting their bikes. David immediately said "I think we need to have a replay for Sarah and Matt." Huh? We learned that John and Pat had crashed into each other in a very silly way. Thankfully neither seemed to be hurt TOO bad, though Pat had landed on his tailbone and John had gotten a little bit of road rash on his arm. Ouch! Additionally, Pat's new wheel was out of true, but not so bad it was hitting the brake caliper.

Onward on 128 - we decided to head back through Healdsburg where it was flatter and we could go faster. Or shall I say, THEY could go faster. Actually, we stayed together pretty much after that. Had some nice pacelines were we held 21-22 mph. I always think it's funny how, when you're 3rd or 4th in the paceline you think "oh cool, this is EASY! Awesome!"

Then...you move into 2nd. Now, that can still sometimes go okay, but I was behind The Sleeper. Sure enough, he began to slowly edge away from me. Having a paceline edge away, no matter what position you're in, is something to the effect of losing your grip on a rope you're holding onto for dear life. You see it slipping and desperately begin to pedal harder to get back on the wheel in front of you. "NO!" I yelled. Still inching away...my speed going down to 20..."OH NO!!!" I yelled again. "Pedal harder, Sarah. Faster."

Thankfully, The Sleeper is a nice guy and looked back, only to see my desperate attempts to reconnect the line. He slowed down so I could jump back on. *Phew* My legs were really not in the mood for this.

Lucky for me, John Muphy ended up taking the lead and I never had to pull. I would've really been toast! Being 2nd was hard work as it was! I am so amazed at the difference between 2nd and 3rd position in the pace line...

The rest of the ride was pretty chill. El Falco was starting to peter out and I decided I'd had my good tempo pushes, and I was content to just spin lightly with him back to coffee. MMMMM, coffee. I could just smell it those last 5 miles...coffee...so good...

Pat ended up staying with us too as his tailbone wasn't feeling so nice. The three of us took a slightly alternate route to beat the other 3 guys back. :)

We got back to Cafe Noto for coffee (SO GOOD) and breakfast burritos. I'm in agreement with Pat & Jim - truly some great laughs afterward and hopefully some new Lombardi Tri Team recruits!

AND...an upcoming new nickname for Mr. Murphy. David was christened with his new nickname "The Sleeper," in honor of his funny quips that come out when least expected and his swiftness that also emerges when least expected. Congrats, David. :)

All in all: 3:10 ride time, 55 miles. 1:15 coffee and breakfast burrito time, LOTS of laughs.

My foreshadowing about recovery was not for naught: I mentioned it because not only was I absolutely exhausted Saturday night, but a couple hours after waking up Sunday morning, I took a two-hour nap from 10-12. Then, later on that afternoon, I took another two hour nap from 5-7. Finally, falling asleep by 10:30 last night, I didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning.

WOW. Guess I wasn't as recovered as I thought. Hopefully this week will be better...