I wake up, wondering what day it is, what time it is, and why am I wrapped up in extra blankets while the fan is running full blast? My neck hurts, my knees hurt, my feet hurt, my quads hurt, my shoulders hurt and I’m pretty sure my hair hurts. What happened? Well, fast-backward twelve hours earlier.
Twelve hours earlier
I’m on my bike, clutching the handlebars as tightly as I can. My hair that is not contained in my helmet is whipping across my face. I’m trying as hard as I can
to keep up with the biker in front of me. After all, only a short while earlier I had taunted this demon – “Go faster” I said – “I’m getting too close to you.” Jeez. What was I thinking? My right hand is numb, my left shoulder aching. Was that a pothole back there? I just missed it. I’m going so fast (well fast for me anyway) that I’m not taking in all of my surroundings. Where are we anyway? I’ve done this ride before, the landmarks should be familiar, but I’ve really got all I can do to keep up with this speed demon, let alone watch the scenery.
Okay, now we’re going up a hill. I gear down, but that’s not enough to keep up with this demon, so soon I’m standing on the pedals, cranking away. I did it! But at the top, he’s off again. Finally, we’re at the flat part of the ride. “This should be a cinch” I think, “I’ll show him I know how to keep up.” But it seems that we’re going into the wind. I struggle to keep up on what is usually the easiest part of the ride, watching my average speed drop and drop and drop, farther from my goal. We stop for water at the corner before the turn. “Well that was hard going into the wind, but we’re turning now so it should be better,” I say. But the demon trainer points out “Nah, that was just a crosswind, when we turn we’ll be going even MORE into the wind.” I don’t see how we could possibly be going MORE into the wind and scoff at this, until I notice the flag on the corner, spread out wildly, flapping away from the direction we are turning.
And so we continue: flats, uphills, downhills for 25 miles. I’m watching the pedal rotations of this demon man (and his impressive calf muscles) and notice that most of the time I’m pedaling twice as fast as he is, just to barely keep up. And he’s not riding at his full potential – after all he’s taking it easy on my first training ride.
By the time we get home, I’m feeling accomplished, but aching. I didn’t ride pretty, but I did it. My bike computer tells me I did this ride exactly six minutes faster than the last time when I was just phoning it in. All this and only six minutes? Still, for me, whose only boast is being the slowest biker on the road, this is progress. Next time it might be seven minutes, and then eight and then…oh heck, I’m freezing and aching and need a shower.
By the time I’m done showering I’m chilled to the bone, from all that cold wind rushing quickly past me no doubt, and despite the summer heat, wrap up in extra blankets and a heating pad to crawl into bed.
So now flash forward twelve hours again. I untangle myself from the extra blankets and get up to turn off the fan. It turns out I can still walk after all, and isn’t this why Tylenol was invented anyway? So, will I let my husband be my trainer again? Absolutely!
© Huffygirl 2011
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How to hook a reader, HG! I couldn’t have passed this post if I wanted to.
How nice to have your husband training you. Something the two of you can do together. And congrats on finishing the course. That’s an awesome accomplishment!
And yes, he does have nicely developed calves 😉
I’ll tell him you said so Sandra. Maybe if I keep biking like that I will too.
Wonderful writing! Indeed, it sounds like a wild ride. I hope you recover quickly.
Thanks Third! I did recover in about half a day. Ironically, my husband took a training ride the next day with his cycling group who go much faster than we did, and came home in much the same state that I was. I had a hard time drumming up any sympathy.
I haven’t been on a bike since I was about 15, so I’m impressed. I think it’s very cool that you train with your husband. Keep up the good work, Huffy.
Thanks Marg. I’m impressed with your running because I can’t run – too much impact for me. My poor husband better stay fit because he’s got a lot of training to do for me yet!
So glad you’re feeling better!
Theresa
Thanks Theresa. I guess if I can recover in one day I couldn’t have been THAT hard?
Good for you! And you wrote this so well, you made your aches palpable! I think I might need to go take a Tylenol…
Thanks CE. Be careful with that Tylenol – too much is bad for the liver 😉 !
You two are so impressive!
So nice of you to say so, although sometimes later after these rides we don’t feel quite as energetic as we did while doing it.