I thought doing 3 sets of 30 reps of 180 pounds of calf raises was good enough. I've been doing that twice a week since the end of January and felt like I was increasing my strength. But, nothing could have prepared me for running in the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves. It was very hard to finish the one full mile I did in them on Friday morning. I'm glad I only did .6 of a mile Thursday after I first got them. Saturday morning when I got up it was hard to walk. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do my whole bike ride I had planned or not. Luckily, I don't use too much of my calfs in my pedal stroke. The ride went well and I was happy with the time and miles I got in the saddle. The rest of the day was a struggle. My calfs were sore the whole day. I wore my calf skins to work despite the weird comments and glances I got from customers and co-workers. But mostly I was occupied with my new tri bike that arrived Friday morning. I just got my Cannondale Slice 3 Ultegra. It sure is a beautiful bike. It was originally back ordered for a while but once my order went through, they got it shipped out a lot quicker. I was stoked to start building it up. I didn't get too far with the other work I had to get done, but enough to get a good idea of how it was going to look. So on Saturday I set out to fit it to my body with help from my co-worker Matt McCulley. He helped me dial in the seat height, bar height, and saddle position. After that was set I could start running housing and cables that would fit nice and snug. That used up about the whole day.
Sunday I lost an hour of sleep but still managed to get up for my ride I had planned. It was forecasted to rain, but thankfully the weather changed over night and my ride fell right in place. I found my breaking point on that ride. I tried to do several 85% hill climbs in a 60 mile ride, my longest distance so far. The Gu Roctane helped give me about 12 extra miles of energy but I still fell about 8 miles short on energy. It would have helped if I had some thicker padded shorts or more of a padded saddle than the leather covered plastic I have. Somehow I still managed to average 19 mph. Anyways, it was too early in the season to try to pull that kind of workout. I did get to see a rafter (Thanks Brandon) of Turkeys though which was a pretty cool site. There were about 5 or 6 big males and a bunch of females meandering through a crop field out along a country road. It still doesn't change the fact that I bonked. And bonked hard. When I got home I wanted to just sit on the couch and watch TV the rest of the day, but I had to quickly eat, shower, and get to work. I made an awesome batch of scrambled eggs with turkey, pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese, and home grown bell and banana peppers. It was great along with a big glass of chocolate milk. But then work only made the day more hectic. It was a crazy, busy Sunday that I had to man by myself. I once again failed to finish my bike, but did manage to sell two bikes, install new bars on a TT bike, re-cable and re-house a bike, and blow up a tube in my face. It destroyed my eyes. A guy came in with a flat tire. When I tried to inflate it the tube popped out the side because the tire wasn't seeding properly. I deflated and tried again. It looked good and I was checking it out while squating beside it and then BOOM. It exploded right in my face. I couldn't see or hear anything. I back away and just stood, or tried to. I collected myself as two onlookers asked if I was okay. As I took a step they assumed I was. I wasn't ready to speak yet. I was still dumbfounded and shocked from the explosion. I quickly grabbed a new tube and reinstalled it for this guy and sent him on his way. I then checked myself out in the mirror. My eyelids had been scraped as well as my nose. My right eyelid was bulging and blue. It was throbbing with pain. I finished the hectic day and was ready for a break. It's too bad I gave up drinking for lent because I could really use a tall glass of bourbon and a recliner after this day. I could also use a day off after the string of workouts I've put together, but tomorrow I go back to school and back to working out. At least I get to change it up. I'll get back in the water and back to lifting weights. I wanted to do my first ride on my TT bike on tuesday but since I didn't get to finish it, I guess I'll ride on my road bike and the new Slice will have to wait.
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