100 miles.

It's good to have stuff on the training schedule that scares the sh*t out of you.  Like riding 100 solo miles.  Everyone is out of town racing Vineman 70.3 this weekend, and I'm 2 weeks out from my event, so I penciled this one in.  In order to taper, you must peak. 


I knew this would be a mental and physical challenge, but challenges allow me to feel the most alive.  Really, they test my commitment.  Just like you can't be partially pregnant, you can't be partially committed. 


I chose a hilly route, and looped around part of it twice to mimic having to mentally tackle climbing the same hill twice.  Just like I will have to ride during Vineman.  There's something about that second time that can break you if you don't have your mind in the right place.  Like Charlotte Bronte said, "I feel monotony and death to be almost the same."  I needed to practice my mental tactics, because I know when my mind and motivation goes, everything else follows suite. (So unfortunate, but so true.)

Kinda looks like a dinosaur with a tail, huh?

I also practiced some new fueling strategies, which worked out perfectly.

Udi's gluten-free BB muffins. 2 of these bad boys kept me adequately fueled.

At the beginning of my ride, I passed a family along the side of the road holding baskets and picking fruit.  After looping around Cull Canyon, I came back and saw what treasures they were collecting...

I had to hunt hard to find a tree that they didn't yet 'harvest.'

Yellow plums!!

I rode this entire ride sans heartrate monitor; Caveman style.  Before, I used my heartrate to dictate everything.  Now I'm learning to be more like a body whisperer, tuning in and finding that place where I could ride steady and hard all day long, yet still hovering close enough to that razor-sharp edge where, if crossed, everything could shut down.  Sometimes I feel like the machinery has replaced our own intrinsic understanding of our own bodies.  So I'm trying to go without and look within.  It is simple but not easy.


At mile 75, I stopped at Starbucks for some caffeine.  I'll be honest, I was 0.5 miles away from home and was SO tempted to chalk this one up as a 75'er.  But then it went back to the commitment I had made to myself.  So I kept riding. 

First time drinking these. Hit the spot. And the "green coffee extract," whatever that is,
helped get me through those last 25 miles.

Before today, the most I had ever ridden solo was 70 miles.  Reaching 100 miles solo was another item I could check off my bucket list!  

100.79 miles brought to you by Udi's muffins, NUUN tabs, Accelerade, Starbucks, and
 a wholelotta commitment

Two years ago, I would have never fathomed being able to complete this.  Challenges are life giving, they help us grow and make us braver and better than we think we are.  So whether it's completing your first 5K or running a sub-5:00 mile, keep believing and look within.  Dance upon the edge.  You will be pleasantly surprised.