Change of Pace

TJ, Willie & Marcia. All 140.6 finishers.

Back in 2007, I did some training with Marcia, a friend of some training buddies from previous seasons. She did Timberman that year, and we trained for it together quite a bit. She and her husband John drove my bike up and back to New Hampshire that year (thanks John!). Last year, Marcia & John had a baby, so she took the year off from triathlon. Today, Willie and I cycled with her today from her new home over in Davidsonville. Funny thing is that I've ridden by this house (her new house) many times as have many of my tri buddies... it is right on Patuxent River Road, a favorite back road for cyclists wheeling through Anne Arundel County, MD.

It was the first time I did a training session with Willie since the Tour de Cure back in May. I thought many times during the ride how much better bike shape I am at this time then I was back in early May. We rode down some back roads to Deale, MD and then climbed some hills over to Route 261. We stopped for a bit to nourish and regroup as we had gotten in about 30 miles at that point.


Willie, mile 30 @ Route 261 & Fairhaven

We turned right on 261 and headed back towards Route 2... as we had been through some rolling hills and heavy tree cover, the sky to the west had been out of view for at least 45 minutes. Now that we were headed back west and were on semi-open road, we could see the gray clouds that were rolling in. Low and foreboding, rain was definitely on the way. And, seriously, within two short miles, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and the air went into that silent, static mode that precedes a thunderstorm.

And, it came... after we headed north on Route 2, it wasn't long until we were in the middle of a deluge. Willie had his Zipps on his Cervelo P2 and as the wind was coming from the west and we were headed north, he was definitely having a hard time holding a line. We stopped at the 408/422/2 intersection and took cover at a mini-mart gas station.


Its hard to tell here... but it was POURING and WINDY

We were still about 10 miles out from Marcia's house and though there was thunder and some lightning, we had to get going. I actually felt the best I did the whole ride over this 10 miles. I dropped Marcia and Willie and at some points of this flat stretch of road, was going 27 mph for sustained periods of time. A little tail wind, perhaps?

When we got back, I took off my shoes and socks and wrung all the water out of the socks. It is amazing how much water can get into little ankle-high socks. Also, when you cycle (or run) in wet conditions for more than an hour, your feet get a strange waterlogged look to them.


TJ's waterlogged feet

A cool thing about the new house is there is a pool in the back. That felt good after a 50 mile ride.

I've cycled and ran about four times this year in driving rain or thunderstorm conditions. I don't think I did that once last year. Typically, when it rained, I stayed inside.

We got in 50 miles in about 2:45 of ride time. My average heart rate was 120... just what I needed today. I've really be working it hard and I needed a long bike today that wasn't crazy long or hard. I'll take the next couple of days off and then I'm heading down to the beach... I have a nice 5 day training set lined up and am very much looking forward to it.

NOTE: IMAZ is 16 weeks from today.

-- TJ