Race Schedule and Results

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Covington Century

Before I get to the recap of a great century ride this past weekend, I want to thank you all for the supportive messages that you left on my last post.  Just an update - Tom is doing great.  Just a few scabs left, but he's back in full speed.  We did find out that his Orbea had more damage than we thought so we laid Boom to rest on Thursday night.  :(  Tom's had fun building up his new tri-bike... a reincarnated TT1 bike from RAAM 2010.  It's pretty sweet.  Second, Buddy is doing great.  We have another blood draw Thursday with the vet.  He loves the new medicine (the fact that I hide it in tuna or chicken I'm sure has something to do with it), but he's been a champ.   And finally, my grandfather passed away last Thursday morning in his sleep.  If you knew my grandfather, he wouldn't have wanted anyone to see him suffering and would have wanted to be with my grandma, and that's exactly what happened.  It's never easy to lose a loved one, especially one as amazing as my grandpa, but we know that he's watching us from above, with his daughter, waiting to be reunited with all of us some day. This was a picture with him from a week a half ago.  So incredibly glad that I was able to tell him that I loved him in person just one last time.

So as you can imagine, the last few weeks have been crazy.  Training has been sketchy (although I'm seeing a pattern here since moving to Georgia as that's fairly common).  Tom and I had signed up for the Covington Century a while ago after being told it's one of the flattest organized centuries out there.  Um... yep, that had Kingery written all over it!  I was pretty apprehensive going into it though.  The longest I had ridden this season was 70 miles, once, and it wasn't pretty.  But I pulled on my big girl panties and got my mental state right.  Plus I knew that I'd be seeing George, Kacie, Karen and Summer so that totally made it more worthwhile.
We got up at 5 Saturday morning and did the typical Kingery-stall.... it goes kind of like this:

5:00 - Alarm buzzes.  Tom groans and turns it off.
5:01 - I roll out of bed, annoyed off that it's time to awake.  Tom doesn't move
5:05 - I tell Tom that we need to get going.  The dogs look at us like we're nuts.
5:06 - We use some choice words to describe how we are feeling about being triathletes.
5:07 - We contimplate quitting.  We long to be back in bed.
5:08 - We grunt and groan some more, then get dressed. 
5:09 - We agree that we won't do this again next year (note, this is the 6th year of Ironman training)
5:10 - We are on our way...

We made the drive to Covington in the dark and as the morning lightened, we notice that it's super cloudy.  Weather says 25-30% chance of rain.  Hopefully it'll just stay cloudy and cool for the day.  We got to the ride sight, registered, get the bikes ready, text my peps, and meet up with Kacie and George.  It's a mass start with a crazy number of yahoos (I swear I'm shocked that there aren't more casualties from organized rides) and for the first 20 miles, Tom tells me he feels like he's going to flip over his handle bars, ala last weekend.  His blood sugars drop.  It's going to be a long day.  We let Kacie go ahead and I work hard to remind him that this is fun, we're together, we chose to do this, etc.  Hum... it's not working.  And then it happens...
The skies open up and for about 35 miles, it pours.  Now I'm not talking sprinkles here and there.  I'm talking pelting rain that stings as it hits your skin. We also miss a turn (where the 66 mile route and the 100 mile route split).  We don't figure this out until 2.5 miles up the road.  Awesome! Tom goes through another very low point, deciding to quit triathlon and never bike again.  Part of me is annoyed, the other part is singing stupid songs like "singing in the rain" in my head.  I mean, really, what can you do?  Around mile 50, it lets up and we both just look at each other and laugh.  We're soaking wet, but the roads are flat, we have food in our bellies, and we're together.  To me, that's what it's all about some days.  We decide to just make the most of it and we do. 

We keep meeting up with Karen and Summer at the aid stations and they make me smile, as always.  On the roads, it's just the two of us, talking about our life and what lies ahead.  We are reminded of Ohio multiple times looking at the countryside, and then reminded that we are in Georgia when we see things like a dead armadillo on the road.  It's the best of everything.

We end the ride strong.  And happy.  I actually felt great and was pleasantly surprised.  I could have kept riding, although the car was a happy sight.  We saw a ton of people transitioning and although I probably should have joined them, I figured the extra five miles of riding that we did made up for the transition run.  Plus I had important things ahead of me that night that I needed to get home for... George's birthday celebration!!!  :) 

I feel like I'm one step closer to my end goal.  And that makes me happy.

10 comments:

Steve said...

Hard year for you Colleen. :( You are special. Hang tough. :)

TriMOEngr said...

Almost too much for one person's emotional "plate". Glad you guys were able to find the good in a rough day's ride. Hope Tom continues to feel better and got the sugar issues taken care of quickly. Congrats on the mileage.

Ironman By Thirty said...

So Tom just rode 100 miles on an essentially brand new bike? I guess that is a good way to break it in ;)

Way to keep your (and Tom's) spirits up on the ride and to get it done!

Sorry to hear about your Grandpa! Now you have an extra guardian angel watching over you now :)

Carolina John said...

Covington is supposed to be an amazing ride. Great choice!

and so sorry about your grandfather. Mine passed away almost 14 years ago and I still miss him every day. Wish I could tell you it gets easier.

Matty O said...

Every work out get's you THAT MUCH closer to the finish line :)

We are super happy we didn't sign up for a full this year.

Glad your Grandpa went in his sleep, hopefully no suffering involved, that is how I want to go.

Yay yay yay for buddy being happy :)

Heather-O said...

Happy to hear Buddy is doing well on his new meds!

So sorry to hear about your grandpa, but glad he did not suffer and glad you got to seem him before he passed.

Great job on the Century ride! I have to laugh at your inner dialogue, because it sounds so very familiar ;) Nice job on finishing strong and happy!

Kristin Bradfield said...

Sorry about your grandpa :( How wonderful you got to spend some time with him. Fingers crossed for buddy, sometimes the vets are just wrong!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Thouhgts and prayers go out to you and your family with your loss

Good to hear Tom and Buddy are doing ok

Matthew Smith said...

Way to go, you guys! The last Century Jenn and I attempted together, it poured as well...THE WHOLE DAY! I'm glad you guys have each other to encourage you through the ups and downs of life. I know one of those down times was your grandpa. You'll see him again one day soon! What a day that will be!!! :)

Anne-Marie said...

Very sorry to hear about your Grandpa Colleen! I completely relate. I'm glad you were able to see him one last time and that he went peacefully.

Great job sticking with it on the century! Sometimes the rides/races in crazy weather end up being the ones that make the best memories.