Last September Bootsy and I happened into a local recreational equipment outlet. We weren't there for any particular reason other then to just get out of the house. It was Labor Day weekend and low and behold they were having a sale on most bikes in stock. Bootsy asked if I wanted to take a mountain bike for a test spin. Now I didn't particularly want a new mountain bike and had stated the fact on many occasions. We have many friends who ride trails in all seasons and all weather. As a result, some of them have been injured due to crashes. They have been cut, bruised and even broken. So no, I didn't need a new mountain bike. Besides I was deep into my training for Ironman Arizona. When would I have time to ride the thing and what if, God forbid, I got hurt. As the model has proven - MTB = PT! Bootsy would have none of it, "You're going home with a bike today". Oh, I get it. Tell me where to stand coach.
For the last 5 years I have be lucky enough to race Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside each year. We have family in Southern California and it's a good excuse to visit them on an annual basis. The weather in Oceanside the last week in March is always great in comparison to the Inland Northwest. Everything in SoCal is green and alive, not the grey and brown we live with here for a couple months. As great as it is to race Oceanside, training for Oceanside has it's challenges. It makes for a long season to start racing in March and end in November with Ironman Arizona. Staying motivated can be an issue. Training in the northern part of the country can be daunting as well. We always seem to get our key workouts but LONG trainer rides and interval runs on snow covered roads can start to wear on you. Getting through "the muck and the mire" can be as rewarding as an Oceanside race day itself. A distinctive reason I train each year in Eastern Washington in February for a 70.3 is there always seems to be a few day each summer that are perfect days to train but for whatever reason I don't feel motivated. Maybe it's the latter days of a build and I'm physically or mentally tired, whatever the reason, I just don't want to get out the door. These winter workouts at 37 degrees in the pouring rain help me keep the summer days in perspective, they can gets me out the door and keeps me from wasting a perfect training day. Lets face it, who wouldn't take a sunny 78 degree training day right now.
Fast forward to early February.
It's a typical snow covered February day as I am headed to Riverside State Park to meet some friends for a light trail ride. I knew there would be ice and deep snow but I committed to the ride so against my better judgment I hit the trails. Now, on any other weekend I may have decided to stick to the roads, get a strong workout and then head home, but I knew these guys ride trails only so I played along. Darn male ego! Well as you may have guessed, there were crashes due to icy conditions and not only by me. Most of the crashes were harmless, only prompting a little light ribbing from fellow riders. Most crashes were harmless...except one. And that's where the larcenist that is the mountain bike began its work.
As I sit here, my love for the trails has put me, well, behind in my training. Lets just leave it at that. Oceanside 70.3 will be the first "major" race on my schedule I have ever missed so in that I've been lucky. But did the mountain bike actually steal this race? Not to sure about that, but falling off may have.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm happy where I am right now. A little disappointed but happy. I have other races to train for. I guess what I can surmise from this realization is that the decision not to try to push through this setback was, indeed, the right one. Not that it was easy, I mean, yes, the writing was on the wall. If you spent any time with me the past couple of months, you would have known. You could have guessed.
I talked my decision over with Bootsy. Initially, it was exploratory. For a few weeks, I couldn't help feeling as if somehow my decision was less about my injury and more about the fear of disappointing her. We love our trips to Oceanside. They are about much more than the race itself, it's time away together and time with ones we love.
So what's the moral of the story here? Be careful of what you ask for. Or in this case, be careful what you speak of. The mountain bike giveth and the mountain bike taketh away.
At my house this Saturday early AM there will be Ironman Athlete Tracker to follow Bootsy's race and good coffee. Stop by. It will be followed by a long(ish) ride...on my tri bike. I will reserve the trails and mountain bike for Sunday after bunnies and colored eggs. And before what will be a big ars mid afternoon "recovery" meal.
