I'm sick of the drama...

Last night I took it easy, iced my calve and paid Reid $5 to give me a 15 minute massage. I tried to get some rest and went to bed early. When I woke up it wasn't feeling too bad.

Before today's tempo ride I decided to buy the classic audio book, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. It was quite an ordeal to buy it and get it on my iPhone, but Apple was able to help and I was ready to ride after about 2 hours. Before I left, I changed my wheels and put my racing wheels and carbon brakes on.

It was a very windy day and a good preparation ride for windy Morden. Immediately into the ride my calve started to hurt, a feeling I can't ever remember having. Normally my calf will hurt when I run, but not when I cycle.

The more I rode the more sore it became. At one point I was seriously considering cutting the ride short and going home or calling Alice to come pick me up, it felt like the entire area below the calf muscle and the Achilles was hit by a baseball bat.

At that moment, Dr. Peale was talking about mind over matter. He talked about how the body will follow the mind. I've been really tense about his race and I was wondering if it was possible my mind was causing me to be tense and tightening my calf. I once remember Mark Allen saying that tight calves were a sign of stress.

I started to follow his advice and talk to my calve. I visualized it loosing up and blood flowing through it. Twenty minutes later it felt much better. I couldn't believe it, there was virtually no pain or discomfort whatsoever.

It was windy and the entire first half of the ride was into directly into a North Wind. I'm sure it was gusting in the 30 kph plus range. I was happy with my average 29 kph speed at the turnaround and with the wind at my back, on a chip stoned asphalt road I was able to fly back at speed in the 44-50 kph range. It was fast enough that I had to hang onto the handlebars hard as the bike jumped over bumps in the road.

I made it home and felt good about my ride and had a good stretching session. About 30 minutes later I started to BONK big time, one of my worst ever. I couldn't believe it. I stared asking WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? I tried to eat some food but it didn't help. The bonk kept getting worse and worse to the point where I couldn't even stand or sit up while lying down. I collapsed flat on the couch.

I had the worst headache, stomach ache, was nauseous, had an upset stomach and started to get the chills. Alice put a blanket on me, gave me an Advil, and I tried to sleep it off. When I woke up I was feeling a little better and decided to have a hot bath. Big Mistake!

I figured the bath would help relax my calve and I could use the time to shave my my legs. About 20 minutes in I was sweating and the bonk became more sever than ever. I emptied the hot water and replaced it will cold water in order to stop me from sweating.

I slithered in incredible pain downstairs, with nicely shaved legs I might add, and got back on the couch. This time I couldn't fall asleep and had trouble drinking anything and Dr. Alice gave me some Pepto Bismo. I went to sleep and she went shopping with Reid.

When she got back, she took a look at me and got worried. I didn't look any better and I had discoloration around my mouth, she thought I might need to go to the hospital. Then we realized it was the residue from the Pepto Bismo. That gave us a bit of a laugh, even in pain I had to laugh.

I was to barbecue dinner, but couldn't move. I gave Alice all my instructions and secrets on how to cook a great steak and she did all the work. She did a great job and I tried to eat it but couldn't. I'd eat a piece, then put it down for 20 minutes and then try to eat another piece. It was painful.

As I lie in pain for the next 8 hours I was trying to figure out why I bonked? The last time I bonked was at Sherkston Shores, but there was a lot of beers the night before and this time I hadn't had a beer in a few days.

I then realized, after some very brief google searches, that I haven't been eating enough and depleted my glucose stores. In the past 2 weeks I've had a few more beers than normal and I don't think I hydrated enough, plus I've cut fat out of my diet and have been eating light lunches and not been eating much during training. Truthfully I don't think they were even full when I did my first race a month ago.

I should have known something was up because the first sign of dehydration is sore calves. Then I also noticed that I've felt slow and tired in this past weeks training. I think the second last nail in the coffin was me working late at the kitchen table and having a lot of beers on Canada day.

The final nail in the coffin was when Alice bought some ice cream home a couple days ago. I pigged out on it last night and the night before. The problem with doing that is that my insulin spikes to process the sugar and it shuts down my fat burning for a day or two. This means that during my workouts, my body is not burning fat for energy, hence the bonk and hitting the wall around the 2 hour mark.

This morning I only had some french toast before I left and I kept the heart rate high during the ride and I depleted all the glucose stores in my muscles and liver. I made it home safe, but after 30 minutes, my body shut down.

I got back from my ride at about 1 pm and I didn't start feeling functional until around 9 pm, and even then it was just functional, I felt like a 4 on 10. The only thing that got me feeling better was about 3 big glasses of Apple Juice that I sipped on all day. It was the only thing that wouldn't hurt my stomach.

When I got back from my ride and before I bonked I tried to find a masseuse that was open. Couldn't find one. Once I started feeling better I paid Reid $20 and he gave me a 30 minute massage. It's great having a hard working son that is motivated to make money.

I still don't feel good as I write this blog, but at least I can semi-sit up and I'm now trying to slowly eat and drink as much as I can. Recoverite is going to be one of my favorite drinks for the next 6 days.

My plan is to eat as healthy as I can, drink as much water as I can and I think I'm going to get a massage on Monday and Thursday. I was reading on the net, that to fully come out of a bonk it takes 6 days. That's cutting it close because my race is in 6.5 days from now.

Drama, Drama, Drama - will my calf be okay? Will I get my glycogen stores topped? Will my muscles be lactic acid free and ready to fire? Will cutting down on my training this week be a negative or a positive? Will something else happen? DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA.

Then I thought about it and figured I need to be Positive, which is what the audio book said. I need to have faith, that everything happens for a reason and that I'm glad I feel this way today, a week before the race, while I can still do something about it.

I'm glad I listened to Norman Vincent Peale during my ride. This weeks mantra is going to be-"I'm going to be at the race line, fully loaded, healthy and ready to race". "I'm going to be at the race line, fully loaded, healthy and ready to race". "I'm going to be at the race line, fully loaded, healthy and ready to race". Starting now, I'm saying it at least 20 times per day.

Last Comment- Tour starts today - GO LANCE!!!!

Tempo Bike - 2:05:44 / 66.31 km / 31.6 kph / 137 avg hr.