Hitting the road...

Today was my last training session before IMLP. Only time will tell if my "intuitive taper" was a good thing or a bad thing.

I could tell yesterday's swim took something out of me, my resting heart rate was much higher than normal and I decided not to push it and swim again today.

I was also completely "pissed" off that I was "UP" a pound during my morning weigh-in. How does that happen? I've been working out and eating fewer and healthier calories than normal.

It was another warm day and my 90 minute ride was strong. I could tell it was just what the doctor ordered. My legs took a while to strengthen up and for the endorphins to start masking the pain. Eventually they warmed up and I had some strong riding at a relatively low heart rate.

An hour after the ride, I did a tempo run. It was 32 C and I ran a quick and controlled pace. It felt effortless up until the last 5 minutes, and even then it wasn't too hard. I was able to max the heart rate out at 160 bpm. There's nothing like a little tempo speed work to get the body primed for racing.

After training and a good stretch, it was off to the bath tub for a full body shaving; legs, arms and chest. When I finished and drained the water, the tub was full of hair. It looked like a shag rug.

I was able to focus on keeping my body relaxed for the day. I was still "major league" irritable, and snapping at everyone, but I was a relaxed irritable snapping. I was even more impressed that I was able to keep my body relaxed while packing, loading and getting everyone into the car. Getting ready to leave are stressful moments.

Then I become the bellman and pretty much have to load the car myself and then try to rustle everyone up to get in the car. There's usually a lot of yelling at this point, "Time to go?! Where are you?! Did you take a pee?! Why didn't you pee?! What do you mean you don't know where your other shoe is?! Do you really need shoes?!" This time it was Reid, he was MIA and required a little kick in the A$$ motivation.

Just before we left, I got everyone ready and then decided to get a hair cut. Alyssa got mad because she felt she woke up early and got ready for nothing. Payback is sweet.

I normally get haircuts before big races. I joke it makes me more aero-dynamic. My regular guy was booked, so I took a chance with a new guy at the same place. He did a great job, but wanted to talk more than I did, I just wanted to get in and out and on the road.

My rush to get my hair cut over with vanished once we got onto the subject of Beer Kegs. This hair cutting kid was an expert. He had many a Keg party and knew everything about Kegs. He was a Keg-epedia and Keg-assour and was able to answer all of my questions and provide helpful tips. He knew the Keg to beer ratio like the back of his hand.

We finally got on the road around 6 pm. My plan was to drive about 4.5 hours, get across the border and find a cheap place in the U.S. to stay the night, then drive the remaining 2 hours in the morning.

It was all going according to plan until we crossed the border at midnight and couldn't find a hotel easily. There was a Comfort Inn that was booked and they recommended a motel down the road. When I got to the motel, I had a bad vibe. The motel was run down and the obese night shift guy looked right out of a horror movie.

When I walked in the door to the lobby, if you call a 10 x 10 space a lobby, it stunk. It took a while for the big guy to get up from his chair and sloth over to the "gas store" security window with the tray at the bottom. Even thought the window was open, it was unsettling.

He then started to ask me questions with no customer service angle. It was more of an interrogation. How many people? How many are kids? What are their ages? We consider a 13 year old an adult! The next thing I know he was pounding the information away on his calculator and then said, "that'll be $95". I said, "no thanks" and left.

There was no way I was paying $95 to sleep in a "garbage bin". I didn't care how tired I was.

When I got to the car, Reid was relieved we weren't staying there. He's seen too many scary movies and was getting freaked. We ended up driving 15 miles to another town and thanks to the new "piece of sh*t" Tom Tom GPS I picked up before we left, we had trouble finding anything.

We finally ended up at a Motel 8 and they had a few smoking rooms available. I said, no problem, we'll take it. I just wanted a room. Unpacking the truck and walking the bikes up three flights of stairs at 1 am was not fun. When we got to the room, it got worse.

I opened the door and it looked like someone was still staying in the room. There was two empty cases of beer and a butt out cigarette in the ashtray. The room also reeked of smoke, it was a "beyond category" smoke smell. I didn't care, I was too tired to request a room change.

The cleanest part of the room was the air mattress we brought to put on the floor for Alyssa and Stephanie to sleep on. I didn't dare take my clothes off. Reid had stripped down to his underwear and I jokingly put some doubt in his mind about "bed bugs" and "scabies". The next thing I know is he's asking Alice to get him his shirt.

Under the sheets it was clammy. I was going to sleep on top of the bed sheet until I was told the top of the bedsheets are never washed and are the most dirty part of any hotel room. I "Sucked it UP' and under the sheets I went.

Oh, one last thing, thanks to the TPPF and DROG's eBay donation, my Coors Light patio beer umbrella arrived today. Our old umbrella broke recently. Alyssa laughed when she saw it, "she wanted to know if she was living at a bar". I can hardly wait to sit on the deck drinking beers under it.

Mod Bike - 1:30:42 / 50.12 km / 33.2 km

Tempo Run - 30:02 / 6.82 km / 4:24 pace / 150 avg hr