Still Recovering & A Rest Stop...

It's almost been four days since I've run 14.25 miles, and I'm still trying to recover.  This last Saturday I speed walked to the top of City Creek Canyon and then ran back down.  I had originally planned to do just 12 miles BUT I was feeling SO good that when the turn around for 12 miles came... Silly me, I kept on going.  The Energizer Bunny had nothing on me at this point or so I felt like.  I was going to go on for ever and ever and ever. 

(Photo: Liesa and Mary Margaret on Pre-ULCER bike ride- you could hear the ice sizzling on their helmets! Yes, that is huge ice clumps on top of their helmets and YES it was THAT HOT out there!)

I pretty much kept going until the last mile back to my car.  By then my toes nails felt as though someone was trying to pull them out through my shoes and I could have been passed by a little old lady with a walker.  This was no longer in the ball park of a run or jog.  It was putting one foot in front of the other. A slow walk and a grimace on my face with each step I took.  I can never remember being ever so happy to see my car.  It was virtually an oasis in the desert!

The amazing part was that after all that and a long hot shower I was alert enough to go out to lunch with a friend!  Then, I managed to run some errands and do some grocery shopping.  Oh boy!  Got to love those endorphins.  I was high on them but when 5PM came around I was out for the count!

(Photo: Curt getting some goodies out of the back of my car.)

Sunday came and I did my fourth annual rest stop on the west side of Utah Lake for the BCC Pre-ULCER ride.  The ULCER ride has been put on by my bike club for over 25 years.  The ULCER stands for Utah Lake Century Epic Ride.  It traditionally is the first Saturday in August, and is a very hot hot ride.  The Pre-ULCER is the ride for BCC members to check out the ride prior to the ride or to get a chance to ride it because they'll be volunteering to help with the ride.

I started doing this rest stop the year after I ended up having an accident on the ride.  That year I hit a pot hole while reaching for my water bottle.  I ended up going over my handle bars and face planting it on the road.  All I remember is putting my hands out as the pavement came towards me.  I guess I was out for a couple of minutes and woke up with quite a few fellow cyclists standing over me.  I still remember feeling my lips swelling and the taste of blood in my throat. A short time later I took my first ever ambulance ride to a hospital.  I ended up with forty stitches inside my mouth and four stitches under my nose.  No broken bones but they ended up keeping me over for observation at the hospital because I passed out in the hall as I was trying to leave with a friend that had come to pick me up.

So, I no longer bike any of the ULCER ride.  I don't want to jinx myself or worry about replacing my bike.  Oh yeah, I totalled my Trek bike during the accident.  So instead each year I camp out along the long desolate sunny hot stretch of the west side of the Utah Lake where there's nothing but scrub brush with my snacks, coolers of ice, water, and cold beverages for my fellow club members.  I feel like it's the least I can do and they really could use the help over there in that area.

(Photo: L-R front- Carter and Doug enjoying some shade. Liesa and Jane[my fellow rest stop tendor] in the background.)

It was a good thing this year because I ended up driving two cyclists to the finish.  My friend Doug who couldn't keep down even water in his stomach and another rider, Bob, who ended up experiencing cramping in his legs.  I will say it was a tight fit for my station wagon.  Two guys, myself, two bikes, two lawn chairs, and three coolers.  But we managed, and everyone made it safely through the ride to make their ways home.