Windy Ride...Plus RUN!

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote in detail about the Sunday morning Windermere group ride because I was so proud of ‘almost’ hanging with the roadies for the whole 3 hours?
Well, that story pales in comparison to my ride this morning!!!
It was another beautiful Florida morning with the night-time rain showers leaving a bit of water on the road and a cooler temperature in the air. I felt strong and confident for the whole ride (including climbing up the front-side of Sugarloaf Mountain) and took my fair-share of pulls on the front so that no one could accuse me of just ‘tagging’ along in the draft. From start to finish, I was right in the mix of things and never felt the fear of being dropped.
Just as we were approaching the final sprint line, about three or four miles from our Start-Finish point, I realized that this might be my last Sunday Windy ride for a long time. I can almost guarantee that my coach will not have “3 hour HARD ride…HIT IT!” written on my schedule next Sunday because (six days before the Olympic Trials race). The next Sunday I will be recovering from the Saturday Trials race…and the following Sunday I have tentative plans to race the St. Anthony’s triathlon in St. Petersburg.
So there I was, thinking about all the group rides I’ve been on and how lucky I was to have “kept the rubber side down.” And of course, that completely jinxed the whole group and sure enough, two guys sprinting to the line wiped out…BIG TIME! I’m talking bikes and people flying five feet in the air, flipping, bouncing, and breaking bones (one collarbone…two pieces).
The rest of the group, about 20 other riders, saw the whole thing happen up the road. We all stopped to help, clean up the road, and call the ambulance. After a few minutes, I knew that there was nothing else I could do (other than gawk…and I hate blood and injuries) so I continued riding. I also had to get back to the car so that I could finish my brick workout...no rest for the weary:)!
I made a quick change into my running gear and headed back down the road. It was a tough run session but I was very proud of my effort and results. Just being able to function after three hard hours on a bike is impressive! Now, I am trying to function after a three hour ride AND a 40 minute run…but after a huge lunch and a long afternoon nap, I actually feel pretty good.
My brain has started a countdown to the Olympic Trials race in two weeks. Even without thinking about it, lately I can always tell you exactly how many days remain until race day…13 to be exact. My family and I have started discussing our travel plans to Tuscaloosa. At first, my Mom, Dad, and I were all going to drive together on Wednesday and Dustin was going to zip out on Friday (to miss the minimal amount of school and swimming). Well, my Mom just realized that she was probably going to get pretty bored for the three days leading up to the race so now she is going to drive out with Dustin on Friday.
Speaking of being bored, I know that I’m not going to be looking for things to do during those three days because I’ve seen the schedule of activities that all the athletes are required to do: a pre-race meeting, parade of athletes, speak at a school, train on the course, etc. And then there are the things that each of us want/need to do for our own race preparation: eat, rest, sleep, stretch, watch TV…I mean, where am I going to fit those activities in?!?