Hakuna Matata

"It means no worries, for the rest of your days. It's our problem free, philosophy...." In my favorite disney movie, and now broadway play (a must see!). This phrase is used to convince Simba to forget the past and move forward. This had to be our attitude on yesterday's ride!
Here I am pre-ride with Lauren...just before heading off in different directions. I love my new kit from TriBike!

After a tough week(s) of training, yesterday was the last strong workout of the week. A strong paced 3-3.5hour ride with various sub-race pace efforts. I knew my legs were quite trashed, so I wanted to keep the group small. Ben is also training for Buffalo Springs, so we were both on the same page. The ride started off cloudy, and by the time we moved up the coast the clouds showered us with rain. As the first interval began we moved east, and the clouds parted and we thought things were looking up. Not too quick, Ben got a flat. Change one failed and the replacement tub exploded (yes, exploded. Sounded like a gun shot!). Change two was now required. Just like that we were out of tubes and CO2's.

Interval two, lets roll. As I finished the effort Ben slowed, and stopped. Another flat. Thankfully, a nice group of cyclists loaned a tube and CO2. They even patched the bad tube. How awesome, we'll hold onto that (ps-I've never patched a tube. cool!). Blood, sweat, and almost tears were shed. And we're off again. Interval 3, solid. We ran into my friend Shannon who I haven't seen in YEARS (that's what happens when you are friends with crazy smart ppl who become surgeons). We quickly caught up, and Bam...you guessed it, another flat. My turn this time. Thank you previous couple for patching Ben's tube. Shannon donated a CO2, and once again we were off.
By this point my legs were nonresponsive. I just wanted to get home. Not so fast Caroline. Yup, one more flat for Ben, this time in his front tire. UNREAL! Result, time for him to hitchhike, and time for me to ride my booty home. I purposely drove my bike to our meeting point to ensure I'd get in a solid t-run. I brought nutrition for a 3 hour ride. Ride time turned out to be closer to 4 hours (in typical Caroline style the ride was longer than planned), but we were out on the road for nearly 5hours. The t-run hurt (bad), but I hit my stride (and pace) and the work was in the bank.
Thing is at the end of my run I thought I was going to pass out. My nutrition for the morning was severely compromised because of time changing flats. I was a mess and needed fuel. Problem is my wallet was back home. Not smart Caroline! I must have looked horrendous because an amazing girl at B&L offered to buy me a recovery drink. I couldn't thank her enough. It was all the fuel I needed to be able to drive the 5miles home. I needed to pay this Amazingly AWESOME good deed forward, so I opted to cook dinner for friends. I rarely eat what most would consider a "real dinner," but I knew I needed to focus on a proper recovery and refueling. So I had a few friends over, and actually cooked! A real meal!! GO ME!

My friends were actually successful at getting me to go out last night. I was out past 10pm! And I didn't even turn into a pumpkin...shocking!

The weekend was topped off with a long slow run. My sunday run, a.k.a. The ranch run, is often referred to as the Ranch Race. But there was no racing in my legs, just an easy run in HR zone 2. It was perfect self control.
More hard work has been deposited in the bank. The flats are a thing of the past. Hakuna Matata!