What a fantastic ride! It didn't start that way, though. I have been having full out anxiety attacks about these Saturday rides. Will I get lost? Will I be able to keep up? Can I handle this distance? What if I crash? What if I get a flat? By the time I get there my poor husband is muttering the "D" word (and probably the "F" word too), my dogs are holed up in the neighbor's house, my stomach is churning so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up, and I'm completely besides myself. Yet once I get ON the bike and head out for the ride my adrenalin takes over and all my fears relax. If I crash I get up. Flat? Change it. Lost? That's why God invented cell phones. Can't keep up? So what, you have a Garmin and can finish your ride distance on your own with the map. Today the weather was amazing. All the mountains were out showing off. There wasn't a lot of traffic. The climbs were challenging enough to make me curse a few times, but not so bad that I had to stop or drop to granny (except once at mile 42, but c'mon, it was mile 42). Normally I ride with the slow group, but somehow ended up in the middle group with Cheryl. For the first half I tended to be in the back of the pack, calling out "glass" and "car up" to no one (like an idiot). But as others tired, I just kept at a nice even pace and ended up finishing first and finishing strong. I attribute that to my endurance and not to my speed! I just didn't really get tired much. When I finished I went out on my run (just 20 minutes) and not a full mile into it fell on my face scraping my knees, chin, and hands. DARN! When all was done Cheryl (coach) congratulated on me on my strong riding. I have always felt strong on the run, pathetic on the swim, and semi-pathetic on the bike so that was a HUGE ego boost. I hope I can go into the next training ride feeling confident and not going off my twig in the morning. And I hope that the next one is equally as enjoyable. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 211 ft Location: Seattle, WA Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 04/12/08 Up/Downhill: [+2641/-2641] Time: 08:03 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   56 F temp; 61% humidity   56 F heat index; winds NW 3 Performance Distance: 45.61 miles Time: 3:31:03 Speed: 13.0 mph Pace: 4' 37 /mi Calories: 2226 Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 7' 02 +2' 25 8.5 -4.5 -4 ft 2 4' 04 -0' 32 14.7 +1.7 -128 ft 3 5' 01 +0' 24 11.9 -1.1 +3 ft 4 4' 19 -0' 17 13.9 +0.9 +13 ft 5 3' 46 -0' 50 15.9 +2.9 -20 ft 6 4' 24 -0' 12 13.6 +0.6 +59 ft 7 4' 13 -0' 23 14.2 +1.2 +13 ft 8 3' 57 -0' 39 15.1 +2.1 -36 ft 9 3' 37 -0' 59 16.6 +3.6 -29 ft 10 3' 55 -0' 41 15.3 +2.3 -26 ft 11 3' 51 -0' 45 15.6 +2.6 +4 ft 12 4' 03 -0' 33 14.8 +1.8 0 ft 13 4' 16 -0' 20 14.0 +1.0 +3 ft 14 6' 26 +1' 49 9.3 -3.7 +69 ft 15 5' 57 +1' 20 10.1 -2.9 +128 ft 16 6' 00 +1' 23 10.0 -3.0 +128 ft 17 5' 23 +0' 46 11.1 -1.9 +23 ft 18 4' 24 -0' 12 13.6 +0.6 -63 ft 19 6' 40 +2' 03 9.0 -4.0 +95 ft 20 4' 15 -0' 21 14.1 +1.1 0 ft 21 4' 20 -0' 16 13.8 +0.8 -161 ft 22 3' 22 -1' 14 17.8 +4.8 -43 ft 23 3' 16 -1' 20 18.4 +5.4 -79 ft 24 3' 18 -1' 18 18.2 +5.2 -95 ft 25 13' 53 +9' 16 4.3 -8.7 +4 ft 26 6' 53 +2' 16 8.7 -4.3 +200 ft 27 5' 12 +0' 35 11.5 -1.5 +82 ft 28 3' 21 -1' 15 17.9 +4.9 -105 ft 29 5' 03 +0' 26 11.9 -1.1 +49 ft 30 5' 15 +0' 38 11.4 -1.6 -19 ft 31 5' 22 +0' 45 11.2 -1.8 +112 ft 32 6' 40 +2' 03 9.0 -4.0 +109 ft 33 5' 24 +0' 47 11.1 -1.9 +23 ft 34 4' 39 +0' 02 12.9 -0.1 -49 ft 35 7' 39 +3' 02 7.8 -5.2 -33 ft 36 3' 58 -0' 38 15.1 +2.1 -72 ft 37 6' 23 +1' 46 9.4 -3.6 -39 ft 38 5' 13 +0' 36 11.5 -1.5 -33 ft 39 5' 00 +0' 23 12.0 -1.0 +14 ft 40 6' 35 +1' 58 9.1 -3.9 -154 ft 41 5' 00 +0' 23 12.0 -1.0 -13 ft 42 6' 29 +1' 52 9.2 -3.8 +75 ft 43 6' 47 +2' 10 8.8 -4.2 +36 ft 44 5' 44 +1' 07 10.5 -2.5 -46 ft 45 4' 04 -0' 32 14.7 +1.7 0 ft end 4' 00 -0' 36 15.0 +2.0 +7 ft Versus average of 13.0 mph

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