11 Days To Go: Farenheit 451This is the approximate temperature in my apartment, all 250 sq ft of non-luxury in the middle of Manhattan at 4:23 a.m. on July 13. The question I have been asked the most is, "are you more excited or scared about the upcoming race?"
"I feel medium," is my deadpan response. I'm not sure if that means I'm simply trying not to think about it or if it means I'm simultaneously so excited yet so scared of not finishing that the two opposing feelings simply cancel each other out. Feelings of medium-ness aside, I can't sleep and haven't all night but instead find myself watering plants on my roof while sipping vitamin water and scratching at mosquito bites on my ankles, elbows, shoulders, and knees.
I can say that I'm definitely more trained for this event than I have been for any other adventurous undertaking of the last few years. In '97 I rode 16 hours for 200 miles in one day but hadn't been on a bike in four years. In 2000, I did it again, but actually trained 130 miles by doing four short rides combined. In 2002, I rode 3,872 miles across country but again, hadn't had a stitch of riding in two years previous. So, relatively speaking I should be totally set but this event feels a hundred times more difficult than any of the others for some reason.
I feel I still have so far to go. I don't have the "transition bags" researched and packed up. I don't know how much food and water I'll need to carry on me during the race. I haven't reserved a rental car for the 7 hour one-way drive to Lake Placid next Thursday. I've not been fitted for, nor have I purchased a wetsuit for the 58-62 degree water in the lake. I've not had my bike tuned up and the back brakes are so worn down they don't work at all. Nor have I even purchased new tires to replace the threadbare shreds of rubber currently outlining my wheels so every time I go out, I come home wobbling away on half-flat tubes.
On a semi-good note, due to the room spins and dizziness I was feeling a couple of weeks ago, I
have started to eat. A lot. In fact, I've somehow added fourteen pounds to my frame in about ten days which I think is some sort of record for me. It would probably be a good idea to cut back a bit and lose some of the baby fat now threatening my formerly wasted waistline. That's the last place I need to be carrying a spare tire.
Have I learned anything new? Yes. I've learned that my body starts to now "warm up" around forty-five minutes to an hour of exercise. After that, I get into a "cruise-control" mode where everything muscular turns on and everything brain turns off. I've learned that if I put Clif bars and/or "Gu" into my system every fifty minutes, I don't bonk at five hours. I've learned that I can now stay even with or pass most everyone in my club pool despite the fact that I'm usually swimming an hour to their fifteen minutes. I've passing other cyclists in Central Park on my bike instead of being passed by pregnant women jogging with strollers. My average speed has gone from 15.5 mph up to 18 mph for a sixty to eighty mile "easy ride." I've also learned that it feels good to stick to something despite a thousand thoughts of giving up and a million reasons to back them up.
I once read that "man can endure any
how, as long as he has a strong enough
why." I've been asked "why" I'm doing this more than a few times. I now pass this along. First and foremost, I promised myself I would do this. I've found that if I were to let this go at any point, I would only set a precedent and let myself out of anything I wish to go after in life. Instead, I am setting a precedent that I can now achieve anything I wish to go after in life. Second and also foremost, I'm doing this because (for now) I have the health and wellness to do so. I've not let a day go by where I've not reminded myself of the people who were dealt less fortunate circumstances for whom I'm competing. I know on any given day I run the risk of life dealing a blow which could wash all of my dreams of physically adventurous achievements away. (Especially living among New York taxi drivers on a daily basis.)
To have entered this race, to have trained, to have persisted, and to fight my way, God willing, to the finish is a celebration of the beauty and fragility of life, like skating on winter's frozen lake before it melts away into spring. Taking all this into account, I must admit I am excited for the race. However, speaking of melting, it's still 451 degrees farenheit in my apartment and the thought racing for over fourteen hours in 95 degree heat with 100% humidity next weekend has me scared to death (hopefully not literally.)
So here I am, without sleep but not without hope. Not rare, but not well done either - just "medium." Time to pull on the shoes, step into the darkness amid the drunks and rats and cockroaches...and run...because I said I would and others are counting on that.
Oh, and before I forget, I've learned that this is one of the greatest ways to ever start your day.