Day 1

Today I was greeted by my online training update informing me of the miles I won't be running today. It's 3, by the way. Tomorrow I'm supposed to cross train. I may do that... or I may sit on my couch. We'll have to see.
Over the weekend I rode in my last big bike tour of the year... 140 miles from San Antonio to Corpus Christi with an overnight stay in Beeville. Wow, what a ride! Today I'm tired, but I feel better than I felt on any ride. Total miles were 140, top speed 34mph, average speed 17.1mph. Overall time in the saddle was 8:13:42. That is probably the coolest. I haven't done one of these things in less than 10 hours ever and I have never once ridden my bike that far, that fast. Again, wow. I think I'm ready to start hitting the marathon hard... Wednesday.

Brief recap:
7:55am, 10-2--the temperature drops about 5 degrees and the wind shifts. Cold front comes into San Antonio.
8:00am--Ride starts.
8:10am--Rain starts.
10:00am--Rain stops.
11:00am--Lunch
12:00pm--Rain starts again.
12:30pm--Rain stops again. We were riding right on the front edge of the cold front, so we kept coming into and out of the rain. At this point we got in front of the rain and stayed there. No more rain for the rest of the ride.
2:30pm-ish--Hit the camp. Good ride.... no, great ride... even with the rain.

8:00am, 10-3--Launch. I'm almost certain I'm behind my other teammates, so I'm cranking hard out of the gates.
10:30-ish--Lunch. Mmmmm.... Still haven't caught up to the other riders. Back on the road in 30minutes. Lots of riders still around me, very different from last year.
11:30--Last hill passed. Rest stop ahead. The whole route from here is flat and into the wind. 17 miles to go... roughly another hour. I've come to the conclusion my teammates are actually behind me.
11:50am--Last rest stop reached. Passed a kid I met yesterday who is 14, planning on getting his race license next year, and was fighting like a crazy person against the wind. For any of you who care, tuck your knees in, get your head down, pick a low gear, a steady pace, and that old guy who's twice your age you dropped yesterday won't blow by you like your standing still. Passing him felt good... real good.
12:20pm--Finish line. Hit my goal of finishing before 12:30. Found my teammates. Turns out they started about the same time as me and passed me at one of the stops. I guess in a pack of 3000 riders you need a better description than "the one in black shorts and a bicycle helmet" to find someone.
Hekkuva ride... now time to train for the marathon... Wednesday.