Skip to main content

Running on empty

Well, I think I've managed to recover somewhat this morning, but that's exactly how I felt at the end of yesterdays bike ride.

While it was only a 55 mile bike ride, there was 2775 feet of climbing (which is a lot more than normal), but the real problem was me being the weakest rider in the group, forcing me to step it up a notch so as not to embarrass myself too badly.

The ride didn't start out that way, but after the first climb, about half of the original 20 or so riders who started the ride, many of whom I consider to be of comparable ability to myself, decided to cut the ride short, leaving me alone with the much stronger riders. I guess I could have cut the ride short as well, but then what fun would that have been.

As it was, aided by a few short cuts, and the fact the group didn't push the pace as hard as they could have, I think I made a decent showing, not finding myself too far behind at any point. But that extra effort did take its toll.

I spent the last 15 miles of the ride on the verge of bonking (despite having an energy bar at the top of the last hill), essentially running on fumes, hanging on for dear life at the back of the pack, so as not to lose the draft, and leave myself alone to fight the usual head winds encountered on the way home, making the ride even more difficult.

I just hope all that effort wasn't for naught! After all isn't it true what the say,
what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger

Comments

Susan C said…
Congratulations on making the ride, even though you were "running on empty." I wish I was in your condition, but "wishing" doesn't cut it; I need to DO something about it.
Marc said…
Yes you do Susan.

Believe me when I tell you it's so easy being lazy, but after a hard workout [or even an easy one], you'll feel so much better about yourself.

Popular posts from this blog

Fatigue! Part II - Maybe it is real?

Or it's actually Motivational Deficiency Disorder, MoDeD (pronounced Mo-Dee-Dee) for short. In a report this week by Roy Moynihan who reports for the British Medical Journal Austrailian scientists may have come across the reason for extreme laziness . The condition is claimed to affect up to one in five Australians and is characterised by overwhelming and debilitating apathy. Neuroscientists at the University of Newcastle in Australia say that in severe cases motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe. Neurologist Leth Argos is part of the team that has identified the disorder, which can be diagnosed using a combination of positron emission tomography and low scores on a motivation rating scale, previously validated in elite athletes. "This disorder is poorly understood," Professor Argos told the BMJ. "It is underdiagnosed and undertreated." Who knew? Maybe I have MoDeD, from my attempts to become a...

My concerns reaffirmed today

When I was first diagnosed with MCL, I pretty much read just about everything I could get my hands on, I attended various conferences, and I talked to anyone who would listen. One of the most important lessons I learned, and which I've mentioned numerous times before was No one cares more about you than you. But in addition to that, I learned to fear the drug Doxorubicin , AKA Adriamycin, Doxil, Hydroxydoxorubicin, or more affectionately the Red Devil. Besides being a deadly chemical, as is the case with most chemotherapy drugs, it is one of the few chemotherapy drugs known to cause permanent heart damage. I even heard Dr. Sandra Horning , a noted Stanford lymphoma specialist, state at the first lymphoma conference I attended in LA, there was no evidence Doxorubicin provided any added benefit to chemotherapy protocols. This was music to my ears, since Doxorubicin is very common in most lymphoma treatment protocols. And even though Dr. Horning has since changed her tune [which my sk...

Tacitly condoning racism?

I learned something very discouraging in my current events class yesterday, there are a lot more racists and bigots out there then you may think. They may not admit it, or they'll claim otherwise, but when someone says they place the blame for what happened in Charlottesville on both sides, or better yet, they don't know where the blame lays, then they are condoning the action of the white supremacists groups, and in my book that is a racist/bigot. The truth is, there should be no doubt where blame for Charlottesville lays. It lays with the white supremacists, neo-Nazi's, KKK, etc, plain and simple! The hatred, bigotry, and misogyny displayed and espoused by these groups, coupled with the tacit approval of President Trump needs to be confronted at all cost, and history tells us so. If only the Jews, in pre-WWII Germany, had confronted the Nazi's in the same manner, Hitler might never have risen to power, and we would not be looking at the prospect of a  third anti...