In my ongoing preparation for the upcoming triathlon next month (less than 5 weeks away now mind you!) I decided to do a long bike ride at the vacation resort back home while we were down there this weekend. Callaway Gardens (CG) boasts of miles and miles of bike trails and it has been YEARS since I have set foot (or tire) on them. After visiting their website last week I discovered that the daily rate to just enter CG is $15 per person... and well, that is not going to work out for our budget since it would be $30 for both of us every time we want to ride the trails. So I researched further and found that a Local Family Pass is only $88 for one year and that will get us plus four other people riding with us into the gate- Score! So yesterday morning we head to the resort and get routed to the annual pass counter just a couple of miles in past the gates. Well, it was all well and good until the employee helping us saw our non-local mailing address... needless to say, I spent the next 10 minutes trying to convince this lady that I am not only from there but we pay two different sets of land taxes in that county. She needed proof of a local address... we have land with no address since there is nothing built on it and a newly-inherited house that I just changed the utility bills on... The worse part of this whole scenario is that I have a really hard time even having to BUY a pass to CG since I have NEVER had to in my entire life. I am a Retired Employee's child! Paying that $88 hurts... and then having to recreate my lifetime to some stranger makes it worse. It is like I am proving who I am and how I really am a "local"... I gave her the address to the house and of course it pops up my Grandmother's name... I tell her that she is my Grandmother who just passed away and she was a Retiree Spouse in the original Pioneer Club at CG since my Grandfather retired from there in 1991. Finally, she gave in... halleluyah. So then we head to the trails...
I gotta tell you- the outer loop of the main CG is about 6.7 miles and all I remember about it from the last time I biked it (in my highschool years) was really struggling on it. Well, I biked it twice yesterday and I rocked it! What a great feeling! I did the second loop by myself and never stopped- 6.7 miles in 26 minutes- and considering all the twists, turns, ups, downs and dodging other bikers, I feel better now about my level of ability. The race is 15 miles and surely it will be much straighter and such. Hubby and I are actually gonna make the trek up to the park where the race will be held and try to see how hilly the course is- hopefully this weekend. Once I know the course, it will tell me just how much more training I need to do in the next 32 days. My biggest worry right now is how light-headed and sluggish I felt after hopping off the bike when I finished... I felt like crap and I am not sure if I am yet capable of exerting myself like that and then move right into a 3.2 mile run... Of course, this was in the mid-day heat and the race is early in the morning. But like I said... just things to think about in the next 4+ weeks...
Not sure if today's weather will permit a bike ride after work today or not but, I did bring my bike and clothes to ride. I led the boot camp workout this morning so I did not get to exercise other than running all over the place. So a bike ride this evening will be good for me for this day of tri-training. And tomorrow evening a nice 800M-1000M swim is on the agenda... gotta love it.
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