I got to cocky...

Today was my first long bike ride and a run right after what we call a "brick run." I say long bike loosely as it was only 1 hour and 25 minutes, and the run was 20 minutes. Based on the prior sessions this week, it wouldn't feel too bad.

Before I left the house on my bike, my biggest concern was whether my neck would be in extreme pain, as this would be my longest bike ride. This would also be the first time I made one of my regular past loops throughout the beautiful countryside and escarpment, one I'd typically do in an hour. It was one of my easy ride routes.

I got out of the house a little later than I should have. At 8 a.m., it was too cool, at 18 C, so I stayed in bed playing on social media. Then, at 10 a.m., I headed out. It was now 20 C, but I didn't consider that there was a humidex, and it was around 27 C. 

The ride started out well. A highlight was going down most hills without braking. I used to never have an issue going downhill, but now I'm a little afraid. Before this week's ride, I squeezed the breaks. That may come with age.

There was one last hill that I needed to go up at the halfway point, and it was steep. It was a grind. I've seen people walk up that hill. I just sucked it up and put in every level of effort and determination to get to the top, which I successfully did. It was my first real win. 

For today's ride, I averaged 22.9 kph. Surprisingly, I passed a skinny female and male rider going up a hill. I thought to myself, they probably couldn't believe being passed by a fat guy. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't due to my fitness; it was just them going slow. Who knows, one might have had stage four cancer. It wouldn't surprise me, as that's most likely the only type of person I could pass right now. 

My neck started hurting at the 48-minute mark and got progressively worse. I sucked up as best I could, but with only 3 minutes left in my ride, so close to my house, I had to stop and stand up. The pain was so excruciating. When I did get back on the bike, it was the longest 3-minute ride to get home. 

I don't understand why my neck is so sore when I ride. I've never experienced that before, and I've done 7-hour bike rides in the past in full aero position. I did a quick Google search, and it said something about needing a stronger core, shoulders, and back and a good bike fitting. I know it's not the bike fitting, as this is the bike I've been riding since 2007. 

When I got home, it was 31 C with the Humidex, and I didn't want to do my "off-the-bike run." I was exhausted, and my neck was in such pain. I took about 10 - 15 minutes to psych myself up and push myself out the door. 

It was the most brutal run I've ever done, regardless of whether it was off the bike or not. It was brutal. I couldn't run for more than 30 - 60 seconds at a time. It was run 30 -60 seconds, walk 15 - 30 seconds and repeat. I literally shuffled. The stride was the length of my shoe, 11-inch strides. It was the closest thing to a walk that still qualified as a run. Much of the run was with my eyes closed as it was painful. 

When I got home, I virtually collapsed. I was spent. I lay on the front porch for about 5 minutes with little movement. If a neighbor saw me, they probably would have thought I was dead. I've never felt this bad in my life. 

When I finally had enough energy to get up and go to the house, I ensured I had a protein drink and a large baked potato with butter and cottage cheese instead of sour cream. Over the years, I have come to prefer baked potatoes with cottage cheese. 

These foods were not part of my diet program, but I knew I needed to deviate. I need the protein to build muscle and the carbs to prevent a bonk.

It helped, but not much. I was exhausted and had to hit the couch. I did start to feel slightly better and then fell asleep for about 60 minutes. When I woke, I felt 50%—enough to give me enough energy to wash my Corvette.

Normally, it takes me 20 - 30 minutes to wash the car. This time, it took nearly 2 hours because some small spec-sized dirt baked on the lower part of the car. Looking at it from a few feet away, you wouldn't see it, but when looking from one foot away, it was obvious, and the only way to get it off was to slowly and closely use the pressure washer. It didn't come off easily.

Then there was soaping it up, washing it by hand, rinsing, and towel drying it. The one positive other than getting the car back to showroom condition was that I did lots of crouching, which stretched my legs.

By the time I was done, I was spent once again and back to how I felt when I got home from the run session.  

I've been monitoring my Ketosis, and based on the strips and breath meter, I'm in full ketosis. I consider that a positive as it means my body is burning fat, which means weight loss. I keep telling myself that losing weight quickly is the most important performance part. 

I know from experience that you cannot train yourself thin, and in my opinion, 90% of successful weight loss is based on changing your diet and having a calorie deficit. Trust me, I've trained 16 - 20 hours a week for 3 years, which didn't help my weight loss. Only when I changed my diet and abstained from alcohol would I lose weight. 

Tomorrow is my long round day, 55 minutes. If I can go the distance, it will be my longest run in a long time. 

Bike - 1:26:14 - 32.92 km - 22.9 km/h pace

Run - 20:12 - 2.17 km - 9:19 km/pace