Teaser / New energy source

I’ve had the greatest 18 hours of workouts in probably a couple of years. I’ll write more later, but… Man.

Yesterday on the way home, I finally found a pond in which to swim. About a half mile long, clean, deep-ish water, no motors. So, I started with a lap in the wetsuit. Proved to myself that, while fine for sprints, a surfing wetsuit kind of stinks for swimming more than a couple hundred yards. (Fortunately, there’s a new one on the way).

Then – a 5 miler. Wicked, wicked tough – straight up hill to start, and then down the steep to finish. But, absolutely beautiful. At the end of the run, there were a couple of guys fishing in the Pond – will have to bring the kids back.

This morning, I woke up early to ride. Was on the road well before 7, rode ‘cross the state line out to Watch Hill through some Scooby-Doo type fog (So thick you could cut it with a knife). Watched next to no rollers come crashing in – wind was still. Then, rode uphill, out of the fog through Westerly. I’d seen a sign that Boombridge Road had a bridge closed, but kind of banking on its being closed to automobiles due to being decrepit, and knowing that I, while not the picture of svelteness, do not weigh nearly as much as a car, headed down the road. Worst case, I’d turn around and get an extra 4 miles.

The bridge was open, and the view over the Pawckatuck river was extraordinary. Brilliant blue sky, deep green grass and trees, dark tannic water – ought to be a postcard for New England. (I took pictures; will post later). Stopped briefly for a bocadillo* and to call the fam to let them know I was still alive.

Back to Mystic, a bit later than I’d planned. And back into the fog as soon as I hit River Road – man, that was cool, both figuratively and literally – I had to pull my armwarmers back on. Stopped, got some coffee, and rode up to Butler Elementary for Nate’s t-ball game. Missy had brought some pants to fend off the cold.

After the game, I took the kind of long way home, up Noank-Fishtown road instead of over Cow Hill, just so I could come down the hill on Yetter and see how close to 45 MPH I could get (Haven’t dumped the Garmin yet to see what it was). Man, what an 18 hours.

Best part, I feel great – even less sore than when I started.

* Bocadillos may be my new during run/ride energy food. I got introduced to them as dessert when I was riding a Colombian submarine. They’re nothing but guava pulp and sugar, dried and wrapped in a banana leaf (or a bit of sugar cane leaf – not sure what). Each brick of bocadillo is:

  • 200 Calories
  • 38 grams of sugar
  • 15 mg of sodium
  • 6 g of fiber

I suppose they could use a little bit of protein to make them all hip and with it, but as far as I can tell, they’re functionally identical to Missy’s SportBeans, ‘cept instead of being $1/pouch, it was $3 for 12 bricks. And, the wrappers are biodegradable – no goopy packages to carry home in a pocket or hand.

I think that in the future I’m going to cut each bocadillo in two (to get 100 cal/serving, same as a pack of SportBeans) – 200 cal at a pop seems to be a bit excessive.

The last problem, though, was that I got them at a Fiesta Market when we were down in Houston. As far as I can tell, none of the groceries in Connecticut carry them.

Oh, and I’ve got pictures, too. Will post probably tomorrow with run report.