So I had my first ride this past Saturday and I will tell you, going into it I was SO confident that 20 miles would be no problem; “pfff 20 miles, no biggie, I can do it.” Have I been that used to driving everywhere that I had forgotten just how far 20 miles really is? I think so!
After talking with my Coach, Albert, and meeting the rest of the team who had joined 4 weeks before me, it was time to hop on the bike & begin the ride. Justin joined me, because his team was doing a separate ride in Austin this weekend which was optional and due to work restraints he wasn’t able to join. Anyway, Justin & Coach Albert stayed back with me while the rest of the team headed out on the ride. Coach went over a few basics of the bike since I’d never been on a cycling bike before and on we went.
I started off still thinking, “Oh I got this”, but not long after thought, “oh man, this is a bit harder than I thought. I’m out of shape!” The boys kept asking how I was doing & for those of you that know me you probably know what my response was… “I’m doing fine – great!” When in all reality I was dying! So I decide to get the bright idea to ask how far we had gone, all the while thinking we’d gone about 10 miles right? WRONG! “Almost 4 miles.” At that point I looked at Justin and said, “Babe, I think 20 miles is a stretch. I’m way more out of shape than I thought!” The great husband & best friend that he is said, “No, Rach you CAN do this. Just breathe, pace yourself & you will be fine. YOU CAN DO IT!” We reached a spot around Benbrook Lake where you have to get off your bike & lift it over a post and decided to take a second to rest & get some water. We got back on the bikes & about a minute after that I got q, trying not to throw up, while the boys chatted. Gosh, am I that out of shape? Guess so!
We reached 377 and crossed over the hwy to a bait shop store. Coach laughed saying, “hopefully they have snacks in here because none of us brought anything to eat & I think you need to get refueled Rachael.” As they walked into the store, I thought, "yeah they’re going to come back with worms or something gross.. yuck!" To my surprise they had food! I hate 2 peanut butter crackers, which were different than usual.. they had grape jelly in them. Have you ever seen those? Anyway, I hadn’t and boy were they delish, however, I couldn’t eat more than 2 in fear that all might come back up. So I played it safe & stuck with 2 and some Gatorade. It worked, refueled me & off we went.
The rest of the 20.7 miles (and yes the .7 counts at this stage of training lol) was tough but not as tough as the beginning, since I learned to pace myself after our rest. For those of you who haven’t been to Benbrook, it’s hilly! Full of hills! There were 2 hills that were steep & long. I tried to suck it up through the fire burning through my legs but I had to get off. Coach was nice enough to give me a push to get some momentum to get up the rest of the hill. What a nice guy right?
We finally were nearing the end of the ride but had 1 last hill to climb. And looking at this hill as a novice rider I was almost shaking thinking, “how could I go up this hill if I had issues with the others?” Coach encouraged me & up we went. The difference on this hill was not what I said to myself over & over again, “Cancer patients can’t just give up. If they did, they’d die. So what do they do? THEY FIGHT! They withstand rigorous treatments including chemo which in lots of cases brings on severe nausea amongst other things. I have no choice but to do this.. THEY ARE WHO I AM DOING THIS FOR!” And guess what?! I MADE IT UP! No stopping! At that very moment I decided, no matter what the hill, no matter what the situation, I cannot give up. I can’t! I must endure the pain, endure the frustration of being so out of shape and just DO IT!
When we finally reached our cars I was so proud of myself! Coach & Justin were proud of me as well which made it that much more of a victory!
-Rachael
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