When in doubt, ride.

I am now a survivor of TA's TTT, a.k.a Thursday Torture Training.

I've been on my feet all week because of the airshow and I guess I just started to feel like it was time to put myself through some proper training and to start pushing the limits once more. The way I see it, the tougher I am physically, the stronger I get emotionally and at work too. I don't crack as easy under the pressure and I seem to handle a whole lot more in terms of stress levels. So I decided to just go try riding with the group.

I must admit I felt pretty intimidated as I've heard so much about each of the riders - especially the really strong ones. Protein Shake, Diesel... I met them all tonight and it was nice to put faces to the (nick)names. And obviously, I had utmost respect for the group since I've heard so many awe-stricken words from my husband, the Android.

Anyway so the ride was pretty good. I thought all day about how much pain my body had been through in the past few days just standing around all day and running around for work. My lower back had felt really awful and my legs and feet were totally done in. So feeling a different sort of 'pain' in the saddle was somehow pretty good fun all of a sudden.

I must say it is pretty fun riding in a big group. I felt safe and like I was shielded from a lot. It was also really reassuring riding with a bunch of experienced riders - Don't ever go out there on your own! I was also extremely motivated and I kept pushing for as long as I could. Pretty much kept up with the pack till we came to the end of a loop somewhere in Tuas and started heading back to the West. My odometer says my top speed was 46km/hr or so but I figure that was probably on a downhill somewhere. I did push myself pretty hard at one point and I remember drafting the husband's wheel and going pretty fast (for me). Like a true coach, he kept looking back and making sure I was doing an alright job sitting on his wheel. And when he felt I was still alright, he'd push me that much harder so I managed to hit 41km/hr on a flat during one of the segments.

But once we completed the extra loop near the checkpoint and headed back (around 30ks into the ride?), I got dropped. We were on a gentle climb and my legs started feeling like lead. I felt like the dude in the Gatorade advert with the huge ball and chain attached to my rear wheel. Suddenly, I fell away from the pack and their blinking rear lights started to fade away in the distance. That was pretty demoralising... But Andrew was encouraging and lovely and he stayed with me throughout. He worked hard to get me back to the main pack and made my heart melt when he got in front of me to 'shield me from the wind'. Beef came looking for us and we spun our way towards the main pack, who'd all stopped to wait for the straggler that was me.

Woopsie.

All in all, a good ride. Ended it with a can of soya bean, a really sweet milo and a pau, and then home for a nice long snoooooze before work started all over again this morning. I did feel extremely energized at work this morning though!

Perhaps this is the start of a new cycle for me - pun intended.

Distance: 61km
Energy: 1082kcal
Time: 2hrs 18mins