Catching Up, Pt. 2

You see, lately, even when I think I have time to do this, I inevitably get distracted by something else...

Here's a pic of my hand a day after rope burning it:

This kept me up most Thursday night. I've had tattoos, broken bones, smashed faces, you name it. This was the most painful thing I've ever experienced as far as I can remember. I'm just glad it felt a lot better when I woke up on Friday.

So, beyond the obvious injury to myself caused by the climbing incident, it took possibly even more of a mental toll. I was somewhat worked up about it for a couple days. Because I thought I was acting responsibly, it really makes me doubt my own ability to lead belay. I could care less about my hand - that'll heal. What if this had been outside on an actual rock wall? There are mats at the rock gym, but outdoors, Dean certainly would have been hurt.

I've decided that the only way to gain my own trust back is to catch an intentional fall the next time I'm at the gym. I'm gonna ask Dean to take one from a safe (relatively speaking) height so I can prove (mostly to myself, but also to him) that I can be trusted on belay. Only way I see to get some closure on the issue. Of course, this'll probably have to wait until next week to give my hand time to heal.

***

Moving on, it's been a good month for cycling. In the past 30 days I've logged 3 rides over 45 miles, and my average days are approaching the 25 mile mark. This is huge progress as this time last year I wasn't riding more than 20 at a time.

Saturday I left super early and explored out northwest of the city, working toward Poolesville on the recommendation from a co-worker, but not quite making it there. Total ride was about 63 miles. I wish I would have logged this as soon as I'd arrived back home because it was quite an inspiring ride. I don't know how I rode down the C&O canal before and not noticed Great Falls, but I definitely saw them this time and it's really spectacular. Here's a view from the cockpit:

I departed before 6am so the traffic for the most part was minimal. The ride began and ended on familiar roads. I timed the segment along the CCT between Fletcher's Boathouse and Bethesda, knowing I'd be looping back around after coming east on the C&O Canal trail. It's almost exactly 5 miles, constant gentle grade, and would give me an idea of how well I could hold a pace after riding for a few hours. First time around went by in 18:06. I didn't go full throttle so as not to jeopardize the rest of the ride.

There were some pretty serious (by local standards) hills between Bethesda and Darnestown, and I was glad to get to the canal trail. I popped an energy gel at this point (about 2 hours, 34 miles) and was on my way. The canal trail is crushed cinder and at some points got pretty treacherous. It really required a lot of focus to a) not get bored and b) hold a reasonable cadence. The scenery helped.

I popped another gel at about 3 hours (50ish miles), just before turning back onto the CCT to test my endurance. Judging by the way my legs felt at this point I thought for sure it would take me longer than 18 minutes to get back to my checkpoint in Bethesda. On top of my fatigue, there were now dozens of weekenders out on the CCT, including some sort of charity walk/run that made it difficult to move quickly. I threw in a few final surges and hit the split button without checking the time. I was surprised when I got home to see that it went by about 40 seconds quicker than the first at 17:24. After this it was smooth sailing for the final 5 miles back home. Altogether it was 3:47:16. Next time (perhaps not next week but the week after) I'm going all the way to Poolesville, which should push the distance to the 80 mile mark.

Yesterday was a brief gym session. I've been setting a timer when I go lately, which keeps me focused in addition to forcing me to cycle quicker between exercises. Some basic full body lifts, etc, etc, the typical gym rat stuff. Took 1:30.

Today I added a prologue to my commute by heading out to Fort Totten before looping back down to Georgetown to pick up the CCT. Legs were definitely tired but felt peppier on the ride home this evening. I was looking forward to another 2+ hour ride on Wednesday morning, but I'll be commuting down to Arlington early that afternoon for work so I may just stick to the the usual routine.