Big Hill Failure

I bombed. Totally. Not since I was a B 17 pilot have I bombed like that.

Yes, I made that up, the part about being a B 17 pilot. But if I had have been pilot on a bomber flying missions during war, I could not have bombed any more than I did Wednesday morning when I parked at Hill View Baptist Church to train for my Big Hill Challenge (see "The Big Hill Challenge" 7/16/2015). Two weeks ago, I make it up the tall monster twice in 11:37 and 11:52. Wednesday morning I hoped to go up another two repeats maybe even three and beat my times from before. I made one summit in 13:10. I attempted a second and stopped half way up at a 16:04 pace. I found a little patch of shade and tried not to die. Seriously.

The heat index was 102, but I have been running in that climate for weeks on end now. This morning, however, I knew I was on the edge of boiling my blood. I sat, panted, and wondered. What happened?

Was it

   a) the temperature

   b) the fact that I completed the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon less than a week ago

   c) the fact that I squatted four sets at Plate City only one day before

   d) all of the above

   e) I am going backwards?

Part of the Big Hill

Over the years, I have noticed I always assign causation to multiple variables when I try to solve a riddle like this. I wish I could point to one thing and say that is it. Once more, I can't. The heat definitely was a factor. I should have been able to handle it better, but for whatever reason, I couldn't deal with it Wednesday. Also, there is no doubt I was not well recovered from the squat session the day before. Ordinarily I would not attempt a difficult workout following a difficult workout. But as they saw, nothing ventured nothing gained. Or maybe in this case, nothing ventured nothing lost.

I don't look at it as a total loss. I deposited another Big Hill into the bank account of my legs and lungs. Eventually I will make a withdrawal. I also learned a couple of things. First, I will not attempt this workout again until it either cools down some or I can get there earlier in the morning. Second, I won't try this after a leg-lifting day. Third, I still need to lose some weight. Fourth, I am still in the hope business. I fail but find a way to look on the bright side. I am not getting older, I just don't have my training dialed in yet. One day. 

One day I'll get it right and run that hill like a child on the playground and ride that bike at the Heart O' Dixie like Lance Armstrong on steroids and EPO. 

One day.