Pinehurst, pinehurst, pinehurst....

......all I can really say is that I HATED it. Saturday was the ride from hell. As you all know it has not stopped raining in forever but somehow we've gotten lucky weekend after weekend and we haven't really had to workout in the rain. It has just been super cold but the weather has held out for us. This was not the case on Saturday. I arrived at Miramonte H.S. around 7:30 it was pretty chilly but not raining. We were suppose to ride to the top of Pinehurst, run for 30-45 minutes and then ride back down. About an 18 mile bike ride. The plan was changed a little when Coach Tim found out that the trail we were suppose to run on was pretty flooded. It was decided that we would do the Pinehurst loop, return to our cars to put our bikes away and then just run down in Moraga. We took off on our bike ride around 8:15 and about 10 minutes into the ride it started raining on us. Of course I started whining because riding in the rain and riding is no fun but at this point I still had no idea how much worse it was going to get. I missed doing the Pinehurst ride a few weeks ago because I was sick so all I really knew about it is all the horrible stuff I've heard from my teammates. It's a hilly course on a two lane road. We had rolling hills for a little while but nothing too bad compared to what was ahead. I'm still not great at drinking while I ride so I had stopped to drink some gatorade and a few of the other girls did too. We hopped back on our bikes after a quick rest and Natalie said "okay, are you ready?....ready? ready, for what? HAAA, HAAA little did I know the climb that we were about to embark on, it was never ending and I barely made it to the top, actually I didn't really make it to the top. I got off my bike a few hundred feet before the top and walked up. I was NOT a happy camper at all. By this point I was exhausted and soaked. I looked like I had jumped in a lake with all my clothes and shoes on and then decided to go on a bike ride. I was so cold that I was shivering and could barely feel my toes and fingers. I wanted to cry :o( When we got to the top Megan and Coach Joe were there and told us which way to continue the ride. Going back the way we had gone up was not safe because it's pretty steep and there had been some mudslides. Joe also said the other way was an easier and safer descent. So off we went, we still had a few hills to climb and again I wanted to cry but we got up them . We had to stop and take a break a couple of times to catch our breath. 2 hours and 2 minutes later I made it back to my car. I decided that since it was so late now (Patch had a doggy meet) that I would just go home and forget the run. I got into some warm clothes and headed home. I think it took me about 4 hours to feel back to normal and not like I had hypothermia. It was the most miserable day in the 12 weeks that I have been training. I guess I should be proud of myself for finishing but GEESH that was terrible.

I am very very proud of my mentees, they all were just as soaked and cold as I was but they all finished. A few of them even toughed it out even longer and went on the run. You guys are awesome :o)