The Climb

I did it :)

65 miles (100km) later and I completed my first metric century. My father-in-law and Steven were there with me and never left me in the dust. I'm so grateful, since I know how much faster they both could have gone. I'm also so grateful for my mother-in-law who took such great care of my little girls during the race.

We rode 65 miles, climbed 1860 feet, and I burned 2020 calories. I think I deserve some chocolate cake tonight...

I titled this post, "the climb" because that is really what I will remember. The race started in Morgan Hill, and rode through all the hills behind the city. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. Every time I would get through a hill, another would be staring right in front of me.

On this particular hill, I really wanted to cry. The main thing that kept me going was that the hill was so steep, I knew if I stopped peddling, then I would just fall over!

Going down is the fun part.... I wish there were more pictures of Steven, but he was the one strong enough to climb ahead enough the take pictures. I was focusing on survival.

I'm glad I let Steven convince me that I could do this. It was not easy. I'm definitely not a hard-core athlete, and training with a new baby and crazy toddler was tough. This part is mainly for me, but just in case I want to try something like this again (which... I probably will), I want to remember all the work behind the ride.

I am exclusively nursing Cora, which made this tricky. Luckily she takes a bottle, but I had to have plenty of milk to leave so she would not be hungry. Also, my milk has too much lipase in it, and cannot be frozen. So, I had to pump like crazy the few days before the ride to build up a fresh supply. I also had to pump in the parking lot right before and after the ride.... and I was fairly uncomfortable for a good portion of it.

Going on training rides was also crazy. The first two months after a baby are pretty much recovery, so I had just a couple of months to get into shape. Also, lack of sleep does not help.

The days I would ride, I would spend all of the girls nap time getting dinner ready, making sure Cora was fed right before I left, and cleaning, etc. so that I could leave as soon as Steven got home from work... I have such an amazing husband. He is really great and so supportive.

Becoming a mother is life-changing and has made me know that I can do hard things. At the same time, I want my girls to know that as a mom, you give *almost* all of yourself to your children... but it is important to have a life and goals outside of motherhood.

I am unsure if I will be able to walk tomorrow, but I'm just glad that I could finish!