26k run/bike-athon!

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Hi everybody
I hope you're all doing super. As per the previous e-mail, this weekend was a particularly active one as Guy and I tested our mettle in a 26km run/bike race. We raced from here in town to an outside village called Koubri. They have a monastery there that makes the BEST yogourt!

Saturday we spent the day preparing for the race on Sunday. We had to collect the bike I would ride from another mining biz friend of ours, and we bought high-calorie train food, and organized the logistics of how we were getting where we needed to be. This involved dropping off my car in Koubri to get us home the next day, and the road was terrible. It's about a half hour outside of Ouaga, and definitely not made for anything short of a 4x4! My poor little Corona just didn't know what it was in for, and the pot holes and incredible dust made the whole excursion interesting. For some extra fun, I nearly hit a couple of wild pigs that ran into the road!

Since I was Guy's support vehicle, my main task was to provide water and encouragement for a run we predicted would take him about 3 hours. On Sunday morning, we all got up very early and had a breakfast of pasta and soya milk to fuel up for the day. Around 6 we met up with the other participants we knew to make our way to the start. There were about 18 people involved in the race, which is pretty good considering how nuts it is! Most teams were sharing the biking/running but since I was sick and Guy wanted to "go it alone" I was really just there for show. I also had the role of Coach. Using my GPS (best thing EVER!) and the route points we'd programmed in, I could tell Guy how many kms were left and how fast he was going so we could make sure the pace was right.

Unfortunately, despite all our best efforts, Guy's legs failed him around the 23rd km. He did his absolute best and a real heroic effort on his part that I still hail as amazing considering he did more than a half marathon. Not bad for a 44-year old father of 3! I biked on to the finish as the sweeper bike scooped him up and took him to the end point in style. As you can see from the pics, Guy is covered in salt from the sweat of the workout! It was a bit gross!

Both of us were fairly crippled by the exercise: he by the lactic acid in his legs, I by the incredible pain of a 3 hour bike ride to one that is not accustomed to it. Guy agrees that judging from the pain -and multiplied by the region where there is pain- he pretty much owes me for the rest of his life. 😊

At the finish, there was a big lunch waiting for all of us at the auberge. They also had a pool where we happily splashed around until the food was ready. During the meal, I realized how hardcore this group is. The main topic of conversation was an upcoming triathlon in February! Well, being my gullible self, it's looking very likely that I'll take part, either on my own or as part of a team. To keep it fun, you're allowed to form teams where one person does each of the 3 events, but I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of trying it myself. Since I'm not world's greatest swimmer, Guy (former national level swimmer) is going to coach me in the pool a bit to get me up to par. We have our first lesson tonight!

Anyway, that's the rundown from the weekend. YOu'll be glad to know Guy and I are both walking fairly normally now. 😊

Happy Tuesday!
-Brownie

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Photos

Starting out
Here we are, the team in the early morning. Did you notice that we match???

Team at the finish
I can't believe how clean and un-sweaty I look. I swear I biked for 3 hours!

Comments

[krissy]

incredible
you are an active diva! way to go linds...so proud of you and Guy!! Im tired sitting here just reading about it..... Happy Tuesday right back at you! xoxoxox

[mom]

LOL.... that's our girl!!!!!