Interesting Day - Crash Report [Long]

So, here's the thing -

Something I'm struggling with as a nonserious (yet) triathlete is juxtaposing my performance in these disciplines with how I feel physically (in general). I'm around 5'8 or 5'9" depending on my shoes and the quality of the camera at the SevenEleven and I roll in between 144 and 150 lbs most days. I'd estimate 14-16% bodyfat at 34 years old. I'm also bald.

All of those stats given, I can squat twice my body weight multiple times. I can deadlift for days. Pull ups? No problem - 15 on a terrible day. I've always had the 'benefit' of a fast metabolism and people telling me 'I bet you can run!' I can't. I can sprint, and sprint fast, but endurance is not my jam. Doesn't mean I'm not trying. But, I think I realized today that I'm leaning too heavily on the past than I am the 'right now.'

Here's what happened -

Two days ago I got my road bike fitted for me (finally). I had been 'riding' on and off without ever having this done. Before I got it fitted, I clapped on the aero bars I bought from amazon and had the bike shop fit me to those. The guy did some great work (I think) and asked me a lot of detailed questions, took a bunch of looks at me, that kind of thing. I felt great leaving the shop. Well, this afternoon I went to a nature park near my home and decided to ride. There's a nice loop out there that's just over a mile. I absolutely figured that screaming through a mile would be easy. Maybe I'd do 5 or 6 without breaking much of a sweat while I practiced using aero bars for the first time, yeah? Easy stuff.

Well, less easy than I thought. I grabbed my bike after having some coffee with the wife (no real attention to nutrition today - I was at home with my two toddlers all day by myself) and got over to the park. No real warm up, just a few down-and-backs in a parking lot to make sure I was familiar with my controls (I haven't ridden in months). Felt fine, so I fired up strava and took off. I didn't start in the gear I planned to finish in (didn't finish in it, either) and by about a half mile I was hurting. I didn't understand at all - I should be stronger than that by a wide margin. Whatever, I powered on (I use 'powered' very loosely). Toward the end of loop 1, I started getting on the bars. It felt REALLY different (not bad, just different) because the steering was so sensitive, but the position was comfortable. When I got down in tight I immediately felt myself go faster. It wasn't easier, but I felt like I was getting more per stroke - this was heartening.

Loop 2 had me sucking wind. Not like 'I just ran a mile holding kettlebells' or 'where did my periphery go?' sucking wind, but I could feel it. I was breathing heavy without my chest burning, if that makes more sense. Loop two I'm on the bars more, working things out and feeling a little more comfortable. I still have a few weird 'wiggles' through my lane, but nothing that would scare me. So, how did this come off the rails? Well - the parking lot where my truck was effectively marking 'start/finish' is approached by a broad curve that's semi-blind because of some planted trees. It is also a slight undulation, finishing down, so I would kind of crank through it to set my mind right for the ensuing loop. Made sense in my head. But, I can't be trusted - it was really hot.

As I clear Loop 2 and start 3, the curve ahead of me is - treeline, 7 feet, road, 2 feet of grass, path, more grass. Standing in the middle of the road, moving right to left, is a giant coyote. I mean, a coyotesaurus. A velociyote. Somehow, instinctively, I merged just in time from road to path as the parking lot ran out of space. The practical part of me thought, 'oh crap,' and the redneck in me thought, 'wow, that's pretty cool. I wonder why he's out moving in the heat of the day? Kind of strange for him to be so close to people like this, I wonder..' you see what I mean. Anyway, the two thought paths kind of agreed this was a problem, so I whistled - really loud. Like, grandpa's 'get your over here' whistle. I've sent many an animal running with that whistle. This dire-yote, though - not impressed. He stopped moving, which was a relief, but here's the big problem - I was watching HIM and not where I was going. About the time I realized I was going to pass him and not collide my front tire dove off the path but didn't make clean contact with the grass field. Instead it bit into the divot between path and grass and - you guessed it - that was all she wrote for me. I don't specifically recall what happened, but I remember the bike and I disagreeing on how physics was to apply in this scenario. I went headfirst over the bars and tumbled what I would imagine is a respectable 4 times.

Having been in a motorcycle accident before (I swear me and 2 wheels just don't agree) I immediately did a mental check and knew nothing was 'where it shouldn't be.' I had a reasonably terrible pain in my right shin and somewhere on my upper right leg. No blood on the shin, that was good. I paused here and, literally said out loud, 'thank you, helmet.' My right inner quad muscle was a ball of fire, though. I paused my strava ride - priorities - and stood up. This was a mistake. My shin and right quad protested. I had to walk about a hundred...maybe a hundred and twenty yards back to my truck with a bike that was trashed. My aero bars are pointing in different directions. My chain is a joke. Grass is covering my bike like a ghilly suit. And, I am in some serious, serious pain.

I was able to get home ok and survive the leg-hugs from my girls. Bug, my leg wont let me bend it without a substantial amount of pain and my shin clearly has a gigantic, swollen bruise forming. Walking without a limp takes conscious effort.

So, I'm grateful to not be really injured. I think a lifetime of doing silly stuff, martial arts, and the military kind of pseudo-took over and helped me through the crash. But, more than anything else about today - what sticks with me is that I'm really pissed. I've been trying to do this thing - some race - for three years now. There have been legitimate reasons why I have dropped a race - birth of a child, for instance. But today it crossed my mind that if I tried to do this thing I'd actually embarrass myself. I have had this idea in the back of my mind that all I really needed was a 'tune up.' I was probably 'athlete enough' to get by with getting familiar with transitions and knocking the rust off some of my 'older skills' and figured I could make a decent showing. Let's talk about humble pie. I ran some quick calculations at home (because I'm a data guy. I live in finance in the real world) and discovered my weight to power ratio and assumed VO2 max equate to an alcoholic, overweight stork. It actually dawned on me that I may not have the capability (right now) to do this thing. It further occurred to me that I don't have the foggiest clue what I'm doing.

Don't get me wrong; I think I have a valid point of frustration that most 'newbie' triathlon plans seem to target people with 50lbs to lose, no athletic experience, and the desire to 'just finish' (and I certainly mean no disrespect). But I think there are probably a lot of folks out there like me that want to do this thing for real and are intimidated by the humility that's required. It's going to be an uphill battle for the next 8 weeks.

Turns out a crash can teach you a lot.