The Call Of Shame

Ever had to make the call?

You know, that call?  The "I'm too far from home and can't get back on my own" call?

It sucks.

Now... If I said I went for a long run on Saturday, and a short bike ride on Sunday, it would be natural to assume I made the call on Saturday, right?  Long run, weather wasn't ideal (hot, thunderstorm, muggy, rain, etc.), seems perfect to set up the call of shame.

But no, the run went pretty well.  I woke up early Saturday with the intention of getting out the door before it started getting too warm, but that didn't happen.  As I was getting dressed to go run, I heard a clap of thunder and what sounded like a waterfall outside my door.  Sure enough it was a torrential downpour.  I couldn't see across the cul de sac it was raining so hard.  I checked the weather, and there was one tiny little thunderstorm cloud that just so happened to be parked directly over Abita Springs.  So I had my usual pre-long run breakfast (Froot Loops), filled the bottles on my Fuel Belt, put a couple Gu packets in the pocket and waited for the rain to let up.  It finally did about 30 minutes later.  In that 30 minutes though, I decided to try KT tape on my right knee for the touch of ITBS I've been dealing with since about January.  I ended up shaving an odd pattern on the outside of my knee to facilitate taping it.  I taped it up as per the instructions on their YouTube site, wrapped the band around my leg, and headed out the door.

When I left, it was probably close to 80 degrees at 100% humidity, and barely drizzling.  Certainly not ideal conditions, but not horrible for July in SE Louisiana.  At about the 5 mile mark though, the KT tape had given up and was just held in place by the strap I wear over my knee.  I pulled it off and threw it away.  The sweat and humidity was just too much for the adhesive.

I finished a 13.1 mile run (scheduled 13, Runner's Neurosis kicked in for the .1) in a little under two hours.  I guzzled about a pint of chocolate milk, took a shower, and went off for the day to bring Brynn to piano and then go fight with a used up car salesman so my wife could buy a new SUV (Acura MDX, quite nice I must say).

Nope.. it was Sunday I had to make the call.

I just finished putting together a new tri-bike.  I eventually found a frame to buy on eBay (NOS 2010 Kestrel Airfoil Pro) and put it together with components off of my Q-Roo Lucero as well as a couple other parts I wanted to swap out (bars, cranks).  I finished up the bike last week, but I did my first week of "Dopey" running, so I ended up running every day last week and didn't get a chance to ride.  I figured Sunday I'd put some Allen wrenches in my bag, ride, stop and adjust, ride, stop and adjust, etc. until I got everything feeling right, then I'd finish out 25 miles or so for the day.

I got to the two mile point, stopped and adjusted the seat position and angle.  Felt better.

3 mile mark, further tweaked the seat.  Felt really good.

3.5 mile mark, and I'm not feeling good in my shoulders or my back.  I'm figuring the bars are a bit too low and the armpads are a bit too narrow.  I couldn't do anything about the armpads, but I could flip the stem to raise the bars a bit and see how that would feel.  But that would involve taking apart the handlebars and I didn't know if I wanted to do that on the road.

At 4 miles though, I figured why not.  I've got tools.  It's Sunday.  I can do this in 10 minutes and be on my way.    I got to Koop Drive, pulled off the Trace to a bench, and started disassembling my bike.  It took all of about 5 minutes to get everything apart, get the stem flipped, and started putting it back together.

However, somehow I managed to cross thread two of the screws on the stem and couldn't get them to thread correctly after that.  I fought with it for about 15 minutes before I conceded defeat.  Being 4.25 miles from home wearing cycling shoes with Look cleats, I REALLY didn't want to walk back.  And since it was so early, I knew my chances of seeing someone I knew were slim to none.

So, in shame, I pulled out my iPhone.  I looked up my wife's number.  I shook my head, then pressed the number for the house to dial it.

"Hey, I'm at Koop Drive.  Come get me."

She's so loving and concerned about me though.  Naturally, her first reaction was "Are you OK?  Do I need to bring anything?  Do I need to call 911?  Are you hurt?  Did you crash?"

I lie.  That's not her at all.

"Why?  What did you do?"

I told her about my mechanical issues.  "Fine... But it's not going to be right away.  I'm still in my pajamas and Brynn is asleep."  Whatever.

I put the bike back together as best as I could and pushed it to in front of the playground. I ended up waiting a few minutes before she showed up in her brand new used MDX to bring me home.

"Brynn wants McDonalds for breakfast, and you're buying."

OK.

Not like I could object.  It was the punishment for my shame.

Next time I'll call one of my friends instead.

HOWEVER, comma...

Road ID put out a cool app for those of us who tend to disappear for a couple hours on Saturday/Sunday for long runs or rides.  It makes a lock screen for your phone with your emergency contact info, makes a link to a site where you can be tracked via bread crumbs on GPS, sends a link to that site through SMS, and automatically sends a message to your recipients if you stop moving for 5 minutes.  I tried it this weekend and really liked it.  It's free, and it's good piece of mind for those of us who have to go beyond the comfort of our respective neighborhoods to train.  Go check it out.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine