Superman… I am not

Something I know for sure is that I am not Superman. Lying in bed at 3 am, eyes burning from a little too much sun yesterday (not kryptonite), worrying about where to go today. My hip flexers, thighs and all parts of my body trying to convince my mind to take the day off. Aching and wondering why the hell I am doing this, I know that it is for the challenge. And if I was superman this would not be hard.

I remember an article from years ago calling me “neighbourhood superman”, it was exciting to think that maybe I was. But upon any bit of reflection its pretty clear I am not. Sure I push my body to the limit, have a stubbornness that drives me upwards, and optimism to have a lot of fun while I am doing it. but it is taxing. Especially at 38 when the body needs time to recover. With 33 thousand feet to go lots of people assume it will be easy for me. I have done 50 000 ft in a day so 33000 in 3 days should be easy. But when I did 50 grand I trained extensively for it, and had lots of rest and was in fighting shape. I didn’t have 23 days of hard core touring out of the last 28 days. Right now the 12 thousand foot day I did yesterday was excruciating, and tiring. Any time I sat down for a break, I desired to not get back up, to just sit there and enjoy. I have no top gear, I tried to race away from my friends for a quick lap, I put my head down and pushed hard. Breathing deep I focused on the skin track and “ran” up the hill. For 20 minutes I skinned and decided to look back and see how much advantage I had and how big and extra lap I should do. They were pretty much right behind me!!

I feel like I have denatured large days to the point where people think I am inhuman and that it’s really easy. Oh no big deal he just has to do 11 000 feet a day for the next three days. Sure that seems easy when you look at my numbers and see what I have done in the past but you also have to take into account what I have done in the past 28 days. A lot and its taking its toll. For sure I should be able to accomplish it, but its going to take a lot of sweating, swearing and swagger. (couldn’t help but alliterate, even if it doesn’t make sense)

So with no top gear, and many great zones visited I can’t decide where to go today. The weather looks not so great “Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon.” Not only will visibility be bad but I have to worry about lightning!! I really need to be decisive right now and am waffling…..

(authors note: this was written at 5 am, forgive me for any ramblings and unclear thoughts)