As much as I'd wanted to get on my bike, the first five minutes or so felt really discouraging cause they HURT! It was hard. Cycling has never been hard for me before (then again, I've never done a 10k-run in 28 degrees and jumped straight onto my bike afterwards....that'll teach me!).

But I quickly found my stride, until the first killer hill, that is. I couldn't believe what happened next. As some of you might remember from earlier posts, I've suffered from calf cramps during my last two half marathons. When I hit that first incline not one, nay, both of my calves cramped up to such an extent that I actually squealed in pain and frustration. I slowed down and somehow, goodness knows how, made it up that hill.

After reaching the top, I had to hold and shake out my left leg (which was worse) in order to let the cramp subside. It was awful. And so frustrating. There I thought I'd done all I can to prevent cramping. I'd done more strength training, I'd taken gels, I was even wearing my compression socks, despite the temperature. And to no avail! I could've cried with frustration (ok, so I may have shed a lil' tear but that was because of the pain! You hear me? The pain!).

The only way I could stop the cramping was to pedal on my mid-foot, that's why I'm not using the cages here.
The only consolation I had was that unlike many others around me, I did not get off to push my bike up that hill. Hell no!