Shadows at my Back

My ride on the 16th was again cold. Not so cold though. Mid 40s and air moist as rain but not raining. Even a sun beam was out. Then it were gone. Just another ride to go out and train no matter what. Man, I'm looking for some warm weather to break. It was going to be an easy 50 mile ride. Just turn over the cranks. Do the job and do it right. I'm still repairing from the over training. Also the mental difficulty of going out in this endless wet cold. Keeping the faith to the road. Saying my prayers to the circuit. Keeping the Reaper behind. Keeping a good distance on this ever pursuing competitor.
So what was different. Nothing was working in my legs. The body was just hammered in the first mile. Lactic acid or lack of electrolytes. Maybe my potassium was down. I have naturally low potassium. I'm also taking my high blood pressure medication again after being out for months. The result is a much lower heart rate even under stress. My normal going up hill heart rate is 163. Now with this med it's 134. Less blood and O2 getting to the muscles. It all adds up to poor performance. Even on the flatter roads it was just an effort to roll over the gears. What's an old fart to do. Well not 50 miles today that for sure. It was all I could do to manage 41 and then I was a basket case. Just to tired to stand. I hit the chair and just lowered my head. It was to heavy to hold up. I had noticed this on the last 10 miles of the ride. My head was just to heavy to hold up. I did manage to eat some chicken. Protein in the first 30 mins after the ride is good. It did not help at all. I was still just drained.
As it turned out there was some other factors that were not working in my favor. Before the ride my best friend was the bathroom. It was a fast trip all together. I was hoping that was it. No, just before going out the door I had to talk to my best friend again. Take off half my gear to do it to. I hoped that was it! Out on the road it was OK except I could not ride so well. Then going up Heggene's Hill it was bad. I was looking for any place to stop. After 3 miles there was a construction site with a nice chemical friend. An un-locked chemical friend. Thank the stars and the rules that these chemical friends must be on a building site. As I finished one of the contractor's gave me the it's OK nod, anytime. On home was safe for the need. As it turns out both Mary Anne and I were making friends in the same way. We both think we have food poisoning. I started drinking as much ZipFizz as I could. It is a sports drink with tons of electrolytes. I did start to feel a little better. After all it was Bingo Night at the Senor Center. Can't miss that! So I think we both have food poisoning from some meat we had. Hamburger may be the sinner. Maybe not to. It's a hard one to tell. The timings right for the hamburger.
So today the 17th is repair day for this old body. Be careful what I eat. Be thoughtful what I drink. Think about what the body needs to replace all that is missing. Hope it's the food, not, the drugs I need to take everyday. My blood pressure was very high at the Doctors office, 170 over 78. Man that's bad! That Reaper just never gives up. Well I'm not giving up ether.