Bike Plus Run Makes For a Hearty Brick Lunch

Phew. What a day.

To start, today I finally got my butt out to the bike trail I've heard so much about. After riding to a gas station to fill up the tires, we finally snaked our way around to the trail. It starts with a memorial (made of bike parts) for 6 people who were involved in a bike accident in 1996. The group had been instrumental about getting the bike trail set up and two of the six died in the crash. Sad. From there, the trail begins with obvious, heartbreaking signs of homelessness. In time it crosses less and less main roads and signs of wildlife and peace emerge. We were able to ride to a lookout where wild turkeys were about. As I delicately and slowly rode towards them, they still appeared scared and ran all funny. We finally got to the outlook it was a gorgeous vast open part of Paines' Prairie where turkeys mulled around little watering holes. Good times. Also along the trail for wildlife were a snake (kind of a fatty which was gave me the eebie jeebies), a squirrel (which kept faking me out as to whether he was going to dart in front of me or not) and ducks and turtles hanging out in little ponds. Lovely. The entire trip was about 2 hours but the real "meat" of it was about an hour and a half. I'll take it. It wasn't fast by any means, but it felt great to get a solid ride out there (time-wise) and to work again at feeling comfortable on the bike. This was the most I have ridden around people and traffic, and I survived so that's a good start. :) Perhaps the best part was that John enjoyed himself too and wants to go again tomorrow. Yay.

On the ride home I knew I should try to get a little run in there to get used to transitioning from one sport to the next. Since Kate had talked about how challenging this is, I knew I ought to make it a priority. So I brought the bike in, threw on a baseball hat, grabbed the ole iPod (which I THANKFULLY found yesterday) and took off. On the way home I had decided 5 minutes would be fine if it was excruciating, but 10 would be suitable in general. I started off really really slowly, remembering that Kate's friend who does many triathlons had recommended a slow start since the legs need to slowly adjust to the new movement. Almost immediately I crossed paths with a man who pumped his fists and called out "Lookin' good, kid!" I love the encouragement. :) So I ran and ran and kept it slow but steady. I prefer to think of it as chugging along. The little train that could maybe. Just keep going. And I felt OK. Well, sure, I could see what Kate was saying. My leg muscles felt 3/4 of the regular length, it was like running on tightened springs. I think the advice to start slow saved me. I just kept it small, steady, and easy. I decided to go for 20 minutes. I even toyed with 30 but decided it would be better to train tomorrow instead of kill myself today. My legs didn't quite loosen and lengthen much with time, but I just focused on staying steady and running. "The race isn't about perfect muscles," I told myself, "It's about finishing and running for a good cause."

I got home and stretched, pleased that I had spent about 1 hour, 50 minutes with solid exercise. Much like the upcoming race. Lovely. Now to just keep it up, work for speed, work harder, work for consistency. Yes. But now, well now I am guzzling water, covered in the sweet salty smell of sweat, and needing a shower and some R&R. 'Till next time...

xoxo,
K

No iPod? No Kate? No woman, no cry.

I misplaced my iPod after yoga. I misplaced my training buddy when I moved. This doesn't mean the world has to come to an end, that training will cease. It just means I have to find strength from within to get off my butt and train. And it means I might have to look a little foolish doing so...

So I went for a run. Without Kate, without iPod. And without stopwatch since I didn't have one. What did I take with me? My cell phone. Nice, I know. I am sure I spent the better part of that 45 minute run looking like someone too psycho to have left the phone at home as I continually checked it for time. Sigh. Such is life.

This weekend I look forward to a nice long bike ride. I'll do it solo if I have to. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping the weather holds up, as it has been grey grey lately. I'm hoping too that I get more donations. I'm less than a month away now and I want my #s to go up. SUPPORT ME!!! GIVE ME LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! PLEASE!!!

Alright, enough begging. Time for a run.

Thanks for all of your support!
xoxo,
K

Missing My Training Partner...

It has been some time since I've written again. Sorry!!! In the past few weeks I have moved, worked on getting settled into a new job and neighborhood, and worked on the final exam for my yoga training. Oh, and I had some acupuncture homework due. Oh and I'm training here for a triathlon which is in...gulp...just over ONE MONTH!!!

I can't believe how fast time has flown. I can't believe how close I am to this race which once seemed like it would never come. I can't believe how far away I am from my training buddy!

Kate & I spent the past 5 months busting our butts for this race. It was great to always have someone by my side, sweating and huffing and puffing with me as we ran, swam, and biked the miles away. It was really cathartic, really, to meet up after a long day of work and just vent about life, catch up with each other, and laugh. Although we trained hard we laughed hard too. Especially before swimming. Maybe it was the chlorine. ;)

So now I'm away from Kate, 2.5 hours away to be more precise, and training together isn't happening any longer. I'll put it simply: It sucks. This is the part where we are supposed to really dive in and give it our all but instead I feel kind of, well, alone. I'm in a whole new world out here. I haven't found a heated pool and can't consider spending the money for one month at a gym. I'm figuring the swimming won't be so bad anyway. The biking is a huge ordeal. Must find some good bike trails and do it up. Simply must. And running. Must find a good path and stick to it. Lately my runs have been sub-par for sure as I'm not running a set path but rather up and down streets and avenues and that's that. Hmph.

Today I at least got to catch up with Kate via tele. She shared some laughs with me about training, specifically about a horrible pool she swam in (glad she made it out alive!) and she talked about the struggles of the bike to run transition. Gotta work on that myself. Fortunately for me, I have gotten some donations lately (or as I like to call them, DOUGH-nations) and am hoping for more to spark that fire in me. Keep it up guys, your support means EVERYTHING!!! Every little dollar counts towards helping push me forward in this race!!

xoxo,
K