My nephew is taking some time this spring and summer to earn money towards a Boy Scout camp he'd like to attend.....and spending money for the family week long participation in RAGBRAI. He'd asked if there were any "guy" chores he could help out with at our house....and I was eager to put him to work.
You see, we have two dogs.....and the fenced in portion of our backyard isn't small....and it's been a long winter.
You see where I'm going with this? :-)
So, Saturday afternoon he arrived, eager to start dog doo duties....while my sister and I took our bikes to part of the Omaha city trail system for a nice ride.
I'm a runner, not a cyclist. I haven't been on a bike off a trainer or outside of a spin class in at least a year, if not longer.
She's a cyclist, who's always on her bike.
I knew today was going to be nothing if not embarrassing. :-)
Both require leg muscles....and some of those muscles are the same.
Most of them are not.
Add in an insane wind, and I knew I was in trouble.
The first half of the trip was directly INTO this wind. I kept thinking how nice it was going to be when we turned around.....but getting TO that turnaround point was a pain in the butt.
Speaking of pains in the butt. It's Monday as I type this, and my rear is still feeling the ride. Ouch! (hehehe)
Finally, at the ten mile mark, I pulled off into a small park, and waited for sis to realize I wasn't wayyyy behind her any longer. I called home to check on Bug's dog doo progress. I called Mot to see how his day was going. By then Inny had turned around to come find me.....probably expecting me to be lying in a ditch....bleeding and broken. :-)
I think, even if I had fallen off of my bike, the landing would have been soft as a pillow. The wind would have cushioned the blow. :-)
We stopped somewhere along the route for a drink (I'm not brave enough to do it while in motion)....and I forgot to start my Garmin again as we left. So, add three or four miles to the distance. (15.46 miles)
On Sunday I had my first double digit run since October. I wanted to be out on the trail by 7:00, but I don't think I actually made it until 7:30 or so. By then it was already 55 degrees (13C)....and when I ended a couple hours later, it was nearing 70 (21C)!!! Quite the change from teens a week ago. :-)
The first couple of miles were pretty painful. I made sure to take some extra time to try and stretch out those lower leg muscles....but there's really only so much I can do. But, after I hit mile 3 and 4, they'd pretty much given up and relaxed. :-)
The number of people out utilizing the trail was nuts! I saw more bikes the day before....and quite a few more runners on Sunday. I'm guessing it was time of day....runners want out there early when it's still cool....cyclists are out there later when the wind chill isn't as much of a factor.
And, speaking of wind, it was nuts again on Sunday. But, as we did on Saturday, I ran into it for the first half.
Between the wind and the heat (not that it was HOT, but the temps were much warmer than they have been since last fall), I drank MUCH more fluids than I normally do, and my lips were chapped beyond belief.
At about 8 miles, I started feeling tired....and my pace dropped momentarily....but all in all....besides those few things, the run felt great!!!!!!!
(10 miles/16 km, 11:22 average overall pace)
4 comments:
I have two nephews and they're both one... sadly, I can't pay them to do any nasty chores for me lol. (They also live WAY too far away!)
I haven't ridden a bike outside in *years*. We plan to do a few family bike rides this summer and I'm wondering how they'll go!
What an active weekend you've had Jen! Way to go on the bike ride and yeah for the 10 miler!
Very well done girl!
@ Faith Ann - I loved how he wanted to do "guy" chores. Apparently he was afraid I'd have him doing dishes and laundry. Once I said dog poop, he smiled and said "well, at least it's outside."
Gotta give him props for that. Our neighbor ended up hiring him to do the same thing to his lawn later that day. I told them that I was having him come back once a month, and they want me to tell them when he'll be there. I can fund his whole camp with my neighbors if I try hard enough. :-) :-)
@ Fran - the active weekend felt great!!!! Between the wind and my allergies, I'm a sneezy mess today, but it's worth it!!!! Thank goodness for spring!!!!
Nice work.
Post a Comment