Bicicle

The road to recovery looks a little longer and a lot colder than it did on Friday. In just a little bit over an hour today, I rode just short of 10 miles. It's 22F degrees right now with a "feels like" of 17, and I suspect it was even cooler than that when I set out. Though I enjoy running in the cold, once I get through the first few minutes and body warms up a bit, biking in the cold sucks! I did a decent enough job layering, with an Under Armour Cold Gear shirt, a Brooks Equilibrium long-sleeve, and my old Chicago Bulls (I can't defend my high school self against the charges of bandwagonism) Starter windbreaker, winter gloves, and a Nike headband to protect my ears.

The problem was the wind cut right through my running shoes and my feet were freezing! I also need to find a better solution for keeping my face warm w/o impeding breathing. I have a hood/neck-warmer thing that I pulled up over my mouth and nose, but it was very warm when I was out of the wind, so I'd pull it down, but then when I was going into the wind it was necessary to use it to re-cover my breathing nose and mouth, but made it a little too hard to breathe, especially since it got all wet with condensation. Perhaps some kind of biking facemask or just staying on the stationary bike until spring is the right answer?

The encouraging thing about today's workout was that I did an hour of tough cardio, which is about how long the 10K that I (foolishly?) just signed up for would take me.

The the less encouraging aspect was how much bigger the hills seemed! I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to hack it in the hilly development (actually some roads that are supposed to be a development but where no houses have been built yet) where I was planning to ride, so I did most of my mileage in the high school parking lot. Even the inclines in the parking lot, which I didn't even notice in the spring and summer, seemed challenging now. Next time I'm on the stationary bike at the gym, I think I need to crank up the resistance and worry less about speed...not like I'm going anywhere either way, right?

It's Fun to Stay at The...

As I mentioned in my last post, Chris and I joined a gym, the Harrisburg YMCA (I'll probably be at the West Shore branch almost exclusively), but I had yet to get myself over there until this morning, when I did 45 minutes on a stationary bike at about a 16mph clip.

I'm not really sure if that's good or not, I hit the "interval workout" button and started pedaling, and I don't have an accurate distance (about 12 simulated miles) or calorie count because I accidentally reset the workout after 20 minutes instead of pausing it. Still, it was good to get some cardio in and it didn't feel like I lost all my conditioning in the last three weeks like I pessimistically feared.

I'll probably mostly bike for all next week, and then mix in the elliptical, since I remember from the last time I had a real gym membership where I used cardio (2001-2003), that I burned more calories on the elliptical. I might see if there's a spin class that fits my schedule, and I'd like to swim once a week, too, but right now I'm happy to just have the monkey off my back.

I know what you're all thinking: "Brian, what about the mystery bump?" Mystery bump didn't bother me during the ride. I wore my compression socks, which I'm sure made me look very cool, and when I pulled them down after my ride to check on mystery bump, it wasn't initially visible at all but then quickly puffed to its full size, which is kind of disgusting to watch. This seems to indicate the compression socks are doing their job, and it also makes me wonder if I have/had some overtraining injury in my left leg unrelated to mystery bump, since these were the same compression socks I wore on my last run in Jamaica, where I had considerable pain in both legs. If it's something that's only going to bother me when I run, well, that's a problem, but I still have a few weeks before I should worry about that.

One of the challenges of riding a stationary bike or using an elliptical machine or treadmill is boredom. The scenery doesn't change, and there's not even the challenge of trying to keep from falling off the bike (I used to fall off NordicTrack all the time, though) or avoid getting hit by cars. At least on a bike I can read. With my Shuffle at fall blast and a magazine in front of me, it wasn't too bad.

Today, I had an issue of Running Times magazine, which Chris got me for Christmas. Running Times is published by Rodale, which also publishes the better-known Runner's World. That seemed odd to me, but at first read, it seems like Running Times is geared toward the more serious runner...in fact, it's probably a little too serious and technical for me even though I'm sure I'll learn a lot from it. Runner's World has a lot of useful stuff and good feature writing, but also a lot of fluff, in my opinion. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it, but it means I get through an issue really quickly. Ideally, there would be a weekly (so I have constant reading while I'm using cardio machines) running magazine that's right in between the two in its level of seriousness. Get on that, Rodale.

22 Miles

So, this is supposed to be a running blog.

Not a haiku blog. Not a cat-pictures blog. Not a pictures-of-food blog. And not a cranky guy complaining about the weather all the time blog.

So then. Running. Yeah...ok. Usual route (10 miles through Manchester and Mt. Wolf), usual pace (1:39ish), usual amount of sweating (gallons). And we're done. Carry on. Nothing more to see here.

Easiest. Post. Ever.

What? We're not done. But it's really &^%$ hot out there! Oh, fine.

12 miles ridden on the rail trail at 3:00pm in the afternoon in 90+ degree weather then.

Now I'm done, right? Ok, someone please lift these donuts into my mouth.

Therein lies the dilemma of the running blogger, at least this running blogger. On one hand, yesterday's 22 miles was my second-highest mileage day ever (even if 12 of it was achieved through cheating), and that seems worthy of blogging. But on the other hand, it's pretty boring reading -- I've already posted lots of pictures from biking on the rail trail, wrote about my normal running route (a pretty boring one, I admit). There's not a lot of race reports, which I admit are my favorite thing to write, over the dog days of July and August, since I don't race as much during these months, so it could get even more boring around here. I'll probably resort to a post of my favorite races, best swag, worst races. You know, exciting stuff like that.

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But, anyway, here's the longer version:

My run on Sunday morning was complete drudgery, so the above summary pretty much suffices. It wasn't quite as slow as Friday's version, but still definitely on the upper end of my range. It was a better day for testing the new Reebok Playdry visor, since it was sunnier. The visor still seems ok. It covers my forehead and keeps sun out of my eyes, but is cooler than a regular hat or even (in my case) sunglasses. The visor itself gets soaked, and I think it will be fun to post a picture of how gross it is by the end of the summer, or at least until I can't stand it anymore and need to try to wash it.

When I picked up some other stuff at the running store last week, I noticed that Brooks and Nike had visors that were a thinner material on the non-brim parts of the visor than the Reebok. Maybe they would stay dryer? At any rate, my new piece of gear seems adequate, at least, but other than that it was usual pace and usual route -- NOW with even more humidity!

I knew that Chris and I were planning on biking later, but I was in a hurry to run some errands and then get to PetSmart for my cat adoption center volunteer gig, so I failed at breakfast. Usually after a long run I'll have waffles or bread with lots of Nutella or peanut butter (or waffles with Nutella and maple syrup on them -- delicious!), but since I was in a hurry I chugged a bottle of gatorade, quickly ate a bowl of cereal, cleaned up and headed out.

As I was driving on my first errand, I realized this wasn't going to cut it -- I could hardly stay awake. So my first errand was to eat a the King Size Payday bar. 440 delicious, peanutty calories later, I felt MUCH better.

(Mmmm...recovery)

After refueling, I went to help adorable homeless cats find homes. Well, that's the intent. There weren't any applications, but at least I got to play with kittens (Sorry! I know, not a cat blog.) before heading off to the rail trail.

(This is Chester. Want to adopt him? Trust me, you do.
www.ycspca.org)

We began our ride at the northern end of the rail trail at the old courthouse in York. The temperature was in the mid-90s, significantly hotter than our other rides on the trail. Usually as we ride, I feel cooler. However, this time as we rode southward, the heat kept its intensity. I briefly took my helmet off to try to cool down, with little effect. Luckily for us, once we started to get out of the city, the trail became shadier and cooler, and we paused for water at 4 miles, 6 miles (our turnaroudn point just past Howard Tunnel), and at 9 miles. Overall, we rode 12 miles in 1:20,going faster on the return trip.

The total for the day was 22 miles in 2 hours and 59 minutes. Two Maple Donuts were earned by the day's adventures. (The Payday was lunch!)

One day later, my legs are very tired. Luckily, today was a day off. I was going to run tomorrow morning, but it's supposed to be 75 at 6am. Since, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, have lows predicted to be in the low 60s, I may wait an extra day and run Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

Back on the Trail

(York County. We put the "rail" in Rail Trail.)

We hit the York County Heritage Rail Trail again on Monday morning. This time, we started at Brillhart Station, south of York and headed southward to Hanover Junction, which is south of Seven Valleys and back. (I know these names mean nothing to anyone outside York County -- and I admit I'd never heard of Hanover Junction and I've lived in York most of my life!)

(Oh, THAT Hanover Junction.)

Our ride totaled just over 14 miles in an hour and a half, so we improved on Saturday's ride in both pace and distance. It was a very warm, humid day -- it didn't feel bad on the bike but it would have been murder to run in. Thus, I felt kind of like I was cheating. Did the few runners few runners on the trail look at us and think "What a bunch of wimps?" Probably. Were other bikers laughing at our 20-year old Huffys? Probably.

Who cares?

(You won't find any carbon fiber on this bike!)

(This IS my "powering through the mountain stages" face.)

It was a nice way to spend the morning. I'm looking forward to more rides on the trail this summer and also doing some running there in the fall when cooler temperatures arrive. The trail offers more shade than the neighborhoods where I run in the mornings now, but since the closest access point is 20 minutes from my house, it's not a good option for trying to get out early and beat the heat on weekday mornings.

(No one knows how the ancient peoples of Seven Valleys erected these bicycle statues
2000 years before the time of Christ.)


(A good time was had by all.)

I'm taking Tuesday off, and then resuming running on Wednesday, so this will be a lighter week than last week, but like I said last post, I don't think that really matters. Right now my legs aren't sore, but they are tired. I'm hoping that mixing in some biking this summer will eventually make me feel stronger when I get into my deadly-serious, intense, Novice marathon training. Maybe cross-training can be right up there with packet pickup and carb-loading in the parts of the marathon that I'm good at.

And Time Doesn't Wait for Me, it Keeps on Rollin'

I'm undisciplined about a lot of things in my training. Speedwork, tempo runs, and cross-training among them. (I've got long, slow, distance down though!) But I think I've found my cross-training for the rest of the summer and fall, though.


Today, Chris (my wife for any newer readers) and I took a gorgeous 12-mile bike ride on the York County Heritage Rail Trail. Our ride took us an hour and a half, but we weren't looking to set any land-speed records. In fact, I am much more likely to set a speed record for flying over my handlebars and smashing into a tree. We just wanted to explore this new (to us) place to ride and make sure we left enough energy in the tank to get back to the trail head in downtown York, since the ride out seemed mostly downhill. The way back didn't seem as hilly as I thought it might, though, so next time we can push our pace a little bit more and or head further south -- the trail goes 20 miles down to the Maryland line.

(I'm not so confident on the bike, yet. Here I fell behind as we crossed the street.)

We didn't go quite as far as we'd planned, but it was gorgeous ride on a beautiful day, and I'm looking forward to more adventures on the rail trail this summer. Great idea, Chris. I'm glad I tagged along!

(We turned around just south of the Howard Tunnel, one of the many interesting sights along the trail.)

(Not) Lance Armstrong Climbing the Alps

I went for a 12-mile bike ride today, and let's just say that Lance Armstrong climbing the Alps I am not.

It was the longest bike ride I've taken since our honeymoon, when my wife and I took an 18-mile ride in the Jamaican Blue Mountains (of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee fame). But, that ride was all downhill. So, this was the longest hilly ride I've taken in about 18 years, since I got my driver's license and my bike was all but forgotten. And I'm going to feel it tomorrow. If you know the number of Floyd Landis' pharmacist, it would be a huge help.

On this warm, humid morning a bike ride was definitely more pleasant than a run would have been. I rode in the same neighborhood where I do most of my running, and I think the uphills are harder on a bike, but the downhills are easier and more fun. My original plan was to do two laps of my normal running course, but since my front brakes are really only for show I decided not attempt some of these steep downhills. Then, since biking proved to be harder than I remembered and my bike does not shift so well anymore, I decided I would stop at 10. At 10 miles, I felt pretty good and decided that finishing out the hour would probably be a good place to stop.

If I decide to do the Catfish Sprint Duathlon on July 10 it's a 1.5 mile run, a 14.5 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. This was a good start, but there's no way I was going to be able to run a 5K after today's ride. It's certainly feasible, I just need to do a better job of finding time for blood doping riding