Continuation of a trend

Already this week is a better start than two weeks ago.  Yay!

I took Denali for the first mile, then I ran back over the one mile loop again, albeit a bit faster.  It's still too stinkin' hot to run, but I figured I'm only out for two miles, I can gut it out.

I'm going to go over here and cry a bit now...

This ain't no comeback either.

But it is also a start; hopefully a better start than two weeks ago...

Don't call it a come back

But a come back requires a first run...

What gets dropped off

must get picked up...well, if you value the thing dropped off, that is.  Or want to keep it.  Or can't leave it dropped off cause then the phone calls start, threats are issued, and the police get involved...so, yeah, I picked up the Murano.  But first, I rode!

 

As you can see, I took it easy.  It was a beautiful morning for a ride, and I should have taken a longer route.  I'm ok, though with 30ish miles this week; next week, hopefully, I'll start adding to that total.

I may post another ride today depending on how Brandy feels, so you'll just have to wait and see what the final total is.  Suspenseful, yes?!

Drop off the Murano

and bike home.  This ride required that I load up all my gear (and bike!) before leaving for work; thankfully I didn't forget anything.  Of course it's just a short 5 miles to home, so it wouldn't have been the end of the world to make a trip home and back for the forgotten item.

I didn't realize what an assist I was getting from the wind until I headed north, then, it hit me.  If you look at the map on mapmyrun.com, you'll see that very little of the ride was headed north, so, that's why I felt pretty good!

I suppose I need to look down at my watch to see where I'm at, mileagewise.  I mean, I could have gone another .04 miles to round out the ride, eh?  Yeah...eh.

Another nice ride

Same basic route, with a little variation to the first mile, which shifted the following miles a bit.  But, lets just say for arguments sake that they're all equivalent so I can feel good about myself.

So, with that (blatently false) assumption in hand, every mile but the first and last ones were faster today.  I had a couple of more stops for lights today, but over all, I just felt stronger.  I also had my backpack on today with my water bladder, so maybe I also kept hydrated knowing I wouldn't run out.

My basic 10 mile route is a big "around the block" type ride that negates any wind or elevation advantage that I might have in a point to point ride.  I head south first and you can guess which way the wind was blowing from my times.  I made it up on miles 5-8 with the wind at my back.

Current temp is 90 F with a "feels like" of 95.  I didn't really feel it until I had to stop for a light; I was pretty happy to get that hot wind blowing in my face once the light turned.

Back...to the place I live...

...cause it sure don't feel like home!  That trip out west really got my homesick juices flowing; of course, we went to places that I lived before (Denver - aka donkeytown, and CoSprgs - aka place of my HS graduation.)

Denver was the same for me - too crowded, too far from the mountains, and too many donkey fans.  CoSprgs, on the other hand, was AWESOMESAUCE!  sigh.  WTB some mountains for Indiana!

Anyway, here's my ride from today:

The bike was in the shop while we were out west, so it's all tuned up with new top and middle gear front chain rings.  Of course, it's still a mountain bike, so, top speed still isn't that fast...and the knobbies and full suspension don't help.  8-P

My goal for this ride was twofold.  Assess my conditioning level and finish under 40 minutes.  It took me more that a moderate effort to finish under 40 and at the end I was struggling to maintain 15 mph.

I'm hoping to get out on my running schedule for these little rides.  Of course, I'd like to add mileage as my strength and wind increase, and I'd also like to go for a longer ride on Saturdays or maybe on my off Friday.  All of this is in addition to lollygag riding with my wife, which isn't too hard - 8-10 mph or so, 8-10 miles at most.

If only the dang heat would go away, I'd be set.  At least I get to create my own wind.

...a hot, steamy, melting wind...but a wind nonetheless...