Trainer, trails, trying

This weekend I finally got my butt out and did my long workouts.

My brake on my bike is funky right now and thus I was hesitant to ride outside therefore I rode the trainer. Although, I won’t lie, I prefer the trainer more often than not than going outside. I put in the movie Mama Mia (which I hadn’t seen and it’s great!) and pedaled away. For once I actually stuck to the exact workout listed and was definitely huffing and puffing at the end. A good 2.5 hours later I was done with the bike and happy that there wasn’t a run on Saturday’s workout. I finally pushed myself on a longer ride, imagine that! Good grief I can be lazy sometimes.

Saturday night we attended a “Polo Barn Party” for a children’s charity of some sort. The tickets were free thus the food was free and the beer was free…can’t beat that. So since I had worked so hard on the bike I decided I could afford to have a few drinks. As I enjoyed my numerous drinks, I made a fatal flaw of not thinking of the long run I had in the morning that would inevitably be done hung-over. Much to my amazement when I woke up in the morning I felt ok, a little dehydrated but not hung-over! Whoopee! Therefore, a bowl of cereal later and I was off on my 1.5 hour run.

Moving to a new area kinda sucks because you have to find new areas to bike and run, luckily we have moved to area that is much nicer for athletes than our previous place of residency. The run was all along the Bear Creek Trail which was actually a quite difficult run; I can’t recall a flat section on the whole 1.5hr loop that I ran, YAY for hills!! I was definitely feeling the hills, probably more due to the previous night’s boozefest, but doing mostly treadmill runs didn’t really prepare me for the natural terrain.

Side Note: No matter where I move to, I have found that I will always find a golf course to run on, whether I’m intentionally looking or not. I swear all tri- or running- geeks have a tendency to seek out golf courses! Well the trail I was on winded through the Bear Creek golf course and it was beautiful; of course very little shade, but really pretty.

In general I felt great on the run! My legs were feeling fantastic at the end, which rarely happens, and I was ecstatic. A long hard run complete and I wasn’t that tired afterward! Although to ensure my legs would remain feeling good for the rest of the day, I decided to “treat” my legs to an ice bath.

Hmmmm is it an ice bath or is it 3 minutes of torture (before numbness sets in)? I had forgotten how badly ice baths hurt until your legs go numb. YIKES! After I got in, during the pain, I was thinking how nuts I am to be doing this, even my dog and cat thought I was nuts; they just stood there staring at me with their heads cocked to the side just looking befuddled. However, after a few minutes went by the bath was complete bliss and best of all, it worked! My legs felt great for the rest of the day, not even a hint of fatigue, and they don’t hurt today (Monday)! I must make a point not to be a wuss and do these more often, they’re like miracle recovery for your legs!

After this weekend of trying but successful long workouts, I definitely look forward to what next weekend has in store for me and my legs! Until then I’m focusing on this week’s workouts, which look hard. EEK!