Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hooked on a Feeling

You ever get that feeling that you are totally slacking even though really you are basically keeping up on your workouts and sticking to your schedule? For some reason I’ve had that feeling since my birthday week. Am I possibly just suffering from the effects of old age? Am I just feeling like I am not reaching my full potential now that I’m out of my 20’s? Would I feel better about myself if I bought a new, um, well not a new car since I don’t really ever drive, but, let’s say a new, uh, ah hell, I dunno; how about a new – set – of –tires? For my bike? LAME-O. Or maybe if I just started getting back out to the pool then I wouldn’t feel like I’ve been slacking – huh, go figure.

Anyway – so yeah, I haven’t been out to the pool since before my birthday and I’ve missed a couple of short runs (which admittedly isn’t that big of a deal and it was probably better for me to miss them and do something fun). I’m planning on getting out to the pool after work today and Thursday which will put me back on the right track mentally.

Coming up this weekend is the Eugene Half Marathon which both Jen and I are running. Right now there is a 40% chance of rain for race day but I’ve learned that in the Spring in Oregon the standard operating procedure is to start the week with a forecast of doom and gloom then lighten it up as the days go by. So for all I know it is actually going to be sunny and in the mid 70’s on race day even though now it looks like mid 50’s and raining.

This last weekend Jen and I rode 26ish miles in Forest Park (20 miles in the park, 6 to and from) on Sunday and on Saturday we went out to Hagg Lake for a run. We started out on the trail which lasted for all of a mile when we decided that running on the road would be a much better option since neither of us was in the market for a twisted ankle, a broken wrist, or any other fall related injuries. So after my first mile at 11:47 we hit the road and I was able to get in 10 hilly miles with an AP of 7:46 for those 10 miles. I finished off the run with a 6:44 mile; it was a solid run overall and it will be nice to get back out there for more training runs and rides in the coming months. The single track would also be fun to ride sometime as well.

Speaking of riding single track – I am leaning more and more towards buying a pair of mtb shoes and pedals. When I’ve been up riding in Forest Park my feet are constantly sliding around whenever I hit a bumpy section which totally throws off my balance which leads to me keeping a death grip on my handlebars. I need to get the bike in for a quick tune-up sometime soon so maybe I’ll have them throw some pedals on there as well – although it’s more likely that I’ll balk at paying for them and just end up bitching about it for a few more months.

3 comments:

Amy - the gazelle said...

I bet that Brad could do your pedals for you - he did my pedals on my road bike & he has three bikes. He probably wouldn't be able to do a full tune-up, but pedals would be easy. Also, he's pretty cheap, too - maybe the cost of a beer!

Sarah said...

there you go - clips for the bike shoes, that's your early 30's life crisis solution! And I think having fun is sometimes way more fulfilling than plugging away at the gym, but that's just me. Moderation I guess!

jen said...

To answer your question from the first sentence: No, but I know what REAL slacking feels like. Sigh.

I figure we should enjoy our slackitude this week and next because we have months of hard core tri training coming up. Plus I'm starting Master's next week so I'll stop begging you to stay home and be lazy with me. :) Sorry about that.