Long time, no write

Hey, so I’ve slacked off on the blog, I mean, training journal.  Things are getting busier at work and I do a lot of writing there so I find it hard to come up with fresh ideas for this.  I don’t want it to be a boring training journal that just logs all my workouts  This is what I’m not gonna do:  “I ran 18 miles on Saturday and I enjoyed it.  Then I biked 42 miles on Sunday in the rain in Central Park which means I did 7 repetitive loops.  It was awesome!”

So I did do all that last weekend and I did feel that way, but if I wrote it out like that wouldn’t you think I was crazy?!?  If I read that, I would think so.  I mean, come on, who likes to run 18 miles???  I guess I do, especially when it’s with one of my Wayne besties who’s training for her first marathon.  It was the perfect 3 hours to catch up, tell jokes, gossip, talk about our training, and just plain old spend time together!  We also had a gorgeous day for a run along the Hudson.  Views from the NJ side were pretty spectacular, the skyline, the river, seeing a cruise ship pull in at 730am.  Then we had the opportunity to run over the George Washington Bridge.  This is SO much better than biking over it.  When you’re biking, you really have to pay attention to the walkers, runners, tourists that are all occupying this small space.  But when you’re running, all ya gotta do is stick to the right hand side, run straight and enjoy the view!  After our GWB experience we headed back down the Hudson river but on the city side.  18 miles later we were done with our first major long run!!

Now, this brings us to my 42 mile ride on Sunday.  Who bikes 42 miles in a repetitive loop, in the rain??  Well, I woke up to a gloomy downpour and I had a slight headache from the beers I drank Saturday night at a friend’s going away party.... that led to a delay in my ride.  You know, weather.com is supposed to be reliable, and I totally get that the weather is sometimes unpredictable, but when it says 100% chance of thunderstorms at 1pm I except some darn thunderstorms!  So yeah, after checking the weather incessantly and not hearing a peep of thunder I ventured out on my bike to Central Park.  I would have loved to bike over the GWB and get out of the city for a bit but I wanted to make sure I could ride home quickly if those thunderstorms decided to rear their ugly heads.  The ride was pretty uneventful.  The fun part was when I got back home and my legs were covered in dirt!!  

Little Olive was SO excited I was back home... check out those dirty gams!

Seriously, that is NOT hair.  That is all dirt from my sock line up - so nasty!

My bike is a dirty mess as well so I gotta give my little Jamis a good clean.

So, the reason why I’m writing about this is not to show off that my tired legs could handle 42 miles on a bike after an 18 mile run, but to reveal that I’m proud of myself.  Running with a friend is the “easy” part on Saturday.  But biking in the rain, by yourself, confined to a 6 mile loop is pretty darn hard. You get bored, you get tired, your legs are telling you to stop, but you just gotta keep pushing through.  Dedication. Perseverance.  Forcing yourself to complete your workouts on a rainy Sunday when you’d rather spend it on the couch watching movies.  That’s what I’m gonna need to train for this thing.  I’m gonna need that and I’m gonna have to remind myself this everyday.  Every morning when my alarm goes off at an ungodly hour I have to remind myself to keep working at it.  It’s gonna get easier, it’s gonna feel like second nature.  It actually almost does.