Double duty

Hey guys! How's the training/whatever else you blog about going?

I didn't make it to work out Monday because Nick was visiting, and I have a difficult time motivating to work out when I only get to see him a couple days out of the week. Anyway, I doubled up running and biking today. I was planning on going to the gym like I have all winter long, but then it occurred to be that I could get in about an hour of daylight after work! Totally exciting! I rushed home, changed clothes and sprinted out the door! I went for a 30-minute bike ride but only got about four miles in. I'm not quite sure why because I wasn't going THAT slow, except for on a killer hill at the turn around. I figured 30 minutes outside was going to do me a whole lot better than an hour on the gym bike (see previous post). Because I don't have a bike lock, I had to rush my bike back inside before heading out for my run.

The run was interesting. It was hard at first to transition (good practice though!), and the more I ran, the worse I felt. A few minutes into my 18-minute run, I thought I was going to have to stop. I look ahead and said I could stop that this point. When I got there, I looked about 20 yards ahead of me, thinking I couldn't make it any farther than that. But I just ran right passed it. I went about 0.8 miles before I had to turn around. I felt like I was dying. My sides were splitting really bad and my whole body hurt, but my legs, oddly enough, were fine and my breathing were calm, so I kept going. Shortly after my turn around I realized I was going to be able to make it ALL the way back! It was a huge turn around for me! My sides stopped hurting, and I just ran, finally understanding pushing through until running doesn't suck as bad. For a few minutes, I actually felt that peace Kayle talks about, where your mind shuts off and you just run. It might have been that I wasn't getting oxygen to my brain, and I was feeling loopy, thus, thinking everything was awesome...who knows? Toward the end of the short 1.6-mile run, I was starting to hurt again, but I was proud of myself. I made it all the way back. It was getting pretty dark, so I couldn't push myself any farther. I know 1.5 miles isn't impressive, even though I couldn't run for 5 minutes this summer without stopping, but after my bike, I thought it was all right. I know I can do a super sprint at least...

I still need a lot of work, and I'm worried I don't have time to get it all in, but I'm going to try. Wish me luck in the next few days...everything is changing at work, so it may be a little stressful!