Home of the wind

I went running outside Friday and came back really sore. That's been happening lately when I run, but wasn't like that before. My hips, inner thighs and the back of my knee on my left leg all hurt halfway through the run and are sore the next day. (They hurt like they're getting sore, nothing major.) It's weird because it's a rather new thing. I ran about 2 of the 3 miles or so.

I noticed last week how tight my muscle had become. I was a dancer growing up and was never incredibly flexible, but I was better off than many. It really bothered me to feel how tight they had become, so I started stretching every night. I get to sleep later because I'm spending 15 minutes on the floor stretching. It's great. I love it and I love going to bed feeling loosened up, non-sexually. I try to stretch a little in the mornings and I'm still stretching after workouts as well. I'm determined to have my splits back by the tri!

Finally, yesterday I went on a great bike ride. I barely had time to fit it in because I had a really busy weekend, but I made sure I could! My dad and I went out on a 10 mile ride. I wanted to do hills, but I was afraid those would still be icy because they were shaded all the time. We went on flat and I was excited for a fun, fast ride. See how quickly I could do it! When we get out there, it becomes apparent that it will be incredibly windy, one way. It took us 37 minutes to get to the turn around mark! Killer! I spent a lot of the time in 3rd gear because I just couldn't pedal any higher than that! We turned around and may it back in 27 minutes (a little bit was in the wind), but it was the fun, fast ride I was looking forward to. I loved having a good speed and I finally felt like a racer, not like a little girl struggling to keep up with her dad! I kept a positive attitude through the whole thing, too, because I knew I'd always get to turn around and I knew that it was just going to make me a stronger rider. Who knows what the conditions will be in April? I came back with a big smile on my face.