Sunday, January 6, 2008

Running, Biking, and Wind, Oh My!

Today has been a pretty busy day, considering the semester doesn't start until Wednesday!

I woke up around 9 and got out for a run. The weather was pretty nice, around 50 degrees, so I ran in shorts for the first time in a while! I know to some of you, that sounds down-right chilly, but let us non-Floridians enjoy it!

This run was at least a little slower than yesterday, but as you can tell by the splits I stopped paying attention to pace for at least a little while:

7:34
7:23
6:52
7:22
2:30 (0.35 miles)

Average pace: 7:17

My hip felt fine throughout the whole run, maybe I'll even be able to forget about it soon? I've ran almost 10 miles in the past two days, which is a first in a long time!

After lunch and a little bit of reading, I got out on the bike; my first ride with clipless pedals! And surprisingly (magically, miraculously, luckily, ...) I didn't fall, not even once! I started the ride by riding around the parking lot practicing starts and stops over and over until I felt confident enough to get out on the roads. I had a few close calls while practicing, but I managed to keep myself, and my bike, upright.

I'm already loving the clipless pedals. Climbing hills is a breeze since I can generate a lot more power going up. Although its using different muscles, so I wore myself out really quick, then turned into the wind, and the last part of the ride was pretty rough. Over time, though, I'll build up those new muscles and learn not to wear myself out in the first couple miles; thats when the real benefit will come!

Bike stats:

Miles: 9.82
Time: 34:52
Avg Speed: 16.9 MPH

3 comments:

Marcy said...

LOL Jaime just wrote how she was wearing shorts also (she's in Chicago) I have to wait til the middle of the week to enjoy those temps *sigh*

Do you think that biking has helped your running at all? I know you're just coming off an injury so it's kinda hard to gauge, but I'm curious . . .

Christine said...

Thanks for the encouragement. What did u go to grad school for? 7:17 is something in my wildest imagination as far as paces go. Maybe I could gulp down an ice cream cone that fast though :) Keep it up!

Bill Carter said...

Doug

OK fine be stingy about the handicap but I was half way serious... OK not really.

I am glad to hear that the hip is doing well. I really think that was probably a one time thing and certainly not something that will stay with you.

It sounds like the biking thing is really taking off for you as well. Glad to hear it. I just read another article about how the biking (especially hills with out of the saddle peddling) can help marathoners with speed... I don't know how I would find the time to bike, but maybe...

Best of luck for early '08.