Running 13 hours from home

I went running with Kelly today. Lord, I'm so out of shape. I thought we ran forever...turns out the round trip, including some walking, was only a mile and a half. Still, that's more than I've run in a long, long, really long time.

I think she's going swimming tomorrow...i'll probably pass on that. Maybe i'll go, but I was never good at swimming to begin with and haven't swam in years.

Geez...i was lazier than I thought. I hadn't ridden a bike, swam, or ran in years before last week.

First Loop

It's really cool out today (75). I was going to make excuses, but instead, I decided I needed to go for the whole loop that i posted yesterday. I figured I won't ride for a week, so I needed to do it today.

So i rode the whole loop. A climb of 341 feet and total distance of 3.17 miles. And i did that in 20 mins which = 9.5 miles per hour. Not bad. The sad part? My legs were rubber when I was done. They could barely hold my weight. I walked down the stairs and almost fell over. I would have if I didn't have the wall. So out of shape...it's sad.

But...at least I got out and did it. Also, I wanted to walk up this big hill at the end and kept making excuses as it approached (i'm out of breath, it's a dangerous hill for traffic, I need to stop for a drink, etc). But i fought through it and made the trip. Go me!

Tomorrow I go to Illinois. Hopefully Kelly doesn't work me too hard!

Day 5 = Day 2

So i took a few days off. Friday we played a graduation party so I had to move all our equipment, which was enough of a workout. Saturday I was mostly lazy but was busy with errands and church, so I just never got around to it. Plus, I hate working out when people are around. And my parents were home, so I didn't feel like it. Sunday I was busy with church and grandparents. Today I went outside and shot some baskets. I am a basketball genious when nobody is watching. I think i made 80% of my shots...some of them long distance. Either that, or somebody placed a magnet inside my ball and on the backboard. I get nothing but net on most shots.

Anywho...i did that for a bit then decided instead of making excuses, I should get on the bike and give it another try. My rule: if I felt a raindrop I should turn around (we're supposed to get storms). So I hopped on and it felt a lot better this time. Good to know i can ride a bike again.

I only rode a mile round trip because a) i felt a raindrop and b) I had left my dog outside and didn't want him to bark. So I went back home. But...it felt good and I wasn't that out of breath. I think tomorrow is supposed to be nice so maybe i'll go for a real ride. This is the shortest loop i can do without turning around:

And that has an elevation of:

Now i'm tired and am going to zone out for a while.

Maybe I shouldn't try.

So today I had the brilliant idea to go biking. Our 4-day-long, 100 degree heat wave has broken, so I figured I should get some exercise. I got the bike we have down from the rack in the car hole (or garage for you fancy, non-simpson people). It was really dusty. I cleaned it off. Then i looked for a helmet. It was covered in disgusting dirt. So i cleaned it. The I put it on and decided it looked really stupid. So I opted for no helmet. The seat was too high. It took me forever to figure out how to get it to go down. So i eventually figured that out. This bike has those straps for your feet to go into. I've never ridden one of those. So I'm stumbling around trying to keep my balance while gliding slowly and get my feet in. Eventually I do. Then the gears on this bike confused me. They don't have numbers or anything and turn in oppostie directions. The one on the left you press forward to go higher. The one on the right you press backward to shift higher. Maybe this is normal? After about 10 minutes i was riding. But the handlebars felt really far forward and i felt awkward. And my butt hurt instantly. Eventually I mustered up enough courage to ride up the big hill in front of my house and out into the world. Unfortunately every direction from my house after that is downhill, which means it's uphill coming back. And I was so uncomfortable on the bike that I decided not to go down the hills. So I turned around after about half a mile. Total ridden: 1.25 miles.

Things learned:
1) They say you never forget how to ride a bike. I disagree.
2) 85 is still really, really hot.
3) I am really out of shape.
4) Biking hurts my ass.
5) I wish it were flat where I lived.

Is this the end of my biking career already? We shall see.