Yesterday as Jack and I were running errands it occurred to me that it was warm enough for me to do my scheduled brick outdoors. It has been a while since I rode my bike or ran outside, so it seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the opportunity. We have a bike path that starts about 3 miles from the house that I've been wanting to check out, so that was my destination for yesterday's ride. I rode to the path, stayed on the path for 18 miles and rode home for a 24 mile bike ride. After I got home, I pulled off my shorts and leg warmers (my running pants were on underneath for a warmth layer), changed my shoes and went for a 2 mile run. I made the decision to run only two miles because I felt pretty tired after my bike ride, it was getting dark, and my toes were very cold. After running the two miles, I knew I could have gone further, but it felt like enough, for now, so I called it a day. The 24 mile bike ride and 2 mile run took me two hours and 17 minutes. The bike ride came with it's share of obstacles including stop lights, traffic, people walking dogs, an unpaved section of the trail that was loose gravel, a section of the trail that was 3-4 inches deep in mud causing me to go up and over the trail, dog walkers, baby walkers, etc... I estimate that I lost about 20 minutes to obstacles.
It was good to ride outdoors on my bike. It was harder than I thought it would be. I made a conscientious effort to not stop pedaling, there was no coasting on yesterday's ride. Whenever I could, I pedaled hard, gearing up so I was always working with resistance. Riding on the path was nice because there were no stop lights and there wasn't any traffic, but there were several blind curves that I needed to approach cautiously and I needed to slow down for those. Overall, the path was better than the city streets because I had to stop a lot less often. Better yet would be getting out in the country, but that requires a little more planning and a little more time. It's harder to slip a two hour workout into the day if you need 45 minutes to get there and another 45 minutes to get home, particularly when the days are so short.
It was a different experience to run after getting off my bike. It was very, very different from getting off a stationary bike and getting onto a treadmill. For the first 1/2 mile of my run I felt very awkward, like a baby learning how to walk. My legs did not want to run. I felt like I was tottering, almost. My brain was able to tell my legs what to do, but my legs were not happy about it. I almost felt like I was running on peg legs or on legs that belonged to someone else. On top of that, my poor toes were frozen so I couldn't really feel my feet. The next time I ride outdoors I will wear warmer socks! My feet started to thaw out as I ran so about a mile into the run I felt like I had huge toes. By the time I got back to the house, everything felt normal, my toes and my stride, and I knew I could keep going if I needed to. But at that moment I didn't feel like I needed to go any further. I learned what I needed to learn, yesterday, which is what it felt like to go from my bike to running, without a rest in between. And yes, it was difficult.
All in all, I was happy with my workout yesterday. I will continue to workout outdoors when possible. Winter will be over before too long and then all of my running and cycling will be outdoors. That will be nice!
You might want to get some bike booties.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea. I had popsicle toes yesterday, and that did not feel good at all!
Delete