Running in the jungle - and cycling in the urban jungle

I got this bee in my bonnet sometime yesterday about running for three hours today. It was totally NOT on my schedule - in fact, I only had an hour of running plus strength training today - but I wanted to run, I had people to run with, and I just wanted to do a really long training day today.

So, I did. I met Nancy and Shona at 6 a.m. for a trail run for an hour. Shona showed us a new route, and it felt like a rollercoaster! Lots of little ups and downs, and then lots of jumps side to side to avoid horse poop and big puddles. And mud - lots of mud. I was pretty dirty when we were finished.

I felt really strong and solid the entire way - and I was supposed to meet Tosha at 7 a.m. back at the club. Well, at 6:48 we were still about two miles away from the club. Nancy and Shona told me to go on without them, and I basically ran at just under my 5K race pace or so the rest of the way - which was largely uphill. I felt like a champion, though, when I reached Tosha.

We promptly turned around and went back the way I'd come, doing a couple of miles on trail but the rest on sidewalk. It was a social, chatty run, which was fabulous because I was fading a little and I hadn't seen Tosha in a while, so it was nice to catch up.

At noon, Erick and I went out, heading back for Bridle Trails. Right when I started out, my heart rate was elevated, and it really never dropped back to 'normal' or expected levels. It was okay - especially once we got off the sidewalks and onto the trail - but I was clearly showing the effects of 12 miles earlier in the day.

Towards the end of the run, there's a fairly significant hill. Erick decided to show me up and basically sprinted it. It was humbling, to say the least - and kind of demotivating. Had he (or anyone else) been behind me, I think I would have pushed hard to prove how tough I can be. But since he dropped me like a rock and I knew I couldn't catch up, 18 running miles into my day, I sort of gave up a little. It reminded me of this article I'd just read about women who mountain bike, and how they often watch instead of participate when they go out with the guys because they feel like they'll never be as good, as strong, as whatever. Well, that didn't help motivate me any more at the time, really, but maybe next time it will.

Then...well, because I'm a little insane, I decided to leave my car at work and bike home. The evening commute is so nutty. There are just so many cars on the roads, and they're all turning or doing weird stuff, and every time I ride I feel like I have to avoid all these obstacles and react really quickly to changing conditions. It's kind of nice - I feel like riding during commute times actually helps me build more technical riding skills.

I also fear for my life about once every 10 minutes or so - like today when I was going straight and a pickup truck coming the opposite direction wanted to turn left into me. I yelled, "Aaaah!" (fortunately, the truck's window was open) and it stopped and didn't hit me. But..."Aaaah?" What in the world is that??? How about "Watch where you're going" or "Cyclist coming through" or something? Just...scream if you think you're going to get hit by a car?

I guess it was effective. I got home safely.

And tonight I feel really, really good. I've got some muscle soreness, but not a ton - hopefully tomorrow I'll still feel okay! Two more big training days, then Friday will be light, then a big Saturday, then off Sunday, then I'm on to a rest week. Yay!