I woke up at 5:45 this morning. No alarm clock! I got out of bed full of energy. I thought, "I can run and ride today!" I dressed quickly, got my bike ready so I could do a quick transition after my run and started out.
My plan as I took my first steps was to run a 10K and then ride for an hour. I took off headed toward the 5K route I'd developed for the Reindeer Run last year. I hit it running pretty fast! I ran down Second Street to Main Street and ran south.
When I rounded the corner and headed for Lemon Park, I was surprised by how many cars were parked there. I had to watch myself and the traffic. It was pretty strange. I turned into the park and saw a group of people gathered on the other side of the street. They looked dressed to run. I waved and ran on around the running path. A short time later, I saw some of the group I'd seen running behind me. I made it my goal to stay ahead of them as long as I could. They looked young, so I pushed hard to show them what I was made of. They never caught me.
When I finished my loop around the park, I ran past a lone person standing where the group had been. It was the cross country coach from Skyline! I waved and ran on. I wondered to myself, "Was that the cross country team running behind me?" If it was, they'd better get faster! They can't have 45-year-old men outrunning them!
I ran up the street and turned into Sixth Street Park as I was nearing the 5K mark. I was not feeling all that great at this point, so I decided I'd quit at 5K. I pushed it through the last quarter mile and came up with a sub-24 time.
I stopped and walked and almost immediately my stomach heaved. Thankfully, I was able to keep the bile down. I stood still for a bit, then started walking to cool down. (garmin data)
After I'd walked for a bit, I felt a lot better. I decided to run a few more miles since I still had time before my planned hour was over. I started running at the corner of Third and Rochester with a plan to run up and do a couple of mile loops near home.
As I headed that direction, I realized I could do a picture route that my friend, Dan, had drawn out for me. I laughed as I thought of it. I was running somewhere around 9:00 pace and thought I could surely cover two miles or more before 7:00.
I ran the route and was pleased when I looked at my Garmin map. It isn't perfect, but you can tell that I was drawing the American sign language sign for I Love You. You might have to do a headstand to see it! If there were any deaf satellites watching, I hope they felt the love coming from the surface! (garmin data)
I finished this run, a good cool down, near my house. I walked back to the garage, did a quick change and jumped on my bike. As I was riding down Edgeford, just getting my legs used to spinning the cranks, I passed my wife who was out for her morning run. I whistled and said, "Hey, Beautiful!" She rolled her eyes and kept going.
I rode out of town and just as I was beginning to climb the hill on Country Club Road I met up with Dan! He had told me yesterday that he thought he'd better not get up and ride with me because he had a meeting to go to in Wichita. Seeing him was a pleasant surprise! He turned around and rode along with me for the rest of my ride.
We turned on Lake Road and rode out to the lake. There were several walkers and runners out there and a friendly puppy who followed ups briefly. When we turned and headed up the hill south of the lake, we stopped seeing people on foot.
We had just made it up and over the first part of the hill when a road grader passed us. Dan jumped at the chance to motorpace. He was gone before I knew what was happening. I just shook my head and watched him pull away. Dan's always good for conversation AND entertainment! I rode up the rest of the hill alone and met up with Dan at the top for the rest of the ride out to the Glendale church.
We turned around and headed back to town. When we dropped down the first hill, we encountered the crazy dog who lives there. He (or she) had watched us when we rode by earlier. This time the chase was on! Thankfully, I was in the lead at that point and the dog gave more attention to Dan as I did my best to rocket up the other side of the valley.
After we'd dropped our canine friend, we continued on at a somewhat lessened pace. We rode up and down another time and then, low and behold, we met yet another dog. This one was completely unexpected since its usually behind a fence. Once again, this time riding on the far side of the road, I was in the right position to dodge the dog. Dan bravely defended me as I sprinted around the corner!
The next section of the trek was a blast! It's mostly downhill back to the lake, so we enjoyed a speedy mile or two. As we neared the lake, we cranked up our speed a bit so that we'd be over the posted speed limit! We were hovering at 10mph over when we blew by the sign! Such miscreants!
The rest of the way home we took it fairly easy. We rode up the hill to Country Club, turned north and rode back into town. We zigged and zagged and zigged again until we were at the corner of Random and Edgeford. There we parted company and rode separately to our homes. (garmin data)
I dismounted in my driveway, opened the garage door and hung my bike on the wall. I turned from there, walked over to my pull up bar, grabbed it and did three sets of 10 hanging leg lifts before going in. I took a swig of Gatorade, finishing off the bottle I'd carried with me on the Glendale ride then hit the floor for some sit ups and leg lifts. I did alternating sets of 100 of each - 100 sit ups, 100 leg lifts, 100 sit ups, 100 leg lifts. I downed a glass of liquid refreshment then walked back to the garage and did three more sets of 10 hanging leg lifts before calling it a day. It wasn't even 8:30!
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