Yeah Baby!

One thing I've learned over the years of running, cycling, sweating...is that some days are good and some days are, well, not so good. And I have yet to figure out why that is.

And every now and then I have a day where I feel like I can't go hard enough or fast enough. I love those days. I live for those days.  I want more of those days. Yes, I'm a total endurance junkie and I need to get my fix.

Well, today was one of those days. I got up at 5:30 so that I could do an hour of Spinervals before the kids got up for school. Two cups of coffee later, I was still lounging on the couch, soaking up the early morning silence. Gotta get going....

There's a lot to do to get ready for a workout on the trainer. Here is a partial list of what needs to happen:
Put on bike clothes (shorts with padding, singlet)
Drink water and apple juice, eat quick snack
Fill up water bottle with diluted Gatorade
Stretch hamstrings
Pump up back tire (so it rides smoothly on trainer)
Put on bike shoes
Find Spinerval DVD, put it on
Put foose ball table by bike so I can put the remote, water bottle, and telephone within arm's reach
Turn on fan and position it so that it blows on me
Stretch hamstrings again
Warm up on bike watching the news

So today I did the Spinervals Aerobuilder 28 again and aside from enduring a squeaky back wheel (that drove me nuts), I had a good workout. I did 8 x 1:00 reps at 80 rpm, then 12 x 45 second reps at 90 rpm. But for once, I didn't feel like it was hard enough. My kids were needing to get to school but I was in such a groove that I didn't want to stop and I desperately wanted to work harder.

So, I did something kinda weird but kinda cool: I got off my bike and jumped onto the treadmill. I needed my fix and I was gonna get it.

I cranked up the speed and ran hard for about 10 minutes, then raised the elevation knowing that I only had a few mins before having to take the kids to school so I might as well make it hurt. I ran hard uphill for 5 full mins but still felt like I needed more....all the while wondering where in the heck this energy was coming from.

I jumped off the bike, threw on some outdoor running clothes, grabbed my water bottle, Ipod, gloves, hat, etc, and oh yeah, my kids, and drove them across town to their school. It was 20 degrees outside, grey, and very foggy. A pretty miserable day outside.

By the time I got them to school I was started to get chilled so I quickly kissed them goodbye and took off running (my kids are used to this). It was so foggy that I could hardly see 20 feet in front of me but I didn't care, I ran like the wind!

It took a good 2 miles of all-out running before I started losing steam. I hadn't eaten much that morning so I literally was hitting the wall (can you say glycogen depletion). But I had so much fun that I literally laughed out loud. I'm sure the people in the cars that past me wondered why this crazy woman was running so fast and smiling the whole time.

Wish I had more days like this but I'll take even just one once in awhile. Coach Troy would be proud...