Thought Per Mile: Does this bike make me look single?

Today was a day of "firsts"!

I kicked the day off with a swim at the pool, and I made it 1,500 yards which is officially my furthest swim. Not a bad way to get the day started!

On my lunch break I had planned to ride my bike, and then got to thinking about how I need to start incorporating "brick sessions" into my training. This is a triathlon-training technique where you ride your bike, hop off, and go for a run on some jelly legs. Preferably someone is standing by with a video camera to capture your drunk-running. The purpose is of course to get used to running on the jelly legs so you aren't collapsing into a puddle of flesh on the run portion of the triathlon.

So today, for the first time, I planned out a brick session. Except, I'm on the "very light/no running" disabled list due to my plantar fasciitis, so hoofing it up my hill would've been a bad idea. Then I got to thinking, wouldn't it be super fun to bike over to the high school, run on the squishy track, and then bike home! That's like... a bonus brick! Like a brick and a half!

Things started off really well, until I tried to leave my own driveway and wiped out just trying to get onto my street! In my defense, I have a dirt driveway and there's a soft sandy spot right before it turns to asphalt, and right where it turns to asphalt it promptly turns into a 20% grade hill. (Okay it's less than that but feels like more than that. For real.) And luckily I didn't have any neighbors to see this happen. What really sucked was not getting a head start to get up the hill so it was all quad power all the way up that hill. But hey, at least I got my first wipe out crossed off the list!

Heading over to the track I flew down the long long hill, topping out at 30mph. And I was thinking about how much wind was flying through my eyelashes. What a weird thing to think about! And then I realized I was wearing the wrong glasses. The ones that slide way down my nose when I start sweating. So that's bad. I was also thinking about how much this long long hill was going to suck to ride back up in a little while.

The trek to the school

As I approached the school I realized I had made an error in judgement. I thought by now all schools were out for the year, but I forgot that this is a technical school and they have a longer school year, so school was still in session. I rolled in, didn't get yelled at, so I parked the bike, grabbed a drink, and headed out for a 1 mile run around the track. I had thought about making it longer than a mile, but I thought I felt a sprinkle. Was that a sprinkle? It's not going to rain though, right?

Just as I got onto the track, coincidentally another girl was just getting onto the track for a run, and two men got to the track for a walk. I think they may have been faculty, because I noticed one of them wearing credentials.

I was pretty psyched to pass the other lady with little effort, and the men I passed two or three times. Despite my throbbing heel, I managed to bang out a respectable 8:18 mile in some crazy humidity and - I think - sprinkles. As I was getting back to my bike and preparing to leave, the men stopped me. I don't know if they were in awe of my bike/run/bike routine, or assumed I was an accomplished athlete due to the impressive amount of KT tape I'm sporting on my leg, but they seemed quite intrigued and peppered me with questions! Here's a sample of the smattering of questions I fielded:

So how many times around did you run?
Four, huh? How far is that?
How long is your bike ride back?
How many speeds on your bike?
What's your bike made out of?
How heavy is it?
Do you mind if I try lifting it up?
Does your boyfriend run and bike with you?

Just checking... did you happen to catch that last question? I mean, really? I of course came up with a super un-witty response like, "Oh please, I don't have time for a boyfriend, I'm too busy doing all this stuff". To which he responded, "Oh and what did you say your cell number was again?" We both laughed, and I bid them a good day. But that, my friends, is definitely a first. No one has ever solicited my relationship status while running or riding my bike! I just might be onto something with this bike! I'm thinking about taking her everywhere with me, like my wing man. To bars, clubs, the grocery store, you name it. She is quite the looker, so I think we'll get a lot of attention!

On the way back I took a different road, and braced myself for that hill that I just knew wasn't going to be easy to climb. As I tried to hold back and store my energy for the hill - a futile effort on my already rubbery legs - I realized that the sprinkles were indeed becoming a full fledged rain storm. So not only did I have to go up that monster long hill for the first time, I also had to ride my bike in the rain for the first time! Part of me thought it was awesome, because it was nice and cool, and also because let's face it - I looked like a total bad ass going up that hill in the rain - but a bigger part of me was worried about it getting slippery. I *tried* to get up that hill in short time, and just as I got back home the skies really opened up and it started pouring. Luckily I managed not to wipe out in the sand when I got back into my driveway!