Wind, but at least it's not so cold

Today I believe was the longest ride I've ever done on the trainer. Actually, now that I think about it, I know it is. At least I can start nice and early and be done early, as well as throw my Powerbar wrappers on the floor and not actually be littering. I also realized when I was looking at my training schedule that because things are being arranged a bit to accommodate the fact that I am doing a half marathon next weekend I am in the middle of what will be 14 days straight on my bike. I may finally be able to get outside for at least a few of those rides, but for the time being I will be inside, smelling the stale sweat that keeps accumulating in the unventellated basement. I'm also actually getting sick of watching so many movies. I like to try and watch things I haven't seen before so I am not so completly aware of the time and what comes next, but inevitably I have wound up watching some really bad movies that I think sometimes make the time go slower than if I just had nothing on at all.

For whatever reason, it seems that getting through the first half of the rides is always the most painful. No matter how long the ride is in total, that first half seems to take an eternity, but the rest doesn't seem nearly as bad. Except of course for the fact that I start to get tired of sitting on my bike in soaking wet bike shorts and jersey, as well as bike shoes that have become rather squishy. But now that I've been training for a while, the workout does not end when the countdown timer on my watch beeps. No, then it is time to change into something that may be dry for at least a few minutes and head out for a run. So I did.

Currently, I am getting really tired of it being really windy out as it has been for the last four days, all of which have involved me running outside and fighting through the strong breeze. And of course no matter what it seems that the wind is blowing in my face at least 75% of the time, even though that seems like it should be physically impossible given the constant changes in direction on my running routes. It has not exactly done wonders for my run speed. I also have this bad habit of picking really hilly routes for my runs. I live in a slight valley, so really no matter which direction I want to run in I have to go up. The flattest section of road, relatively speaking, involves crossing a highway at a stoplight and I sort of like to avoid going that way for the most part just because I hate having to cross. Actually, I hate crossing on the way back more, since it is less than half a mile from home and I can't stand getting stopped when I'm so close to being finished. Not to mention the fact that people love to run that red light, often semi-trucks, so I'd rather not take too many chances. The other issue is that the road I run on over there has no shoulder and is very heavily traveled, so again, not the safest.

So instead I hang back on my side of the highway, and inevitably wind up running up long hills that seem to go on forever. It is not rolling, it is up for a long time and then maybe if you run far enough, down for a long time. This is my least favorite kind of running to do, and yet I find myself doing it the most often. My running skills are severely lacking still at the moment, to the point where I think I might actually be starting to defy science in my lack of improvement, and by the time I have been running up a hill for a couple of minutes my legs almost stop working, and yet I might barely be halfway up, which is not helpful. All I need is a little downhill reprieve, or even a flat reprieve, and I might be ok, but they never seem to come soon enough. Oh, and did I mention whenever I am running up those long hills the wind is also blowing in my face? Because it is.

But, 50 minutes later and I was home, inside, sheltered from the wind and unbelievably glad to be done with my workouts for the day. The only problem is that in order to take a shower I have to spend at least a few more minutes standing up, but I handled it ok. I am lucky in that once the workout is over, I don't have any other pressing issues, so I head straight to the couch. Early in the season these long workouts always make me a lot more tired than they do later in the season. This may not wind up being the case this year depending on how much my coach decides to beat me up during those workouts, but that remains to be seen. But there is nothing like a good post-workout nap. I prefer napping on the couch as opposed to the bed, for fear that if I went to bed I might sleep for 3 hours and not be able to fall asleep tonight when I really need to, and I also like to leave the TV on a little low. Do you know what is especially soothing to nap to? The Food Network. The best choice is really any cooking show. It puts me right out. I enjoy watching the Food Network, but it is also useful for this.

Tomorrow is the dreaded long run where I am reminded once again how truly slow I have become, and it will only be day 6 on the 14-day stretch on the bike. I'm also going to watch some friends run the Hampton Half Marathon. I ran this one myself last year. It's funny, I ran a 1:40 and I was really mad, and I think I'd kill for that time now, which is just really sad. I'm trying, anyway. I guess that counts for something.