ups and downs. literally.

Last weekend I biked 50 miles in Richmond. While out on the road I ran into (not literally) a friend who's super into biking and she looked over all my gear, declaring that I need a road bike. I agree. This hybrid is great but not for really long (and hilly) rides.

After the ride I ran for 20 minutes. Apparently when I run right after a bike ride my legs automatically keep up the same cadence they just did for hours on the bike. That means I go super fast (for me), but it won't be sustainable much longer than 20 minutes.

The day after the bike ride I ran twelve miles in Richmond, which was fine, and then I swam 2000 meters. Halfway through the swim I was STARVING and became weak and wanted to throw up. But I didn't. When I got out I was so hungry and miserable that I cried in the shower. Really. Then I got back to the house and luckily my mom was visiting so she helped feed me immediately while I just draped myself on the kitchen island and whined about how tired and hungry I was.

I'm loving the warmer weather and my shorter midday morning runs. But I'm not loving Charlottesville's hills. I used to seek out every hill I could find to train for my mountainous marathon, but now it'd be nice for a little respite. Oh well.

Yesterday I was supposed to run 13 miles. But I also wanted to run the Montalto Challenge 5k, my favorite race of the year. (Yes it's all uphill. I guess I still like hills a little, just not all the time.) So I ran the 13 but it was pretty split up, which is cheating. I did an easy 2 miles to warm up before the race, and then ran up the mountain for 3 miles. I made it up without walking again (like last year), but was over a minute slower than last year. I still managed to get 3rd place in my age group though.

Good friends who also ran or volunteered.

Capturing the elevated view.

After the race I hung out at the top with some friends and watched the award ceremony, and then we went out for a post-run brunch. Then it was home to get my stuff together and head out for another 8 miles of running. Followed by another 2000 meters in the pool. I didn't starve this time.

Today I was supposed to ride 55 miles on the bike. I headed out with a mostly-new route. I was on real (but still sorta rural) streets with cars. I crossed a highway at a stop light. I'm making progress. But it was a hilly ride (they always are around here), AND it was pretty windy. So windy that I got scared a couple times a gush would send me off the road. And a ton of debris was flying out of the trees at me. So it was not pleasant. I cut the ride short at 41 miles with the intention of riding another hour on the trainer to make up the rest after church. But friends at church convinced me that since the triathlon I plan to do is flat and I'd just done all those hills in the wind with the extra work of the hybrid, I didn't need to do any more tonight. I feel a little bad, again cheating myself on this weekend's long workouts. But I'm also exhausted. Training for a big triathlon is hard you guys.