More Miles!

I need to be careful, at this rate I could almost see myself becoming a full time cyclist.  I say almost, because I was reminded on Saturday why running is still better than cycling.  This is likely the last week I make any big jump in bike miles for at least a little while.  Overall, all this riding is  paying dividends, as I don't dread rides and finally have an idea of what kind of pace to maintain.

On the running front, I gave myself one more really easy test on Friday, and everything seems to be 100% so far.  By the middle of this coming week, I'll finally give myself a real test, back to back days of "actual" runs of at least 5 miles.  If all goes well from there, I think that I can start carefully putting in more miles.  Of course, then the question becomes, what the heck do I do about the bike?  I've made good strides in this last month and certainly don't want to just put it all back on the shelf.  It's a good problem to have though, at least for the time being...

Monday: 26.6 miles, just under race effort.  I could call this a tempo workout on the bike.  I took my race bike out to the Du the 2 (now re-branded Maryland 2xrip) course to ride it not quite at race pace, but close to it.  This was mainly to get used to my aero bars again, which I haven't touched since last year.  I was within 2 minutes of my actual race time from last year, so not too bad.

Tuesday: 13.2 miles, easy commute to and from work

Wednesday: 37.8 miles total, easy commute to work, and an easy 31 after work, from my office to Towson and back to my apartment

Thursday: 13.2 miles easy commute to and from work

Friday: AM: 3 miles of running, easy followed by 3x stride.  No pain in my leg

Saturday: This was supposed to be a 60 mile ride, but a popped chain and two flats made me change it to a 30.  I ran over a whole bunch of glass which did a number to my rear tire.  After replacing the first tube, I failed to remove all of the glass, and got a second flat within a few miles.  After that, I got it all out, but was out of tubes and opted to just light rail it back to my apartment since I was close to a station, rather than risk getting stranded with no tubes in the middle of Crofton, as I still would have had 30 miles to go.  It wouldn't have been the first time I was stranded in Crofton.  The Bike Doctor shop and a random stranger bailed me out last time...

Sunday: Long ride attempt #2...success!  I hit 60 miles in about 3:15.  This ride was a lot hillier than the one I planned on Saturday.  This one went north instead of Southwest, which means rolling hills that never end.  I rode from my apartment to the PA line and came back towards Timonium, opting to take the light rail back into the city, instead of navigating traffic in my depleted state.  I stayed hydrated pretty well, 3 water bottles did the trick, two stowed in my improved cages, and one in my jersey pocket.  I could have consumed more food, but still ate a lot more than I usually do...a power bar before I left then on the ride, a bag of honey stinger chews, 2 gu shots, and a bag of sports beans.  The variety was actually nice, since I can pretty much eat anything on the bike, unlike running.  I think anywhere from 2-4 more items would have done the trick.

I actually encountered of all types of people, a guy who rode BMX for 10 years on the light rail ride.  We talked shop most of the way back.  He wasn't a fan of my "huge" 56cm frame, low spoke count wheels, or the carbon fiber material of my frame.  I wasn't a fan of his bike's geometry, high spoke count, or the single speed.  Two completely different worlds!


Totals:

Bike: 181 miles
Run: 3 miles (oh yea!)

I'm going to try and keep the bike exactly where it is in terms of total mileage, total number of rides, and my long ride, at least if time permits.  Running is back on the scene this week, if my legs will cooperate.