The theme of this past weekend was Long. It was the August long weekend. On Sunday I ran my longest distance yet which I unintentionally overran by 1.4km and on Monday I went for a 2 hour long bike ride.
The Run
I don't remember what week I am in for my Running Room Learn to Run 10k program, but this past Sunday I was supposed to run 8k. On Saturday my dad and I took a jaunt to the nearest small town to visit the hardware store. We made note of where the odometer rolled over 4k so that I could do a "there and back" run. Neither of us remembered correctly where this marker was though, which was evident when I was pounding the pavement under the warm sun on Sunday morning and I was pretty sure, based on my pace, that I should be turning around even though I hadn't hit the supposed turn around point.
When it was starting to look like if I kept going my run would come close to the 2 hour mark, I decided to turn around. I felt somewhat defeated that I hadn't completed the 8k, but still content that I had been out there for 75 minutes.
Later on, we took another jaunt in the Truck and discovered I had not only done 8k, but I had gone too far out by 700 meters (1.4k out and back in total). It didn't hurt. Much.
The Cycle
Monday was my only day for cycling since it rained all day Saturday and I wasn't up to going out on Sunday afternoon. I decided I was ready to try my clippless pedals. They work like ski bindings. Your fancy shoes click into the pedals and then they are stuck in there until you twist them out. The idea of having my feet stuck on my pedals freaked me out, so I just used regular pedals off of my old bike. I felt kind of self conscious about them though, like they were the equivalent of training wheels, so I knew I had to make the jump at some point. My dad wrenched off the baby pedals and installed the expensive ones I got with my bike. I got on the bike and tried clipping my shoes in and then twisting them out. It was super hard. It freaked me out. With only one shoe clipped in I lost my balance and nearly toppled over, and this was my biggest fear. I had visions of trying to put my feet down at a stop sign only to get stuck and then get road rash and a busted limb from toppling over. I told my dad to take the pedals off right that minute and I went back to the training wheels. Sigh.
It was a beautiful ride on a smooth paved shoulder. I had been worried that it was going to be a hot ride but the temperature was perfect. I loved the ride. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Then I turned around and faced the winds. Not so in love. The ride home felt very very long. But I made it. I'd do it again. And I will try the pedals out again. Maybe one at a time, ridiculous as that would look.
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