Double Doozie

Went to Double Decker this weekend and had a good time. Jessi, Bryce and I left the house Saturday morning about 6 and headed to Oxford. I was signed up for the 10k at 7:30 and a 50 mile bike ride at 9:00. Everything went well. I finished running and Jessi took me to the bike start where I got signed in, changed, had a snack, and was off.

This was the first organized bike ride I've ever done and it was actually a lot of fun. I rode the whole way with my buddy Jon (and a few straglers we picked up and dropped along the way). I felt great and hammered out the first 30 miles, and then came the hills. Of course, at this point Jon started laughing hysterically (mad scientist-like) and bounded nimbly up the mountains, while I did everything I could to keep up with him.

I guess if I had anything of value to share from this weekend it is how much nutrition matters while doing workouts of this length. Being hungry and underfueled not only makes your body tired, but it does strange things to your mind. At times during a long workout everything is great, but if your nutrition is insufficient your attitude goes bad. Everything seems terrible, you feel tired, and all you can think about is how much you want to stop.

Here's the simple answer -- If you begin to get overly tired or have negative thoughts (about anything) during a long workout, then you most likely need to eat something. You can pop a gel, or eat a few cookies and be back on top of the world in no time. The bad thoughts and feelings aren't real, but are manufactured by your brain in an effort to protect your body from what you are doing to it. You just have to learn how to interpret the signs your body is giving you.

After the physical portion of the day, we walked around the Square for a while and checked out the festivities. It was packed, but we had some lunch, spoke to a few friends, and went home.

*** Weekend Tally -- Saturday morning I ran 6.2 miles in 50:17 (8:07 pace), and rode just under 50 miles in approximately 2:35:00 (we probably averaged around 18 mph).

Sunday afternoon -- I ran 6 miles in 55 minutes (which was neither easy nor fun -- I don't believe I ever fully rehydrated after Saturday).

This Morning (Monday) -- I swam for 1:15. Lots of sprints and kicking drills.

I will be running pretty crazy for work this week and probably won't have time to post much, but I will try and keep up.