Sports Weekend: 5Ks and Bike Rides

My lover and I had quite an exciting and super athletic weekend. We are highly tuned, super buff and healthy type people, you know. Ripped, shredded and. . lean, mean fighting machines!

Me: Why didn't you tell me I had a cheese doodle crumbs all over me?
Him: I am just so use to seeing them on you.

Gone shortly after

But, seriously, we had a pretty busy weekend.

It all needed to start with some spaghetti with meat sauce. You need to make sure you get some good carbs, meat, veggies and all that good stuff into you the night before a big event. At least, I assume. I don’t know much about runners, but, bikers eat a lot. 

Food is fuel!

Go to a 5K

I hit a goal, this weekend - I went to a 5K. I didn’t run. I don’t actually run. I’m much more likely to stab you in the face with my stiletto heel than run from you. Unless you have doodles, then I think we would work whatever it was out.

My superhero-esque boyfriend ran in his first 5k of the season for the Clean Air Council. Who doesn't like clean air?

This was my first 5k that I have ever been too. It was cold. The whole weekend was cold. I was cold. Here are a couple things I learned (keep in mind, I only can compare and contrast running events to what I do know about – which is biking events)

• It’s cold.

  

  The finish line goes both ways

• There was no coffee – in fact, there was little to no food.
• It only takes a maximum of 30 minutes.
• People stop right after the finish line and do not fear someone running into them.
• Runners make really funny faces.
• Runners will stand at the finish line and look for other people who have not crossed the line without fear of being run over.
• Some runners puke.

Do I have any wish to run a 5K? No.

Girls with Gears

I gotz my number

Sunday, it was my turn to rock the house! I went to the Girls With Gears even hosted by CAROL For Heart. This is a group that educates women (and men) on women's heart health. Who doesn't like a health heart? Anyhow, me and some co-workers signed up for this delightful ride about the countries of Pennsylvania.

I ended up mildly coasting around the fridge tundra-roads of Pennsylvania re-evaluating my life decisions. Totally was ready to give up at mile 2, I think. The whole tour started on an incline and the incline turned into a hill, an incline and another hill. It's times like these, I totally want to give up.

I'm graceful

Actually, the first 5 miles of every ride I want to give up. I then spend a good 2-3 miles coming up with every reason I should stop, how I am going to make up the ride later and how I hurt and need a rest. By then, I normally am feeling pretty good and after 7-8 miles, I figure I might as well do 10 miles - and so on.

It was cold. It was a cold weekend. I did not dress warmly enough but I did wear just about everything I had. I figured I would start moving and warm up. I think my toes are still cold.

I did a nice 25 miles. By nice I mean – there were two harsh hills at the start. I figured if the whole course was like that, I would die. Luckily, it turned out to be some nice rolling hills after the initial heart attack. My super-hero boyfriend snapped this awesome shot of me about 2 miles from the finish line-area-place while yelling, "I have coffee and cheese doodles for you." That's love right there.

Heading to the finish. . .area

I felt a lot better about my conditioning though I have a long ride to go if I am going to be riding 270 miles in an event in September followed by a century 10 days later.

Stuff
Do you know you get stuff when you do events? I got a sweet water bottle (I only use them at home to prevent me from spilling water everywhere) a coaster, a magnet, a red-flashy light in the shape of a heart and a bunch of pamphlets.

One was for zip-lining.

Final Thoughts
My thoughts are never final!

I am not sure if I am going to be able to do everything on my list. I would have a metric century in a couple weeks (that's 62 miles) and I am not 100% confident it is a great idea. I will see how the coming weeks are.

I posted my wish-list on a post titled, My Year In Biking - but here is my master list!

Girls with Gears
Date: 4/21/2013
Route: 25 miles

Quad County Metric Ride 
Date: 5/11/2013
Route: 62 42 miles

Nockamixon Lake Century 
Date: 8/24/2013
Route: 100 miles

Tour DaVita
Date: 9/14/2013-9/18/2013
Route: 270 miles

MS City to Shore
Date: 9/28/2013
Route: 100 miles

Covered Bridges Ride
Date: 10/20/2013
Route: 33 miles

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Run a Mile

At some point, running a 5K was going to be one of those things I was going to try. I'm not a runner for a couple reasons:

• I want to protect my joints.
• I hate jiggling.
• I get bored. 
• I have a pacing problem.

Not everyone is suppose to be a runner, I accept this rather than force myself into doing it. I did try running when I was cycling as part of a cross-training routine and got a couple blocks, then stopped and walked back home.

I'm a good sprinter but without context of my speed, I will burn myself out

Run the Mile
In high school, part of your yearly physical education was the day you had to run the mile. I never actually ran the mile, even in high school. I guess I was never taught how to run - I was never taught how to hold my arms or how to pace myself or even how to place my feet properly. I would start out at a "healthy trot" which would quickly become a dead sprint.

My goal was really only to beat the fat kid.

Cycling
I like biking/cycling.

I can really open up on a bike and feel like I am making some good progress. I have a tracker on my handlebars which tells me how far I have gone and how fast. This allows me to not burn myself out and to push when I have to.

I am a fan of biking as an endurance sport - I am a fan of running as a sprinting sport. Once, someone said how all endurance athletes are running from something or trying to escape something. In my attempt to escape whatever I am running from, I can do it better on a bike than on foot.

Next up, car.

Treadmill Plus Vodka
While spending the evening with the hottest guy ever (that would be my forever humble boyfriend) we had some dinner and I was working on some vodka and diet coke, which is my drink of choice. I mention that I never actually ran a mile and I wondered if I could do it.

Now, my devastatingly handsome boyfriend runs 3 miles almost everyday. He has a treadmill.

When you have the chance at adventure, you really should leap at it. Sometimes it is easier than others and sometimes it is better to listen to the "NO" voice rather than the "Go for it!" voice. In this case, what else are you going to do on a Saturday night after a pasta dinner while sucking down some booze?

I pop up on the treadmill to give this whole "run a mile" thing a shot. I don't like to wear shoes, so, I just had socks on. I also was not in any type of workout clothes.

Vodka powered

He was going to set me at 3mph, but, I normally walk at that rate. Really, I walk fast. I am 200% business when walking and also suffer from people rage. He jacked it up to 4mph and I kept at a foxy trot seeing at what point my body would break down.

And. ..I ran a mile. I didn't even really pant that hard so I could have probably gone faster. I will note, according to RunKeeper I only burned 83 calories for my 15 minutes of activity. Whatever!

Future Plans
No, I probably won't be running a 5K alongside my guy. I am not going to be buying those monkey-toe shoes with the toes or a new pair of running sneakers.

I am glad I can run a mile - even though the next day I felt a little stiff after. I think if I am going to run, sticking to a treadmill is the best idea. I can pace myself better, watch TV so I have entertainment and I can run barefoot without worrying about cutting up my feet.

I could, possibly, run when I am over at my boyfriend's place. But, bike training will be starting soon so I will probably be resting when I am at his place.

But, hey. Yays! I ran my first mile EVER.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit
No running from roisinsafetyunit.tumblr.com