It feels like burning

We had a big boy bike ride on Saturday. Roughly 48 miles on the road, the first 10 were a pretty decent climb, long and slow. This ride used to chew me up, spit most of me out, and then get the rest with a really sharp, painful toothpick. So in my head, pulling up to the parking lot, I knew I was into it. We were riding with a big group, and there is an old house where a really sweet lady used to sit out on a Saturday with a cooler full of water, and sell it for $1 to the cyclists. We all loved her, and the plan was to meet at the lady, refresh, and keep charging up the hill. So I just put my head down, really actually enjoyed the 85 degree sweat-fest, and spun the crap out of my legs. They felt great! I was holding my cadence around 85-90 rpm, and trying to keep the speed above 10.5 mph. Before I knew it, I was passing an empty lot where there should be a water cooler. Sad. I don't know what happened to her. But my legs still felt sweet. My buddy Brandon beat me to her, and then our 2 other friends were right behind me. We pouted for a minute, and then charged on, this time Brandon and I really pushing it. This is where I got a bit frustrated, as I just didn't have a top gear in my legs. I jumped out of the saddle, and my legs would just peter out. So I had to make it work, adjust on the fly. Brandon still beat me, but I felt good on that climb. The rest of the ride was rolling, descending, and just a little bit more climbing, but I felt great. I should have brought my running shoes to get the first of the linguine legs out of the way, but I opted for lunch with the guys instead.

Sunday I took it easy and just spun my legs with Ellie. Today, I got out there for a beautiful run, 3.6 or so miles, 26-ish minutes. I really worked on finding an easy tempo the first 2 laps, and then a good, hard, close to vomit pace for my last loop, trying to get my legs to respond to being tired. I intended to go lift after the run, but I decided to grill some buffalo burgers and have a cold one instead. It's Monday. I have all week for 2 a days. I'll get up tomorrow, go lift and swim before work, and maybe get a short ride or 45 or so minute run in after work. Time to start stretching it out!

E