I Dug Two Holes

Friday's swim was a celebration of medium distances. No watch, no pressure, no problem.

 My scooter made a friend!

Long Distances - 2500m
500m warm-up
1000m straight
1000m straight
hot-tub (only 5 minutes)

I hadn't swum those kinds of distances in quite a while so it felt good to get back out there and see if I could pace myself. I wasn't swimming overly fast, but wanted to work on even-pacing throughout the whole distance. If I had to guess, I'd say that pace worked out to somewhere around 1:48-1:50/100m. Slow, I know... but I wasn't out to break any records so who cares.

On the way home from the pool I saw this...

Porky peloton!?

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Mmmm... dinner I had last week.

Garlicky chicken & hummus wrap, greek chicken wrap and bbq chicken wrap.

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Saturday was a new day.

Today was my FIRST run since October 17, 2009 (Detroit Marathon - the day my knee said NO). I decided it was best to do it in a controlled environment - aka the gym, on the treadmill. I stretched out well and hopped on not knowing what to expect. Before I knew it though, it was over. I had a healthy sweat going after just 1 mile at 7mph @  1.0 incline.

No pain. No tightness. No soreness.

PROGRESS.

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Of course that wasn't my whole workout. I then did some weights and abs and calves for another 45 minutes or so.

I then rushed home, hopped on my bike and headed out to the friendly neighborhood Volvo dealer. I was really excited to test drive some cars - namely the V50, the S40 and the V70. For those not in the know, 2/3 of those cars are wagons. Exciting, huh? Shutup - I'm excited. They didn't have the exact car-combo that I wanted to test-drive - I had to test-drive the S40 in order to get a feel for the turbo-charged version of the engine I would most DEFINITELY get should I get this car.

As part of my test-drive, and since I don't have a car, the dealer offered to pick me up from the Metro stop nearby. So, I biked to the metro and took the train out to that stop (don't want to be sweaty for the test-drive, right?). 

 He then picked me up and I promptly asked that he pop the trunk so that I could put my bike in there to see how it fit. It fit - score! The rest of the test-drive was rather normal so I won't waste anymore space talking about that.

But anyway, enough about cars...

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After the dealership, I hopped back on the bike and rode out to some neighborhood in VA where a coworker lives. I was itching for some manual labor and he was itching for some help sooooo we got to work! Part of the ride, however, had me tight-rope pedaling on the white line of a shoulder-less road. I couldn't help but think back to my comments about cyclists respecting motorists... 

::forehead slap!::

At a couple points, I was even delaying traffic. I'm sorry!!

At the coworkers house I dug two holes.... BIG holes. In my biking clothes (sans helmet, of course). The holes are in preparation for the movement of two large shrubs. Exciting, huh?

A few hours and a couple of glasses of sparkling lemonade later and I was on my way. It was a good 25 miles back to the house from there. Ahh, memories... The last time I rode this trail at this time of day/night I was overcome by excruciating knee pain. However, this time I was pain free! 

Buuuuuuut my bike was a different story. I got a flat. Then I changed tires and THAT one got flat. CRAP. Since I was still about 5 miles from the house and taking a cab was out of the question, I had to settle for quickly pumping up the tire, SPRINTING for about half a mile then pumping it up and repeating the process all over again.

Never a dull moment, huh?