much needed break from ab-awareness

After blasting my abs (see also: 'fulfilling the minimun requirement')for the innaugural week of April Ab Awareness, I decided they needed a rest for the weekend. Instead I concentrated on other things like, running further than I ever had before, and also, cycling further than I ever had before.

I started off the day Saturday with another attempt and my unofficial half marathon route around N Everett. This time armed with SuperFeet, my new insoles acquired last week at Super Jock n Jill. And hey! They worked great! 2 hours, 10 minutes, 2 gels and 1 bathroom stop later I had really tired legs. But also, I was really proud of myself; never ever thought I would be a runner. Looking forward to Eugene at this point. Also, my route is hilly, not TdM hilly, but it still mixes it up. I think I like that, it gives me an opportunity to change up my pace and use different muscle groups for a little while. Is the Eugene race completely flat, or does it have a few ups and downs at least?

Today I went for a ride. Originally I was hoping to get out with my buddy Mark, organizer of my upcoming trip to BC, and badly in need to getting some serious miles on his legs. But he cancelled. Also, I invited Mike S., after all the mapped route starts/ends at his house, but he cancelled too. Afraid of the rain was the reason given.

So I took off on my own, a little after 8am I think. From my house though, the route travels past my place too, no need driving if I'm doing this solo. Started off headed west, towards Mukilteo. Might as well get all the climbing and urban riding out of the way first, right?

Most notable feature of the whole ride: WIND. Strong 15-20kts from the SE the whole way and, what do you know, all the major hills were facing south today. Ugh, the first 25 miles were very slow going (GTL especially). Once past Seattle Hill Rd (where I almost got hit by a furniture truck, but don't worry, I yelled a pitiful, 'Hey, What?!' back at the driver) things sped up, I had the wind at my back, more or less, and was able to keep the pace up in the 19-21mph range all the way up to Arlington. I stopped for a short Luna Bar Picnic there. Yes, I know they're for chicks, yes, I know I'll prolly grow tits soon, but they're tastier than most Clif Bars. Today I had the Sunrise flavor, it was 'walk-on-the-beach-good' but not quite 'first-kiss-good." Then an about-face and back into the wind we went (Chugg and I, or a royal we?). I felt a few drops of rain though and was a long ways from home so I kicked it hard. I was able to keep a 17+mph pace all the way back to Snohomish, straight into the wind. After that, the rest of the ride was more or less north and west bound, so the wind was a help rather than a hindrance, and there was no more rain to be felt. I even hit about 27 on the flats leading up to hwy 2. Right here, at the end of the ride I saw the two most noteable features of the ride. First, at one of the farms on Ebey Island, in one of the cow pastures, there was a really cool variety of cow with big curvy horns. They looked kinda old-worldy. Probably pretty tasty too. Then, on the concrete bike path at the top of the hwy 2 trussel I saw a man sleeping. He was in a sleeping bag curled up against the concrete barrier separating the bike path from the automobile traffic. Okay, he's basically sleeping, on the freeway, two miles from anywhere at two in the afternoon. That's strange. But I didn't stop to ask questions. I was just hungry. My three gels, two bars, and two bottles of gatorade were depleted and my tummy was agrowl. But it was an excellent ride, I'm glad I didn't cancel on myself.

With my run yesteday, my ride today, and the Boundary Bay IPA and two Darn Tasty Manny's I tossed back last night, it was an emblematic BRS weekend. Tommorow: situps.