Dese Ole Bones

So far this week I have been riding my bike for about an hour every morning and then running 10K in the late afternoon, early evening. I am doing both at around 65-70% of my maximum heart rate.

I have resigned myself to the fact that it is clearly going to take me some time to adjust to the bike. But with all my running I am still a little shocked by how sport specific your conditioning really is. Despite my current level of fitness - which I would have to rate as high - this bike is kicking my ass. And I mean that literally and figuratively. My body is sore from head to toe. In fact, my glutes have become so tender that it hurts just to sit down. Seriously, I'm not kidding. And my guads and hamstrings are still getting used to round and round versus up and down. The most shocking bit has been the discovery that my core and upper body is so involved in cycling. Hell, even my hands have been getting a serious workout! It will take weeks before they stop cramping up. Will be fascinating to see what happens after I get properly fitted to the bike by Larry Zimich.

I have decided to refrain from any high intensity efforts, speed or hill work to allow my body to fully recover from the Boston and Vancouver Marathons, and to get ready for the Edge to Edge, Smithers and Skidegate Marathons. Beginning next weekend I am going to be doing a marathon every two weeks. Before anyone gets all up in arms, my intended pace for all three races is in the 4:30 range, so they will essentially be long training runs while wearing a bib. But the bib off course allows you to enjoy the spectacle of the marathon and soak in the atmosphere provided by all the other runners.

But back to the bike. Never having been particularly blessed with poise and grace, riding the bike requires a much higher degree of focus that running. One of the aspects I love about running is the ability to lose yourself in thought while on a long run. If you lose too much focus while on the road or let your mind wander while riding on the street you are in serious peril of becoming road kill. It's not enough that you have to worry about yourself, you also have to anticipate the lunacy of those piloting four thousand pound behemoths through city traffic. SUV drivers are absolutely the worse. They are assholes. You know who you are. It seems that the express purpose of buying an SUV is that once safely ensconced in your gas-guzzling cocoon of steel you don't have to give a fuck about anybody else on the road.

In a nutshell I have fallen off the bike two more times, battered my knees and the rest of my body and I have become even more cautious along the road and exceedingly aware of just how bad the drivers are in Vancouver. Probably every third person on the road isn't even remotely qualified to operate a moter vehicle. But id do love the sensation of speed that you get on a bike. And letting gravity take over on the downhills is even better that a walk break on a long run. Hurray for free mileage!