Dog pictures plus my first run-bike-run workout.

I got an early start this Saturday morning, mainly because my dogs like to wake us up several times while we are sleeping to take them out on the weekends.  They are old, cranky, and demanding dogs, and we are but mere slaves to their every whim.

"Dad.  Out of bed.  NOW."

Cranky old Sasha.

"In 5 minutes I will bark at you and you will do my bidding,  Slave."

After obeying the will of the dogs, at 7 A.M. I was out the door, ready to try this whole duathlon workout I had concocted (1 mile run, 5 mile bike, 1 mile run).  Not warming up at all (stupid), I booked a 9 minute mile, coming back to the house to get my bike.  I was impressed with myself that I remembered to wear my helmet for once, and took off for my 5 mile ride.

Well, I thought it would be a 5 mile ride.  Because I was totally caught up in the fact that I was riding straight into high winds, I was focused more on my suffering than the distance I was actually traveling.  I meant to do 2.5 miles out and back, but didn't notice my watch until about the 2.8 mile mark.  So, I decided just to go out to 3 miles and then turn around, bumping my ride up to 6 miles.

My cycling experience between miles 4.5-5.5 sucked.  There's no other way to describe it.  I was biking straight on into 16-20 mph winds, my quads were heavy and tired, and it was an uphill mile.  I was cycling in a very low gear just to survive.  It is amazing how much the wind affects your quads; as soon as I turned to face the east and the wind was at my back, riding became so much easier and I could crank it up into a higher gear to make up some lost speed.

After I jumped off the bike for my last run, it took me about a quarter of a mile to get my running legs back and not feel as if I was a big overweight penguin waddling down the road.  But I busted out about an 8:20 mile, so I was pretty happy with that.  I was especially happy that the last half-mile was not straight into the wind.

For my first duathlon-esque workout, it was pretty fun, despite the wind.  The variety really does help me mentally get through it, because this type of workout naturally breaks itself into segments to be conquered.  I think getting a new bike actually designed for this type of thing will help; the hubbs and I are going shopping today to lay out an obscene amount of cash for one.

While my workout was exciting today, what excited me more was seeing this right after I woke up:

Down from 146.2 yesterday.  This means I have lost almost 1.5 pounds in a week.  The hubbs suspects water weight, and no doubt that some of it is due to that.  But no matter what the cause, I'll take it.  I feel better, I have slept better, and my runs have been much better this week.  This whole eating better thing may just catch on with me again.