Cross training makes my heart grow fonder.

Workout: Cross training (cycling, 17.5 miles); Upper-body weights & abs (at the end of Cathe's Body Max DVD)

Cross training makes my grow fond of running (because I miss my runs on the days I don't run), but it also makes me grow fond of more cross training.  This whole cycling thing I have taken to doing on my non-running days is getting pretty addictive.

And I'm actually able to shift gears properly, along with knowing actually when to shift gears.  Learning by doing.  It's a wonderful thing.

I decided I wanted to cycle about 17 miles today because I have a duathlon on July 7th for which I need to be prepared.  The bike portion of that duathlon is 15 miles, so, being the overachiever that I am, want to be overprepared.  I mapped out a nice route, thinking I was going to head north first and then west, and then head back east towards the house.

And then, mid-bike, something made me change my mind.  I think it was the devil.  Yep, ol' Beelzebub himself.  Regardless of what sinister supernatural forces were controlling my brain, I decided to bike the route in the exact reverse of what I planned because there was one hill that I would rather bike down than up.

Yeah.  Little did I know that this decision meant that the rest of the ride would mean way more uphills than downhills.  Damn you, glaciated terrain of northern Illinois.  Damn you to hell.

Here is the elevation profile from the ride:

I know that if you live in a region of mountainous terrain you think I'm a total wimp right now.  And I am, really.  But I am a Midwestern gal, and I am used to flatness.  In fact, I'm used to flatness that is flat.  But little did I know of the rolling hills that lay to the west of my house.  Hills of pure evil, I tell you. 

But they were good training.  I was shifting gears like a madwoman, learning what felt best for each type of hill.  Thus I saved my quads a lot of undue suffering on this ride, which is good, because I have a Ragnar in Utah to run this weekend.

Did you know that Utah is, like, in the mountains?  If not, check out the elevation profile of my last run:

Click to embiggen.

If I had to bike up that hill I would implode into a mental pile of goo.

The crazy part is this is just one half of a hill.  The leg after this one is the infamous Ragnar Hill, where the elevation change is about 1700 feet over about 4 miles.  I'm getting off easy, ladies and gents, with only a 1510 net elevation change.  So I guess I should stop whining about all my little rolling hills this morning and focus on the suffering that will be my last leg this weekend.

I still may implode into a mental pile of goo after running up that hill.  (Instructions on Ragnar's site at the 1.5 mile mark are simply to "Run up the mountain."  Maybe it should add "Cry but keep going, dammit" at mile 2.)  But I'll have to do my implosion after I'm done so the van can cart me away.