Commuting on a Bike

In May I ended up licking my wounds and taking some down time.  I ate a lot of food, ate a lot of bad food, drank some beer, drank some great beer.  I worked out when I felt like it, but only did what I felt like doing, when I felt like doing it.  I watched some bike racing and did a lot of planning for races in the winter and fall. 

I needed to recharge my batteries.

My charged batteries look ... pudgey.   :D

Now it's time to ease back into things.  I'll try to share my ideas without getting overly excited and biting off more than I can chew.

I'll be teaching summer school this year, 22 total days of instruction.  Classes start at 8 am and finish at 3 pm.  Last summer I commuted one full week.  It went well.  This summer, I'm thinking I'll do the first week and see how it goes from there.  Maybe I'll end up doing the whole thing.

In addition to commuting, I'll be doing a morning jog and my body workout routine.  My current training plan really calls for racking up some consistent running right now, just piling up some miles.  So if I have to chose between the commute and a run, the run stays.

Today was day 1.  I was a bit sore and disappointed from yesterday's run (I was sore and ran out of gas), and I was a bit dehydrated from yesterday afternoon's 100 degree, windy ride.  But I did a four mile progressive run.  I love doing those as they tend to fit naturally with how I run when alone anyway.  That is, start slow, and speed up.

Mile one: 9:51
Mile two: 9:03
Mile three: 8:06
Mile four:  7:37

Along with the run came with three sets of 25 pushups (I usually do 5 sets of 50) and three sets of 5 pullups (usually do 5 sets of 10).  Then some jump rope, one legged squats, lunges, then some planks.  It's a good routine.  Over the next week or two I'll ease my numbers back to where they usually are.

For this morning's commute ... it didn't go without a hitch.

Last night I packed my clothes, three day's worth, to take to work.  After showering and eating breakfast I go to hop on the bike only to find a flat tire.  Ugh.  I swap the tube, punctured the replacement with the paddle, and started over again.  Running a little late when driving isn't a big deal.  Running late while riding, well, is.  Not only do I have to ride harder, making a stink of myself, I require more time to clean up and change for work!

But all went well.  It's just a 6 mile, downhill ride, which I completed in just over 15 minutes.

On the way home it was 100 degrees, again (going to be 105 Friday), so I took my time arriving home 22 minutes later.  Home is definitely uphill, though without any major climbs.

That's all there is to report for now.   But I'm back at it again and will be updating more frequently once more.