It has been about a week since my last blog and I have been working out with the kettlebells, medicine balls and generally crushing myself in the gym and in my back yard. I talked to a buddy and he is selling me 2 24 kg bells this afternoon. They are a little heavy but I should be able to work into them in a few weeks (or maybe months...they are really heavy). So working out twice a day, really equals 9 times a week with all the crap that just happens. I worked late one night, until 10 pm and slept in the next morning, so I only did the morning routine and then the afternoon routine for those two days. That is how it goes, if you have a workout plan, or at least this is how it goes for me, you schedule all the \sessions and when you miss one you end up feeling guilty. I made this new schedule so crazy, when I miss one, I feel relieved and am glad I got a rest!
Needless to say I have been really tired and feeling extremely sore most days. I think that is a good thing. I also am still plagued by small injuries. I finished an afternoon session with Amy and then went for a 4 mile barefoot run. Around 3.2 miles my left foot just started to hurt and there was a slight pop and I had to walk the rest of the way home. After a visit to my doctor ad an x-ray, thankfully nothing is broken. I got the requisite speech from my Doc..." you really shouldn't be running so much, have you thought about mountain biking or swimming more instead?" I respond "Of course I have thought about it...I just love running, I am an addict and need a 12 step program". I went home and looked on the internet yet again for cheap used mountain bikes in my area.
Craigslist is the only want-ad type site and down here in Louisiana (or so I thought) and there are not a lot of extra mountain bikes floating around! I made several calls and emails and the closest bike was Baton Rouge, about 3 hours drive...my new bike would not be. I went to work the next morning and asked around about kettlebells and bikes. This is when my buddy spoke up about selling his bells on bookoo.com. So I went home, made a profile, found a few bike and bought a 2002 Specialized Rockhopper. It is all white and needed a new soft seat and some lights to make it street legal, but it rides nice and soft, has a full suspension (i wanted a hard-tail but couldn't pass the deal up) and fits me great. So now I have a bike and can ride to work, go explore new trails on the weekends, map out new running adventures for my running club...they are not motivated enough to go out and run 8+ miles of random back trails to find a sweet 5-6 mile course...I do all the leg work...pun intended.
So the benefits of crosstraining for me have been two fold. I ended up with what seems to be a great new hobby...mountain biking, I get all the great "soreness" from working out a couple extra times per week. I am losing fat and gaining muscle at an alarming rate. I eat like a horse and have not put a single pound on...I also have not lost any weight yet, but my body composition is changing. Hopefully it will keep me from getting injuries from running everyday, I wish I was one of the genetic freaks who could put in 100+ mile weeks and not get hurt, I just am not there yet.
I love my new bike, I rode it to work on Friday and then home (only a 5 mile round trip) and am excited that it only takes 11 minutes door to door and it takes 8-9 in the jeep. One more way I can save a dime, lower my gas guzzling ways and keep pollution down a tiny little bit. I used to think my .5 mile ride to work just didn't matter, but now I realize that every little bit matters and we can all do a little extra to help out. And that goes for everything in our lives, not just pollution...we should try to help out a little extra in every aspect... really do our best in whatever we are doing...have a great day, I know I am going to, I have a whole network of trails to explore and only a few hours to do it!
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