Lots of Squirrelly Road Kill...

I knew I was feeling better when I woke up and could walk down the stairs more than one stair at a time. My legs started to feel fresh again and I was no longer walking like an 80 year old. At that point, I realized I could use the "stair test" to determine if I need a rest. If I can only take one stair at a time, it's time to rest.

I love training, even more than racing, and don't like taking time off unless I really have too. I was happy to get back training today. Even though I only took a couple of days off, it seemed like a long time. I NEED my training to keep me balanced.

Today's training was at a moderate effort, keeping the heart rate under 135 bpm. I don't know why, but I've noticed squirrels and chipmunks are really stupid in the spring and fall. You may have remembered that in the Spring I ran over a squirrel. On the last three rides I've now had at least 10 of those varmints run in front of me and passed by at least 10 that were already road kill.

My ride was a challenge. My gears weren't working right and I was stuck in one or two gears for most of the ride. It definitely slowed me down. I tried to fix it, but had no luck. On the way out I was against a stiff wind and it was reversed on the way back. I physically had to stop my bike and grab the chain with my hand to change gears. I wasn't going to let a malfunctioning gears cut my session short. Just being out on the road in the fresh fall air felt so good.

Normally I would have taken it in to my local bike shop, but because of their outrageous behaviour on the weekend, and my vow not to go back to them again, I took it to "Wheels" in Toronto. I had 3 people, one who even lives in the United Kingdom, recommend them to me. I was expecting something more than it was, it was not very impressive, kind of a hole in the wall, but I'm told they have great mechanics. And that's all that matters.

I did my run later tonight and although I'm running slower than normal, I don't care. If I didn't have a watch on, I wouldn't know I was running slower. It still feels good to get out and just run. It was a moderate run, which is at a lower heart rate and most enjoyable. It feels effortless.

What was great about tonight's run was that I came up with a solution. I had a problem with a website I'm building and didn't know how to structure it. Then, low and behold, out of nowhere the answer came to me. That's an example of the benefits of exercise.

Mod Bike - 1:47:00 / 52.55 km / 29.4 kph / 126 avg hr

Mod Run - 1:10:58 / 8.08 / 8:46 pace / 133 avg hr