Maybe you've been around long enough to remember when I got a bike for Christmas. Well, it pretty much sat and collected dust for almost 4 years while I focused on my running. Then my friend, Jenn, suggested that I move it to her house and meet up for evening rides. She decided we would start with an easy 20 miler through the city. I felt confident I would bonk, possibly die, and embarrass myself.
View of the city from the Hot Metal Bridge
Amazingly, I survived and even kind of enjoyed myself. We made it 20 miles and averaged 10MPH or so. It was nothing spectacular but I was very happy that I completed it. We made a stop at REI and also at the OTB Bike Cafe for some dinner. It was a great way to spend an evening with some of my favorite people.
A cafe for cyclists? Right on!
I guess I enjoyed it more than I would like to admit because we did a 20.5 miler on a slightly tougher course just a couple days later. And then followed that with a 16 mile ride the next day. Ending up with 56 miles of cycling in 5 days, and a good number of running miles too, was completely unexpected. But it lit the fire in me that has been missing for some time now.
Where's the pot of gold?
I don't know if I'm training for anything. Jenn thinks I should sign up for Pedal Pittsburgh's metric century (100k). Someone else has suggested doing a Spartan Ultra Beast in the not-so-distant future. And I've been eyeing a marathon or ultra early next year. But mostly I'm enjoying feeling stronger and healthier than I have for a long time. I'm enjoying spending time with the people I care about the most in the beautiful city I love. It's enough to just be back on the path of my six year journey to fitness for right now.
You may not be a fan of heavy rock or alternative or whatever you want to classify 5FDP as. However, this song went on my playlist because the lyrics SPEAK to me. I vowed to myself that I wouldn't be weak this training cycle. I swore that I wouldn't make excuses to quit or lessen the burden of training. I promised that I would find out exactly how deep I can dig and just how strong I am. I wanted to be one of those runners. You know, the ones who run in the pouring rain at 4am because it's the only time they could run? One of those runners who never gives up because life throws them a curve ball. I think they could justifiably be called a 'pride'.
So when I got called into work unexpectedly Wednesday night I had to make some quick adjustments on the fly. A planned 10 mile run got swapped with cross training. I banged out 40 minutes worth of strength training before I raced off to work the 4 to midnight shift. I promised myself that I would run my 10 miles as soon as I got home even though I had been up since 6am already. I moved 10 foot long pipes back and forth through our shop all night. I dealt with a major crisis with a radioactive source that could have proved dangerous but thankfully didn't. I wondered every minute how I could survive a run after this but reminded myself that I will feel worse at Burning River and probably have more than 10 miles to go at that point. I needed to be strong!
Then my boss put another wrench in my plans. Two of our guys are down sick so I needed to come back in at 8am and put in another shift. That meant getting home at 1am, sleeping for 5 hours, and then going back to work. No way to put 10 miles in unless I wanted to be in a coma by lunch time. I dragged myself back into the shop and loaded all of those 10 foot pipes on a truck for our customer BY HAND because we're not allowed to touch them with a fork truck or crane. I loaded heavy castings for another customer and then started working on some different castings we had in the lab. I was exhausted. I was starving. And all I could think about was running.
I begged my brain not to give my legs excuses. I bargained with myself. "Just get on the treadmill and see what you can do." Finally, my relief arrived and I was able to head home. I stopped and picked up some fish food on the way. I puttered around the kitchen sorting mail and drinking water when I got home. I fed the fish some new food. I basically did anything to avoid putting on my running shoes. Then Shane woke up and I knew it was now or never.
I asked him to get Gem off the bus and pick up Ash so I could run and he agreed. (I'm a lucky wife, huh?) I changed and headed down to the basement like a prisoner headed for the electric chair. I popped in a movie and started out slowly. My legs protested at first but then it started to feel better. The knot of worry and stress in my chest released and I felt like I could breathe again. My stride started to loosen up and I was able to get close to the pace I was supposed to hit.
I didn't push myself to hit the recommended paces. I know that being awake for close to 40 hours with only a nap in the middle wasn't the preferred state for training. I went with the flow and even paused to grab some cookies for a quick sugar hit when I started to fade. The next thing I knew:
BAM! Ten miles done!
And now I know.... I am one of the strong. I will survive whatever life throws at me: job, personal, or anything else. I survived crazy work hours, a long way to run on the treadmill, and my fourth ACSM CPT class. And I'll survive working again tomorrow and whatever it may bring. Welcome to the pride!
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter then you already know I've FINALLY been putting my bike from last Christmas to good use! It's helping me fit in some easy cardio and cross train my legs on my non-running days which is something I should have been doing all along. Plus the CycleOps trainer means I can cycle in front of the TV watching the same crap I'd be watching while NOT working out. ;)
It's been a struggle to keep my motivation up since Sandy has pounded the east coast. We're safe and sound here but the nonstop rain has kept us all indoors. (Keeping NY and NJ in our thoughts!) I don't mind the treadmill so much but it lends to easier distractions: hop off and change laundry, run upstairs to get more water, interrupted by kids 10 times in a half hour, and so on.... Anyway, I got a package in the mail yesterday that drastically improved my chances of actually working out today!
New PUMA gear! I've never tried the brand and I had no clue what to expect so naturally I jumped at the chance to give it a go. My first impression when I opened the box was WOAH! The bright colors really stand out. I'm not normally very 'loud' but these combinations are attractive without being too overbearing. The green and orange shorts with the white shirt don't scream 'Look at me!' And the black jacket with hot pink accents is feminine and bold but not crazy. The shoes are a whole different story with the blue and pink but athletic shoes are supposed to be fun! First thing this morning I tried the ensemble out. I probably should have waited for a run day but I'm too impatient. (I did however clean the mirror before snapping a pic... Bonus points for me!)
Second impression: The FAAS Split shorts are SHORT! I don't usually mind short-shorts but these also don't have a liner. I felt breezes in new places and I'm not sure I liked that. I tried putting on some underwear but cotton under tech shorts felt even worse. I'm not sure that I would risk running in these outside for fear of flashing unsuspecting bystanders. Cycling outdoors would also be iffy because of the risk of exposure. Comfort-wise these shorts feel great on. The elastic is firm but not tight (for reference I got a size Medium) and they didn't chafe. From a quality of material and fit standpoint these are pretty awesome for the MSRP of $35.
The shirt I received is a size small. I think the cut runs on the smaller side because I was having issues with bunching up. Whenever I reached over my head or leaned over the bottom rode up and didn't fall back into place when I straightened up. This usually happens when I order a size too small so I don't believe that it is a cut or quality issue. For a basic tech tee (MSRP $20) this shirt works just fine. It breathes, it doesn't have a fabric neck tag, and it has the silky slide-over-your-skin feel. However, it doesn't have flat seams. This could be a HUGE potential issue on runs over 5 or 6 miles or in the rain. Cycling 6 miles on the trainer in it didn't pose any problems though.
The jacket is the Faas Microfleece Hoody and it is by far my favorite item in this package! The colors, the feel, the fact that it actually has a HOOD all make it superior to many of my other light jackets. This hoody does feel heavier than many of my jackets and I probably wouldn't use it for exercise until the temperature is close to freezing. Obviously it was too warm in my house to wear it on the bike but I'm wearing it now! It is definitely comfortable and I love that it has an iPod-sized breast pocket! The only thing I don't love is the zipper. For a hoody that retails for $90 I expect a sturdy zipper. The zipper on this is cheap plastic and I had trouble with it before I ever put the hoody on. Give me a good quality zipper and this hoody would be on my Christmas list in every color they have!
Lastly, the shoes! The Faas 550's are comfortable! I think they are also sized slightly smaller than my usual brands. I ordered a size 8 (my usual) and I can't wear my thicker socks with these. With thin socks the fit is perfect although the toebox feels tighter (narrower) than I'm used to. I couldn't find the heel to toe drop information on the Puma site but I'd be willing to bet that it is the standard 12mm. It feels a little high to me in the heel since I've been running in 8mm and zero drop shoes lately. The cushion is heavenly though and I think these will be perfect as cross trainer or track shoes. Due to the toe constriction issue (probably should have asked for an 8.5) I don't think I could wear these for a longer run but that's not a quality issue so much as a sizing issue. The upper and laces feel of average quality. The real difference in these shoes is all in the sole. The rubber/foam blend differs in each Faas shoe from the minimalist, lighter 200 to the heavily cushioned 900. The 550 is right in the middle and feels springy enough to absorb the impact of landing but not overly cushioned enough to impact toe off or reduce power. I'll probably give these a few miles on the road as soon as I get a dry day to really get a good feel for what they can do.
Overall, I think PUMA has done a great job making gear that's right in line with the wants and needs of the average runner and athlete. The quality isn't over the top but neither is the price. For an average Joe or weekend warrior this tech tee or these shoes are probably perfect. If trail or ultra running is more your style then this probably isn't the line for you. However, for cross training today these pieces were ultimately comfortable, affordable and attractive. I'd say PUMA scores an 8 out of 10 overall with the Faas line!
