Biking

I have always had a love/hate relationship with biking. I use biking to switch up my work outs. I have never been the person who after a stressful day thinks "man, I could really use a nice long bike ride". I am more of a instant gratification person, and the intensity of running gives me the instant kick in the behind I need after a hard day. I like to use biking as my "rest day". Biking is leisure activity for me. I am by no means a Cyclist.

What i love about biking is ones ability to take in a lot of scenery all at once.  For example, of someone goes out of a 30min run they may only get 3.2miles of scenery during that run to enjoy. With biking one is able to cover almost double, if not triple the mileage in the same amount of time. Also, i have always felt so GREEN when riding a bike. No emissions! (well unless I have had dairy that day, then i would advise riding upwind from me!). I love the feeling of being able to travel long distances by my own physical means.
Also, the breeze you feel on your face is so refreshing ( Does anyone else pretend they have an entourage following them around with fans when they feel that breeze? No? You Sure? Well now you will).

My issues with biking stems from my lack of...butt. I am convinced that if i just had a little more cushion back there things would be wonderful. Unfortunately, the past 5 or so years i have been using my father's old Devinci bike. I was happy using it becuase i didn't want to spend the money on a new bike because biking was not one of my top ten activities (see girls can be practical sometimes! or I'm just a cheap-o, take your pick). So for the past 5 years I have been riding a bike with the smallest seat in the world. Im not joking, I have had slices of pie bigger than this thing. After every ride i went on (sometimes only to the store and back which was only about 3 miles) i was be so sore i would have to waddle for a good three days after. Now i know what you thinking, just got on more bike rides and it would get better. It didn't. It never did. It was awful, i was convinced i was bruising my pelvis and butt.

Last year was my 25th birthday, and my dad got me a "like new" Specialized hybrid bike. I love it. The handle bars are nice and high so I'm not hunch over like Golem. But the best part is the seat! Oh MY LORD it is amazing. My behind has never been happier. I went on a 15mi ride today and my butt didn't hurt at all!

I think me and my bike might be seeing each other little more often. I am willing to work on our relationship as long as we keep it simple and just enjoy the ride.

oh- and the wine I am drinking tonight is one of my favorites:
Middle Sister Sweet&Sassy Moscato
its light and sweet, and goes great with frozen strawberries if you forget to chill it!

Treadmills.

Treadmills.

In reality, the idea of treadmill is promising, but I can’t help but think they could have been designed to better canter to the runners experience. Does anyone else feel like a hamster running on its wheel? I can’t be the only person who has thought about this but, treadmills be could use to power a gym.

 

Imagine you’re running on a treadmill at the gym. (seriously picture it- I have already thought about this around mile two on the treadmill countless times!). Your legs are cramping up, you have a stitch in your side, you shorts are riding up, and your dying of thirst (isn’t running glamorous?). You want to quit, but then you realize… THE GYM NEEDS YOU. Without your final mile the gym will power down and you will single handedly ruin everyone else’s workout, which would be a butterfly effect of problems. People would we grumpy, getting fat, and most likely hate you (Lifters would probably still have pre-workout pulsing through their veins and jump you in the parkinglot). Talk about motivation. I would definitely push out that last mile.

Just saying.

Also, can we talk about how treadmills make runners sound like a barreling elephant. When I run outside, I feel like a sprite gazelle who is lighter than air. I feel delicate and poise while I run. But on a treadmill, I feel as though I am slowly pounding the treadmill deeper and deeper into the ground. I am convinced this is why I dislike treadmills. It’s all a mind game. I can easily run 6 miles outside, but on a treadmill its torture to run 2 miles.

I’m not even going to get into the topic of ellipticals. For us long leg’d folks, nothing is worse.