I'm on a bike!

I'm on a bike!  I'm on a bike!

Everybody look at me

Cause I'm riding on a bike!

I'm on a bike!  I'm on a bike!

Take a good hard look

at the really awesome bike!

I realize I'm not actually on a bike here, but I felt a visual
was necessary.  And I know what you're thinking...it
would be way cooler if it was a bicycle built for 2 and
T-Pain was riding on the back wearing a helmet shaped
like a top hat.  Unfortunately, he has not responded to
my emails.

Why am I so excited about being on a bike?  Because recently I have decided that I really like being on a bike.  You may have thought, based on my mileage build-up this summer, that I had made this decision a long time ago.  But, in truth, it only happened in the past week or so.  

I feel this new love for cycling may have been born out of my extreme aversion to summertime running.  On a day like today, where the temperature in Seattle reached an oh-so-hot 80 degrees, I kind of dread running.  While I fully realize that I spend a great deal of my life pushing myself beyond the point of discomfort, running in the heat is a discomfort I don't withstand easily.  I feel like I can't breathe as easily or run as fast as I want to.  And I'm not a fan of the "drenched in sweat" feeling.  Lucy also does not like summertime running.  I have trouble keeping her motivated to keep going on summer runs, and she also runs a lot slower.  I've kind of given up on trying to make her run until things cool down again.

In summers past, I've kept myself pounding the pavement by either running earlier in the morning or later in the evening.  And last summer was easier to get through because I was training for the Victoria Marathon with TNT.  This gave me a group of friends to train with, a schedule to follow, and a goal to achieve.  This summer I have no such motivation.

Instead, I've found other, more enjoyable ways to keep active in the heat.  Like swimming.  And being on a bike.  And making lists in my head.  Which I then post here.

Reasons Why Being on a Bike is Awesome

1)  No matter how hot it is, you will always feel a cool breeze.  I cannot attest to the occurrence of this biking phenomenon in temperatures above 80 degrees, but I imagine it to be reasonably accurate unless you are on the east coast and the humidity is 100%.  

2)  Going uphill is hard, but satisfying.  I'm not a fan of hills in running or biking, but I know that they are good for me.  And when I push my way up to the top of a hill on my bike, I feel as though I've accomplished something.

3)  Going downhill is fun.  It's taken me a little while to be comfortable with gaining speed on downhills, but  now that I'm feeling more confident, it's pretty exhilarating zooming down a hill in a crouched position, head low, hands low on the handlebars, butt up so as not to feel the bumps.  Kind of like riding a roller coaster without actually being on a roller coaster.

4)  Watching the mileage tick away is satisfying.  My longest run ever, which I've done 3 times, was 26.2 miles.  It took me, consecutively, 4 hours and 52 minutes, then 4 hours and 28 minutes, and then 4 hours and 18 minutes to run that distance.  Today I went on my longest bike ride ever, which was 60 miles.  It took about 5 hours, and was no where near as hard as running 26.2 miles.  I haven't been training for 5 months to ride 60 miles, I just simply wanted a really good bagel from Blazing Bagels which happens to be 30 miles away from my apartment.  So why not go for a bike ride?

5)  Biking with friends is fun.  Not that running with friends isn't fun too.  It's just another excuse to get out there and have some good conversations with some good friends (which MacKenzie and I did on our bikes for 3.5 hours today).

6)  You can eat real food and then ride a bike.  Before a run, you have to be really careful about what you eat.  All that jostling around inside your belly/intestines can result in some pretty unfortunate happenings if you aren't smart about your food intake before and during runs.  But on a bike, you can stop in the middle of a 60 mile bike ride and eat a very large, very tasty bagel sandwich complete with jalapenos.  Yum.

7)  Biking alone is also enjoyable.  I learned this today.  In the past, I have been very scared to bike alone, simply because I was not prepared for getting a flat.  I didn't have the supplies to fix a flat on my bike and I was unsure I could actually do it on my own (despite Ironman Jason's tutorial in flat fixing at the beginning of my biking adventures this spring).  And getting a flat even just 10 miles away from my house would be unfortunate and require a lot of phone calls and awkward requests.  But now I have the necessary supplies on my bike and I've changed a flat basically on my own.  So when MacKenzie asked me to meet her on the trail by her place (which I've since learned is about 11 miles, or 45 minutes, from my place), I didn't hesitate to say ok.  And now I've experienced in 2 separate 45 minute chunks what it's like to ride a bike solo.  I found that I get the same satisfaction out of solo riding as I do out of solo running.  I enjoy my surroundings, push myself simply for myself, and get a lot of good contemplative think time.  So much think time in fact, that I am able to rewrite the lyrics to fun songs in my head (see above).

There are probably other things I could add to this list, but I feel as though I've rounded it out nicely.  I must be fair and admit to some of the things about cycling that aren't so much fun:

1)  Biking outfits aren't super attractive.  The shirts are too short.  The waistlines are too low.  The length of the shorts is awkward and the seams are constricting.  And you wear a helmet.  It's hard to be pretty on a bike.  Although I can't say I've ever felt pretty while running either.

2)  You can still get blisters.  Today I developed and then popped 2 small matching blisters on the insides of my pinky fingers.  Not sure how I did this.  And now it's slightly painful to do things like shower and wash the dishes.  Developing battle wounds are just part of exercising I guess.

3)  I don't think it will ever be comfortable to sit on a bike for extended periods of time.  Private areas hurt.  Enough said.

4)  Bonking on a bike isn't fun, because you are probably still really far from home.  This happens when you suddenly lose all energy and feel yourself slowing considerably.  I did this for the first time a few weeks ago.  It wasn't fun, and it took a good amount of mental and physical energy to push through it.

All in all, I'd say the pros outweigh the cons.  Conclusion: being on a bike is great.

This of course does not mean that running has been dropped from my repertoire.  Running will always be first and foremost my #1, but for now I'm enjoying trying other things.  Fairly soon, I'm going to need to start upping my running mileage and doing hill repeats in preparation for the Nike Women's Half Marathon.  But until then, I'm going to enjoy mixing things up a bit.

And now for some interactive fun.  I would like to break the record of responses on a single post with this post (I know, it might be really hard to break my record of 2 responses, but I think you all can do it).  You don't have to have an account to comment.  Just do it.  Here's what I'm interested in hearing from you: How do you stay motivated in the heat of summer to get out there and run/walk/bike/swim/move your body?  Or are you one of those crazy people that actually likes the heat?  If so, tell me why.

Respond away!