Today was supposed to be my long run day, but a friend suggested we do our long run together Saturday. I generally prefer to run long alone. I can't explain it, I just do. Mary is an exception and is fun to run with because she doesn't blow the whole training and racing thing out of proportion. The friend I will be running with on Saturday is the same way... not competitive in training because he has nothing to prove, a good conversationalist, funny as heck, and the opposite of intense. Boy, do I hate spending a lot of time running with intense people. For God's sake, if a person is going to spend time doing what they enjoy, shouldn't it be relaxed? (I'll be the first to admit that when I was training hard and running well at the shorter distances, I was pretty intense. I'm not sure I was actually enjoying it very much though.) I am looking forward to good fun company for Saturday's long run.
Anyway, with my long run on hold until Saturday, today I ran a nice hilly eight miles on the single track mountain bike trails near Pudding Pond in North Conway. I ran it to find my way around so I could bike it afterwards. The run went great. I took a few brief wrong turns, but caught myself quickly. I loved the steep climbing near the Redstone Quarry, which is difficult on the bike. Also the rickety narrow bridges don't seem as bad on foot as they do on the bike. I ran fast and strong today for a change, so it was a good confidence builder.
After the run, I got my bike out of the car and pedaled off with a smile. Honestly, I had been looking forward to the mountain bike ride during the entire run. I know most of you Blog followers know me for my running, but I can't help it, mountain biking is just so darned fun! I had planned to take it really easy on the ride because I had worked pretty hard on the run. But once I got started concentrating on the tight curves, rolling over rocks and roots, struggling up steep climbs, squeezing between trees, and hopping the occasional log, I forgot all about feeling tired from the run and found myself just out there playing. Luckily, no one else was out there today because I was cheering myself on over tough sections and applauding myself when I managed to do something I didn't think I could. The fact that I am a big goof is well known to my friends, but I don't want the general public to find out.
My house didn't get cleaned today, I didn't go to the dump, and I didn't mow the lawn, but I sure had a great day!
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