Bike Riding

A little bit exhausted now.

Today I did something that I haven't done for a several months, I went for a ride on my bike.

This ride wasn't just a quick nip down the road either, but rather 2 and a half hours spent in the saddle. What!!! I hear you exclaim, have I gone crazy? What would Dr Stobie say? Fear not gentle reader, no I have not gone crazy. While the ride was long in duration, it was not high in speed or intensity. Rather it was a 34km ride done with my mate Gary Couanis. And he was running.

So yep, a very slow ride today done at a very low intensity while I kept Gary company on his long run. On paper it sounds a bit boring, but really I had a ball.

Last year in my preparation for Ironman WA I did a lot of running with Gary. Some of the long runs we did were my favourite sessions of my build up. They are certainly some of the sessions that stick in my mind the most. So this year when Gary decided to build up for Ironman WA again I offered to come along on some of his runs with him. There is no way I can go and run with at the moment, but I can keep up with him very easily if I am on a bike, which is exactly what I did.

It was really great being out and about again.  I used to love these long steady runs. They were tough sessions for sure, but you used to cover so much distance. It was kind of cool seeing a big chunk of the world go past on a Sunday morning at a pace and intensity that you could actually enjoy it. Being on the bike today meant I wasn't working anywhere near as hard, but it did mean I could still enjoy being out in the world, seeing it go past at a leisurely pace. Plus it gave plenty of opportunities for some quality chat. Being on a bike meant I could be a bit useful too, carrying water and gels etc. Sort of a rolling aid station. It was a very enjoyable morning out.

It is probably an understatement to say that I miss doing these sessions myself. I am not particularly enjoying watching everyone head out and train for IMWA at the moment. However, I have come to realise that with sessions like this I can sit and home and mope about how I can't train at the moment, or I can figure out ways in which I can still be involved with my mates and get out and do just that. That is what this morning was all about. Out of the two options, heading out with my mates was definitely the more fun one.

Looking forward to doing it some more.