Saturday, May 24, 2008

Recovery Week...with a bonus!

I've neglected to post my running updates for the week, so I'll make up for that now.
  • Monday: An easy 5.42 miles, just to get the blood flowing and the legs moving, and work out some of the stiffness from the marathon on Sunday. Remarkable, I was not hurting much, but I was tight.
  • Tuesday: 6.5 mile, about the same slow pace as Monday, but with a couple of hills added to make it more interesting.
  • Wednesday: Rest ( This was unplanned. My schedule for the day made it difficult to squeeze in a run, and frankly I was OK with it.)
  • Thursday: 8 miles on the tow path along the canal. Again, at an easy pace. I felt more comfortable with each mile. Spotted a pair of blue birds frolicking in the bushes, many blue herons, and a kingfisher flying low along the canal, looking for a snack.
  • Friday: 7.23 hilly miles of mixed cross-country and roads in the South Chagrin reservation. Beautiful day for an easy run through the woods.
  • Saturday: Trail run with the SERC group starting at Lock 29. Steve led the way. Fortunately, he was feeling less energetic than usual, as he's been working a landscaping job, so we only did 9.78 miles. I wasn't up for a long, hill and dale run. I arrived about a half hour early, warmed-up a bit, and took a few photos. It was a beautiful spring morning, and the fog was just beginning to clear. I took this photo of the river. There was some steam rising from the water, and a heron was standing on the rocks, looking to spear a fish.

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And here is the big bonus. I have been looking at bikes, and I finally bought one today. Check it out.
It is a Specialized Sequoia endurance road bike. Its very light-weight (about 21 pounds) and really fits me well. I did lots of research on line and at several local shops, before I finally bought this at Solon Bicycle.
Why did I buy a bike? I simply want to be less dependent on a car. If you've been reading my blog, you know I've experimented with running to work, but the distance is such that this is impractical on a daily basis. I plan to begin riding my bike to work, maybe not every day at first, but I'll see how it goes. Also, I intend to use the bike for all of the short trips around town that I used to do in my car. Living in Solon, I really miss the old neighborhoods in Cleveland Heights and Shaker, where we could walk to the store, or library, or where ever. At least with my bike, I will not have to hop in the car every time we need a quart of milk or a bag of cat food. Another factor is the fitness benefits. Every day I ride to work will add a 40 minute workout in the morning and evening.
Rising gas prices helped justify the cost of the bike and accessories, but that was not part of my original motivation. I don't want to write an essay on social responsibility and the impact of our actions on future generations, although I will recommend a good one. The June edition of Scientific American arrived on Thursday, and reading, "The Ethics of Climate Change" reinforced my decision. It is one of the most interesting articles I've read on global warming/climate change, because it speaks directly to the responsibilities we have to future generations.

3 comments:

solarsquirrel said...

Hard core! I am going to try to bike to work at least once a week this summer. It's fun to keep track of how much you save (gas and emissions) too! You better post it so I can read about it! btw - where do you work? Maybe we could ride together part of the way?

E-Speed said...

Sweet we will have you in a duathlon or a tri before you know it!

Any time you are up for a bike ride after the Sunday (or saturday) serc runs let me know and I will bring my bike, I gotta lot of miles to put in to get ready for my Century the week after buckeye 50k!

Papa Louie said...

Nice ride! You'll learn to get in quality workouts in on your easy or off days from running.