New route: Hanna Lake Road

Last night I did my first longer ride on the bike followed by a short run.  I took off on the bike for a 75 minute ride hoping to do about 20 miles.  I tried out a new route starting on my familiar neighborhood bike path and then taking Hanna Lake Road south of town until it ended.  Even though Hanna Lake is more of a country road, I still had to ride in the lane most of the way due to the lack of paved shoulder.  I usually shy away from roads like that.  But even during rush hour, the traffic was relatively light and considerate giving me plenty of space.

Probably the funniest moment was at the turn around point of the ride.  I was really happy with my pace up to that point.  I did a warmup plus about 5 minutes at a 40k tempo.  But honestly, I was riding most of the way at that same tempo pace - similar to how I'd ride during the Thursday night summer group rides.  Then I turned around and the wind hit me in the face like a wall.  Cross wind, too - the kind that makes you look like you're riding drunk.  I hadn't realized how windy it was until that very moment!  Needless to say, the headwind slowed me down a bit, but I still made 18.7 miles in 75 minutes.

Then I stripped off my bike gear and put on my running shoes for a short 10 minute run.  This was the first time I've transitioned to a run after doing a longer bike ride.  Now I understand what people mean when they say that their legs feel like jello in the bike-to-run transition.  I think my running pace was normal, but my legs just felt wierd.  Like all the pedal-in-circles muscles were still trying to fire.  That feeling started to shake out after about a mile, at which point I was nearly done with the run.  I'll be eager to see how a longer run feels after a hard bike ride.  Will my running legs really feel normal after a few minutes?

Thursday, March 26, 2010
Tempo Bike - 76 minutes, 18.7 miles
Run - 10 minutes, approx. 1.25 miles