This morning’s winner…Blueberry Muffin Bread

This afternoon’s winner…Biking

Final Ruling…It’s a Tie!

 

The BOY reluctantly headed off to the library to work on Law School stuff, and somehow despite the decadent breakfast and my strong desire to sit on my couch and watch the Tour de France all day, I motivated myself into workout clothes and out the front door (well actually I used the garage door).  But either way, it was an accomplishment.  Typically if I don’t get out first thing in the morning, then it’s hard for me to get out for an intense workout.

 

 

Maybe it was these brand new socks that I found on sale and wanted to trial before the triathlon.

 

 

Or all of the biking I’ve been watching on TV. 

Either way, I loaded up my bike to hit the road for an undetermined distance. I was a little nervous that I might get hungry on the ride after having a not-so-typical (but super yummy) pre workout breakfast, so I packed up a Bonk Breaker bar.  This bar was given to me by a friend who is a huge fan.  I have had the PB version before, but I was eager to try the fig flavor.  What impresses me the most about these bars is their natural ingredient list.

 

 

 

The bar looked a bit like a Fig Newton (bonus!) and I sliced it up to keep in my bento for the ride.  One goal of this ride was to practice refueling on the bike in prep for my tri in a two weeks.

 

 

 

As I’m mounting my bike and about to hit the road, I realized that I forgot my sunglasses.  I ran back inside to grab them, snap a photo and then finally hit the road in full gear!

 

 

My thought for today’s bike ride first was to just get out the door. Once I managed that I decided to head east to another forest preserve path that’s about 10 miles away.  I haven’t gone along this route in awhile, but I used to use these back roads to ride my bike to the gym.  The start of my ride was quite literally bumpy!  The path and roads were not so smooth, and I rode up and down for a bit before finding a calm road to take me east.  These quiet neighborhood streets really aren’t great for a road bike, but I was in the mood for a change in scenery.  It was a 10 mile ride to the path, and I arrived feeling stronger than I expected after my slow start to the day.

 

 

The negative of this 7.7 miles forest preserve path is that it is almost always crowded. 

But the positives are the beautiful scenery…

 

 

The flat and shaded path…

 

 

 

And the elk!

 

 

 

I elbowed my way to the front of the fence…not really, but I did pull up next to a dad with his two young kids who were also checking out the elk.  The dad looked at me funny as I explained that I was stopping to take some pictures.  I’m always interested in the wildlife during my rides, even when they’re not so wild : )

 

 

I’ve run this path numerous times including during my pre marathon 20 miler, but I haven’t biked it recently.  I was happy for the change and the camaraderie of the other bikers and runners.  I even saw a guy rocking the Team SKY jersey.  I decided to try a different route back home taking a more popular rode instead winding through some of the neighborhoods.  Bad decision!  The sidewalk was awful, twisty and I had to duck branches.  The road was crowded with drivers who don’t know how to share the road and covered in big potholes.  I had a nice little adventure dodging obstacles the entire way.  As I made it back to our street after a 28 mile ride, a dark cloud was just rolling in.

 

 

I made a snap decision to turn my bike ride into a BRICK and quickly went inside to change shoes to take these muddy legs out for a short run.

 

 

15 minutes later, I was back home having finished my BRICK (115 minute ride/15 minute run).  Hooray for me!  This morning, I wasn’t sure if I would even change out of my jamies, and now I was exhausted and ready to dig into some lunch.

 

 

I made it home a few minutes after the BOY who was taking a study break for lunch.  He had quite the operation set up when I walked through the door.

 

 

I managed to get my tuna sandwich put together just before a dark cloud began dumping buckets of rain over our house.

 

 

 

After a 2 hour workout, I was ready for some food and a little more couch time.

 

 

And it was perfect timing to be back indoors!

 

 

I was pleased with my successful workout…especially since I am two weeks away from my triathlon and nervous about getting in rides while I am in class next weekend.  So happy that my Saturday had a good mix of Blueberry Bread followed by some Biking!!!