Runnin’ and Rollin’

This was the first weekend of half ironman training with significant distances on both the bike and the run, and all in all it went pretty well. I followed Saturday’s half marathon with a 41 mile bike ride yesterday, so last night my legs were pretty much begging for mercy. They didn’t hurt and I’m not sore at all (though I was when I woke up yesterday), but every time I stood up they just felt weak and tired.
I rode alone yesterday. The BAM girls that ride at my pace weren’t heading out until 2:00 p.m. (too late for my schedule) and the BAM guys that met at 7:00 are too fast for me, so I slept in a bit and got on the road at 9:00. I finished just before 11:45 and was pretty satisfied with my 15.5 mph average pace. A few parts of the ride were windy, and that was annoying as always. But I’ve got to get used to the wind — and I fully expect the half ironman to be just as horribly windy as it was last year! My back and butt started complaining in earnest with about 10 miles to go, but I expected that since this was my longest ride in quite some time. I was encouraged to find that I didn’t get too mentally tired and frustrated on this ride. As I’ve said before, I can be pretty manic-depressive on the bike, so this was a positive sign.

After my bike ride, I recharged by eating a whole bunch of completely unhealthy fried stuff for lunch in Kemah. Jose and I decided we’d venture down there despite the huge crowds that were out enjoying the gorgeous weather. Other than having to park a half mile away, it wasn’t too bad. We enjoyed the walk, and the weather was so nice that it was impossible to be annoyed at the masses of people.
It was a lovely weekend, but far too short.
On a totally separate note, here’s the result of the second assignment in my 3D modeling class. We had to draw the wooden man in class, and then for homework we had to create a 3D model of him using only our drawing as a reference. The point is that you have to be able to draw at least a little bit in order to model! I think he turned out pretty well, though I’ll be excited when we learn how to make something other than a boring black background.