60 Min Bike/4 Mile Run (AA) --164.5--

L.A. RIVER/LOS FELIZ BLVD. -- It's a rare opportunity to try something new with running, which makes it always a fairly pleasant experience. Thanks to some poor planning on my part, I didn't get anything in yesterday. So I thought, "Well, we'll do 'em both tomorrow."

Hopped on the bike (pumped up the tires more...definitely way underinflated last time) and went out for a spin. Ended up biting it again with the same mistake, right foot uncleat leads to left side owwie. This time at a four-way stop on Rowena and Griffith. I hit the stop a shade before this Mercedes, but I treated it like I was in a car, so I just started out...and he started out. Realizing that if we came to blows in this disagreement I was not in the safety of side-curtain airbags or much else, I stopped quick. But...like a dumb bunny, I was cleated in. No bother. I'll just lie here for a bit.

That all faded into the rearview as this ride was great. Lotsa folks out today...Sunday at 11a. Sunny and mild. Perfect weather. I ended up staying in the big gear the whole time this ride (unlike last time) and really tried to focus on my "stride" during the long stretches of open and, mostly, flat. It was great.

One nice part was actually getting passed. There was one hoss out there today and he snuck up on me and passed. The cool part was, I got to watch his stride and his gearing, where his knees where, how his feet looked...everything. It was cool. He was obviously pretty good, judging by his rad outfit, insanely expensive looking bike (everything was sparkling despite the age of the bike...like he cleaned each part and taken it apart many, many, many times to upgrade gear.) Plus he was really going quick and making it look easy. I love seeing people like that.

So the bike closes out and I'm thinking about the run. I get some water, change shoes and shorts and head out. So weird running after biking for that long. It's like your legs don't really remember the right stride...like getting off a boat after a few days. Plus, you end up running way too quick because you're trying to keep that same wind feel and scenery roll, I guess. I caught myself at a red light and realized I was practically panting to catch my breath.

As I adjusted the speed, it occured to me that it's pretty hard to judge your speed after a bike, too. I guess I usually judge my early run speed by my stride and general heart rate. But I couldn't feel my stride as normal and certainly was pretty much numb to feeling what my cardio effort was. Really cool though. Bank said it was 72 and simply beautiful day for a run. It was like heading into the second hour of a run...but without nearly the fatigue. The legs felt spent, but in different areas than needed to run. Kinda cool. I just kinda got lost feeling the run for the first half.

Inspired by two runners in front of me, I felt confident enough to finally find my pace, dust 'em up a hill and get to work. Really surprised at how good I was feeling. It was seriously like being shot out of a cannon into a much better running body. It felt like the old days of 10 mile runs being easy as pie. There were some penalties, however. By the bottom of Vermont, my legs felt like they were kind of puffy, like swelled up and heavy. Being new to this sphere, I figured it best to avoid injury and walk...perhaps walk it in even. Another surprise: not 10 seconds after walking a few steps, it's like the legs just emptied and felt (relatively) fresh. So I bounded up the hill and down Hillhurst and then felt the heaviness as I headed up Commonwealth. Another 15 seconds and felt good again. Weird. Finished it out as usual.

Felt very tired by the end, but strong. And as time went on, my opinion of this run grew exponentially...from, "Hey, got it done" to "That was pretty fun, actually."

I'm going to go eat my ass off.