Same Road, Body, & Driver, Different Vehicle

I am now into my fifth week off of running. This week I have taken a few running steps, as I'm adding some grass running into my every other day routine of physical therapy. I am up to a whole 10 minutes on the grass! WooHoo! But it's good.

It's pain free, and I'm able to tolerate the uneven surface without a brace on my ankle. Standing on a pillow on my bad ankle doing leg swings and other balance exercises was helping, but I needed to step up the challenge even more.

I'm riding my bike as much as I can fit into my schedule, and I've been working out my entire body, trying to build on my core strength and upper body, things I have neglected in varying degrees. My entire body is sore, different parts, every day. I like it. This break has been so refreshing, for my body and mind.

I ran into my friend Nick this week at the grocery store, he's taking a much needed break right now too, he's had such success on the ultra racing circuit but pushing it so hard that I think he raced himself into mental burnout. It was so good to see him. I know that after a break he'll be ready to tear up the ultra world again like he did last year, if he wants to.

I'm looking forward to running races next year but right now I don't miss the training at all. I love what I'm doing now. It's fun and I have a lot of variety in my workouts, and it doesn't consume all day, every day. I definitely don't miss going to the sauna!

I've done some interesting and new bike rides, some of which I'll do again, and some I'll chalk up to curiosity. I rode the bike path from Windsor to Greeley and back last week for the first time. It was actually quite pleasant, until about the last 5 miles into Greeley.

You cross a set of railroad tracks and literally, on the other side of the tracks, suddenly the scenery goes from riverbanks and cottonwood trees to dead grass and gravel pits, and you're in Greeley. And that's where I started seeing people carrying baseball bats as they walked on the bike path. Nice.

When I emerged on the far end of the path in Island Grove Park a few miles later, it's not such a pretty part of town. I looked out at the delapidated buildings and the trailer parks, stopped at 11th and D streets, and turned around and headed back toward Windsor without exploring anything in Greeley.

It's really a decent ride but once you hit the railroad tracks, it's time to turn around. It was 63 miles out and back from home the way I did it, but next time I'd cut off the middle 10 miles and just skip the Greeley section which would be a nice 50 mile ride.

I'm getting stronger on the hills, today I rode up toward Masonville over County Road 38E by Horsetooth Reservoir. I went down through Loveland, cut over to Boyd Lake, and came back to Fort Collins.

I really need to go do a century ride one of these days before the weather changes. I need to figure out a good route and do it.

I have a feeling when I return to running I'm going to feel a lot stronger and healthier than I've been in a long time. I'm not in a hurry, I'll get there. I like it this way.