Bike Commute Bonk and Other Adventures

I've been fed up for awhile with the inefficiencies (and high cost) of Metro, so a few weeks ago I started biking to work. My commute now takes less time AND I'm in a much better mood when I arrive at my destination. The commute is about 22 miles round-trip... and this means I'm burning about 800 additional calories a day... which means I need to eat more. I figured this out firsthand when I didn't eat an afternoon snack on Friday and on my commute home, I could feel myself starting to bonk. All I could think about was food and I was rapidly slowing down - soon I found myself being passed by kids, elderly ladies, guys riding stunt bikes 5 sizes too small for them.

Saturday I did one of my favorite bike rides with some good friends - Skymass. The first thirty miles are up, up, up Skyline drive. This is followed by a fun descent into Luray in the valley, which is quickly followed by a steep, terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad climb. But you feel really good when you get to the top. Unless you're like me and fall off your bike when you reach the top... because you didn't unclip fast enough. The rest of the ride is downhill, rollers, and a fast ride back home. We biked in a pace line, which I've never done before. I'm still skittish about riding so close to someone's wheel, but I think I'll get more comfortable the more rides I do like this. Plus, it makes you go FAST - I did this ride 30 minutes faster than the last time I did it. 80 (hilly) miles in 4:56. It also always seems to rain at the end of the ride. We got caught in a downpour about 10 miles from our cars. Oh well, cooled us off. There was thunder and lightening too, so I decided to drive back home and do the remaining 32 miles of my ride in Arlington - good choice because the storms never followed me home.

Today was a long run AND my first ice bath of the season. My legs are still sore from the weekend, but I think they'd feel worse if I didn't do the ice bath. Mark arrived home on Friday night and it has been great to have him home. Not only do I have someone besides the dog to talk to, he makes a mean burger and a mean enchilada - I have missed him (and his cooking :) )

The weather finally cooled off tonight, so I baked up a storm. I've been going through baking withdrawal since our AC broke and it's been so hot - the last thing you want to do is run the oven. I made my mom's strawberry bread recipe (but in muffin form). These muffins have ALWAYS reminded me of summer. We (my mom, really) used to make them in the summers after we went strawberry picking. Strawberry season in NH is in June, so we'd always have these muffins around the end of school and when we'd go up to the lakehouse. Lots of good memories associated with my mom's strawberry muffins.

Next week looks like it will be a good week - lots of good training, my sister-in-law Allie is coming to visit, and we're planning on going to a winery and doing some stand-up paddleboarding next weekend!