Turkey Crossings and Snobby Runners!

Ok... so have you ever seen a sign like this one? I never had until my ride on Saturday! If you've known me for any period time you'd know that I began turkey hunting a few years ago. You'd also know that I've never actually shot one! I came close to shooting a really life-like turkey DECOY... but I've never actually brought one home for dinner! Turkey season opens every April 15th and with all the triathlon stuff... no attempted turkey slaughtering for me. Anyway, the ironic thing is that this season I've seen a total of 4 big fat TOMS while riding or driving... of course... I don't make it a common practice to carry a shotgun with me at those times. So here I was on my long ride on Saturday and I came across this sign... but there were no turkey to be found... I just had to take a picture.

Which brings me to my ride on Saturday! It was the longest ride that I've ever done... to most triathletes/cyclists it would probably be nothing... but it was new territory for me... and it was a total BLAST! Lila had a soccer game Saturday morning... OH! Did I mention the team name that the girls chose? They are the "Famous Flaming Kicker Girls"! YEAH! Rock ON! Anyway... we had a game Saturday morning... and we kicked the crap out of O'Hara... that's RIGHT Yo... 1st grad girls soccer is intense! It rained the entire game and didn't let up... which made me really look forward to the ride. I was really close to just hoping on the trainer but I think that being out in the crappy weather builds mental resilience in the end... so off I went. It rained for the entire 2 1/2 hrs I was out there... and it was GORGEOUS!
Here's the stats:
- 2 1/2 hours
- 43.8 miles
- 17.8 mph avg
- 143 bpm avg HR
I'm actually pretty happy with that. Of course I would have liked to have seen a higher avg speed... but I think that will come with time. The terrain I'm riding on is perfect for training for a race like the Pacific Crest Half Iron... HILLY! Legs felt good the entire time, got to catch up on a couple of Podcasts... life is good!
This morning was a long run. I wasn't really sure how thing would go after the long ride yesterday but I was surprised at how fresh I felt when I took off! Here's the route if you want to check it out: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=883574
Here are the stats:
- 1:20 minutes
- 10.2 miles
- 7:42/mile
- 157 avg HR
Had a good time on the run! Running is probably the one thing that I'm completely comfortable with in this triathlon thing... but I'm noticing that I'm certainly not as fast as I used to be. I'm a little bit disturbed by my average HR too... I mean, doesn't that seem like a high rate? The thing is that I didn't feel like I was working too hard and I also felt like I could go pretty much forever! Who knows man... it's all new territory to me... and I'm having a BLAST!
So the "Snobby Runners" in the title? Well, here in "Track City USA" you get to run among many many talented runners! Its pretty cool actually. But what's with no-one smiling and saying "HI!"? I make a point of saying hi to everyone while I'm out there... hell... I'm just having a good time! If you can't muster the energy to at least look up and grunt... you're doing the wrong thing! ENJOY what you're doing WHILE you're doing it! You should be tickled pink that you're out there running, healthy, and in a beautiful place! SMILE for Christs sake!

Breathe...