The bicycle to nowhere...

I've run once in the past 22 days.

Difficult for me to say the least, but I'm getting there. The end of January is less than 14 days away, and Rocky Raccoon is just around the corner.

I've been working out an average at least an hour a day. Since the only thing I can do right now (and want to do) is cycle, I've been riding the trainer in the garage every afternoon for an hour, plus working on my CORE exercises.

I've also been riding my bike to and from work every night, and that's been unbelievably enjoyable. The trainer (or the bicycle to nowhere as I like to call it) is often times as horrible to me as running on a treadmill, but alas, here I am.

It's odd, but after a few days it almost becomes comforting and something I look forward to. The trainer is an odd beast for multiple reasons.

1) it doesn't move. These means a few things, but one is that since it doesn't move you don't actually go anywhere, and two is that there is no wind relief. When cycling outdoors we can sweat, and the wind will cool us down, but indoors the air is stagnant, which for me, means a GREAT workout with LOTS of sweating.

2) since it doesn't move I actually set up my laptop and watch movies and TV shows. I've actually watched all three seasons of Parks and Rec since I've been injured and not running!

3) the trainer is a lot like a fixed gear in terms of "coasting" or "free-wheeling". This means that you're spinning the entire time. An hour or non-stop spinning is a great workout no matter how you look at it. Outdoor cycling allows a LOT more coasting and "down" time when sitting at stoplights, coasting downhill, etc.

While the bicycle to nowhere has been better than I originally planned on it being, I'm still missing the running trails more than ever. Starting off a new year with no running mileage is difficult, but I know that soon enough the miles will be adding up.

In other news I finally went and saw a doctor on Monday just to rule out any major problems like a stress fracture, etc. My suspicions were confirmed when he told me it was "Extensor Tendinitis". Just more icing, relaxing, and ibuprofen were ordered. I've had no pain in over a week!

I'm also currently working really hard on getting a 50 mile run organized for the Northshore trail of Lake Grapevine here in North Texas. I've got the website pretty much complete and will be posting that up here soon. The ultimate goal of the 50 miler is to get a feel for how people receive the race and hopefully turn it into a 100 miler. Something North Texas lacks is a 100 mile trail run.

I guess the main part I need to figure out is a good start/finish area. I have something in mind, but it's pretty off limits unless it's reserved etc. Will post up when I have more details!

My volunteering duties for the Rocky Raccoon 100 are just around the corner and I can't believe how excited I am! Not only do I get to camp for two nights, but I get to help people complete a 100 mile run.   This should be a great weekend with good friends.

I found this video today. Describes Whole Foods pretty well :)

-El Jacob