I'm gonna start at the end and go backwards. My run was pathetic. 2 minutes in, I felt great. 4 minutes in, I felt exhausted. 6 minutes in, I was walking.
But it's the effort that counts, right? I mean... I may have only run for a total of 7 minutes, but it's those first 2 minutes that mean the most. Because for that one shining moment, I thought I was actually going to do this... for real.
All I need to do now is work on breaking through that wall and eliminate 'walking' from my mental rolodex of possibile solutions.
The bike went really well. I went in a different direction than normal, so it was refreshing. New forged territory is always exciting. Before I left my apartment, I mapped out my route. I wrote all the turns down on a peice of paper. Five seconds before walking out the door, I decide, Eh. I don't need it. I know where I'm going. But five minutes into the ride, I had gotten seriously turned around and had somehow ended up downtown.
About a quarter of the way through my ride, I went down a steep hill that led under a bridge. I saw another biking sitting on his bike at the bottom of the hill, but I thought maybe he was just taking a break. Right as I hit the bottom, he hollers, 'Watch Out!' moments too late as my bike tires start slipping and sliding in 5 inches of mud. My bike came to a hault which only meant I had to then put my FEET in the 5 inches of mud. Bleh. I'm not meant to be this dirty.
Halfway through my ride, near my turning-around point, I pass a park. Off in the distance, I see what appears to be a building with bathrooms and.... (angels sing) a water fountain.
When I make it to the fountain, I see a 'WARNING' sign above it. It said something along the lines of:
"WARNING: The water that comes from the fountain has extremely high levels of NITRATE. Infants under the age of 6 months should not drink from this fountain as it may cause serious illness. Boiling the water or mixing it with formula will not decrease the toxicity of the water."
TOXIC water? If infants under 6 months can't drink it, why should I be any different? But... after 5 miles biking, you'll drink almost anything. As soon as I got home and had internet access, I googled 'nitrate water.' The DNR had this lovely peice of information:
"Common sources of nitrate contamination include fertilizers, animal wastes, septic tanks, municipal sewage treatment systems, and decaying plant debris."
BLEHHHHHH. Now I am SERIOUSLY wishing I had passed. Dehydration might have been a more appropriate fate.
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So here is the breakdown...
Number of miles biked: 9
Number of miles run: .75
Number of other bikers I saw: 8
Number of times I got lost: 3
Number of times my bike tires flung mud in my face: 4
Number of BMX race tracks I happened across: 1
Number of times I had the urge to jump in there and give it a try: 0
Number of sips of toxic water I drank: 7 plus more rubbed on my face and arms
Number of times I wished I was laying by the pool instead: 100+
Number of dead bugs found down my shirt when I got home: 3
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