One of the things about the Ironman, Xterra, any Marathon, or even the Tour de France is that they are boring to watch on TV. How exciting is “there is our leader running”, “there is our leader still running”, “there is our leader still running”, and “there is our leader running to the finish” (no wonder I was napping so much). But, what they have done to make it more interesting is to tell stories about the people in the race. The father doing a race with his 13 year old daughter, the 73 year old great grandfather, or the cancer survivor all make you care about the race. It also makes you feel like a pathetic slug for sitting on your couch all day.
Sunday morning, motivated by all the inspirational stories, I went to Red Top Mountain State Park. I had decided to do the Iron Hill Trail; the Iron Hill Trail is a 3.9 mile crushed gravel trail that runs along Lake Altoona. I had decided to make this outing my own little duathlon.
If you have read my blog, you know I ride my bike a couple of times a week (7.5 to 10 miles) at lunch or I run/trail run a couple of times (2.5 to 5 miles) after work. But, I’ve never done both in the same training session. This was adventures for me.
I started out mountain biking the trail. I did this for three laps (just under 12 miles). Mountain biking is a lot different than road cycling; it’s a lot harder, more fun, but a lot harder. By the time I got back to the car I was tired. My knees ached, my legs felt like rubber, and I was cold. This would have been a good time to pack up and go home, but noooo. I had watched the Ironman, and I had to also run the tail. So I changed shoes and shorts and ran (trudged) the same loop that I had just finished riding 3 times.
I don’t know why I thought I had to do this. It didn’t make me an Ironman. Maybe a Tinfoil Man, but definitely not an Ironman.
4 comments:
Tinfoil is good. At least you are out there doing something.
I get my exercise through osmosis.
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Found your blog through Google searches (I work for the state park system). Thanks for linking the Ga State Parks website on your blog! You'll have to try the Iron Hill Trail during summer when you can run straight off into the lake to cool off. Also try the new paved bike trail at Panola Mountain or the hiking trail (blue one) at Sweetwater Creek. Enjoy!
I have ridden the Panola Mountain trail last Labor Day. It was a great trail. Deer were standing on the side of the trail as I rode by.
I hike Sweetwater Creek all the time. I lead hikes for Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta, and it’s one of our favorite hikes (although we usually do the white trail). We are also fans of the Homestead Loop at Red Top.
I have also recently hiked Fort Yargo and Cloudland Canyon. I am very impressed with our parks here in Georgia.
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