Oh, just go have fun

Remember what it was like before heart rate monitors, GPS distance watches, stopwatches, negative splits, and PRs...you just went out and ran for fun, or you rode a bike with your friends and didn't care how fast or far you went, or you went for a swim in the lake or ocean and simply enjoyed gliding through the water?

Yeah. Me neither.

In the middle of training or working out out with a goal in mind (whether it be a race, or a weight goal, or a fitness/distance goal), sometimes I think you just gotta stop and smell the bike chain oil. Not always--structure is there to help you meet your goals in a sane manner. But still, sometimes, you gotta just go have fun.

Last night was a 90 minute easy bike. I started out as usual, worried about riding faster each ride so I can get up to a 16-18 mph pace by next May, staying down on my aerobars for longer periods of time to build up my neck muscles for them, climbing hills with power, keeping a high cadence on my pedaling, and etc. and etc. and etc. Then a shaft of sunlight fell across my face as I mounted the bike, a bird called, and I said, screw it, I'm just gonna go ride tonight.

And I did. I rode 22 miles down White Rock Trail, stopped at the NW Highway light, onto the White Rock lake path and around the lake, and then back down the trail with the wind (hooray) finally at my bike. It was warm, windy, sunny, and everything was green and blooming and it wasn't all that crowded. I quit looking at all my gadgets (except my watch--have to drink every 10 minutes!) and just pedaled away in the sunshine.

Suprisingly, when the ride was over, I had accomplished a reasonable speed (14.6, which for me, is a nice reasonable speed for 22 miles), had climbed the minor hills without any problems (these are not Big Hills but Little Hills, but hills still the same), and had used my bars pretty consistently through about mile 17 when my neck started to tire and I had to sit up. I smiled a lot, talked to some other bikers at the stoplight, and even passed a few people which is rare for me. Some of them even weren't on mountain bikes!

I had half of a 140 calorie granola bar before the ride, and I was quite eager for my post ride banana as I was starting to run on empty at 90 minutes with nothing but water.

Tonight I will strap back on the watch and timer and go for a swim with some goals, but sometimes, it's fun to just go out and play.

Play hard. Have fun. Look at the sunshine.