First Brick
I just finished my first brick workout in far too long.  I ran an easy 4 miles around my neighborhood.  We have extremely steep quarter-mile hills that defiantly tested my calves and quads. Also, my Newton shoes caused me to run more on my toes than normal.  I find when I'm wearing them that I'm basically running completely on my toes up the hills. But, I love Newtons and how I run in a toe heel fashion vs. a heel toe stride.  They are the best shoes I've tried in my running career. They cause me to change my stride to one that has a faster cadence and I feel makes me quicker on my turnover.  It also helps reduce injury and tones the back of my legs - always a good thing when you live in a place where it's warm enough to show the legs off all year long.  And, my Newtons are pink, so you can't go wrong there.  I stayed around an 8 to 12-minute mile depending on the incline of the hills I was facing.

Unfortunately, my ignorance of the area caused me some issues.  Apparently, in my new neighborhood, people let their dogs out to guard their premises between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.  I ran around 6 p.m. and was faced with 11 barking unleashed dogs charging out at me during various parts of my run.  You can't keep running when that happens, as running makes the dogs want to chase you.  Since they are faster than I am, they will catch me.  And the obvious next step after catching is biting. So, I have to stop my Garmin, stop my run, face the frothy frantic beasts and tell them to go home while I slow to a walk or stop, depending on how determined they are. It messed with my pacing quite a bit.  Next time, I will run during the hours when owners keep their vicious beasts confined.

I came back starving and, after taking my dried clothes off the clothes line, decided to have dinner before jumping on my bike.  I made my customary salad, always a fall-back when I don't have time to be creative, and made Chris a yummy cooked meal.  We had dinner, then I jumped on my trainer and started peddling for 30 minutes.  Honestly, this was harder than the run.  I watched Animal Planet, but keeping up a steady peddling when my quads were already protesting from the hills was harder than I expected. I was glad when my time was up.  I never do well on treadmills or trainers where I'm not going anywhere, but I'm going to have to get used to it on the bike.  The roads in Grenada are more dangerous than the states. There are no bike lanes, the traffic stops on a dime because someone sees an old friend and wants to talk in the road and cause a traffic pile-up, and there are many drop offs, pot holes, and grating that causes additional hurtles for the cyclist.  Not to mention the group usually bikes at dusk and finishes up in the dark with cars whizzing by inches from your shoulder.  I biked with them for a while, but after one fall and several close calls, I decided my lack of insurance should outweigh biking like a local. So, I will have to learn to fall in love with my trainer.

Now, it's time to do a nice stretch, hit the showers, and get some sleep.  I feel good knowing I've gotten back into training.  I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. I'm just missing my huge bathtub or our jacuzzi in our old Florida home.  I loved to soak in there after a tough workout. We just have a shower in our rental house, and it's hit or miss whether it will be hot or cold. I can't wait to find out which one I get tonight.