Week 31: Day 4 - August 04, 2016

• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles
• bike commute to work = 15.89 miles; time = 1:18:42; pace @ 12.1 mph

I didn't do a work out (except walk my dogs) yesterday because I thought that I would do a BIG work out today by commuting to work, starting from my house...and not from the mall which meant a 39 mile commute round trip. I tried to get in some extra sleep yesterday morning before going to work because I didn't do a run in the morning and I had an extra hour of sleep (by not going to work on a bike from the mall). I had a hard time getting some extra sleep yesterday morning. I felt tired like I needed more sleep this morning. I probably would have felt okay or better if I did the whole commute starting from home, but I parked my car at the mall and went to work from there instead. I felt better once I got to work. I felt a little better during the ride, but not that great and I was slower than usual.

I try keep track of all of my bike rides - distance, time (how long it takes me from start to end) and average pace. The only time that I didn't was on a few rides from this year because the battery died on my pedometer/speedometer and I didn't get a new battery for awhile like a month or so. When I do keep track of the distance, time and average speed, I log them to LogYourRun (it's like MapMyRun) so I can compare and keep track of my progress. During a group ride recently, someone told me that I was carrying too much extra weight (I had a 1/2 gallon (2 liters) water jug because I am a camel who drinks lots of water and can put it away) and it was unnecessary because it was hold me back and the reason why I was as slow as I was (she was a faster rider than I was). So I checked my account on logyourrun to compare my rides. All of my rides are consistently the same with the same average speed/pace, whether I am carrying extra weight or nothing at all. When I'm going to work on a bike, I have my 1/2 gallon of water on my back in a small backpack, and a bag with my work clothes, cleaning stuff, and a small camera bag. THAT bag is FIVE (5) POUNDS! Even with all of that extra weight while I'm going to work, my pace/speed is actually the same or slightly better than my rides where I carried less or no extra weight. I don't like people telling me that I'm doing something wrong when I'm really doing just fine.