Wild Hogs and running

I took my baby out for a long ride on Saturday. My riding club from work goes to Talimena Arkansas every year to see the wonderful colors of fall. It's a 5 hour drive from OKC and I hadn't ridden for a long time. Needless to say, my butt is not very happy with me today. Most of my problem comes from the fact that I had to ride straight through on the way back because my alternator went bad. I couldn't stop for more than a minute or two or the motor would die and wouldn't restart. So I rode 270 miles without stopping. Just ask my butt, he'll tell you all about it! He's reminding me of it every time I move.

The running club ran 20 miles this morning and I was to join them. Of course I didn't make it. 6 AM came way too early and I was too sore anyway. Once I did get moving I managed to get over to Lake Hefner and run 11 miles. I also was able to keep an 8:15 pace for the entire run. OKC is blessed today with 25 mile per hour winds out of the North so it wasn't the easiest of runs. 

I'm trying to get back to a normal life/training schedule. I am still feeling so burnt out and tired. When I run it feels like I'm wearing bricks for shoes. I can't even remember what it felt like to have a good relaxing run. I hate dreading my next run. It's not that I don't like running, I dread them because I worry about how it will go. What happened to the joy of running? Even when I run easy I can't seem to enjoy it anymore. So anyway, I'm trying to relax and let this pass. I've already given up my goal of a 3:15 and I've dropped down to the half marathon at Tulsa. I really don't care too much about those but I really want to enjoy running again. I'll get there, I just need some time and some normality again.

OK so I don't want to end this post on a sour note so I'll tell you a little more about the ride yesterday. My riding club consists of a bunch of middle-aged engineers who happen to own motorcycles. You'd think that there would be a bunch of Harleys but out of 15 bikes yesterday there was only one Harley. Most were of the Japanese make. I ride a Victory which is American made. So anyway, we are one bad-ass group of balding hell raisers! Wild Hogs!! We look tough in our high-dollar riding suits, who needs leather and chains. When we ride into town people fear for their lives. Not because we will intentionally destroy their town but because we really can't ride that well! Put 92 cubic inches of horsepower between a geeky engineer's legs and you've got a recipe for disaster. It's a wonder I ever make it home alive. 

Thanks for listening