5:00 AM came way too early.  We were up before the sun in a vain attempt to beat the heat of the day.  It was already incredibly humid even though the temperature only read 80° when we awoke.  We cranked up the music, made our protein shakes, packed our bags, lathered on sunscreen, and hopped in the Jeep to head to Smithville Lake.  We made our traditional pit-stop at the QT in Smithville for water, gatorade, ice and post-workout shakes and parked in the lot at the Smoke and Davey Trail.  By the time we got running, it was already a balmy 85°.  The first 4 miles we ran together.  Christopher was running effortlessly, practically gliding along the trail smiling and easing into his run.  His knee and shins which were previously sore and achy weren’t giving him the problem he had anticipated.  He has been focusing on his form and making sure each step is purposeful so that he does not injure or strain anything from the waist down.  I, on the other hand, was struggling from the start.  The humidity zapped me of my strength and made me feel like I was breathing water.  At the end of the 4 miles with Christopher I shuddered to think that I still had 9 MORE TO GO.  Christopher was happy with his run and was pleasantly surprised that he was not in pain like he usually is when he finishes a run! He happily jumped on his bike (he brought along his Traveler to try with his new birthday present: DZR clip shoes!) and met back up with me on the trail to continue on with my 13 mile run.

The temperature and humidity continued to climb, and I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a less than stellar run with a new goal of simply finishing.  My pace had slowed, and it felt like I was concentrating on throwing one foot in front of the other to keep plodding on.  Christopher kept me hydrated with water and Gatorade, and he handed off my Power Bar energy gel (I love the vanilla or strawberry flavored with 25 mg of caffeine) at the 9 mile marker.  Each step I pondered throwing in the towel, but after Christopher threatened to blast me with some pop music like Britney Spears because I was being a “puss,” it made me giggle, “man up” and finish up the rest of the run.  He knows exactly what it takes to fire me up and dig deep for that inner rage to keep me going!

Well after my 13 mile run and Christopher’s cumulative 18 miles biking & running, we rewarded ourselves again with a dip in the lake!  The water was extremely refreshing, and it made the effort, sweat, and near temper tantrum worthwhile We finished out the third week of training for our respective races, and we’re looking forward to starting the 4th week with renewed motivation and focus.  Check out a short video of our day below!

Thanks for coming along on our adventures!

M&C

Because we were still excited and happy from getting engaged the evening before, we allowed ourselves to sleep in a little before meeting up with our friends Matt and Sarah for a late brunch at Sharp’s in Brookside. We wanted to keep with the theme of the weekend of being relaxed and fun, so our ride was more of the same! We rode the Trolley Trail north from Brookside to cruise around the Plaza and enjoy the warm sunshine. After a pit stop at O’Dowd’s for Bailey’s and coffee, we decided to head back home.

Below is a video of Christopher and Tom putting together the wheels for his Raleigh he’s restoring for our Tweed Ride on April 9th. Christopher found that the wheel building is not an easy task but had fun with it regardless!

Conversation 16 from www.thedirtieduckie.com on Vimeo.

And here we have yet another Sunday Funday with Jeremy in tow. We did our usual ride, starting out in Westport; we hit up Jack Gage for breakfast (and mimosas!). From there we took off and stopped in at Loose Park for a short history lesson on the Battle of Westport. We rode through the Brookside/Waldo area before stopping in at Tomfoolerie’s for a drink. After tooling around the Plaza we decided to head down the Trolley Trail, down and back, and made a mandatory stop at Yogurtini. After Jeremy departed, we rode around a little more in Westport and stopped in at Westport Cafe for coffee before calling it a day.

Mandy and Christopher

Being the weekend before my marathon, we decided to take this ride even more casually than usual. Our friend Brent met up with us to ride, and Jeremy even met up momentarily to catch a cup of coffee with us at Broadway Cafe. The weather was gorgeous and warm, and we made our way from Westport to the Plaza, down the Trolley Trail to Brookside, where we stopped in to check out the Aixois coffee bar. From there we headed to Family Bicycle to buy a new seat pouch for my brand spankin’ new road bike! We took our usual route back through Brookside, Loose Park, and back to the Plaza. Christopher is getting used to his fixie and perfecting his skid stops. Today’s ride was short and sweet, out enjoying friends and the beautiful weather!

Today was just a causal ride through the city. We started off in Westport, made our way to the Plaza for a coffee at Starbucks, then took the Trolly Trail through Brookside to Waldo. Stopped off at Family Bicycle and then headed back to stop off for a coffee at the Broadway Cafe. Today we had our good friend, Jeremy, join us for our afternoon.