Riding with 'The Whiner'

Tuesday, April 6, 2010


After my second gagging session during a recent run, I knew I would have to be doing something to stop this unpleasant experience. In the past, I’ve been able to incorporate water stops along the way, but there are none in the park at this point (fountains are turned off to prevent freezing pipes – after April’s 6th day above 80 degrees. I think they missed the memo about global warming). I’ve seen people running with water bottles on their hips or even carrying them, but neither of the solutions sounds like something I want to do. I had another plan, though.

I grabbed John’s camel back, which he had left with me from my last camping trip. Camel backs are water containers that look like a back pack and you wear in the same way. A sipping hose runs from the pack and is long enough to clip on the shoulder straps and in close proximity to your mouth allowing you to take drinks while hiking, riding or running without any inconvenience. This one holds two liters of water, but I put in about 8 ounces. I just wanted enough to keep my mouth wet and to see how uncomfortable it might be while running. I’ve used it hiking and it’s great for that.

John was coming over for a ride, so I was only looking for a 30-minute run to try out the camel. I strapped it on once arriving at the park and headed for the trails. Talk about noisy. The water was sloshing with every step, but the weight was unnoticeable. I guess after carrying a 60 pound pack, I shouldn’t have been too surprised. I took my first sip after 5 minutes and about every 5 minutes throughout the run. I had nothing close to a gagging incident and felt terrific for the whole run. This really was a perfect solution, though I wonder how warm the water would get on a hot day in the sun on a run of an hour or more. We’ll see.

John joined me for a ride shortly after my return from the run. He was whining before he turned off the car.

“Wow – it’s hot. And windy, too. Are you going to go easy on me?”

“Wah…wah…wah. Quit your whining or I might write about it in my blog,” I said.

“You’d write about it whether I did it or not – so I may as well.”

Good point. He whined that he only had one water bottle on such a hot day – I had two for the two holders on my bike. I suggested that in the future – like for our 55-mile ride next week – he have a second bottle for his.

We started with the wind at our backs and I reminded him of this factor so that he wouldn’t be surprised when it was in our face for the return trip.

“Don’t take me on any hills and for sure don’t take me any where near ‘The Lung’,” he admonished.

Now…unless you’re new to riding around this area…and he’s not…you would know that unless you go up to the school parking lot and ride in circles, you’re going to hit some hills. I elected not to point this out since that would only cause he to whine about it now AND when we actually climbed the hills.

We went through Willoughby Hills (named appropriately) and headed down a steep hill into Waite Hill, the adjoining, scenic burb.  He knew where we were and began complaining again.

“Oh man…I hate that hill we have to ride up. Can’t we go another way?”

“John – the only way to avoid going up a hill…since we just came down one…is to stay here.”

“I’m okay with that,” he said.

We rode the hill. And three others before returning home. The wind was a beast over the last half and we both struggled in. He complained continuously…it’s his median. We ended up with an hour and a half of riding and coupled with the run, I was completely played. He’s not in bad shape and I’m sure he’ll be able to handle the 55 mile ride in ten days.

By the way, I figured I needed to treat myself for the double, so I had a large bowl of Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream with Natural Bean Specks later that night. I covered it in peanuts and chocolate sauce, too. I mean…what’s the point of all that exercise if you can’t have some rewards.

Run duration: 32 minutes. Bike duration: 96 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 running. 120 biking.

Calories burned during workout: 550 running. 1,425 biking.