Back In The Saddle

Woohoo! Went for my first bike ride post-partum this afternoon. It's actually maybe only my 3rd ride since I found out I was pregnant... for some reason I just completely stopped riding the day I saw the little plus sign on the stick, save for maybe one or two little rides here and there. Looking back, that really wasn't necessary (to just stop riding) but for whatever reason that was my choice at the time.

A few days ago I was at the gym and ventured onto an exercise bike to warm up before my weight routine. Actually, the only reason I attempted to sit on the bike seat was because all the treadmills and ellipticals were in use, so the bike was really my only option. With some trepidation, I gingerly mounted the exercise bike and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of pain I felt. It made me think that I may be able to get out on my road bike this weekend...

And today was the day! I was so happy to bbe out there... felt so free... for the first 45 minutes. Then it started to hurt. Mostly my back and neck. Crazy how my little 22 mile 'recovery ride' (that I used to do on Tuesdays when I was training for Ironman) became a massive endurance event today that left me feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. And who turned all the little hills into mountains over the last few months anyway? This mama has a lot of work to do before regaining my cycling fitness. Luckily I feel sure that it will come back, but it'll just take some time in the saddle before that happens. I'm gonna have to get a bike trainer so I can ride inside during the week... I think weekday rides outside are going to be nearly impossible now that I have a baby to care for full time. Saturday mornings will, however, once again become my riding days and I'm really looking forward to regaining that routine.

In other good news, I ran about 4 miles today with the jogger. It's quite hilly around my house though and I did have to walk some of the uphills. It was hot and the stroller is heavy and the hills are big and what other excuses can I come up with? I gave birth three weeks ago... maybe that counts for something.

So although it feels great to be running and riding a bit again, for the next several weeks I'm going to continue to concentrate on swimming and make sure I get 5 swims in per week. After the Double RoughWater (Dec 7) I'll put swimming on a back-burner and start to run/ride more. I'm conjuring up some semblance of a 'training plan' in my head and I like it.