Exceeded Expectations
It is Sunday at 5:20am and I am up the earliest I have been for a workout this year. I think I am getting my act together. My friend Rob and I are supposed to ride up to Rockland Lake, but I think I am going to convince him to stay in Prospect Park. I don’t relish do a 70 mile ride on a 3.4 mile loop but I have my reasons. They are: I am coming down with a cold, I am not sure how far I am going to be able to go and I don’t want to get stuck out in the middle of no where, and lastly, I want to be home early.
While I am out riding my wife is planning on taking my kids to their grandparents’ house. However, my son asked me last night to take him to the park so we could practice baseball all day. He wants to be better than Derek Jeter. I just can’t turn down that request. We spent over 5 hours in the park yesterday practicing baseball and he wants to do so again today. Spending quality time with my children like that trumps any desire I have to go out for a long ride on my bike.
When I spoke to Rob before heading out for the ride, he agreed that we should stay in the park. The sky was heavily overcast and the sky looked to threaten rain at any minute. We started out on our ride slowly. Truth is, I was slow and Rob was riding to my pace. I struggled on this ride just about from the start. My longest ride for the year has only been 24 miles and I would have been happy to get in 40 for the day. It is scary how out of shape I’ve become. Just last year I was whipping around the park in under 10 minute loops. Now it was a struggle just to break 11 minutes. Rob was a good sport about my sluggish pace and stayed with me throughout the ride. Occasionally, e would get ahead, but would slow down at some point to let me catch him. I somehow rode with him 60 miles which was more than enough for the day. The distance completely exceeded my expectations.
Before I left for the ride, I told my wife that I would be home early so not to take the kids to her parents while she went to work. So after the ride, I went home to quickly eat, shower and dress. I then took my kids out on our bikes to the baseball fields where we had batting practice for several hours. My daughter fielded the balls while my son practiced hitting. Baseball practice was finally over after my kids discovered that they can stick a plastic water bottle over a water fountain spigot to make it shoot up into the air. They did this for about 20 minutes, until they were soaking wet and cold. We went home to have snacks and try off. We then played hopscotch and soccer out on the sidewalk of my house until it was time to go to my in-laws for dinner.
While I am out riding my wife is planning on taking my kids to their grandparents’ house. However, my son asked me last night to take him to the park so we could practice baseball all day. He wants to be better than Derek Jeter. I just can’t turn down that request. We spent over 5 hours in the park yesterday practicing baseball and he wants to do so again today. Spending quality time with my children like that trumps any desire I have to go out for a long ride on my bike.
When I spoke to Rob before heading out for the ride, he agreed that we should stay in the park. The sky was heavily overcast and the sky looked to threaten rain at any minute. We started out on our ride slowly. Truth is, I was slow and Rob was riding to my pace. I struggled on this ride just about from the start. My longest ride for the year has only been 24 miles and I would have been happy to get in 40 for the day. It is scary how out of shape I’ve become. Just last year I was whipping around the park in under 10 minute loops. Now it was a struggle just to break 11 minutes. Rob was a good sport about my sluggish pace and stayed with me throughout the ride. Occasionally, e would get ahead, but would slow down at some point to let me catch him. I somehow rode with him 60 miles which was more than enough for the day. The distance completely exceeded my expectations.
Before I left for the ride, I told my wife that I would be home early so not to take the kids to her parents while she went to work. So after the ride, I went home to quickly eat, shower and dress. I then took my kids out on our bikes to the baseball fields where we had batting practice for several hours. My daughter fielded the balls while my son practiced hitting. Baseball practice was finally over after my kids discovered that they can stick a plastic water bottle over a water fountain spigot to make it shoot up into the air. They did this for about 20 minutes, until they were soaking wet and cold. We went home to have snacks and try off. We then played hopscotch and soccer out on the sidewalk of my house until it was time to go to my in-laws for dinner.
posted by Rebel at 9:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home