"Special Treats"

I remember when I first moved to Maryland and Mike and I went on a run together at Patapsco State Park.  I wasn't exactly in running shape when I moved to Maryland but was excited that my co-worker was also a runner who had his fair share of marathons under his belt.  Before we started our run he told me there was a "special treat" at the end of the run.  Not knowing Mike too well at the time, I thought maybe the "special treat" at the end of the run was a coffee shop.  Boy was I wrong.  The "special treat" was a long, steep hill.

This weekend I sought out the "special treats" in my training.  I needed to run a shuttle for our freshman orientation backpacking trip in Western Maryland so I decided to bike the shuttle to gain access to the hilly Western Maryland country side.  The bike began at the Harpers Ferry NHP visitor center where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet and climbed out of the river valley and north toward Boonsboro.  It was a beautiful bike through the Western Maryland countryside.  The ride finished with a steep and winding climb up to the Old South Mountain Inn where the vehicles were parked.  I knew this climb was perfect for Savage Man training.  Lucky for me, I needed to shuttle two vans so I got to do this ride twice.

On Sunday I went for an 8 mile run at Patapsco State Park.  My run began with a short trail run that dropped down to the Patapsco River where I spent 5 miles of my run following the river.  My run finished with that "special treat" that Mike introduced me to 2 years ago.  I was glad that I finally got to enjoy some "special treats" this weekend.  Hill climbs are going to be critical to my success in the Savage Man.

Speaking of treats, I decided today that I am giving up sweets until after the Savage Man.  This will not be easy for me, but quite frankly I'm tired of the fact that I work out for 15+ hours a week and still don't have a triathlete's body.  I'm not saying I want to be some muscle god but it'd be nice to look like I work out.  Time to make some dietary changes.  It was between giving up beer or sweets; I chose sweets.  Those of you that know me know that when it comes to me and sweets, I have no self control.  I can't just have one of anything.  Case and point.  I bought a half gallon container of ice cream on my way home from the bike on Saturday because I was craving ice cream.  Well I ate half the container on Saturday night.  To make matters worse, I ate the second half of the container Sunday morning.  Clearly this is not acceptable.  So I'm giving up sweets all together.  No more sweet special treats just hills.