Half-marathon training – Week 4 – Always carry a wrench

Last week was the first “step-back week” on my training schedule. That means I did slightly less mileage in preparation for an increase in the next week. I ran 3m on each of Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. My cross training on Wednesday was 30 minutes on the stationary bike and a few weights.

On Saturday I was supposed to do 40 minutes of cross training. Instead Matt and I did a 26 mile (42 km) bike ride. Basically we went from Gas Works Park on Lake Union along the Burke Gilman trail to Tracy Owen Station Park in Bothell at the top of Lake Washington and back again. Part way into the trip I got a flat tire. I’d never gotten a flat before so I thought it was pretty neat. That was until we realized that my back wheel isn’t a quick release. We didn’t have a wrench with us so we couldn’t take the wheel off and change the tube. Fortunately we were able to borrow a wrench from a man whose house backed onto the trail. He was super nice and even went back into his house and found a second wrench of the size we needed that he said he’d “had for 20 years and didn’t use anymore” and gave it to us. That wrench has now gone into the set of items I carry around in my pannier.