up out of the saddle

so i did as intended - alarm went off at 545 and i struggled out of bed... it really wasnt that bad, although a nap may happen soon (yes, i know it is only 10am)..  made the coffee, let the dog out, attended to the FB addiction, hurled the bike up on the car...  at 709 I was on my way down the road.  i realise the turn around time was not as quick as one would assume but i was please with it.  I was at the park by 722.
LUGGED the bike back off the car and started on my way...  i had every intention of doing 10 miles.  but you know once i get started plus the back and forth aspect of six mile creek, i find it hard to stay motivated
i have found that the internal conversation in my head while swimming has become quite rhythmic and peaceful.. i find myself swimming along and not paying too much mind to the passing of laps - of course that always screws with the count..  but on the bike i have yet found that rhythm of cycle cycle cycle cycle oh where did the time go... i am getting close but not quite
so at 4 miles i decided 8 would probably be the accomplishment of the day... turns out it was probably closer to 8.6 but.... 
unfortunately today the regulars i have gotten used to seeing the past two weekends werent there - granted i was there about an hour earlier than ususal but is suspected by the time i left i would see them
and if i think that riding for 6 miles in a back and forth pattern is rough - i can only imagine these few runners that do it...
so i peddled along....  i used the highest gear i could muster in an effort to give the legs a better workout
i need to do some hill work - which is not an otpion on the trail - but i dont want to forego stamina and endurance by winding myself on a hill and then being down for the count - so for now it is high gears
the other thing i tried today - that has been a struggle for me since i started back on this bike thing 2 years ago, lifting myself out of the saddle...
technically the longer you can stay in the saddle the better as standing uses some of the same muscles as running and can fatique those muscles before the run aspect of the race
but up out of the saddle is truly helpful on those really bad hills - so i figured i need to get on that
plus if i am going to start taking my friend's spin class i should try to get better at the concept
unlike my childhood - nowadays when i stand on the bike i feel like all sequence of peddling gets muddled, my legs are moving fast and out of sync with my body. on the downward motion i am convinced my chest is going to smack into the handle bars and eventually my feet will slip and my chil with slam into the handle bars... hence my hesitation...  lo and behold this morning something seemed to kick in, the feet and legs and body struggled at first but did in fact get in sync...  it was a cool feeling... i need to add that more frequently...
from the 8 mile ride i did do 2 miles on foot, only a very little run...
overall it was a good feeling
now on with the rest of my day