Ouch!

I thought I really needed that run. (I did)
I didn't need it in the sense of making numbers.
I didn't have to go 8 miles.
I didn't have to push the pace.
I didn't have to really do anything but run.

When it all started, I figured I'd run 4-10 miles.
I thought maybe 10 if I just felt it.
I thought maybe 4 if I didn't.
Once I started, I paced myself as if I was betting on less than 6. Maybe much less.

Things got tight. Nothing was too out of hand.
I just kept doing little extra loops, avoiding going home.
I just kept adding on, before taking that final direct route home.
I wasn't avoiding home, I just felt the run.

It's probably harder or longer than I should have run, but not both.

Everything was cool. Until I walked. Ouch. My knee has a new pain.

Maybe it's as simple as reading too many fast Madison race reports. I hope I'm not that vain. But certainly the Garmin does not lie.

My run, I'll take it. See you out there.

Brrrr-ick

I got in a short windy bike followed by a 4 mile run yesterday. All before the temps dropped to "cold". It was quite windy, and toasty out there. It was my first brick(bike-run workout) in some time.

I'm happy to report, I still think I run better off the bike. Unfortunately, I still think 75 degrees is HOT for running.

See you all out there.

Running Scared

Might be a slight exaggeration, but this is what happens when I have an on-call week.

It's a beautiful day out. I wanted to get a quick run in. My job needs me close by "just in case".

I decided to do two or three fast loops of the neighborhood. If I got buzzed, I'd be able to "fly" home.

The week's stress had me at a "blowing off steam" pace. I was probably going too fast for not having run in nearly a week, but it was worth it.

I'm along way off from that marathon, but it's time I start putting it on the radar.

See you out there.

Another Episode of Bike Lust

I mere hour spent on the local trails,
I find myself thinking of sales.
What penance could I perform,
to put me on the path of reform.

Oh, I made it through kettles.
I mustered up an over moraines.
All the while, grinning.
All the while, suffering.

My fork was not to keen,
Anytime I went to lean.
Every rock I hit, I heard a creak or a chime.
I worried it was past it's prime.

After days of all this bike lust,
I decided to blow off the dust.
Hours of surgery on my mag twenty-one.
All clean, now I'm done.

Was the penance right?
I cleaned with all my might.
I don't know if it can be saved.
For one more day, I can ride trails unpaved.

Oh Rita, you put your wiles on display
At a price I might hastily pay.
I can't say what will arise.
I'm relieved I took measures to compromise.


(Apologies if you made it this far. I can't go on.)

Weekend Recap..

Le Patron (the work not the home one) got on my case for working too hard.. So, I took Friday off and did a few things around the house.. I hit up a 9 mile run (long / slow emphasized here). Later we took the kids out to Kopps for dinner.

Saturday, I went out to help a friend out and do some rides pre-Trek100. We managed 20 miles or so on mucho hills and in some pretty stiff breezes. It was good for me. Then we headed for the flatland.. Shortly thereafter I pop'd a spoke. I'm pretty near sure that's a first for me (minus the north ave hill story - ask me some time).. Anyway, I walked it back while helpful locals tried to coax me into their vehicles.

Being Saturday's ride was shortened up significantly, I needed to get out on Sunday.. but I'm getting ahead of myself..

Grandma agreed it'd be fun to have the kids stop over for the night.. So the missus and I hit up a movie (Ironman, of course) and dinner at the local pasta joint. We won't mention the numerous calls from work I got which kept me from relishing a perfect slumber (can't complain having been off Friday).. Anywho, the dog let us sleep in much longer than I expected.. So a nice dog walk, and I says, "Hon, how about we hit the trails on bikes before we head to pick up the kids".. A positive response later and were off to John Muir trails..

I was a bit nervous being that it was my first time on real trails with only one gear.. but I more or less kept up with a reasonably fit woman that never bikes, but digs trail riding. I few more jaunts out there and I might almost be comfortable.. I won't say I didn't noodle some of the easy technical parts, but I also sucked it up on some inclines I might not have thought I could do.. Win a few, lose a few.. All in all, I'm feeling much better about riding that bike with only one gear on it.. (I know Muir isn't the toughest of trails by any stretch).

Well, we did get the kids back.. and it's time to crash.. Fun is over, oncall starts tomorrow. See you out there!

Ooooops

Fifty one miles on a sore throat might not have been the best plan.. Afterward, I went to bed at 9:00 only cause I couldn't go to bed at 8:00..

Woke up at midnight to do a few (30) minutes of scheduled work. After that I noted some not insignificant inflammation style pain in the ol' right knee. I'm not one of those ibupro-candy people, but I had to make an exception here.

Back up at 6:00 am to check the work and let the dog out..

Oncall starts in another week. By then I'll need one of them recovery weeks.

In a few hours when the rest wake up, it will be Mom's day.. So if you are reading this and happen to be a Mom.. Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday Morning

I'm up.. No one else is.. So, I'm procrastinating banging the dishes around by watching some cartoons in the form of Strongbad Emails.

Then, a round or two of Pop-Tire with a 238 high score (it was a fluke).

Better do some dishes and brew up some espresso. Bean of the day.

Bike day. We won't talk about the raging flames in my throat. Seems what I haven't tried is ignoring them to see if they go away on their own.

A Ride

Going out for a ride normally means a set minimum distance.. Last year that was at least 14-15 miles to me.

This year, via no willful action on my part, my new "ride" is 18-20 now. I'd like to say it's 20. I need an easy .75 to tack on the end for posterity. For now, I'll take "almost 19" as a ride.

See you out there.

A Run I Needed

After a few weeks of tough runs and "just getting through it" at 10-12 minute mile paces, I really needed to push a bit.. Here's how it turned out.

4.26 miles

1. warm up 10:38.. Yeah, I was hit with the tired all day HR spike in spite of low output.
2. Two more slow minutes until getting past the light. Tie my shoe, then head up faster/harder then ease down into "easy but form/fast" 9:54
3. easier RPE / form 9:58.. gear up for faster mile.
4. faster, form, cadence, hard for longer than mile 2 then hang on the rest of the mile clinging to form.. 8:41
5. cool down (.26 miles at11:45 pace).. 3:04

total 42:16 / 4.26 miles / 9:55 avg pace / 7:06 max pace (probably some Garmin waggle in that max)

I needed that. There's still a long way to go before marathon day.

Fun With Cameras on Bikes

These are 2 clips from the Saturday ride.. Don't blink or you'll miss the rain.

Clip 1:



Clip 2:



I did these with the time lapse feature on my camera. I have to re-work the mount as it goes sideways quite alot.. Most of those indicate bumpy roads. One image is a corner.

Off to the pool.

Quick Weekend Recap

New longest ride for the year, the 41 miler on Saturday in a pretty good rain. (I know 41 miles isn't terribly far for a new longest ride, in May).

New longest run for the year, 7.5 miles on Sunday. I wore my arm warmers and gloves in spite of the temperate weather.. Once it's 85 out I want to be ready for the heat.

On top of that I worked, Sat 9-11pm, Sun 12:15 - 5:30am, 8:00-8:30 am and 11:12-11:13am. See if you can figure out my sleep pattern there.

Mad props to all those who hammered out at Iola!

I'm not gonna lie. This morning's ride was a bit tight and in the wind. I might need a nap.

Momentum Part II

Same thing today.. I was a bit shy about running. I'm really digging the bike as of late. But I figured the fix would be quicker if I ran. And I do have to get that mileage up there somehow.

Nothing to write home about, but I got 10km plus a bit more done and in the books. It was a slow, solid 10km. There is a long way to go, but I'm counting this week as a good and reasonable start. In the battle toward consistency, I'm 14-2 in the last 16 days.

Week in review:

2 short swims, totaling 1350 yards. Hardly notable, except I got in the pool
3 bike rides, about 100km for the week.
3 runs, 13 + miles.. again, I just want to get out there.. we can ramp the miles up as I go.

I was hoping to mountain bike today, but it doesn't appear in the cards. Hopefully we can revisit this next week.

Momentum

With a workout marked down the last 12 of 14 days, I had to get out.. The winds had me second guessing. Once I was out there it was a great day. My momentum is coming around.

Reminding myself, "consistence is key". And the key to consistency is doing repeatable, recoverable workouts. I'll leave the earth shattering workouts for June through September (hopefully).

I Can't Stop Looking at This BIke

So, I decided to put it on my blog. Photo credits go to TmonT. I wish MK the best on it this season. That is one sweet looking ride. (Do the kids talk like that these days? Likely not.)

Wow! What a Weekend!

I got out for my first single speed mountain bike ride yesterday.. Wow, did we cheat the weatherman in my zip code? Yes!

As for the details on single speed. I have 2x1 gear ratio on the thing. It's easy on pavement. It's quite manageable on flat dirt and/or gravel. Once I try to do anything remotely uphill or technical.. Let's just say that needs tons of work. To be fair, my trail riding skills need mucho work. I'm anxious to do that this year!

Saturday was a two hour road ride. I was convinced I was going to get drenched. Alas, no! Beautiful, if not on the slightly cool side, weather.

I managed to get the kids squeaky clean. I may yet toss in a short run tonight.. Then the neighborhood folks are road riding at o'dark 500. At that rate, I could be back in time for a swim before work! It's either a great week, or I'm going a bit crazy... Could be both.

See you out there.

Update: went with the neighborhood guys for a good 20 miles or so.. 1 hr. Woo, better clean up for the pool. Beautiful morning.

PSA: Patch Your Computer

This is your friendly neighborhood reminder to patch your PC regularly. Unless you're really picky about what goes on your PC, you should probably just have auto update on. If you don't think this to be true, check out some recent thoughts at SANS.org.

Long story short, when a patch comes out, it takes the bad guys less time to reverse engineer it to make a hack than it does for you to fix your PC (or it's at least close).

While your at it, when is the last time you backed it all up?

Good luck, it's a tough world out there.

Spring Cleaning

Ah, the laundry is piling up with sweaty workout clothes. There are water bottles everywhere. The winds are out there kicking up. And the swing of things is soon to be back. I had a nice 25-30 mile ride today. It's time to shower up and think about putting the finishing touches on my mountain bike (like an intact front tire tube). Spring is in the air.

Anyone ride Hoyt or Harley between 6-8 AM on weekdays? I need a good (easy) before work trail to ride.

Where did they go?

I'm sure I was running well back in January/early February.. Where did those good runs go?

I will remain steadfast. I know if I keep at it. If I remain slow and steady, they will come back. Patience is easy in January. It's not so easy when the weather turns nice. Once the temps go upwards of 50's. Once the shorts go on.

It's nice to be back out there.

Check. Check. 1... 2... 3... Check

Just testing.. Is this thing on? Anyone want to run up and down the lake front today? (real slow)

Please bare with me while I flip switches in the blog template over the next few [insert time unit here]s.

Upper 30's, windy and high chance of precipitation.

Getting Back at It

Yesterday, I got out with bro-in-law for his first road ride. We did an easy 25 miles in say 1:45. It was my first ride back since pulling some unknown muscle. So far so good.

Today, I decided to chance it and run. Near six miles, I dragged bro-in-law past the beach to see if we could find him a girl. No such luck. But I got my run in.

As if this wasn't enough of a test "getting back at it", when bro-in-law took off the family and I walked the dogs another good 4.5 miles. Great test of the ol' pulled muscles..

See you all at the pool bright and early.