Great Week Part II

Well, I put on another 10 miles of run. I'm not sure it's good to double your weekly run milage in one day. I went slow and my knee felt fine. I'm a bit late to be where I am in the season, but I'm very happy to be here none the less.

Thanks to the latest Podrunner podcast "Run in the Sun" for helping out.

Week's totals review: 1.5 miles or so, 90 miles or so, 20 miles or so.. 10 hours or so.

Now, where's my mountain bike?

Two-a-Day Workouts

I thought one 3 hour ride was good yesterday. Yet, it seemed like the day was missing something after Tee ball.

So, we headed over to Ben's on 10th. To pick up trail-a-bikes at a great price. I felt like we were getting the "twin discount" we used to get at all the car seat, baby stroller stores. OK we had to endure some screaming and carrying on whilst the kids revolted. (I tell ya kids these days don't know what's good for 'em.)

Once home, the instructions were simple from the store "just install the pedals". Well sure, and seat, handle bars, zip ties and protective cardboard... luckily in addition to a pedal wrench, I already owned Allen wrenches. I had to decide if I should leave the cardboard advertisement in the wheel for aerodynamic effect or not. (I took it out). Attaching to bikes went pretty smoothly... This was all done pretty speedily, due to the help of my 5 year old boy handing me tools.

Cutting to the real story. One was scared. One was excited. Once we got rollin' they were all similes. We rode down to the lake and out to a point where we could see back at the city. It was fun, fun, fun all the way. "Are you both glad we went to the bike store now?" "YAAAA!!!"

Opening up new roads is great.

A side note, I was recently listening to the latest Zentri podcast about "The Art of Letting Go". I find there is plenty I can and need to let go of. Yet at the same time, choosing the right new item wisely can open up a wonderful new experience. (Yes it was hard to go to Ben's and not ask about Rita)

What a Great Week

Taking right off from the momentum of the WORS race at Suamico, I had a great week. Man, I really felt good after Suamico. I put in some good miles and good hours this week. I think I even managed a perfect LSD bike today, though only 2:40 in duration. I got home hit the rainbox. Then we were all off to the boy's tee ball game.

If everyone is good maybe we will see Wall-E later.

Numbers: ~8 hours, 2500 yards, 81 miles, 10 miles. Unless I squeeze in a long slow run in the morning.

See you out there.

Looking Back: Trek100 Ride Report '08 Version

The Setup

Last minute I signed up, avoided missing my daughter's first ballet recital, got some great donations, and decent ride weather.

Who?

I rode with a couple pals. We all kept an eye on each other. We hadn't bike together much (once), but we mustered through it.

Why?

To raise cash to fight childhood cancer.

What?

100km (63 miles for the metric challenged) bicycle ride on the road.

The Good

Aside from the obvious fund raising/helping aspect, it was a beautiful if not slightly hot day. I got to hang with some peeps and say "Hey!" to some other peeps. Win/win. Automobile traffic was 99 to 1 wonderful. Thanks. That one guy, we'll give him a pass and just hope he thought better of it once he got home.

The Bad

This wasn't really my year for traffic (bicycle) negotiation. I'd heard plenty of "oh be safe around those 'century riders'" and such. Whilst I think, "hey, I'm one of them you're giving the business". Yet, I was in the wrong place and time for much of the ride this year. Riders blowing by unmanned stop signs were the norm from were I sat. Even some weirdness at the end where 3-4 riders would fly past us then all but stop in front of us.. Just plain silliness. I hope in future years I don't run into these folks, as normally I'm not around them. I just got my share this year. I trust the folks reading this are not the ones that need to be told. But, please don't act like "I'm out here for a sponsored event, so I can do what I want". It's going to ruin someone's Christmas one day. Enough of my rant pedestal.

The Ugly

Some time after my ride, after all the free ice cream, mocha's, food, massages and such. The storm of the decade rolled in. You've seen the "Midwest Floods" headlines. I hope no one got stuck out there at mile 75 of the 100. It was nasty. By this time, I was at home watching the end of my road go under 4 feet of water.

What I Can't Say Enough

It's easy for me to ride, thanks for donating.

Race Report: WORS The Reforestation Ramble

At the last minute urging from a few more or less local, would be troublemakers gone mountain bikers. I showed up to WORS numero 5 Suamico Reforestation Ramble. "It's a good pre-Chequamegon ride", they said.

So, I threw the results of my daughter's pre-op tests to get her out of surgery at the last minute on Friday (read "threw" as "answered truthfully"). We had to wait out the effects of the pre-op "I care about nothing" juice. Awful fun to watch on a 5 year old. Once we got out of there, I was cleared for Sunday racin'.

I watched the weather all day Saturday with a nervous eye. I had a hunch I was going to get to drive up north just to get to watch a thunderstorm. As fate would have it, I wasn't going to get off so easy.

It was odd shoving off at 8am for a race 2 hours away. I felt like I slept in. An odd feeling for race days. To boot, I had yet to sign up. I didn't spend a week prepping for it. I didn't even spend a week knowing about it. I love that about WORS races.

I arrived a short bit after 10:00 AM and headed for registration. I got the gory details out of the way quick. Before I knew it, I was all stamped and ready for my first Sport SS race.

For the technical details on my bike. I used 2x1 gear ratio and some continental 1.95 width tires. I've got a Surley singulator on a spacer style converted Giant ATX 780 from 10+ years ago with a mag21 on the front. A.K.A. "what I own".

On to the race. I lined up about where I thought I should (read "at the back of sport men"). Early on I passed a few riders at the back. Then we headed into the singletrack section. This is where my experience (one trail ride this year) started to show. I had a blast and just tried to relax and flow with it, but I need more practice. At some point fairly early on, an invisible tree stump grabbed my right pedal and sent me down. My front broke loose at the headset a bit. I tightened it up and carried on. Unfortunately, I didn't get quite as battle scar muddy as I had hoped. Better luck next time.

I hit a few dark spots in the middle. "Why am I here?" But I was listening to the Conrad Stolz interview from SimplyStu on my way up. He talked about keeping your mental picture good and just enough rubbed off. I got in a slow groove and my spirits rose shortly.

On the second lap the elite and comp folks started coming by. Man, they are beyond fast. All were incredibly courteous. I was admittedly a bit nervous about being in they way. In short order, I was pretty good at getting out of the way and getting back going.

Well, long story short, I made it around twice. Nothing speedy, but I got to the line. I had fun and didn't break anything important. I'm slightly more confident that after the RickW prescribed North Ave. hills "until you cramp, then 4 more repeats" I should be ready for this Fat tire 40 thing.

Recovery was good. I felt great the rest of the day and today too. I had a good swim this morning, and a much better run tonight. My knee has stopped bugging me. WORS must be just what I needed! Magic elixir!

Speaking of magic elixir, I hit up the mobile Muddy Cup Cafe post race for some coffee.. After yukking it up with the regulars, the caffeine got me home.

Thanks to TmonT and crew, RickW, Liz, R. Tool man, Bubba, Coop, and those others that were all cool to me but I didn't list here. Special thanks to Gretchen for not running over me when I crashed.

See you out there.

Praying for No Rain

Yep, I'm way behind on my blogging. More on that later.

I've got as much of a green light as a guy is going to get. Please no rain. See you at Suamico! Don't forget the new start times.

Me-Me-Me Meme?

I got tagged.

Rules:

See bottom of post.

If you’re tagged, you will find your name at the end of this post. You should then copy the rules (or your version of them), and the set of questions onto your blog post, provide your own answers, and then tag 5 new people.

Just to be sure that everyone tagged knows they have been invited to play, go to their blogs and leave them a special comment letting them know, and refer them to your blog for details.

Once the chosen have answered the questions on their own blog, they should come back to yours to tell you.

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Following my wife around on 40 minutes runs to and from the lake. Interspersed with in-line skating, bicycling, and just plain whatever. Those were the days. Get up in the morning. How about a 5 mile skate around the lake. Let's eat. How about a run? Want to walk downtown to a nice restaurant? It was like Ironman dating.

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?

Worst : A bad day of racing, it's still better than.... Racine 1/2 in 2005. It was the first hot day of the year. I was used to training in 60's/70's with shorts and not to much heat. By the end of race day, we were looking at 99-102 depending on the thermometer you were looking at. When my wife and kids were heading toward the lake and I was in T2, it was a close one. But I carried on to the run. If it hadn't been for a many residents with hoses, I'm not sure I would have made it.

Best : Hard to pick just one. But my run at devil's lake sprint tri. I squeaked under 9's/mile and finished with nothing left. Quite memorable.

3. Why do you run?

What day is it? To offset Kopps intake. To free myself. For meditation. To de-stress. And any other myriad of reasons.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

Best: Run frequently.

Worst: Something about Guatemalan Insanity Peppers, I can't remember.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

My brother and I set off a pink smoke bomb in my Mom's yellow Le Car when we were kids. Driving home there was still pink smoke coming out from under the front hood. We were safety minded kids that thought the ashtray was a good place for fire. Pink smoke billowing out of a parked car on hwy 20 isn't something one soon forgets.


Tagging

I'm not a big tagger type. If you want to be tagged, you are tagged. Comment here and let me know. If you don't want to be tagged, then I ended the great pyramid scheme meme right here. Up to you.

Happy Father's Day

Way behind on the blogging. I thought I'd better start with this one.

Happy Father's Day. Pass it up.

PSA: Kettle South

A not so close look at this trail map makes me think it won't bug any of you kettle riders. But if you're heading to Muir this weekend or kettle south in general, please take a look at the 100 mile endurance run map.

Carry on.

Saturday, I Ride

I have been riding the Trek 100 for the last several years, I am riding again this year. Admittedly, this year was put together very last minute. There was the promise of my daughter's first ballet recital scheduling conflict (which was resolved). There were work commitments creeping in. Though it seems I may be squeezing it in as the years come around. I'm happy to announce I'm riding in the Trek 100 this year to raise money for MACC fund.

In interest of full disclosure. I love to ride. This is not a chore to be frank. I do find myself surprised each year by how much perspective the ride provides me. It's not my everyday Saturday ride.

While I love to ride, on Saturday I ride for:

• The names I know.
• The morning of the ride, I will hear stories of the many children who have battled cancer. I ride for them.
• I ride with the memory of Dad.
• I ride for my (former) babysitter.
• I ride for coworker's friend.
• I ride for another coworker's band mate.
• I ride for my neighbors.
• I ride for those I meet at many a turn who've been brave in the face of cancer.
  

I'm not a high pressure fund raiser kind of guy. If you read this and feel moved to donate. Or just if you enjoy my blog. If there is someone you'd like to ride for but can't get out there to do it. Please donate here.

Thank you from those I ride for. Of course, thank you from me.

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.