Trivia Tuesday!

It is that time again. Trivia Tuesday is upon us and I am going to try this one more time to see if I can get any response before discontinuing it. These are some of the questions that run through my head from time to time. Things like is it possible to taper while increasing weekly mileage? How do you know if you have over hydrated? What qualities should I look for in a pacer? That is all I have for right now. Let me know what you think.

Three Things Thursday

Here we go again, has it really been a week already?  I guess it has, so let's get on with the festivities.

1. First thing on this weeks list is yesterday's ride with my Uncle Scot. We were supposed to do this ride last Wednesday, but something came so we ended up doing it yesterday.  To say that I was excited about the ride would be an understatement. It was like it was race day or something. By the end of the day I was all jittery and anxious. Today's ride was going to be my longest ride to date and I was a little nervous about possibly doubling the mileage of my longest ride and tripling my average daily ride. To say the least I was mentally preparing to have my ass handed to me.  The ass handing never happened, the ride went smooth and was very enjoyable.  When we were at the turn around and on our way back Scot told me that we had just passed 1hr 12mins, and that if he was doing this for his normal he would have gotten to this point at about the hour mark so I was doing pretty good. At that point we had just gone a little more than 21 miles at that point.  On the way back we played a game of chase with another biker that we passed on the bike trail back toward home. I thought for sure that at some point I just wouldn't be able to hang, and the last thing that I wanted to be was a hindrance. That time didn't happen, but I did "bonk" a little on the last hill climb. I was all better by the time I got to the top of the hill and got back up to a normal riding speed to finish. Upon completion Scot let me know that he was impressed at how well I did on this ride. I am soo ready for the next one.

2. My first marathon is less than a month away and I can't wait. My training the past two weeks has given me more confidence, and I feel that I will be ready for the big day.

3. I have the most amazing, wonderful, and amazing wife. Who if I didn't have I wouldn't be able to do the things that I have done over the past year and a half. Nor would I have the amazing family and wonderful three little boys to make for never a dull moment. I love her so much, and am glad to have found her, and lucky that she agreed to keep me.

Trivia Tuesday's?!

I am going to try another new post to see how it works. I thought this up while out on my daily lunch walk. I have decided that on Tuesday's I would ask various and random question about running, fitness, cycling, nutrition, triathlon, and myself. For all of you loyal readers to answer and provide your insight. So, please don't be bashful and let the comments flow. I like comments.

Let's get this party started shall we:

1. What is my longest weekly mileage in running?
     A) 15 miles    B) 60 miles    C) 27.2   D) 8.6

2. What is the length of your average kick when racing?

3. Do you practice your kick during your training runs?

4. How do you fuel for your workouts?

5. What shoes do I race in? How about you?

That should do it for this first trial post, so let me know how you like what I have going here.

Three Things Thursday

Well, I am gonna give this Three Things Thursday style post a try.


1. My first ever marathon the Akron Road Runner Marathon is less than 40 days away and I must that that I am getting a little nervous about the whole thing. Also I have begun to ponder all of those questions that one has before doing something new. Questions like "Am I gonna be able to cross the finish line?", "Have I trained hard enough, should I be doing more?", or "Do I have enough miles in?". It is questions like these and so many other that taunt me while I am out form my training runs. A lot of time the questions just get answered with more questions. Other times they get answered with a resounding YES and other positive answers. The one thing that this whole process has taught me is that if you think that you can, you will.  The only thing that I am concerned with right now is getting to the start line healthy and ready to roll.


2. I never thought that cycling would be as fun or addictive as I have found it to be. For the past few months I have been riding to and from work. Both as a means to save money and for a cross training supplement to my running miles. I am sad though as my time in the saddle has been cut down to only two trips to work per week due to school starting back up and the need to get the I to school on the days that my wife works. In a way I am kind of glad that this new schedule has taken place because it gives me rest/recovery days and allows me to go out for longer continuous rides in the evening to work on different bike basics and to push for better form and gear selection. I am just going to enjoy it while it lasts because soon enough I will be riding on the trainer inside wishing it was just a little bit warmer so I could ride outside.


3. This evening I took the three boys out for a walk after dinner. Towards the end of the walk I decided that I would have them do something that we haven't done before while out on our walks. Since both of the older boys want to do a triathlon next I figured that it wouldn't hurt to start doing a little bit of training with them to get them familiar with how their race is going to work.  Today, they did their first brick workout. The J and the I both followed me as I pushed the H around the perimeter of a good sized parking lot on our way home. Once the lap was complete I had them go around twice on their bikes (they were both riding while I walked) and do one lap by foot. They both thought that stopping and dropping their bikes then taking off running around the parking lot was great fun. The I had some difficulty with the run part as he developed a side stitch pretty quick into the run, and he didn't have proper footwear either. He did however finished with out cutting corners even though he had to walk the last part he never quit. The J on the other hand thought it was a blast and wanted to do more laps. Total for the workout .24 mi bike and .12 mi run. I am sure that they could do more, but after walking just over a mile doing a follow lap and still having .25 miles to get home I think that they did awesome.

That wasn't so bad I may just have to do this again.

Tuseday workout craziness and some bike humor

Well today has been kinda crazy for my work out. Actually, I think that most of my workouts lately have been kinda crazy. Mostly due to the schedule shift with the oldest boy I going back to school and I am not able to ride to work like I have been, and the days that I get to I have running to get done. However, that  is neither here nor there.

Today's work out started out with a rockin' fast paced run to the tune of 4.15 mi in 34:12. Man did that feel great, it has been so long since I have gotten to run fast since the past month has been recovery and rebuilding  runs which have been a whole lot slower. To finish off the run I did my normal cool down walk and ten minutes of strength and core training.

Then it was off for the ride to work. It started out just as any other ride to work, but today would end up being different because, I would break my to work PR and take another step toward my goal of getting to work in 15 minutes or less. Today's ride came in with a time of 17:30 minutes for my normal 5.1 mile ride into work. I took almost a full 30 seconds off of my fastest time. It would have been faster but I had to slow down for a misguided semi to make up its mind as to where it wanted to be. Followed this ride with my normal 1.4 mile walk during my lunch and I was feeling pretty good  about my workout  so far, this is where my day would change.

Not so much until I got about half way home other than the normal getting caught by traffic signals.  It was at one of these wonderful traffic stops that "it" happened. Those of you who ride with clip less pedal stop snickerin'. As I am totally stopped at a light standing in between the turn and straight lanes waiting for a chance to go when for apparently no reason at all I just had to fall over. I mean I picked up my foot to adjust how I was standing and then I was slow motion falling to the pavement.   Yeah, kinda like the picture to the right only with people pointing and laughing. I am pretty sure that I saw the lady in the shiny red car next to me shaking her head. Also, pretty sure that I let out some profanity as I was in the process of getting up off the ground.  Glad the car that wanted to turn saw me and stopped before hitting me. The light changed and off I went like nothing happened and finished off my ride. Not the best ride home that I have had but at least there was humor. And, the fitness fun wasn't over yet, I still had a run with the J to get done. We went out for a quick 1 mile run of which the J was emotional throughout. If I had known that he hadn't had nap I probably would have cut the run short. Actually I tried to get him to stop early and he wanted nothing to do with it. Capped off the evening with some homemade pancakes and a quick walk with the family. An all around good day.  Hope that you had not only a great fitness day but, a great day overall enjoying your families and life in general.

Full Marion hill ride CONQUERED!!!

If you remember, a few days a go I attempted an intense hill ride. If you don't remember or are new you can read about it here and or here.  Let's do a quick review, the last hill ride ended with a partial fail, as I had to get off and walk part of one hill. Even though I don't really consider it a fail mostly because I had run 11 miles that morning, and really didn't have much left in my legs. Sunday's ride looked something like this.

Yesterday's ride looked like this.

Now this wasn't just a whim ride. It was planned,  after my last posting to Facebook my uncle Scot (super rider) contacted me about doing the full Marion hill ride later in the week. I jumped at the opportunity to ride with and learn from his expansive riding experience. Yesterday I was completely recovered from the recent activity and set out with fresh legs to conquer that which I thought I may not be able to. Not because of a lack of physical ability, but more so from a lack of experience.

As luck would have it the entire way out to our turn around point we had a light breeze which made all of these great inclines just that much tougher. Up through the turn around point I had felt pretty strong with the exception of a lengthy incline somewhere between mile 4 and 5, and during the long drawn out incline from mile 7 to right about mile 8. That kinda sucked, but at no time did I feel like quitting or that I wasn't going to be able to hang. Well, at least not until the return trip. It all started around mile 12 when my bike decided to drop four gears to the lowest sprocket mid a moderate hill climb causing me to burn up valuable muscle and strength resources which I was going to need on the next very steep and long hill climb. This next hill climb was the very same spot where I had to get off and walk up to the top before restarting during the last ride.

As we started our ascent I was pointing out the spot where I had to get off and walk to Scot, and he said "you won't have to this time.", I wasn't so sure, but as we passed that spot and continued onward I began to realize that he was right and that I wouldn't need to stop today. Somehow I found the extra push that I need and as we crested the top of the hill Scot informed me that the climb that we had just completed was at the very least a 14 degree incline. That same hill section is roughly a quarter of a mile long which made that climb seem never ending. After that the rest of the ride was smooth and pretty easy. Which gave us a chance to chat, and I got to hear a few of his riding stories. We rode back toward my house until the road splits off and Scot let me know that he was going to get some more miles, and that we would have to do it again.

I could not agree more, and can't wait until I get the chance to go!

What was I thinking today... misery likes company.

What happened?

I am so sick and tired of this stupid weather! I am sick of the 70+ degree temps. at 5:30 in the morning, and the 95+% humidity at the same freaking time. Every endurance athlete knows that heat and humidity plays a major part in training during the summer in some locations, but to what degree depends on where you are and how conditioned you are to it.  The pic of the sorry soul at the top of this page is a testament of what humidity can do to you.

I have been running and or riding all summer and have either been lucky or better prepared for my long training runs as I have not had too much of a problem with either the heat or humidity. Until today.  The picture at the top was taken just after my 11 mile long training run this morning. I had planned on doing 16, but some pain in my leg and the over bearing humidity claimed the rest of my miles.  Sure it sounds like a cop out, but I have proof to back up my claim.

Two weeks ago I did a 13.2 mile long training run where the morning weather was about the same temp but there was only about 60 to 70% humidity. I finished this long training run in 2 hours and felt great. However, after today's 11 mile run which lasted 1.75 hours, and when I finished I sounded so bad that my wife came out of the house and asked if I was alright and if I was puking. I, of course, was not, but felt like I probably should have been. The last long training run was also a lot more challenging route than today's.  The only major difference was the humidity.  All I can say is that I am so done with this stupid heat and humidity in the early morning. It is not fun anymore. It needs to go away.

On a more positive note, the glutton for punishment that I am decided that an afternoon ride in the heat of the day would be a wonderful way to push myself and work out all of the lactic acid that was building up in my legs. Sometimes I am not too smart, but it was just supposed to be a nice easy pace hill ride. Well, being competitive I some how managed to turn it into something a little more than easy. Actually, it was down right hard, and by the time I arrived back home I wasn't sure I was going to be able to stand up let alone unclip and get off my bike after we had come to a complete stop in the driveway.  Luckily both of those things happened in the proper order at the end of my ride. As I didn't end up laying on my side clipped into my pedals with small chunks of rock embedding themselves into my flesh. Yeah for that! You can read more about the ride here. As for this epic day of duel work outs I am throwing it out there in honor of those that TRIed today and hope that all of your races went well and you had a great time rockin' them. I will be joining you as a triathlete next year.

Hills... What hills? or My 1st hill training route attempt.

Hills, What hills? I don't see any hills.

Today my afternoon antsiness got the better of me. I had already done 11 miles for my long training run, but somehow I didn't feel like I was done. So, after we got the boys down for their rest time I decided that it would be a great idea to go for a ride.  I guess in the grand scheme of things it actually is a good idea to be active after your long runs, but I am pretty sure that this is not what they mean by keep active.

I was just heading out for a slow take it easy kind of recovery ride, but somewhere in the first mile that all changed. My competitive side kicked in and took full control of my ride. I guess it was reading all of the tweets and posts of all the people doing tri's today. I kinda wished that I was competing today too. Well this leisurely ride I had set out to do quickly turned into this hill ride that my uncle Scot was telling me was the best hill training ride in our neck of the woods.  I think that I cut it off short because he said it was about 15 miles and my route only ended up being 11. That is okay by my because this route was no joke, and about did me in as it was. 

I probably shouldn't have even attempted this with it being the hottest part of the day and having no water with me, but I felt well hydrated and had just eaten not to long ago so I was plenty fueled for the ride. It all started off pretty good, then the hills started, and not your ordinary average hills either. My first challenge I was prepared for as I have ridden past and driven up it many times.  I mis-judged my gearing, but managed to make it up at a pretty good pace. I thought that this particular hill would be my biggest challenge and the rest would be kind of rolling.  Boy was I ever WRONG. I had no idea what was in store for me on the rest of this hill training ride, but I was to find out soon. My next surprise came in the form of  a huge down hill section of road. So huge in fact that I broke the speed limit by almost ten miles an hour with a top speed of 44.3 MPH. About half way down I had the pleasure of being hit by a big freakin' bug right in my shoulder. YIKES! That freakin hurt, and I think that it was stuck to my shirt too. In fact it almost made me lose control as I am pretty new to the being hit with big bugs a high speeds kinda thing.  I held it together well enough to focus on the next vicious hill and clear it relatively well. Next was the turn around and right back in to another hill and the monster one that I had just came down. I thought that I was going to be able to stay on my bike and clear it, but I screwed up my gear changes and had to walk my bike .14 miles to the top and start the return trip over.

The next section of road is fairly relaxed and gave me a welcome break from the massive climbs that I had just completed.  I was slightly relieved knowing that I had a huge decline coming up followed by a sharp but quick incline back to a flat which led back home.  I wasn't finished with surprises for this ride yet though. before I could reach the long decline someone tried calling me which prompted me to lose focus and swerve a bit going faster than normal. Then as I was reaching a peak downhill speed I was once again struck by a big freaking bug. This time it was in my cheek just below the rim of my glasses. All I could think was damn that hurt, and really? that didn't just happen did it.

The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, and went really smooth. Until I had to stop that is. Upon stopping in my driveway I got unclipped alright, but I almost crumpled under the weight of my own body and had the bike fall on me.  I regained my legs and averted the catastrophe. All in all I feel that it was a pretty productive ride and look forward to the rematch.

Ride Stats:

Total Time: 46:14
Avg. Speed : 14.32
Top Speed: 44.2mph
Total Distance: 11.04
Total Climb: 904ft (I think it might be more my GPS has been funny)

July Recap

I haven't posted a recap of anything lately, with the exception of a few races. I thought that now would be a good time to start a new post tradition on this here blog, and do a workout recap for July.

July was definitely a busy month for me. I really got into my riding back and forth to work, I pulled the trigger on the 50K in December, and got serious about finding a triathlon for next year.  I also ran my longest run to date as I continue to train for my first marathon which is just 52 short days away. All I can say about my training this month is that it has been hot, hard, and plentiful. I broke a bunch of training PR's like longest run duration, furthest distance, longest total duration, most calories burned, highest elevation, and that goes for both my running and cycling this month. It has been totally crazy, and not just because of the time put in but it never ceases to amaze me that I can fit it all in. What a great feeling knowing that no matter what it is that you want you can always find a way to get it done.  That last statement pretty much sums up July for me.

Random after run morning sky.

Riding stats:
156.8 miles/ 11:10:21 total time
Running stat:
94.4 miles/ 14:23:58 total time

A post about my new bike.

A special package came this past Thursday, one that I had been waiting for since Saturday when I ordered it.

Bike in a box.

My new ride has arrived!  This is the one that will be carrying me through my first triathlon, and hopefully beyond.  There is just one problem, it needs put together, set up, and adjusted. It is not that I am not capable, I am very capable. It is just that I know pretty much nothing about bikes. How they are setup, how to adjust them, how the individual parts are supposed to operate.

Enter my super bike wizard uncle Scot. My uncle has been riding most of his life and most definitely knows how to build, fix, adjust, and ride a bike. He is quite literally a cycling encyclopedia.  So lucky am I to have such a great resource available to me. He was instrumental to me getting the best bike for me and the money I had available, and was elated when he offered to help assemble it with me. He has all of the right tools to make the job easier. So this past Saturday I headed down to Scot's house to get the assembly on, and I am glad he was helping.

In progress.

As you can see by the picture there was a fair deal of work to be done and adjustments to be made.  All in all the assembly went very smooth and I learned a great deal about my new bike and cycling in general. We, well mostly Scot had the bike together in about an hour or so, and soon enough all that was left to do was take it for a test ride.  Well that and for me to learn real quick how to ride a bike with clipless pedals and real bike shoes. Actually a quite scary proposition for me, I don't like feeling like I don't have a way out.  After a quick test ride in regular shoes I was ready to try out the new shoes with the pedals. Now to say that I had a few issues getting in the first pedal would be an understatement. I felt like such a noob, but after I got the first one on the second one was no problem. Man did this bike ride so smooth, it was all of the things my old bike wasn't. It was quite, shifted smoothly, stayed in gear, and felt down right easy to pedal even on some moderate hills. I can not be a more happy boy right now.

New bike and shoes.

A big shout of THANKS again to my uncle Scot for making the transition to and building of my new cycle smooth and enjoyable.