A Ticket To Kona

Happy 4th - July 4, 2009

Our planned fishing outing this morning out in Lake Ontario was canceled due to strong winds coming out of the north.  The strong winds created waves greater than 4 feet and led to a small craft advisory.  Sometimes I don't think people in the United States realize how big the Great Lakes are.  Lake Ontario is almost as wide as Pennsylvania and almost as high.  Today was just a nice but windy day but severe storms could leave waves exceeding 8 feet high and could topple boats less than 20 feet long.

So instead of fishing, I took a walk down to my old childhood stomping grounds (I grew up right on the river at the top of the gorge).  In the above picture, that's Canada on the right and the good old U.S. of A. on the left.  The picture (above) is looking up river back towards Niagara Falls (which is probably about 4 miles up river.)

This is a shot looking downriver.  That's the Lewiston-Queenston bridge and the Canadian power plant on the left and the American power plant on the right.  Our power plant supplies much of the electricity for the Northeast United States.

It was good to be home and down by the river.  I loved the river as a kid (and still do as an adult) but undoubtedly some would wonder what was so great about the river.  They obviously lived sheltered lives if they had to ask why a kid would love the river while growing up.  There was always something to do.

• You could always try and catch fish (the river is loaded with all kinds of species).
• You could throw rocks in the water.  I never could hit Canada (not that I tried...)
• You could build stuff out of sticks.
• You could go hiking along the trail that goes all along the water.
• You could try and catch grasshoppers and bugs.
• You could have a contest to spot the seagull flying the highest.
• You could shout across the water, "Canadian fisherman stink!!!"  That seemed to always make us laugh.
• You could build a boat out of sticks and leaves and then try to sink it with rocks and sticks.
• You could always find a way to get your shoes wet no matter how hard you tried to stay away from the water ("I don't know Mom, they just got wet???")
• Or you could just sit on a giant rock, look at the water and be happy that you weren't in school.

What more could you ask for while growing up?

A number of years ago they built a walk around fishing pier at the bottom of the power plant so I took a walk around the bend to watch some others do some fishing while enjoying their holiday.

If you are a thrill seeker, you could always buy a ticket for one of the many jet boat tours that run the river up through the rapids.

And of course after my morning hang out session down at the river I watched Le Tour! 

Have a happy and safe holiday.

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 114 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 172 - Total days trained in 2009
• 25 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 5.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 960.25 - Miles run in 2009

In Da House - July 3, 2009

 

My parents appear to be all ready for the 4th of July celebration complete with the Marine Corp flag.  There is a marine "in da house."

Above is another picture of said Marine's organic garden.  Apparently they try to grow whatever they want???  I've never seen a plant like the one above.  I would imagine it is very popular amongst the members of the military.

And now for my vacation science lesson.  For you to be reading this, about a trillion floating atoms have assembled in a precise and integrated way to become "you."  It is an assembly so complicated and precise that we can only hope that these trillion floating atoms agree to stay assembled in a somewhat similar fashion.  Although to move faster in triathlon, we actually have to guide a few billion atoms here or there to add some mitochondria, muscle mass, an expanded vascular system and some better abdominal muscles so we could look better for our race photos.

I'm not quite sure how or why these atoms have assembled in such a manner.  Being "us" is a thankless job with very little appreciation thrown the atoms way.  In a nutshell, they do their job for zero glory or gratitude.  For all of their attention to their precise roles, they don't really care about our USAT rankings.  I'm not even sure they know that we ride carbon?  What makes it all the more interesting is that the atoms that compose us (in our entirety), not a single one of them is actually alive.  They are just a bunch of protons, electrons and neutrons bound together and temporarily agree to staying intact.

Now the interesting thing about our atoms is that they eventually agree to part ways and go on to other projects after a period of time.  Atoms come together to form triathletes for about the same amount of time they come together to form ice-skaters, hot dog vendors, lawyers and Polish endurance junkie bloggers; approximately 650,000 hours (or about 75 years although for the record I'm living to at least 100).  That's on average.  After that, they move on to other contract assignments.  I'm not even sure who gives the orders or why they decide to split and move on to other projects.  But all things come to an end, even the Jackson 5 and Milli Vanilli.  We may think we become a pile of dust, but in reality, the atoms just move on to form other things, maybe even Slowtwitch readers or a piece of carbon.

It's a very amazing process and an extraordinary chain of events that allows a trillion atoms that are not alive themselves to come together and become something that is very alive and real that is capable of screwing up their nutrition on race day or doing too much intensity within a base building period.  I'm not sure how my atoms came together to form such a slow 5k runner but I wish they would figure out how to travel 140.6 miles a whole lot faster.  Sheesh!

What A Difference 30 Degrees Makes

This morning I went out for a 5 mile run.  It was 62 degrees when I walked outside in Niagara Falls, New York (right on the Canadian border).  I've had about 4 weeks in a row of running 90+ degree temperatures so a drop of 30 degrees felt wonderful, almost amazing.

What was interesting is the effect of running faster than I have been in the lower temperatures.  My body no longer has to allocate blood flow to my body's cooling system.  All the blood flow can go straight to the legs and the aerobic system.  I ran 5 miles at an average pace of 7:59's with an average heart rate of 141 bpm.  Holy smokes I was pleased.  However, running at 141 heart rate in 90+ degree heat results in a dramatically different running pace than running at 141 heart rate in 60 degree heat.  As a result, my legs were tired from running so much faster.  It was muscular fatigue that started catching up with me.

It highlighted how important it is for me to find ways to run in cooler temperatures over the next few summer months.  That means either running earlier, or later (when it is dark) or inside on a treadmill.  But if I continued to run all summer slogging away in the wicked heat, I'd end up just training myself to run slower than I should be running because my heart rate would cap out not because of aerobic limitations, but because of cooling system limitations.

I also wore a brand new pair of Asics Kayano 15's for the run and the left foot did wonderful in the new shoes.  No pain while running and just a little tightness later in the day.  But a huge improvement just being back in my normal running shoes (thank goodness).

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 115 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 171 - Total days trained in 2009
• 24 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 5.00 - miles run today
• 5.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 960.25 - Miles run in 2009

Making The Connection - July 2, 2009

I'm now on vacation in Niagara Falls, New York.  Above is a picture of my father's garden (all organic).  Part of dinner was a salad from fresh picked lettuce and vegetables from out back.  At lunch we nibbled on snap peas that were just plucked off the vine.  It doesn't get any better (or fresher) than that.  Angela and I had plans of putting in a garden for this year and, well, as you know things come up and certain goals fall through the cracks.  I would really like to put this back on the list of things to do for 2010.

When I'm on vacation, I enjoy doing things that often are pushed lower on the priority list due to the normal scheduling conflicts of life.  A few of you are aware that I'm a big science and math fan (although I tend to keep that on the down low).  It's not that I have a problem with most people not liking the sciences or thinking that they are not fun or fascinating, it's just draining to me to try and convey thoughts, ideas, and discuss theories with a general population that is more consumed with whose outfit looked great on American Idol the previous evening.

I also like writing about science and math but am concluding that the readers of this blog would quickly grow frustrated if items discussed strayed too far from expectations.  So we need to compromise.  I'll write about what I enjoy today but promise to tie it in for you triathlon junkies.  Fair enough?

Once upon a time (no this isn't a fairy tale, it is true), an astronomer named Percival Lowell believed two things; first, that the planet Mars was covered with canals built by industrious Martians and second, that there existed, somewhere beyond Neptune, an undiscovered ninth planet.  Lowell based this belief upon irregular orbits of Uranus and Neptune.  Lowell ended up biting it (deceased) in 1916 before being able to prove that Martians built canals or that there was a ninth planet (In hindsight, proving the first would have been much much harder than proving the second, especially prior to 1916.)

Now Lowell was part of a very wealthy Boston family that eventually endowed a famous observatory (aptly named the Lowell Observatory).  Upon Percival's death, the family (probably to overcome the embarrassment of the Martian canals story) hired a young astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh to search for the 9th planet.  Sure as shit, Tombaugh discovered the 9th planet which was eventually named Pluto (using the P.L. from the initials of Percival Lowell), but discovered it in a way that demonstrated that the observations on which Lowell had predicted the existence of a planet beyond Neptune proved to be completely erroneous.

This is one of life's amazing ironies.  A lunatic but wealthy astronomer predicts a 9th planet (and Martian canals) but ends up dying.  The family hires someone to prove the existence of the 9th planet.  The hired astronomer proves that the observations of the deceased family member was nothing like the massive gasball Lowell had postulated, but stumbles upon a faint point of light that turned out to be 9th planet by accident (Pluto).  How is that for strange luck?

Now, how does all of this connect to triathlon?

Well, I like endurance triathlon.  Most of the knowledge I acquired about endurance triathlon I learned from GORDO .  Gordo's been an elite pro for a number of years and has used and tested an abundance of sport specific equipment.  Eventually Gordo started riding bikes manufactured by  PLANET X .  And the 9th planet that a few astronomers continue to think may be out there (a really really big planet as much as 10 times the size of Jupiter but so far from the sun that we can't see it) is referred to as what?  You guessed it...Planet X.

And I set the alarm and was on the Computrainer prior to departing for the airport.  Short, but sweet!

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 116 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 170 - Total days trained in 2009
• 24 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 0.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 955.25 - Miles run in 2009

Cautious On Recognition - July 1, 2009

Today I spent a good deal of time thinking about recognition.  Mostly how fleeting it is.  The thoughts started after seeing an interview with a professional athlete (who shall remain nameless) who stated something along the lines of, "I want everybody to know just how great I am and finally get the recognition that I deserve."

One of my first thoughts was, "What level of recognition does he deserve.  What type of recognition do any of us deserve?"  And if we do receive it, how long should it last?

I should probably disclose some personal biases of mine just to keep things on the up and up with everybody.  I'm not a really big fan of most professional sports.  Do I watch them from time to time?  Sure, and I would even go so far as to say that it can be entertaining. But I don't really pay too much attention to all the hub-bub because I know that soon enough, I just don't give a crap about who won or lost or what took place.  I just want to be entertained and I also know that sports can provide a means of passion and excitement (even if we are just spectators).  So I'm not saying we shouldn't watch sports, I'm just saying I don't get overly wrapped up in them because I know whatever happened won't matter much as I progress through life.

Here's the interesting thing about sports (and life) to me.  How long does recognition really last in our lives and what does it take to extend that recognition a few times longer than normal.  For example, who scored the winning touchdown in Super Bowl 17?  I have no idea and that's my point.  I'm sure if we back up to the week after Super Bowl 17 (or which ever) and read all the newspapers, a few athletes and/or coaches were probably given a hero's welcome.  Immortality! (or so they thought).  But with each passing day, week, month and year, less and less people care to a point where not only are those said athletes no longer hero's, barely a single person walking the earth even knows who they are.

• Who was the winning goalie in the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs?
• Who was the NBA MVP ten years ago?
• Who won the Tour de' France in 1974?
• Who won the 18th Ironman Championship?

The list is endless.  Basically, how long does recognition really last?  There comes a point in life where very few people obtain eternal recognition.  This includes humanitarian awards, pulitzer prizes, nobel prizes, promotions, etc.  This includes the accomplishments of kings and presidents over time.  Who was the richest man on earth 300 years ago?  (I don't know and I guess I don't really care...)  Very few things get recognized past 25 years of history (very very few).

So it struck me as kind of funny and even a bit disturbing when I saw this athlete basically trying to demand recognition for accomplishments that in the scope of things (and life) are completely worthless (and the sport that he participates in is not a major worldwide sport).

But we all seem to want/crave/desire recognition throughout our lives.  It could be from our parents, perhaps our friends, maybe our neighbors, or our employers.

I sometimes think that I get distracted by recognition when pursuing triathlon.  I seem to want to know my ranking and if that time or ranking is acceptable (by me) well then I want everybody else to recognize that as well.  Although if my results are less than acceptable (by me) then I'm not too fond of others recognizing that.

I wonder how long Dave Scott and Mark Allen will be recognized for their accomplishments in long course triathlon?  I found it interesting when I was talking to somebody who was gearing up for their first iron distance race and they didn't know who Peter Reid and Tim DeBoom were.  And these guys were world champions in this decade?  So much for long lasting recognition.

And that's when I concluded that if any of us are doing the sport for recognition, from our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc., that may turn out to be a fruitless effort.

The only thing that we'll have left after passing of some time is our memories so it's probably best to make sure that we are doing things that lead to positive memories.

And finally, it wouldn't be July if we didn't get daily updates on cyclists failing drug tests in and around the Tour de France.  Another one bites the dust - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25721568-11088,00.html

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 117 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 169 - Total days trained in 2009
• 23 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 0.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 955.25 - Miles run in 2009

Welcome Back Asics, Please Forgive Me - June 30, 2009

This morning I went out and did a test run to see how things went.  Things were going well through 5 miles and I was PUMPED!  I was running well and feeling great and immediately thinking, "I'M BACK BABY!"  But then at 5.36 miles I began to feel my left foot and thought, "AHHHH SHIT!"  I finished up the mile and stopped at 6 miles.  The remainder of the day I could feel discomfort in my left foot.  However, I seem to feel more discomfort when I wear work shoes rather than running shoes and today I had on my work shoes (I'll be able to wear casual clothes for about 10 days straight as I'll be on vacation starting Thursday.)

I spent a decent amount of time searching the web on running foot injuries and discovered that there are about 14 very common foot problems that runners experience ranging from athlete's foot (the best kind of injury) all the way to a stress fracture (which I almost can completely rule out).  I do not have any of the classic symptoms of a stress fracture.  The main indication of a stress fracture is pain felt while touching/squeezing/feeling the top of the foot where you think the problem is.  Further, stress fractures tend to happen more on the top of the foot and along the longer bones, not towards the side of the foot in my case.  I also am not in a high risk group that includes; females, low bone density, anorexia, nutritional deficiencies, etc.  That's not to say that healthy younger males can't experience a stress fracture, I'm just saying that I'm not in the high risk group nor do I have any of the symptoms of a stress fracture.

I also determined that I don't have any of the symptoms from the 14 common foot injuries.  So that wasn't helpful in pinpointing the problem.  But I'm more and more convinced I just have some inflamed cartilage/tendons/ligaments and with enough time will heal itself.  The question is whether I could do things to expedite the healing such as icing it (is it too late?)

I also went after work and bought a brand new pair of Asics Kayano's.  These are the same shoes that I've worn for the past 5 or 6 years.  My foot issues appeared magically at the same time I switched shoes to the Mizuno's cold turkey.  Not the smartest thing I've ever done but at least others can learn from my process/errors.

So my plan is to keep cross training, run easy and keep the volume down and see if I can't get this thing healed up.  If I need some extended time off of running, I'll just have to deal with it and it's not the end of the world if I missed 2 or 3 weeks of running and focused on cycling, swimming and weights.  Life goes on and the important thing is to get back to 100% as quickly as possible and to learn from it.

I'm flying out on Thursday to head up to Niagara Falls to visit the family and will see how I feel as far as running or training.  The weather is perfect training weather so if things feel good, I'll run, walk, swim, fun ride on a mountain bike.  If I feel I just need the time off, I'll just work on my fishing and relaxing.

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 118 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 168 - Total days trained in 2009
• 22 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 6.00 - miles run today
• 0.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 955.25 - Miles run in 2009

Monday's - June 29, 2009

First, the good news.  My swimming is progressing nicely.  This morning I knocked out 3,000 yards in 56 minutes anchored by a main set of 4 X 600 yards on 30" rest.  I added a 100 of kicking (without fins) and that was pretty ugly (3:30) and then 5 X 100 on 10" rest.

Then I was reminded how cruel Monday's can be.  I got on my trainer with the intentions of doing 4 X 10' on 5' rest intervals at Aet heartrate (around 128 to 133 HR) while keeping cadence around 90 (which is a dickens for me).  The first two intervals went great.  About halfway through the third, my tire blew out.

 

I told you I was riding well for those first two intervals.  I must have been riding so well that I lit the rear wheel on fire?!?!

And then everything comes to a halt.  I went searching for a new tire (had a few extras in the garage) and then the fun starts; unhook the bike from the computrainer, take the rear wheel off, take the old tire off, put the new tire on, etc.)  At that point, you are dead in your tracks and cold.  Any sweat that was being generated is long gone.

But, I told myself to just do the best I could.  So I put it all back together and then 15 seconds into cranking everything back up, the rear wheel blew again "LIKE A SHOTGUN GOING OFF".  It scared the dickens out of me.  I was surprised my head didn't hit the ceiling fan.  I thought, "Whoa, that sounded like the canon at the start of a big triathlon!"  And then it all started over again; unhook the bike from the computrainer, take the rear wheel off, take the tire off, take the blown tube off.  And when something that loud explodes right behind you when you aren't expecting it, that adds additional time to regroup.  I had to go and change my under-britches if I was to keep riding.  Forget that; it's time to hit the showers.  (Have fun washing those bike shorts Angela...holy crap...)

Angela ran upstairs and screamed "What was that?!?!"  I told her it was triathlon gang warfare going on up here and we started laughing.

 

I like having just a bit of air in the tube before tucking it under the tire when changing a flat.  It was then that Angela asked, "Do you even know how goofy you look in a pair of bike shorts and a heart rate monitor trying to blow air into a tube to get it started?"  Apparently I do now...

At least I got in 1 hour and 45 minutes of training before work.  The two flats cut my bike ride short by at least 15 minutes.  I was intending on starting the week with 2 hours of training under my belt.

Tomorrow I'm just going to try and run in my aerobic range for at least an hour and see how things feel.  I'll rest on Wednesday with a swim only day before biking and running again on Thursday.

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 119 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 167 - Total days trained in 2009
• 22 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 131.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 949.25 - Miles run in 2009

Sunday, A Day Of Rest - June 28, 2009

My foot was back to feeling weird again today as I was walking on it.  Very frustrating.  It's really not a severe pain, but enough to be a big distraction.  It's strong enough to make a person feel it isn't appropriate to go crazy on it (and that's what we like to do...)

I'm flying out on Thursday for a week up north to visit the family in Niagara Falls so that will be a reduced week of training anyway.  If I can't run up there, I really won't have the option of swimming and cycling either so that will maybe just provide additional forced rest.

In the meantime, as a backup plan, I laid out a weekly schedule that includes 3 swims, 3 bikes, and 4 runs and about 11 to 12 hours of total training time that is a bit more balanced but should allow me to continue getting a good amount of aerobic conditioning in.  So I'm a triathlete for at least a few more weeks.  Last year I struggled with the plantar fasciitis for the first half of the year and then did my best to regroup for Ironman Canada.  Then I needed a recovery period through the end of August and into September before rebuilding for Ironman Florida on about 6 weeks of build training.  I don't think that schedule worked out for me.  I felt like I was getting in great shape but never was able to put everything together come race day.

This year I hope to just keep building nice and steady until my fall race.  I don't want anymore injuries (obviously) and don't want to peak too early (physically or mentally). So I need to pace myself correctly.  There's still plenty of time left before the fall.

Now I just need to get used to this heat.  Is it me or is it hotter than last year?  Talk about global warming or something?

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 120 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 166 - Total days trained in 2009
• 21 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 131.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 949.25 - Miles run in 2009

He Looks Like Me - June 27, 2009

There was a guy at the park getting ready to ride and he looked just like me.  He even had a Giant TCR Limited Carbon road bike.  Amazing!

 

And the guy was even riding with a woman who looked identical to the lovely Ms. Angela?

 

I did my best to just keep Angela within sight ahead of me.  That took some elevated efforts, especially up the hills and I needed to coast on the downhills to recover a bit.  We did a little over 2 hours and I posted the following on my powermeter;

• NP - 191 watts
• VI - 1.15 (hey, like I said, I needed the recovery on the downhills)
• Avg HR - 124
• Cadence - 69 (well, that hasn't improved with the layoff...but I stayed in big gear the entire workout so that had something to do with that stat.)

We tacked on a 2 mile brick run and I set a HR cap of 150 which lead me to walking up the crest of a few hills.  It was HOT by the time we finished riding (and we started just a bit after 8:00am).  The temperatures were in the 94-96 degree range for our run. 

Overall, pleased that I was able to get in a 2 hour and 30 minute training day.  Foot felt fine while running this morning but was feeling a little tender later in the afternoon/early evening.

 

Our Saturday evening picnic at the lake included some heat storms.  They didn't last long (maybe 15 minutes) and brought the temperatures down about 6 degrees.  So we had our picnic in the car before having a walk around Lanier Park and then a drive around Lake Lanier.

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 121 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 166 - Total days trained in 2009
• 20 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 2.00 - miles run today
• 131.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 949.25 - Miles run in 2009

OWS - June 26, 2009

 

 

I think the pictures do better at describing the morning than my words could.  The lake was a sheet of glass as I met a few friends down at Mary Alice Park on Lake Lanier this morning (thanks for the swim Jon and Jo Adamson).  When I arrived at the boat dock, there were a number of athletes already finishing up their morning open water swims (OWS).  That's motivation for you!

I ended up swimming and hour with breaks every 20 minutes or so and swam well (albeit slow).  But I was surprised at how I was able to swim long stretches without any problems whatsoever.  So much so that after the end of an hour of swimming I confidently concluded that if push came to shove, I would be able to make it through an Iron distance swim right now (2.4 miles) without trashing myself (just slower than in peak condition).

Maybe instead of being a 1:07 - 1:10 swimmer I'd be a 1:15 to 1:20 swimmer right now.  It makes you think about how much effort and training it takes to save 5 minutes in an Iron distance swim.  Becoming a 1 hour swimmer seems like light years away.

Tomorrow the lovely Ms. Angela and I are going to head outside on our bikes and ride outdoors for the first time all year.  I'm shooting for 40 miles.  All kidding aside (because I joked with Angela about 30 seconds into my trainer workout on Tuesday that my butt hurts), my butt hurts.  I'm tender on my seat bones as I ride an ISM Adamo saddle and need to build back up my tolerance for sitting on a saddle for six hours straight.

My foot continues to feel better and if I feel a little nutty, I'm going to try and run for 15 minutes after getting off the bike tomorrow.  I make no promises.  If things feel ok, I will resume run training on Tuesday but will cut my running down to 4 days a week.  No need to go overboard and risk a regression with my foot and ankle.

I've spoken with a number of fellow athletes lately and have asked them how they are holding up in the heat and fortunately for my mindset, most have replied, "I'm melting!"  My runs really started deteriorating around June 1 and that just so happens when the heat wave started with the heat index being up to around 100 degrees each day with humidity that would make dust sweat.

The only thing that I realized today is that I will not be over 1,000 miles of running by June 30th.  That sort of was a target number for me as I must have selected (rightly or wrongly) a 2,000 mile running year.  That still could happen but I'm just going to have to be a little more careful.  However, I still almost hit that number and it took me a while to build up my mileage.  I missed a week straight of running and that alone was 40 to 50 miles which would have gotten me right up there to the goal line.

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 122 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 165 - Total days trained in 2009
• 20 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 131.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 947.25 - Miles run in 2009

Well Marked My @ss - June 25, 2009

This past weekend we were attending a birthday party that had numerous triathletes in attendance.  Angela and I were speaking to some new peeps that we met who lived up our way (they in Buford, us in Suwanee) and they were talking about a cycling route that left out of Harbins Park near Lawrenceville.  They raved about the route, the quiet country roads, the pretty scenary, etc.  They also said it was well marked and that we would have no problems following the 20 mile loop.

So this evening, as a "test" run, we drove out there to just scope it out and see what it looked like.  It was as described, quiet country roads, pretty scenary, plenty of horses and cows, etc.  But we kept trying to follow the blue arrows but we got off course a number of times and eventually just drove home.

Angela said, "I think it will be easier to see the arrows when we are on our bikes because we will be going slower and we could see the road more clearly."  I joked and said, "Maybe they used sticks to make arrows at the intersections?"  I got the usual rolling of the eyes on that one.

I think the biggest thing about any bike route is familiarity.  The more familiar we are with a route, the more we tend to like it.  I find this to be the case because when I ride a route with someone who has ridden that route for years, they must not have noticed how much traffic increased over the years and continue to think, "this is the greatest route" where I tended to say, "This route sucks."

I'm a "no-cars" kind of bike rider.  Bikes and cars don't mix well in my world.

On a related note and as a news flash, if any of you are familiar with Reality Bikes and Todd (the owner), Todd was hit while riding on Tuesday and is scheduled for surgery tomorrow on a variety of broken bones and mashed hip.  Looks like no weight bearing activities for at least 10 weeks.  Be safe out there and remember - cars and bikes don't mix (at least in Atlanta or greater Atlanta area).  This is a public service announcement.

 

Hey, who's that looking at me on the way back home?

By the numbers;

• 183.2 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 123 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 164 - Total days trained in 2009
• 19 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 131.00 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 947.25 - Miles run in 2009