Day 13
Awoke to a very cold morning with flurries all around. Looked so beautiful I decided to do the New Year's ride at my shop. I seriously only do it for the free Olive Garden! 6 of us braved the cold and did around 5 miles. Forgot to commit to this until after the wife woke up. Consternation!
Day 14
This was a fun one. I lazed around all damn day and couldn't get motivated to go out. I had 4 miles and wasn't feeling great to do it in the neighborhoods. Well I planned a 4 miler and off I went. Completely forgot where I was going most of the time. Several wrong turns later and one extended segment and I had completed one of the most humorous runs so far.
Day 15
This morning was so damn cold. I couldn't believe how cold it was. I just couldn't move this morning, it was like molasses. Chafed again even after I put stuff on. Crapola. Got it done and was even ok with my time.
Day 16
Friday night and away we went to the Downtown Y. This was my last 3 mile run of my entire training program. Starting the 4's consistently next week. Went very well and knocked almost a minute off of my time! Terribly tired now.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
2012 is over and in the can. Won't recap all that happened, that's just too damn boring.
What I will profess is a short list of thing that I want to happen. Listen, I am not resolved to having these things happen but it sure would be pretty awesome if they did happen.
1. Get my shop account paid off. This thing has beenballooning hemorrhaging since 2008. I finally got the brakes put on and got my spending habits under control. I don't buy much a tube here and there and that's it. Time to slay that beast!
2. Pay off the Stumpjumper and my AllCity Mr. Pink frame. My buddy wc, has graciously financed these two items that I am unable to provide for myself. I'm paying him back little by little and with a little luck, I should own both of these before next year.
3. Hopefully both of those things will get done so that I can:
a. Get new brakes, tyres, and at least rims for the Stumpjumper. I'm running mechanical Cannondale's right now, 10 year old tires, and rims that were taped by Specialized but really aren't tubeless and have seams that won't do the tubeless thing.
b. Get the Mr. Pink built up. My dream is to make this as close to 100% Shimano as possible.
4. Finish the Gravel Conspiracy. Not only will this be my first century but redemption because we all know how the last one went. If you don't well read this: Failure
5. Ride two places on my mountain bike that I've never done and are out of state. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fulfill this one but hey I want to!
6. Bring back kindness and gentleness in a world that stopped making sense awhile ago. I can't think of any way to be more impactful on this world then to break the harshness I present to others. This would also include being a hell of a lot nicer to my wife a hell of a lot more of the time. I don't know how to heal this rotten apple we seem to be living in but I can damn sure be that grain of sand that start moving the mountain.
7. Whenever possible and safe, get Dylan to school and back via bicycle. I miss riding and well this is a great opportunity, albeit one that my wife thinks is just plain crazy.
8. Spend more time on a bike with wc and #1. I can't believe the absolute falling off of the mileage and the breaking of the fellowship (sorry Tolkein!). Got to work to get that back together.
9. Test a grass routes uprising of "Bandit" Cross in Mr. Dodds' back yard. Getting kinda serious out there, we need less serious, and more fun.
I'm stopping at 9 because I don't feel like going to 10! Have a great year everybody!
What I will profess is a short list of thing that I want to happen. Listen, I am not resolved to having these things happen but it sure would be pretty awesome if they did happen.
1. Get my shop account paid off. This thing has been
2. Pay off the Stumpjumper and my AllCity Mr. Pink frame. My buddy wc, has graciously financed these two items that I am unable to provide for myself. I'm paying him back little by little and with a little luck, I should own both of these before next year.
3. Hopefully both of those things will get done so that I can:
a. Get new brakes, tyres, and at least rims for the Stumpjumper. I'm running mechanical Cannondale's right now, 10 year old tires, and rims that were taped by Specialized but really aren't tubeless and have seams that won't do the tubeless thing.
b. Get the Mr. Pink built up. My dream is to make this as close to 100% Shimano as possible.
4. Finish the Gravel Conspiracy. Not only will this be my first century but redemption because we all know how the last one went. If you don't well read this: Failure
5. Ride two places on my mountain bike that I've never done and are out of state. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fulfill this one but hey I want to!
6. Bring back kindness and gentleness in a world that stopped making sense awhile ago. I can't think of any way to be more impactful on this world then to break the harshness I present to others. This would also include being a hell of a lot nicer to my wife a hell of a lot more of the time. I don't know how to heal this rotten apple we seem to be living in but I can damn sure be that grain of sand that start moving the mountain.
7. Whenever possible and safe, get Dylan to school and back via bicycle. I miss riding and well this is a great opportunity, albeit one that my wife thinks is just plain crazy.
8. Spend more time on a bike with wc and #1. I can't believe the absolute falling off of the mileage and the breaking of the fellowship (sorry Tolkein!). Got to work to get that back together.
9. Test a grass routes uprising of "Bandit" Cross in Mr. Dodds' back yard. Getting kinda serious out there, we need less serious, and more fun.
I'm stopping at 9 because I don't feel like going to 10! Have a great year everybody!
Oklahoma City Half Marathon Training #4
It is official, I have registered for my first half marathon! Kinda Silly I was training for something I hadn't yet registered for huh?
Day 7
Ah Christmas Eve. Very strange having a Monday afternoon to myself. Little man was with his mom and Brie was still at work. I worked until 1, a super pud day, we weren't busy and most of the bikes had already been picked up. So off to the house I went. With the time that I had, I snuck in my 2 mile run before anyone else got home. Felt damn cold and I just couldn't warm up. Nice that those runs aren't taking very long at all that way I didn't freeze.
Day 8
The day after Christmas, this year it was super handy to have Wednesday off which meant I had 2 days off in a row! Never happens in my life b/c of my locked in schedule. We had done some shopping, Brie got her coveted tablet product. We had done some TV shopping but nothing really came of it. We had frittered the day away with each other and I just didn't think we were going to get that run in. To my surprise, the missus asked if we wanted to go to the Y and workout because it was soooo cold. I agreed and went to the track. SHIT! I keep going on the same day the track runs every single time. Hamster wheel only goes one way! Yuck. I got my three in, I think. I forgot my watch and was using my phone that really didn't fit in my pocket. This is the only way that I can accurately keep track of my mileage is by looking at my watch. I felt lost all during my run. The lack of a watch was not my only distraction today, my ipod battery went dead the first 20 feet of my 3! mile run. Crap. So now I'm not engaged in my run at all. I kept losing track and finally guessed when my mileage was done. Phooey!
Day 9
Two days later and its a Friday night. My day had gone pretty well. I could not get up and get motivated to run. I said screw it and just went to work, tired. I dropped little man off with his mom and went to the Y with Brie. This time I had my ipod charged and was wearing my phone. Determined, motivated, didn't want to repeat my performance of 2 days ago. Then I saw one of my customers who is just a total know it all. I mean this guy will tell you he births babies better than his wife and mean it. A total right wing nut job if ever there was one. He too was enjoying the brand new track, fuck. Head down and just kept running, didn't stop for shit. Felt really good. I was a bit off pace heading into the final lap and I wanted to finish under 30 minutes for my 3 miler. I increased my stride and went for it. I stopped the clock at 29:59:57, whew just made it. Stopped at the Olive Garden with my best girl and had some baked ziti. Didn't get to bed until like 1 but it was great to be out with her.
Day 10
CHEATER! I didn't do my run today, instead I went ahead and swam in my master's class. I arrived on time only to find I was on the bad list (apparently) and didn't get a phone call that class was cancelled. I did my own thing and got about 1000yds in. I was really tired from last night which didn't help. Grabbed the single speed and commuted to work. I consider the 1000yds and the 5 commute to be workout enough, so I won't beat myself up about it.
Day 11
Had gone out the night before and got pretty toasted after watching Les Miserables with my wife, god that was torture. Let myself sleep in this beautiful Sunday morning. I think that even Brie was kind of surprised to find me in bed. We set up the day and she was wanting to work out first thing bright and early, for 10 o'clock. Since I had a 5 miler I went to the one place that I just knew would get me that mileage, Miller's meadow. Had the whole place to myself. Windy as hell and there was snow on the outside of the hedgerow making it treacherous. The lower part of course was my worst part. When I got to the upper part and saw just how little I had left to go, my pace increased and I PRed that shit! First time I've ever used a Garmin on my run. I didn't use most of the features but it was nice to see pacing and elapsed time. I won't use this feature often, I'm more of a cover up the watch until the end guy, I was using it to time hydration since I'd got a bit drunk the night before. Definitely going to try to get most of my 5 milers out at Miller's.
Day 12
Well New Year's Eve was upon us. I had another short day at work, until 4 and it had snowed most of the day. When I got home I had about three hours to kill until duty called and I just knew that a run was in order. A nice 2 mile jaunt in the snow which looked to be just beautiful, giant wet snowdrops falling gently. Couldn't find my glasses so I borrowed Brie's safety glasses, the ipod battery issue reared up again, so I grabbed my old one. Well the glasses fogged up and the mp3 player wouldn't stay put against my hip, since there isn't a clip. It fell all the way down to the inside of my thigh until it finally just unplugged itself. I had to hold it the rest of the way. This 2 mile felt just way too easy to me. I torched that sum bitch, at least that's how it felt. I got home didn't feel taxed and had a snack. Easy, maybe too easy.
Day 7
Ah Christmas Eve. Very strange having a Monday afternoon to myself. Little man was with his mom and Brie was still at work. I worked until 1, a super pud day, we weren't busy and most of the bikes had already been picked up. So off to the house I went. With the time that I had, I snuck in my 2 mile run before anyone else got home. Felt damn cold and I just couldn't warm up. Nice that those runs aren't taking very long at all that way I didn't freeze.
Day 8
The day after Christmas, this year it was super handy to have Wednesday off which meant I had 2 days off in a row! Never happens in my life b/c of my locked in schedule. We had done some shopping, Brie got her coveted tablet product. We had done some TV shopping but nothing really came of it. We had frittered the day away with each other and I just didn't think we were going to get that run in. To my surprise, the missus asked if we wanted to go to the Y and workout because it was soooo cold. I agreed and went to the track. SHIT! I keep going on the same day the track runs every single time. Hamster wheel only goes one way! Yuck. I got my three in, I think. I forgot my watch and was using my phone that really didn't fit in my pocket. This is the only way that I can accurately keep track of my mileage is by looking at my watch. I felt lost all during my run. The lack of a watch was not my only distraction today, my ipod battery went dead the first 20 feet of my 3! mile run. Crap. So now I'm not engaged in my run at all. I kept losing track and finally guessed when my mileage was done. Phooey!
Day 9
Two days later and its a Friday night. My day had gone pretty well. I could not get up and get motivated to run. I said screw it and just went to work, tired. I dropped little man off with his mom and went to the Y with Brie. This time I had my ipod charged and was wearing my phone. Determined, motivated, didn't want to repeat my performance of 2 days ago. Then I saw one of my customers who is just a total know it all. I mean this guy will tell you he births babies better than his wife and mean it. A total right wing nut job if ever there was one. He too was enjoying the brand new track, fuck. Head down and just kept running, didn't stop for shit. Felt really good. I was a bit off pace heading into the final lap and I wanted to finish under 30 minutes for my 3 miler. I increased my stride and went for it. I stopped the clock at 29:59:57, whew just made it. Stopped at the Olive Garden with my best girl and had some baked ziti. Didn't get to bed until like 1 but it was great to be out with her.
Day 10
CHEATER! I didn't do my run today, instead I went ahead and swam in my master's class. I arrived on time only to find I was on the bad list (apparently) and didn't get a phone call that class was cancelled. I did my own thing and got about 1000yds in. I was really tired from last night which didn't help. Grabbed the single speed and commuted to work. I consider the 1000yds and the 5 commute to be workout enough, so I won't beat myself up about it.
Day 11
Had gone out the night before and got pretty toasted after watching Les Miserables with my wife, god that was torture. Let myself sleep in this beautiful Sunday morning. I think that even Brie was kind of surprised to find me in bed. We set up the day and she was wanting to work out first thing bright and early, for 10 o'clock. Since I had a 5 miler I went to the one place that I just knew would get me that mileage, Miller's meadow. Had the whole place to myself. Windy as hell and there was snow on the outside of the hedgerow making it treacherous. The lower part of course was my worst part. When I got to the upper part and saw just how little I had left to go, my pace increased and I PRed that shit! First time I've ever used a Garmin on my run. I didn't use most of the features but it was nice to see pacing and elapsed time. I won't use this feature often, I'm more of a cover up the watch until the end guy, I was using it to time hydration since I'd got a bit drunk the night before. Definitely going to try to get most of my 5 milers out at Miller's.
Day 12
Well New Year's Eve was upon us. I had another short day at work, until 4 and it had snowed most of the day. When I got home I had about three hours to kill until duty called and I just knew that a run was in order. A nice 2 mile jaunt in the snow which looked to be just beautiful, giant wet snowdrops falling gently. Couldn't find my glasses so I borrowed Brie's safety glasses, the ipod battery issue reared up again, so I grabbed my old one. Well the glasses fogged up and the mp3 player wouldn't stay put against my hip, since there isn't a clip. It fell all the way down to the inside of my thigh until it finally just unplugged itself. I had to hold it the rest of the way. This 2 mile felt just way too easy to me. I torched that sum bitch, at least that's how it felt. I got home didn't feel taxed and had a snack. Easy, maybe too easy.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Oklahoma City Half Marathon Training #3
Day 5
Today's run was all about sex. The fact that I'm too tired 90% of the time to fulfill my spousal duties from getting up so early. One solution my mate and I came up with was to ride one day a week during lunch at work. This I did and I can only sum it up by titling it URBAN BLAH. My route takes me on Douglas, Rock, and Central. I can't even believe how noisy it is. The fact that it is also on sidewalks predominantly makes me just cringe. There was some residual snow and ice on the sidewalk that made for some interesting times. Even at its most arduous, I still discovered that my 10 mile per minute pace was no fluke. It was a pleasant 54 degrees and (as usual) I got caught out overdressed.
Day 6
Wasn't sure how today's run was going to go down, I had 4 miles to do and Little 3's drop off time got scrambled. Coupled with a dead battery in the Jeep that needed testing I was sweating this run. My wife decided she needed to workout too, we made the decision to go to the newDeath Star Downtown YMCA. A grander Y I have never seen. So up we went to the third floor and arrived at the track. The good news was they set the track up 6 laps to a mile. That way I wouldn't be getting dizzy with multiple laps. Usually the track is my worst surface because I get bored, having an event to train for helped this out. I ran and just couldn't shake the feeling that it was like going around the world. There were sections of bright, sections of dark, sections of dim. Temperate pleasant areas, followed by hot zones, followed by the cold vacuum of space. Just plain weird. Finished up the run with 5 minutes before close. Exhausted but 39 minutes of running will do that to ya!
Today's run was all about sex. The fact that I'm too tired 90% of the time to fulfill my spousal duties from getting up so early. One solution my mate and I came up with was to ride one day a week during lunch at work. This I did and I can only sum it up by titling it URBAN BLAH. My route takes me on Douglas, Rock, and Central. I can't even believe how noisy it is. The fact that it is also on sidewalks predominantly makes me just cringe. There was some residual snow and ice on the sidewalk that made for some interesting times. Even at its most arduous, I still discovered that my 10 mile per minute pace was no fluke. It was a pleasant 54 degrees and (as usual) I got caught out overdressed.
Day 6
Wasn't sure how today's run was going to go down, I had 4 miles to do and Little 3's drop off time got scrambled. Coupled with a dead battery in the Jeep that needed testing I was sweating this run. My wife decided she needed to workout too, we made the decision to go to the new
Friday, December 21, 2012
Oklahoma City Half Marathon Training #2
Day 3
2 miler. The fact that I had the stomach flu all of the previous day was something that worried me a ton when thinking whether or not I was going to go. I did go and just told myself that all would be ok. Just one foot in front of the other. It took me until 3pm to convince myself to go. I did go, I did make it. I followed it up with a 2 hour nap. Lord I still felt like shit.
Day 4
Feeling tons better today! However, the ice/snow storm came in Wednesday night and I was very reluctant to wake up and go for 3 miles. Turns out this was a smart decision because no ice melt efforts had been made on the side streets. I was really sliding around taking the 4 year old to care and back to work. However the day broke sunny and warm and all but the darkest shaded areas had shunned their ice by the evening. I was going to get the little guy and the trailer and get that run in after work. Well unfortunately he had one of his off days and I just had to ensure that he didn't have any fun for his lack of listening at school. It wasn't until 9:30pm, after dinner settled, and Joe Dirt rolling credits that I was able to get my butt out there. Did it. Felt so much better than yesterday. Still don't feel like I'm doing anything but running. When I got home my watched revealed I had popped off a fast one. Like a minute off my fastest pace so far. As I was stretching I saw something odd in the glow of my headlamp, my knees were steaming! Started my stretching outside and continued inside while showering. I touched my toes while stretching for the first time in my adult life!
2 miler. The fact that I had the stomach flu all of the previous day was something that worried me a ton when thinking whether or not I was going to go. I did go and just told myself that all would be ok. Just one foot in front of the other. It took me until 3pm to convince myself to go. I did go, I did make it. I followed it up with a 2 hour nap. Lord I still felt like shit.
Day 4
Feeling tons better today! However, the ice/snow storm came in Wednesday night and I was very reluctant to wake up and go for 3 miles. Turns out this was a smart decision because no ice melt efforts had been made on the side streets. I was really sliding around taking the 4 year old to care and back to work. However the day broke sunny and warm and all but the darkest shaded areas had shunned their ice by the evening. I was going to get the little guy and the trailer and get that run in after work. Well unfortunately he had one of his off days and I just had to ensure that he didn't have any fun for his lack of listening at school. It wasn't until 9:30pm, after dinner settled, and Joe Dirt rolling credits that I was able to get my butt out there. Did it. Felt so much better than yesterday. Still don't feel like I'm doing anything but running. When I got home my watched revealed I had popped off a fast one. Like a minute off my fastest pace so far. As I was stretching I saw something odd in the glow of my headlamp, my knees were steaming! Started my stretching outside and continued inside while showering. I touched my toes while stretching for the first time in my adult life!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Oklahoma City Half Marathon Training #1
On Sunday night, as I was watching football and eating brats, an e-mail came in. WC had sent my half marathon training plan and it started tomorrow! Fuck me. So I went to bed and got ready to run in the morning.
Day 1
2 miles piece of cake. I fucked up and walked for 5 minutes and only wound up doing 1.75 miles. D'OH! Observed that there are a shit ton of dogs in my area. One particularly dense area there were like 150000 cars crammed into a one block area with traffic coming from both sides. I took the grass and fell on my fucking ass. Got back up and finished her off. Damn need to cut my toenails.
Day 2
Today's run was 3 miles. I prepared for this with a little help from Brie who told me to walk out 2 and walk back 2 then start from where you want to. Thanks honey! Super helpful. Less dog noise on this route which is definitely a plus. I feel like I am just plodding along but it turns out I am staying pretty consistent. Still need to cut my toenails. Chafing from my huge cycling thighs rubbing together for the first time, what a horrible feeling. Feeling the running in my glutes but not dying in any other areas. 4 more days to go this week. Greeted by my 4 year old when I got home. Snuggled for a bit while we talked about my run gear.
Day 1
2 miles piece of cake. I fucked up and walked for 5 minutes and only wound up doing 1.75 miles. D'OH! Observed that there are a shit ton of dogs in my area. One particularly dense area there were like 150000 cars crammed into a one block area with traffic coming from both sides. I took the grass and fell on my fucking ass. Got back up and finished her off. Damn need to cut my toenails.
Day 2
Today's run was 3 miles. I prepared for this with a little help from Brie who told me to walk out 2 and walk back 2 then start from where you want to. Thanks honey! Super helpful. Less dog noise on this route which is definitely a plus. I feel like I am just plodding along but it turns out I am staying pretty consistent. Still need to cut my toenails. Chafing from my huge cycling thighs rubbing together for the first time, what a horrible feeling. Feeling the running in my glutes but not dying in any other areas. 4 more days to go this week. Greeted by my 4 year old when I got home. Snuggled for a bit while we talked about my run gear.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Suck #1 of 2012 and its redemption
Today was to be a gorgeous day in the ICT, 70 and Sunny, in late February. It also coincided with my favorite day of the week, Wednesday. This is mine, all mine, except when goaded or provoked by the misses. So I was schoolboy excited but I was also in some kind of physical hell. I just can not seem to recover from the Chili Bike on Sunday. My arms are shot, my bruising fucking hurts, and my leg feels like it could cramp at any moment. Lethargy is my enemy this week and I'm fighting everyday. So take that lethargy and the school girl excitement of warm weather, and you get the fucked up shit I did today. I drove 17 miles to the old stomping ground when I lived in downtown. I can't begin to count the number of rides that have jumped off from the Northwest YMCA. I began to dress for the ride, so excited to be riding outdoors and on tubulars. The first thing that went south was I failed to do a battery check on the MP3 player. NO JUICE. Well I've rode quieter plenty of times, no big deal. Got everything ready and went to put my helmet on. FUCK! Forgot to bring my helmet, it was safe and snug in my drawer at home. Well I talked myself in to riding anyway, I mean I did drive the gas hog 17 miles to get here. Wasn't breaking state law or anything like that so EH! I rode anyway. The ride began, into a very expected hellish West wind. 5.86km (<4mi) in and things were A-OK. Then I heard the pop and the hiss. My tubular had hit something while riding where a tubular shouldn't be ridden. I used my can of quick flate and a CO2 with no result. Thank God you can ride on a flat tubular! My total 11.72km in about an hour.
The day turned out to be quite ok. The misses cut out of work early. She and I picked up the wee one early, taking him to the park. There is no greater joy as a father then playing with your child. We ran his legs off and by 6 pm he was about to fall out.
The day turned out to be quite ok. The misses cut out of work early. She and I picked up the wee one early, taking him to the park. There is no greater joy as a father then playing with your child. We ran his legs off and by 6 pm he was about to fall out.
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