Funny how fast that can happen. I've had about 2 or 3 weeks of low volume training due to some external stressors. Ellie and I have been working hard this week on re-tiling our kitchen floor, which looks AWESOME, but it has been an all consuming process. Every night this week we spent at least 3 hours on the floor. This has led to very little training time. I think I got 3, 2.4 mile runs in, and then got out on the bike today.
What a perfect day for a ride. It was about 74 degrees, sunny, and the fall leaves are just ridiculous right now. I rode for 25 miles, about an hour and 20 minutes. I wanted to just ride all day, but my legs were sufficiently toasted at that point. My poor bike is at the end of the line. I've never heard it creak and crack and rattle the way it did today. I tried to do a little tune when I got home, but nothing seems out of whack. I think it's just what happens to an entry level bike after 6 years of hard riding. She's done me well, but it's time for an upgrade...
Okay, off to finish cleaning up the tile with some nice, sore, biking legs. I'm going to be able to ramp up my volume this week, the weather should be beautiful, so that means some longer trail runs and a bit more time in the saddle. And at least one swim and one lift this week. It'll be good to feel healthy again :)
E
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Best. Ride. Ever.
I had the freaking best ride ever this weekend with my buddies Brandon and Matt. Matt got some new Mavic wheels, and was super excited to ride, so I think I fed off of his excitement quite a bit. Plus, it was low 60's, cloudy, and the leaves were just perfect. It rained just a bit, so if you know me, you'll know this is my kind of weather. We rode about a 25 mile loop from Downtown Denver into Golden (through the Coors brewery, man I love the smell of hops!).
We had a little climb on a trail, and just as we were about to hit the base, Matt told me that he typically does a Mark Cavendish sprint from the bottom to this covered bridge about 300 yds up the hill. Brandon was just in front of me, and Matt was behind. Brandon is by far the superior cyclist of the 3 of us, so my whole goal was to hold his wheel. About half way up, my legs were screaming like they've never screamed before, and I decided I wanted to pass Brandon. I moved to pass, and tried to hammer, but legs were already red-lining. So I tucked back in and just kept pedalling like mad. We made it, both sucking air, and looked back for Matt. No Matt. I turned around, and see him walking up the hill, chain in hand. He had hammered so hard he popped his chain. So we rigged him up so he could limp the mile or so we had to go to get into Golden. We came up on this little bike shop called Peak Cycles, and man, these guys were top notch. They were more than willing to lend us a hand, and even shoot the breeze for a few. Probably the nicest couple of bike shop guys I've ever come up on (besides Sarah at Chainwheel of course). I will probably go out of my way, and Golden is about 45 minutes out of my way, to support these guys. They were awesome.
So we made it home just in time to watch Texas dismantle the Buffs, but we had some good BBQ ribs, and some good cold beers. It was a GREAT day.
E
We had a little climb on a trail, and just as we were about to hit the base, Matt told me that he typically does a Mark Cavendish sprint from the bottom to this covered bridge about 300 yds up the hill. Brandon was just in front of me, and Matt was behind. Brandon is by far the superior cyclist of the 3 of us, so my whole goal was to hold his wheel. About half way up, my legs were screaming like they've never screamed before, and I decided I wanted to pass Brandon. I moved to pass, and tried to hammer, but legs were already red-lining. So I tucked back in and just kept pedalling like mad. We made it, both sucking air, and looked back for Matt. No Matt. I turned around, and see him walking up the hill, chain in hand. He had hammered so hard he popped his chain. So we rigged him up so he could limp the mile or so we had to go to get into Golden. We came up on this little bike shop called Peak Cycles, and man, these guys were top notch. They were more than willing to lend us a hand, and even shoot the breeze for a few. Probably the nicest couple of bike shop guys I've ever come up on (besides Sarah at Chainwheel of course). I will probably go out of my way, and Golden is about 45 minutes out of my way, to support these guys. They were awesome.
So we made it home just in time to watch Texas dismantle the Buffs, but we had some good BBQ ribs, and some good cold beers. It was a GREAT day.
E
Friday, October 3, 2008
What a run.
Man. I had a fantastic run tonight. I think my favorite thing to do is to be running or riding when I know no one else is. So when I can get a run in at 5:00pm on a Friday when everyone else is at Happy Hour, I smile knowing I'm working that much harder. I'm sure Craig Alexander, who is my bet to win the Hawaii Ironman next Saturday, is out there working, so dang it, I want to be too. Now I have no prayer of becoming a professional Ironman, but there is no better way to get your brain to dump after a week of work than an autumn run on a Friday afternoon. However, I lifted heavy last night, so my hamstrings are a weeee bit sore. It's a good sore though.
Ellie is out with her friends, so I'm enjoying a Friday night of pizza, beer, and baseball. I'm such a frugal health nut though, I've been craving pizza so bad lately, and when Ellie told me she had a girl's night planned, I was pumped to go get a pizza. Except I realized that for half the price, I could make my own pizza and have it be healthy. So I went and got an organic whole wheat pizza crust mix, organic chicken sausage, organic cheese, and some good fresh veggies. Dude, it's delicious. Screw Dominoes. And with a few Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ales, I'm a happy camper. You can judge me if you want, I'm happy to be sitting here on a Friday night. And if you want to judge, call me tomorrow morning at around 8am, I'll be getting back from an early morning run. :-)
E
Ellie is out with her friends, so I'm enjoying a Friday night of pizza, beer, and baseball. I'm such a frugal health nut though, I've been craving pizza so bad lately, and when Ellie told me she had a girl's night planned, I was pumped to go get a pizza. Except I realized that for half the price, I could make my own pizza and have it be healthy. So I went and got an organic whole wheat pizza crust mix, organic chicken sausage, organic cheese, and some good fresh veggies. Dude, it's delicious. Screw Dominoes. And with a few Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ales, I'm a happy camper. You can judge me if you want, I'm happy to be sitting here on a Friday night. And if you want to judge, call me tomorrow morning at around 8am, I'll be getting back from an early morning run. :-)
E
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Tis the most wonderful time....
...of the yeeeeeear.
Fall in Colorado is second to none. It is absolutely the best time ever to train. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous. I love it. I've gone for a few runs lately - and while the energy levels and motivation have been down - the atmosphere has been amazing. The leaves crunching and the sun setting can get me out the door no matter what.
I'm trying to figure out the energy and motivation, I think the extreme levels of stress I've been under may have something to do with it, but I'm dealing with it and really making sure I still get the workouts in - which have been helping. I've also put a bit of weight on, so I'm working on honing in my diet to get back down a few pounds. I think once I get the stress level down, and the weight off, I'll feel a lot better.
Anywho, enough whining. Brandon and I just had a kick ass ride on some fresh paved road at sunset. The aspens are changing, and tonight was a reminder of why I live here. Sarah got me super excited to get a new bike, as she was out visiting this week. Ellie and I did our best to hippi-ize Sarah, but I don't know that it worked. Either way, I think she'll be back some day, and finally I'll get to take her mountain biking here.
That's all for now. I'll be back more now, I find this helps...
E
Fall in Colorado is second to none. It is absolutely the best time ever to train. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous. I love it. I've gone for a few runs lately - and while the energy levels and motivation have been down - the atmosphere has been amazing. The leaves crunching and the sun setting can get me out the door no matter what.
I'm trying to figure out the energy and motivation, I think the extreme levels of stress I've been under may have something to do with it, but I'm dealing with it and really making sure I still get the workouts in - which have been helping. I've also put a bit of weight on, so I'm working on honing in my diet to get back down a few pounds. I think once I get the stress level down, and the weight off, I'll feel a lot better.
Anywho, enough whining. Brandon and I just had a kick ass ride on some fresh paved road at sunset. The aspens are changing, and tonight was a reminder of why I live here. Sarah got me super excited to get a new bike, as she was out visiting this week. Ellie and I did our best to hippi-ize Sarah, but I don't know that it worked. Either way, I think she'll be back some day, and finally I'll get to take her mountain biking here.
That's all for now. I'll be back more now, I find this helps...
E
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