I'm not sure that these posts every 3 weeks are a good thing, I need to get back here more. I've been busy with things, and recently Sarah and Kevin have been visiting from Arkansas (along with 4 ridiculously badass bikes...Orbea Alma anyone?). These bikes are awesome, and are really really getting me the mountain biking itch. We're going to try to get a ride (road) in on Sunday, I'd love to show them some of the great roads CO has to offer.
I've been doing a lot more lifting, and feel myself leaning out a bit. I've tried to run a few more times after work, headlamps and all. Wednesday night, I went out and it was about 12 degrees, nice to get out and breathe some fresh, crisp air. After about 4 minutes, the fresh, crisp air turned to pretty freaking cold air, so I hustled the last mile and a half home for some warm dinner.
I'm loving the weather, I love snow. I'm going to try to get some snow shoeing in soon, and that's all I know.
E
Friday, December 5, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Ho hum...
Just a quick update, I'm working into winter training mode. The morning usually goes like this - alarm goes off - "Man, it's dark out. My bed is so warm. How cold is it out? 27 degrees?!? Maybe I should just hit snooze and cuddle up with my warm bed. You'll regret it later if you don't go. Shit, I hate you voice of reason. Here we go, gotta get ready, it's cold out of this bed. And GO!!" At this point I'm half running, half skipping to my closet in the other room, jumping into my tights and wool socks. And then I'm loving my life. Getting out for a morning run in the autumn/winter is fantastic, and I usually float through the rest of my day. Now I've been on exactly 2 morning runs since daylight savings time ended, and I'm trying to get better at it, but the bed has been a constant winner lately. Meaning, I've been in the gym about 4 times this week lifting. So in the next few weeks, I'll be running more and still trying to lift a few times per week. We'll see how she goes. I'm also seeing if I can recruit any friends to run a fall marathon with me next year, but I've had no luck so far. Anywho, winter is setting in, and I'm trying to adjust. I just stumbled upon one of my headlamps tonight, so there are certainly some evening runs in the dark in my near future. Holler.
E
E
Saturday, October 18, 2008
I'm out of shape...
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
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
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
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Oktoberfest Triathlon
So I had my final tri of the summer yesterday, the Oktoberfest Triathlon in Longmont. I had a good buddy, Michael, fly in from San Diego and race with me, and this was Michael's first triathlon. It was really nice to wake up at 5:30am (sleeping in in terms of triathlon time), get a few mini bagels and a banana down, and head to Union Res at about 6:00am. We got there at 6:20, were the first few people there, and staked out a really nice transition spot. I helped Michael set up his spot, and we started walking around the Res and scouting everything out. I was really really excited that this was such a laid back race. 250 or so people, 4 waves, and everyone there seemed genuinely happy to be there. This is a stark contrast to the 5430 races, that have gotten so popular (for good reason!), that about half the people there are making appearances for a sponsor, and seem rather put off that they had to get up early and go do a race. So the atmosphere was just great.
The swim was a waist deep start, the water was 71 degrees and just awesome. Our wave went out right aftet the pros, and I got myself right to the front, and just redlined the whole way. 750m, 10:58, good enough for 14th overall on the swim.
The bike was a 4 mile, 3 lap course through some neighborhoods. There were a lot of slight inclines, but overall, this was a very fast 12 mile bike leg. It obviously got harder as we went, as by the time I got to the second and third lap, it was getting more congested and the turns (lots of
them) were tough with a lot of people. It was nice though, the people were all pleasant, and people were announcing passes, and just saying hi to you as you passed, etc. It was great. I had a guy pass me on a down hill on a super nice Felt bike, sperm helmet and all. I passed him a few minutes later, and he was obviously pissed at being passed by a beat up Schwinn with clip on aero bars. He said a few things to me under his breath, and was really trying to suck on my wheel. I kind of laughed and hammered harder, and he kept up. The best part was, this was my third lap, so I came to the left hand turn that would take me back to the Res, and I hear a bellowing "DAMMIT!!!" behind me. I look back and he was making the right hand turn to start his third lap. He wasn't too pleased, but I thought it was slightly humorous. My bike split was 35:06 for 12.4(ish), a 21.2 mph average, and 34th overall.
The run was a 3.1 mile out and back along Union Res. It was absolutely gorgeous, the temps at this point were just touching the upper 60's, the sun was out, PERFECT. I went out behind a guy with his name and "USA" on the back, typical of a pro racer. So, the plan was, stay with that dude. About 3/4 of a mile into the run, I looked up and saw a pretty daunting hill. Sooo, I just tucked my chin into my chest and spun the legs. Got to the top, grabbed a water, and saw USA not too far ahead of me. Just ahead of us was the turn around, and I was curious as to who was behind me. I made the turn, and first checked out the guys behind me, 2 of them, not too close. Good. Then I looked up and realized that since I crested the hill at about 1 mile, the last half mile to the turn had been a slight downhill, and the climb back up didn't look too fun. Tuck chin. Run. Made it to the crest of the big hill and just bombed down. At this point, USA found a new gear and started to hammer, so I tried to do the same. He put a good chunk of distance into me, but in the process of hanging on, I was able to pass a pretty good member of the University of Colorado Triathlon team - that felt great. I came around the corner in pain, and very excited to see the finish line. I ended up running a personal best 19:51 5K (6:24/mile), the 23rd best run of the day.
Overall, I finished 14th out of 237, and took 2nd in my Age Group with a total time of 1:08:03. This was a big goal of mine, to place in my age group this season, and I couldn't be happier about it. I won a Cowboy Boot Beer Glass.... .... .... only in Colorado. This is the race I needed to get me excited about triathlon again. The atmosphere was perfect, and I just really really enjoyed myself. Here are some pixxors (just for Fish):
Michael and I - Pre-race
Before the swim
Michael coming out of the water
Me in transition
Leaving transition
Finishing...
Michael off on the run
Really great run
Michael finishing
The swim was a waist deep start, the water was 71 degrees and just awesome. Our wave went out right aftet the pros, and I got myself right to the front, and just redlined the whole way. 750m, 10:58, good enough for 14th overall on the swim.
The bike was a 4 mile, 3 lap course through some neighborhoods. There were a lot of slight inclines, but overall, this was a very fast 12 mile bike leg. It obviously got harder as we went, as by the time I got to the second and third lap, it was getting more congested and the turns (lots of
them) were tough with a lot of people. It was nice though, the people were all pleasant, and people were announcing passes, and just saying hi to you as you passed, etc. It was great. I had a guy pass me on a down hill on a super nice Felt bike, sperm helmet and all. I passed him a few minutes later, and he was obviously pissed at being passed by a beat up Schwinn with clip on aero bars. He said a few things to me under his breath, and was really trying to suck on my wheel. I kind of laughed and hammered harder, and he kept up. The best part was, this was my third lap, so I came to the left hand turn that would take me back to the Res, and I hear a bellowing "DAMMIT!!!" behind me. I look back and he was making the right hand turn to start his third lap. He wasn't too pleased, but I thought it was slightly humorous. My bike split was 35:06 for 12.4(ish), a 21.2 mph average, and 34th overall.
The run was a 3.1 mile out and back along Union Res. It was absolutely gorgeous, the temps at this point were just touching the upper 60's, the sun was out, PERFECT. I went out behind a guy with his name and "USA" on the back, typical of a pro racer. So, the plan was, stay with that dude. About 3/4 of a mile into the run, I looked up and saw a pretty daunting hill. Sooo, I just tucked my chin into my chest and spun the legs. Got to the top, grabbed a water, and saw USA not too far ahead of me. Just ahead of us was the turn around, and I was curious as to who was behind me. I made the turn, and first checked out the guys behind me, 2 of them, not too close. Good. Then I looked up and realized that since I crested the hill at about 1 mile, the last half mile to the turn had been a slight downhill, and the climb back up didn't look too fun. Tuck chin. Run. Made it to the crest of the big hill and just bombed down. At this point, USA found a new gear and started to hammer, so I tried to do the same. He put a good chunk of distance into me, but in the process of hanging on, I was able to pass a pretty good member of the University of Colorado Triathlon team - that felt great. I came around the corner in pain, and very excited to see the finish line. I ended up running a personal best 19:51 5K (6:24/mile), the 23rd best run of the day.
Overall, I finished 14th out of 237, and took 2nd in my Age Group with a total time of 1:08:03. This was a big goal of mine, to place in my age group this season, and I couldn't be happier about it. I won a Cowboy Boot Beer Glass.... .... .... only in Colorado. This is the race I needed to get me excited about triathlon again. The atmosphere was perfect, and I just really really enjoyed myself. Here are some pixxors (just for Fish):
Michael and I - Pre-race
Before the swim
Michael coming out of the water
Me in transition
Leaving transition
Finishing...
Michael off on the run
Really great run
Michael finishing
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