8 miles and counting....

I ran 8 miles last week in my three training runs. I am trying to build up to run a 10k on 11/11. I have never run more then 4 miles at one time, so this should be interesting. I figure I need to log 10 miles this week with maybe a big run of 5 miles or so. Looking at my schedule for the week it looks like Wed, Thur, Fri will be my best bets to run. Maybe today, as it is so darn nice out, but at last I am still at work and the clock is ticking.

My thought or guess is, if I can do 4 or 5 miles then 6.21 should be no problem. Uh, yeah, what he said. ??? Well, I bet I can do it, but can I do it in under 48 minutes? I better get to training. Later.

Glorious......

What a perfect birthday weekend. That is right I got an entire weekend. Hey, you only turn 25 once. Wait, Crap, I already mentioned I am 33. Poop.

So, I got the whole weekend. It went like this. Friday was work from home with my beautiful little baby girl as daycare options one and two called in sick. It was awesome. She is such an amazing little girl. We made me a Chocolate birthday cake in the morning. Then my Mom came up that afternoon and took us to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. Steak, beers, and chocolate cake!

Saturday it was a trip to the Pearl Izumi Outlet store where I ordered me a new red Optik wind jacket. All day the wife had been mentioning I should eat light and she was in charge of dinner. Was she making dinner, ordering out, what could it be that she was sure I would be most over joyed with??? Well, we arrived home and her Mother was at our house ready to babysit. We were going to see a Movie then Dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse!

We use to be big time movie goers seeing one or two movies a weekend. We would see all the big flicks on opening weekend. The last movie we went to was The 40 Year Old Virgin, so this was most exciting. We decided on The Departed and it was very good. I think we could have seen the worst movie ever and thought it was very good, but really it was very good.

Dinner at Sullivan's was over the top outstanding! You gotta try the lettuce wedge salad if you ever get a chance. This place is fast becoming my new favorite Steak Place.

As I reflect on the weekend it appears it was a 13,000 calorie blowout and that may be low. Let us not worry to much. I ran 3.67 miles in 30 minutes on Saturday and finally got back on the road bike this morning. It was cold, but it felt good. I was sluggish, but it felt so good. It was 34 miles at a 18 mph pace. Man I had missed that road bike.

Later.

10/27 = 33 = 174 lbs

Today is my birthday. Yeah for me! I am playing stay at home daddy today as Daycare options 1 & 2 called OFF sick. Option two gave us notice with a 5 am phone call. I technically am working too. This should be fun. :)

I am 33 years old today and as cliche as it sounds, I am in the best shape of my life, both Physically and Mentally. Things are well and times are good. I must remember that it has not and will not always be like this. These are the times to enjoy and bank for those rainy days.

Yes, those are my big thoughts of the day.

I am still planning to run a 10k November 11th, but have not done much running lately. I have logged 4.4 miles on the treadmill this week. I ran this morning at 6am before the little one awoke and I found it very difficult. Not sure why, but I suffered and it was only 2 freaking miles. I hope to get a ride in this weekend if the wind and cold subside some.

Later.

Miles and More Miles...........

2,502 Miles to be precise.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it! (i have no idea what that means?)

The obvious question is; WTF am I talking about?

GOALS.

When I started in April the goal for this overweight and out-of-shape Trek 1000 riding Nooooob was 1000 total cycling miles for the Summer. Things happened and I adjusted the goal in the middle of Summer to 2000 miles. Well, things continued to happen and I just passed by 2500 on a 35 pound Mountain Bike. Nice!

Still got a ride or two left in this season. Maybe I need to get the team of monkeys together and think about another goal adjustment.........3000 miles I can see you. Later.

This was purchased new by me off eBay in Feburary of this year (2006). It has 123 hours of use for a total of 2009 miles. The computer has never been used in the rain or dropped or damaged in any way. I have never had any issues with it. The heart rate chest strap shows wear. The candence sensor has a couple scuffs on it as well, but functions fine. This is a great cyclocomputer, but I have upgraded to a Garmin Edge 305, because that is what I do.

You get: The cyclocomputer unit, HR chest strap, Speed and Cadence Sensors, Speed Sensor Wheel Magnet, All original supplied mounting brackets, User Manual, & Original Box. The only thing missing is the Cadence Sensor Magnet as I lost it. You can pick one up from you LBS for cheap though.

Price is $85 Shipped. PayPal Only. Later.

Coffee Geek

Work took me to downtown Chicago this morning. I was looking forward to this trip because I knew I would have some time for a downtown treat. I have kind of become a Coffee Geek, not a Coffee Snob though. I like Starbucks when served by someone who knows what they are doing. Right now I am brewing Peet's at home which is outstanding. And so on.......

I seem to be on a Latte kick. So, I paid a visit to a Chicago Must For Coffee Houses, Intelligentsia Coffee, for a Latte. It was a bit pricey and undersized, the medium was only 12 oz, but it was outstanding. Plus, I grabbed me a 1 lb bag of their signature dark roast, El Diablo, and look forward to brewing it once I finish off Peet's House Blend.

Coffee is sooooo gooooood. Later.

Intervals....

I think it was two winters past when I tried to lose some weight that I regularly did intervals on a spin bike at the Y. They were hard, but doable and a great workout. Well, last night I decided to put in some treadmill time, but go at it a bit different. You got it, SPRINT intervals on the treadmill.

I find running hard, but very rewarding physically. I feel like this running thing has really helped me advanced my bike fitness.

So, the SPRINTS about made me puke. Now, maybe it was the fact I ran after dinner, but whatever they kicked my butt. I only managed 4 intervals, 2 minutes running at 9 mph then 2 minutes recovery at 4.5 mph, for a total of only 8 minutes. I did combine some light running and heavy walking after the Sprints for a total of 3 miles and 30 minutes.

What is the point? Well, this is my blog and I am not required to have a point, if I am so inclined. Or it could be, get out and run!!

OR it could be DA BEARS!! Later.

What?

I can only watch crap so long. Crap is Crap and I know crap when I see it. Hey if it looks like crap and smells like crap then it's crap. Until last night. Fourth Quater and I could take no more. Another Sexy Rexy Interception and I could take no more. A big huge fat Arizona Defensive Lineman scoring a touchdown and I could take no more. It was 29 to 10, the Bears looked really really bad and over confident, and I was off to bed.

It is 630am and the BEARS won the game? How did this happen. It was crap. Staring me right in the face all night. Crap is Crap! I am so confused. They actually won the game. I had to google the game to get the story. Wow.

FROSTY

If this were golf we would have to wait for the thaw before starting our round. Well, and sun light. It aint and we didn't. I headed out nice and early this morning for a trip to Starved Rock. It was 26 degrees when I departed with bike and bike gear in hand. It was an hour trip to the starting point so the temps had a chance to warm all the way up to the 30s. It was cold.

Met up with a couple of fellow BFNIC'ers and we hit the road at 8am. It was 40 miles that involved a couple 10% plus grade climbs through the Starved Rock area. It was an awesome change from the flatlands I have been riding all summer. None of the climbs were significant in length but 3 or 4 really took off & straight up!! I still managed a 17.3 mph avg speed for the two hour ride. Plus, I hit 40 mph on a decent around mile 25ish. Good Stuff.

All the stats you need are.......HERE.

I tried out some new cold weather gear. Pearl Izumi Therma Fleece Tights kept my legs very warm. Under Armour Cold Gear baselayer and a Nike 10/2 Long Sleve Thermal Jersey kept my core well protected. Pearl Izumi Fleece gloves did a poor job handling the temps. My fingers were freezing. PI bootes kept the toes warm. Finally I had a PI Fleece cap that kept my head warm, but not my ears. It was advertised to cover the ears, but barely did. Yes, I am a Pearl Izumi FanBoy.

I mapped out the route for us and learned two things. Dead Ends Happen. AND do not have the meeting point, also known as the start/finish, located at the top of a climb with a 14% grade in it. Great for departing, but tough at mile 40! Later.

K.O.R.

Big ride tomorrow. A small group of the BFNIC is meeting over at Starved Rock for a chilly early morning ride. Being there last weekend hiking I had a chance to notice that some of the roads running along the river and through the park are hilly. Yes, I think what I spotted could be classified as hills and not just rollers. Now, there are not any 5 or 10 or 20 mile climbs, but compared to my normal riding it should be fun. I have an untested 37 mile route mapped out and will depart tomorrow morning around 7am to meet up with the other guys.

Who will be the King of Rollers?

On the food front. I am still eating a ton, but whatever. I need to stop crying and enjoy it. I mean I have dropped 60 lbs. and remain very active. I can eat some freakin ice cream if I want too. AND Cake. I love Cake. I think it is time to let the fitday.com thing go and stop tracking it too???

I plan to run a 10k in November to keep the training going so blah blah blah blah...........there are those dots again????.......Alright already. I am out. Need to hit the mall for some cold weather riding gear. Later.

Eating Machine...........

Good thing my kitchen is filled with lowfat goodies. This was not true a year ago. It may be the only thing that saves me this fall/winter.

I can NOT seem to stop eating. I have been packing away 3000 calories a day for the past two months. Way more then when I was dropping weight like it was hot. No problem when I am riding 300 to 500 miles a month and running 2 to 8 eight miles a week. HOWEVER, I aint been that active the past two weeks.

So why am I eating so much? With my cycling season coming to an end I am confused about how much I should be eating. Will I be less hungry because I am less active? Or am I inadvertently training my system to think that 3000 calories is the right number. I need some nutritional help. We got any experts out there?

I just need to maintain my weight over the winter. Of course, I will still run on the treadmill and hit the gym once or twice a week, like last winter. Yes, I am being a big worry wart sissy boy about this eating and weight issue. BUT you have seen the pictures and I am NOT going back. I like being 177 lbs and fit.

Anyway, let me try to make myself feel better. I did another 30 miler on Monday. Ran 2.3 miles on the treadmill tonight in 19 minutes. AND I think I am going to attempt a 10k run in November as that will keep me training and motivated. OK, now I can go to bed. Later.

The End Is Near, Part Two....

I know........I was bitching about the weather last week and last weekend ended up being Sunny and 70 both days. Well, this weekend was the same. Two most outstanding days. They are coming to an end, I just don't know when. Well, according to Weather.com the end is Thursday with a projected high of 40 degrees............burrrrrrrrrr!

Saturday it was family fun at Starved Rock. Grandma was in town to watch the little one so, the wife, me and Eddie Vedder (the dog) loaded up the camping gear for a trip to Starved Rock. Yep, a one night camping trip! Hey, we are yuppie wannabees from the burbs!! Really though, we keep all the gear in a big Rubber Maid carrier so we just threw it in the car and took off.

Hiking on Saturday was great. I forgot to bring the all knowing Mr. Edge, but we did around 4 to 5 miles in 3 hours. Then it was hot dogs, beers, and smores back at the camp site. I don't know what the temp was last night, but it was freaking cold in the tent. Eddie slept in my sleeping bag and helped keep me warm. This morning I started up another fire to warm us up and brewed up some coffee in the men's bathroom. The only electrical outlet I could find! We had Starbucks Espresso blend while we literally sat on top of the fire! Good Times.

We arrived home fairly early today and the wife said, "Have a nice ride." I love this woman. She knows I get grumpy if I don't get any quality time with my bike. Plus, she had something going on later in the afternoon that would put me on baby duty (ha, i said duty). I got my time and she got her time. That is how we roll.

I rolled out in a new direction for this ride.............NORTH. Not sure why I never tired a Northern route before?? I found me a good one. Two of the roads were slightly busy with no shoulder, but over all it was solid. I even found some nice new rollers to train on. Check it out........HERE.

After the ride sure enough the wife headed out the door. No problem because I had Tivo'd the Bears game, Oh Wait, one small cute problem. I used my brains and spent the next two hours in the baby jail playing AND watching DA BEARS. I have plenty of thoughts on these BEARS, but at last I am tired from a fabulous weekend. Later.

Free GEAR!!!!

When I purchased my most awesome full carbon fiber frame 2006 Giant TCR C2 I received a mail in form for a free Giant Jersey. Well it finally came and it is sweet. However, I must say that European Large is nothing like an American Large. It does fit like a glove on me and I can NOT wait to sport it. OK, yes I am wearing right now. Later.

BFNIC Century Complete

This was a great ride. The weather was for once, all it was forecasted to be..........Perfect!! Read all you need to know and more then you want to know over at BikeForums.net.....HERE!

My Stats are...................HERE!!

As you can see, if you so choose, my total exercise time is a bit off. No I was not out there for 70 hours. The last time I used the Edge 305 was for a quick run. After the run, I reset the Edge 305 to complete that work session. I accidentally started it back up for 2 seconds before shutting it off. When I started the timer for the ride it thought it was a continuance from that 2 seconds, which was last Thursday, thus 70 hours. You follow that? Me neither.

The rest of the stats are cool and the gang. 106 miles in 6 hours at 17.6 average mph. I didn't have the Super Human Legs that showed up with me for the North Shore Century, but it was a good ride.

No time. Gotta Go. Later.