i love cycling.

i have this life long friend. he was doing some sprint tris and into mountain biking. late 2004 i got a mountain bike. it was hard. hard on the body. i had no skills, plus i was fat and angry..... i know, you know this, but hang in there.... June 2005 i got a Trek 1000 and got the bug. in 2006 i dropped 70 lbs. i got new the Giant TCR C2 in August 06. i rode over 2500 miles that year.

i thought this was my start. it was not.

last weekend, as we drove back from the Soldier Field 10 mile race, i am talking to my buddy of some 20 plus years about cycling......yes, the life long friend mentioned above.....i am trying to explain why i love riding my bike. i cant really do it in a manner that satisfies me. however, he seems to get it.

now i am trying to figure this out myself and it goes something like this:

me - "I never watched it on TV" .
him - "Sure we did. As kids we met up at my house and watched Lemond all the time."

oh yeah, i would ride my Schwinn Traveller racing bike over to his house to do just that.
i have always been a roadie. he has just been hiding inside me for some 20 years. :)

now you know.

later.

ps: this is Double or Nothing Weekend. 5/31 = 62 very hilly miles in Wisconsin. 6/1 The Udder Century (100 miles). back to back hundos (100k and 100 miles). good times.

finishing leap....

holiday racing....

finally the Midwest gets some Spring time weather. seventy degrees and sun never look sooooo good.

so, i ran a 10 mile race on Saturday. first, let me say the event was 100% outstanding. a must do for all Chicago runners and wannabes (like me). i am a bears fan. running through the tunnel onto the field with the Bears Fight Song playing was something i will never forget.

now, what about my Too Little Too Late training plan? it worked.

i ran this race because my two buddies, who talked me into the 07 Chicago Marathon then backed out, wanted too. don't get me wrong the event was awesome, but i should be in full cycling glory this holiday weekend. NOT taking the entire week off from riding.

my plan was this, ride myself into excellent cardio shape and run two times a week to get the legs/body ready for the pounding. it worked.

i have not had a run over 5 miles in 2008. i have not run more then three times in any one week. heck, i don't think i have ran over 10 miles in any one week this year. i have been riding.

i felt good on race day. we went out at 9 minutes per. at mile 2 one buddy was dropping back. i felt good and stuck with the fast buddy (every group has one). around mile 5 we picked the pace up to 8:30 minutes per. ok, he picked it up, but i was feeling good. i was not sweating profusely or breathing heavy at all (meaning unlike him).

at mile 7 my little buddy and me grabbed some water. unfortunately, his was spiked with instant speedy steroids. he took to the grass to pass a large group of slower runners. i did the same, but he never slowed. i looked down and Mr. Forerunner screamed at me 8 minutes per mile! i thought for sure he would slow, but he never did.

i like to win, to be the best, to be the man (at least in my circle of life), but this made me happy. my friend of some 20 years, who in recent times has been over weight and out of shape, was doing something special. after seven miles of running (9 minute pace) my little buddy turned on the jets and took off. last May i would guess he couldn't walk 10 miles. did i mention this was his first running race??

he clocked in at 1:26:54 for the 10 miles.

around mile 7 my legs started reminding me that this was my longest run of the year and i had not logged enough miles to run a 10 mile race at this pace. so, i popped a Hammer Nutrition Gel and trudged on.

as i said the finish was oh so cool. what i remember the most was how small the stadium felt from the field. the seats seemed to be on top of the field. man it was cool.

i learned a couple things from this race. i was able to RIDE myself into excellent cardio shape to run a sub 9 minute per mile race. training with and running with life long friends was extremely fun. i love being abnormally physically fit. no, i am not talking about you, the amature endurance athlete. i am talking about mr normal man with a 9 to 5, 40 plus hour a week, desk job.

official word:

• 10 miles in 1:28:58 for 8:53 per
• 2262 overall out of 5000
• 350 in the 30 to 34 age group
• 1455 of all males

for recovery i rode 30 miles today. the day after the race.

later.

who you crapping ?

seriously..........?

who the heck thinks they can log 7 miles a week as prep for a 10 mile race? who are you? please post a comment on how you do this??

i will post my comment on Sunday, after i do just that.

ok, ok, ok, it is not like my non running days are spent watching Ellen and eating pure 70% dark chocolate bars. ok, ok, ok, some of my non running days are spent doing just that.

so, i have the Soldier Field 10 Mile Race this weekend. the finish is on the Bears 50 yard line. supposedly, the jumbo tron will be one and you can see yourself hit the finish line. cool!

sure i have under trained by "running standards" but i have logged some very aggressive miles on the bike. this summer is all about the bike. in fact, i have a big weekend of cycling coming up next weekend so, i will not let this put that in harms way.

i will do my best. i will attempt to finish in front of my two back-out-of-the-marathon buddies. that is just me. one of them is fast and one of them is me. i like the challenge.

later.

blog therapy ?

no, not mental. what, do you think i am some kind of quack who believers in Quackery and needs his blog for mental well being. Silly rabbit, trix are for kids.

i am talking about hamstring well being. i blog up about my aches and pains then two days later the hammy is all Kool and the Gang. ready to take on the world.

maybe it is Karma? oh uh. i take back the first paragraph.

moving on. i am continuing to embark on my Too Little Too Late training plan for the upcoming SoldierField10. the cycling is going well. the running is getting better, but still low on quantity. if i am healthy i should be able to run the 10 miler without issue. it will be slow, but you gotta take the good with the bad.

You hear that, Mr. Aham23? That is the sound of inevitability

later.

hello hammy?!@?

i have been riding my bike and i have been enjoying it...............A LOT!

so much i have put of thinking about, well training for THIS.

this would be the Soldier Field 10 Race on 5/24. ten miles with two friends. the same two friends who talked me into the 2007 Chicago Marathon then backed out before they even got started with training. i am not bitter. i just want to stomp them into the ground at this race. :)

however, i can't run. ok ok ok, a bit dramatic, but when i do i hurt. first it was the left IT band. now it's the entire left leg. the left hammy is really tight after my 5 mile run yesterday. i need some hammy stretching suggestions from my running experts.

why is my leg hating on running??

did i mention i have only been running once a week and this race is two weeks away? uh oh. me thinks it will be me getting stomped!

i have been riding which has me in decent physical shape. the last ride was a thrasher. i went out on my flat and fast route and did just that. considering it is early May i am very happy logging a 40 mile ride with a 18.4 mph average. i should see some fast numbers come August.

later.

me and the gang

BFNIC
Originally uploaded by aham23.

some of the BFNIC bunch hanging out before heading out on the second loop. im in the red "flappy" jacket.

see that nice little road twisting and turning upward in the background? good times this ride was. good times for sure.