revisiting old races/rides of the year

I've decided to run the half in December and have a goal of 2 hours or better. We'll see. Yes, I'm too cheap to buy the pic for $60 but I promise I'm not a giant even though I look a foot taller than everyone else. Some great rides this year and some odd rides. Everything from a wiemereiner (whatever the grey dog) causing a 7 bike pileup with some nasty injuries and 2 firetrucks, a couple EMT vans and a couple of cops. Obviously in a small part of town. The HH100 I did with a riding buddy Jeff which turned into a great day with some blistering splits and some not so blistering speeds. We finished and the temp was about 102 or 106 depending on which guage you looked at. I had a great Jack Rabbit Classic in which I did 67 miles in almost 3 hours flat and a horrible start but good finish to the Cotton Patch Classic. Days are shorter but I've gotten to a point where I like the cool early mornings and dimly lit rides. I registered for the NYC tri in July and will do a marathon next year. I'm into a break on the bike for a couple of weeks and find myself cleaning and tuning my bike up. Looking to add some Spinergy Stealth PBO's to the stable and probably upgrade my bars and brakes. That's all for today. Oh, my little half last week was pretty much in Zone 5 so as good as I might be getting on the bike, I'll be able to keep the blog title for a while.

Nice Day to Run a Half

Started out pretty early to get a parking spot and stretch. i-Pod charged, shoes laced and knee free of it's carbon fiber/titanium contraption with too much time before the start. I've only ran that far a couple of times but never more than 3-4 without my knee brace. Too many injuries have been my excuse to not run often but I've always been of the mindset that if you believe-weak you'll be weak. Bye, bye knee braces. (except maybe for hockey) Slow start as too be expected but I started well and had a slow last 3 miles. I finished in about 2 hours but admittedly have ran about 4 times before this as I was trying to hang on to what was left of cycling season. I'm really anxious about the spring so race season will be in full swing. There was a big Harley guy with a cane that I saw 3 times at different points of the race. He was cheering everyone on so after I finished I figured I could do the same. I backtracked the course and cheered everyone on from the 12.5 mile mark. I told them the hard part was over and they did a great job. People were happy that they were almost done so I got about 50 high-fives for my efforts. After a decent showing considering my training for the event, I'm a little torqued that I didn't put in the effort and get a good finish time. I'm thinking of doing the half in December and if I do I'll train. I'd like to run about 1:45 or better so maybe I can use running to jump start the beginning of my bike training. Overall a pretty enjoyable day. I watched the highlites of the NYC marathon and saw Lance finish in just under 3 hours and some other pretty cool stories.

The Half is tomorrow

Okay, after reading a friend's blog and his story of not only running a marathon with stress fractures in his pelvis but qualifying for Boston, I feel a little bad about thinking of running the 10k or whatever the shorter distance is tomorrow. As usual my training has been all bike and a few short runs. I've swam a few times and am adding in some "stealth" training for the NYC Tri in July. I'll update tomorrow and we'll see if I run the 1/2 or chicken out and run the 10k. Either way, I'm not looking for a blistering time. I really can't wait for February when cycling season starts again.

Crap, $hi7, *&%^ing son of a 817ch!!!!!

Such a nice cool crisp morning. The stars are still out as I'm venturing off to get some early miles logged on the bike. Very cool morning as I set off just before 7 with my lights blinking, helmet strapped and i-Pod emitting the soothing tones of Slipknot or some other wildly angry band. Yes, it's a far cry from the symphony or John Legend but hey, that's for pure enjoyment and this is designed to inspire intensity and help my tired legs gather steam with the 8000 beats per bar that they tend to lay down. Okay, back on track. Decent ride, way too many runners that are literally running in the middle of the street. What's with that? Get out of the way, I run too but I know I am no match for a Lincoln. As you can sense my fury rising here comes the hills with a few cyclists already dotting my line. I fly up the hill big ringing and am feeling pretty good through my 30 miles today. So what's the cursing about? Well, I decided to get a run in as well so I could continue to enjoy the day. 2.21 miles into my run I'm eating a Gu and trying to weave my way through the Team in Training people that gather like locusts near anything resembling a watering hole. I'm not bitter, not yet. As I am moving my way through three runners are spread accross the lane. No worries, I'm faster therefore I'll just overtake them from the dirt trail that has been worn into the grass from other runner doing the same. Wait, what's that shooting pain flying up my leg? You got it, a tree root sent my ankle turning and not just slightly. My stride completed on the swoosh part of my Nike running shoes and as I pulled up lame and moved aside for the runners behind me, it started. "Ah, you've got to be F-ing kidding, Son of a b-, god damn.........." I limped around and cursed for about 5 minutes and finished my Gu while stretching my swelling ankle. Did you note the part about 2.21 miles? I did because now I had 2.79 miles to go. As luck would have it the pain subsided and I finished my run. I'll swim tonight, maybe. I'm using this as an excuse to be a bum today and watch too many bad movies on my newly installed Direct TV. Oh, Congrats Cards fans.

Love rainy days

6:30 am-got to the lake and it was raining so I made the obligatory stop for bagel and coffee. I took my sweet time getting ready to ride and it was still pretty dark since it was so early and there was a lot of dark rain clouds overhead. It turned out to be a great ride although it rained pretty hard for the entire 31 miles. I could feel some wheel slippage on some corners and definitely on one of the steeper climbs out of the saddle. What's usually a very packed area with runners, walkers and cyclists I saw a total of 2 cyclists, 1 super-marathon girl that I always see and about 3 walkers in full rain slickers. Legs felt awesome and averaged 18.6 through the wind and rain even with slow corners and some cautious transitioning of pavement types. Great form of meditation, not that I'm into that stuff, but the i-Pod stayed playing and the legs didn't want to quit today. I have 3 runs for a total of 21 miles left for the week and a couple of visits to the gym and the dreaded pool. The Ironman is in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to watch it. Ever since I watched my buddy finish on the computer I've had a lust for that tattoo. Not saying I'm heading that direction anytime soon. I just ordered a new cycling movie called "Overcoming." I'll update with the reviews and everything later.

races and rides update

Last race was the Cotton Patch Classic and a buddy came along to race his first race. I was glad he came and I think he had fun. It was a neutral start that saw speeds of almost 30 before the race started. About 4 miles into the race a pretty nasty pile-up that pulled 15 riders out of the race. I ditched into the grass to avoid the tumbling cyclist in front of me and my buddy stopped and waited as I got moving again. The race turned into a 56 mile time trial as the pack kept it's speed after the crash and we had to stop and get collected. I turned in a good solo effort in brutal crosswinds that turned into a head wind for the last 20 miles at least. I picked off several riders throughout the day but really improved my horrible position in the last 20 miles. Needless to say, not my best showing of the year but it was another great day. I ended up with about 450 miles for the month of September and am off to a slow start to October because of work. I'm now racing with the Mirage team so hopefully I can post some top 15 positions and move up a Category in early spring.

Jackrabbit Stampede

Mass Start 67 mile race with a cash prize of $200 to winner. Needless to say in an open race the winner took off and finished in 2:39. I pulled in with some of the local Mirage guys at 3:06 and a pace of 21.2 mph. A great ride and a great day just outside of Dallas. The support was a little lite and it could have had better traffic control but the group I spent the last 40 miles with was pretty well organized. Structured 2 line pacing, some odd breaks and I even got some good pulls on the front. I think I could have paced above 22 but not without the group. I have a 56 mile race on Saturday so I'm guessing a pace of about 22.5 mph assuming we can get a group that doesn't attack without reason. It's Sunday so I'm off to swim.

Happy Labor Day

Monday which is suppose to be my rest day turned into a 2.5 mile run in the rain, mainly because I love running in the rain. It's official, I'm making my own arm band for the i-Pod. I swam today as well, only 700 metres but considering I'm not the most technical swimmer in the world it's a good workout. Oh, I skipped rope for about 2o minutes too. That was my day off and I'm looking forward to the Ahi tuna steak tonight that I bought from the fish market. Mmm. Had two great rides this weekend, one with the bike store and another 35 miler with a couple of guys from the Bike Mart ride Sunday. Neither ride was blistering but with my workout today my legs should be a little tight tomorrow. Cany you say massage?

Labor Day Weekend

So, I've effectively recovered from the appropriately named Hotter than Hell 103. I spun Monday to keep the legs moving and did 25 miles of hill work on Thursday. My totals miles for August only tallied up to 417 still up from my 314 effort of July. I have planned a 35 mile club ride tomorrow with a group from the local bike shop in Dallas. Monday the vampires come out (once they smell blood they start showing their teeth) in the form of the Mirage 100k. Should result in about a 100 mile weekend. Keep in mind I have a race Tuesday and a 56 mile race on Saturday. I'm ready to finish my race schedule through October and am not yet loving the idea of starting to train for my marathon in December. Pretty much holding a steady pattern till I head back to Montana (yes, you're seeing a pattern here) and load up the mountain bike, motorcycle and some fly rods to escape into my paradise for a week or so. Unfortunately that's going to have to take a back seat to London again. I should be thankful that I get to travel and be involved in these awesome deals but it's a means to the end. Maybe it's the heat talking but I'm ready to retire to Montana and just be connected to the world via satelite. Enough of my rambling, I'll post more later.

Hotter than Hell 100 (+/-)

Okay, trying to get a single guy to go to bed at 9 on a Friday night isn't the easiest thing in the world. I did turn in around that time but as you can guess I slept very little between the excitement and the fear of oversleeping. I got up at 2:45am loaded up and picked my buddy up to hit the highways at 3:30. A quick detour or two and we arrived in Wichita Falls just before 6. After the flyover of the Air Force jets the ride starts with a bang. Of a cannon anyway, the overall start takes what seems like 20 minutes. So many riders you literally walk your bike the first quarter mile before the jockeying starts. Once you get through the crowd of people that aren't that experienced in pack riding you can really get your rhythm going. Until you hit the first rest stop and see the crowds forming. Over all a great ride. I felt awesome all day and did the fastest 60 miles ever and still had enough to pace around 20 from mile 90-103. The overall ride was a little slower than I would have liked due to traffic and my riding buddy got sick. Truth be known, his slow pace for a few miles probably saved me from myself. The stats of the day: Finishing temp: 106 Estimated Riders: 12,000 Water Bottles Consumed: 14 est. Pickle Juice: 2 Bananas: 5 Gu's: 6 Cookies: 3 Powerbars: 2 Oranges: 4 Finishing time: 5:39.44 Calories burned: 8000 Stops: 3 scheduled, 2 unscheduled I also managed to have an average HR that kept me in zone 4.1. Pretty happy with the performance and enjoyed the experience.

2 days till HH100

Rode an easy 21 this morning and am feeling pretty good about the ride Saturday. We're scheduled to leave around 3:30am on Saturday to drive 2.5 hours and then ride 100 miles only to turn around and drive back 2.5 hours. A riding buddy has been recruited to do it as well and he's a good match because our styles are the same and he'll gut it out with me if we blow up too early. Goal: 5-5.5 hours and then I'll catch the last Tuesday night races through September before I start adding my marathon training. December 8th is the White Rock Marathon and I think I should be able to keep that in my schedule even with my trip to Dubai and Spain. I'll attach my Garmin read outs to show the pace, elevation and heart rate. I'm guessing it will burn about 8500 calories Saturday so I'll be eating pasta like a fat Italian from now till Saturday. I'll post after that.

One week to go

Okay, haven't been as religious about this as I thought. Imagine that, me not good with religion or technology. From the day of the last post I quit drinking and lost over 20 lbs. Not too bad. I'm now pedaling at a svelte 215, which is about 15 to 25 lbs lighter than usual. Good thing I'm 6'3" or I'd be jelly. I haven't been under 212 since I started training with Bonds and his boys. j/k Last ride was 35 miler with a group and I was in the lead group out and did most of the pulling back. My heartrate is now about 10 bpm lower than 5 weeks ago and I can ride over 200 miles/week without my knees locking up. I'm scheduled for an early 60 tomorrow and will do the HH100 on the 26th. I'd like to finish it under 6 hours total time which should equate to about 5 hours moving time. For those of you on the slow bus that averages out to about 20 mph. Yes a little aggressive but with a big group and a little luck hopefully I can pace at 18.5.

Holiday Weekend

Okay, the new bike has arrived and even though I have a skip in some mid gears it's a HUGE improvement over my lumberjack of a bike that I was on before. The KHS Flight although not a contender for lightest bike in the world is much lighter than the Motobecane that served as an anchor for my previous races/rides/rolls around the lake. Upgraded all the components to Ultegra/Dura Ace and added a carbon seatpost to help lighten the load. I still haven't found anything as smooth and fast as the six13 that graced my presence for what seems to be too few miles now. Too bad I'm too cheap to spend the money on one of my own. Save the jokes! Two great rides around White Rock and I must say that I hate the new bridge that bottle necks cyclists, walkers, runners and dogs. My legs feel strong and my lungs must have been failing due to my indulgence in Cuban pleasures over the weekend. Note to self: cycling, running and smoking cigars goes together like oil and water. If you are unaware of that combo just call Exxon, they can tell you it's not pleasant. Okay, enough of my crap today. Anyone is welcome to offer hints, advice or tactics to get faster.