No Drugs

It's viral. I just get to wait it out, for 7-9 days. That just bites!
Taking the day off today, and I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Oh yeah! 99.9 at the Dr. this morning.

Sick Stats

Started feeling better at about 10:30 this morning, after a pretty rough night. I had chills, sweats, muscle aches, (Hmmm that sounds like a bike ride) all night long, which kept on waking me up. I guess I'll have to start keeping stats, like I would if I was riding. 10 hours of sleep last night, lots of fluids, 3 or 4 oranges and a temp of 99.5 tonight. Stats aren't an obsession with me are they?

I was feeling pretty good at about 2 this afternoon, but thought better of the idea of heading out on a ride. Went over to the gym instead and spent 2 hrs on the elliptical at a nice easy pace.
2hrs/2070

Getting Sick

Raw throat yesterday. Got home from my ride tonight, and I was coughin' stuff up, so it looks like it's moved into my lungs, and you know I sort of need those to ride with. I've got the chills now, I'm getting the aches and it hurts to touch my skin. This has all come on since yesterday.

I felt fine this morning, except for the throat, and then when I got home...I feel bad. I'll be in bed early tonight, and just sleep until I wake up. Lots of water and oranges, with the sleep, I hope, will get me better real fast. The weather looks great for this weekend, and I don't want to miss a good hard ride.

I had an old rear wheel rebuilt for my "B" road bike, and got it back today. I'm planning on taking the "B" road bike out this weekend...first time since December 1st.

Kept my ride short and easy tonight. I have found that I do better when I'm sick if I ride, or at least get a workout in. 25/14.7

Two-For

A cold wind kept me all bundled up while my riding partner was taking clothes off. I am a wuss. 31/13.9

Celebs On High Bridge

The weekend rides were fantastic. Today was no less spectacular. I could smell Spring in the air.

Got my picture, well at least my right shoulder, in the Pioneer Press this morning. I'm in yellow right behind CJ, who stole the shot. I was riding with the Birchwood Coffee ride. This picture was taken as we were coming down High Bridge. 30/15.1

Did not want to come home. I just wanted to ride and never have it end. I love that feeling. 53/15.2

So Good

Perfection at 32 degrees. What a blast! Great company, hard work, lots of pain and suffering. It doesn't get any better than this? Well maybe if it was 80 degrees, but man this was good.

THANKS! 51/17.7

Well, I fucked up the diet this week.
No one to blame, but myself. Weighed 180.2 this morning.
Business has picked up a little and I haven't had as much time to keep up with the blog.
I've done my core workouts, even though I haven't mentioned them.
I rode today. The sun was out, and I just had to get on the bike. I took the studded tires off and rode some Vittoria 32's. Those things are so much lighter than my Nokkian's. It felt good to be able to lean into a corner a little bit. Hopefully I'll be on the "B" road bike in another week or so.
20/14.3

Uneventful

Same ride as Tuesday, but nothing unusual happened this time.
It was good to be out, and I felt strong.
30/13.7

Off The Wagon

Hit the gym today. Tomorrow looks like the temps will be more tolerable. It's getting dark after 6pm now, and the average temp is suppose to be around 30 degrees. Last year the temp on this date was 41 degrees. COME ON!
Breakfast
Waffle 280
Blueberries 80
Sugar 80
No Lunch
Dinner
Pasta 200
Chili 350
Orange 60
Banana 100
Total cals 1150
I did stop by my moms today. I was a good son and fixed a leak in her humidifier and ate too much junk food. She's one of those moms, that expresses her love by feeding you, and not accepting no. I have to admit though, I didn't put up too big of a protest. I probably ate 500 to 800 cals while there, and not 1 calorie was good for me. I'm going to pay for this.

Took the day off from my core workout.

Burned 2115 cals at the gym on the elliptical. Listened to Lyle Lovet. Very good songs like; She's No Lady, M-O-N-E-Y, and Here I Am, brought a smile to my face. "please, if it's not too late, could you make it a cheeeeseburger".
2hrs/2115

Johns, Computer, Cold

Interesting ride today, but let me get past the stats first.
250 crunches
20 push ups
15 roman sit ups (increased by 5 from last week)

Breakfast
Oatmeal 300
Banana 80
Brown Sugar 90
Lunch
Soup 200
Apple 100
Dinner
Potatoes 200
Peas 80
Sauce 160
Pear 100
Total 1310 cals
I'll probably have an orange later on tonight for about 1400 cals total

I estimate I burned about 1800 cals while riding.

It was 8 degrees when I got home from work, but the wind wasn't too bad, so I ventured out.
It was an interesting ride to say the least. It was snowing off and on, but every time it started to snow it seemed like the sun was out, and when it wasn't snowing it was cloudy. The snow looked like smoke, because it was so fine. I suppose that's because of the cold.

I rode past the inetersection of Minnehaha and Lake, and waited at the stop light. A white Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled up next to me. I thought a woman was driving, but later realized it was a man. He seemed very impatient, and kept on edging up, kind of jerking toward the intersection while the light was still red. He made this move about 3 or 4 times, and was more than a car length ahead of me when I noticed his window was down (remember it's 8 dergees out). There was a woman on the corner and he was yelling something at her. Something like "hey hop in I'll give you a ride", and she responded "no no thank you". Then " it's cold out, it's nice and warm in here". Again "no no thank you", was the response. The light turned green and his attempt at a kind gesture with no strings attached was over.

I got home and my bike computer indicated I had ridden 32 miles. This is interesting, because every other time I've taken this route, it has always been 30 miles. Hmmm. I went through some other readings on the computer and found that the maximum speed I had acheived during my ride was just a little over 100mph. Now I'm fast, but...I guess the cold doesn't slow computers down, but speeds them up. My time on the bike was 2hrs 4 minutes and I knew I'd gone 30 miles, so as tempting as it was to log a distance of 32 miles and an average speed of 15.7mph, as my computer indicated, I logged in what appeared to be a little more accurate distance and speed. 30/14.4

Now, could I have had this much fun at the gym? No effen way!

Another cold spell. God I'm a wuss. Temps not getting above 5 until Thursday, with wind chills below zero, are going to keep me at the gym.
No Breakfast today
Lunch
Soup 200
Banana 80
Dinner
Chicken 300
Rice 300
Veggies 240
Pear 100
Total 1,220 cals

250 Crunches
20 Push ups
15 Roman Sit ups (yeah, I increased these by 5. The soreness is gone.)
Burned 2075 cals on the elliptical

2hrs/2075

Thanks

Nice and easy today. Especially after such a beautiful ride yesterday, I worried today was going to be a cold, windy, kind of miserable day, but it wound up being delightful. It was cloudy, but the wind wasn't an issue and temps were very comfortable. I rode without hand or toe warmers. I also rode with people I really enjoy, stopped at Birchwood ate some food, and then rode a little more. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE RIDE, but sometimes the company makes the day. Thanks! 44/14.2

Awe

Every second of this ride was perfect. It was so nice to be out. 50/16.8

I Hate It When A Plan Works!

Took the day off the bike. I'll be out for at least 50 miles tomorrow, and at least 40 for Sunday. I've got Monday off work so I'll probably put on another 40 then as well.
Today
250 crunches
20 push ups
10 roman sit ups
All of it felt good. The muscle soreness from the new routine is subsiding. My right shoulder aches, but it's not a scary ache. I won't do any more core until Monday.
I'm a little loose with the calories on the weekends, which is always dangerous, but a little danger makes life exciting.

Lost 2 pounds this week. I'm at 179.4.
I'll see if I can get another pound or two off by next Friday.

Gym Time

The week is pretty shot as far as number of miles goes, so it was easy for the below zero wind chill to convince me to work out indoors.

Breakfast
Waffle 280 cals
Blueberries 80 cals
Lunch
Soup 200 cals
Dinner
Pasta 400 cals
Sauce 90 cals
Mushrooms 100 cals
Handful of dry cereal 100 cals
Total cals 1250

20 Push ups
10 Roman Sit ups
250 Crunches
2hrs Elliptical
Calories Burned 2180

20 Degrees Isn't That Warm Either

Felt good again to be out, but man 20 degrees is cold. Just my face, that wasn't covered by my balaclava got cold and my finger tips got a little tingley.

Breakfast
Waffle 280 cals
Blueberries 80 cals
Lunch
Soup 200 cals
Apple 80 cals
Dinner
Pasta 200 cals
Chili 350 cals
Total 1190
I'll probably have a banana and an apple later on so it'll be about 1390 cals

Felt strong on my ride. Same route as yesterday. I estimate about 1750 cals burned. 30/14.3

14 Degrees Never Felt So Good

It was cold, and my toes and fingers...well, I could still feel them. I know that because it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Nevertheless, it was very nice to be out breathing real air, with the sun shinning out of a bright blue sky.
Did my core body work again today, (same as yesterday) and even tried the push ups again. No noises, no pain, and I felt stable. I do have a bit of an ache in my shoulder now. I won't do any core work tomorrow, give everything a day to adjust to the new routine.
Breakfast
Oatmeal 300 cals
Banana 80 cals
B Sugar 90 cals
Lunch
Soup 200 cals
Dinner
Potatoes 200 cals
Peas 50 cals
W Sauce 160 cals
Total cals 1080

I'll probably have an orange or apple later on tonight and come in at about 1200 cals consumed.
I estimate I burned about 1600 cals on my ride. 30/13.2

Still Inside As The Transition Begins

Hit the gym again today. Just not feeling up to snuff. Got 2 hrs in on the elliptical like usual. I'll be outside on the bike tomorrow for sure.

Started the morning with 250 crunches
20 push ups
10 roman sit ups
The push ups were very hard on my shoulder. I heard a lot of popping, and gurgling. It hurt a lot, and it wasn't the good hurt. It still aches a little this evening. I'll see how it goes over the next few days, but my push up days may be over. About 10 years ago I could do 100 push ups in a row. I could also do 10 one handed push ups. It's been 12-16 months since I've done any push ups, and 4 1/2 years since my shoulder surgery.

The elliptical machine I worked out on today showed I burned 2130 calories durning my 2hr workout.

I consumed 1410 calories today.
Breakfast was an English Muffin 110 cals
an egg 80 cals
Lunch was soup 240 cals
an apple 80 cals
Dinner was steamed veggies 240 cals
rice 300 cals
chicken breast 300 cals
an orange 60 cals

I'll probably have a banana later on this evening so the total calories consumed for the day will be right around 1500. Not too grumpy just tired.

Oh yeah. Friday the 8th I weighed 181.2 lbs

Not Today

Actual temp -15 with wind chills around -30. Just didn't want to deal with it. Got over to the gym for 2 hrs on the elliptical. 2hrs/2255

Perfect Timing

Fun ride today. Left and the temp was 24 degrees. Got home and the temp was 14 degrees. We knew a front was coming in so we headed towards it. It was snowing and got a little hard to see, but we really didn't have any temperature or wind issues. At about 15 miles we turned back and headed away from the oncoming front with the wind starting to pick up, but at our backs. Still snowing we noticed a little more of it blowing around. The two other guys I was with were riding skinny tires, but had no problems with traction. We stayed on well travelled roads, much to the displeasure of the motorists. We got back to Lake Harriet with the winds really starting to pick up. Small drifts were starting to form, and at times I couldn't see across the lake, because of the blowing snow. I took off on my own for another 10 miles, and within 5 minutes without any warning the sun came out. The wind was gusting, I'd guess up to 30mph, and some of the paths I was on now, were drifting over. The ride out to Wayzata was almost humid, kind of misty, snowy, moist, and grey. Now it was hard, crisp, bright, and vividly blue and white. 40/13.3

Took the day off.

Transition From Base

Good ride tonight. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I felt good.

Over the next 6 weeks I'm going to transition from Winter base miles to my endurance base miles. Now I'm puting on about 150 to 200 miles a week. April 1st my miles will be between 250 to 300 miles. By May I will be puting on 300 miles a week, and then in June I'll start 300 to 350 miles a week. Along with that I will lose about 10 pounds between now and the first of April. I've gotten way too fat. Things are actually starting to shake. I'm going to be grumpy. Starting the first week of March I'll also increase the intensity (speed) of my rides. Now my weekday rides average in the 13mph range, by April 1st, I want my weekday average to be around 16mph. Weekends are now about 15 mph and by April 1st Saturdays should be near 19mph with May averages up at 20 to 22 mph. Sundays will be recovery rides for about 60 miles, but at 16mph or so. I want to be race ready by April 15, and ready for my sub 5 hr centuries by the first of May. I don't know if I'll do any racing this year, but I will be ready for them. I can race Cat 3, Master 35+ or 50+. My Hammer Hundreds are much more important to me than racing, although I like to get a race or two in just to see if I can still hang with the big boys.

My blog is going to change for awhile. Instead of describing my rides and what I saw, it'll be more of a log of stats. Yeah, I know real exciting. I'll log in miles, average speeds, and I may put in my daily weight. I will at least put in my weight once a week most likely on Fridays. On a daily basis, I'm also going to put what I ate, how many calories I ate, and my estimate of calories consumed. I'm not sure how long I'll keep on doing this...at least until I'm confident I'm on track for my training. This is what I did last year, and the year before that. I just wasn't blogging about it. So now I'll get made fun of when I mess up. Must read stuff...I know. It all starts Monday February 11th. 25/14.1

Base Miles

The sky cleared as I started my ride this evening...sun isn't setting until about 5:30 now. I just keep on turning the crank to get in some good base miles. I'm looking forward to the end of February when I begin to increase the miles and intensity of my rides. 26/13.9

Average

Typical ride today. However, it was nice to have temps near 30 during what is usually, the coldest stretch of the year. Several kite-boarders and skiers on Calhoun...nice! Stayed on the paths again today. Wanting to pass a jogger and her dog, I notified them of my intent, and strategy to complete the maneuver (on your left). My call went unheeded by the jogger, but the dog looked back at me, then up to it's companion, but still no response from the jogger. The dog finally started moving over to it's right, almost tripping the jogger, but following proper etiquette, and allowing me to pass. 26/13.7

Down

An inch of snow covered up all of the icy patches, but I managed to find one. It was a graceful, almost elegant fall, especially the slow motion version I experienced. Nothing hurt, and the bike is fine. Just got up, brushed off the snow, made sure everything was still in my pockets, and got back on the bike. Yep, I had my helmet on. 24/11.7

Foggy

Started with 5 riders. Before we even started a friends toes were already too cold. She has done very little winter riding, and just doesn't have the clothing right yet. One rider just hadn't been riding enough and had to bail at about 10 miles. It was a surprisingly cold day. It started out quite foggy and the extra humidity made the 20 degree start temp seem colder. At about 20 miles two others cut it short and headed home. It was nice change of scenery for me, because I haven't ridden in St. Paul for a couple of months. Rode by State Fair grounds, Como Park, Lake Phalen, Indian Mounds Park, Downton St. Paul, and along Summit Ave to the Mississippi. 43/14.9

Solo Saturday

Another nice ride up into Baker and Wayzata. Came up on some teammates in Wayzata and talked with them for awhile, then went our separate ways. This was my fastest ride since the 1st of December. With the weather warming close to 30 degrees and the roads clear (except for salt and sand), it felt good to rev it up a little. Averaging over 16mph for 50+ miles on a cx with studded tires, felt like a good accomplishment. I love to ride...God help me. 56/16.3

25 Degrees Never Felt Better

Nice and leisurely today, with delightful conversation. It even got a little deep. I think we got the worlds problems solved. Very comfortable. Thanks! 25/14.0