Today is my grandmother's 97th birthday! You go, Grandma! Looking forward to your 98th...might as well see 2010, right?
My MacBook Pro came in yesterday and it is AWESOME!! I spent the day getting my work area reorganized to make it easier to work in and make it just a little neater. Today I got the MacBook set up to use the wireless mouse I got along with the separate keyboard for desk work. It has its own cooling stand with a little fan that blows against the bottom of it. I even have a cover over it to keep the dust off, at least for now. It looks so nice. Now I have to get some graphics software added, learn all the little tricks (the tracking pad can do a lot of things according to the manual), and get it hooked up to the internet. I'll still use the G4 for a while, maybe a long while, and eventually donate it or find another use for it. Later I'll post pictures of the little fella and the new work area.
Tonight's ride went much better than Tuesday's. On Tuesday my legs weren't up to snuff, still feeling the efforts from Sunday's time trial. Our team started out and soon Stan rode up alongside, telling me how I kicked butt at the ride on Thursday the week before (and I did pretty good that evening). I told him, thanks, but I didn't think that was going to happen tonight...and it didn't. About four miles in, while cruising at 28 mph, my legs were hurting and I pulled out of the pack and eeked it down to the crossroads with Elka at a much slower pace. Then I turned around to go back to the parking lot and home. Only put in 12 miles but I've done this enough to know that if it's not working then don't push it. It wasn't working....
But tonight I did way better, pretty much normal, real fast but staying with the pack. There was a crash when one of the triathletes touched wheels with another rider and hit the pavement pretty hard. The lucky thing was that a car had just passed us a couple of seconds earlier right where Seth hit the deck. If we had been going just a smidgen faster he could have landed in the path of that car! He got up, dusted himself off, and we headed back down the road. He's going to be quite sore tomorrow but, hey, at least his bike's okay!
In between these two days I did my first run since July 4th at FireCracker. I rejoined the weekly Wednesday morning run with Matt, Jeff, and Mike, and doesn't it make sense that my first run in seven weeks should go for four-and-a-half miles? Thank goodness these guys go at an easy pace but an easy pace also pounds your joints more, and I felt those joints getting out of bed this morning! My run tomorrow will be a lot shorter and a lot faster. I'm going to be working to get back in shape for one or two duathlons late this fall.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Dreams and Time Trials
Saturday night I had a dream about Farley. Every few months I have what I call a super-realistic "hi-definition" dream...one that is so real and so defined that it becomes as good as a memory of a real event. The thing is that I know it's a dream when it's happening and I allow myself to let it go on. I know what it feels like to lift up off the ground and fly. I remember the last time I saw my first cat, Toulouse, about 6 years after I really last saw him in 2001. I can describe details, conversations, and what I saw as if it really happened. It's weird but it doesn't happen often. Well, anyway, I saw Farley and we were in the kitchen of my other house in Bossier City. I could see the cabinets, the brown floor, and the table. It was night so the lights were on. Farley was walking around the floor, wagging his tail, and he looked like he had just had a bath. His fur was shiny and clean, and it felt good to pet him and run my hands thru his coat. He was walking around like he always did in the last years of his life but you could tell there was no burden in his gait. He was sauntering because he wanted to. He was happy. Early on I noticed that he didn't have his red collar on and I commented to him that, oh, yeah, your collar's at the other house hanging up in the laundry room with the green leash. But this dream only lasted a couple of minutes in dream-time, not as long as my usual "real" dreams last. But I got to see him again and I woke up in the dark with tears in my eyes. I still and will always miss him.
Anyway, we were in LaPlace, Louisiana...just a few miles west of New Orleans for the LA/MISS Time Trial Championships. Jonnene and I were participating. It was my last chance this year to either break an hour or set a personal best for the 40 kilometer distance. I could tell that I wasn't really sure I could do it. I was starting to feel the wear and tear of riding a bike all year and wondering if I was at the brink of burn-out. But I was still interested in doing this race so maybe....
Jonnene had a good ride, finishing second in the Women's Cat. 4's and getting a medal. She averaged 21 mph for the whole distance and getting a 1:10:56 time which was only 24 seconds slower than her best time in Texas just two weeks ago.
The problem this day was a 5-10 mph wind coming out of the NNE and the outbound part of the course just happened to go north and slowly curve to the northeast. Now this means a nice tailwind on the way back but you can only take advantage of that if you haven't worn yourself out on the way to the turn-around fighting that wind. So I started off after an inadequate 25-minute warmup. I wasn't 300 meters down the road when I saw Jonnene coming back in (she had started 70 minutes before I did) and I gave her a shout to keep it up. Then I got back to trying to go 12.4 miles down the road into the wind as fast as I could. I averaged about 22 mph the whole way and reached the turn-around at the 33:37 mark...way slow for my tastes but I couldn't do anything about it. I was amazed at how many of the guys working the turn knew my name as they shouted it out when I came by them. That was nice! But I was too busy riding my race to really look at them and see who they were.
The tailwind was sweet though. I averaged 26 mph and should have been faster but I was tired. I finished the second half in 28:49, my fastest 20K ever. I didn't break an hour but I did come within 25 seconds of my record with a 1:02:26 time (a 23.83 mph average) and a fourth place in the Men's Category 3 group. I was fairly happy with the effort and it actually energizes me for next year. The bike worked well but I'm going to make a few improvements over the winter, mostly in the gearing and maybe the aerobars. We'll see.
So here's some pictures of our race and other stuff. Enjoy.
Jonnene warms up before her start at 8:32 am.
Books are good for many things, especially holding up front wheels when the bike's on a trainer.
The medical books are the best, I hear.
These two dogs spent a lot of time playing and running. We had to make sure that no alligators would jump up and get them! We were also told to watch for gators on the road when we were riding! Doesn't happen often but it could.
Here's Jonnene in the start house getting ready to go be a bike racer.
With only a few more meters to go, I'm trying to go as fast as I can. But I was very tired and crossed the line at only 25 mph.
One of my teammates, Don Young, and I discuss our rides after we finished. Generally we weren't that happy with our efforts but there was some good we could find to apply to next year.
Anyway, we were in LaPlace, Louisiana...just a few miles west of New Orleans for the LA/MISS Time Trial Championships. Jonnene and I were participating. It was my last chance this year to either break an hour or set a personal best for the 40 kilometer distance. I could tell that I wasn't really sure I could do it. I was starting to feel the wear and tear of riding a bike all year and wondering if I was at the brink of burn-out. But I was still interested in doing this race so maybe....
Jonnene had a good ride, finishing second in the Women's Cat. 4's and getting a medal. She averaged 21 mph for the whole distance and getting a 1:10:56 time which was only 24 seconds slower than her best time in Texas just two weeks ago.
The problem this day was a 5-10 mph wind coming out of the NNE and the outbound part of the course just happened to go north and slowly curve to the northeast. Now this means a nice tailwind on the way back but you can only take advantage of that if you haven't worn yourself out on the way to the turn-around fighting that wind. So I started off after an inadequate 25-minute warmup. I wasn't 300 meters down the road when I saw Jonnene coming back in (she had started 70 minutes before I did) and I gave her a shout to keep it up. Then I got back to trying to go 12.4 miles down the road into the wind as fast as I could. I averaged about 22 mph the whole way and reached the turn-around at the 33:37 mark...way slow for my tastes but I couldn't do anything about it. I was amazed at how many of the guys working the turn knew my name as they shouted it out when I came by them. That was nice! But I was too busy riding my race to really look at them and see who they were.
The tailwind was sweet though. I averaged 26 mph and should have been faster but I was tired. I finished the second half in 28:49, my fastest 20K ever. I didn't break an hour but I did come within 25 seconds of my record with a 1:02:26 time (a 23.83 mph average) and a fourth place in the Men's Category 3 group. I was fairly happy with the effort and it actually energizes me for next year. The bike worked well but I'm going to make a few improvements over the winter, mostly in the gearing and maybe the aerobars. We'll see.
So here's some pictures of our race and other stuff. Enjoy.
Jonnene warms up before her start at 8:32 am.
Books are good for many things, especially holding up front wheels when the bike's on a trainer.The medical books are the best, I hear.
These two dogs spent a lot of time playing and running. We had to make sure that no alligators would jump up and get them! We were also told to watch for gators on the road when we were riding! Doesn't happen often but it could.
Here's Jonnene in the start house getting ready to go be a bike racer.
With only a few more meters to go, I'm trying to go as fast as I can. But I was very tired and crossed the line at only 25 mph.
One of my teammates, Don Young, and I discuss our rides after we finished. Generally we weren't that happy with our efforts but there was some good we could find to apply to next year.Friday, August 21, 2009
I just thought this was funny
| Overview: | Mr. James enjoys the success of his business book that flopped in the states but became a best seller in Japan. |
 |
| Mr. James: "The original title of this book was 'Jimmy James, Capitalist Lion Tamer' but I see now that it's... 'Jimmy James, Macho Business Donkey Wrestler'... you know what it is... I had the book translated in to Japanese then back in again into English. Macho Business Donkey Wrestler... well there you go... it's got kind of a ring to it don't it? Anyway, I wanted to read from chapter three... which is the story of my first rise to financial prominence... I had a small house of brokerage on Wall Street... many days no business come to my hut... my hut... but Jimmy has fear? A thousand times no. I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey strong bowels were girded with strength like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo... dung. ...Glorious sunset of my heart was fading. Soon the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Jimmy has fancy plans... and pants to match. The monkey clown horrible karate round and yummy like cute small baby chick would beat the donkey." |
I hear cooler weather's coming
Okay, so I'm in this large pack of riders leaving the village of Frierson, heading toward I-49 about six miles away. We're flying down this bumpy, pock-marked road at about 26-27 mph and I'm reaching for whatever energy stores I can find in this 54-year old body. I looked over at Frenchie and said, "I thought the Thursday night rides were supposed to be easier than Tuesday night!" He just smiled and replies, "What do you mean...this IS easier." He's suffering as much as I am. But we're hanging in and sometimes I find myself at the front...how that happens I'm not sure. The speed was fast the whole ride, even when it was easy or easier. By the time we got to Linwood Road, we had dropped half the group and I started to lose touch with the front group. Considering we started the training ride with about 25 riders, there were only eight left to drop me. Later down Linwood I would catch up to two of them and finish back in with them.
Now I'm going to take it easy until the district time trials down in LaPlace near New Orleans this Sunday. Jonnene and I are signed up and I'm thinking this'll probably be my last bike race for the year. I'm not burned out yet but I'm starting to feel the beginnings of that weariness and not wanting to ride as much as I used to. It usually happens around August for me, partly due to riding all summer in the heat which makes me feel drained a lot and also that real life is busy during this time. I'm close to 4,000 miles which is the most I've ever done to this point of the year. I still plan to do a duathlon or two before the year is out (start running again next week) and would like to do the Louisiana Trails run again in November but we'll see how that goes.
Centenary College begins its fall semester next week and we moved my niece into her dorm Wednesday. That was exciting, mostly watching her (and her mother's) nervousness and anticipation...I was cool as a cucumber and enjoying the whole thing. I saw a couple of my cycling club kids who were helping people unload their cars and talked to them a bit. I have to get the club going again and schedule some rides and club meetings next week. As long as I'm getting paid I guess I should do it, huh? More of the members have gotten bikes over the summer and others remembered to bring theirs so I'm expecting more participation. I know we have folks who'll be doing triathlons in the spring but I also need to grow the road racing side of the club. My goal this year is to get more members out of the regular student body since my current membership consists of guys and gals from the swimming and cross-country teams, and I lose them when their main sports are in season.
Now I'm going to take it easy until the district time trials down in LaPlace near New Orleans this Sunday. Jonnene and I are signed up and I'm thinking this'll probably be my last bike race for the year. I'm not burned out yet but I'm starting to feel the beginnings of that weariness and not wanting to ride as much as I used to. It usually happens around August for me, partly due to riding all summer in the heat which makes me feel drained a lot and also that real life is busy during this time. I'm close to 4,000 miles which is the most I've ever done to this point of the year. I still plan to do a duathlon or two before the year is out (start running again next week) and would like to do the Louisiana Trails run again in November but we'll see how that goes.
Centenary College begins its fall semester next week and we moved my niece into her dorm Wednesday. That was exciting, mostly watching her (and her mother's) nervousness and anticipation...I was cool as a cucumber and enjoying the whole thing. I saw a couple of my cycling club kids who were helping people unload their cars and talked to them a bit. I have to get the club going again and schedule some rides and club meetings next week. As long as I'm getting paid I guess I should do it, huh? More of the members have gotten bikes over the summer and others remembered to bring theirs so I'm expecting more participation. I know we have folks who'll be doing triathlons in the spring but I also need to grow the road racing side of the club. My goal this year is to get more members out of the regular student body since my current membership consists of guys and gals from the swimming and cross-country teams, and I lose them when their main sports are in season.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Too Long Ago...
I love going thru my old photos, reliving some memories, gawking at the clothes, and sometimes amazed I've lived up to this point with all I've done. I'm going to post some of my old pictures from the 70's and 80's every once in a while just to review the situation that set it and why it was taken. The picture above was taken in the Spring of 1975 of my good friend Paul, at left, and myself when we were both 19 years old. We're standing on the east bank of Bayou Desiard on the campus of then Northeast Louisiana University (now known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe). We're about 100 yards south of the traffic bridge that crosses the bayou, near where the Natatorium swim complex would be built a couple of years later. When this shot was taken, Paul had gotten a new tripod and wanted to try it out. So we set it up with his camera and used the timer to get some pics of us just standing around. Seems to have worked! As you can tell, we were letting our hair grow long as was the style for the guys back then and we're wearing our flared-leg, worn-out jeans. I'm also wearing my first synthetic material (nylon) shirt that looked pretty neat but felt really weird....I was a child of cotton materials. I'm betting this picture was taken on a Sunday when the campus was really quiet and hardly anyone was around (I miss those kind of weekends). Probably the funniest part is seeing how skinny we both were...Paul's not quite that thin anymore and I'm struggling to stay as slender as I am!
Monday, August 17, 2009
New Toy...well, not yet
THE OLD: Apple MacIntosh G4 - meant to be good at home or the office.I'm getting a new computer soon. It's time. I've had my Apple Quicksilver G4 since 2002 and it's long in the tooth by computer technology standards. I've replaced the hard drive, got it a DVD-CD player/recorder, and maxed out its RAM during the time I've had it and it's done a wonderful job. In fact, I can still keep using it for at least a couple more years if it doesn't suddenly die on me. I can still do graphics work and design on it. I can still surf the internet. It's only the third computer I've owned since 1994....I'm good at making them last a long time. But most of the new software being written now is beyond the operating system of my trusty G4 (not that I get much new software anyway...I can make what I have last a long time, too).
THE NEW: 2009 Apple MacBook Pro 13 - small and powerful, take it anywhere.So this is what I'm looking at...the Apple MacBook Pro with the 13" screen. I asked a friend who's well versed in all things Apple and Mac, told him I wanted to get a laptop this time that had the power to enable me to still do what I do with the G4 and then some. He was quick to recommend the MacBook Pro...very quick. He said it's an awesome machine for 2009, told me what setup and memory to get. Why the small one? I can hook up my larger flat-screen monitor to it at my desk along with a separate keyboard and mouse, and can even use both monitors. Then the smaller size makes it easier to carry around when I travel. He thought that would take care of what I needed both at home and on the road.
I'll order it before the end of this month to take advantage of a $100 rebate. I'm kinda excited about it but I temper that by realizing that there'll be a period of time where I have to get it set up, tied in to the internet here at home, get some graphics software, and other things to make it run the way I want...should take a couple of months before I'm satisfied with it. In the meantime I'm already getting some of the components I need: a separate keyboard (it is THIN!) and the adaptor so I can hook up my current monitor to the MacBook. Still need to get a wireless mouse (which I use when I travel...I hate using those trackpads that are built in). Should be nice.....
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Here's a fun music video
"Daylight" by Matt & Kim.
It's the background song for that Barcardi commercial which shows the guy going back through time to get his mojito drink.
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
It's the background song for that Barcardi commercial which shows the guy going back through time to get his mojito drink.
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
Getting Back in da Groove
Oh, I know. I haven't posted anything for a while. I'll try to be better! This is a start....
Here's me crossing the finish line after 24.8 miles of hurtin'...did a not-so-great 1:04:28 but had to deal with a headwind on the return. Works out to a 23.1 mph average but I wasn't real pleased.
Last weekend, Jonnene and I went down to Castroville, Texas (about 30-something miles west of San Antonio) to do the Texas State Time Trial Championships. It was essentially a workout for both of us to prepare for the Louisiana/Mississippi TT's in two weeks. Being from Louisiana, we weren't eligible for any awards but we got a good workout. Jonnene improved on her time from the Arkansas time trials (see be
low) and is improving her time trialing even better than she probably thought she would. Her 1:10:30 got her 12th in the 25-deep Category 4 women's grouping. My race didn't start well before it even started: I blew out a tire on my disc wheel during my warmup and had to use a spare rear wheel I had brought with me. I always bring spare wheels when I go to races out of town. Of course, the spare wheel was not a disc so I'd lose some aero advantage out there on the course. I started fast with the tailwind but when I got about 3 miles into the ride I looked down and saw my front wheel skewer was loose! Had to pull over and tighten it, all within 10 seconds. Then I took off again, catching my 30-second man within the next mile. I would catch and pass five other riders and be caught by three who had started behind me. After a very smooth turn-around it was a battle against the headwind and the last four miles pretty much killed what had been a pretty good average speed (I was at 24.7 mph at the turn-around).
The rest of the weekend we spent in San Antonio, touring the Alamo and the RiverWalk. We did the good touristy thing and just walked about the area. I'm interested in the history there and it's always strange to know you're walking on an old battleground that now has a shopping mall on it!
(Above) After my ride....a 1:03:20 for a 23.5 mph average and I got a good idea where my fitness level was. The course was flat with a few bumps in it but I was pretty much happy with my effort. Photo by Paul Stillings
Jonnene rolling in after doing her very first 40 kilometer time trial. I wanted her to finish under 75 minutes and she did, with a 1:11:55 run. I was proud of her! Photo by Paul Stillings
One of my best buddies, Paul, came out to take photos of our race and we all went out to eat lunch later. I think we're trying to gang-sign here but it's not working out too well. I guess we're too white? Photo not by Paul Stillings
Here's me crossing the finish line after 24.8 miles of hurtin'...did a not-so-great 1:04:28 but had to deal with a headwind on the return. Works out to a 23.1 mph average but I wasn't real pleased.Last weekend, Jonnene and I went down to Castroville, Texas (about 30-something miles west of San Antonio) to do the Texas State Time Trial Championships. It was essentially a workout for both of us to prepare for the Louisiana/Mississippi TT's in two weeks. Being from Louisiana, we weren't eligible for any awards but we got a good workout. Jonnene improved on her time from the Arkansas time trials (see be
low) and is improving her time trialing even better than she probably thought she would. Her 1:10:30 got her 12th in the 25-deep Category 4 women's grouping. My race didn't start well before it even started: I blew out a tire on my disc wheel during my warmup and had to use a spare rear wheel I had brought with me. I always bring spare wheels when I go to races out of town. Of course, the spare wheel was not a disc so I'd lose some aero advantage out there on the course. I started fast with the tailwind but when I got about 3 miles into the ride I looked down and saw my front wheel skewer was loose! Had to pull over and tighten it, all within 10 seconds. Then I took off again, catching my 30-second man within the next mile. I would catch and pass five other riders and be caught by three who had started behind me. After a very smooth turn-around it was a battle against the headwind and the last four miles pretty much killed what had been a pretty good average speed (I was at 24.7 mph at the turn-around).The rest of the weekend we spent in San Antonio, touring the Alamo and the RiverWalk. We did the good touristy thing and just walked about the area. I'm interested in the history there and it's always strange to know you're walking on an old battleground that now has a shopping mall on it!
Photos from the Arkansas State Time Trial Championships
(Above) After my ride....a 1:03:20 for a 23.5 mph average and I got a good idea where my fitness level was. The course was flat with a few bumps in it but I was pretty much happy with my effort. Photo by Paul Stillings
Jonnene rolling in after doing her very first 40 kilometer time trial. I wanted her to finish under 75 minutes and she did, with a 1:11:55 run. I was proud of her! Photo by Paul Stillings
One of my best buddies, Paul, came out to take photos of our race and we all went out to eat lunch later. I think we're trying to gang-sign here but it's not working out too well. I guess we're too white? Photo not by Paul StillingsSunday, July 26, 2009
I'm now nationally quoted...
Good start to the day! Conservative/Libertarian radio commentator, Neal Boortz, read an email of mine on the air this morning. Neal is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and used to have his show broadcast here in Shreveport until the station changed formats. Now I catch him on the streaming broadcast on his website every once in a while. It was based on this STORY. I HAD to comment but I won't tell you which one was mine.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Droppin' some trees
We had a couple of trees taken out of the front yard on Friday. There was one butting up against the driveway which had been slowly moving a slab over the years...about 3.5" over! And it was kinda swallowing the slab, too. We wanted to take it out before it cracked the slab and messed up the sidewalk/walk-up to the front of the house (which I had repaired last year). The other tree was about four feet from the front of the house near the front door. It had a few large branches over the roof which we felt would be a problem some day, especially if we had some high winds or a nice ice storm over the winter.
Working on the "Driveway Tree": The top half of the pine tree is down and you can see the guy at the top. He was wearing a safety belt and had climbing spikes attached to his boots.
This is how you take a very tall tree down, one piece at a time. The worker is about 50 feet up and saws off a 4-foot chunk of the trunk. Then he pushes it off to the ground below where the other guys cut it up into smaller pieces for loading on the flatbed trailer.
Here's what's left of the oak tree that was directly in front of the house. You can barely see the stump to the left of the sidewalk that leads up to the front door. All this wood will be hauled off on Monday. At least we hope it will...maybe Tuesday?
Working on the "Driveway Tree": The top half of the pine tree is down and you can see the guy at the top. He was wearing a safety belt and had climbing spikes attached to his boots.
This is how you take a very tall tree down, one piece at a time. The worker is about 50 feet up and saws off a 4-foot chunk of the trunk. Then he pushes it off to the ground below where the other guys cut it up into smaller pieces for loading on the flatbed trailer.
Here's what's left of the oak tree that was directly in front of the house. You can barely see the stump to the left of the sidewalk that leads up to the front door. All this wood will be hauled off on Monday. At least we hope it will...maybe Tuesday?Sunday, July 12, 2009
What a busy weekend it was
Saturday morning Jonnene and I went out to Cypress Lake to meet up with a bunch of the other local triathletes to go over the course for the River Cities Triathlon coming up on August 2nd. I only planned to ride while she would do a bit of all three events. She spent about 15 minutes max in the water and that was that...one of the other girls said now she remembers why she only swims in Cypress once a year! The water there isn't the greatest in the world yet it is Bossier City's backup water source (let's hope the Red River never runs dry!). Then we went out together to scope out the bike course which is 18.4 miles in length and now has a new bridge on the back side as well as a new section of road being built near the spillway that will shorten the course by 1/10th of a mile. It won't interfere with the triathlon but it'll make for a straighter stretch there next year. There are new sections of asphalt inside the park and at the entrance so the triathletes will love cruising down those sections.
I put in another lap after making a pit stop inside the park. I planned to do a fast up-tempo ride over the course so Jonnene, Daniel, Tony, and a few other guys headed out with me to get that extra lap in. I took off at mile three, keeping the pace at a steady 25-26 mph and soon saw that only Tony was staying with me. It was good to have the company. I charged up the hills trying to keep the pace up and he followed, telling me that I was killing him! I doubted that...Tony is a pretty strong guy...but maybe he wasn't expecting me to take the hills that aggressively and he was just happy to hang on. By the time we got back to the park both of us were sweating heavily. I would end up losing about 4 pounds in water weight...and I was drinking! Nearly emptied both of my bottles! But that's the way it is in hot, humid Louisiana among the pine trees.
Saturday afternoon I stayed around the house doing some small things that needed doing while Jonnene went out to get her hair done, get Sophie (the dog) cleaned, and doing some grocery shopping. Later that night we watched "Taken", a movie we rented starring Liam Neeson and it was an action flick we quite enjoyed. Ate take-out Chinese food, too, from a place nearby that we hadn't tried yet. Yessir, I loves my General Tso's chicken!
Today was more of a work day than a rest day. I spent most of the morning clearing out this semi-circular garden spot next to the house in the back patio. I pulled up all the bushes and wild grass there, shoveled out half the dirt and redistributed it on the back yard where I had pulled up about 72 concrete pavers (that was fun...). We're going to make that spot more of a rock garden, putting in gray river stone with three of the pavers. It'll look a lot better and be a lot less upkeep...I hope. Someday we want to pull up all the brick in the patio and replace it with molded concrete, along with other things we'd like to do back there.
While Jonnene was doing house stuff (things us fellers don't know nuttin' about), I got started with a new setup for putting our bikes in the back of her Rav4. The idea was Jonnene's but I put myself to work on the project, cutting out a huge chuck of outdoor carpeting that fit in the back of the car along with a board that would hold the front forks of our bikes. It'd keep the car clean and keep our bike stuff more organized. So far it looks pretty good...still needs some tweaking but it's going to work out well. Then the two of us went shopping, getting some small shelves that would help move her books from the linen closet to the office closet. We're slowly getting the house the way we want it.
Today's Tour de France stage was anti-climatic. I was expecting lots of fireworks today as the tour was going to tackle the Col du Tourmalet (a 6,900 foot mountain that can break your legs like twigs) but the huge climb didn't change anything in the overall standings, and, except for some exciting downhill-at-60 mph footage, nothing really happened. Armstrong and Contador didn't challenge the current yellow jersey holder (who'll probably keep it the rest of this week, but WILL lose it). I guess they're going to make their serious moves when the peloton goes into the Alps starting this Friday. Monday's a rest day so no Tour TV for me! Sob!
I put in another lap after making a pit stop inside the park. I planned to do a fast up-tempo ride over the course so Jonnene, Daniel, Tony, and a few other guys headed out with me to get that extra lap in. I took off at mile three, keeping the pace at a steady 25-26 mph and soon saw that only Tony was staying with me. It was good to have the company. I charged up the hills trying to keep the pace up and he followed, telling me that I was killing him! I doubted that...Tony is a pretty strong guy...but maybe he wasn't expecting me to take the hills that aggressively and he was just happy to hang on. By the time we got back to the park both of us were sweating heavily. I would end up losing about 4 pounds in water weight...and I was drinking! Nearly emptied both of my bottles! But that's the way it is in hot, humid Louisiana among the pine trees.
Saturday afternoon I stayed around the house doing some small things that needed doing while Jonnene went out to get her hair done, get Sophie (the dog) cleaned, and doing some grocery shopping. Later that night we watched "Taken", a movie we rented starring Liam Neeson and it was an action flick we quite enjoyed. Ate take-out Chinese food, too, from a place nearby that we hadn't tried yet. Yessir, I loves my General Tso's chicken!
Today was more of a work day than a rest day. I spent most of the morning clearing out this semi-circular garden spot next to the house in the back patio. I pulled up all the bushes and wild grass there, shoveled out half the dirt and redistributed it on the back yard where I had pulled up about 72 concrete pavers (that was fun...). We're going to make that spot more of a rock garden, putting in gray river stone with three of the pavers. It'll look a lot better and be a lot less upkeep...I hope. Someday we want to pull up all the brick in the patio and replace it with molded concrete, along with other things we'd like to do back there.
While Jonnene was doing house stuff (things us fellers don't know nuttin' about), I got started with a new setup for putting our bikes in the back of her Rav4. The idea was Jonnene's but I put myself to work on the project, cutting out a huge chuck of outdoor carpeting that fit in the back of the car along with a board that would hold the front forks of our bikes. It'd keep the car clean and keep our bike stuff more organized. So far it looks pretty good...still needs some tweaking but it's going to work out well. Then the two of us went shopping, getting some small shelves that would help move her books from the linen closet to the office closet. We're slowly getting the house the way we want it.
Today's Tour de France stage was anti-climatic. I was expecting lots of fireworks today as the tour was going to tackle the Col du Tourmalet (a 6,900 foot mountain that can break your legs like twigs) but the huge climb didn't change anything in the overall standings, and, except for some exciting downhill-at-60 mph footage, nothing really happened. Armstrong and Contador didn't challenge the current yellow jersey holder (who'll probably keep it the rest of this week, but WILL lose it). I guess they're going to make their serious moves when the peloton goes into the Alps starting this Friday. Monday's a rest day so no Tour TV for me! Sob!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
You Know It's A Weird Day When....
...both your automobile AND your bike are in the shop at the same time! And overnight on top of that! I'm down to my time trial bike and using Jonnene's car for most of Wednesday. The truck has to have a couple of switches replaced so that my air conditioner runs for more than 30 minutes and it's gonna cost bunches of moola. Yuk.
The bike is having its bottom bracket looked at. The sealed bearings aren't spinning the way I'd like and the shop is going to see what the problem is, if there is one (I could be imagining the whole thing). It just seems to be too sluggish and I could be wasting a few watts of energy trying to turn the pedals. It's always something....
The bike is having its bottom bracket looked at. The sealed bearings aren't spinning the way I'd like and the shop is going to see what the problem is, if there is one (I could be imagining the whole thing). It just seems to be too sluggish and I could be wasting a few watts of energy trying to turn the pedals. It's always something....
Shannon in Switzerland
I've known Shannon Koch since she was 14 years old and started racing for Team LaS'port as a junior. Now she's, what, 22 and is racing in Switzerland this summer! The photo above shows her finishing a race this past weekend over in Germany where they combined the women and the junor men in a race called a "rundstreckenrennen", something close to an American-style criterium race. She finished second among the women racers despite dealing with a stomach-ache toward the end of the race. In the picture one of the junior men racers just barely nips Shannon (at left in the white uniform) at the line but supposedly was very upset afterwards that he almost got beat by a girl. Shannon said that if she had 5 more meters she would have beat him to the line. That doesn't surprise me. All these experiences will make her a better racer when she gets back home to Dallas.Something I'm Thankful For Today
I am thankful that the Versus channel shows live coverage of the Tour de France so that I don't have to see any of the Michael Jackson funereal services or Obama in Russia (is he really doing anything over there?).Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy Fourth of July 2009!
The flags in front of the house. Usually I have an Australian flag on the far end but today is Independence Day and I went full-on stars and stripes!
And here's the house they fly in front of! Looking pretty good with the new front windows and interior blinds, hey?We went to a party tonight hosted by a member of our cycling team...the same guy who won the national championship last Monday. Got to see his new stars and stripes jersey and the medal that came with it. Lots of people there, even some folks I hadn't seen in a long time and whom I really enjoyed talking to. You can hear the fireworks outside but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.
Happy Birthday, America!!
Ze Bathroom, She Is Fini!
Finally! I can say that our guest bath is pretty much done! Outside of switching out the yukky gold sink faucet for something in white and chrome so that it can match the rest of the other accessories, there's not much else we can do. Well, maybe add a few pictures on the wall. That wouldn't hurt.
ABOVE: Looking from the bathtub end of the guest bath. On the left is the renovation in progress. Had to rebuild the medicine cabinet (and replace the cabinet door) and put in new wainscot along the lower wall. We switched out the wall mirrors between the two bathrooms which gave us better proportions on the walls - the smaller one we put in the guest bath just looked better there and the larger one works better in the master bath. Click on the image to see a bigger version.
ABOVE: Looking into the guest bath from the hallway door. This shows you what the room looked like when we moved in (left), with the striped wallpaper and the louvered divide wall between the vanity and the toilet. The center photo shows that the layers of wallpaper had been striped off and the sheetrock underneath with its repair patches before being textured. The last photo (right) shows the finished version with the new paint, the divider gone, and a nicer place to visit for those special times.When we eventually get the master bath renovated (it'll be a major job), at least we'll have a functioning bathroom to use in the meantime that looks pretty good...and pretty good for any guests we may have.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Baby, It's HOT Outside!
No kiddin'! The temps around here have been in the 100-101 Fahrenheit (wow, actually spelled that right! Score one for me!) range the last few days and it's made for some sweaty bike rides and dramatic weight drops. I hope our water bill doesn't go up too much with the amount I've been drinking. In the last 72 hours I've done four training rides, one 4.5-mile run, and spent a couple of hours out in the yard, and I'm feeling it. I'll be taking all Friday off, sorta....I'll still do stuff but just not as intense. The worse part is that I can't seem to get the A/C on my truck fixed. I've taken it to the shop twice now and when they say it's fixed, I find out it's not fixed. Oh, they've done some real work on the system but it's not correcting the problem (stays cold for a while, then blows warm air the rest of the day). I'm giving them one more shot at it and if there's no joy then I'm looking for another place to take my business. I think the problem is mechanical now since there are no leaks and all moisture has been evacuated from the lines which was originally thought to be the cause.
Wednesday night we had the sixth in our 8-race time trial series south of town. Usually I run these time trials but sometimes I get to actually race one or two of them myself when someone else volunteers to take over. This was the case and I got to suffer with the rest of the crazy people who want to see how fast they can go on a bicycle for 7.35 miles...in this heat. Jonnene helped Jason, along with several other volunteers, to make it all work. Fifteen riders showed up and I started third in the lineup. I ended up having a good ride, setting a new personal record on the course with a 17:52 time, averaging 24.68 mph, and finishing sixth overall. I was happy with that and the whole event went smoothly. Did I mention it was HOT?
One of my LaS'port teammates, Mat Davis, won the 65-mile Masters 30-34 road race championships last Monday up in Louisville, Kentucky. He was part of a seven-man break about halfway thru the race and made a dramatic sprint in the last 200 meters to narrowly win over Mike Olheiser of Alabama. It was a terrific win for Mat and the team as Olheiser has a few stars & stripes and world championship jerseys hanging up in his closet! This made Mat the third Team LaS'port rider to win a coveted jersey over the last ten years. Mat was at Thursday night's ride and we got to talk to him a bit about his experience. He sounded pretty excited about the whole thing.
Mat pumps his fist in victory as he wins the 30-34 national
road championship over world class racer Mike Olheiser.
Since today is pretty much a day off for everyone, I'm going to get a few things done around the house and run errands with Jonnene. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July where we'll participate in the FireCracker 5K run and go to a team party that evening. We'll just enjoy the holiday.
Wednesday night we had the sixth in our 8-race time trial series south of town. Usually I run these time trials but sometimes I get to actually race one or two of them myself when someone else volunteers to take over. This was the case and I got to suffer with the rest of the crazy people who want to see how fast they can go on a bicycle for 7.35 miles...in this heat. Jonnene helped Jason, along with several other volunteers, to make it all work. Fifteen riders showed up and I started third in the lineup. I ended up having a good ride, setting a new personal record on the course with a 17:52 time, averaging 24.68 mph, and finishing sixth overall. I was happy with that and the whole event went smoothly. Did I mention it was HOT?
One of my LaS'port teammates, Mat Davis, won the 65-mile Masters 30-34 road race championships last Monday up in Louisville, Kentucky. He was part of a seven-man break about halfway thru the race and made a dramatic sprint in the last 200 meters to narrowly win over Mike Olheiser of Alabama. It was a terrific win for Mat and the team as Olheiser has a few stars & stripes and world championship jerseys hanging up in his closet! This made Mat the third Team LaS'port rider to win a coveted jersey over the last ten years. Mat was at Thursday night's ride and we got to talk to him a bit about his experience. He sounded pretty excited about the whole thing.
Mat pumps his fist in victory as he wins the 30-34 nationalroad championship over world class racer Mike Olheiser.
Since today is pretty much a day off for everyone, I'm going to get a few things done around the house and run errands with Jonnene. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July where we'll participate in the FireCracker 5K run and go to a team party that evening. We'll just enjoy the holiday.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
3,000+
I managed to do it. After putting in over 62 miles in two separate rides today, I have achieved my early-year goal of getting 3,000 miles on the bike in the first six months of the year! Now this is not a lot compared to some of the guys I ride with who do a lot of heavy training miles (I'll bet some already have 5,000+) but I never had this many miles by the end of June EVER. Even when I was racing a lot back in the late 90's and early this century...I got most of my miles in late spring and all summer. Yeah, big accomplishment.
Tonight's ride at Tuesday Night Worlds was one of my best so far. The speeds were high and I even took a couple of pulls but mostly sat in, with an occasional move toward the front. The main thing was that I didn't get dropped the whole time and things were looking good until Daniel crashed. We were flying toward I-49 from a rough side road and I was sitting mid-pack when Jason attacked from the right side. This opened up a nice gap up the right and I immediately thought about taking advantage of it to move quickly to the front. Well, there were about 3-4 other people thinking the same thing and they were closer to it so they made the move...I stayed where I was and let them have it. That jammed up the right side and Daniel (who had done a Half-Ironman Triathlon just three days earlier in Texas) bumped the back of Mary's bike and dropped off the edge of the road into a rough patch with gravel. His wheels slid back to the left, kicking up gravel into the road and down he went into the ditch on his right side. I was never in any danger of getting caught up in all that although I did have a ringside seat to the whole thing. As the group slowed I yelled out to everyone to ride straight and not turn their heads to see behind them or we'd have another crash due to stupidity. As it turned out, Daniel was fine though scratched up a bit and was shaken up enough to want to throw up (he didn't). All but four of us went on, including his wife because he told her to go ahead and keep riding. Jason, Jeffrey, Tony, and I stayed back with Daniel and rode back in with him. After a few miles he was back to riding normal and we were speeding down the road again. He wasn't looking forward to washing/scrubbing the road rash on his arm in the shower tonight!
Tonight's ride at Tuesday Night Worlds was one of my best so far. The speeds were high and I even took a couple of pulls but mostly sat in, with an occasional move toward the front. The main thing was that I didn't get dropped the whole time and things were looking good until Daniel crashed. We were flying toward I-49 from a rough side road and I was sitting mid-pack when Jason attacked from the right side. This opened up a nice gap up the right and I immediately thought about taking advantage of it to move quickly to the front. Well, there were about 3-4 other people thinking the same thing and they were closer to it so they made the move...I stayed where I was and let them have it. That jammed up the right side and Daniel (who had done a Half-Ironman Triathlon just three days earlier in Texas) bumped the back of Mary's bike and dropped off the edge of the road into a rough patch with gravel. His wheels slid back to the left, kicking up gravel into the road and down he went into the ditch on his right side. I was never in any danger of getting caught up in all that although I did have a ringside seat to the whole thing. As the group slowed I yelled out to everyone to ride straight and not turn their heads to see behind them or we'd have another crash due to stupidity. As it turned out, Daniel was fine though scratched up a bit and was shaken up enough to want to throw up (he didn't). All but four of us went on, including his wife because he told her to go ahead and keep riding. Jason, Jeffrey, Tony, and I stayed back with Daniel and rode back in with him. After a few miles he was back to riding normal and we were speeding down the road again. He wasn't looking forward to washing/scrubbing the road rash on his arm in the shower tonight!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
And it was my birthday, too!!
Today was the first of three 40 kilometer (24.8 miles) time trials I hope to do this year. Jonnene and I were up in Galloway, Arkansas for the Arkansas State Time Trial Championships where I wanted to get an idea of my fitness level at this point. I have two other TT's coming up: the Texas state championships on August 8th and the Louisiana/Mississippi district championships on August 23rd. What I want to do is work toward breaking the hour mark, the same goal I had last year but didn't get to try for when the LA/MISS race was canceled due to one of those pesky hurricanes that came blowing through about the time it was scheduled. I did set a Personal Record of 1:02:01 at the Texas time trial a few weeks before so 2008 was not a total loss.
We drove up Saturday afternoon to Little Rock and checked into the Residence Inn which was about 4 miles from the race site...nice and close. After taking a short time to unwind after the long drive we went to Carino's Italian Restaurant to meet up with some other racers who had driven in from Monroe and Oxford, Mississippi. It was a fun dinner and soon we were back in the hotel just relaxing before getting some shut-eye. The nice thing about a time trial is that you don't have to do a lot of pre-race prep...just have the bike ready, your pre-race eats, and your racing gear (helmet, uniform, shoes, etc.). For an hour or so on the bike you don't need much.
Sunday morning we were at registration around six o'clock, signed in and got our stuff together. However, the event starts at 7 am sharp so it didn't leave us with much time to get in a good warmup. Both of us were able to go a couple of miles down the course before we had to turn around to get back for the race....you can't be on the course once the TT starts. The juniors and women were the first to go, in 30-second intervals, and I was scheduled to start about 7 minutes in the Masters' groups after Jonnene began her trek. I was able to get about another mile of riding in before I lined up on time and set off. I didn't have much of a goal in the ride today except to see where I needed to improve over the next eight weeks and to try to finish in under 65 minutes. I wanted Jonnene, who was doing her first 40K, to come in under 75 minutes.
The start was good and I only topped out the speed at 26 mph, deciding I was going to do a steady ride to test my endurance and not blow up early. I actually felt pretty good and finally found a cruising speed around 23-24 mph that I was comfortable with. That's slower than I want to go at Texas and LA/MISS in August but I'll work on that during the rest of the summer (I'll have to average more than 24.8 mph to break an hour in 40 kilometers!). Did the first ten kilometers in 15:20 and that was nice but I could tell I was starting to slow a wee bit, staying at 23 mph most of the rest of the next 10 kilometers. I caught all three guys who started ahead of me before we got to the turnaround but was also caught by two guys who started behind me, including my teammate, Tim, who had come up from Monroe. We call him the Time Trial King but he had missed his start time and had to start a few seconds later. It didn't seem to be hurting him too much! I held him off until 2 kilometers before the turnaround which I considered a moral victory of sorts.
The turnaround happens at a large curve in the road which is only a disadvantage if you don't play the downward slope of the road correctly as you turn 180-degrees to the left. Not a big problem for me and I started to push the pace a bit. I hit the 20K mark at 32:10, way too slow, and I tried to make up for it by upping the pace to a 24-25 mph rate. Again, I wanted to stay steady and stretch out my endurance as best I could. The speed dropped back down to 23 again but I passed three more riders on the way back, including Jonnene who was pedaling well and looking good for the distance (she would end up averaging around 20.6 mph and finishing with an 1:11:55 time...great job, wife o'mine!).
I had carried a small water bottle with me but I never touched it...not that I didn't want to but I didn't want to make the movements to get it and, as a result, get slowed down. I usually don't drink during a TT anyway anymore. A fellow racer told me once that you should be able to go hard for at least an hour without drinking (but not much more) so why take a bottle with that extra weight? Well, I carried a bottle this time just in case and never used it even though I had cotton-mouth nearly the whole ride. The last 7-8 kilometers seemed to take longer than I wanted but I was glad to see the One Kilometer to Go sign and took it in to record a 1:03:20 time for the distance, for a 23.49 mph average. That got me 5th place in the Masters 50-54 age group. I was fairly satisfied, knowing I was only 1:19 off my personal best time and I felt I could work hard enough before August to surpass that time gap.
My pal, Paul, came out to take a few pictures (which I hope to post soon) and, after we got the results and watched a bit of the awards ceremony, we went back to the hotel room to get cleaned up and pack away our gear. Then we walked over to the Cracker Barrel restaurant for a late brunch and catch up on things. Saying goodbye to Paul, we headed back to Shreveport, returning in the late afternoon.
I was somewhat happy with my effort, knowing that I can definitely improve on it over the next 6-8 weeks. Can I break an hour? I'll get back to you on that!
We drove up Saturday afternoon to Little Rock and checked into the Residence Inn which was about 4 miles from the race site...nice and close. After taking a short time to unwind after the long drive we went to Carino's Italian Restaurant to meet up with some other racers who had driven in from Monroe and Oxford, Mississippi. It was a fun dinner and soon we were back in the hotel just relaxing before getting some shut-eye. The nice thing about a time trial is that you don't have to do a lot of pre-race prep...just have the bike ready, your pre-race eats, and your racing gear (helmet, uniform, shoes, etc.). For an hour or so on the bike you don't need much.
Sunday morning we were at registration around six o'clock, signed in and got our stuff together. However, the event starts at 7 am sharp so it didn't leave us with much time to get in a good warmup. Both of us were able to go a couple of miles down the course before we had to turn around to get back for the race....you can't be on the course once the TT starts. The juniors and women were the first to go, in 30-second intervals, and I was scheduled to start about 7 minutes in the Masters' groups after Jonnene began her trek. I was able to get about another mile of riding in before I lined up on time and set off. I didn't have much of a goal in the ride today except to see where I needed to improve over the next eight weeks and to try to finish in under 65 minutes. I wanted Jonnene, who was doing her first 40K, to come in under 75 minutes.
The start was good and I only topped out the speed at 26 mph, deciding I was going to do a steady ride to test my endurance and not blow up early. I actually felt pretty good and finally found a cruising speed around 23-24 mph that I was comfortable with. That's slower than I want to go at Texas and LA/MISS in August but I'll work on that during the rest of the summer (I'll have to average more than 24.8 mph to break an hour in 40 kilometers!). Did the first ten kilometers in 15:20 and that was nice but I could tell I was starting to slow a wee bit, staying at 23 mph most of the rest of the next 10 kilometers. I caught all three guys who started ahead of me before we got to the turnaround but was also caught by two guys who started behind me, including my teammate, Tim, who had come up from Monroe. We call him the Time Trial King but he had missed his start time and had to start a few seconds later. It didn't seem to be hurting him too much! I held him off until 2 kilometers before the turnaround which I considered a moral victory of sorts.
The turnaround happens at a large curve in the road which is only a disadvantage if you don't play the downward slope of the road correctly as you turn 180-degrees to the left. Not a big problem for me and I started to push the pace a bit. I hit the 20K mark at 32:10, way too slow, and I tried to make up for it by upping the pace to a 24-25 mph rate. Again, I wanted to stay steady and stretch out my endurance as best I could. The speed dropped back down to 23 again but I passed three more riders on the way back, including Jonnene who was pedaling well and looking good for the distance (she would end up averaging around 20.6 mph and finishing with an 1:11:55 time...great job, wife o'mine!).
I had carried a small water bottle with me but I never touched it...not that I didn't want to but I didn't want to make the movements to get it and, as a result, get slowed down. I usually don't drink during a TT anyway anymore. A fellow racer told me once that you should be able to go hard for at least an hour without drinking (but not much more) so why take a bottle with that extra weight? Well, I carried a bottle this time just in case and never used it even though I had cotton-mouth nearly the whole ride. The last 7-8 kilometers seemed to take longer than I wanted but I was glad to see the One Kilometer to Go sign and took it in to record a 1:03:20 time for the distance, for a 23.49 mph average. That got me 5th place in the Masters 50-54 age group. I was fairly satisfied, knowing I was only 1:19 off my personal best time and I felt I could work hard enough before August to surpass that time gap.
My pal, Paul, came out to take a few pictures (which I hope to post soon) and, after we got the results and watched a bit of the awards ceremony, we went back to the hotel room to get cleaned up and pack away our gear. Then we walked over to the Cracker Barrel restaurant for a late brunch and catch up on things. Saying goodbye to Paul, we headed back to Shreveport, returning in the late afternoon.
I was somewhat happy with my effort, knowing that I can definitely improve on it over the next 6-8 weeks. Can I break an hour? I'll get back to you on that!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Can't Think of a Title Here
Dad and I went to CiCi's Pizza yesterday for lunch. He was ahead of me and asked for the Senior Citizen Discount from the guy behind the counter which works out to $5.44, about two bucks below the regular price. He paid, got his glass, moved on, and then I come up to the counter. "That'll be $5.44, sir," the guy says. Do I look like a senior citizen already? He didn't even ask for an ID. I can ride a bike at 30 mph, do trail runs, and multi-sport races! I have plenty of people who tell me I look way younger than I am!
I took the discount. I'm not nuts or that vain. There are advantages to getting older with all these discounts. I already get hotel rooms at the 50+ rate (sweet!) and our car rental in Colorado was acquired the same way. It's still hard to believe, though.
Started running on a regular basis again. This morning was a short 2-mile effort and I decided to take it easy. I must know nothing about taking it easy since I ran a 8-minute mile pace! I was looking for a 8:30 pace or slower so I could reintroduce the legs to the pavement. The humidity was ridiculous...about 91%...and I was dripping with sweat when I came back in.
I'm starting to drop some weight, getting close to 10 pounds under my heaviest earlier in the year. Most of it is eating fewer snacks, trying my best to moderate the amount I eat in a single sitting, and the heavy workouts in this summer heat. I can lose quite a bit in a training ride but that's mostly water weight and I'll gain a lot of that back in 12 hours. Of course I still eat some things I should be ignoring but that's me being WEAK!! What I'd like to do is be around 160 pounds when the district road races come up in September and have less weight to haul over that hilly course. The trick is keeping the muscle strength during all this and not lose the weight too quickly.
Taz, the cat, came in this morning not looking too good. He has a small gash across his nose and I think he has some aches and pains going on, too. Obviously he got into something with another cat last night. I'll take him to the vet today and see if there's anything else going on with him...it's time for his regular checkup anyway.
I took the discount. I'm not nuts or that vain. There are advantages to getting older with all these discounts. I already get hotel rooms at the 50+ rate (sweet!) and our car rental in Colorado was acquired the same way. It's still hard to believe, though.
Started running on a regular basis again. This morning was a short 2-mile effort and I decided to take it easy. I must know nothing about taking it easy since I ran a 8-minute mile pace! I was looking for a 8:30 pace or slower so I could reintroduce the legs to the pavement. The humidity was ridiculous...about 91%...and I was dripping with sweat when I came back in.
I'm starting to drop some weight, getting close to 10 pounds under my heaviest earlier in the year. Most of it is eating fewer snacks, trying my best to moderate the amount I eat in a single sitting, and the heavy workouts in this summer heat. I can lose quite a bit in a training ride but that's mostly water weight and I'll gain a lot of that back in 12 hours. Of course I still eat some things I should be ignoring but that's me being WEAK!! What I'd like to do is be around 160 pounds when the district road races come up in September and have less weight to haul over that hilly course. The trick is keeping the muscle strength during all this and not lose the weight too quickly.
Taz, the cat, came in this morning not looking too good. He has a small gash across his nose and I think he has some aches and pains going on, too. Obviously he got into something with another cat last night. I'll take him to the vet today and see if there's anything else going on with him...it's time for his regular checkup anyway.
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