its bikin' time

i love the bike. of the three disciplines in triathlon, the bike is by far my favorite. as i do not own a trainer, and the weather here has been about as cooperative as mark mcguire at a steroids hearing, i have not ridden my bike since last fall. but alas... i got home from work yesterday to a balmy 68 degrees! knowing i didn't have much time, as i had to take my son to baseball practice, i ran upstairs, dusted off my bike shorts and shoes, aired up my tires, and took to the streets. the first half mile was pure bliss. then, as i turned a corner to go west, my old nemesis returned.

Wind.

even the times when i was "in shape", i was never considered "thin". i was always stocky or muscular. now that i'm not "in shape", it's even worse. at my size, i might as well raise a sail on my bike, and when Wind decides to play against me, it is the challenge that i dread the most. give me heat, hills, unleashed dogs, a swarm of insects... even give me paula abdul at the wheel, but please, do not give me Wind.

anyway, because of my limited time, i only did about 30 minutes - good enough for almost nine miles. i had a blast. i hope the weather holds out for this weekend when i might be able to get in a legitimate ride.
i do need to spend a couple of hours sometime doing a little spring cleaning on my bike. it's been in the garage all winter. unlike the tri geek kahuna, i do not wine and dine, sleep with, or even have a name for my bike... but i do ride her hard...

i want to be a real boy!

i've been in this job for a little over six months now. but it wasn't until yesterday that i became a real boy! see, up until then i've been working here as a contractor. i've known for about three months that i would be hired on as a permanent employee, but the company didn't want to buy out the contract, so i just remained a contractor for the six month duration. anyway, nothing is really different. pay is about the same, benefits are better, my office chair is still uncomfortable. but somewhere in the back of my mind, i feel a little more comfortable. like i belong here now. it's weird how the mind works.

along those same lines, my mind messes with me in my running also. pretty much all of my runs start out on the same course. where i turn around determines how far i run. i can also do variations of a loop that runs from six to about eleven miles. when i ran last thursday, i planned on doing four miles. i was happy to see the two mile marker (i have spray painted mile markers on all the roads near my house) and even though my pace wasn't very quick, i was glad when the four miles was over. on saturday, i planned on and did about nine miles. i passed that same two mile marker doing about the same pace, and i felt fine, whereas thursday when i knew i was only doing four miles, that same two mile marker was a relief. hmmm. it's strange that just because i knew i was doing nine miles, the first two miles were easy, and when i passed four miles i still felt fine. the same four miles two days before seemed much more difficult, and i think it's just because i knew i was only doing four, and that's what my mind told my body to prepare for...

that reminds me of a quote that i saw on the back of someone's shirt when i was doing tri in indy a couple of years ago:
"the toughest competition you face is that little voice inside your head telling you to slow down"
that's so true. your body can do so much more than your brain wants to allow.

anyway, i still haven't been running as much as i would like. the weather is finally turning nicer, though... or so i thought. see, it was beautiful yesterday. when i got home from work, it was in the low 60s and sunny. i was salivating at the thought of running at nite in shorts and a tshirt. no sweats, no hat, no gloves... well by the time everyone settled down at home (the kids are on spring break), it was late, and i didn't get out to run until after 11:00. i put on my running shorts and shirt, laced my shoes, stepped outside, and.... could see my breath! what the hell? it was 60 a couple of hours ago! well i still ran, and after a mile or two was reasonably warm, but i had been looking forward to sweat dripping off my face, and certainly not having to keep the pace up to keep warm. when i got home, the weather channel said the temperature was 35. wow. that's a big drop. oh well. at least i got the workout in.

i'm back

i haven't updated this in a while because i've been away on a business trip. i was attending a disaster recovery drill at one of my company's other locations, a little town near ashland, kentucky, right next to the west virginia border. eek. after being there for 5 days, i now know where most of the kentucky stereotypes come from that people always talk about! so many trailers, so few teeth....
anyway, i managed to get in a couple of workouts while i was there, in the hotel's workout room. i normally don't do weights because i don't belong to a gym, so using some of their nautilus equipment was quite fun. i still can't stand the treadmill. sooo boring, and not even a TV to watch. on the down side, i ate like a pig. the lure of eating what i wanted and not having to pay for it was just too much. i'm really going to have to step it up a little. at least it's getting warmer now. it gives me a lot more motivation to go out and run when i don't have to bundle up. a few more degrees and i can finally take the bike out. i'm really looking forward to that.

a work work-out

for a while now, i have been wanting to start to work out during my lunch here at work. i wasn't planning on starting today... see, we have a raised floor in the server room, and the laminate on the tiles began to peel up, causing a trip hazard. bowing to the OSHA gods, i ordered new tiles, which came in this week. after staring at them for a couple of days, i came to the conclusion that they would not replace themselves, and since i have no assistant, secretary, waterboy, or other gullible person that i can pawn a physically demanding job onto, i figured i'd get to it and get it done today. 45 floor tiles later, and here i am, sweatshirt-less and perspiring. a good upper-body workout, though...
hey, i have a relatively free weekend coming up! the conclusion of my kids' basketball season and the fact that we don't have any soccer games this weekend means that i might actually be able to get in a decent-length run in - during the day! it's so rare that i get to run between the hours of 9:00AM and 10:00PM. i'd like to get 9 or 10 miles in on saturday. in the daylight! woohoo!

miscellaneous ramblings

wednesday nite is traditionally the nite that i go play indoor soccer with a bunch of guys i know. we play for fun and have a good time. as soccer was the one (and only?) thing i was actually good at, i really look forward to playing. last nite, however, my wife decided that she was going to play bingo at a friend's house. bingo?? she's 35, and her friends are about the same age. bingo?? none of them wear a blue wig or have walkers. bingo?? on my soccer nite?? grrr.. oh how i love being married sometimes...
so anyway, she got home around 10:00 and i wasn't in the most cheeriest of moods. the phone rang about 10:30. here's the conversation:

darrin: hey, dude i need to get 5 miles in tonite. you up for it?
(i'm in a pretty pissy mood, so i'm certainly not up for it...)
me: man, it's really cold outside.
darrin: it's warmer than it has been recently.
me: yeah, but i'm just not in the mood to run.
darrin: you're a big pussy. i'll see you in 10 minutes. we'll only do 4.
'click!'

so, about 10 minutes later, i knocked on darrin's door and we went running. after all, he was right. i was being a big pussy. we did a 2-mile out and back. here's the rundown;

mile 1: felt like crap as usual. working hard to stay with darrin.
mile 2: still feel like crap. barely staying with darrin.
mile 3. screw darrin. he can go on ahead. i'm doing my own pace.
mile 4: actually feeling very good now that i slowed a bit. i can't see darrin anymore.
mile 5: after completing the 4 miles i arrived back at darrin's house shortly after he did. he was standing in his driveway. i figured since we were already out in the cold and i was now feeling better than i had all nite, we might as well do the full 5. i yelled to darrin:

"c'mon you big pussy, we've got one more mile."

in retrospect, i felt really good when i went from darrin's 8:15 pace to my 8:45 pace, and i'm glad we did that last mile.

maybe now i need to focus my newfound anti-pussiness on my marriage. next week, when kim says she's got plans on my soccer night, i'll get right up in her face, and... tell her to have a good time... after all, i know my limitations.

a numbing effect

on saturday, darrin did his scheduled 8 mile run with his group. i was invited to join them, but since saturday mornings are currently tightly booked with my kids' activities, i was forced to decline. i was looking forward to a long run, though. i am happy to report that i was able to sneak in the 8 miles later on. i did a loop that i haven't done in over 18 months. in fact, the 8 miles was the longest i've run since november of 2003. that's not good. the first mile or so, as usual, was unpleasant. it always takes me a while to get into a rhythm. i never feel good during the first mile. after that, i pretty much cruised. aside from some mild soreness, my legs felt fine afterwards.
it was pretty late at nite when i ran, and i get some perverse satisfaction when my presence causes people's dogs to go completely bezerk, and in the process awaken everyone on the block. there's a couple of particularly loud and rambunctous beasts that i know are on a chain or invisible fence, and i'll bark back or tease them and really get them going! hee hee. one of these days, cujo will break loose and i'll really be in trouble. so, if i suddenly stop blogging...
the only thing that always bothers me on longer runs is my feet going numb. it always happens between miles four and five. it lasts for a few miles, then i regain feeling. i've tried loosening my shoe laces, stretching before i run, etc. this is my third pair of shoes that i've owned since i started running again a couple of years ago, and it's happened regardless of which pair i wear. i need a new pair again, and will have a friend, who is a running coach, and very accomplished runner take a look at my stride and give me some advice on shoes. hopefully she can find something that the folks at my running shoe store cannot.

brrr... still

ok, enough of this. i remember on february 1st i posted that i was excited because january was over and i could see the end of the cold weather! well here it is, march 1st and... it's snowing, with a wind chill of 7 degrees! yuk! and it's not getting better anytime soon. the forecast is for lows in the teens every day this week. i'm tired of having ice build up on my face and head when i run! speaking of running, i did a hilly 6 miles on saturday. i'm getting to the point where during the run, i'm feeling good enough to pick it up for a while until i tire. then i settle down into a comfortable pace, recover, and speed up a little again. that's good. that means progress. i attacked the hills pretty hard, and then slowed way down for a hundred yards or so to recover. it was tough, but felt great. i did another three miles on sunday. i held about an 8:30 pace and didn't feel any lingering affects of saturday's run.
i've been really hungry lately, and i don't know why. last thursday, my boss took us all out to a chinese buffet, and i really had to hold back. man, that stuff is tempting! i can't say that i contained myself completely, but i felt like i could have stuffed unlimited amounts of egg rolls, chicken(?), shrimp, and broccoli into my bottomless pit. but, alas, i limited myself to two plates. and no dessert.
well, the plan is for 4 miles tonite. i think the snow is supposed to stop, so i should be good to go. i'll deal with the cold. i don't like dealing with ice and snow.
my kids' sports activities (soccer tournaments, etc...) for the summer should be getting finalized soon, so i'll be able to start planning some races. i think i've decided to keep it short course this year. there are quite a few sprint distance tri's in indianapolis that i can do this summer. there's also a half marathon in september here in terre haute, where i live. that'll give me some fun without having to spend massive hours training for a long distance race. i'd still like to sign up for ironmanusa in lake placid for july, 2006. we'll see how the other half feels about that...