It's been awhile... so chances are that this won't last that long and it won't be all that satisfying either, but it made me happy and broke. I got engaged exactly 1 week ago. It’s been a really great week and I’m enjoying being engaged. I will post more about this and stuff starts to happen, but I just wanted to give a quick updated.
As far a cycling update, I’m getting back into it. I had a really poor first race and that cut my spirit down for the last few weeks and I haven’t been training at all. But now I’m looking forward to cyclocross season. For those that don’t know what that is, it’s basically off road, road biking. It has a much better crowd then road biking, and it’s a much more relaxed atmosphere. Basically put, please drink beer after the races because they are held at parks and not on streets. More to come on this too.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
How Quickly I Forget
I had a great night last night hanging out with an old friend that is in town, and I came to find out that he reads my blog. He also informed me that another good friend of mine also reads my blog. To be honest I thought I maybe had like 1 or 2 people that occasionally read the trash that post on here, but apparently my reach is wider than previously thought. Virtual superstardom - I never would have guessed it.
The Dilemma of Having Smart Friends
I realize now that I need to proof read my blog before I post it, either that or go to CSCC and take English 101. I think of myself to be a pretty smart guy, but I was always more of a math and science guy. For example, the math that I did in college went like this - if I drink 21 beers tonight = I'll be hung over until 2:10 PM. I practiced science less frequently, but it was often more fun... for other people. An example of this was when I conducted an experiment of trying to mix all of these ingredients together one night: Crown Royal, Vodka, Natty Light, Rolling Rock, Red Bull, 2 McChickens, a double cheeseburger, and roughly 2 hours ofswinging swaying from a back porch banister (although I only remember it being 10 minutes). My initial hypothesis was that this was going to end well. I'm an adult now so I can admit that I was wrong. The out come of my experiment was hugging a very dirty frat toilet and hitting on one of my best friends girlfriends while she was trying make sure I didn't die. Not the outcome I was hoping for, but science nonetheless. So back to the point... I have very smart friends that like to scrutinize my grammar, spelling and all together grasp of the English language. So, you'll probably find some errors in this post too, but my hopes with re-telling a story some of you might have lived with me was that you would be laughing hard enough to miss my errors.
Status Update
I'm a few weeks in and I've hit a bit of a plateau. My weight hasn't dropped and I've been hovering around 200 lbs for the last 3 weeks. I've picked out my first race that I will be doing this year - and the first of my life. It's the Troy Classic on July 17th, which basically means that I have 1 weeks to do my last bit of building speed and power and then I'll taper the following week just before the race. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing since I got beat by a girl in last week's practice race, but that's all I'm going to say about that.
In other exciting life news... I got a promotion last week! I'm going to be managing the Service Department the law firm where I currently work. I'm very excited about being chosen from some really awesome competition, one of which is going to be my assistant manager.
Well I think that's all for today. Just remember when reading my blog that the only English teacher to ever give me an A was my sophomore American lit teacher who had mushrooms, fairies and unicorns sewn all over her backpack (I think she was too high to give me anything less than an A). So thank you teacher lady who's name I never remembered, and thanks for getting me to read half of Jurassic Park. Stay classy.
The Dilemma of Having Smart Friends
I realize now that I need to proof read my blog before I post it, either that or go to CSCC and take English 101. I think of myself to be a pretty smart guy, but I was always more of a math and science guy. For example, the math that I did in college went like this - if I drink 21 beers tonight = I'll be hung over until 2:10 PM. I practiced science less frequently, but it was often more fun... for other people. An example of this was when I conducted an experiment of trying to mix all of these ingredients together one night: Crown Royal, Vodka, Natty Light, Rolling Rock, Red Bull, 2 McChickens, a double cheeseburger, and roughly 2 hours of
Status Update
I'm a few weeks in and I've hit a bit of a plateau. My weight hasn't dropped and I've been hovering around 200 lbs for the last 3 weeks. I've picked out my first race that I will be doing this year - and the first of my life. It's the Troy Classic on July 17th, which basically means that I have 1 weeks to do my last bit of building speed and power and then I'll taper the following week just before the race. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing since I got beat by a girl in last week's practice race, but that's all I'm going to say about that.
In other exciting life news... I got a promotion last week! I'm going to be managing the Service Department the law firm where I currently work. I'm very excited about being chosen from some really awesome competition, one of which is going to be my assistant manager.
Well I think that's all for today. Just remember when reading my blog that the only English teacher to ever give me an A was my sophomore American lit teacher who had mushrooms, fairies and unicorns sewn all over her backpack (I think she was too high to give me anything less than an A). So thank you teacher lady who's name I never remembered, and thanks for getting me to read half of Jurassic Park. Stay classy.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
"Z" Squad
Today was race practice day. Apparently Tuesday's hills did a number on my quads. I was crap today. I couldn't stay in a group for more than 5 laps, and I didn't finish a single race. A real bummer of a day, but at least I burned a lot of cals. That's it for today.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Getting Things Started Right
The Weigh In:
So I woke up this morning feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep and feeling motivated from a marathon post on the blog last night. I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 202 lbs. No bad, and I was still carrying a large meal from the night before. When I got home today after work I was at 200 even. Things were looking up!
The Ride:
I've decided that Tuesday and Thursdays are going to be my build days. Mondays, Wednesdays and the weekend are for working on endurance (the weekend is for racing if there is one that I have the stone to try). So being that today is Tuesday, it was time for hills! The hardest part about starting a tough workout on a hot day is to get off the couch. Someone I got myself off the couch, put on my gear and headed out the door. If you weren't outside in Columbus, OH today, it was hot, but once i got going I was also determined. I do the Grandview Classic www.tourdegrandview.com/race course for my training. It consists of one nasty but kind of short climb and then rolling terrain for the rest before a big downhill (my favorite part). So I warmed up and started my first lap. Now usually when I do the lap, it takes me about 4 plus minutes, usually between 4min and 5sec - 4min and 20 sec. Fist lap today: 3min 50 seconds. I ended up doing 10 laps today and all but 1 were below 4 minutes! Quickest lap was lap 6 at 3min 44sec, oooo yeah! I ended with doing and 11th climb up Elmwood, a shorter but much steeper hill. I climbed it like I still had something left in the tank, so it looks like next weekend I'll be doing 15 laps.
The Final Weigh In:
I stepped on the scale just before I stepped into the shower and I lost 2 pounds of water on the ride. 198lbs. Only 8 more pounds to go before I complete Goal#1. So all and all an awesome day for me and my goals. Can't wait to see how I stack up on Thursday for this: www.team-cobc.com/pdfs/2010_summer_crit_flyer.pdf .
That's all I got today folks. Goal #4 - Still working on posting more... we'll see how long this lasts. Be on the lookout for one after the practice race on Thursday. Stay classy.
So I woke up this morning feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep and feeling motivated from a marathon post on the blog last night. I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 202 lbs. No bad, and I was still carrying a large meal from the night before. When I got home today after work I was at 200 even. Things were looking up!
The Ride:
I've decided that Tuesday and Thursdays are going to be my build days. Mondays, Wednesdays and the weekend are for working on endurance (the weekend is for racing if there is one that I have the stone to try). So being that today is Tuesday, it was time for hills! The hardest part about starting a tough workout on a hot day is to get off the couch. Someone I got myself off the couch, put on my gear and headed out the door. If you weren't outside in Columbus, OH today, it was hot, but once i got going I was also determined. I do the Grandview Classic www.tourdegrandview.com/race course for my training. It consists of one nasty but kind of short climb and then rolling terrain for the rest before a big downhill (my favorite part). So I warmed up and started my first lap. Now usually when I do the lap, it takes me about 4 plus minutes, usually between 4min and 5sec - 4min and 20 sec. Fist lap today: 3min 50 seconds. I ended up doing 10 laps today and all but 1 were below 4 minutes! Quickest lap was lap 6 at 3min 44sec, oooo yeah! I ended with doing and 11th climb up Elmwood, a shorter but much steeper hill. I climbed it like I still had something left in the tank, so it looks like next weekend I'll be doing 15 laps.
The Final Weigh In:
I stepped on the scale just before I stepped into the shower and I lost 2 pounds of water on the ride. 198lbs. Only 8 more pounds to go before I complete Goal#1. So all and all an awesome day for me and my goals. Can't wait to see how I stack up on Thursday for this: www.team-cobc.com/pdfs/2010_summer_crit_flyer.pdf .
That's all I got today folks. Goal #4 - Still working on posting more... we'll see how long this lasts. Be on the lookout for one after the practice race on Thursday. Stay classy.
Monday, June 21, 2010
A New Direction of a Directionless Blog
So I'm sure that a lot of people have done this before, and probably have done it much better than I ever could but I thought I should give it a try. I'm also hoping that the new direction of the blog will cause me to post a bit more often then I normally would. "What is this new direction and why should we care?" "Can a blog with previously no direction change direction?"
To answer these questions simply, progress tracking, you shouldn't, and no. I am going to be posting my progress for fitness, weight, and other health related things. You might not care, but I said before in here, I hope you can at least get some laughs and since I'm either at work, on the bike, in the basement or in bed, it can be a nice way for some of you to keep track of me... which brings us back to that you probably shouldn't care. And since I was only 4 posts in on the blog and I'm already changing the direction, I guess we could just call it finding a direction. Now for the reason for changing:
Milestones
I've recently hit a few major milestone in my training and in my life. I've been hovering just about 200 lbs for last few weeks and the other morning when I stepped on the scale I did it! I was below 200lbs for the first time since I was poor and emaciated from living like a fucking hippie in Colorado. Since that doesn't really count, we'll say it is the first time I've been below 200lbs since the start of my freshman year of college 2002. Another milestone is that the other week I was on the bike for an hour and covering close to 20 mile and I like to do I final sprint up the slight incline of 3rd ave going West from Olantangy River Road. Well I was able to hit 30 MPH, which going that fast on a downhill feels pretty awesome, but on a flat to very slightly uphill... it felt amazing. There are some other things that seem to be looking up as well in my life and I think this was a great time to re-asses my life and my goals and start working towards some new ones.
Goal #1: Get to 190 lbs. I know I didn't always look it, but through college I was in the 220-230 range, so a total loss of 40lbs over a few years would be pretty awesome. Cycling has been the greatest motivational factor in losing the weight. When I'm getting dropped of the back of the group by a bunch of 140 pounders, I feel fat and slow... because comparatively that's exactly what I am. So I think that with my power to weight ratio as is now, I could do pretty well around 190. More to come on how exactly I'll be working toward this.
Goal #2: Eat lots of fiber.
Goal #3: My hopes for winning a road race this year have been broken, but something I really think I'll be able to accomplish (an important part of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, I'll visit this later too) is placing top 10 in a cyclocross race this year. Also since I'm not a totally rookie in cyclocross, I'd like to invite some friends to come out and watch/cheer me on and have a nice cold brew waiting for me at the finish. I'll worry about setting road racing goals next year.
Goal #4: ACTUALLY WRITE BLOG POST MORE OFTEN THAN ONCE IN A BLUE MOON. mmmmmmmmmmmmm... blue moon......mmmmmmmmmm.
So that's about all for today. I had a pretty good training ride today where I almost threw up a few times. That's when you know it's good. I weighed in after dinner at 204lbs and I looked soft in mirror. I should have a weigh in tomorrow morning and write about that and hill sprints tomorrow night. Keep reading, I promise I will write more. If you like what you read, leave a comment so I know someone it paying attention. And Brendan, you can look for more spelling errors and grammatical error too. Leave them in the comments so everyone knows where I messed up.
Keep keeping it real.
Columbus Clydesdale
To answer these questions simply, progress tracking, you shouldn't, and no. I am going to be posting my progress for fitness, weight, and other health related things. You might not care, but I said before in here, I hope you can at least get some laughs and since I'm either at work, on the bike, in the basement or in bed, it can be a nice way for some of you to keep track of me... which brings us back to that you probably shouldn't care. And since I was only 4 posts in on the blog and I'm already changing the direction, I guess we could just call it finding a direction. Now for the reason for changing:
Milestones
I've recently hit a few major milestone in my training and in my life. I've been hovering just about 200 lbs for last few weeks and the other morning when I stepped on the scale I did it! I was below 200lbs for the first time since I was poor and emaciated from living like a fucking hippie in Colorado. Since that doesn't really count, we'll say it is the first time I've been below 200lbs since the start of my freshman year of college 2002. Another milestone is that the other week I was on the bike for an hour and covering close to 20 mile and I like to do I final sprint up the slight incline of 3rd ave going West from Olantangy River Road. Well I was able to hit 30 MPH, which going that fast on a downhill feels pretty awesome, but on a flat to very slightly uphill... it felt amazing. There are some other things that seem to be looking up as well in my life and I think this was a great time to re-asses my life and my goals and start working towards some new ones.
Goal #1: Get to 190 lbs. I know I didn't always look it, but through college I was in the 220-230 range, so a total loss of 40lbs over a few years would be pretty awesome. Cycling has been the greatest motivational factor in losing the weight. When I'm getting dropped of the back of the group by a bunch of 140 pounders, I feel fat and slow... because comparatively that's exactly what I am. So I think that with my power to weight ratio as is now, I could do pretty well around 190. More to come on how exactly I'll be working toward this.
Goal #2: Eat lots of fiber.
Goal #3: My hopes for winning a road race this year have been broken, but something I really think I'll be able to accomplish (an important part of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, I'll visit this later too) is placing top 10 in a cyclocross race this year. Also since I'm not a totally rookie in cyclocross, I'd like to invite some friends to come out and watch/cheer me on and have a nice cold brew waiting for me at the finish. I'll worry about setting road racing goals next year.
Goal #4: ACTUALLY WRITE BLOG POST MORE OFTEN THAN ONCE IN A BLUE MOON. mmmmmmmmmmmmm... blue moon......mmmmmmmmmm.
So that's about all for today. I had a pretty good training ride today where I almost threw up a few times. That's when you know it's good. I weighed in after dinner at 204lbs and I looked soft in mirror. I should have a weigh in tomorrow morning and write about that and hill sprints tomorrow night. Keep reading, I promise I will write more. If you like what you read, leave a comment so I know someone it paying attention. And Brendan, you can look for more spelling errors and grammatical error too. Leave them in the comments so everyone knows where I messed up.
Keep keeping it real.
Columbus Clydesdale
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Stiff Winds and Limp Legs: Part 1
This past weekend was the 49th Tour Of the Scioto River Valley. It was my first century ride ever and due to a bridge project halfway between Chillicothe and Waverly, it was also my first 113 miles ride. It started out as many major events sporting events in my life... stressful.
The Night Before
I had a great day a work on Friday and I knew the rain would break about 3-4 hours before I was supposed to ride the TOSRV. I was also overly confident that we would have a tailwind that would push me all the down to Portsmough. Current Score: Graydon 1 for the rain stopping, Weather 1 for the head/crosswinds that blew all freaking day. I had a great meal and tried to go to bed around 10 since I would be waking up at 5:30am. 10 turned into 11, and 11 quickly became 12. I finally got to sleep just after midnight.
The Morning of...
I woke feeling pretty good and excited about the day. I didn't feel all that tired and I had so meticulously prepared for the day that I was calm. I packed up my car and headed downtown to meet up with the group I was riding with for the TOSRV. While driving down 670 I took this picture:
About this time I realized that I forgot my water bottles in the fridge and it was official that I was going to be late. I turned around and drove like a mad man to get home and grab my bottles. I left and was on the road again. Then I turned around again because I forgot my Cliff Bars ( white chocolate macadamia nut is the greatest energy bar ever!). So once I actually had everything that I needed, I was on the road and it was 6:50am. We were supposed to leave 7 from downtown. I call my friends and apologized for being late and to be honest I felt like a total ass. When I finally got to where I was supposed to be I was all stressed and was off to a great start. Oh and it was in the high 40's and winds gusting up to 40 mph. At this point the score is now Graydon 1, Weather 2. Spoiler alert, I don't score anymore points against the weather for the rest of the weekend.
The description of the happening of the ride will be in the next blog and should be up within the next few days.
The Night Before
I had a great day a work on Friday and I knew the rain would break about 3-4 hours before I was supposed to ride the TOSRV. I was also overly confident that we would have a tailwind that would push me all the down to Portsmough. Current Score: Graydon 1 for the rain stopping, Weather 1 for the head/crosswinds that blew all freaking day. I had a great meal and tried to go to bed around 10 since I would be waking up at 5:30am. 10 turned into 11, and 11 quickly became 12. I finally got to sleep just after midnight.
The Morning of...
I woke feeling pretty good and excited about the day. I didn't feel all that tired and I had so meticulously prepared for the day that I was calm. I packed up my car and headed downtown to meet up with the group I was riding with for the TOSRV. While driving down 670 I took this picture:
About this time I realized that I forgot my water bottles in the fridge and it was official that I was going to be late. I turned around and drove like a mad man to get home and grab my bottles. I left and was on the road again. Then I turned around again because I forgot my Cliff Bars ( white chocolate macadamia nut is the greatest energy bar ever!). So once I actually had everything that I needed, I was on the road and it was 6:50am. We were supposed to leave 7 from downtown. I call my friends and apologized for being late and to be honest I felt like a total ass. When I finally got to where I was supposed to be I was all stressed and was off to a great start. Oh and it was in the high 40's and winds gusting up to 40 mph. At this point the score is now Graydon 1, Weather 2. Spoiler alert, I don't score anymore points against the weather for the rest of the weekend.
The description of the happening of the ride will be in the next blog and should be up within the next few days.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Training Ride - Tax Day
Today is the dreaded day for many people because your taxes are due. Since I didn't start doing my own taxes until two years, thanks dad, I really don't mind tax day. It doesn't stress me out because to be honest, I don't make enough money for the IRS to really give a hoot about me. I'm sure that someday - scratch that, I really hope that someday I make enough for the government to care that I begrudgingly gave them 35% of what i was suppose to make that year. Enough will all this downer talk... onto the cycling.
Tax Day's Eve:
I have great day yesterday after work getting my ass handed to me on the hills of Grandview by my co-work "Captain Bryan Ohio" on his noble orange steed. I was able to hold on pretty well, but I definitely do not have my climbing legs. I was hitting my LT about half way up the hill and around 170 HR. I did save a little for the 8th and final trip up the hill and was able to beat Captain Bryan Ohio once. I did a bit more cycling after a few enchiladas and some very girl margaritas.
Tax Day:
At the onset of the today's ride I wasn't sure what to do. I'm planning on doing a long training ride on Saturday morning and I did hill the day before, but I wasn't sore enough to justify a recovery ride. So I went into TimeTrial Mode. For those of you who are not familiar, time trials are an all out effort for a set course and it's just you versus the clock. My folks were kind enough to get me a sweet Garmin Edge 605 for Christmas so I can track all types of cool things. I still really only know how to turn it on and reset it, but for the time being... that's all I need.
I was feeling a bit sore from the day before but not too bad. I went lactic on my first part of the ride down to the Olantangy Trail, and then recovered a bit and my legs were feeling pretty good. The trail was absolutely packed with special people today. All blinded by the beauty of the day and the sunshine, but that gave me an opportunity to work on my handling as I weaved through them. As I approached Antrim park I was feeling like I had a lot left so I decided to do the full trail out to Hills Mark on the other side of 270 on 315. I made it out there from my door in 48 minutes and 34 seconds (ave of 16.1 which included stop lights and traffic). I was pumped, that is the fastest I have ever done that ride. My goal at that point was to make it back before a total time of 1 hour 27 minutes and 8 seconds. I didn't hit my mark, but I was close... very close. All and all it was a good ride, a little buggy by the river, but no free bug dinners.
This was a long one, so I think I'll wait until Saturday to post again. Spread the word if you like what you read and if not, I'll try my best to have something a bit more entertaining on here in the near future.
Tax Day's Eve:
I have great day yesterday after work getting my ass handed to me on the hills of Grandview by my co-work "Captain Bryan Ohio" on his noble orange steed. I was able to hold on pretty well, but I definitely do not have my climbing legs. I was hitting my LT about half way up the hill and around 170 HR. I did save a little for the 8th and final trip up the hill and was able to beat Captain Bryan Ohio once. I did a bit more cycling after a few enchiladas and some very girl margaritas.
Tax Day:
At the onset of the today's ride I wasn't sure what to do. I'm planning on doing a long training ride on Saturday morning and I did hill the day before, but I wasn't sore enough to justify a recovery ride. So I went into TimeTrial Mode. For those of you who are not familiar, time trials are an all out effort for a set course and it's just you versus the clock. My folks were kind enough to get me a sweet Garmin Edge 605 for Christmas so I can track all types of cool things. I still really only know how to turn it on and reset it, but for the time being... that's all I need.
I was feeling a bit sore from the day before but not too bad. I went lactic on my first part of the ride down to the Olantangy Trail, and then recovered a bit and my legs were feeling pretty good. The trail was absolutely packed with special people today. All blinded by the beauty of the day and the sunshine, but that gave me an opportunity to work on my handling as I weaved through them. As I approached Antrim park I was feeling like I had a lot left so I decided to do the full trail out to Hills Mark on the other side of 270 on 315. I made it out there from my door in 48 minutes and 34 seconds (ave of 16.1 which included stop lights and traffic). I was pumped, that is the fastest I have ever done that ride. My goal at that point was to make it back before a total time of 1 hour 27 minutes and 8 seconds. I didn't hit my mark, but I was close... very close. All and all it was a good ride, a little buggy by the river, but no free bug dinners.
This was a long one, so I think I'll wait until Saturday to post again. Spread the word if you like what you read and if not, I'll try my best to have something a bit more entertaining on here in the near future.
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