Running off Frustration

I hadn't done anything body-worthy in a week... and had been battling tummy trubs the whole week as well. I finally felt well enough to tackle some physical exertion and also had some frustrations I thought would mete out from some endorphin release, so I packed up Sat morning and went to the gym for an interval run. So glad I did.

Day - Saturday, 12/29
Run Type - Interval Training
Run Distance - 4.33 miles
Exercise Time - 00:55:00
Run Time - 00:20:00 (10 2-min intervals)
Avg Speed - 4.72 mph
Avg Heart Rate - 157
Time in zone - unknown*
Time above zone - unknown*
Calories burned - 660
Total Running Distance To-Date - 12.08 miles

*I had some issues with my equipment. i.e., dropping my 'pod, forgetting to lap my garmin computer, etc. so this is just lost for this workout. WAH!

Super Sunday

Since I popped my tire on Friday, I went shopping yesterday and got new, thicker, reinforced tires for city riding. While not puncture-proof, they are more resistant. I also bought more tubes and replenished my CO2 supplies. I came home, changed my tires and cleaned my bike with a vengeance. I even cleaned out the caked in muck in my rear derailleur. This morning, I mounted my new Garmin (thanks again Scott and LouAnne!!!!!) and put it to the test. It is really freaking cool. It has a workouts function, so I installed the software, customized a new workout file based upon the one-hour Carmichael intervals I've been working on, then uploaded it to the bike computer. I geared up - got on and told it I wanted to start and it tells me when my "lap" is done - SO easy and no real thinking involved, just watch TV and try not to die of a heartattack! :)

Day - Sunday, 12/23
Ride Type - Indoor Training
Ride Distance - 13.32 miles
Ride Length - 1:00:00
Avg Speed - 13.3 mph
Avg Cadence - 89.7
Avg Heart Rate - 152
Time above zone - 00:30:00*
Time in zone - 0:24:00*
Calories burned - 853
Total Training Distance To-Date: 398.6 miles

*the new Garmin measures heart rate in more detail, so these are estimates. I need to play around the the Training Center software to figure out how I get real time measurements. It's measuring too complex right now.

Freaky Friday

I was inspired by my run on Monday and thought I would do it again today. I woke up at 5:45 am, lolled around too long as I am want to do in the mornings, then finally motivated to get out of my house by 6:45, on my bike, headed to Gold's SOMA. I climbed on the treadmill by 7:15 and ran intervals again. I did well - it was easier this time, so I ran an additional interval (9 sprints this time instead of 8 as on Monday).

I showered at the gym (something I HATE doing) and then climbed back on Clyde and headed to work. Around 6th and Brannan, by the 280 on-ramp, I took a screw in my rear tire and popped it. ARGH! I pulled over on 5th and Brannan and began the tube change. I got the tube in, and the tire re-seated and then used my CO2 cartridge to fill the tire - my first time. I pretty much wasted most of the first cartridge due to my mistake in use. WAH. Then with my 2nd and final cartridge, I got the tire inflated. But the tire was mis-seated at the valve point on the rim. I had to bleed about 75% of the air out to reseat it properly. Then I didn't have enough gas in the last cartridge to get me pumped back up. DAMN!

I tried calling a cab but they were busy and said it'd be a while, so I began to walk. At 2nd between Brannan and I think Harrison I caught a cab and had to take the front wheel and the seat post out to get it to fit in the trunk. I try to be good and exercise and the baby Jesus does nothing but shower hate and punishment on me. Why??? WHY??? :)

span >Day - Friday, 12/21
Run Type - Interval Training
Run Distance - 4.0 miles
Run Length - 0:50:30
Avg Speed - 4.8 mph
Avg Heart Rate - 156
Time in zone - unknown
Time above zone - unknown*

* My damned Polar 200CAD cyclometer BROKE on Wednesday, so I didn't have the benefit of my heart rate monitor today. I already bought a new one but it's a different make/model and I haven't charged and installed it yet. So the avg above is per the treadmill computer and I don't really trust it.

** I forgot to enter my weight until about 5 mins had passed, so this is slightly understated, but directionally correct.

I told you...

that it was a c-o-n-spiracy. Today, finally, me and my brother embarked on a ride. We were just going to knock out the Lake Merced Loop. We got out to Ocean Beach on the Great Highway before the Look pedal on the rental bike spun off the crankshaft and older brother's left foot was no longer connected to the bike. No accident, no harm, just super annoying. We had to call middle brother to come pick us up and abandon our ride. Oh well - we tried.

Day - Wednesday, 12/18
Ride Type - Road Training
Ride Distance - 7.3 miles
Ride Length - 0:38:37
Avg Speed - 11.4 mph
Avg Cadence - 86
Avg Heart Rate - 154
Time in zone - 00:16:48
Time above zone - 00:19:20
Calories burned - 588
Total Training Distance To-Date: 385.3 miles

At least I got something in....

We tried to get all the moving parts together for a ride late yesterday, but the overcast weather and time got the best of us and we just didn't do it. By the time we picked up my brother's rented road bike, it would have been dark about 20 minutes from the end of our Lake Merced Loop. So we bagged.

Luckily, yesterday morning, I did motivate with middle brother to Gold's SOMA and I put in a run. I haven't run in ANY capacity in quite a while. I am not surprised at how sore parts of my body are. What I am pleasantly surprised over is just how far I went and how well I managed on the intervals DURING the run. Clearly my conditioning on the bike is translating off of it as well - which is quite exciting. Without the biking, the run I did yesterday would have been something I would have had to work up to over a course of probably 4-6 weeks of running 2-3x/week. So that in and of itself is a small victory. I wore my heart rate monitor and took my cyclometer with me - and I ran intervals. I used the Carmichael interval hour I've used a few times thus far on the bike and modified it for the treadmill and then just put in what I could for as long as I could.

Warm up - 6 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (5.5 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (6.0 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (6.5 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (6.8 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (7.0 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 6 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (6.5 mph, 1.0 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (6.8 mph, 0.5 incline)
Recover - 2 mins (3.8 mph, 2.0 incline)
Run - 2 mins (7.0 mph, 0.5 incline)
Cool-down - 10 mins

And here are my stats:

Day - Monday, 12/17
Run Type - Interval Training
Run Distance - 3.75 miles
Run Length - 0:50:34
Avg Speed - 4.5 mph
Avg Heart Rate - 158
Time in zone - 00:18:11
Time above zone - 00:26:12
Calories burned - 766
Total Running Distance To-Date: 3.75 miles

It's a C-O-N-spiracy!!

So lots of different forces are conspiring to keep me off Clyde: Sick brother vomiting upon his arrival from Singapore (but thankfully he's better now!), holiday overeating early due to early family holiday gathering, then this morning, my buddy Liz's back is acting up so she had to bow out, plus it's a bit drizzly. None of these things are really avoidable or changeable, mind you, and I realize that, but it just all sort of sucks. I've been a bit bad this month. Better to slack in December than in May - only one month from the ride - I suppose...

But here's where cross-training comes in handy. I'm going to go off to the SOMA location of Gold's, check it out with my other brother, and run. Should be interesting. Perhaps I can begin to work in one to two days a week at that gym, leaving my house early, riding my bike, working out, showering for work there and then I'll only be like 10 mins from work, if that. That would be nice. Or maybe I could go during lunch? Who knows.

At any rate, the Singapore brother is feeling better and we are to go for a shorter bike ride this afternoon on the Lake Merced Loop (provided it doesn't rain again) - so I will mount Clyde at some point today... And I'll get back on him on Thursday as well for indoor interval training. I guess all is not lost.

Holiday Hooker

I bagged. I went to bed last night with my full indoor training set up all ready to go. Bike in the Trak Stand. Water bottles in their holders. Cycling gear laid out, ready to be pulled on.

5:00 am - beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
SMACK
5:01 am - "this morning's broadcast brought to you by SleepTrain."
SMACK

I lay awake and thought about it. I'm going to get up. No I'm not. Yes I am. No, I'm beat.

I reset my alarm clock for 6:30 am and rolled over into the delicious warmth and softness that is my bed (ask the only boy who's sleeping in it with me over the past month - he's a fan). And I slept.

Then I was faced with the shame of having to dismantle and put away all my gear and set-up when I woke up. Sad, Mac. I'm lame.

But then in my defense, I have to remember 3 things:

1. I rode an hour of cardio intervals on Tuesday
2. I'm going for the short Lake Merced Loop (20 miles) on Sunday
3. I'm going for on the Tiburon/Paradise Loop (40 miles) on Monday

That's decent, right? Maybe I'll go running at the gym tomorrow. I haven't done that in a while.

Day - Friday, 12/14
Ride Type - BAGGGED Indoor Interval Training
Ride Distance - 0.0 miles
Ride Length - 0:00:00
Avg Speed - 0.0 mph
Avg Cadence - 0
Avg Heart Rate - 68
Time in zone - 00:00:00
Time above zone - 00:00:00
Calories burned - 000
Total Training Distance To-Date: STILL 378.0 miles

Lazy-Assed Weekend

I was awful this past weekend. I shopped, ate, hung out with my dog and my brother's dogs, watched TV, ate, drank, cooked, watched football, ate and hung out with the guy I've been seeing. What's missing you ask? CLYDE!!! No, he wasn't stolen. But I ignored him like a red-headed stepchild this weekend. And today, I paid for it. I did the crazy Chris Carmichael interval training again this morning but didn't feel like I pushed with as much intensity. But that's the price I guess I pay for taking a whole week off. WAH.

Day - Tuesday, 12/11
Ride Type - Indoor Interval Training
Ride Distance - 12.5 miles
Ride Length - 1:00:00
Avg Speed - 12.5 mph
Avg Cadence - 79
Avg Heart Rate - 142
Time in zone - 00:37:56
Time above zone - 00:15:35
Calories burned - 798
Total Training Distance To-Date: 378.0 miles

Intervals

I picked up my first issues of Bicycling magazine over the weekend and have to say, I like it. I found a training article by Chris Carmichael (Carmichael Training Systems) about interval training and about a guy who used this technique with improved nutrition and cross-training and lost a TON of weight. Like over 240 pounds over the course of three years!

So I was going to train anyway this a.m. so figured I'd try his routine. DAMN. It was hard but rewarding. And apparently the manner in which you train your heart in intervals burns calories now AND later... and I like that. :) Here's the routine

6 mins - warm up
1 min - low gear, fast pedal
1 min - recover
1 min - low gear, fast pedal
1 min - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
6 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
2 mins - recover
2 mins - max intensity (high gear, high speed)
8 mins - cool down

total workout - 60 mins

here's my stats:

Day - Tuesday, 12/4
Ride Type - Indoor Interval Training
Ride Distance - 12.9 miles
Ride Length - 1:02:01
Avg Speed - 12.5 mph
Avg Cadence - 79
Avg Heart Rate - 147
Time in zone - 00:37:08
Time above zone - 00:20:25
Calories burned - 877
Total Training Distance To-Date: 365.5 miles

Let's talk cabbage...

I found a cool free bit of code to track my fundraising progress. I've added it to the template and you can see it a little further down on the right hand side, just under my profile details.

I'm off to great start thanks to my new work peeps. They have been so generous. THANK YOU!!!!!! But I'm still only 14.4% of the way to my total goal of $4000.

GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE GIVE! :)

And you can do that HERE (<-- link)

The Tiburon (aka Paradise) Loop - FINALLY!

Today I finally rode the Tiburon or Paradise Loop as it is sometimes known. It is similar to the official ALC kick-off training ride I did in late October. Except that ride was 20 miles. Today's was 37 and a good bit hillier! My friend Liz was my companion and guide today and we parked at the Presidio Sports Basement. We rode up some hills (right off the bat, dammit), across the Golden Gate Bridge, down through Sausalito, just a smidge through Mill Valley then a gorgeous loop up and around Tiburon, then back through Mill Valley, doubling back all the way through Sausalito, across the bridge and back to the car.

The loop was a challenge. The hills in and around Tiburon are no joke. But I got a second wind somewhere there and kicked it into high gear and took the rolling hills in a higher gear and basically put on my racing mindset and I kicked some major ass. I felt so good when my wind ran out I found myself yelling at the top of my lungs. I think mostly out of disbelief that I'm on this journey at all.

I began my fundraising efforts in earnest yesterday by emailing everyone in my new firm, requesting donations and citing that if they want an additional last-minute deduction from their 2007 income, to go ahead and donate before 12/31/07. I sent out a short note and also included my rider recap from my roadie experience in 2007 on ALC6. Re-reading my letter brought those familiar goosebumps to my skin and I felt awash in the beauty that I took from that experience. And today, I wore my parking cone orange ALC windbreaker (it was freaking COLD) and when we stopped for coffee before climbing back out of Sausalito, I met some guys who were on the ride last year. It's always nice to meet kindred ALC spirits. :)

At this point I'm rambling and my legs are pretty damned tired. But the hills out of Saus are tough. There are sort of 2 natural resting spots in the midst of 3 "portions" of the climb to the bridge. The first time I did this route, I stopped at each of those spots to regroup before climbing higher. But today - I didn't stop once. I took the entire ride in stride. And no, it wasn't fun. It actually was quite a bitch. And my legs HURT. But I did it. My body and my mind continually surprise me in pleasant ways by showing just how it responds no matter how far I push it.

And something really cool - I maxed out at 29.0 mph on some down-straights. When you're on a bike, that's pretty damned fast and both exhilarating and scary at the same time.

Here's the gist of the route we took. It's really wind-y (as in curvey not lots of wind) and covers too much terrain to get in really close, but it's directionally correct. The squigglies in the upper right corner afforded some ridiculous views.



Day - Saturday, 12/1
Ride Type - On-Road Training
Ride Distance - 37.0 miles
Ride Length - 2:55:29
Avg Speed - 12.7 mph
Avg Cadence - 81
Avg Heart Rate - 148
Time in zone - 01:44:11
Time above zone - 1:00:15
Calories burned - 2512
Total Training Distance To-Date: 352.6 miles