milestones

i guess it has been too long. i have been spending most of my time either eating, sleeping, training, or working. the past week has been tough as i basically worked every single day, was getting home late from work, and was just tired.

but nonetheless it was a big breakthrough week for me. in past 5 days i have upped the ante with my riding and running. this week marked the longest distances so far - 15.5 miles running and 83 miles on the bike.

the ride was actually really nice. started out in glenview and headed all the way north. eventually ended up across the state line in wisconsin. i have always wanted to ride my bike to wisconsin, now i guess i can check that one off the list. a little less anti-climatic that i thought it might be. riding back was into a nice little headwind. somehow we missed all of the storms because when we got back there was an evil line of storms at the wisco border. oh yea, that was yesterday, i'm still hungry.

the 15.5 mile run was earlier in the week. i had tried to go for a 13.2 the week before but guessed wrong on the distance. crap. i was mad so i just figured i would overestimate a little to ensure that i didn't miss the miles this time. managed to keep an average HR around 144 for the entire run which was the lowest that it has been all year. i hope that is a good thing

i still have to get into the lake. yea it will be cold but i just need to get into the lake. maybe this evening if it isn't raining. i guess if it is raining then i will just swim inside. i need to loosen up after that 83 mile ride yesterday.

um 85 days.

um, need to figure out nutrition

um, what have i gotten myself into

luckily no nightmares or lying awake in bed not being able to fall asleep yet.

3 overnights of work, training is usually sub-optimal on that schedule, we'll see what happens.

training resumes

so with jet-lag totally destroying me over the past several days i decided that the only way to win was to train more. i figured that it might just help to flip my body back the 12 hours that it needs to switch.

yesterday i was planning to ride 30 miles. luckily i was on my trainer. i got to mile 15 and was dead. i just couldn't convince my legs to go any further. it's as if my body was laughing at me. "haha, you went away for 2 weeks and just thought you could train again, you fool." well maybe. so i decided to take it easy, give my body one day to get used to being punished before taking it for a whirl. so i got off the trainer and watched the cubs game instead.

today got back on the trainer for that 30 mile ride. I got to 26 miles before my body decided that it was tired, and then kept pushing. finished in 90 minutes. sweet. then i changed quickly to go out for a quick 3 mile transition run. i didn't want to start too hard, and the 3 mile run felt great. no pain, maybe a little slower than i would have expected but i got through the run. yippee.

i am going to push the miles over the next 3 weeks, with the goal of getting up to 60 miles for bike the drive. its time to get back on the trusted steed and get moving.

119 days eeeekkk

i am going to try to sleep soon. with any luck i won't wake up at 3 in the morning again. hell, i would settle for even 4 am... i shouldn't get too greedy

i'm making progress on my photos. one more group of photos to narrow down, then labeling and posting. i'm moving faster than i thought i would.

I've Been Busy

i've had a busy couple of days. work has kept me out of trouble, but has also kept me away from the computer.

yesterday was a 3K swim and today a 40 mile bike ride. so this whole global warming thing...anytime now, it is mid april and 40 degrees, i mean seriously. i'm out of new movies to watch on the computrainer and i just want to be outside. the ride today was great, averaged 2omph and was flying the last 15 minutes, HR averaged 135.

i'm just about finished planning my trip to southeast asia. today i made one more trip to target to get all of the medications and other sundry stuff that i will need on the trip on the other half of the world. did you know that they made mosquito repellent with 100% DEET? i thought that high of a concentration would just melt off the skin. needless to say i did not opt for that version. the 30% will work just fine.

my new lens arrived on friday. i had a chance to take it out for a test drive today. i haven't had a chance to closely look at all of the pictures but so far the ones i have been able to view appear really sharp. the color is good. next test is with less light to see the full capabilities of the f/2.8 and the image stabilization. i think i am going to get a bunch of keepers from this trip.

i brought the lens on its first assignment to wrigley field today. the light was just a tad bit harsh, oh well. i really just wanted to find the brick, after hearing about it for so long i figured it was the perfect mission for the camera. and i think it succeeded. anyway, for those of you farther away than me (2 blocks) here is a picture of the brick

not much to say

good day of training
7 miles 1:01:03 - 8:43 min/mile
the fastest i have run that distance, and it felt good
heart rate monitor stopped transmitting half-way through the run... or my heart wasn't beating...yea not likely, maybe it is time to seriously look into that new HRM i have been thinking about getting anyway.

cubs win

finally some nice weather

i was finally able to get my bike off of my computrainer today. high 50's, sunny, warm, wind from the south, couldn't have asked for a much better day. apparently nor could the rest of the city. i swear everyone came out from the woodwork. the path was crowded, i guess i forgot my old mantra to never ride on the path on the weekend. anyway, it was still a perfect day.

brings the grand total for the past 3 days to
9 miles running
71 miles cycling

tomorrow i am going to try to commute to work on my bike. it's all tricked out with new lights, a new lock, and a fender. i've got some windpants and a windjacket to help fight the cold on the way downtown tomorrow. just trying to hold off filling my gas tank for one more day...

now i just have to find some people to read my tangential and often random thoughts.

cubs win