A three hour tour

Well, two hours fifty five minutes, actually.

It was quite an event this morning. I joined the early risers club, leaving the house at 6:17am, and it was gorgeous. The moon was still bright in the sky, air crisp with some low-lying fog that looked like...well...clouds (creativity escapes me -- I guess all the energy went to the legs). Whenever I get up that early, I think it should happen more often because of the serenity of early morning. Too bad the bed is so comfortable or it might actually happen more.

Anyway, the run was an event. I ran about an hour before meeting a friend for the final two. To say the route was hilly would be an understatement, and I threw in a couple of out and backs over the tough sections due to poor planning. I was toast at the end. Shuffling, not running. But I did it, and I feel really good for that. I iced down in a cold bath after, and now I'm ready to pop a bunch of ibuprofen to get me through some stiffness. No bad pain to report, which is always good.

Put this one into the books. Not sure of the distance, but it's the time on the road that counts for me (mental prep as much as anything). One month to go. I'm trusting that the work will pay dividends on the Cape.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Park

When I bought the bike last fall I was suffused with the romantic notion of rides in Central Park. Truth is, the Park is not a fun ride. Unless it is empty, which happens only before 6:00am, the roller bladers, families of six with double-wide strollers, kids on scooters, and pedestrians who forget that they are crossing a city street, all contribute to make it one of the riskiest rides in the NYC area.

I rounded the corner today on my fifth lap, 32 mile, just less than 1 lap from my goal and feeling strong when WHAM....about 10,000 Walk for Parkinson's suburbanites were like a wall to wall carpet, as far up the road as I could see. I pulled over and watched the other cyclists round the same corner, and use the same profanity, as I had. Some of them tried to wade into the throng, but surface roads took me home.

Dist: 35.57 miles
Time: 2.35.31 hrs (including the 15 miutes or so I stood gaping at the walkers.)
Mx Speed: 26.3 mph
Av Speed: 13.7 mph

Have the heart monitor now, but still figger'n it out. Mx heart rate was around 176, on the great hill.

Red Winged Blackbirds

Start at Crown Point, cross the bridge into Vermont, head towards Middlebury but turn along the bikeway and watch the cows and the lake for about 45 minutes, repeat in reverse.

I fell 2x (more later on that) but stopped counting red winged backbirds at 13. A gorgeous day.

Time: 1.33.02 hrs
Mx: 32.2 mph
Av: 14.1 mph
Dist: 21.95 mi

Cardio data should come online in about two weeks.

Bands on the Run

Having avoided regular, organized exercise for most of my adult life, my cycling venture is bringing me close to many issues I've been able to avoid. Like dealing with regularly with pain. It appears that I suffer a bio-mechanical problem....I pedal bow-legged, which strains my IT Bands, particularly on the right side. Inflamed bands make staircases and lateral motion difficult and painful. So I've researched stretches specific to bands and am careful to warm up and wind down. But the trainer has become particularly important for this reason. The lack of landscape and shifting topography allows me to use trainer time for improving pedaling form: knees in, flex the foot on the down pedal. It's made a great difference.

I spent a few thousand reward points on a heart rate monitor and am anticipating its arrival shortly, so I'm looking forward to gaining greater insight into my physiology and performance.