Hammer

I think my legs may still be quaking. What was supposed to be a casual thirty mile ride turned into much more than that.

Last Thursday was the day for Ferrah to make her C-bus debut. I brought my bike into work as a reminder to my coworkers that I was leaving earlier than I normally would. I did not think anyone cared as I was at work earlier than normal to compensate. The ride was the first official Thursday Night Ride for COTT. This would be a ride with entirely new faces for me. Well some faces I had seen before at races and social gatherings. And surprisingly I was recognized as well from previous races.

The plan was to leave promptly at 18:00 for 30 miles or so. A few of us were ready to roll, but at 17:59, our leader was no where to be found. A quick call and, oops, we were at the wrong parking lot. So we busted our butts for 2 miles to meet up with everyone else.

Now with a crew of about fifteen intrepid riders, we set out. As is common in group rides, the packs started forming early. Having my share of testosterone, I went with the leaders. I had nary a clue where we were or where we were going. I did remember to stuff a cue sheet in my back pocket just in case. Unbeknown to our seven man breakaway, the lead rider was using an inappropriate triptik. About 19:15, the sun was sitting low in the sky. We were about 24 miles or so into the ride and we were still traveling away from our starting point. I knew something was wrong and had to say something.

At the next turn, we stopped and examined the situation. We were indeed off course. The lead rider had been using a 45 mile route as opposed to 30. The cell phones came flying out of the back pockets. Calls were made. Rumbling and grumbling arose. One cyclist whipped out his gps hoping to plot a route to our destination. Several motorists were stopped in hopes of getting directions. I pulled out the cue sheet and believed we could get back on course. No one had a headlight. Darkness was quickly coming. And on a cloudless night, the cold would arrive soon as well. After a quick consensus, we had to set the wheels in motion again. Since I had the best guide to safety, that meant I was now at the front and pulling the train.

Time to bring out the hammer.

For about the next hour, it was the steady buzz of six cranks with the occasional click of gear shifting. We were fortunate to have a nearly full moon shining down upon us, as if to say, "I've got your back." I had given my arm warmers up to a young lady, so I was a tad chilly, but I've been cold before. Finally we made the last turn and caught sight of the first park entrance. Now it was just three of us who had to cover the remaining two miles to the other parking lot. So when we pulled in, the park ranger gently reminded us to remember to get back before the sun went down. We were truly grateful for her patience with us.

What a ride.

I know that I should be trying to keep my workouts in a steady zone 2 or zone 3; after all I am in pre-base right now. But it is nice to know that my cycling is evolving and I am becoming a stronger rider. That night I was keeping steady cadences around 100 rpm. And I was moving at 20+ miles per hour. By golly I might have some hamstrings, or at least I've built some neuromuscular connections.

In spite of everything, is there anything else or anywhere I would want to be? Probably not. I can't wait to do it again...

As I mentioned last time, things around here are changing. I wish I could devote some time to producing quality posts here, but quite frankly right now I ought to write what I can when I can. So guess what I have for you tonight? Recent workouts!!! That's right!!! I'm slowly getting back in shape.

Saturday indoor cycling:

10 minute warmup
12 minute high cadence 120, 125, 130...160, 130, 125, 120 rpms; 39/23.
14 minute lactate ladder 50 secs off-10 on, 45 sec off-15 secs on...0 secs off-60 secs on, 5 secs off-55 secs on, 10 secs off-50 secs on, 15 sec off-45 secs on; Off = 100 rpms, On =120 rpms; 53/19
20 minute time trial - high Zone 3 to zone 4 effort; 100 rpms, big ring
12 minute seated climb, zone 3 effort 85-90 rpms; 53/19
With climbing block, 3 minute thresholds: 1 minute 100 rpms, 53/18, 1 minute 100 rpms, 53/17, 1 minute 100+ rpms, 53/16, 5 minute recovery - Repeat this set 5 times
5 minute cool down.

I may be out of shape and carrying some extra weight in the wrong places, but I got through that workout all right.

Sunday:
This was a swim clinic with a local tri coach with some racers from my tri team. I swam more at this clinic than I had since the Super Bowl. Yes it was my first time in the pool in, oh, six weeks? Angela used to be on deck for some swims that I went to four years ago. It was quite a boost to hear her say how much my stroke has improved since those days.

Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday:
I got my forty hour work week in with two days to spare. Oh wait, I still have to go in to work tomorrow? Ugh.

Wednesday:
I left work around 18:30 and then I found a 1.054 mile path around some OSU ball fields on my way home. These numbers are hot of the presses, er, wristwatch.

7:35
1:00
1:49
1:48
1:49
1:46
1:00
1:47
1:48
1:47
1:44
1:00
1:49
1:46
1:37
1:38
1:00
2:04
2:06
2:18
2:14

These are quarter mile intervals. The 1:00 minutes represent the approximate time I took to cover 0.054 miles as a slight recovery. The last four splits were cool downs.

All right the last thing I'm going to do tonight is jot down my possible schedule for the season. I figure if I make my schedule semi public, then someone will hold me to it.

April 15 - Hinckley Buzzard du or bi
April 28 - Hudson Relays
April 29 - Presque Isle Time Trial??
May 6 - Flying Pig half marathon pacer??
June 10 - Wendy's International Sprint Tri
July - WIBA part deux??
August 5 - Huntington Sprint Tri
August 12 - Greater Cleveland Tri
September 16 - Portage Lakes Tri
September 22 - 200 mile challenge
October - Columbus Marathon
December - Huntsville Marathon

I've left off the random 5k runs and road races, crits, and TTs. Oddly enough only two races are local. That may change. Okay you've seen the list what else do I need?

All right time for bed.

Return

I'm back!!! Anyone miss me? I definitely missed all you lovely folks in blogland.

So what has been happening here? Over the past few weeks I certainly could have thrown up a post about the new job, new city, new nephew, new computer, pictures of some new places to run, new tri team, new tri club, the Arnold Classic, organic foods, how my boobs are flat from not being in the weight room, running 4 miles then next time out running almost 8, or the post you requested that I failed to complete.

But not a whole lot of settling down for me, that's for sure. I am not in any kind of groove. No regular workouts. No regular schedule at work. No blogging time. And plenty of unpacked boxes. Am I to believe this is the new status quo? Maybe. But nonetheless some sort of adaptation is necessary

Right now I don't have a plan, I don't have a coach, and I don't really have too much time to train either. What I do have is a little fire inside of me. Today brought temps above 70 degrees (Fahrenheit.) And now the pilot light has been lit. It is time for a return, not just to this little blog, but to that which I truly have a passion for:

Running

And so on this quasi public forum, I will make a declaration of intent for my 2007 season:

I will qualify for the Boston Marathon.