Soccer?

So, I can't wait till soccer season is over. It is getting to be that time of the year when it gets cold and the kids stop having fun. Emily almost scored a goal today which is HUGE considering she plays with just about all boys.

Riding
2:00 E2
37.68 miles
205 AV Watts
154 AV HR
E 1490
Trainer

Lazy

Hard to ride when you are asleep...

Run Part Deux

Running sucks and I suck at it.

5.5 miles
~50 minutes

Ride

EZ trainer ride. Blah Blah Blah....


Riding
1:00 E2
18.57 miles
201 AV Watts
158 AV HR
E 727
Trainer

Run Day and a Roll in the Hay

I suck at running but managed to get in 7.5 miles in a little under an hour. There is a middle school track on my route that I used to get in the extra 2 miles. So, I get up to the track and notice two cars parked on the upper lot by the playground. Kinda odd since it is such a remote lot and it was 10pm. Going down the back stretch I see what looks to be a big white blob not too far from the track. The closer I get I notice it is a white colored blanket covering something up. I personally barely tolerate the dark and jump when I hear the slightest out of place sound when I'm running at night. So, I'm think'n here is a dead body wrapped up in the grass just lay'n there for me to find. Always think the worst. That way you are never disappointed... I get about 10 or 15 feet away and I hear this awkward sound from a girl and realize it isn't a bundle of dead bodies after all just two teens shack'n up in the grass. I run by trying my best to ignore the goings on. The next time around I see the guy sitting up with his hands on his head and he says "Oh, man..." as I pass by. All embarrassed like. After my fourth time around they finally get the picture and move back to one of their cars. The whole time I'm think'n about how dumb these kids are. Who throws out a blanket 5 feet away from a track that is used quite a bit at night when there are two huge soccer fields up the hill where no one is ever going to walk at night?

Whew Rest Day

Day, week, whatever. Let's just say I didn't put in a lot of time the second week of October...

Ride to Recover

These easy trainer rides make my legs feel a ton better. Instead of two bloody stumps they feel more like ground up cow bones, I mean Jello.

Riding
1:00 E2
18.75 miles
205 AV Watts
144 AV HR
E 746
Trainer

Run, Jog, or Walk?

I can tell you what I did tonight was by no means running. Holy crap do my legs hurt. I really didn't even want to start, that is how bad my legs felt. Becky made the decision pretty easy for me though. Either sit at home and rest to the tranquil sounds of NAG-NAG-NAG-NAG-NAG-JERK-NAG-NAG-NAG-NAG or go outside for an hour where it is QUIET. While my time for doing this loop is getting slower I don't mind. This kind of activity used to be a breeze. Go knock out 5 or 6 miles in about 45 minutes, no problem. Right now I'm loosing touch with the mid 40 range and embracing the slowness that is the 50 minute mark. Yeah I suck, my knees, hip, and back hurt too but it is a lot better than the alternative.

Trainer Time

I really like my trainer. No seriously I do. My measly one hour ride on it today brought back some good memories of last Winter when I was putting in some exciting three and four hour sessions in my basement. It was nice to spin slow and work some of the pain out of my legs from the run last night.

1:00 E2
18.27 miles
196 AV Watts
154 AV HR
E 713

So, how much for a hip replacement?

So, how much for a hip replacement? I went for a run today just like my plan says. Man do I suck at running. My whole body hurts, but I did manage to squeeze out almost 6 miles in about 50 minutes. Not a speed record by any means. At least I did it though, I guess...

Ahhhh

Ah, rest day. I love these days. Just kick back no worries about goals or efforts. What a wonderful way to start my off season training.

Fatty Fatterson?

No Fatty Fatterson for me this Fall/Winter. Still sit'n pretty at 168lbs. Last year I was almost 180 by November. I've decided to step up my off season training. I started with riding once a week. That goal was surprisingly easy to accomplish. For the rest of the month I will attempt to abide by an off season plan consisting of running and light riding. First I must take a rest day though. All this talk about training is making me tired.

Monday - Rest Day of Course
Tuesday - Run ~1 hour
Wednesday - Ride 1 hour
Thursday - Run ~1 hour
Friday - Ride ~1 hour
Saturday - Ride ~2 hours
Sunday - Ride ~2 hours

New Season, New Team, Same Me

For the 2007 season I have increased my training hours from 500 to 600. It's not really set in stone, just a guess to base weekly hours off of. It does mean more time on the bike though. New for this season I got a PowerTap. Using it for the past couple weeks has made me wonder how I got by with just heart rate. Power today is the same as power tomorrow. No variables like time, temperature, or fatigue. Definitely a much better tool to measure intensity. Tomorrow I start week 2 of Base2, 15 hours. It is only the beginning. This year I'll max out at 18 scheduled training hours. Now that is gonna hurt.

New Team For Me

Hopefully this turns out to be a good move for Andy H and I. Participation within the team is high and there will even be other folks in my category at the races. I also sent in my USCF upgrade request on Sunday. Holy crap Mike W. is on top of things. It was approved Sunday evening. So I am officially a Cat-2. Yeah, let the real fun begin. I honestly can't wait. I started training Sunday with a two hour trainer ride. No plan yet and it was really only one session so I'm not exactly in the full swing of things...

Training?

I don't need no stinking training. I've ridden my bike maybe 3 times since Gateway. Rode with Austin and some Dent Wizard juniors today. We put down a powerful 15.5 mph average for the ~55mile loop. Shattering records all along the way. It was a good time though. Very relaxing. When I get back from Las Vegas the planning for my 2007 season conquests will begin. So don't ask me about training plans, how many miles I'm doing, what team I am gonna ride for, have I upgraded yet, what will be my first win of the season... I am still resting and have no idea.

Sedalia

Wow, that place is far away. Great venue. More light would be nice, but not bad. I got 7th in the 3/4 race and 6th in the 1/2/3. Yeah, figure that one out. I can't move in a 3's race w/o being swarmed and the 1/2's could give half a crap about me. I didn't get to bed till just after 3am so my Sunday was totally shot. The season is almost over and all that is left to do is rest and see how Gateway Cup plays out. With the fields full all weekend long it's really gonna be a crap shoot.

Training After The Fact

My zone2 training was back on track as of last night. I'll be doing low to moderate intensity for the rest of the week to get my head back on straight. Then fire it up for two weeks to prep for the state RR weekend using the 'ole Hellbender as a dry run. Blaze into Columbia like rolling thunder and blow everyone's F'ing doors off. Just gotta get the band back together first.

Joe Martin and the Rest of My Season

So, I'm only gonna bitch about this one more time then it is over. Don't ask me about how I did or how hard was that race or anything. Pretend I was just a spectator. I'll talk to you about how impressed I was with some of the guys that were down there and a bit disappointed in the arrogance of others, but nothing about me.

Two weeks ago I had high hopes for this weekend. I was on top of the world, feeling strong, healthy and confident. I actually felt fast. Apple Pie went well if you exclude the last mile of the race and I was set to destroy the field on Sunday for Andy H at the Cougar Crit. That never happened. Instead I got sick from some bad pizza. I still love pizza a lot and that will never change, but the folks making better watch out. Cause if this crap happens again I'm not staying home puking and crap'n my brains out, I'm come'n up there for ya. So I loose about another 10 pounds on top of the 5 that I lost from racing earlier that day. No race for Rusty on Sunday. In fact I couldn't even muster up the strength to ride my bike till the Tuesday night crit. I felt weak. Sure I was in the break on Tuesday night, but I could barely turn the cranks to stay in. Training pretty much dropped off from there. I wasn't able to do adequate zone2 workouts let a lone the short high intensity sessions I had planned for race week. Things didn't change on race day. I still had no power for the road race and my stomach was in knots the whole time. I finished well inspite of the scoring which I refuse to even look at. The TT was more of the same. I got a pretty good start, and passed 2 guys. The whole time I couldn't get on top of my pedal stroke. I always felt like I was way behind. I even put in a slower time than last year. SUCK! Crit time. This is always a hard one. Just gotta make the selection to save a little face, getting dropped here would have surely meant the end of the season for me. Downward spiral of depression for sure. I managed to stay in the front group. I pretty much "cheated" up the hill every time by rolling to the front on the flats and small chainring up the hill, then hop onto the end of the train when it came by. No power. All systems were failing and I was barely surviving a weekend that was suppose to be a break through. That's it. No more. It's over. No questions. Nothing. The weekend is behind me and I'm moving on.

Weekend Recap - Tour of STL

Tour of St. Louis.

Saturday, Carondelet Park. Man, is there always a wreck in the last lap of this race? There aren't any f'ing corners. I didn't see it so I won't comment on what happened, but I will say something about what I saw on the cool down lap. Some jerk stores ripping the poor kid from Columbia a new a-hole about the wreck. Was it his fault? I don't know or care, but show a little respect especially when it looked like the kids dad was standing right there. Enough on that. The rest of my ranting will be about me and my racing deficiencies (see Sunday). So, back to the race. Small field, kinda cool and damp. I hate that kind of weather. My tires slide, I get zero traction when I sprint what ever. So, last lap going into the first bump before the finish I'm screaming at my lead out guy to go faster. He poops out and I am alone. All I remember is trying to sprint my ass off and my bike is sliding all over the place. I get maybe every other pedal stroke to connect. I start freaking out cause I think I'm gonna get caught, and guess what. I did. A Mesa fella came past a bit before the line and out of no where Nick Coil saves the day for the win. I got 3rd. No problem, I felt great. Can a guy get a little F'ING TRACTION? Is that too much to ask? Totally my fault. That was lesson number one learned from the weekend. Here is lesson number 2. So, during this race I keep hearing people yell at Andy in the pack and from the side and I'm thinking WTF? I am the only one that gets to yell at Andy. Come to find out there is more than one Andy in St. Louis and he rides for Mesa. So, Andy from Mesa if you ever hear me cussing your name in a race again, I'm not mad at you, just trying motivate a teammate.

Saturday, TT. I drove out there with Danny B. The wind was throwing us all of the road and the sky was getting bad. This TT is not for the faint of heart when it is dry and actually light out. I'm thinking the worst. Maybe me over the cliff kinda thing. It was slick out on the course with the leaves and oak or whatever that slippery crap was. I ended up with a pretty good time that stuck for the win by like 38 hundredths of a second over my teammate Nick Coil (5:57 something). He is now my bitch.

Sunday, Forest Park. I thought I had my head in the game. I had a good warm-up and felt great. Almost too good. That's the problem with flat courses. All the fatties were there and I got beat by at least half of them. You just can't drop fatties on a flat course. So, that's lesson number 3. Why can't I get it through my thick head. It is not worthwhile to try to drop fatties on a flat course. Race your race, attack in moderation, and cover breaks that look good. So, I got 12th. SUCK! But that's bike racing. Get your head in the game and keep it there. Don't be stupid. I still picked up second in the overall by like 1 point and Nick Coil got 1st in the overall. More racing next weekend.

That was for you Dave Brez. Now I gotta get to the Crit.

Dogwood

This is the first year I have done the Dogwood road race. I examined the topo and noted the climbs. I was fully aware of the amount of climbing to be done today. I even put my 25-12 cassette on. I thought I was pretty prepared. Lets just say you have to see it to believe it. This is the toughest course I have ever raced on. Without going into a play by play I'll just throw out some general observations in no particular order.

Fast, crap that was a fast start for a 100+ mile road race. Not having much experience racing in the "A" race since I'm a suck ass 3 take it how you want. The start was f'ing FAST.

Quite a few people were dropped before we summited the first climb which was HUGE!

I was feeling great, almost too good if ya know what I mean. At the start of the race I was one of the silly people up front chasing people. About 35 minute in Brewer asked me how I was feeling and I told him I wished we were 1:35 into the race. Not good since we had at least another 4 hours ahead of us.

These guys can climb. We're going up these dare I say hills big chain ring style. Some were steep enough to throw it in the 39, but when there was a surge you better be tough enough to get back in your 53 cause the group ain't wait'n.

One would think that the second lap would be more tame cause of the smaller group and ~55miles of climbing in your legs. Wrong. First climb second lap. DRILLED IT! The surges started again. I kept myself up near the front and was fine.

Man, these guys get more and more horse shit with each other the farther along the race progresses. By horse shit I don't mean poop in the road, or people being mean and calling each other names. This is a term I use for those times in the race when the attacks start, and people counter, and there is chasing and PAIN all with the intention of dropping people out the back! The anticipation of "horse shit" behavior is the worst. It is almost a guarantee that when there is a climb 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up someone will attack and then counter and then hammer at the crest.

All in all this is a great course and I will be back next year. I ended up finishing 8th. Yeah believe it, 8th in a 1/2/3 road race. I wasn't just sitting in, I continued to chase/attack for the duration of the ~110 miles. I learned so much from this race and have a new respect for the 1/2 field.