WEEK FOURTEEN

Well at least there’s some pics with the “training diary” this week…

Date: Monday, 18 August 2008
Time: 1:13:53
Distance: 17.75km
Temp: 30°C
Conditions: Sunny but getting dark
Notes: An evening ‘cross ride with Ryan, Seth, Fraser and Steven. It a tiring ride after a long, hot, tiring day. Not sure how I benefited… other than burning a few calories… Which, considering the state of me, is reason enough, I guess…

Lacking energy to ride I played “cameraman” (Oh, I got a new camera…)

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Stephen and Ryan heading into “the sand pit”.


Sad that this is the only sand around that we have to practice in…. Stephen is powering through… Ryan is losing it. Screw it, I'd just run it!


Done.


Fraser powering through.


Ryan again. It was dark. They were going fast…


Stephen going really fast.


Seth is the man.


The dude.

I had set the alarm to get up and ride in the morning but was so hurting from the night before I just couldn’t get up… Considering the forcast for the week (HOT!), morning rides might be the way to go. I will have to find the motivation…

Date: Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Time: 41:26
Distance: 8.94 km
Average Speed: 12.94kph
Temp: 18°C
Wind: SE 8kph (not that it matters in the deep dark bush)
Conditions: Sunny (not that it matters in the deep dark bush)
Notes: Sunrise was at 5:57, I left the house a couple minutes later for an early morning trail ride. I rode the singletrack down by the water on the east bank of the river, starting at the Broadway Bridge and carrying on a bit past the University Bridge.

I was hurting when I got up but ibuprophen helped me get through the morning.


I saw a porcupine up in a bush munching on the foliage… or the sticks… or something… He’s in there, I swear – take a really close look.


I also saw some Beavers. This one scared the dickens out of me when he jumped off the bank and slapped his tail! This picturesque scene was just when he came back up.


He didn’t think too much of me still being there so he dove back down with another big slap of the tail!

Later in the morning I rode out, hauling the kids behind me, to visit with Simone and Claire and Evelyn. I came back in the early afternoon stopping at Safeway and Steep Hill. ~20km. It was 36°C….


Date: Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Ride #1 Morning Trail Ride
Time: 39:35
Distance: 8.51km
Average Speed: 12.89kph
Temp: 19°C
Wind: What wind?
Conditions: some clouds
Notes: Short but sweet (if sweet=painful). At least I’m getting up and getting out… I did a few more climbs today and rode over one thing I had to bail on yesterday… so that’s improvement, right?

30 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups. ow.

Did some errands with the kids in the afternoon. Enede up having to go all the way to Stupidstore on 8th… ~17km. it was 30°C when I got home… oi…

Evening ‘Cross Ride
Time: 1:14:23
Distance: 18.34km
Average Speed: 15.49?kph
Temp: hot to cool (maybe 27°C to start, 20-ish by the time we got back)
Wind: There was a breeze…
Conditions: cloudy
Notes: I really wasn’t looking forward to this ride. By the time I got to Diefenbaker I was beat. But after a little tooling around I sort of perked up a bit. It got nice and cool (compared to the heat of the afternoon) and even started to rain a bit just as we finished up and I felt pretty good by the time I got home. Tired, but good. We didn’t do any dismounts – because I’ve seriously pulled some muscle(s) in my groin and it is painful to attempt a high-speed re-mount. Mostly tight cornering, zig-zagging through trees and sprints across bumpy grassy fields and tearing around, up the hill a couple times and tearing around on a loose sometimes gravel – sometimes woodchip path… Good fun in the end.


Amanda, still not so keen on the steep descents on the ‘cross bike chose to walk this one.


Ryan again, and his cool Karate Monkey. Karate Monkey. I just love typing "Karate Monkey". Karate Monkey.


Amanda again.


Date: Thursday, 21 August 2008
Time: 36:19
Distance: 8.48km
Average Speed:
Temp: 14°C
Wind: huh?
Conditions: some clouds, mostly sunny.
Notes: This could have been a “rest day”… I begged Amanda to go out to the Skatepark this morning – but it turns out she was even lazier than I. So I eventually drgged my ass out of bed and went for a morning trail ride and it turned out to be just fine. I just got to get my ass out of bed and on the bike…

40 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups

No other riding today. I did wa’l downtown with the kids for Story Time at the library. It’s been a while. I really had to take back the heaps of overdue books - it's really bad, they're sending us letters.... This is what happens in the summer when the regular routine gets so disrupted... ugh....


Date: Friday, 22 August 2008
Time: 1:02:52
Distance: 14.26km
Average Speed: ~14kph
Temp: 9°C
Wind: N 35kph
Conditions: Cloudy, dark and cool
Notes: I met Ryan at the Broadway Roastery and went for a morning trail ride out Gabriel Dumont/Diefenbaker way. After a week of 30°C+ temperatures 9°C and a 35kph wind out of the north seemed damn cold. It was hard getting out of bed!

It’s been a while since I rode the trails in those parks so it took some exploring to find them. Some are quite overgrown, some to the point of being unridable. Most of them are very steep so we mostly pushed up through bush and then rode back down…

40 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups. They were harder to day. I will lay off on them over the weekend when I’m doing some longer road rides. I need to stretch more.


Out to the zoo with the kids (~20km). Met up with Dean and Issac, and Simone and Claire and Evelyn.


On the way home we rode by the scene of a nasty crash. The black SUV on the back of the tow truck t-boned the grey car still sitting in the intersection. The other side of the grey car was totally crumpled…


Date: Saturday, 23 August 2008
Time: 2:28:50
Distance: 61.60km
Average Speed: 24.8kph
Temp: 11-17°C
Wind: SW 13kph – WNW 8kph
Conditions: Sunny
Notes: So tired. The first 20km or so I felt like I was asleep at the wheel. Like I could just fall over into the ditch fast asleep at any minute.


What is WITH this intersection? EVERY time I go by there’s a train, or, as in this case, if there isn’t, the barrier comes down and lights light up and bells ring anyway… just to spite me… seriously, as I came around the comrner on to Dundonald Avenue the bells started clanging and the arms went down and I said to myself some foul things along with “You’ve got to be kidding…” Apparently it was. As I approached the crossing I could see no train in either direction and by the time I got there the arms lifted up.

I did just miss a train on the way back though…


Some cows out on Highway 762

Too soon after I got back I had to haul the kids over to a birthday party for one of Amanda’s co-workers. +10km

Date: Sunday, 24 August 2008
Time: 2:46:14
Distance: 69.17km
Average Speed: 24.97kph
Temp: 9°C – 18°C
Wind: ESE 11kph – SE 24kph
Conditions: Clear
Notes: On teh way out I jsut cleared the crossing before a train came through. On the way back I just missed a very long train as there were at least two dozen cars and trucks lined up on either side of teh crossing that were just getting going as I arrived...


Here's where I go riding. I love it. Of course, I just love riding....

I am a hurting unit. There have been no rest days at all this week. I’ll definitely have to take one tomorrow.

Still I hauled the kids over to Kinsmen Park to play at the kiddie pool. Then over to Grandma’s for her Birthday party (part 2: the sequel). +8km

My backside is aching and I’m worried it might be infected again. Of course EVERYTHING is aching… so maybe it’s nothing more than general aching from over-work…? Gosh, I hope so. It would suck to have to go into emergency for a little more slicing and dicing just before THE BIG RACE. Actually, if it came to that, there’s no way I could do the enduro. Which would suck, because I’ve been pretty pumped about it for pretty much most of the summer. I could give ‘cross season a total miss, but I’d really like to do the enduro…

So looking forward to a rest day…

WEEK THIRTEEN

Wow… This blog is getting pretty boring, eh? I’ll try and get something up this week beyond the “Online Training Diary”

Date: Monday, 11 August 2008
“Rest Day” if you call hauling Finnegan to music “camp” on campus, riding over to Preston Crossing back to Broadway and then back to campus to pick up the boy and sprint home to make supper restful… well… ~20+km


Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Once again, a “Rest Day”, which, once again, involved hauling Finnegan to campus, over to Preston Crossing (forgot to get batteries, but it turned out they didn’t’ have them anyway…) and back over to London Drugs on 8th (they DID have batteries). Back to Campus, over to Broadway, and back home. ~20km.


Date: Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Time: 45 minutes on trainer
20 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups (hey haven’t done any for weeks…)

This was okay. I think I could get into this through the fall and winter every morning for a bit. Get out for some longer rides on the weekend or in the occasional evening… in addition to the general getting about by biking or hiking…

I watched Bootleg Sessions V.2 (borrowed from Ryan, THANKS!) Wow… Imagine a BMX video… flatland, park riding, whatever… now imagine it all done by skinny dudes in tight jeans on fixed-gear road machines… narrow flat bars, no brakes… It was insane.

Once again, out and about in the afternoon. This time I hauled both over to the new apartment where my folks are staying right downtown and dropped off Keira. Hauled Finnegan across to Campus for Music Camp. Rode over to McNally-Robinson in the rain. Rode around to a couple more stores down 8th Street (Tramps, Teachers Trunk, Wesgate Books, Safeway), Then back to pick up Finnegan and then Keira and then home… ~20km?

Evening Ride
Time: 1:20:52
Distance: 18.95km
Average Speed: 14.95kph
Temp: cool
Wind: not bad
Conditions: overcast and rainy from time to time.
Notes: I went out for a CX ride with Ryan and Amanda in the evening (grandma and grandpa came over to put the kiddies to bed). I met Ryan over at the Broadway Roastery. Made our way to Diefenbaker park, set up a little circuit, did some mounting/dismounting drills, came home in the dark.


Date: Thursday, 14 August 2008
Wow… I set my alarm to get up and either get on the trainer again or head out to the park to practices mounts and dismount on the cross bike for an hour. I really, really need to work on the mounting… but I was so damn stiff and tired (oh so tired…) I just couldn’t get up…

More hauling kids around and running errands…. ~15km

Date: Friday, 15 August 2008
We’ll call this a “Rest Week”…

More hauling kids around and running errands…. ~15km


Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Time: 3:54:42
Distance: 100.96km
Average Speed: 25.8kph
Temp: 23°C
Wind: SSW 24kph
Conditions: Sunny!
Notes: Into the wind on the way out, tail wind on the way back. Nothing to complain about..

Rolled over to Broadway to pick up some groceries. +5km…


Date: Sunday, 17 August 2008

Ride #1 Morning Road Ride
Time: 70.14km
Distance: 2:58:05
Average Speed: 23.6kph
Temp: 22°C
Wind: NE 22kph
Conditions: SUNNY!
Notes: The opposite of yesterday. Coasted (such as one can on a fixed gear…) on the way out, suffered on the way back. I cut the ride short to get back in time for Amanda to go out to the Skate Park before it got too busy. There was a lot of runners out on the road!? Something I haven’t really seen out that way before. Nine on Valley road, and one on the Pike Lake road (with a friend riding along beside her on a bike…) I got a flat! After I finally got it sorted out I rolled down the road another kilometer or two and stopped to take a picture with my new camera. Someone stopped to see if I was okay. Yeah, dozens of cars pass me while I’m crouched at the side of the road with my bike apart

Ride #2 Evening Trail Ride
Time: 14.22km
Distance: 1:04:12
Average Speed: 13.2kph
Temp: 21°C
Wind: E 11kph – not that it mattered down in the bush…
Conditions: SUNNY! In-your-eyes sunny…. The lighting conditions on the trail were terrible. I’ll try clear lens next time I ride in the evening just before sundown.
Notes: So the other day I actually fixed my mountain bike - the 1FG? – It’s been out of service for a year…. The last time I rode it was for Bike Polo. It’s probably been two or three years since I’ve ridden it on the trails… Wow… The skillz have faded… It’s a good thing I went out tonight – it was and eye opener and will serve as motivation to get out EVERY DAY for the next three weeks (you know… before XC8!? The 8-hour endurance, mountain bike race I’ve signed up to do solo….). I know what you’re thinking… “this guys either HARD CORE… or a dumbass…” – and let me tell you it’s a fine, fine line…

It was just an hour out to the end of G2… I could probably do this in the mornings before Amanda gets up to go to work…. I have to sort out some sort of plan for the week…

WEEK TWELVE

Having been inspired by Heft On Wheels by Mike Magnuson, I thought all I got to do is start cycling like a maniac and… uh… Well he started, he started cycling like a mad bastard and quit smoking and drinking and I seem to recall he lost his first 30 pounds in a month or two… Of course I think he was riding a couple hours a day, six days a week… Anyway, I’m ahead of the game I’m not nearly as huge as he was to start with, smoking and drinking? Never done it… What are my vices…? Licorice and root beer (I am the most boring person you will ever meet in your life). That’s it, all I have to do is cut back on the licorice and root beer and ride lots and the pounds will just come FLYING off!

Well it hasn’t quite worked out that way… Oh I have been losing a bit of weight – about a pound a week. I stopped standing on the scale a couple weeks ago because I was getting a little depressed about it. I tried to cheer myself with the delusion that I’m simple building muscle faster than I’m loosing fat… or something like that.

Anyway, there’s NO WAY I was going to live on three protein shakes a day like mike did to shave off the next thirty or forty pounds. I was loath to even have to start counting calories or weight watchers points. I did have a look at what I eat this past week and I have to admit I eat HUGE breakfasts. Like a massive bowl of cold cereal with soy milk – it’s usually some sort of Organic Nature’s Path whole cereal… but as often as not I also mix in some Nature’s Path organic kiddies cereals (Koala Krip – crispy rice with cocoa and sugar… or Leaping Lemur’s – chocolate and peanut butter flavoured organic corn puffs…) or if we’re out of cereal or milk I’ll have, like, four to six pieces of toast with heaps of peanut butter and jam…. Breakfast: it’s the most important meal of the day, right? Oh and from time to time I make a big batch of pancakes sure it’s all organic and I mix in tofu – but let’s face it pancakes are just a vehicle for the consumption of maple syrup… lots and lots of maple syrup…

So I replaced the traditional massive breakfast with two apples and a banana and tried to cut back on the between meal snacking…. And bippity-bam, at the end of a week, Tim’s under 200lbs! BOO-YAH!

I’m not sure about what to do next week. I’ve been having a hard time getting up earlier in the morning with it staying darker later and I really need to work some mountain biking into the “training schedule”. Some “specificity”. Say that five times, fast!

Here’s how the week went:

Date: Monday, 4 August 2008
“Rest Day”. Really, I don’t think I went anywhere today…. Might have been working on Der Übersandbox…

Date: Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Another “Rest Day” – spent most of the day waiting around for sand to arrive. Then I spent the evening shifting 10cubic yards of wet sand from my back lane into the yard… I did nip out in the morning up to Long and McQuade and bought a violin…. ~20km?

Date: Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Yet another “Rest Day”. I did roll over to Broadway and haul $500 worth of groceries home… 5km

Date: Thursday, 7 August 2008
Yet another “Rest Day” – I did take the kids out to the zoo and then rode over and bought another violin for Finnegan, then rode to the Safeway at the “Centre at Circle and 8th”, then to broadway to pick up some laundry soap I had left behind… probably 30+km hauling kids, groceries, etc…

Date: Friday, 8 August 2008
Time: 2:31:12
Distance: 61.29km
Average Speed: 24.32kph
Temp: 31°C
Wind: SE 22kph, gusting to 33kph
Conditions: blazing sun
Notes: A ride in the late morning/early afternoon. Damn it was hot.

I fixed the 1FG today (which has been out of commission for a year now… sad…).

Date: Saturday, 9 August 2008
Time: 2:53:20
Distance: 71.78km
Average Speed: 24.84kph
Temp: 20°C
Wind: SE15kph
Conditions: Cloudy – Light rain
Notes:
The forecast, when I woke up, of “A few showers with thunderstorms ending this morning then clearing. Wind becoming southeast 30 km/h early this morning…” concerned me a little… But it turned out to be a great ride. I only got lightly sprinkled on as I reentered the city and saw no signs of thunderstorms in any direction (with their un-fun lightening and hail…).

I also rode out to Sutherland to do a presentation on bicycle maintenance and safety to the Sierra Youth Coalitions’ “Youth Action Gathering”. Another ~20km.


Date: Sunday, 10 August 2008
Time: 3:59:07
Distance: 100.73km
Average Speed: 25.27kph
Temp: 17°C
Wind: SE 13kph
Conditions: cloudy - sunny
Notes: Once again when I got up the Environment Canada conditions and forecast read:
Thunderstorm with Rain!!? (that’s what said when I got up…) Cloudy with sunny periods. 30 percent chance of showers early this morning and 70 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm. Wind southeast 20 km/h becoming light this morning. High 28. UV index 6 or high.

When I got outside it didn’t look like it had rained at all, and while it was a bit cloudy directly overhead when I started, it was clear skies to the southwest… by about an hour into the ride the sun was out and I had clear skies overhead the rest of the trip. Not one drop of rain…

WEEK ELEVEN

Date: Monday, 28 July 2008
“Rest Day”… during which I took Finnegan to gymnastics (10km) and then hauled both kids over to Broadway (~5km).

Date: Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Time: ~1.5 hours
Distance: ~15km
Notes: I organized a little evening ‘Cross get together to start practicing some “mad ‘cross skillz”… well maybe it’s not approaching THAT fast… but when you’re as out of shape and out as practice you need all the help you can get! I also set it up to teach Amanda and a couple of friends some ‘cross basics. This evening Ryan and Amanda showed up and we practiced some mounts and dismounts, bike carrying and run-ups in Rotary Park.

Ryan had to split so Amanda and I rode out to Diefenbaker Park via the tails along the river, up the hill and them back home. Damn I was hurting! My crotch hurt – not from landing on the junk or anything, just from hyper-stretching groin muscles that aren’t used to be hyper stretched! Ow….

Earlier in the day I hauled both kids over to the apartment where my folks are staying near Broadway. I dropped off Keira and hauled Finnegan over to gymnastics. After gymnastics I took Finnegan back to my folks, then rode all the way up to the north end to drop off the violin I had rented for Finnegan and look at one for myself. Back to the folks to pick up the kiddies and haul them home….(easily 30-40km).

Date: Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Time: 1:14:57
Distance: 18.82km
Notes: Another evening ‘Cross get together. Two others that promised to show up bailed so it was just Amanda, Ryan and I again.

Amanda ate it HARD. We were doing run ups just north of the tennis courts by the Traffic/Victoria bridge and then riding back down from just a bit further up the hill towards the Broadway bridge, circle around and run-up again…. Amanda’s not so used to riding off-road these days, let alone on a drop-bar ‘cross bike, let alone doing steep descents on the drops… she did a spectacular looking arse-over-teakettle tumble down the hill and I had to do some bike-ninja dodging maneuverage to avoid rolling over her head, as I had been right behind her as she want down.

He poor arm is one solid bruise from wrist to her neck and covered in scrapes! OI! So, she rode home but told me and Ryan to carry on without her… so we did…

Ryan and I rode out to Diefenbaker and rode up the hill, then set up a little circuit and rode around it three times then called it a night… It would be fun if we had an even number of people out (greater than four) to do that circuit as a relay – just give’er around the circuit then rest a minute while partner rips around… gosh that’s be almost like “high intensity interval” work-out-type stuff…

Earlier in the day I took Finnegan to gymnastics (10Km)

Date: Thursday, 31 July 2008
Another “Rest Day” which involved me hauling Finnegan to gymnastics (10Km) and then out on a shopping expedition to acquire more storage containers, among other things (15Km).

Date: Friday, 1 August 2008
Another “Rest Day”… sent the morning doing laundry and chasing around after Keira and the puppy while Amanda got to take Finnegan to gymnastics, then spent the afternoon woeking on the übersandbox.

Date: Saturday, 2 August 2008
Another “Rest Day”. I worked on the übersandbox some more then went on another shopping expedition (~10km)… I could have gone for a morning ride but stayed up way too late watching a movie and then my new “Solutions for Cyclocross” DVD…

Date: Sunday, 3 August 2008
Time: 4:17:19
Distance: 100.05 km
Average Speed: 23.33kph
Temp: 13-19°C
Wind: shifty ~W24kph gusting to 41kph
Conditions: Mostly clear and sunny, clouding over in the last hour.
Notes: Nice day for a ride. Not to hot, wind strong enough to evaporate sweat and keep me plenty cool. Unfortunately the wind was strong enough to make cycling into it suck and cycling across it not-so-fun either….

I took a new route today. Instead of turning and heading toward Delisle, I carried a bit further along Highway 60 and turned off onto “O’Mally Road” (I think that’s what it’s called…) heading further south. Nice ride. Minimal traffic. Different scenery. Unfortunately the pavement ends 47km from my house so on the way back I had to turn up highway 672 for a bit (just up and over the hill) to make up the difference. (Because I couldn’t go out for a 100km ride and not ride at least 100km, you know!)

This next week Amanda has off so I should get out for some decent morning rides - while I still have early morning light! - and not have to worry about getting back in time for her to get to work!