The Workout:
70 minutes jogging - base pace
Today I set off south from work, ran through Beaucatcher tunnel and up Beaucatcher mtn road. Near the top I thought I might be able to link up to the south side of the ridge by staying on the mall side of the mountain. following this logic, I headed down all the way to Kettering road. Not finding a way back up and over from there, I turned around and retraced my steps to the top of Beaucatcher Road. I ran under the bridge and hung a left up Windswept road which winds south along the ridge crest. Next, I dropped down into Raven's crest apartments and crossed over reservoir road to what used to be a trail system. Developers have cut muddy road beds all along that section of mountains so I took a tour of the new area. The red mud was deep and sticky after last night's snow but I didn't really mind. I finished up by crossing over the radio tower land, winding down the trail system north to McCormick stadium and heading back to work on roads. I forced myself to keep an easy pace so my heart rate would stay nice and low. The hills didn't really help that endeavor but all in all, it was a great run. It was 30 degrees outside and the front of my abdomen is just now regaining feeling :o).
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Mtn bike demo on Green's Lick
The Workout:
2 hrs of mountain biking
1400' up then down
I have been scouring ebay for 3 months searching high and low for a good deal on a full suspension mountain bike. Friday, Bethany convinced me to go down to a local bike shop and actually take one out for a spin. I grudgingly agreed, knowing that I would never pony up the dough on a brand new bike that met my requirements. Later on Saturday, I was on my way to get a haircut and noticed a little hole in the wall shop called Youngblood Cycling. I stopped in and perused their Gary Fisher line. The bike tech really talked up the 07’ and 08’ HiFi bikes. They boast 5” of travel both front and back and come loaded with disc brakes and shock lockout features. The shop owner let me take out their Demo for the weekend… for free. I was tied up Saturday but on Sunday I headed out to Bent Creek for an early morning ride on Green’s Lick.
The trail that climbs up to Green’s Lick takes you up in the mountains on burley single track about 1400 vertical feet over 5 or 6 mile. I really paid attention to how the bike climbed and purposefully rode over every root and rocky section on the way. To my surprise, the bike didn’t feel that much heavier than my old hardtail and no matter what I did, the rear tire maintained great traction. I rode up over some larger log obstacles and did a few tabletop jumps in the flatter sections. It took a little while to figure out how to balance myself over the bike on the obstacles but that probably had as much to do with my lower confidence level on a new rig and having not ridden for many moons. For being out of riding shape, I was psyched to make it up to Ingles Field Gap (the ¾ way point) without stopping. I rode in circles up on the gap for a few minutes to catch my breath and then continued up to the top of the Lick.
Now for the downhill... Green’s Lick is a 2 mile long trail that descends around 1000’ and resembles more of a winter luge course with jumps than a mountain bike trail. It is pretty smooth overall and many of the turns are banked about 4’ high so you can almost get horizontal zipping around corners. I am used to constantly steering my hardtail back tire around and in between the bumpy stuff so I don’t get my tail popped up in the air. I quickly realized that with the full suspension that wasn’t necessary. I pretty much just pointed the bike down the middle of the trail and hung on. It was ridiculous the things I could just float over. The immediate result was me going so fast I quite frankly scared myself. I had a few moments of uncontrollable ear to ear grinning but for the most part I was just shocked about being on way more capable a machine than I am a rider.
When I got home, Bethany knew right away how things stood just from looking at my expression. She muttered something about a kid in a candy store and went and got out the credit card. Today I went to take the bike back and pick out my new steed. The demo had been a Hifi Deluxe that came with a slightly higher end fork and Hydraulic disc brakes. I was psyched to see they had a standard Hifi in an 07’ model on sale for $600 cheaper than the 08’ deluxe. It has slightly heavier tires, mechanical disc brakes and a different brand fork but it is still plenty of bike for my needs.
I can’t wait to give it the virgin ride this weekend!
2 hrs of mountain biking
1400' up then down
I have been scouring ebay for 3 months searching high and low for a good deal on a full suspension mountain bike. Friday, Bethany convinced me to go down to a local bike shop and actually take one out for a spin. I grudgingly agreed, knowing that I would never pony up the dough on a brand new bike that met my requirements. Later on Saturday, I was on my way to get a haircut and noticed a little hole in the wall shop called Youngblood Cycling. I stopped in and perused their Gary Fisher line. The bike tech really talked up the 07’ and 08’ HiFi bikes. They boast 5” of travel both front and back and come loaded with disc brakes and shock lockout features. The shop owner let me take out their Demo for the weekend… for free. I was tied up Saturday but on Sunday I headed out to Bent Creek for an early morning ride on Green’s Lick.
The trail that climbs up to Green’s Lick takes you up in the mountains on burley single track about 1400 vertical feet over 5 or 6 mile. I really paid attention to how the bike climbed and purposefully rode over every root and rocky section on the way. To my surprise, the bike didn’t feel that much heavier than my old hardtail and no matter what I did, the rear tire maintained great traction. I rode up over some larger log obstacles and did a few tabletop jumps in the flatter sections. It took a little while to figure out how to balance myself over the bike on the obstacles but that probably had as much to do with my lower confidence level on a new rig and having not ridden for many moons. For being out of riding shape, I was psyched to make it up to Ingles Field Gap (the ¾ way point) without stopping. I rode in circles up on the gap for a few minutes to catch my breath and then continued up to the top of the Lick.
Now for the downhill... Green’s Lick is a 2 mile long trail that descends around 1000’ and resembles more of a winter luge course with jumps than a mountain bike trail. It is pretty smooth overall and many of the turns are banked about 4’ high so you can almost get horizontal zipping around corners. I am used to constantly steering my hardtail back tire around and in between the bumpy stuff so I don’t get my tail popped up in the air. I quickly realized that with the full suspension that wasn’t necessary. I pretty much just pointed the bike down the middle of the trail and hung on. It was ridiculous the things I could just float over. The immediate result was me going so fast I quite frankly scared myself. I had a few moments of uncontrollable ear to ear grinning but for the most part I was just shocked about being on way more capable a machine than I am a rider.
When I got home, Bethany knew right away how things stood just from looking at my expression. She muttered something about a kid in a candy store and went and got out the credit card. Today I went to take the bike back and pick out my new steed. The demo had been a Hifi Deluxe that came with a slightly higher end fork and Hydraulic disc brakes. I was psyched to see they had a standard Hifi in an 07’ model on sale for $600 cheaper than the 08’ deluxe. It has slightly heavier tires, mechanical disc brakes and a different brand fork but it is still plenty of bike for my needs.
I can’t wait to give it the virgin ride this weekend!
Cleveland Winter Run
The Workout:
65 minutes of running
4 hill repeats (1 minute per)
This weekend Bethany, Ellie and I flew up to Cleveland to see my grandparents. It was a big surprise for them and was the first time they met their first great grandchild. All of my Aunts and Uncles surprised me by showing up and hanging out for the weekend. Sunday while most folks were laying down to take a nap I decided to do the tour de lake erie. I ran around the neighborhood and across the river to the city of Riverwood. On my way back, I found a great hill from down in the river basin to up on top of the crossing bridge. I did 4 repeats on this hill which was very satisfying. When I got back to grandma's house, I still felt pretty good so I ran North a few blocks... smack into Lake Erie. I have been going up to visit them for over 29 years and never knew their house was just 8 blocks away from the lake. I made a quick jaunt down into a private beach community but was turned away by a manned security booth. Wearing running shorts in 21 degree weather got me some seriously funny looks. In my defense, I did have on a long sleeve underamour shirt gloves and a warm hat.
65 minutes of running
4 hill repeats (1 minute per)
This weekend Bethany, Ellie and I flew up to Cleveland to see my grandparents. It was a big surprise for them and was the first time they met their first great grandchild. All of my Aunts and Uncles surprised me by showing up and hanging out for the weekend. Sunday while most folks were laying down to take a nap I decided to do the tour de lake erie. I ran around the neighborhood and across the river to the city of Riverwood. On my way back, I found a great hill from down in the river basin to up on top of the crossing bridge. I did 4 repeats on this hill which was very satisfying. When I got back to grandma's house, I still felt pretty good so I ran North a few blocks... smack into Lake Erie. I have been going up to visit them for over 29 years and never knew their house was just 8 blocks away from the lake. I made a quick jaunt down into a private beach community but was turned away by a manned security booth. Wearing running shorts in 21 degree weather got me some seriously funny looks. In my defense, I did have on a long sleeve underamour shirt gloves and a warm hat.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Lunch Workout
LUNCH RUN & WORKOUT (warmup & 3 Laps on fitness trail)
The Workout:
1.0 mile jog
warmup at playground
15 decline pushups
20 situps
5 hanging double knee raises
10 pullups
0.5 mile jog
10 lat pulls & monkey climb
25 pushups
20 back flexes on block
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips
25 situps
10 lat pulls & monkey climb
25 pushups
20 side log lifts at block (left)
20 side log lifts at block (right)
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips
25 situps
10 pullups
25 pushups
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips (arm failure within inches of walk finish)
25 crunches
1.5 mile jog
The Workout:
1.0 mile jog
warmup at playground
15 decline pushups
20 situps
5 hanging double knee raises
10 pullups
0.5 mile jog
10 lat pulls & monkey climb
25 pushups
20 back flexes on block
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips
25 situps
10 lat pulls & monkey climb
25 pushups
20 side log lifts at block (left)
20 side log lifts at block (right)
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips
25 situps
10 pullups
25 pushups
dip bar walk with 5 intermittent dips (arm failure within inches of walk finish)
25 crunches
1.5 mile jog
HOME TO RICHMOND HILL AND BACK - 12 miles
HOME TO RICHMOND HILL AND BACK - 12 miles, 1hr 50 minutes
Saturday, 2-09-2008
The Workout:
~12 mile run, 1hr 50 minutes
Saturday I woke up early with a bee in my bonnet about going for a longer run. I took off with the plan of running over to the Disc golf course at Richmond Hill, round the course and back home. I figured about an 8 mile round trip was in order.
Google maps says 9.2 miles for the road portion and I'm estimating 3 miles to run the 18 holes and a bit extra for taking a somewhat creative way back home (I gambled on a shortcut that wasn't) so we'll call the run an even 12.
It was great getting out. My left knee started twinging about 45 minutes in. I didn't have a phone so I was screwed if ITB reared its ugly head and I had to walk all the way back to the barn. I frustratedly wondered why my knee never hurts on shorter jaunts when I'm running much harder. I speculated it had something to do with my form when going slower. I tested the waters by cranking up the speed a bit. BINGO, the pain immediately went away. As I slowed back to an easy jog, it annoyed me again. For the rest of the run I kept up a higher tempo. When ever I got tired and slowed I could feel my knee again and would speed back up.
It was like having a constant whip being cracked over my shoulders but I made it back home alright with no further problems. This week should tell me if that was a dumb decision or sound logic.
Saturday, 2-09-2008
The Workout:
~12 mile run, 1hr 50 minutes
Saturday I woke up early with a bee in my bonnet about going for a longer run. I took off with the plan of running over to the Disc golf course at Richmond Hill, round the course and back home. I figured about an 8 mile round trip was in order.
Google maps says 9.2 miles for the road portion and I'm estimating 3 miles to run the 18 holes and a bit extra for taking a somewhat creative way back home (I gambled on a shortcut that wasn't) so we'll call the run an even 12.
It was great getting out. My left knee started twinging about 45 minutes in. I didn't have a phone so I was screwed if ITB reared its ugly head and I had to walk all the way back to the barn. I frustratedly wondered why my knee never hurts on shorter jaunts when I'm running much harder. I speculated it had something to do with my form when going slower. I tested the waters by cranking up the speed a bit. BINGO, the pain immediately went away. As I slowed back to an easy jog, it annoyed me again. For the rest of the run I kept up a higher tempo. When ever I got tired and slowed I could feel my knee again and would speed back up.
It was like having a constant whip being cracked over my shoulders but I made it back home alright with no further problems. This week should tell me if that was a dumb decision or sound logic.
Lunch Workout
LUNCH RUN & WORKOUT 2-4-2008
(3 laps on fitness trail)
The Workout:
1.5 miles easy jog
10 lat pulls and pullup bar monkey climb
15 judo pushups
1 dip bar walk
25 crunches
10 lat pulls and pullup bar monkey climb
25 pushups
1 dip bar walk
25 situps
10 pullups
25 pushups
15 dips
25 situps
1.5 miles easy jog
I cut this one shy of what I perhaps could have done but I was quite pleased to have completed 3 laps of anything and still be able to make it back to town without being totally exhausted.
(3 laps on fitness trail)
The Workout:
1.5 miles easy jog
10 lat pulls and pullup bar monkey climb
15 judo pushups
1 dip bar walk
25 crunches
10 lat pulls and pullup bar monkey climb
25 pushups
1 dip bar walk
25 situps
10 pullups
25 pushups
15 dips
25 situps
1.5 miles easy jog
I cut this one shy of what I perhaps could have done but I was quite pleased to have completed 3 laps of anything and still be able to make it back to town without being totally exhausted.
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