I Survived!

Just barely though. I'll give more details on the trip later. Right now I'm taking a nap. I'm sore, tired and hungry. Plus, I've been cramped in a car for 7 hours. Sorry though, no pic's. I was too busy riding.

Cleveland Bound

I'm off to bed. Up and out the door at 5:30 in the morning. Pick up D at 5:45 and hit Terry's at 6. Hook up with my BGR bro's and we hit the road to Ray's. I'll be sure to take pic's and give a full report when I return.

Back In the Swing

Much better feeling today. Back in "The Dungeon" with Howie on Monday and again this morning. Better food in the belly and sticking to eating every 2-3 hours. I felt pretty good on the bike today too. Tomorrow I'll get a small run in just to get my blood moving. Friday and Saturday will be ALL DAY RIDEATHONS at Rays. My legs should be fresh. I'll just need to stay good and hydrated during the long car ride and stretch ever so often. I want my body to be cofortable so I'll be taking some Hammer Gel, Elete and Heed for the trip. That's what my body is used to so I want to stick with it.

Well, I'm at work so I better get out of here. I still need to do a little packing tonight and get some fish cooked for tomorrow.

"Sir, Step away from the Buffet"

That's what I finally had to tell myself. Not only did I have a lazy 2nd half last week, I also ate terrible. It all started Thursday night when I thought a couple pieces of pizza would be o.k. Normally they would have been, but what was to follow did me in. Friday I was lazy and got no workout in at all. Hell came to town on Saturday. Mexican Buffet at lunch followed up by a Chinese Buffet for dinner. That makes the score Buffets 2 Exercise 0. Sunday you ask......brunch buffet with Tiffany and a birthday party that afternoon (cake, meatballs, queso, etc). By Sunday night I was so depressed I couldn't stand myself.

Today it was back at it. I even went shopping to mkae sure I had some goods to eat. Tonight it's back at Howie's in "The Dungeon". Priority right now is getting 2 good runs and 2 rides in this week before we head to Ray's.

We Should Be Ashamed of Ourselves.....

Damn, that's a little too "close up" for me!

for spinning inside today, but at least we did something. Howie and I both had stuff to do so we needed to get some saddle time in early. We were convinced it would still be too cold, but we were wrong. An outside ride would have been the ticket with this weather. Now it's going to turn cold again and we'll have to ride inside. Oh well, I'll try and make up for it braving the cold with some runs over the next couple days.

I need to get off the bike for a day or two. Between 5 hours of urban on Sunday and 3.5 hours spinning the last two days, I need to mix it up a little. Plus, I just need to get some running miles under me. The Wildlife Prairie Park Trail Run 4 miler is April 29th and I have to make sure my running legs are up to it.

Red Bull is down with the race series as I suspected. They'll again be making their presence. Jocelyn is trying to hook us up for our Ray's trip too. Maybe a little Red Bull pizza party action at Ray's. I learned last year with Red Bull, always a mystery and when it's 4th and short, they don't punt, they get the first down. Should be interesting. Also all the other clubs in the series have agreed to have Hammer as part of the races, that makes them the official supplement of the I-74 Series.

Chilly Urban Through Bloomington-Normal

Is there a better place to start an urban than a skatepark?


Nice ride today with the KMBC boys today. It was a good time. Again, I almost bailed at the last minute and again I went and had a blast. Thanks to Bill, Craig, Andy, Paul and Will for a great time as usual. We rode pretty solid from 12:30-5:30 today and hit some nice skinnies and drops all over ISU and Illinois Weslyan. I'm getting ready for Rays and these urbans are just the ticket.

Looks like a night in the "Dungeon" tomorrow with Howie. That actually works out good. I was going to sneak a run in, but my joints will be a little tender tomorrow morning with all the landing and such today. I need to get to the store and stock up on some healthy grub too.

Tomorrow I meet with Jocelyn from Red Bull for the race series. Hopefully things go well. They came through huge last year, so I'm sure they'll knock it out of the park again this year.

Better Today

Wow, things have been slow and rough. I had that great run on Monday and my week hit the wall. I woke up Tuesday with a scratchy throat. Instead of doing everything I could to take care of it, I just let it be. I went to the hockey game Tuesday night and could feel my throat getting worse. I knew Wednesday morning would be a no-go, and it was. And that's how my week continued. I feel pretty good today, about like I felt on Tuesday morning. I have to be smart today now and eat right and rest. Working tonight won't help. Kind of a lost week, that really sucks!

If I feel up to it tomorrow I'm heading to Bloomington for an urban. I've never been there, so it should be a good time checking out the new stuff.

Newest sponsor to the I-74 Series............E-Caps & Hammer Nutrition! Coming through with swag bags, door prizes, product samples and banners. That is a sweet deal for us. Even sweeter when so many of us actually swear by the products.

I REALLY want to run or something. That's good. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.

Braving The Elements

My New Eyewear

That's what I did today. It was hard onme too. I just had a fantastic weekend including friends, beer, food, football and music for pretty much 4 days straight and I knew I would have to get back at it today. I spent last evening with a guy who puts on a 100 mile trail run and completed a Double Ironman last year and he ALWAYS runs outside. I thought, what the hell let's brave the cold and get after it.

I attempted to warm up and started my run and three minutes later I was cold, my lungs burned and my hat blew off. As I started back to pick it up, I almost quit. I put it back on and walked for about 20 yards cussing at myself and started back at it. I just started running to landmarks. Eventually I warmed up, the cold air quit burning my lungs and I found my "stride". When it was all said and done I had ran to Eden and back..a little over 4 miles if I'm not mistaken. It hurt and it sucked and I whined like a little girl, but I got it done and was happy about my effort at the end.

One mental note though. Now that my runs are increasing in length. I really need to fuel up before I start, even if it's just some gel. On my shorter, higher intensity 20 minute runs I'll still do on an empty stomach, but I can't do these 40+ minute runs with nothing in my furnace.

Thanks to Jeff for the heads up on the Tifosi eyewear. I love them. I went with the Kilo's. They worked great on my run this morning. I work days tomorrow-Thursday, so it will either be an hour on the trainer or a run for the next few days unless I get up earlier. PAMBA meeting tonight!

Simply Amazing

Some Goodies From The Show

Amazing......is the only way to describe the show last night. I have waited for 2 1/2 months for last night and it was more than worth the wait. As jacked as I was for the show, it would have been easy to fall short of the hype, but that didn't happen. They fully went above all expectations. The sound was amazing and they were a great bunch of guys. I am even more into them now than before. I was able to snag a shirt and the new CD. I also grabbed an earlier CD I didn't have yet.

Tomorrow is "back at it" day. This weekend has been a complte training meltdown in every aspect. I don't feel guilty though as I have had a great weekend. I am anxious to get going again tomorrow though and that is a good thing. I'd really like to ride outside, but we'll have to see the temps.

For Howie and Brett......Go Steelers!

A Look at My Job

My "Toys"

Obviously guns, ASPs and pepper spray aren't actually toys, but you get the idea. Those are my tools I have with me when I am working the streets at night. Maybe soon I'll actually get some pictures from some of the neighborhoods I work in. The other picture is just my desk. I share a large office with my two partners. The three of us are the Intensive Probation Supervision unit which basically means we have the more hardened criminals. Our program was originally designed as an alternative to prison. Call it their one last chance. I suppose that it still has that intention, but the people we work with has diversified. We may see a hardcore banger, then see a very sad drug addict or prostitute who is trying to clean up. We ed up wearing many has and changing our approach often depending on the client.

In addition, we are the county's Sex Offender Unit. Each of us have an independent caseload of sex offenders that we supervise. Lots of laws and new ones coming down the pipe all the time. The important thing is making sure that first and foremost, our people don't re-offend. A large portion of our duty though is keeping the clients legal due to so many law changes so fast. It's a lot to keep track of.

Enough of that. I'm on my long weekend. That means WBG and the Super Bowl. Somehwere in there will be some nice runs and/or rides along the way.

My Office.......See Shaums?

Windy!

That's how to describe todays ride with Howie. It was a nice ride though, about 1 3/4 hours. Distance wasn't good with the windy conditions, but any time in the saddle outside this time of year is time well spent. Plus when you ride in the questionable stuff it makes rides in good conditions that much better. There saying nicer temps tomorrow so maybe I'll sneak a run in outside tomorrow morning.

I'm still a little concerned at my weight coming off too fast. I was at 213 this morning, which is at least 5 pounds lighter than when I should be right now. My body will respond by an immediate shutdown and getting sick. I usually don't get much warning so I need to make sure I'm really listening to things and keeping track of how I feel.

I need to look at the shifting on the road bike. Today was the first real road ride since switching to the double and the bike wass't real consistent going from small to big. Shouldn't take much to get it in shape.