Flip-Flop

That's what I did with my workouts for today and tomorrow. The weather looked a little sketchy for today and my "running parts" were still a little tight so I thought the best medicine would be a nice even paced run. 40 minutes on the treadmill seemed to loosen things up a bit. The weather looks much better tomorrow so I should be able to get in a nice ride. We'll see how I feel, but a good 2 hr. ride would make me feel good. After tomorrow, my planned workouts and the weather forecast seem to match up nicely. I'm optomistic enough that I'm going to take my trainer tire off my bike and put my road tire back on....hopefully for good.

This Week's Plan

Weather could change things but the general plan is get two runs in and ride as much as possible. Temps look good for the week but those warmer temps can sometimes bring the rain with them. I'll be outside as much as possible, but any indoor stuff will probably be a run. I don't know if I can bear hooking up to that trainer. Hopefully Howie and I can hit the R. I. Trail sometime this week.

Monday-Ride (1.5 hrs.)

Tuesday-Run (40 minutes)

Wednesday-Ride (1.5 hrs.)

Thursday-Off

Friday-Run (40 minutes)

Saturday-Ride (2 hrs. min.)

I'll Take It........

My results to day, that is. I din't run quite the time I was looking for, but I was very close. I also was able to identify some things I need to improve on to make hitting those times easier. I was shooting for 26 minutes which would have put me at 8:22/mile. Unfortunately I was just over that at 26:32 and 8:32/mile. So, as you can see, I wasn't far off my mark.

The positive is that I found a couple things I can do to dramatically help myself out. Most importantly, I barely warmed up, if at all. I'm smarter than that, I just failed to do it. My second mistake I made was starting too far back. I gave myself no credit and then fought with slower traffic for the first half mile.

What have I done/did I do right? Well, I thought I fueled myself right all week long. I really made it a priority to eat good. I had a great race day routine as well. I was up and eating breakfast two hours before the race. I cut my coffee in half and I sipped on water with Elete all morning leading up to the start. I took one last leak 10 minutes before the start and was good 'til the end. As you can see from my last post, I had a schedule and stuck to it, aside from the warmup thing.

So, now we look at the Wildlife Prarie Park 4 miler in 5 weeks. I foresee longer runs and some trail runs in the future.

Final Prep

READY TO ROLL!

Just got my gear ready for tomorrow. Should be looking at a race time temp of 35 deg. A 10 mph breeze and maybe what's left of some snow flurries. Not exactly ideal, but I've ran in worse. Here's the schedule as I see it now:

6:30 a.m.-Get up, eat my oatmeal

7:15 a.m.-Leave for Peoria

7:45 a.m.-Register

7:50 a.m.-Start warmups, decide on gear

8:oo a.m.-Final decision on gear, continue warmups

8:20 a.m.-Last check, start to line

8:30 a.m.-Race is on!

8:56 a.m.-Hopefully I am crossing or have already crossed the line. (8:22 miles) Not bad for the first one out.

Slight Change In Plans

Nothing too major though. I really couldn't force myself into a spinning session today, so I did a 35 minute run instead. Tomorrow I still plan on getting a ride in outside, just 1.5-2 hrs' worth at a slower pace. Friday will still be a short run to keep my "running legs" fresh for Saturday. No blisters today, that's a good thing. I didn't feel quite as strong though, that's not a good thing.

This snow is bumming me out a little. The trails were just getting dry enough to ride. Now they have five inches of fast melting snow on them. I'm still not 100% ready for the trails anyway, so maybe it's a good thing. In the long run, they really needed this extra moisture.

Weekly Plan

This is my least favorite work week of my rotation. It just makes no sense and it's tougher to get in any flow for training. At any rate, the week ends with my first 5K of the year, the Eat 'Em Up 5K on the riverfront in Peoria. I just returned from the store so I have plenty of grub for good training fuel. Here's a rundown of the week to come:

Monday/days
35 minute treadmill run before work

Tuesday/Days
Off

Wednesday-2-10
Spin or ride up to 2 hours

Thursday/2-10
Spin or ride up to 2 hours

Friday/days
shorter run, 20 minutes

Saturday/off
5K in the morning

Maiden Voyage

My new shoes made for a sweet run today. I worked 'til 2 this morning so it was 10:30 or so before I got out. Once I did though it felt pretty good. I didn't do much, just 30 minutes out and back towards Eden. Not sure on distance, but probably in the 3.5 mile neighborhood.

I did get another blister, but a much smaller one about 1" away from my last one towards my toes. So, it looks like I'll be doing some sock research now. Until then I'll be investing in Moleskin and duct tape. Make no mistake though, the shoes were great. I felt much more stable in them.

If the weather is similar tomorrow I'll try and sneak in 30 miles or so on the bike before I go grocery shopping and possibly picking up an I-Pod.

I Love New Shoes.....

I'm an Adidas Whore!

I really do. It's a sickness of mine. I've been good about NOT getting crazy with my shoe purchases. These shoes were a necesity so I felt I (particularly my feet) was due some nice new running shoes. As I knew they would, Running Central hooked me up. I told him all about my running habits, what I've been running in, my recent blister problems and the recent arise of some joint pain. I also explained to him that my mileage is up also. And then I watched Bob work. He started pulling down shoes and stacking them up for me. He then went to the clearance rack and pulled down a box of Adidas. Bob said, "I have a hunch these are atually the perfect shoe for you and they are 50% off." We tried them on and he wathched me run outside. I loved them, he liked the looks of them it seemed like fate had brought us togeter. Bob knows shoes though and insisted I tried on the rest of the shoes he had picked out. As I tried each one, he would tell me what he saw, which happened to be exactly what I was to tell him about each one. It was agreed....the Adidas Calibrate was the shoe for me. Plus he kpt me in Adidas, and one look at my shoe collection will confirm that I am an Adidas fan. Shos originally retailed at $120, I got 'em for $43 after taxes, plus my registration into the Steamboat Classic just for buyin' shoes that originally were over $90.

Now I can't wait to get up tomorrow and run in them for the first time.

Now I'm Committed!

What.....No Clydesdale?!

Actually The 5K for next weekend does have a "Clyde" class, but not for the trail run. That's o.k. though. I just want to do the trail run. I've always wanted to do it and never been able to make it. I'm down though this year. My $$ and registration has been sent so I'm committed for sure. I need to let the show search begin now. I need a couple pair of solid shoes that will hold up. I'm leaning towards some New Balance motion control type. That or I'll stick with some Adidas Supernova Control or AdiStar Control. Maybe tomorrow I can spend the day shoe shopping.

I really need to step it up my training though. I've been pretty lazy this last week in my opinion and I've missed out on some great weather to get some good rides under my belt. If I'm going to do this Bi, then I need to stay focused and not get lazy about what I'm doing. Every week... 2 runs, 2 rides...no excuses.

Bad Timing.....

D'OH!!

Really...did I have to get a blister this week? I wish I knew what happened. I never get blisters. I've had my running shoes for a bit now and not one problem. For some reason today I put in a 30 minute run and end up with that thing (see above). Tomorrow is a rest day thankfully. I'll have to see what's up Thursday morning before I try another run. I can't figure it out though. Same shoes, same socks, hell...the same route and never a problem until today.

Aside from that though, not too bad. I felt like shit about 20 minutes in, but considering I did sip last week and was on the trainer last night, I wasn't too disapointed. Since I had a a Mexican dinner planned with Tiffster, I probably should have ran a little more, but it's all good. Anyone with blister tips/cures are encouraged to chime in here. Anything that can get me running again without making things worse I'll take.

Brake Over

That Video Must Be Good!

90 minutes on the trainer with Stauby and Howie. Yeah, not much, but it just felt good to be doing something again. Since last week was such a waste, I just needed some time in the saddle. The rest of the week looks like this:

Tuesday morning-30 minute run/work days
Wednesday-rest/work days
Thursday- 35-40 minute run/work days
Friday-2 hours on the bike outside if it's not raining/work late nights
Saturday-Helping Stauby move/work late nights

ALL runs will be outside from here on out as long as it isn't raining or bitterly cold. By mid-month, I'll need to start getting a few trail runs in. The Wildlife Prarie Park 4 miler is just 7 weeks away!

All Done!

Big Commuter Pimpin'

Well, I finally finished off the Nishiki. It is ready to rock too. I actually have some other pedals to pick up, but the flats will be fine for now. This will be the perfect bike to get to work on when I move into Peoria in May. I'm looking at some places about 7-10 blocks from work, so I can cancel my parking deck fee and save on gas too. I can get just about anywhere in town on this ride and it will ride nice on the Rock Island Trail too.

Tomorrow I have to get back into training mode. The last week has been a wash. I've ate terrible and haven't done one bit of running or riding. That will change tomorrow when I get back to "The Dungeon" with Howie and get back in the saddle. The first few days will be tough to get going again, but it will come. At least I have a fridge and cabinet full of healthy foods again. Another hard lesson learned......Do NOT put off grocery shopping. Without them I eat whatever is available and it kills me.

Went and saw the Woodbox Gang again last night in Springfield. They were killa as usual. Probably won't catch them again until May, but I may slip up to Chicago at the end of April to catch them. Totally forgot my camera or I'd have taken some pic's. I'm going to make it a point to keep it with me more. I miss to many good pic's.

Ray's Recap

Solid trip! Good friends, good rides and good times. Friday started off with the haul to Cleveland. No real stories to tell there except too many stops along the way. I was trying to be as healthy as possible for the weekend, but of course I left a cooler of PBJ's and Balance bars at home in my fridge.

As soon as we got to Cleveland we checked in and headed to Ray's. That first night I spent warming up and handling the bike again on the wood. I had some fun on the small drop and hitting some jumps. I really tried to spend some time riding skinnies. Deon was already hitting some big air that first night. The guy is amazing! We ended the night with some Mexican grub, a couple Great Lakes Beers and bed........exhausted!

Saturday morning started a bit peculiar when some guy attempted to O.D. outside of our room. Little did he know we were traveling with a fireman and a nurse. I honestly didn't care. It was an attention seeking move and the guy was a moron. Hell, he called the front desk to tell them he did it. No one really committed to the idea would do that. After a late breakfast we were back at Ray's. I had two goals...1)middle drop and 2) foam pit. I am happy to say that I got them both by the day's end. the foam pit was no sweat, but that middle drop took some encouragement from my buddies. Now I need to hit the big one next time!

Saturday night was spent recapping the weekend over some beers. The KMBC gang even came down for a few. We were up at 5 a.m. and on the road by 6 for the drive back on Sunday.

My training has suffered this week but I'm getting it back. It didn't help that I had out of town training both Monday and Tuesday so no riding or running and I ate terrible to boot. Now things can settle back down and get back on my schedule. I have my first 5K later this month so I need to get some solid runs in. I need to start getting some trail runs in as well for the Wildlife Prarie Park 4 Miler next month.