"Rest" Week is Over

Yeah, last week was my rest week away from training. I still had plenty to do for the I74 Fest though that kepy me busy. I wouldn't have had time to get much running or riding in if I wanted to.

The Festival went down with some minor issues thanks to Mother Nature dumping rain on Saturday, canceling the MTNX and a mad dash at the DH to get everyone back safely. Sunday came around though with some sun and a breeze and made for some good racing. All in all, I'll call it a good weekend and a fine finish to the 2006 I-74 MTB Series. Now let 2007 planning begin.

I myself took a nice RIT ride yesterday to clear my head. I had initially planned for a couple hours but I was doing a lot of thinking and two hours just wouldn't do. I ended up riding the entire trail and back, 52 miles counting my detour in Wyoming. Today I'm taking off due to hanging with the Tiffster. I missed our 6 yr. anniversary on Sunday so I can take a day or two more off to spend with her. She gives up a lot during the season while I'm off putting on races and training for my own.

So the rest of the week will go down like this:
Wednesday-long run, maybe trail
Thursday-RIT ride
Friday-short easy run
Saturday-Zoo Run Run 5K, Tiff is doing the walk

18 days until the Farmdale Trail Run.

Charleston Challenge a Success

Well, I did it. The Charleston Challenge is in the books and I am very happy with my results. I was 5th in my age group out of 13 and 30th overall out of 68. My time was one hour, 34 minutes. Not too shabby in my opinion. At the end of the day, It made everything all worth it. Yeah, I've missed some trailcare days and a whole lot of time on my mountainbike and most importantly Tiffany has put up with it all. But I think she was even proud of me and knows how much it meant to me when it was all over.

I'm in the middle of taking some time off right now. My hip was really hurting me some last week so a few days off will be good. I've even endulged in some ribs, pizza and ice cream the last few days. That will all have to come to a halt soon because up next for me is......

The Farmdale Trail Run (8 mile version) on October 14th. I'm really looking forward to it and it will be a nice goal to keep me in the right frame of mind. That a little band called The Woodbox Gang will be in town for me to celebrate.

And the following weekend is the Milkman Century with my buddy Howie. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the season that was for both of us. Good friends, bikes, and a lot of memeories and looking back on the 2006 season. I'm sure the initial plans of 2007 will begin to take place during the ride too.

I'm Out!

Leavin' for Charleston.

Nice Race

Finally, a good race turnout this year. You can really tell that gas prices had dropped as we had 94 racers for the CORBA Mud, Sweat and Gears race. There was mighty fine racing to behold too. PAMBA was kickin' tail as usual winning the Novice and Expert fields and a strongly faught 2nd place in the Sport Class. Good showing from our guys all the way through.

Rain really screwed up my plans today. I should have hit the treadmill, but knowing I'll be doing intervals tomorrow and have a whole Winter of the treadmill coming up, I just couldn't do it. I really just wanted 30 minutes of easy running just to wake my legs up. I guess the intervals tomorrow will have to do the trick. That should be my last hard effort of the week. I'll start tapering down from here on and make sure I'm ready to go.

My mind really feels like it's getting focused now. I was beginning to wonder. I've been a bit more busy lately though than I was leading up to my last race. But now my confidence and focus are both getting better.

Last Brick.......7 Days Out

Well I just came back from what my last brick session prior to tha Charleston Challenge. Unfortunately I have no defifinitive answer on how I feel about things. I didn't feel bad, but I was hoping to feel a bit stronger, for sure. All I can do is be smart this week and see how it goes next weekend. This past week was just so hit and miss with my schedule and not feeling 100% that it made things a little tougher today. I'm confident the fitness is there, I just need to get myself feeling snappy again. the right fuel, smart workouts and good rest should have me exactly where I need to be.

I leave to day for Bllomington/Comlara park for race #6 of the I-74 Series tomorrow. Hopefully we miss the rain and things go smoothly. I'll try and dneak some riding in this afternoon as well. They're trails aren't super demanding, but they are a pretty fun ride.

Down to 12!

Days that is until the Charleston Challenge. Things are up and down for me right now. I had a nice brick on Saturday but unfortunately I was just a bit under the weather and the effort pushed me over the edge. I woke up Sunday not feeling too well and I'm still trying to get over it. I took today off and will try again tomorrow. I'm hitting the Nyquill/Daytime Tylenol pretty hard with hopes that as long as I'm resting hard, I'll get over it quickly. I have some fine tuning to get done this week and being sick doesn't help much.

I finally got a hitch on my Jeep yesterday which will help out in many ways with the club and my own travels. Unfortunately I took a shot to the head with a pipe in getting it. Oh well, that's what I get for gtting in Tony's way. Poor guuy pretty much gave up a whols Sunday to help me out on what should have been a 45 minute job. I guess a lump on the head was a small price to pay.