Planned route for 3.12.07

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=764058

Great article on food & nutrition

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1170910800&en=06ba851f35f7fdf3&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Need Booties

Today was deceptively cold, and I paid a bit of a price. I wanted a relatively flat route, and wanted to explore west of here, trying to figure out good roads that connect to the many routes that I ride with Joe. I loved the route, but I'll save it for a warmer day or until I get some booties and some warmer gloves. It was really cold out there.

The gmap-pedometer link below says it was 38+ miles, but my bike computer logged it as 39.66. I stopped at the Stewarts on Route 20 in Duanesburg and the one in Altamont. Just sitting and warming up for 10 minutes made a big difference. It took me until I got home to realize that the reason my feet didn't feel cold was because they had become quite frostbitten. Now I'm sitting here enjoying that deep down itchy feeling that only comes with frostbitten feet. Nice.

I rode today with my new heart monitor. Nice gadget, but I came to hate it pretty quickly, since just riding at an easy pace within the first 2 miles put me over my limit. I guess riding more could help that :).

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=607314

39.66
2:52:18

Capital District Mountain Biking Calendar on line

The mountain biking wing of the local cycling club has created a Web site with a calender of local mountain bike rides.

Too busy to ride.

but I'm proud of my kids! Between it getting dark too early and my son getting his black belt and both kids performing in Revels at Emma Willard School I simply haven't been keeping up. It's pathetic, but I think it's time to get going again. I have three weeks off starting on Friday, so it's time to get back in action. I can't blame the weather, so it's all on me

Squirrely Six results are in and I feel great about my results. I came in 14 seconds behind "unknown runner" and was 32nd out of a field of 104. That's better than any open class bike race I've ever done by a longshot!

Squirrely Six

Ran the Squirrely Six this morning. I was a lot warmer than I expected to be, with temperatures soaring into the low 40s :-). Seriously, I peeled off my jacket before the race, and probably could have been comfortable in a thinner shirt. At lease one guy ran it in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
I ran the first mile fast because I had fresh shoes waiting for me at the end of a very wet and muddy section at the start of the race. Probably 20-30 people passed me while I was changing my shoes, but I didn't think that was of much consequence. I caught a few of those people, but for the most part ended up running the race with the same 5 people around me. The hills were harder than I thought they would be, but my strategy of taking easy on the hills and putting out a big effort at the top really seemed to work.
When I reached the top and got onto the flat along Beaver Creek Road, I could just see the last of the five I had been with through the race. I caught them all along the flat, and also passed one woman who had passed me on the uphill.
I felt great about the downhill section, and took the "lead" among the five.
The bottom stretch - final mile - was tough. I was running, but not fast. I think I psyched myself out. I took an inventory of how I was feeling, and was fine. My breathing was steady, my legs felt really good, and so I pushed it a bit. Then we hit the last muddy/wet section at the end and I just lost heart. All those little climbs and the cold/heavy feet. Before I knew it, the end was, well, there. You couldn't see it from far off. Just came around a corner and that was it. Too bad. The "sprint" at the end was too short to catch anyone. I feel like I left something on the course because of that last little bit.
The last time I saw before crossing the line was 56:56. I'll have to look up my official finish time.
I stuck around and saw Heidi (my office mate at work) and Erica (her friend who used to work with me at Emma Willard), who were dressed up as Candy Corn and Indian Candy. Then a big surprise came around the corner - the father of a former student of mine who was doing the full half marathon. I took off to run with him, and looked back over my shoulder to see Joe's wife Elizabeth arrive. I gave her a shout, then ran off with Gary. He ran 12 miles up to Thatcher park before the race. Wild. He wanted to get 25 miles in for the day. He runs 40 mile endurance races.
Liz, Heidi, Erica and I hung around a bit. Got warm (actually, I got a lot colder), ate some food then hung to see Joefinish. He came in with a group of three and looked strong and steady at the finish.
So it was cold, wet and I'll probably be sick for a week now, but I had fun. I don't know if I'll be doing any of these "first night" runs. I'm actually looking forward to getting on the eliptical trainer and treadmill indoors where it's warm.

532 Madison Ave

Well, this was most unexpected.
I left my keys in the car after last night's run, so when my wife took the car to work I was left with a car, but no keys. Not good. I fretted for a bit, then put on some layers of clothing and hopped on the road bike. Not my best ride, but the tailwind made the first half of the ride pretty easy. By the time I got to Troy and had to ride up the hill my legs were feeling pretty heavy.
I think the last few times I rode to work it was 1:30. I lost quite a bit of time on the bike path feeling listless and unable to push the pace with the wind at my side.

Ah, so the title of this post? That's where I was when I hit my 1000th mile. That's 1000 miles since I bought the cycle computer in February. It's been a good 1000 miles!

Route map
24.86
1:37:11

Thatcher

So I ran with a belly full of burritos this evening with Joe. What a terrible run. Ugh. My gut felt bloated the whole run, and by the time we hit the top my legs were heavy and slow. I guess I'll eat better on Saturday night before the Squirrely Six race.
The course is cool. There's a 1 mile flat terrain run before you hit the big climb. The climb isn't the steady Long Path road that I thought it would be. The climb takes you up the steep, technical portions that I usually ride down. The nice thing about this is that you don't have the climb the whole thing at once. You climb a steep burst, then it's flat for a bit. The bad thing is that those steep portions are quite steep.
After the run I hopped on my mountain bike and followed Joe along while he did Hairy Gorilla portion of the race. I've ridden out there before but never seen the conditions so bad. Mud and standing water everywhere. I could barely move. Wish I had ditched the bike and run again.
I hope this is the bad dress rehearsal before the performance. One more run this week, and maybe a 1 mile job on Saturday and that's it. Wish me luck (I'm going to need it).