New shoes aren't making me faster

A week or so ago, I got a new pair of running shoes. I have been just trying on shoes and going with whatever feels good. I now have 3 pairs I can rotate. Brooks Trance, Nike Air (yellow and black Lance Armstrong model) and now a pair of Nike Air Triax 10 (Bowerman editions). I must admit that after using Brooks for my last 2 pairs and then switching back to Nike I was a little worried but I will tell you what, the Nike (both pairs) have more fore front cushioning and I really am liking them. I have been trying to get myself motivated to work out more. (I think I'm losing the battle sometimes) It's hard to work 10 hours and then know that you will have enough time to get home, spend a half hour or so getting things in order, spending 2 hours working out, another half hour getting cooled off and changing, an hour preparing food and eating it, a half hour on the computer and then it's 9:30PM. Now take care of whatever else needs doing (dishwasher empty, pick up stuff, call my mom or whatever) and it does not help that the kids totally trash the kitchen every day, then its time to get 8 hours sleep. I know it is going to be like this for a while now so I need to mentally deal with it. Especially when it gets into summer and we start doing the Tuesday tri work out that usually goes from 5-9.

Got out and ran another 8.6 miles tonight. I wanted to do 10 but I miscalculated my run and when I got home, I already threw in the towel and decided not to run the other mile and some change. Probably should have. I suppose I should try to toughen up like that. I can talk myself out of anything lately. My run time wasn't as good as my 8.5 miler I did a week ago.





But it still was 8.6 miles no matter how you slice it and I ran them all.

Almost here

Not talking about a marathon, or a triathlon, or a century or anything that involves timing chips, bike helmets, or running shoes.
First weekend in May is all about

Stream trout fishing in the not so secret spot. I have not gone in the past couple years. Too busy doing other things. My son was devastated. So I am going to go this year and even if the weather sucks, we are fishing. Stream trout fishing is probably one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things I get to do.
It's my turn to catch the big one this year too. All of my other friends have caught trout big enough to have mounted, except me. Maybe I just need to be more sneaky.

If I can't catch the big one..I hope he does.

Going Crazy

We had a pretty normal week around here. I did the 9 mile run and then rested for the rest of the week. Weather problems again here. Power rain and thunderstorms Thursday and Friday both. Friday J Wim had a serious PC problem. She had been getting the blue screen Windows error for the last couple weeks and I backed up all her data last Saturday just in case. Well just in case happened. When the PC rebooted, it had some major windows error and it lost all her profile and data. F. I did what I could and got it limping along. Did some laptop window shopping just in case.

Saturday we got up at 6 and the wind was whipping so hard the dogs were struggling to walk around the yard. We were supposed to go run the Crazylegs classic 8K but I didn't want to. It was 40 degrees out too. That sucks.

But we paid and I needed a run and it was fun last year and blah blah blah. Got my stuff together ( including cold weather gear) and drove to the U Dub campus. There we parked in a free lot by Camp Randall Stadium and took a shuttle to the Capital Square.








I wasn't really all that happy. Just smiling for the camera. Got off the bus and the wind was fierce. We double timed it into the capital building. We weren't the only ones.




I knew from experience that the 10AM start (we were in the 31st wave) meant about a 10:40 start for us. J Wim made me compromise to go outside at 10. We huddled around a bunch of other fools who were freezing and I couldn't figure out which way the wind was blowing so we kept standing around and I kept directing us to spots that I thought were out of the wind but really were extra windy. Nice. Finally we got close. A bunch of U dub athletes greeted us. Greg Stiemsma and a few football players. We took off and I started to warm up. J Wim started walking at the first mile and I kept going. I thought I was moving a lot faster than I really was.



Graphs and charts don't lie. That hill at mile 1 was rough. It goes up 13 stories or so in about 100 yards. Either way I struggled but kept running. I was hoping for a lot better time than that. But whatever. I guess I'm not pushing myself. I felt pretty good and I could have kept going. I took a picture around the stadium.




I also was there for Jens finish.


We were supposed to meet up with some other people but didn't find them. They are all fast and were probably done eating and slamming the free Bud Light. Yep Free Bud Light until 12:45PM. So if you were in the first wave at 10 and got to the finish line about 10:45, you could chug 2 hours for free. And there were people that were.

I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't judge I was going so slow. The wind was blowing me around some but I still should have been good. I guess I need to figure out how to get back to where I was 6 months ago. I ran this run in 54 mins last year and I felt like I could have run it in less than 50 no problem. I'll get it figured out.

Country Road Run

Weather could not be better. 75 and Sunny (was windy though) and after I got home at 5:30 I took off on a run. Decided to run a different route than usual. Check out this perfect rectangle.





The elevation sucked bad. I should have known it was going to be hilly because this is part of the normal bike route. Oh well. I kept the legs going for about 8.5 miles and kept the average pace under 12 min miles even with the hills so I was pretty happy.
Let's see how the legs feel tomorrow.

Heres a quck rant. WHAT THE HELL IS BIFIDUS REGULARIS? (excuse the bad word) It's in the yogurt that makes you poop.
Every time I see that commercial I yell "WHAT THE HELL IS BIFIDUS REGULARIS" (once again excuse the bad word) I think it's fake.

Mike on Bike

Weekend was great. I didn't get the 7 mile run in I wanted to but I'm blaming the weatherman. Bastard. Supposed to have off and on rain Saturday and it did not rain a drop until after I washed the car and then only enough to make me pissed. I was a little sore in the quads from all the running too.
A buddy who shall remain nameless and works for a heating and A/C company stopped over on Saturday and gave my air conditioner a tune up. Even though the house is only 3 years old, the air con never worked worth a crap last year. It worked but I always thought it should work better. Upon further inspection, the coils outside were packed with dirt. I mean packed. With all the road construction and school construction going on and the air conditioning running, it packed the coils with dirt. He said it was bad and that I should for sure notice a big difference.
Then I took the Matrix to get an oil change and car wash. SWEET. Watched the movie "Juno" Friday night. It was a lot like Napoleon Dynamite. I liked it. Especially about the receptionists boyfriend's junk smelling like pie. I had a permagrin the whole movie. Watched "Lions into Lambs" last night. It was pretty good too. Kind of strange but the movie kept my attention the whole time.
I must be getting really seasoned (I don't like to think of myself as getting old) because I can't freakin sleep past 7AM anymore. I tried Saturday morning but got up at 6:30. This morning 7. I try hard to sleep too but just can't. Early to bed, early to rise or something like that.
Today was almost 80 and not a cloud in the sky or any wind. Perfect. While I was up early, I got my bike tires pumped up, filled 2 water bottles, got my stuff together and waited for the wife (who by the way, can sleep until noon if she wanted to-she has no worries on ever waking up early) to wake up. Surfed the net, ate some Cheerios (those things are great) and then FINALLY she got up. We got everything together and took off. I finally took the time to set up my Garmin so it splits every 2 miles on the bike and gives me a 30 minute timer and every 5 miles it beeps. It felt good to bike. I think the running has really started to get the legs in shape because I powered up every hill (except for 1 that really sucks straight up on Smythe School Road and I didn't have to walk but I was in the granny giving it all I had). We did 35 miles. Did not have a great MPH average but I wasn't really trying to. Just trying to get the miles on right now. I was pretty happy with how much better my bike fitness was than the last ride. I'd like to see 5o mile ride within the next couple weeks and this will be the summer of the century for me. Up to this point I've only ridden about 70 miles in one shot. I also plan on doing some "time trials" on a 25 mile course I have. I might even do 2 loops the closer I get to my first half iron. I am very curious to see how I will hold up giving A effort and actually trying to go fast and not just riding hard.
Someone ask my wife about the Day Lillies we saw on the ride today too. Or maybe they were THE FLAGS THAT MARK UNDERGROUND WIRES, or maybe not.
Got done and went to get the youngest some new waders and a new fishing vest. (Trout Season starts first weekend in May and he has been killing me over it because we have not gone the last couple years because I did some event on that weekend). Got a new fishing net for him too.
Got home and bought a new de-thatcher that hooks to the riding lawnmower. Got the yard done today too. Whew, I'm tired an it's going to be a 50 hour work week and the Crazylegs Classic is Saturday so I'm going to bed. Pretty sure I'll be up before the alarm goes off. Getting pretty seasoned.

Just keep the legs going

Well after the run to the river to check out the flooding, I decided to keep the running trend going. Did 7.2 miles Monday , 4 miles Tuesday, took Wednesday off (we had 40 mph winds and it was hard to even walk outside) and got crickets for the lizards to eat, pig snout treats for the dogs, and cooked turkey burgers out on the grill (first cookout of the year) and spent some time with the family. Tonight the weather was sweet. A little breezy but temps were in the 60's so I had to run. Got another 6.5 miles in tonight. So with the 6.5 miles I did Sunday I got 24 miles in for the week so far. I am taking tomorrow off. I can tell that I have been pushing my legs. My quads were aching. They really did not want to move tonight. I had to keep telling myself to keep the legs moving. Just keep the legs moving. I am still moving very slowly but the endurance seems to be coming back a little by little. I forgot how much I like to run. I am getting so I can't wait for 5 to be done with work and get home and get changed and GO. Ipod cranking, Garmin recording, and with the good weather...man it's awesome. So if I can get 6 miles in on Saturday, I should break 30 miles this week. Probably too much considering how little I have run in previous weeks but hey, as long as I take it easy and don't get hurt, I should be good.
Signed up for the Crazylegs Classic next weekend. It is an 8K. J-Wim and I ran together last year and did under 11 min miles for the whole thing. As out of running shape as I am (plus the extra few butt cheeks I put on over the winter) I am not going to expect anything but finishing. I had hoped last year to be able to do about 42 minutes this year but that ain't happening. In fact I just hope to break an hour.
I think the marathon training is going pretty good for me. If I can keep up about 25 miles per week (at least) with a 10, 13, 15, and 18 mile long run progressing each week over the next month and I think I should be able to do it. I am kind of excited. To go from a 400 pound non exerciser to a marathon is pretty cool.

Work is crazy. We have been really busy and I have been working almost 50 hours per week. I like the money so I'm not complaining. Once the weather gets nicer, I plan to ride my bike to and from work. I know that might mean giving up a little run time after work, but it will be nice to bike to work. Gas is getting a bit ridiculous.

Hoping to get a 30-40 mile bike ride on Sunday with a small run. Saturday is supposed to have off and on rain but I'd still like to get a run in.

I got the runs

Ran last night 6.33 lollygagging miles. Went down to the river to see the flooding. It was pretty bad. People who build right next to a river on the exact same elevation are asking for flooding in my opinion and these people got it. I guess some years there are droughts and it does not flood but not in years with record snow and already a lot of rain. I thought the run part was pretty easy and I was feeling pretty good about myself but we were walking a lot and I guess that's why.

Ran tonight the same course only added about another mile. It was hard. No lollygagging and all running. My legs were burning a lot of the time but I just decided I would tell them to shut up and at one point I even ran back down a small hill and went back up just to make them hurt more. No real amazing times in fact they were down right slow. I hope to be back where I was last year but right now I am about as slow as I have ever been. I need to watch my food intake more and find 2 hours to run every night. Easier said than done. I figure 4 miles tomorrow, 6 miles on Wednesday, swim on Thursday, off on Friday, 5 miles Saturday, bike on Sunday. That should give me 28 run miles for the week. Then maybe next week I get at least a 10 miler in and shoot for over 30 run miles for the week. Weather is warming up too so that makes it better. My plan is to get up to around 40 miles per week for the couple weeks prior to the marathon with at least an 18 mile run in there per week. Then I say I should be o.k. to go 26.2 on May 24. If not I guess I do some walking. I will say this. 26.2 does not scare me as much as it used to. Maybe I lack respect for it. That could be dangerous. After all I lacked respect for the swim at one point too and learned my lesson on that. We'll see. My run fitness isn't as bad as I thought it was. I'm just slower. Still can keep the legs moving and that is really what it is all about.

My boy got into the Charter School so he starts tomorrow and should be able to get his last 3 credits done in about a month which means we will be graduating on time and with the rest of the kids in his class. I'm very happy about that.

Hot tub time for me now, I feel some soreness coming on.

Much adu about nothin

Well we had the one nice day last Saturday and the weather from that point on has sucked. We have had a TON of rain/snow and cold. So much so that the Rock River is expected to crest Wednesday at it's 6th highest point ever. J-Wim and I are taking a run today and are going to try to get down by the river to get some pictures. I may post later depending.


I will give you some updates on a couple fronts:


Training-Nothing. For what it's worth I have no excuses. The weather has been awful for outdoor stuff (it was 35 and snowing yesterday). Plus I guess we have been focused on other things lately and it just hasn't worked out. Family first, training second. With me having to work 7:30-5 now I don't get home until a little after 5 and it has been tough to motivate myself to do anything. By the time I make sure the kids get fed, it's already after 6 and it has been too easy to sit down at the PC and watch the news and then it's 7. My bad. Weather is expected to change drastically. We are supposed to be sunny and 68 by Thursday. I do have a plan to return to 6 days a week of training so we shall see. Starting with today's run (if I still can run at all). I am hoping to get a lot of bike miles on this year starting with this week and hopefully this upcoming weekend.

Home front-The oldest had his interview for the charter school yesterday. It is basically a computerized, go as fast as you want to, program that will allow him to get the same diploma as the rest of the high schoolers. He will even be able to walk across the stage with the other kids. They told us if he gets in right away (they pull names from a hat and start there as slots open and there are 2 or 3 open right now with more expected in the next couple weeks) he should be done in a month. We will know Monday if he got in right away. He only needs 3 credits. Good news for sure. Really that has been our main focus lately is getting him his diploma and on to becoming a positive contributing member of society. It's funny hearing him talk about all these plans he has. Same stuff I remember thinking about. Hate to break the news to him but it more often that not don't turn out like that. I seem to remember dreaming the same dreams. My dreams mostly came true except for the hot rod and Harley and those may be coming. Just kidding Jen..

The other boy has been making us suffer. Knock on bedroom door at 6..Kyle can't pick me up to get to school to lift weights..o.k. I'm up get your stuff. So I have had to take him a few times to school. Not many. I did tell him before if he was dedicated enough to get up and go, I would be dedicated to making sure he got there. He has been making progress driving too. I think he will do fine. He drives with us a couple times a week and he has gone a few times with drivers education. Only about 3 months until he can try for his license. Then I'm in car insurance hell. 2 male drivers in the house under 21 and most likely 4 cars to insure. Brought to you by the letter F. He has been doing o.k. at track for his first year. Both meets have been freezing. Winter coat, hat, gloves stand around for hours...hope he does the same for his kids someday becuase only then will he really appreciate how cold I was. He has been learning the form to properly throw the shot put and discus. He threw 31 feet in the last meet for JV, which was a major improvement from the last meet. Discus is harder.


I love the rapid shutter on the new camera. Works amazing.










And here Lucas's mommy giving him advice on how to wear his pants.
He has himself up to about 230+ right now which is right on track for 240+ for next football season.



Kid in the back ground with the black sweatshirt and white hat on is a kid I had when I was scoutmaster. Really nice kid. 6'2" about 300 pounds and was a great nose tackle on Parkers undefeated teams in 05-06. He was there to watch his freshman brother (also in the black sweatshirt standing next to guy in gray sweatshirt)


Ebay front-
Man I love ebay. Got some hot tub filters, new awesome shoes, bike stuff, and THE MOST AWESOME THING I EVER GOT ON EBAY-

Yep. Friday Nights Lights movie prop. This was actually in the movie. My son and I think this might be the greatest football movie ever made so this was totally sweet to find this jersey. It was listed funny, not as a jersey but as a movie prop. Got it for 25 bucks. It is going on his bedroom wall.

Go Mojo.

Also got my invisible fence repaired (submitted the bill to the city-we'll see how that goes) so no more dog in the road worries. She had lost a bit of respect for where our yard ended and with a little re training, we are now back in business. It's nice to be able to let them out and not worry about them taking off after birds or other dogs or to try to go meet new people.

Read what all you bloggers did for Duane. Amazing. He deserves it. He inspires a lot of people including me. That was pretty awesome. That bike is sweet. I'm sure someday I'll see it pass me. He needs a new name now too. Wildebeast doesn't seem to fit that bike. Nice job again.

Time seems to be flying by at an unbelievable rate. It seems like I have been working on this post for about 10 minutes but it has been more like an hour. Time to go do something more constructive.

Long drive

Friday my 18 year old son who left on spring break and never returned and quit high school only to say he would fill us in as more details became available, called and asked for me to wire some money to him so his friend could drive him the 300 miles to move back home. I did. Saturday came and my son never showed. He texted me to say mitigating circumstances and to expect him home Sunday. Saturday night he called to say he was sick of his friends crap and could I please come and get him Sunday as he was more than ready to come home and did not want to wait another week to see if he could get a ride. He sounded desperate.

Well you do what you know is right so this morning the Mrs. and I took off at 6AM and drove 300 miles to find a tired, and grubby boy and everything he owns in the world in a few back packs outside a run down apartment building. I could tell all the fun of being 18 and on your own has worn off. I drove 300 miles back returning at 4:30.

After eating and showering and the Mrs. doing all his laundry, we now have a new plan.

Get into the Charter School and get the high school diploma that he needs.
Get a job (somehow I sent him 150 bucks to get a ride home and I picked him up and he only had 25 bucks left)
Next time we move out, we do it the right way and with his parents helping him. And we don't move 300 miles away unless it's for a job and then we be sure we have transportation so that I don't have to drive 600 miles when he decided to move back home.

However, I'd drive 2000 miles non-stop to bail either of my kids out of trouble any day of the week. That's my job as a parent and that's how I roll.

Wife and I are going to sleep good tonight knowing both our sons are here, fed, clean and safe. Training got cancelled for today and I'm not fretting it one bit.

Now I know why carbon fiber bikes cost a lot

How does that joke go...Why is snowmobiling so expensive? Because it's worth it!!! Well turns out carbon fiber bikes are the same.

Took the Madone out for it's maiden voyage today. Nice out too. 60 and sunny but holy smokes what a wind. Probably 10-20 most of the time with some gusts that had to hit 25. Wasn't trying to set any speed records today. Just wanted to get a feel for the bike and try to avoid the hazards. Big pot holes, lots of gravel and sand on the road, and ROADKILLS everywhere. Did about 25 miles and really didn't put a whole lot of effort into it.

Here are a few things I noticed:

Pedaling. WAYYYYY smoother and more responsive that my old bike.
Shifting. Dura-Ace is the way to go. Shifting was right there and I had no problems getting into and out of the big ring.
Comfort. Huge increase in comfort from the old bike. I really feel good in the regular bike position and a lot more comfortable in the aero position. I am most impressed with difference in comfort between the 2 bikes.
I also felt like hill climbing was a lot easier on this bike. Seemed like with every crank, I moved farther up the hill and my momentum kept me going.
The amount of vibration soaked up by this bike was also a huge bonus. My hands and body didn't get vibrated to sleep on a few of the crappy roads like on my old bike.

I am very impressed with this bike. I can't believe the difference. It was easier to ride and way more comfortable. I really like my new bike shoes and my new Ultegra pedals. I didn't have any reason to think about my feet good or bad the whole time so I guess that's good.

3 years ago I would have thought only a dumb idiot would spend more than 100 bucks on a bike and only rich people buy bikes from a bike shop. Well I'm no idiot, I'm not rich, and my bike shoes cost more than 100 bucks.

I've come a long way on that subject.