Share the Road

same day as previous post...

I'm riding up to a stop sign - I'm only 50 feet away - there is a car 50 feet behind me - I put my arm out signalling my left turn and begin to move to the left side of the lane - car fires the engine, jumps in the opposite lane to pass me - I move over so as not to get hit - car stops at stop sign - I ride up to driver window - window is down - young female driver - "Share the Road", I say in my stern-Dad-voice (I didn't realize I had one of these until one of my daughters pointed it out) - driver does not look up, but does look frightened - maybe she will be more careful next time.

SCREEETCH

That's always a scary sound to hear behind you when you're cruising on your bike down a country road. I was barreling down hill at 30+ mph and apparently a car decided to pass me (speed limit was 35mph). He/she apparently didn't expect to see a car coming in the opposite direction and probably didn't expect me to be going so darn fast!

Well, I didn't crap myself... but I did have a lot of thoughts run through my mind in rapid fire...
- what the???
- oh shit!
- here it comes!
- I'm still alive
- don't jerk around and look - I may swerve into the car or run into the grass!
- stay in control
- end of screetch - sounds like he stopped
- why isn't he passing?
- what is he doing back there?
- everything under control... time to take a peek
- dumb ass - why the hell is he way over in the other lane
- what just happened?
- should I be doing something different?
...yada yada

Building a fire

"I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just
the right moment, I light the match." -- Mia Hamm, Olympic gold
medalist, 2004 U.S. Women's Soccer Team

a few ideas

So how do I become a faster runner?

I decided recently that I used to be a much 'stronger' runner when I was doing a lot of push ups. So, I'm going to start doing daily push ups - 40 for now, working up to maybe 4 sets of 50 every other day. I want to combine this with plank exercises and big ball sit ups. I'd like to really get a strong core.

I'm also starting to do pull ups. Started with 6, am up to 10. I always seem to forget to do them - it only takes less than a minute - if I remember.

I've got to stretch ALL THE TIME. I'm getting old. My muscles just want to get tighter every day. It is waay easy to pull something. Stretch.

=========================

Goals for my next race season...
- Drink Less - I drink way too much fluid on the bike or the run. I've got to get a handle on this. On these long, hard efforts, my digestive system starts to shut down and can't take as much... so I either slow down... train with a lot more fluid... or drink less.

- Block out the Sun - My reality is that my body does not do well with sun exposure. One would think that all the time I train in the sun, I would get used to it - NOT TRUE. Kona tropical sun KILLED me. Lake Placid (due to eye injury - I had to stay indoors for weeks before the race and the sun KILLED me. Even my most recent marathon - Big Sur - I got fried. I can either wear long sleeve white (there was a pro in Kona doing this), or I can get more sun acclimated (hard to do in the shade of Chester County), or I can continue to try sunblock, but it just doesn't seem to work for me.

- Swim better - yes my achilles heal. I've got to fix this. Not sure how yet. Been looking at endless pools, but I think I am dreaming (2 kids in college this year). Swim coach & lessons & more time in the pool. Who knows.

mellow Jesse

(feeling better today)

Without all this major IM training, my life has really gotten more relaxed.

However, it's actually taken a while to get used to it. I seemed to have gone from squeezing the most out of every minute of every day to procrastinating almost everything, and then forgetting about the things I delayed.

So the pendulum is seems to be reaching an equilibrium, or at least a centered balance, and I am no longer procrastinating, but I'm also not rushing to get everything done NOW knowing that I won't have time later.

This makes me (and those around me) more relaxed and happy. I'm actually getting caught up on sooo many things that I just couldn't squeeze in during my IM training and couldn't muster the energy to tackle when I took some time off. My office at work, for example is now in tip-top shape! Yeah! I finally bought a road bike! Yeah! Took a long over due trip to Chicago - Yeah!

No big races on the horizon takes a lot of pressure off, that's for sure, but I am starting to run again... 7 mile today (middle 5 were pretty hard miles), 5 miles yesterday, and speedwork on the treadmill the day before (2min @ 6min pace, 1min @10min pace x8).

My foot is 'better', but not 100%. My knee is better and I've decided to take some time off the bike to see if it gets even better. I think the bike, more than the run is bothering it... bummer - I do love to ride.

Anyway, I'm 'feelin' pretty chill these days.

Getting Sick Sucks

I took a trip to Chicago last weekend - drove both ways (12 hours each way). Nephew's wedding. Had a great time. Came home with a NASTY cold. Started on Sunday with a sore throat driving home solo (long story). 6 days later, I'm still hacking like an old coal miner. SUCKS!

I've avoided training due to the cold, but my new bike (did I mention I got a new bike 2 weeks ago, just before the Chicago trip - finally I have a road bike!) was calling to me every day - please take me for a ride.

I decided last night that I would try the Saturday ride with the A group on my new bike - 7:30am start. I figured one more good night of rest and I would be good-to-go. Unfortunately I didn't sleep very well due to the coughing and hacking...

But I did get up and ride. My legs were fresh, but my endurance is shit since I've been barely training for a month. In any case, I rode well... better than I thought ... coughing and hacking. Still getting used to the new bike - Big Red - that sounds like a good name for it - hmm - will ponder that for a while.

I didn't really feel like I pushed it too hard, but my knee is still bothering me. I guess I better go see a Dr.

Took a good solid nap when I got home. Feel a tad better now - except for the headache, achey joints, tickle in the throat.

So that's it - I hope to run tomorrow - slowly easing back into it. Maybe 6 miles at a moderate pace. Maybe I can sweat this bug out of me!

Redemption Racing

After a bad race there seem to be several stages of (mental / emotional) recovery...

Stage 1: Relief - with the race just complete, it feels great to finally cross the finish line
Stage 2: Denial - with the endorphins still flowing, you tell yourself that it was the best race you could have had on the day, remembering the hard parts that you courageously pushed through
Stage 3: Awareness - you review your split times, and those of your competitors
Stage 4: Remorse - you start to remember where you could have picked up some time and maybe place that much higher in the rankings
Stage 5: Confession (aka Excuses) - you tell those that care (and some that don't) what happened during the race - it feels good to get it off your chest
Stage 6: Redemption Race Registration - sometimes, without thinking it through, you sign up for a redemption race, knowing that you can do better
Stage 7: Adjust - this is the most important step - this is where you fix all of the things you could have done better AND you hang onto those things you did well - did you give yourself enough time in Stage 6?
Stage 8: Regret or Confidence - as the redemption race gets close, you don't feel you are quite ready OR you nailed step 7 and you are good to go and have a great race