How did this happen?

I knew my running had cut my riding a bunch but finding my rear tire flat on my road bike was a shock. I knew it was leaking, bad patch job last spring, but how long ago was my last roller session?

Last Friday I did get a ride in on my Tricross. The weather was turning cold so grabbed the chance when I could. The bike is still in it's winter gear ratio of 42X18 so I spun like mad to keep the speed up. I'll be getting my bikes back in shape next week and plan at least two one hour rides a week going forward. No big events until late summer so running and riding with the kids trumps solo riding for now.

My marathon training is taking about four hours right now and keeps getting longer. A 13 mike run a year and a half ago left me sore for days, yesterday I did 13 then went to work. That said I'm not sure how far I can push it but doubt the 20 milers will be doable before work. My coworkers think I'm crazy and I'm not sure they are far off.

Where is everyone else? The boys won't ride until it is warm and neither is interested in running at the moment. Ice free lakes or dry hiking trails and time to get to either should draw them away from the TV. Jen is very busy at work (understatement of century) but we did sneak in a night run Saturday which went well.

Now before I head out for coffee I'm signing up for the Madison marathon.

Only 12 miles

Monday morning when I opened my email I was surprised to see my run was not the 13 miles I expected, unfortunately it turned out 12 was plenty.

As with most Mondays I'm ready to go at 7 when I get up but by the time I get the boys to school my brain says I should sleep more. Sleep won since waiting also meant warmer temps for the run. By 9 I was up and out the door with no route in mind.

I have loops out of town of 5 and 7 miles that I run frequently. I wasn't feeling great and figured if I looped by the house I'd be tempted to stop. Trouble was I only had 12oz of water, a Gu gel and a pack of Sport Beans which meant would need to find water at some point. I headed to the rail trail with the idea of running 5 on it then refill and do my 7 mile loop. As I ran west on the trail I talked myself into doing all 12 by going out 6 before turning for home. I wasn't sure I would make it to Blue Mounds by mile 6 or where I would get water without any money on me. The trail was snow free but a bit soft but i wasn't sinking in much compared to the track others had made. The number of footprints in the trail dropped off quickly after leaving town and reappeared as I approached Blue Mounds. In between towns the trail parallels a four lane highway so it isn't all that scenic until close to Blue Mounds which is where I started to see deer and other smaller animal tracks in the trail. Mile 6 came right at the village park, no water or bathroom open this early in the season. On my way to the only gas station in town I lucked out and found the municipal building was open. That was a relief since I hate going into a business and not buying something. A quick bottle fill and I was back on the trail headed home.

I made it just east of town before my stomach turned on me, great 5 miles home or a mile back to the municipal building. Figuring I didn't want to do 14 miles I kept heading for home and once I took a break from drinking I felt better. The rest of the run home felt fine except, a sore left heel during the run has my hip sore today so I'll bike or stretch to loosen it up I guess.

13 miles coming up Sunday or Monday

Spring already?

Spring seems to have come to Wisconsin earlier than I expected. All plans for last weekend got canceled due to warm weather or kids laziness. Now three days of fog and rain have me convinced snowboarding is over for the season anywhere near us.

This weekend is Canoecopia in Madison which I might attend with the boys while Jenny is on command duty. I don't need anything but is fun to look around plus there is a bike sale with a trials rider doing shows for free. Free unless you give in to the boys asking for a DVD which they watch once. I'll need to check which one we have to avoid buying a duplicate.

Running just keeps going with a 13 mile long run coming up Monday. I figure after I do that one I'll sign up for the Madison Marathon before it fills up or I chicken out. Today I did 6 miles in shorts, 47 degrees and on off rain why not?

In a slump?

Another weekend went by without much outdoor activity, starting to think we have had enough winter. Bring on spring and maybe I'll have more to write about. We did attempt to go snowshoeing but ended up with just a short hike since the snow was well packed from lots of use.

Governor Dodge State Park was the destination of choice for the hike. We had been to see Stephens Falls in the winter before but not this late in the year. The Falls itself is a small stream but the walls of the canyon it flows into get lined with ice, enough people go ice climbing there. Kevin had his camera as well so here are some shots of the falls area, no one seems to have shot the group of ice climbers. It didn't look like much fun but whatever makes you happy I guess.




The next couple weekends are boys only if we leave town, EMT refresher and Fire Command for Jen. I'm thinking the lake ride is this Saturday or not at all this year. Maybe some boarding with at least Kevin before the snow gets really bad.

On the marathon front I ran a 10 miler in 1:31:47 or a 9:09 pace and felt fine so on I go into the teens after a step back week. Running out of town is much more fun than the 3-5 mile runs I do in town so that helps. I'll start getting pictures on the long runs soon, gloves limit my ability to run the camera on my phone but won't need them much longer.