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.

Weekend of Rest

We had been busy during the week so last weekend we didn't do much of anything. Kevin and I went snowboarding for a little bit Sunday and other than my runs that has been the extent of activities lately.

My running is going alright, middle of week five of eighteen headed to a 10 mile long run. Today was a 5 miler that went alright but without the Garmin I had to best guess my pace. Before the end of March I'll have to get signed up for the marathon or the price keeps going up. I expect the next group of long runs which go into the teens should help me decide.

Looking into March group bike rides are starting to be planned. Last year we did a Pi Day ride on March 14th, short ride followed by pie at the Hubbard Street Diner. If the weather is good I expect at least two of us will be there again and I'd like to drag the boys along but don't think they are game. If everyone else gets lazy I might try the lake crossing by bike still if I can find a few hours.

Cross the Lake

A new idea is in the works after doing no outdoor stuff this past weekend.

We had brunch at the Edgewater Hotel Sunday, Jenny's aunt and uncle hosted a party after the baptism of their third grandchild. Jenny and I are the sponsors and as a bonus the church service also had a marriage vow renewal ceremony. Great day even considering I wore a suit about 10 times longer than I have in the 11 years I've owned it. Okay on with the outdoors stuff.

The hotel restaurant looks over Lake Mendota and as we ate lots of people went skiing, or walking by we also saw snowshoe tracks. That all looked fine but I wasn't keen on just a loop out and back I wanted to go across the whole thing. Clearly by bike is the way to go but I suspect this will be a solo adventure. Looking at Google maps the ride will be about 6-7 miles one way from Middleton to downtown Madison so up to an hour and a half each way depending on snow conditions. Coffee downtown then return by lake, road or get a ride if Jen and the boys want to come in. In a brief moment of complete craziness I had thought of the tandem plus trail-a-bike plus Jen solo for a family trip. Big shock no takers, maybe I can get Jenny to change her mind.

Madison's Winter Festival is next weekend and looks fun. We plan to get the family there one of the days just to check things out.

Week two done

Marathon training week two is done, 7 mile long run moved to today instead of Monday. So far so good, no pains and even at the end of the 7 miles my legs felt good. I headed out of town for this long run and did a loop north of town. I had not done this loop since last spring when training for the Door County half marathon. Loops are much more enjoyable for me than out and back routes, different hills and scenery. Up next is a easy week, four runs of 3, 4, 3, and 5 miles and the snow should be done by my Wednesday run...I hope.

Last week I got to join Kevin on his school ski trip, boards in our case. Luckily I was able to get off work since Jen was swamped all week with funeral preparations at the fire station. Kevin rode the bus and I hauled gear down to Tyrol with the Jeep, Jen and Zack drove the Subaru since they would be leaving early. Zack and I did the bunny hill, ok Zack did the bunny hill and I carried him back up 8 times. Glad he was done cause I was getting tired of the workout.

Jen and Zack headed for a snack and Kevin and I headed up the chairlift. The kid in front of us fell and they stopped us for a minute then as we got to the jump off point Kevin's board stuck and he got sucked under the lift. I got off but couldn't see him, not screaming and the lift operator said he was fine, heart rate starts to drop under 200. We sat for a minute then off to conquer the rest of the open runs. We did a bunch of repeats on some runs waiting for the third chairlift to open, I had never been on that part of the hill. We got up there and did all the runs it serves, well Kevin did all while I skipped the double black diamond. I fell enough last time, no need to go looking for trouble besides moguls were never my thing.

We had Zack's Flip video camera so here is Kevin on the double black diamond run.





So I need practice on shooting but am impressed that a $150 camera will shoot reasonable quality video at night.

That's all for now.