Training Log Archive: matzah ball

ride to metro and from bus in east alton, and then some recon/warmup laps at gordon moore race course. feeling pretty lethargic.

C • Wow what a day 5

Cross race: got a pretty good start, those practice starts helped i think, but just could not keep up with the lead pack. Noticed i was washing out on the rear wheel in tight turns. Then the tire came off and i thought my race was over, but a passerby called over to me and told me to put it pack on.

Yes, the tire was intact and full of air but had just come off the rim. Slid it back on, and kept racing. took the turns a little slower, and sat down on the back seat to try to keep the tire centered. So finished the race, gratefully, and 10th, better than last two weeks. I do know one person ahead of me that went up to the 3 race. Just think, if my tire hadn't come off, i might have even come in 9th!

brick run 10 minutes after race. 30 minutes seems like a long time.

from Gordon Moore Park in Alton down College to 3 to where it meets broadway. then followed a bike trail heading west from interesection, thinking it must intesect MCT and it did. Headed south, still hesitated at the crossing where i went off track last week, but this time made the right turn and followed MCT south, past Chain of Rocks. Gravel and dirt road, glad to have the training cross tires on. ended up close to the Mckinley bridge with downtown in view. First set of arrows said bike route straight OR right.WHAT? so i took the straight ahead, might have been the wrong way, because then an arrow pointed left which dumped into a residential subdivision that obviously was a dead end. came back and continued straight on industrial service road, then merged onto 3. Yes, there was Mckinley bridge, but no signed bike route as far as i could tell. Got on upramp to bridge and just before bridge superstructure, saw one of the lane pylons knocked down. this was apparently the DOT's brilliant solution to transition bikes onto the 8' wide concrete bike deck tacked on the side. crossed the river on this, then saw a HUGE ramp but on the other side of the street. Again, no sign, just one of those pylons knocked down. Crossed the road onto the huge ramp that was wide enough for a hundred bikes to pull a super-chariot made of 5 hummers and 3 monster trucks - what an ironic contrast to the make-shift and missing bike infrastructure that led to it. the ramp then signed to the riverfront trail, which i took to eads bridge metro. I was toast.

C • Paved bike path 3

over to garden, couple hours hoeing and planting seeds

started at a slow jog, ended at 200's that i had paced off on the grass...but i think i was off because they were 70 (shortened distance), 55, 53. All i had time for, will have to revisit early next week

to garden and pantry, then to nursing home

to nearby jobsite

practice cx race starts at wilmore park.

wf/tj run w/ metro

lunch: tacos w/ okra/leek/onion salsa and chickpeas, avocado and grapes on side. (ranging from personally harvested to local sustainable to organic to trucked? in from mexico/california)

inspired by Scott Jureks book 'eat and run' to be more adventursome and diverse in my food habits and try to lean more heavily to the vegan.

Actually enjoyed starting in the dark drizzle at 5:30 -WUWT? elongated figure eight park/cemetery route, less hills, more asphalt. It was starting to be uncomfortable toward the end.finally some planks when i got back.

local errands

to jobsite nearby and then to Y

class at the Y

round the track at the Y - rather a manic day!

garden/pantry

35 up to nursing home, same 'shortcut' route as last time, s side of watson to cemetery then thru cemetery, 6 minutes slower. then ran 5 minutes walked 2 minutes alternating back home from dierbergs

misc. errands

to bus and from alton to park and warm up on cx course before race

a little tentative at first, and there was a lot of dust, but then settled down and started picking people off. some confusion about the results, and not sure it matters at all, but good to have another race under my belt.

brick run maybe 7 minutes after the race with some strides. interesting playing with form, but some achilles tendon pain.

back from alton to chain of rocks bridge - losing bike path when it veered off at a 'nature center'. when they invest millions into this bike infrasturcture, one would think a $200 sign saying something about the route to chain of rocks could be managed. so took 3 to chain of rocks road - that might be the standard route for all i know, though it got a little nasty at the 270 interchange.

then to riverside circle metro center, where i had had enough and took the city limits to within a couple of miles of home.

C • Route 3

even splits up and down to nursing home. took all the short cuts.

garden and nearby jobsite

C • North Americans 3

errands

to CWE and then fp for open air concert

6 x 40s or so repeats up Art Hill, and lots of huffing and puffing

up to garden to do some harvesting, shoveling mulch and planting.

to job site in north st. louis, then to forest park cx practice course - a few laps, then home

to nursing home and (in the rain) back. thought it was a good effort until i saw the time. thats what not running for a while will do to you.

jog in house and outside on grass

riding to pick up sunglasses on way to bus, then from bus on manchester dwon baxter to claymont to clayton and clarkson - actually a pretty good bike route considering. then several course-familiarization/ warmup rides at cross venue

4's cyclocross race. Stayed away from 45+ masters. Missed call up which would have had me line up 35th or 40th anyway, and started dead last - 44 finishers. so a couple of slow laps and then steadily catching up, passing people on the power straightaways of all places (not my strength, but there were no climbs) ending up in 15th. rode pretty hard, i just have to work on my start and push a little harder to at least crack top 10 - and hope for some big hills on the next course...

C • Conditioning 2

nursing home and errands - just creeping along

a bit labored, but knee didn't hurt

garden/pantry

to cx practice, stopped at friends to watch movie on way back. easy on the way out, but into the wind, and then hit the pedals hard on the way back

some hard laps and dismount/remount practice. brought my race wheels on my back, but didn't think of adjusting brakes - so when i got there, i just rode the cross course on my 85psi road gatorskins - quite the ride! Luckily it was pretty hardpacked and smooth.

running to gardens, where i weeded, shovelled mulch, etc. Still winded from the cold.

had a bunch of very local errands so decided to make it a short interval sessions, sprinting from stop signs, up little hills etc. felt good, but the chocolate and cliff bar i had on the way out might have had something to do w that

to printer, pushing a little on way back to get back in time

job sites and errands all over the south side. really feeling aftermath of cold, and knees twinged a few times, so just 'getting around' ride.

C • Photos 2

another meeting, this one at Loughborough commons. had to recharge with choc soy and aspirin for this one.

like i said, this is a working cold! Rode to shrewsbury metro, then from clayton metro to jobsite near mckelvey and creve couer mill road via midland. Then rode back the whole way, taking advantage of the north wind. Not surprisingly, I felt strong - one would hope that 750 miles of fully loaded dirt roads and 10 major mountain passes at altitude would have that effect. I noticed:

a) more in big ring, near tempo pace the whole way.
b) hills seemed more like 'knolls'
c) breathing harder seemed to cure most ills
d) worked on spinning form, major weakness after crushing pedals on mountains
e) good start, but lots of work needed for cross
f) not a peep our of my knees!

Not logging flat tire, stop at TJ's, River Des Peres crossing at bridge construction site, etc.

C • Way to go! 2

here are some sporadic landscape shots of my bike trip, hopefully enough to give you all a feeling for what is was like:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114302054455349443966...#

now a touch of a cold, of all things. this is a working cold though - rode up to the garden, did some harvesting and then some yard work back home.

guess i'll wait until the cold front moves through on friday to get going again. i'm sure my knees will be much happier too.

lots of naps and snacks. knee is still sore and a little puffy.

something very lethargic and fattening-feeling about coming down from altitude.

from the campground down dirt road, then went on mb trail to tie city campground - one last time in the woods. then downhill to Laramie on interstate, and tooling around doing errands, getting ready to catch the bus to denver

C • Way to go 3

orienteering off from the start, but passable until 9th control. then my mind went completely, way off course, took me a long time to figure out where i was. Then fatigue and hurt knees slowed me to a walk the rest of the way. One of those days that are so 'bad' from an O point of view, that you just move on, and hope that the time in the woods pays off down the road.

gained momentum even as my knee started hurting more. not so bad at a flat out run, but terrible on choppy terrain and downhills. was able to enjoy some great moments outdoors at the same time, esp. liked finding passages and runs thru the aspens at the river bottoms. Think i was third in 60-64 age group, after Walther S, and Ron B.? actuually 4th - but even tho i am terribly erratic, injured etc. its reasssuring to know i am potentially competitive.