Training Log Archive: ebuckley

Another crazy long day at work.

Easy jog round the hood.

Home from work (my bike was still in from earlier in the week).

In to work. Had breakfast with Baby-O (who I haven't been spending nearly enough time with lately) and then caught the 7:43 bus. Barely. It showed up at 7:38 and only by jumping up and down on the far side of the road was I able to get the driver's attention to stop. Technically, he wasn't off schedule as they are allowed to get as much as 5 minutes ahead, but damn, dude, what's the rush? If people miss your bus they're going to be late for work and most people who ride the bus have to punch a clock when they get there.

C • Busses 2

Walked from work over to the Moolah Theater to watch the Banff Mountain Film Festival highlights with David, Ken, Vicki, Yvonne & John, and Rudy & Joan. Mostly went for the company, but the films were certainly entertaining enough. Then it was back to work for another all-nighter. It looks like I've got 1-2 more weeks of this and then I'll be back down to having just one job again. I just don't know what I'll do with myself. Maybe sleep, train, socialize, and even see my family.

C • Well, you could always do B... 2

In to work.

Home via the Link and Bus. Got off at Schulte because, oh, I don't know, because running a couple extra miles in the cold rain is just so much fun. Actually, my training is down so much lately, it was nice just to be running no matter the conditions.

In to work. Big headwind made it feel a lot colder than 41F.

Long day at work left me not really motivated for the Tuesday night crits. Rode home via Midland.

Control picking at Rockwoods Range (1:15). Having been 80 hours and uncountable calories since my last workout, I took it easy. Nav was good, but I'm definitely noticing my woods running form is rusty. I don't think defending a championship in 2 weeks is realistic.

Easy jog round the hood.

In to work.

G is out of range - the St. Patrick's day feast is being stubborn about leaving. Interesting symmetry; I started and finished lent a couple pounds heavy while I was making weight throughout. I don't think it's a problem. I'm still lighter than this time last year.

C • mission 2

Almost blew this off and came straight home. I was pissed as a very nice afternoon passed by. I had gone to no small effort to make sure I'd be able to get out for a long ride, but part of production support is realizing that the phone may ring 5 minutes before you're about to leave work. Anyway, after just a few minutes of riding, my mood had improved considerably so, while it wasn't as long as I wanted, I still got in a decent ride.

Stopped by the Arch to see how bad the Mississippi was flooding (not much) and then headed out to St. Charles. The Missouri is also staying more or less within it's banks. The Meremac, on the other hand, is predicted to break a crest record tomorrow. I'll have to check it out.

Easy jog round the hood.

In to work. The headwind and some impressive flashes were nasty omens, but all I got was a bit of light rain and about 2 minutes of small hail right near the end.

C • FYI: Cuivre River had a ve... 1

Roads dried off after some rather nasty midday weather and the ride home via Midland was quite pleasant. David Frei and Doreen came over for Corned Beef & Cabbage accompanied by ample quantities of fermented Irish beverages.

Ran the power line of to CC Lake and then ran around the wooded part of the flood plain for a while. I haven't mapped this area yet, so I was just running fairly randomly. Fun terrain. With all the tiny parallel (but quite distinct) streams, it would actually be a great venue for (gasp) micro-O.

Feeling fully recovered physically, but my all the overtime has left my family life in ruins. Seemed like a good day to patch things up on that front. The spring season is shot anyway, as I've got no base to speak of and not nearly enough time in the woods. I'll just race for fun in April and try to get back on my game for the second half of the year.

Went to bed at 7:30 last night right after putting Baby-O down. Didn't set the alarm, figuring I'd just sleep until I was ready to not be sleeping anymore. That worked great, but I didn't wake up until 6:50AM and I had a meeting at 8:30, so the ride in was a bit more spirited than usual. Thought about employing the large chainring, but decided a good solid spin would be better training.

C • Forest Park race maps 3

The payoff for the all-nighter was being able to skip out of work and ride on a day when the latter activity was clearly preferable. Rode up through the hood to Penrose. I was getting more looks than usual from the locals and it didn't dawn on me why until some kid yelled out of a school bus window, "Sell! Sell!" A fairly cryptic reference, but I realized that I was wearing my AG Edwards jersey, a perfectly fine jersey acquired for $15 when the company store was liquidating everything that didn't say "Wachovia" on it. They probably don't get too many brokers wandering around the hood discussing the merits of short positions in the technology sector.

Of course, it could also be that they were curious if they would be getting a bunch of new neighbors who were now in need of cheap housing after being laid off (Whoops! Did I say that? I meant "displaced.") by the merger. Actually, I think that aspect of the Wachovia takeover is being handled quite well, but that's certainly not the way the local media is telling it.

Anyway, I went to Penrose because I've been thinking about doing some track racing this summer and my "current" track bike is a 1988 Riggio that weighs more than my road bike. I wanted to see if the surface at Penrose was so bad that I might be better off sticking with the old bike, despite the weight. I believe the answer is the affirmative. I just don't see how I could keep the rear wheel on the ground with an aluminum frame. I think I'll just freshen up some of the components and keep riding the steel frame.

After that I wandered across North County and crossed the river to St. Charles. Being spring classics season and all, I rode the cobbles and then finally decided it was time to go home.

Day off from training, but it would be hard to class it as a rest day, seeing that I didn't sleep at all. Went in to work Wednesday night at 11PM and didn't finish up until 4PM today. At least it was an interesting task (I haven't done much coding lately, so it seems fresh) and it's always rewarding to write a program start to finish in a single sitting.

In to work.

Back home via Midland.

In to work.

From work to Carondelet, then about 45 minutes of easy laps getting warmed up. Not that it was particularly cold (although I did wear tights, which I don't often do for a race).

Tuesday night worlds. Only rode the first race as this was my first true bike race in over a year. Bridged to the break to see what I had in my legs (a question I might have been happier not knowing the answer to). Wasn't too unhappy when we got caught after just 4 laps. After that, I just sat in the field.

Back home in the 85" gear the whole way. The idea is to increase this by one cog each month. Not sure I'll be able to turn the 12-tooth in August after riding 2 races, but it will be fun to try.

So the plan was for David, Jeff, and Carrie to show up at my house at 1:00 for a 3-hour workout. Cue Gilligan's Island music at any point.

No surprise that we didn't get on our bikes until 1:20. And I sort of forgot that this is March, so getting out to Babler in an hour, especially with a headwind, wasn't very likely. We got to Babler at 2:40 and then squandered another 10 minutes getting ready to run. This was the part of the workout that went well...

As misguided as the idea of getting out to Babler was, the idea that we could run 7.5K at Babler in an hour the day after racing at S-F was just plain whacked. Got about 3K into the course and realized that there was no way that was happening. Met David (who indicated that the Sona's were already packing it in) and we headed back.

Then crazy stuff started happening.

I picked up my pack, cycling shoes, and helmet (stashed at the second control) and 100m later the buckle on my right shoe flew off. I found the buckle, but locating the screw on the forest floor was obviously out of the question. I figured I'd probably be able to ride back with just the velcro straps fastened, so I wasn't too worried about it.

We got back to the bikes at 3:55PM. OK, maybe if I change real quick and hammer back, I won't be too much later than my 5PM promise to Kate. New problem: I can't get my bike unlocked - one of the combination disks won't turn. David runs inside the ranger station to try to get a set of plyers (they close at 4). He comes back with a hammer. Well that will have to do and after a dozen or so shots, the lock gives way and my bike is liberated. Good thing I never used that piece of junk while riding home through the hood.

C • Must be some tough hood, if... 1

C • at least 2

Finally back on the road, we actually make pretty good progress home with the tailwind and all. The other three put up with me pushing the pace and we get home at 5:20 (then chat in the driveway for another five minutes before I realize I haven't checked in yet so I'm still logging tardiness). Ah well, a fun workout, and with a trip to Dewey's for dinner in the works no damage done on the homefront.

SLOC "Red" course at S-F. No opportunity for a warmup because we had to get back for Doug Nishimura's wedding. A bit sluggish for the first few controls, but loosened up quickly. Fun course, although not particularly challenging. Messed up one control for about 3 minutes lost. Everything else was clean. Fun day to be in the woods: clear, 25 degrees, no wind.

Daivd got me by 3 minutes - he leads in the death match 2-1!

Red - Splits

In to work via the 5AM bus. Tried to sprint over to the Shrewsbury line, but missed the train by about 30 seconds. That gave me only 6 minutes to get back to Delmar station (which I did in 5:30 to get the train there). A little VO2Max in the mornin'.

In to work. The bus was 20 minutes late because the roads were still pretty bad but fortunately it wasn't too cold.

Back home running from Delmar station to Great Harvest to get some Olive Bread for tomorrow's dinner then taking the bus the rest of the way.

Drove in before the snow started, but boy did it come down during the day. Running home I was passing cars the whole way. Probably would have been a 3-hour commute by car.

Easy jog round the hood.

Warmup on the Chubb.

Tyson test loop. PR, although this is the first time I've run it in winter - It's usually my summer back to the woods baseline. It was pretty hot (78F, high humidity), so it was not a completely bogus comparison.

Kate's surprise birthday party. I've never been any good at social gatherings, whether as a participant or organizer. So, back in January, I recruited an accomplice: Kim Puzder, one of Kate's closest freinds. Turned out to be one of my better decisions ever as she thought of everything that wouldn't occur to me in a million years.

I went for a "workout" this morning where I picked up the last items, then took Kate and Baby-O off to the wineries. We returned to a house full of Kate's friends and the ensuing party was quite a hoot. Thanks Kim!