Day 2 – Plyometrics

“Damn, this is hard work!”

Those were my words through the entire workout.  When I finished I was as wasted as when I did a hard interval workout on the treadmill.  I’m going to need some “vitamin I” later in the day.  Not only were the exercises tough on my legs, the whole thing is done at an aerobic pace.  My HR averaged 132 and peaked at 157, about my normal Z2 bike with some intervals!

1st morning with />When I hit the scales this AM I was stunned.  160.2 and 10.6% BF  WTF?  Guess all that good food last night is still with me.  No matter, it will come off fast enough

Today was Chest & Back.  Tough workout, but nice to focus on just two body sections for the hour.  12 exercises, alternating chest and back, two rounds.

Tonight I’m either going to go to Berkeley Masters or to the Y and swim on my own, 3000-3200 yards

Saturday was going to be an off-day, because I had planned on going to the “Thanksgiving in the Country” house tour with mom and Weazer.  Just as we left the house (as in, hand on the knob, pulling the door shut) I got a call from work about a problem that I couldn’t pass off onto someone else.  1/2 hour later, Fran is on her way to pick up mom and I’m stuck troubleshooting.  A couple of hours later all is well at work and I’ve managed to sneak out and get the QR shipped off to the eBay winner.

Today, I was determined to get out and get in a bike or run.  The number of good weather days are numbered and I didn’t want to let this one pass me by.  But as the day went on, I was finding a lot of other stuff to do.  Nothing really important, but just fun stuff:

• Cleaned up a couple of the bikes,
• Watched the 1st session on the P90X videos,
• Mounted the Blackbird on the trainer, and discovered that the seat post clamp was broken.
• Played with and Avant

Finally Hootus called me and got me out on the bike.  We had a nice quick lake loop, and took in a cruise through Natirar park.  The park is quite nice, with a huge open field and a nice cinder trail all around the perimeter.  It looks like it will be a great place to take the Surly for some CX practice later in the year!

On the way home, I took a detour through the USGA museum complex.  Once of these days, I need to spend the afternoon wandering through this place.  It’s only about 3 miles from my home, and I’ve never been to the museum.

Now it’s time to wash the dog, then clean up myself and head to the “Taste of the Hills”.  Always a good time and always way to much to eat and drink!

The QR Caliente has been sold.  Got a better price than I expected for the whole kit (bike, race wheels, assorted parts/tires etc).  Bidding sat at the minimum up until this morning, when the bidding jumped up dramatically.  In true eBay fashion, the bidding was fast and furious in the final seconds.  I’m hoping to be able to ship the bike and parts out today if I can get the winners address.

Money from the sale is going to pay off the Blackbird!

As I figured, the day was excellent, but the run was a struggle. Gory details here:

I was cruising along through the first 10 miles, but as soon as I reversed direction, I knew I was in trouble. It became harder and harder to maintain pace, and my legs felt worse and worse. At 15 miles both achilles tendons were complaining, and my sciatic was affecting my gait on the right side. My right heel was getting numb and every so often I was getting shooting pain down my right leg. This is “not good” as I thought I was past this problem years ago.

I pressed on and finished the run, but had to take several walk breaks along the last 5 miles.

I also need to pack more calories for the run. By the time I got back to my car and started to drive home, I was in full bonk. I got lost getting out of Hillsborough and it was only by sheer luck that I ended up back in Manville, where I found a Subway.

As I was waiting for my sandwich, I began to get the shakes from lack of food and from the cold. I was still in my shorts, but had changed into a dry long-sleeve t-shirt. I began to get really, really cold and my legs felt like someone had worked them over with a baseball bat. I got my food to go, and sat in the car, in the sun with the engine running, and heat on full blast.

I downed a bottle of OJ to get my blood sugar set, then slowly ate my sandwich. It’s amazing how good a crappy sandwich tastes after a 20 mile run.

Once I got home, I got into the hot, hot shower and stayed there until everything was warm and loose again. Heaven, sheer heaven!

I’m feeling pretty good now, but I have serious doubts about the Philly Marathon in 4 weeks. I’m about 75% sure I’m going to bag the race, but keep up the long run-training at least through the end of November.

I’m nothing if not observant. The leaves have covered the driveway and the patio, the house is decorated with pumpkins and halloween stuff, and the heat came on last night.

It must be fall.

Yesterday I wanted to get out for my 1:00/1:00 brick on the Ravine Lake loop/Pleasant Valley loop. Then I remembered that it was the weekend for The Hunt. No freakin way I was going ride my bike through the traffic caused by 50,000 drunk yuppies/hipsters/horse people.

So I grabbed the and hit Chimney Rock for some MTB loops and a nice out-&-back along the Middlebrook trail. It was a GREAT workout and an excellent way to get back to training after a forced week-off.

Today I’m headed back outside to hit the D&R Canal Towpath for a 3:30/20 mile run. I haven’t been to the D&R since this spring’s marathon training. I’m looking forward to checking out the fall colors and watch the boaters along the lake in Princeton at the turn-around.

A little late, but here is Friday’s WTF…

mtb.jpg (image)

I’m getting dizzy looking at this. Best not to think about it too much, and just let the art flow over you.

APOD Does it again!

(video/quicktime Object)

this is also very similar to what happens to me after an extra spicy bean burrito dinner.

rising on the McCain campaign trail – CNN.com