Riding and movies

Today I put all the eggs in one basket; I rode only. It needed to be a big ride, perhaps bigger than anything I've yet completed this year. After last week's fiasco, I wasn't looking to overdo it. Time to do the smart thing - decide what was the priority and stick to that.

Originally I thought I might run and lift in the morning, then ride after church. There was a schedule conflict for later in the afternoon, and when I woke up this morning I was very tired. That's pretty much when I made the call to can the run and lift, start the ride a little earlier, and go farther.

It was the right call. I got 90 in before the saddle was too much to bear. My legs, though tired, are normal tired, not the completely blasted stumps I had last week. We'll see how sleep goes, but my guess now is it should be more or less normal - at least for me.

As for the movie aspect of the post, I rented three for the ride.

First was "RED 2". As sequels go, this breaks no new ground. The rule is "more of the same", and that was the case here. However, as sequels go, this one did a fairly equivalent job of entertaining. "RED" will never be known as a masterpiece, and neither will "RED 2", but for mindless shoot-'em-up, they both serve well.

Second was "Machete Kills". Ah, this IS a masterpiece! It is a wholly unapologetic homage to '70's exploitation genre, tapping on, no, GLORIFYING the Mexicano stereotype in an unabated fountain of blood so cartoonish in scope as to avoid any real squeamish reaction. Danny Trejo is the protagonist, and this muy macho hombre slices and dices his way through the bad guys. From the opening moments of the film to the end, it offered laughs and action. Perfect for a spin.

Third was "Ironman 3", which I'd seen before, but had apparently forgotten was an unwelcome departure from the first two. If a film is called "Ironman", it should probably have a lot of Ironman in it. This movie is more about Tony Stark and his psychological duress, and compared to the other two movies in the franchise, this one is utterly forgettable.

I guess I would finish by reviewing "I, Frankenstein". If you are a fan of the "Underworld" series, this is for you. It features the same director, style, and for large part, cast. The skinny is the Frankenstein monster is still alive, and for some reason is sought by demons. Here, "Adam" (as he is called) is caught twixt a war between gargoyles (angelic guardians) and demons. Adam is hell-bent (see what I did there?) on staying out of the war, but events will soon make that impossible. It's a good film, worth a matinee at least. 

Just a quick hit

Observations for this week so far:

1. I think the schools are figuring out we're going to have to toughen up. This is the winter from hell, and it shows no signs of getting better soon. Time to dress warmer and adapt.
2. Scott's training is really picking up. Without much fanfare, he is creeping the bike toward the 150 mark, and his running is increasing to marathon-prep levels. Pay attention, fans.
3. Allen's swim is looking so much better. Naysayers beware, you can never count Allen out. I think he's going to make it in the end, no matter how much it scares him.
4. Rand continues to be MIA.
5. Jimmy is cleared to run again. Will this impact his riding challenge?
6. Denny has been in the Lab virtually every time I've been there. That's saying a lot.
7. Troy, you shouldn't be doing squats. At all. Just sayin'. 
8. I've run on treadmills more this winter than I have in all my previous years of running combined. And it's just the beginning. Welcome to the new paradigm, my friends. Tired of getting hurt on ice.

That should be enough to absorb for now!

I'm Back!

So it wasn't just the workout that made me feel so awful; I had a fever. My body felt like someone had worked it over with a ball bat. My head throbbed. Yup, no denying it, it was plain old sick.

I went off the grid yesterday afternoon. I made it through the school day somehow, but decided I didn't have to go through another day like that. I have a gazillion sick days, and this is what they are for! So, last night when I was still running a fever, I contacted the powers that be.

Of course I couldn't know that we wouldn't have school anyway. Or could I? Either way, we didn't, and so the day was mine anyway. And as fate would have it, I felt a ton better today. I did nothing in the morning but lay around... I wanted to be good and sure I was ready to go. I tendered an offer to Allen for a(some) workout(s), but he wussed out. Feeling it must be fate, I waited a while longer to go.

About 3 PM I felt I'd waited enough. I went to the lab, got on the bike, and cruised. There was no way to know if it would be a great idea until I tried it, so I proceeded cautiously. Things couldn't have gone better. I sailed through 30 miles, and the only reason I stopped there was because I was out of time. I wanted to make the 5:15 run from Parkview if possible, and I had just enough time to get over there.

I should have stayed on the bike, because no one was there. Again I felt fate had a hand here, because the wind was howling and the temperature was plummeting. Having been sick the day before, the prudent thing to do was to run on the treadmill at the club, which I did. This too went very well. I was able to take it down under 7:30 pace.

I decided to go by the lab and see if anyone was still there. I figured Jimmy would spin, and guessed Allen might as well. Both were there, and later Denny showed. It's good to see a healthy turnout there on a regular basis. I think everyone wins in this scenario.

As of this writing school is on a 2-hour delay for Wednesday. If I wake up early enough and have the energy, I might go ahead and get a ride out of the way. I have 90 out of a scheduled 120 finished; a good hour and a half ride would put me right on the finish line. 

WOW!

I did something really, really dumb on the ride Sunday. It's not like it's the first time I've ever done it either - and likely won't be the last. You would think a reasonably intelligent person would avoid repeating the same painful lesson, so perhaps that means I'm not reasonably intelligent...

Last week's schedule worked out pretty well for riding. By getting the big ride on Sunday (and I need to be getting longer rides), the rest of the week opened up and gave easy doubles and triples. It came about chiefly because of the swimming schedule, but it worked for the best anyway. I guess you could say I didn't mind.

I also felt surprisingly well. I was cautious, not allowing myself to push the first half of the ride, because I hadn't been out on the road for so long since last summer. It was prudent, and it worked out great. Wish I'd been that smart this week.

I got on the bike hoping for another 80 miles, though I was ready to accept 60. With two movies rented, I was sure to have enough video for a 4-hour ride, and there are enough videos laying around the lab to fill in the rest. Netflix didn't work (of course), so I'd planned around that.

Having taken Saturday completely off had me starting a ride with relatively fresh legs, and it showed. I was cranking 21-22 mph without much trouble. What's more, it was sustainable. I settled into a 21 mph average and let it unwind for a while. This is where I got stupid. I have no reason to believe I should be riding that hard. I was in the high ring and nearly full-out on the cassette - mashing. I was asking for trouble if I planned to do that for 4 hours.

At 41 miles I hopped off for a pop tart. I was well under 2 hours riding and moving pretty well, but I could feel my legs beginning to thicken up. The smart thing to do would have been to pull back, take it back to 17-18 mph and cruise for a while, which of course I didn't do. When I got back on I set my sights on 50 at the current pace. After that I'd go for 60, and so on.

I rode for almost another hour, hit 60 miles and got off again. Another pop tart, and the plan was to get on to go to 70. This time when I returned to the saddle I knew the legs were done. DONE! There was no way I could go another hour at that, or any speed. The ride was over.

I wasn't sure how badly I'd hammered myself until later, when every joint in my body hurt. Now it could be that I have a cold, flu, or some other malady that is not fully formed, but I'm of the opinion now I took myself into race-effort levels. I was a bit nauseous for hours after the ride, could eat or drink much, and I didn't sleep at all. These are common effects of racing for me.

Now it was a good ride - any time I can plug in 60 miles under 3 hours is a good ride - but I'm not sure it's the ride I needed to do. I'll still get my miles this week, that shouldn't be a problem, but the risk of injury elevates significantly with race efforts, and this shouldn't have been one. I'll have to bear this in mind moving forward in training. This type of riding is more appropriate in May, several months away. I certainly don't want to peak in March!

Dead of Winter

Come on, spring! I'm tired of this day-to-day challenge of icy roads. Frankly, so are my hips. This old guy can't take too much more of the twisting, off-balance high-wire act called "running"...

I've taken my bike back to the Energy Lab, and I've noted the chart on the wall. I'm still not getting on board. Too compulsive, it would be a disaster - but I am noting progress.

Denny, to that point, had ridden every day this year. Quite an accomplishment for someone who didn't know if he would ride at all when he bought the bike! He's also riding longer. I was there the other night when he arrived, rode with him, then hung around after. He was on for 1.5 hours! I've known dedicated riders that couldn't stand more than 40 minutes on a trainer.

Jimmy has kept after it. No better sign of his dedication could be made than his appearance rather late on Thursday night. He'd been kept over in Bloomington for various reasons, so it was almost 8 o'clock when he showed. Ordinarily this would have been the end - not now. He too put in his hour before he left.

Scott has upped his time to break the 2-hour mark. I think he has quietly become compulsive on the chart thing. You have to be able to mentally break the time down to make it that far, but on top of that you have to have a strong urge to be there. The more you do it, the more you feel you need to do it. No one wants to give up fitness they have earned.

Miller has... well, Miller is just Miller. Nothing new here.

Roy is certainly running more. He's not biking as much in the lab due to family responsibilities, but he's at it.

Allen has stuck to schedule, pretty much. The baby this week put a dent in his training, but he'll be right back to full levels soon. Unfortunately the weather has put a dent in his swimming, and I don't have an answer for that one. We're all at its mercy.

Rand has spent some days at the lab, but we haven't crossed paths in a while.

John T. is the only one I can't fairly comment on. I've seen him run with Debbie a couple of times, but beyond that, I've seen very little of him this past month. Where are you, John T.?

What I have noticed about the lab in the short time I've been back is Netflix still doesn't work. The network seems rather unstable, for whatever reason, so I'll have to remember to rent movies when going over there alone. Sunday I am planning a long one, over four hours, so this will be critically important. I'm thinking some action, mindless action, and lots of explosions. Or maybe dragons. Yeah... active dragons that make lots of explosions...

I'll take it

This week has seen a change of schedule, chiefly due to swimming. Lifting was moved from Mon-Wed-Fri to Sun-Tues-Thurs, so today really only needed a run for certain. However, with the end of the week looming fast, I figured it was a good idea to get some of the remaining riding done. Thank goodness I rode 80 on Sunday! I would never have finished this week otherwise.

So... how to do it? Too cold to go out. Leisa needed the basement first hour, the run was second hour. The best fit would be to ride the first hour. Only way to make that happen would be in the lab.

So I loaded it up. Now this is a hassle, no matter how close it is to home. I always forget something vital, and in this case it was shoes. But, despite having to shoehorn my ride between a couple of established bikes, I was able to get it set up and rolling.

The question now was whether or not there was time to get a full ride in before the run. Ordinarily spinning 20 miles has taken up to 70 minutes; I had 60 at best. This was doable, but there couldn't be any relaxing. I had to get right on it, harder than I wanted to, but that was too bad.

Miller was there already, and as fate would have it we were side-by-side in an otherwise empty lab. That worked well, because we could easily share the fan. Netflix played "24", which is a fine television series, full of suspense. I do have a knock on it though, as riding movies go... it's all dialogue. Seriously. If you don't believe me, put it on TV some day, then sit in the next room and listen to it. You will get 90% of what happens, no problem. It's like an audio book. It's a good story, but it doesn't take my mind of riding.

Anyway, the ride went better than I hoped, chiefly because I haven't ridden since Sunday - my riding legs are well rested. I easily beat the hour, and had time to switch clothes for the run. I'd left my running Garmin at home, so... I had to waste time to go get it. I'm glad Roy is the patient type, because it took a long time for the device to acquire satellite!

We did the regular 5, Roy, Nathan, and I, and that was that. Nothing special or fast, since Scott took the night off running and spun instead. That was good for me, as my hip still has me worried. I didn't feel even the slightest flinch, which is puzzling, but I'll take it.

Tomorrow is a lift, run, and swim. The run will be from Jimmy's at 5:15, the swim will be at BNL at 8:15. Lift on your own!

History Repeats

"You know Bill, I've noticed when you don't have a training plan, you just do more." - Mike Jarrard

Mike and I don't always agree on training philosophy, equipment, or the value of foreign-made vehicles, but he's one of the smartest observers of human behavior (occasionally) that I've met, and probably the owner of some of my most treasured coaching quotes. This was one of the gems he shared with me years ago regarding my training, and it's as true today as it ever was.

Don't think I'm alone on this, ladies and gentlemen; there are several of us who fail in this manner. Can I get a witness? With eyes closed and heads down, can I see hands raised by those who see themselves this way? Yes, yes... I see you Miller. I see you Troy. I see you Scott, Roy...

A compulsion to train to some extent is necessary (and healthy). It keeps you honest, keeps you out there, keeps you busy. The bad side of compulsion comes when it is married to wishful thinking. Never, ever underestimate the human mind's ability to believe what it wants to believe.

My growing frailty as I age is something I've not fully come to grasp. My mind keeps saying, it's a small thing, it's temporary, you'll get through this, you ALWAYS get through this... except, more and more, I don't. Ignoring even the smallest of nagging ailments is courting disaster.

Last week we had the bad weather, including the snow and ice. For the most part I stayed smart; I ran on the treadmill in the gym. It was as dull as anything could be, but it was not a problem, except for the insanity factor. When it got to the point I couldn't stomach another inside run, I ventured out. It was slick, and really, it was a mistake. I tweaked my right hip, felt it when I did it. It was minor, and I was sure I'd get over it.

The next few runs found the hip still kind of sore - nothing serious yet, but the sensation was beginning to move down my leg. The last couple of days it was resting in front of my shin, like a toothache pain. It didn't hurt to run, and I couldn't feel it at all on the ride, so I went on.

We can argue whether or not the 81-mile ride yesterday helped or hurt. Put me in the camp of "It didn't help, but it probably didn't hurt." What DID hurt was the decision today mid-run to extend the workout. The day AFTER the 81-mile ride was a poor choice. I was taking what would have been a 5-miler to the 10k mark. I was getting greedy, I'll admit it. I wanted to boost the daily mileage a little. Still, doing it the day after the longest ride I've had in months likely wasn't very smart.

Bear in mind, this isn't an admission the ride hurt me, rather it's acknowledging I didn't respect what the ride took out of me. The pain started as a spasm and quickly grew severe. It all happened so fast I couldn't even comprehend what was going on. It was just... there. I thought it would pass, but it didn't, and eventually I had to walk in the rest of the trip. Here's the bad part - it happened a smidge after 5 miles. Had I stayed to the plan, likely as not I wouldn't be writing this right now.

So what now? I think that depends on how I feel tomorrow. If it is sore, I likely won't run. If it isn't, I'll run on a treadmill. That allows me to stop the second it hurts, minimizing my risk. If I don't run, well, there's always the ride. I shouldn't have any trouble keeping the cardio up, so I'm not really worried about fitness as much as being able to run. What is becoming clearer is I'm going to have to be super careful about my running from here on out. I can't take anything for granted, no matter how much I want something to be true. 

A new year, a new beginning

The year has started with a challenge - not a Strava challenge, but the Jimmy challenge. His plan; bike across the country (virtually). It's designed for the Energy Lab really, but if one can get outdoor time, it counts too. Here it is - average 11 hours per week for 17 weeks. This would be the equivalent of the record holder's Ride Across America effort.

I won't ink my name to this one. It's a good idea, but I can't do it, and I won't put myself in the place of doing insane things to make it. I'm too compulsive to sign up for something I can't manage. Best of luck to the rest of you - I hope it inspires you to greater riding heights.

What I have done is pick up the odd Strava challenge here and there. I did complete the 500k riding challenge from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve. It wasn't that hard, really, and it did accomplish the goal of boosting my ability to pile hours on the bike seat again. I did the bulk of it indoors, unlike Troy, who did all of his outdoors (amazing!).

Today another challenge - do a 130k miles in one ride in January. The Gran Fondo is the first of monthly challenges through the year, and though there is no "prize", it fit into what I needed to do anyway. There are two swim meets this week, which means I will lose two riding days. By getting 81 of my 120 weekly goal in one day, I've cut the remaining rides of the week down to one or two. That should be easily manageable.

This is a very unusual year so far. EVERYONE is riding! I can't wait to see how it pans out for the upcoming riding season.