February Wrap Up

More snow and more snow pictures

We had our second snow of the year on February 13. The Girls enjoyed the snow again. The first snow of the year always gets them more excited but our February snow was fluffier and better for making snow balls.

Valentine's Day

The Girls celebrated Valentine's Day with a new heart shaped pillow bed from Target.

Jury Duty -- or not

I was called for jury duty. In preparation, I got the first book the the Twilight series, thinking that was the right level of escapism for the waiting involved in jury duty. I called in as instructed and was not needed for the first week. I ready Twilight and New Moon that week and started Eclipse week 2. I called again and found out that I was not needed for jury duty after all. I went ahead and finished Eclipse and read Breaking Dawn to wrap of the series.


Training

From a training standpoint, this month involved getting my foot better after minor foot surgery on January 12th and an additional procedure on February 5th. My foot has shown considerable improvement. Through all of this I have been training for my second half marathon, the Crystal Coast half marathon in Morehead City on February 27th.

Bike riding has been more difficult to get in this winter since we have had terrible weather many weekends. That has meant a lot of work outs on the bike trainer when I would rather have been riding outside. I have found it a lot easier to run outside in bad weather than it is to ride outside in similar conditions. I've also been doing some swimming this winter. Hopefully I'll be prepared when the season starts!

100 miles and Moore

Earlier this year I participated in the Tarwheels Bikefest Rural Hertitage Tour 100 mile bike ride. Last year I did this ride for the first time and I remember saying to my friends, "I hate Person county!" OK, I really don't hate it but the route this ride takes through Person county is awfully hilly for people who have already gone 75 miles. It was hand to remember that because I saw the sign to enter Orange county and then got the the rest stop about 82 miles into the ride and I felt like I was home free!

The Bikefest crew! Fred, Doug, Chris, Me, Jonathan, Chuck

After the ride

Bikefest is one of several rides that I have done as part of my training for Bike MS ride next month. In addition to our regularly scheduled Team CBC rides, I have one more organized ride before MS -- my first ever Tour de Moore on Labor Day. The Tour de Moore is also a 100 miler. I'll have to let you know next month if it is insane to do a 100 miler on September 7 and then another one on September 12 and a third on September 13th!

Fundraising for Bike MS has been harder this year with the economy and all. I'm really looking forward to first Tour de Moore and then Bike MS and then Cycle North Carolina.

This and that

I haven't blogged in a while since I've really been just doing a little of this and a little of that. I haven't had any particularly good blog fodder as a result.

I got a good bit of riding in during the holiday break, including the annual New Year's Day ride, but had a rainout that required a long time on the trainer. It looks like we may have a freeze out which will probably result in more time on the trainer this weekend. I've looked into the options available from Redbox for distraction purposes.

I've also been doing some planning and entered some events. I registered for two 100 miler rides this spring: Frostbite Tour and Raven Rock Ramble.

The big news is that I've entered the Wald Disney World half marathon in January 2010. Yes, I will be running, not cycling! The course starts -- complete with fireworks -- outside Epcot and goes through the Magic Kingdom.

I'm also planning to run my first ever duathlon, a run-bike-run event, in April.

I think that will keep me out of trouble!

Zoning out

This week started using my new training zones that were developed based on my fitness assessment. I'll still be keeping an eye on the perceived exertion but it's more of numbers game now.

Maya the Virtual Coach provided these training zones for me:

Zone 1=<146

Zone 2=146-159

Zone 3=160-166

Zone 4=167-175

Zone 5=176-179

Zone 6=180-184

Zone 7=185+

The bad news is that now I need to start wearing my heart rate monitor (HRM) during my outdoor riding -- something that I have resisted. I acquired bike mount for my Polar F6.

One interesting thing is that now that I know that what my lactate threshold (LT) is, I can feel my body "switching over." I can look at the HRM but it only provides confirmation of what I already felt.

Another thing that I've noticed is that some spin instructors keep me right in the "base" zone and up to the tippy top of that and they jump to T2 and others would have me sit in T1 if I am not paying close attention. This is important to know since base improves endurance and T2 improves LT and T1 just feels like hard work. It's too hard to be efficient and too easy to improve LT.

Fitness Assessment

I recently had a fitness assessment done at the Human Performance Lab at Meredith College in Raleigh. It was a fairly interesting procedure and I think that it will be beneficial. It started off with an interesting questionnaire that was sent the week before the testing. They asked about perceived lactate threshold before doing the testing. They assessment can be done for biking or running. Obviously, I did the biking one.

How it worked

You bring your own bike and they put it on a trainer and set you up with an oxygen mask and heart rate monitor. After a ten minute warm up, they set the trainer up for 100 watts with you going at a constant cadence (no shifting allowed) for three minutes. At the end of three minutes they get your pulse and a small blood sample from your ear and increase the wattage. In my case, they want to 130 for three minutes and then 160, 190, 220 and finally 250. I completed the three minutes at 250 watts.

What were the results

While I changed back to street cloths, they calculated the results and then we discussed them. From there, I send them to Maya the Virtual Coach and we'll use them in conjunction with perceived exhertion chart to better tune my training. The thing that I probably found most interesting is what I'll call the "junk zone." Basically, the T1 zone for me is 165-176 bpm where I am neither efficient nor working hard enough to improve. That means that generally I should be below 165 bpm or above 176.

The other result was more or less expected. A small weight loss would move me towards ideal body composition for endurance sports. I kind of expected that but it still kind of sucks. I'm going to see a sports nutritionist a few times to help with that.

Training and perceived exertion

Earlier this week a friend of mine mentioned using perceived exertion in training. He hadn't thought much about it and we talked about it for a minute. I know that I sometimes fall into the cardio queen category so I thought that this was worth revisiting for my own benefit. More is not always better and on my easy days, I need to work on actually taking it easy.

The consensus is that athletes make more progress over the long term if they do not work at the same intensity during each workout. One or two workouts per week should be more difficult and the remaining sessions should be light or moderate.

Maya the Virtual Coach described exertion levels as follows:

• Easy (E) - Used mainly for warm-upon as a main part of a long session. This pace is very comfortable.
• Steady (S) - Steady pace is one gear up. This is a pace where you can still have a conversation but you are slightly out of breath.
• Moderate (M) - A bit harder than steady. This is a pace where a conversation becomes difficult and breathy
• Moderately hard (MH) - This pace requires concentration to maintain the intensity - though when you are very fit you can keep this up for a longer period of time.
• Hard (H) - Above the lactic threshold and very much out of the comfort zone. It is quite uncomfortable to maintain this pace.

Training zones are very individual so the formulas that are tossed about for Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) aren't likely to work for most people. In fact, Anaerobic Threshold (AT) differs not just from person to person but also from sport to sport. This makes perceived exertion levels particularly useful. Even once you know your MHR and AT, a heart rate monitor is best used in conjunction with perceived effort or exertion.

overload + recovery = adaptation

Progressive Overload
Challenging the body by applying stresses in the form of training loads. The more you do, the more you are capable of doing. With an adequate training load, both overall fitness and performance can be improved. Frequency, duration and intensity are all factors that effect the training load. Training loads should be gradually increased.

Recovery
Rest allows the biomotor systems to recover and become stronger. Not quite like the Six Million Dollar Man, "Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

Adaption
The body's response to the training load.

Entered an English century

I'm very excited. I found some people to ride with in the Raven Rock Ramble and we're doing the full English century! This is the same group that is doing 3 Mountain Madness at the end of May. This will be my first full century. The longest that I've ever ridden before is 87.61 miles from Darlington, SC to North Myrtle in the old MS 150 Breakaway to the Beach route.

I've discussed my 2008 goals a few times here and I'm happy to have made a decision on this. It helps that my riding is going well. In fact, I rode over 275 miles this month which is about 200 miles more than I had last January.

Tying up loose ends

Celebrations: Birthday, Christmas, Dog Day Afternoon

Back in November, I wrote about my angst over the holidays, my birthday and my brother visiting from out of town. I selected Option 2 and went out to eat for my birthday. We had a nice time and I'd do that again.

We had or usual Christmas Eve gathering at my parents' house, with Darling Brother there and had Dog Christmas at my house on the 27th. DH and I had a pleasant enough time on Christmas Eve. The food and wine were both great. Grandma was scheduled to go to Atlanta for holiday but changed her plans at the last minute. DB was there, having arrived in town on earlier in the day.

DB had very little to say on Christmas Eve and acted as though we were interrupting his football watching. I was pleasantly surprised that he gave gifts. I do hope that he liked what we gave him but I may never find out.

Grandma sent a thank you note saying thanks for the gift. The cookies were good. I'm guessing that means that the digital photo frame was not a hit! Actually, I think that she'll like that more once she is in her new place.

That brings us to Dog Christmas. We've never brought Hannah or Emma to my parents' for Christmas Eve and since my folks have come over to my house for my birthday on the 25th, the dogs have given gifts (it started with bark...) and received gifts. Since we moved my birthday celebration and I still wanted to have people over, we called it Dog Christmas. My mom made some beautiful quilts for the dogs this year!

DB was invited as well and he was told that it was optional. He came and then was rude to the dogs! Shoving them aside and prompting me to call him on it, saying, "Don't shove them! They live here!" DB just made a face. I don't think that he said a complete sentence to anyone the entire "visit" and he had nothing to eat or drink. His body language indicated that he didn't want to be there and he made rude faces and gestures. Why on earth did he come? The only good thing that came out of that I was not the only one to notice this.

Grandma

As you may have guessed from Grandma's change of plans this holiday, she has not been feeling well. After her 911 call, emergency room visit and appointment with a surgeon, it was determined that she should be taking Metamucil. She eats whatever despite the fact that her diet hasn't been working for her. She continues to take her medicine in some random way, not as it was prescribed.

Christmas week, she said to my mom that she was ready to look at assisted living places first discussed back in June. Mom decided to strike while the iron was hot and they took a tour of Abbotswood. The tour went well and Grandma asked to see a second place, Independence Village. I'm not sure if she is on the waiting list for Abbotswood or not. She started talking about placing furniture in the apartment there...

That about ties up the loose ends from 2007.

Goals

I'm working on my goals for 2008. I'm making good progress on them but I may need to modify a few

• core, I saw the YogaFit stuff and was inspired
  working on core but haven't gotten the DVD and probably won't
• try mountain biking and hopefully get a bike (and use it!); got a mtb, using it
• English century; still looking, in fact, I'd love some suggestions for this. It may be that I work on climbing more -- enter the 3 Mountain Madness 75 and figure if I can climb Pilot...
  
• climb better. I feel that I was not a very good climber this year; working on it
• gain some speed; working on it
• stay healthy; working on it
• Tour de Cure in June, MS150 in September; entered TdC (MS150 registration isn't open yet)
  

Tour de Pig

Today I rode the Tour de Pig. It's a bike ride that is part of the Barbecue Month in Lexington, North Carolina. I did the 100k route but there were also several other distances -- 20K, 35K, 50K. Nearly 500 riders participated in this year's event.

I was surprised that the ride was a lot flatter than a lot of the routes closer to home. It was definitely less hilly than Rolling in Randolph!

The ride started at 8:30. The temperature in the car at 8:10 was 38. Yikes! I was shivering in my shorts and arm warmers. I did have on my Illuminate jacket but I'm not sure that helped much! By the 20 mile mark I was peeling off layers, I took off the jacket and put it in my handlebar bag, and it was definitely shorts weather at the finish. Rest stop food was abit meager -- bananas and Nutrigrain cereal bars along with water and gatorade. I'd do it again. It's fun to get that many riders together.

It was a hair under two hours from my house to the start at Davidson County Community College. We took I-85 there and took US 64 back time wise, and it was a wash.



At the end of the ride, barbeque was served (shocking, I know). DH had dropped me off for the ride and continued on to Concord where he did some mountain biking at Beech Spring Mountain Bike Park. Then he joined me for some porcine goodness. The event was catered by Barbecue Center. I'd have to say that this was not the best barbecue that I've every had and that red slaw still looks very wrong to me. I think that I may prefer some of the cue from the Wilson area. I may have to go there to compare!

Training Plans

Since aggravating my lower back a few years ago, I've worked with a coach. Well, I call her a coach because I don't know of a word for it. I get training plans from her every other week. This keeps me sane -- or rather, keeps me from doing anything crazy or stupid with my training -- and it simplifies my life. My goal ride for the past two years has been the MS150. I completed my third MS150 last month and I started to think of my goals for the upcoming year. This is what I have come up with

2008 Goals...

• core, I saw the YogaFit stuff and was inspired.
• try mountain biking and hopefully get a bike (and use it!)
• English century
• climb better. I feel that I was not a very good climber this year
• gain some speed
• stay healthy
• Tour de Cure in June, MS150 in September

I guess I need to find an English century to put on the schedule!

The current plan:

Wednesday - 60 min elliptical and lifting

Thursday - Spin class and core work

Friday - Off

Saturday - Tour de Pig (Hey, the logo is a pig riding a bike. How can I go wrong?)

Sunday - NCBC Fall Rally

Monday - Off or easy spin class

Tuesday - Spin class and core

Wednesday - 60 min elliptical

Thursday - Spin class and core

Friday - Off

Saturday - Ride 60-90 min, easy pace

Sunday - Brewery Ride

Monday - spin class

Sunday Ride

This morning I went on a group ride. This is a newly formed group ride that is slightly out of my comfort zone. That's not a bad thing -- I want to push myself with this ride.

There were about 18 people there today. I think that we had 25 or more last week. Today's route was 41.5 miles and I averaged 19.3 mph. I lost it on Roberts, which is not really that difficult of a hill but it did get me today!

Ouch!

(imported from FB, used original posting date)

So I had an injection in my back yesterday. First they had me sit down, got my vitals and inserted an IV in my hand. At this point, I more or less fainted. I remember getting very light headed and having chills. Then I remember the nurse asking, "Can you hear me?" My reply was, "No." I guess my brain was not processing properly because clearly I could hear her! They did the injection and today my back feels different but I don't know that it feels better. The main medicine takes 1-3 days to start working. We'll see how it goes.

Meat Loaf

(imported from FB)

8:08am Thursday, Jun 7

The morning spin class at my gym usually has a contingent of early arrivals. We bring our own music and get going before the official start time. Ruth got there before me today and she had one of her better CDs with her -- Meat Loaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light came on it brought back memories.

I remember the summer that it came out. We lived in Wappingers Falls, NY and, like the song, we listened to the Yankees. We were very familiar with Phil Rizzuto's broadcasting.

I think that was the summer of the NYC blackout as well. It was really weird because we were pretty far from the city and never lost power but our local TV was from NYC. They broadcast the news using flashlights.

Cycling across the country

(imported from FB)

On Sunday I needed to get a three hour bike ride in as part of my training for the Tour de Cure. Tropical Storm Barry was in the area and we had the associated rain throughout the day. I decided that there was not going to be a dry three hour window so I left the house at about 9:15 for my ride. As I got to Wilsonville and pulled into the gas station there, two cyclists pulled in behind me. They were each pulling trailers. We chatted for a bit:

"How are you? "

"Wet"

"Do you know if there are any hotels in Pittsboro?"

She said that they were from Houston and had ridden from Clayton the day before. I asked about their final destination. "Oh, I'm leaving him in Kentucky and meeting up with another group there. My final destination is Oregon." She said that she was picking up the TransAmerica Trail in Kentucky.

Now that's a bike ride!