528000 Feet

Team Garmin-Cervélo lightens up with a new Tour de France kit – Team Garmin-Cervélo

2011-06-30T09:11:00.000-04:00

Team Garmin-Cervélo lightens up with a new Tour de France kit – Team Garmin-Cervélo

Good to see that Garmin/Cervelo/Slipstream has updated their kit.

The boring old kit below didn't significantly highlight the argyle theme. Good work.

Also, hopefully I will blog some more.

Great Run

2011-01-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

So, for whatever reason I had been leaving a routine stretch out of my recent runs with the 5Fingers. Basically standing up you cross one leg in front of the other and bend at the waist.

Now I can't isolate whether it was the return of this stretch to my routine or just more time with the 5Fingers, but I had a largely calf stress free run today. I coasted back into the office feeling great and could have run farther, but thought better of it and headed back inside.

Anyway, I will probably toss in another run this weekend --- maybe two. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Hopefully I'll be able to start extending my runs to farther than 4 miles.

I'm a bad blogger

2011-01-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

I've been delinquent in blogging a bit lately. After the marathon, I took some time off, and then it was Thanksgiving and then the holiday parties came, and before I knew it it was 2011 and I hadn't really gotten up off my ass much to run or ride. I feel like a bit of a fatass. But on the upside I am trying something new. I'm starting to run with Vibram Five Fingers KSO.

I really enjoy them. They give a pretty close feeling to running barefoot, but they Keep Stuff Out (KSO). The downside is that they take a while to have your body adjust to the different muscles that are used when you run with the new "shoes." Running barefoot or with minimalists shoes moves your gait forward on your feet off of your heels and engages your calves more. It also seems to cause you to stand up a bit straighter. My lower back muscles were sore for a couple runs - although that seems to pass. My calves - particularly my right one- are still pretty sore immediately after the run, but they do seem to be recycling (for lack of a better word) much quicker than at the start.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how my body progresses with the new shoes.

NYC Marathon Race Report

2010-11-13T15:42:00.001-05:00

So it's taken me a couple days but I am finally getting around to doing a race report for NYC. First off everything went great and I finished in 5:31:49, with a smile. Now to the report.

First I need to thank many people.

My folks. They've been great, and my dad has been a trooper as he's recovered from prostate cancer and my mom has been wonderful supporting him. They're always and inspiration and I couldn't have done it without them.
Noel. She was an wonderful source of guidance and inspiration as I trained over the months for the race. She had helpful guidance and kept me injury free. More importantly, she also gave a ton of herself to make sure that the weekend was all about me and that I had a great time. She's simply great.
The munchkins. Jake, Sophie and Rebekah were rockstars. During training they never complained when I headed out for Sunday morning runs and were always excited when I got home. During race weekend they were amazing. There was never an "are we there yet" or a complaint about their sibling and they were a ton of fun to watch soak up all that is New York City. They were also an inspiration to see along the course. Noel and the kids spectated at miles 3, 7, and 18. They cheered great - and particularly at mile 18 - brought a smile to my face. Good job kids!
Zero - The Project to End Prostate Cancer. They organized a great lunch and with the $75,000 that last weekend's runners raised are going to be able to ensure that even more men detect prostate cancer early.
The people of New York City. All I can say is wow. For the 26.2 miles of the course there were people - often 5 deep - on each side of the course cheering on runners. There were folks handing out potato chips, bananas, paper towels and holding signs. The signs were great and inspiring. Some of my favorites included, "You're feet hurt becuase you kicking ass." "You're all Kenyans today." (which made me think of a funny video asking if the President is a Keynesian ... anyway) or at mile 24 "Your only fucking option is to finish." Also big props to the guy at mile 3 giving out "Free Hugs." I got a free hug and it was awe-some. If some one's only interaction with New Yorkers was at the marathon they wouldn't be able to come away with anything other than a glowing opinion of them.
Everyone who supported my fundraising. Quite simply I wouldn't have gotten there without you. Knowing I couldn't let you down helped me slog through the tough miles at the end.

Onto the race.

Race day started at 4:30 a.m. roughly (although the hotel folks decided to goof on DST can call me at 3:30 am). I rolled out of bed, got ready, did my stretches and headed out the door. We were staying over in New Jersey and I was taking the bus from the Meadowlands to Staten Island. We got there a little before six and I kissed Noel and loaded myself onto the bus (with my sleeping bag). The bus ride over was uneventful until we got to the staging area. The bus driver for some reason missed the drop off spot and started to get back on the highway towards New Jersey. We literally had to scream at her to stop the bus and let everyone off. She did and we ended up walking about a 1/4 mile back to the drop off. Not the end of the world.

The waiting at Staten Island was pretty uneventful. I did get to join a minyan with the JRunners while I waited which was an excellent way to spend some time before the race started. I also used the sleeping bag as a pillow to try to nap a bit.

The start was a bit more daunting than I had really considered. The race starts at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows bridge, so basically the first mile was a climb. It wasn't the end of the world for me but I didn't have to worry about going too fast and getting carried away. I quickly settled in to what would be a bit slower than usual pace.

After some of the downhill we were in Brooklyn. I think the first thing that struck me was that there were an amazing number of people in front of me. Forever. There were just little bobbing heads as far as I could see. This was in fact a very large race and there were definitely 45K people running this race.

Note Sophie's head and Bekah's pink beanie

I settled in and got ready for the long slog. Everything was going well. I wasn't running as fast as I had in my training runs, but I didn't really care and wanted to have fun with the race. At mile 3 I got my first glimpse of the crew. They were yelling on the side cheering for me and I was able to cut across the street and get a bunch of high-5s from my peeps.

They were able to give me the heads up that they would see me again around mile 7. This was good because there were so many folks along the course that it could be hard to find them. I was lucky that they realized that "Tom" and "Dad" we're going to work and they were going to have to signal me with "Tom Jones" to get my attention.

I'm the guy in the middle with the orange beanie

Bekah ran and screamed for me for a bit and Jake cruised along about a 1/2 block on his skateboard taking some pictures of me.

After mile seven, things went pretty well until roughly mile 10. And then I just started feeling like crap and not really wanting to run anymore.

At mile 10.
Things were going in the crapper.

I had a momentary bout of "Oh my goodness this day is going to be cut short before I even get to Manhattan." I refocused though and got through the momentary panic and reassured myself that I had run much farther than this for a long time and I could plow through. Whatever it was lifted early into mile 11, but thinking you've hit the wall at mile 10 of a 26.2 mile race is not a good feeling. Fortunately it passed.

I actually feel into a halfway decent stride between mile 11 and roughly mile 16 where we got to the Queensboro bridge. I had come to grips with being a bit slower than my usual pace, but I was moving with a good rythmn and was enjoying the hoods. When we turned onto the Queensboro the climb looked pretty steep, but I figured it was an on-ramp that would take us upto the deck of the bridge. After about 10 minutes of climbing the on-ramp I realized that this was the bridge and we were going to be climbing for a while. It was long and tiring, but I was able to distract myself with some spectacular views off the bridge of Manhattan. Sadly when we finished the climb we did not get an equally long respite on the downhill, but merely got a relatively steep off ramp onto 1st Avenue. Oh well.

Putting on a happy face

I started slogging up 1st avenue and caught the crew again at mile 18. I was feeling a bit rough and I suspect wasn't looking too good either, but it was a treat to see them again. I do wish I had some photos of the guys in their goofy hats. We all bought bright cheap beanies from a street vendor so we would be easy to identify in a crowd. The crew looked stylin in the $5 knit caps.

I actually got a second wind - or just blew whatever was in my tank as we headed into the Bronx. I went over the bridge into the Bronx strong and came out strong, but when I hit mile 22 ish, things started to try to go pear shaped. I had been good about not doing any walking and wanted to see if I could do the whole thing without any walking, but I finally got to the point where I needed to walk for a second. My friend Steve had told me not to walk, but in the event that you did walk, count to ten and on ten just start running. This strategy proved vital. The little walk breaks were rejuvenating, but I didn't want to let my body shut down and I didn't want to walk any more than I had to. I think all in all I probably walked a mile and a half for the whole race. But Steve's strategy worked and I was able to keep myself from shutting down and I was able to run across the finish line.

As the video show's I finished.

I will very very likely do another marathon. I think I will modify my training to make things a bit more rigorous though.

All in all it was an amazing adventure and very satisfying. I'm extremely glad I got to share it with Noel and the kids.

Thanks again for everyone's support and I look forward to keeping you updated on the blog as I train for more events.

BTW: you can see some photos of me here: http://www2.brightroom.com/browser.aspx?eid=62039&bib=52449

As If American’s Aren’t Fat Enough | Candid FitNut

2010-10-19T11:42:00.001-04:00

As If American’s Aren’t Fat Enough | Candid FitNut

I think this might have to be my post marathon meal in a couple weeks!!

It's all mental

2010-09-30T14:37:00.000-04:00

As you can see from my last post, my last run sucked. complete and total train wreck sucked. I was pretty demoralized afterwards, becuase I was convinced that I had broken something and the marathon training was coming off the tracks. To compound things, the muscle along the bottom of my foot (plantar fascia) was starting to hurt. I'd heard numerous horror stories from Noel's runner friends on how plantar fasciatis had sidelined them for prolonged periods of time. In the best "glass-half-full" tradition, I assumed that my foot was shot and I wasn't going to be able barely able to hobble for weeks.

Noel basically dug me out of ditch on this one. On the foot front, she had a frozen bottle of water in the freezer and had me do some rolling on the bottle right away and gave me some stretches that I should and shouldn't do to relax the muscles that were making my foot hurt. By Thursday my foot was feeling relatively normal and I seemed to have gotten past that problem.

I was still pretty worried about the run come Sunday morning. I was assuming that something horrible would happen when I got out on the trail - somehow last week all of my running ability had been sucked out of me and I was completely screwed.

Noel reminded me that sometimes you just basically have crappy runs, and that there were in fact some very real reasons for last week's anomoly (fasting and heat). And more importantly, it was going to be cool out that morning and I had eaten and hydrated properly the last couple days.

The run itself was pretty routine. I felt strong thoughout. It wasn't easy by any means --- 18 miles likely will never be, but I finished with Dizzee Rascal on the iPod and felt strong. The weather cooperated alot - it drizzled and stayed in the 60s...even dipping a bit to get almost cold for a few minutes. Also on Noel's advice I increased my fuel intake to not less than one Jelly Belly Sports Beans packet per hour.

Mentally and physically I felt very good about this run. I maintained a 10:30 pace which was strong for 18 miles for me.

Finally I capped the whole thing off with an ice cold chocolate mile. Best recovery drink ever. Feels good to be back on track.

What a miserable run

2010-09-20T22:42:00.000-04:00

So -- yesterday's run sucked. I'd like to come up with a more sophisticated way to phrase it, but suck really seems to sum it up.

It sucked pretty much from beginning to end. The plan was I would run a 3 mile loop at the beginning, 5.5 miles of trail out and then back and the same 3 mile loop at the end.

When I came out of the first loop I looked at my watch and I was 45 seconds off my usual pace. At 3 miles in. At that point I really should have just gotten back in my car and gone home. The next 11 miles got slower and I struggled back to the start feeling like crap but theoretically ready to do the last three. I really should have gotten in the car and gone home.

About a half mile into the last loop, I completely bonked. If you're not an endurance athlete:

Bonking is, of course, slang for running out of energy during exercise. It usually happens when the working muscles run low on glycogen, which is the body's limiting fuel source for sustained activity.

Bonking is bad. It sucks all the life out of you and its pretty darn demoralizing to boot. Think on your knees trying to find the energy to walk. After the run, I ate a burger and a milkshake, watched maybe an hour of football and fell asleep somewhere around 5:30 and pretty much slept until the next morning. My body stopped working somewhere around mile 14 and cashed its chips in for the rest of the weekend right there.

Fortunately I can pretty much locate all the causes of this disaster.

I'm a lazy slob and didn't listen to my wife (always a recipe for disaster) and start my run at 6:30 like I should have...instead I slept in and rolled out at 10:45 to start my run at 11:30 (first person to leave a comment on where the sun is during an 11:30 to 3ish run wins a prize)
I didn't eat at all for 25 hours on the proceeding day.
I didn't eat enough during my run.

So a couple things. Fasting the day before a 17 mile run, is likely a bad idea. I clearly didn't pull it off well and I clearly didn't fuel up properly at the all you can eat Chinese place the night before. Starting the day of the run with a bowl of oatmeal is clearly not enough fuel for a long run. Lesson learned - eat regularly the day before and fuel up the morning of.

When it looks like its going to get hot out, and its 64 degrees in the morning, run when its 64. Don't wait around until its 69 and rising to venture out to the largely shadeless trail to run in the heat as its rising to 85 degrees. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

Finally I somehow didn't eat enough food. I need to crank up the number of calories I am putting into my body during my run. Somehow I am not disciplining myself to do this ... have to be aiming for ~200 per hour.

So some days you have good runs and some days you have bad ones. I'm not going to let this get me down because, I''m pretty sure the fast was not coordinated well with the run. Also I've done 14 miles at least 6 times before without these problems.

18 miles next week.

16 in the Rain

2010-09-12T22:24:00.000-04:00

I was awoken at 6 am by pouring rain. When it's loud enough to stir me from a sleep it's raining pretty hard. I had pushed the weekend run to Sunday so I was figuring that I was going to have to run in a frog-strangler. I went back to bed flirting with various scenarios to postpone my run -- I'd do 16 after work on Monday (nothing makes more sense than running until 9:30 at night in the district), I'd do the run after dinner in Edgewater (ditto on late night running in AA Co.) or I'd just blow it off and wait another week (unlike the President of Turkenistan I can't manipulate the calendar and I have increasing increments of runs each week between now and Nov. 7th - there are no spare weeks)

So after a few hours of fitful sleep mulling over various implausible excuses to not drag my butt out and run in the rain, I woke up and went and checked out the weather.

Fortunately the frogs were no longer being strangled, but it was still raining. The little indoor/outdoor thermometer thing on top of my TV said it was 64 degrees out --- nearly perfect running temp, so I really had no good excuse not to get out on the road. So I packed the girls up for Hebrew School and started my long run.

The rain was one of those persistant mists that just keeps blowing a constant spray in your face, but doesn't sting and never really pushes you around. I suspect it's what it's like to run in Seattle.

The run itself was pretty good. I increased the quantity of hills by starting the run at the synagogue and heading over an overpass and up a hill before I got back to the Naval Academy bridge. The NA Bridge was at mile 4 and by then i was getting into my groove and feeling fairly strong. I was trying to dose out the energy in a relatively even pace and not dump it all out in the first few miles. I maintained a roughly 10:10 pace through mile 8. I turned around and headed back to the beginning, where I promptly lost the satellites on the Garmin and any idea of what kind of pace I was putting up.

I felt strong throughout the run. I think I probably averaged around a 10:30 pace for the last 8 miles. I don't have an exact time for the run, but I didn't feel pooped at the end and feel very ready to put up 17 next week.

All in all once I was soaked - which was about 5 minutes in - the run was very enjoyable. Because of the rain, I pretty much had the trail and roads to myself. I saw maybe 5 runners and 5 bikes - which is astonishing for a fall Sunday morning - and a squad of mids doing PT. One guy had gotten shelled out that back, but had his buddy running with him entreating him to "keep up the pace." Always impressive young men.

I felt good when I got home and I got a "Give me a D" "D" A D D Y from Noel and Bekah when I came in. As always, Team Jones is super supportive.

Here's my course:
<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/united-states/md/annapolis/624128425703372846">16 miler out of synagouge</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-route/united-states/md/annapolis">Find more Others in Annapolis, Maryland</a>

Good week of training

2010-09-11T11:13:00.001-04:00

I had a nice week of training. Rocked the cross training this week. Had a nice road bike ride with Noel on Monday from the house to the naval academy golf course. Being that it was Labor day the roads were pretty empty, making for a nice ride. Tuesday night I did a nice six mile run from my office down the mall and around the Lincoln Memorial. Thursday night I jumped on with the MORE MTB riders and did a cross practice/mtb ride over in Fort DuPont. Fort DuPont is a hidden gem over in Anacostia -- 10 minute ride from the Hill where you can hit some decent trails close to home. The trails are well maintained and theres some nice swooping up and down some hills.

Other than the two flats and me forgetting to bring a spare or a pump, the ride was great and nice to try to sharpen the bike handling skills in advance of 'cross season starting in a couple of weeks.

With fall starting it looks like we might be in for a prolonged period of nice weather. I'm going out tomorrow morning to knock out a 16 mile run. Longest run evah. I'm optimistic that it'll go well. More details soon.

<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/route///"></a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-route//">Find more Runs in , </a>
<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/route///"></a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-route//">Find more Runs in , </a>

A mile a week

2010-09-07T00:29:00.002-04:00

I'm doing my darndest to keep true to my training plan. This week I knocked out 15 miles (up a mile from last week's 14). I was able to keep a 10:30 pace for the duration of the run. It's not the 4 hour 40 minute pace I wanted to aim for for the marathon, but it is a sub 5 hour marathon....although considering the cliff that my splits fell off of on the last couple miles of Saturday's run, I might be timing the last few miles of the marathon with a calendar (if I can ever figure out how to display the splits you'll see things going awry). In fairness to me though, I do seem to run better when I am running with thousands of my friends. Since there will be 35,000 of my closests friends with me in NYC I will hopefully get a huge boost.

As for the run itself, it wasn't too bad. I started at the local grocery store on the other side of the Naval Academy bridge. By doing that I tossed two significant (the bridge) and two more minor hills into the run. Since I am going to be climbing who knows how many bridges during the marathon, I figured that I should do some hill climbing.

The first climb over teh bridge wasn't too bad. Considering I was about 3/4 of a mile into the run this shouldn't have been any surprise. I ran the rest of the way up to the B&A trail which I've done at least 15 times in the past. It's a pretty well traveled route and on a beautiful Saturday morning there were tons of bikers, runners and families out traveling the trail. It was nice to have such beautiful weather to share a good run with my neighbors.

As an aside, leaves are starting to fall already and it's only a matter of time before the trails are littered with beautiful, albeit dangerous, orange and yellow leaves. The end of summer is upon us.

The duration of the run on the B&A was unremarkable. I did enjoy listening to Dizzee Rascal a bunch of times along the trail. Dirtee Disco is a quality running track.

The run on the way back over the bridge was considerably less fun. Intellectually I know it wouldn't have been faster walking, but the pathetic way I was trudging up the bridge half hunched over was a bit demoralizing. I got to the top though and I finished the last 3/4 mile strong and not dead.

I got back to Grauls, downed a bottle of milk chocolate, a ginseng tea, pint of limeade and 4 Enduralites. I need to keep the salt in otherwise I get a killer headache. I headed home, cleaned up and took a nap.

All in all a good run, and while I don't know that I would have wanted to do another 11 on Saturday, I think if I had had to I certainly could have. I'm feeling good that by the time the marathon comes that I will be able to put in 26.2 without it completely killing me.

Below are the details on the run.

<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/md/annapolis/3613378878">15 Mile Training Run Over Naval Acad. Bridge and on B&A Trail</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/md/annapolis">Find more Runs in Annapolis, Maryland</a>

As always, you can donate here: http://tinyurl.com/TomJZERO to support my run.

Justin Gimelstob Likes Odds of Completing Marathon - Andy Roddick Does Not - NYTimes.com

2010-09-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

Ok - I'm not this bad, but there are times when its been tough..

Justin Gimelstob Likes Odds of Completing Marathon - Andy Roddick Does Not - NYTimes.com: "The highest tennis ranking he attained was No. 63 in 1999. Over his career, he has had 29 cortisone injections. He has a surgically implanted screw in his left foot and, as he explained, he sweats while brushing his teeth. Gimelstob is more likely to cramp up into the fetal position than run 26.2 miles in less than five hours, but those who saw him scratch his way through a 12-year tennis career say his determination will prevail."

I'm confident he can do it. If he's had the commitment to become a professional tennis player he's got to have some serious mental toughness.

Also I'm going to highlight this article next time my wife points out to the spin instructor at 24 Hour Fitness that "I'm a sweater" and asks that the fans be turned on.

Upping the miles

2010-08-31T14:15:00.001-04:00

I'm finally on my way to upping the miles in preparation for the NYC Marathon. The Marathon is a little more than 10 weeks out and I'm at 14 miles now. I'll tack on roughly 1 mile a week to my long runs and in the next 6 weeks or so I should be up around 20 where I need to be in advance of the marathon.

So far I feel pretty good about things. The hot weather has to break some time soon and we should get some nice fall running weather in the next few weeks that will make the running a much more enjoyable. I feel comfortable that I can tack on the miles without too much difficulty...ask me again when I get to mile 20 how I am feeling about that.

Other than that I am just focusing on the fundraising. I am about $1500 short of the minimum I pledged to raise for Zero - The Project to End Prostate Cancer, but I am confident I can raise that by the deadline of October 1st.

I would love if you would be able to help out with a donation by clicking here.

Thanks again for all your help....below is a map of my latest run.

Bangkok - summer in the city??

2010-08-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

Lots of time on a plane....20 hours in the air, ~28 door to door.
Slept alot on the plane. Went out and ran tonight. A nice 4.5 miler in bangkok. It had cooled off a little bit so the weather wasn't too bad, but it was still pretty hot. Streets were deserted which was great for running, but the park I wanted to run though was closed, so I ended up running around it.

I'm looking forward to running when the sun's out so I can see some of the sights.

Alrighty. Its 2 am. Off to bed. Here's the map of where I ran.

<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/thailand/silom,-bangkok/938128189839892302">08/16/2010 Night Run in Bangkok - Hotel to around Lumphini Parkand back</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/thailand/silom,-bangkok">Find more Runs in Silom, Bangkok, Thailand</a>

When's this heat going to lift

2010-08-09T17:50:00.000-04:00

The heat around here has still be pretty oppressive. I've even resorted to the occasional treadmill run when its gotten too bad out.

I was pleased last Saturday when we got a short lived break in the weather to be able to run in 70 degree weather. I was able to put in 12.25 miles at a 10:15 pace, which was extremely exciting for me after way too many 12:00 minute paces in 95 degree heat.

This week we're on staycation with the kids so I will try to grab some runs here and there before heading out of town next week.

Other than that I am still plugging away on the fundraising and could still use your help. If you want to click here to make a donation, I would really appreciate it.

Still Chugging Along

2010-07-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Things on the training front are still going relatively well. Per Noel's suggestion I have dialed back the milage a little bit lately from the 16 that I topped out at a couple weeks back. I've been doing 10s and 12s lately, with some short week night training thrown in here and there. Jake's also going out for JV soccer this fall so we've been practicing after work some nights, so I've been supplementing the straight running with some soccer practice. I've also been keeping on the bike. I've started to see announcements for cyclocross races come through my emails, so I am starting to realize that I need to get some cycling miles in to be ready for 'cross in the fall. Had a great ride with Josh from the team last week and he stomped on me on the hills so I'm going to need to do some hill work before the season starts.

The cut back in running miles has actually been nice considering the weather in the mid-Atlantic lately. Its just been to plain hot to run. Hopefully that will break soon.

Other stuff is pretty quiet. I am of course still fundraising. I got a nice mention on dcBlogs and welovedc of my recent fundraising solicitation. You can of course click here to support my fundraising efforts.

I'm also thinking of running the River Valley Ranch 10k if my schedule permits this summer. Looks like it should be a fun trail run.

This Prostate Exam Sponsored By:

2010-06-17T17:28:00.002-04:00

Many fundraising races offer you the opportunity to "sponsor" athletes as they train and compete in endurance events. Some people offer the opportunity to "sponsor a mile" in their marathon or sponsor a message on their cycling jersey.

I'm offering you the opportunity to sponsor a prostate exam for that special man in your life.

Yes, you read that correctly. A prostate exam. Yeah it's what you think. Talking about it makes us uncomfortable - maybe a bit squeamish, maybe it even makes you blush, but it's a deadly serious subject and men - dads in particular - need to be thinking about it. And that's where I come in. For a donation ($100 wouldn't hurt but any amount is greatly appreciated) to my campaign to raise funds for the Zero - The Project to End Prostate Cancer, I will take the bullet for you and bring up the awkward subject with that man in your life. I'll offer two options - a heartfelt handwritten note from me letting him know that you've asked me to reach out to him and let him know that he needs to head to the doctor and get a prostate exam - or - if you'd prefer, I'd be happy to pick up the phone and call him and discuss with him the importance of getting to the doctor.

I can't think of anything more important this Father's day than helping the Dad in your life stay healthy. Whether it's your dad, your nephew's Dad, or your son's dad, this Father's day is the perfect time to make sure they're getting a prostate exam.

As you may know, my Dad is recovering from prostate cancer. We discovered it when he was hospitalized while we were in California for my wedding. He's doing very well now and I'm looking forward to many more Father's days with him. Unfortunately, prostate cancer killed my uncle. And sadly it's going to kill many more men. "Prostate cancer deaths are expected to jump 17 percent this year," according to estimates based on National Cancer Institute data. It doesn't have to be that way though. If prostate cancer is diagnosed before it spreads, a patient has a 99 percent survival rate for five years.

Dad's have enough ties and barbecue tools. This year get him a gift that really matters. Have me explain to him how important it is to you that he has a doctor poke around his bum to make sure he's healthy. It very well could save his life. Next year you can buy him an ugly tie and let him burn some steaks.

Your donation will support the work of Zero – The Project to End Prostate Cancer which funds testing, education and research on prostate cancer. Please click here to donate.

16 and 1 - 1

2010-06-13T12:59:00.001-04:00

So I set out to do a 15 miler yesterday morning. Running from roughly downtown Annapolis through some of the neighborhoods and back. Noel and I set out together with her planning on doing 7ish and me planning on doing the 15. Since it was another one of these typical hot and humid days in Maryland it was moderately oppressive when we started out so I forced Noel to chug along at a roughly 10:30 pace....which I've become convinced is my "hot pace."

As for the run itself it went pretty well. We did 7 miles through the largely shadeless streets of Annapolis to one of the parks in the area - "Quiet Waters" park. At that point Noel peeled off and headed back to the car and I put in the rest of my miles. Since we were at the park I decided that I should duck into the park and run on their trails where I'd be in the shade. There is a nice paved shaded trail in the park that runs for roughly a mile and a half. I did two out and backs on that and headed back towards the car. I put in another three miles finishing up right over the Annapolis/Eastport bridge and turned left onto Duke of Glouster street which heads uphill to State Circle. I quickly discovered that I really wasn't up for an uphill run. I called it a day and walked back to the car.

As for the run it wasn't too bad. The heat was pretty oppressive, but I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with that. Fortunately the marathon will be in November so heat shouldn't be much of an issue there. I had some mysterious pain across the top of my foot between miles 8 and ~11 but it seemed to work itself out so I am not too concerned about that. I speculate it was related to the wonkyness of the trail I was running on (roots and stuff across the trail). I also managed my sodium intake much better this run. I dumped in 6 Endurolyte tables during my run. With the way I sweat, this was probably even lowballing it for me. But I did notice that the post hot run headaches that I had been experiencing lately was only mildly present in the aftermath of this run. To be fair though, this wasn't completely scientific because I finished off my run with a bloody mary and two Genius Stouts at Ram's Head tavern. Endurolytes of stouts...who know's. Guess I'll just have to have a stout after everyrun...you know for science.

I did experience some pretty significant pain after my run though. I had what I would characterize as significant soreness from about mid calf to mid thigh in both legs. I walked this off for about and hour and by the time I had finished up lunch of nachos and onion rings (and the drinks mentioned above) at the Ram's Head, I felt reasonable.

I banked 15 hours of sleep last night and by the time I woke up this morning I felt great. I jumped on Mapmyrun.com this morning and I discovered that I hadn't run the 15 miles that I planned to run, but I had in fact run 16 miles. Noel tells me that 16 miles and beyond is the point where things start to break and you need to start being careful with your long runs. I have 4 months until the race, so I can take it pretty easy on the build up. She's putting together a training schedule for me so we'll see what the next few Saturday and Sunday mornings have in store for me.

All in all I think m performance was mich like that of the United State team vs. England yesterday - respectful but not outstanding and still leaving room for improvement. Also for those of you who are curious why it was vs. England and not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, here's the wiki on why.

Also, keep an eye on the blog this week. I'm going to have a Father's day related sponsorship opportunity available in the next couple days.

Map of the run below:
&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt;a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">href="http://www.<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">md/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">annapolis/196127643130949594">16 Mile Training Run&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt;/a>&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt;<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">br/>&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt;a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">href="http://www.<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">md/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">annapolis">Find more Runs in Annapolis, Maryland&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt;/a>

I always thought it was "because he can"

2010-06-08T20:13:00.000-04:00

Turns out it's in the service of science:

Dogs may be able to sniff out the smell of chemicals released into urine by prostate tumors, setting the stage for a new means of early prostate cancer detection.

Full story at WebMD. (Its really good news.)

No, it really is the heat

2010-06-08T20:03:00.000-04:00

Those of you who live in the greater DC area, know we've just rolled through a bit of a mild heat wave. We had a stretch there where we knocked out a couple 95 degree days. I had the poor sense to run in those temperatures, a couple times at mid day. Which in hindsight was just plain dumb. It was also a bit demoralizing, because my pace was getting it's ass kicked. I was starting to think that the strong time that I posted up in Providence was an aberration and my running strength had gone to poo.

Turns out I think it might have just been the heat (although the humidity didn't help either). I went out thonight in lovely 75 degree weather and felt very strong. Did a nice 6 mile run from my office to the Lincoln Memorial and back and felt really good when I finished. Although I didn't have my Garmin with me so I might just be imagining I have more ability than I do.

Anyway, provided greater DC doesn't see another day this summer over 75 degree I should be golden.

Some times you have great runs

2010-05-30T21:29:00.001-04:00

and sometimes you don't. Yesterday was one of the don'ts. I'm slowly but surely adding a mile every couple weeks to my distance until I get up to 20 miles in advance of the marathon. I went out yesterday and did my longest run of 14 miles. I've done 13.1 a couple times, but this was quite a bit tougher. In hindsight I think there were a couple things that sent the run off the rails.

Starting too late in the day. I started at 11:45. I think I may have picked the hottest part of the day. Dumb. Its cooler in the morning and the sun isn't directly overhead.
I didn't really fuel up properly in the morning. I started the day with a bowl of chocolate mini wheats. Not even close to the breakfast of champions.
I decided to fuel up mid run with 2 chocolate covered Oreos at mile 9. This was just to not feel so bad about only spending $3 on the charge card at the take out place. In hindsight, pure knucklehead.

So between the height of the day heat, the poor nutrition, and eating Oreos, my stupidity conspired to make for a really bad run. Oh yeah, and at mile 3 I realized that I hadn't cover/lubricated my nipples (pretty sure those last 4 words are going to make for some great referrals in the traffic stats) so I got to run 11 miles without a shirt on...that alternative being chaffed / bleeding nipples. It was one of those runs where I would look at the Garmin and see my pace and convince myself that the GPS was hinky and I was really farther than it thought and was clearly miscalculating my distance....nope, I was just running really slowly.

That all being said, I slogged out the 14 miles. Farther than I've ever gone and I don't feel like death today (YAY!) and I am going to get the bike out tomorrow and ride a bit with my honey. So all in all I count it as a victory.

I have learned though, that my next long run is going to start with the old faithful of a bowl of oatmeal, will begin early in the morning, and won't include any Oreos. And my nipple with be properly prepared.

Hopefully this will lead to better results. 15 miles in a couple weeks. Details below.

The Latest Happenings

2010-05-11T18:25:00.002-04:00

A couple good points to note.

I've had great support from donors. I'm 23% to my goal of raising $3,500 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. I really appreciate it. Your support is providing vital services to fathers, sons, husbands, brother and uncles everywhere. Thanks! If you'd like to make a donation please click here. Checks are always welcomed as well. Please email me and I can give you my home address.

For those of you in the DC Area:

DASH FOR DAD, the premier prostate cancer race series in the U.S., is a heartfelt tight-knit community event that brings together athletes, cancer survivors, physicians, caregivers, family members and friends. Proceeds from each 10K race are used to provide free prostate cancer testing for men in the local community of the event.

Is coming to Alexandria. This is a great way to help out the cause and run a little shorter route. The run through Alexandria should be great and a lot of fun.

On the running side, I think I might have gotten the trail running bug. As you might remember from my last post, Noel and I spent some time on the trails when we were up in Rhode Island. I had so much fun up there that I decided that I would do one of my long runs on the trail down here this weekend. I decided to head to Patapsco Valley State Park outside of Baltimore and put in roughly 12 miles on the trails. I figure a good 12 miles on the trails would be like 14 on the road. I'm not sure if that's the right conversion, but it was a blast and did kick the daylights out of me.

A couple things I discovered. Mentally trail running is a lot more taxing and challenging. You've got to keep your eyes on the trail constantly and think about how you're going to run all the time. I ran without my iPod and my brain was constantly working (especially when I got off the GPS track a couple times. ) I also noticed that its a lot harder, which is great. It took me 3 and half hours to run roughly 12 miles. Last week it took me 2 hours 8 minutes to run 13 miles on the road. I had a blast though and always had something to focus on out in the woods. (BTW: there are a ton of busy woodpeckers in that forest. It's a shock that there are any trees left.) I was also completely spent at the end of the run. I had to duck into the local Burger King on the way home and try the new Burger King A1 Steakhouse XT Burger (which I heartily recommend once in a great while.)

I am considering investing in some trail specific shoes and need some help from friends to find some other trails...especially those a little close to Annapolis. (comments please)

The map of my run is below (it only says 11.2 but I ran a little extra...trust me.)

Other than that, that's about it. I'll be doing another fundraising appeal in a week or so and may plan an auction / happy hour for the summer.

Thanks again everyone.
<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/md/-patapsco-valley-state-park/833127361524977093">Trail Running in Patapsco - 5-9-10</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/md/-patapsco-valley-state-park">Find more Runs in Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland</a>

Yeah, they're margarita flavored clif shots...you got a problem with that??

2010-05-06T17:53:00.002-04:00

Hi. My name's Noel. Why are you taking my picture?

2010-05-06T17:51:00.002-04:00

Looking strong....and curious.

Looking Less Happy Here at the Finish Line

2010-05-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

Feeling Happy and Strong Near the End of the Race

2010-05-06T17:46:00.000-04:00

I think this was somewhere around mile 10

Providence Half

2010-05-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

So Noel and I had a great marathon / half marathon weekend up in Providence. Most importantly, we had a great time hanging out together enjoying each other's company and poking around Providence.

A couple quick observations about Providence.

There are "Hot Wieners" (NY or Conney Island System) everywhere.
The city seems to have a higher than average share of strip clubs.
There are alot of psychics; and
Everyone must be getting tattoos.

That aside though, we did have a nice time in Providence. I think we covered a fair portion of the city in our 4 day weekend up there. We hit the Italian section of town for lunch one day (yum handmade gnocchi), had goat with some friends in the Latino part of town another night, and did a little bit of shopping here and there the other days. We stayed at the Johnson and Wales Inn and enjoyed the hospitality of the students.

A couple times we were able to head over to the James V. Turner Reservoir down the street from the hotel and do some trail running around the reservoir. The community has done a great job preserving the area around the reservoir and the trails were in great shape (in spite of the recent flooding). The first night we got there and hit the trail as the sun was setting and were able to watch the sun set through pines around the water. We were also able to have a nice stretch out run on Saturday morning the day before the race. Both very enjoyable and a running treat. I truly enjoyed the trail running and might have to find some good trails back home.

The race itself was excellent. We were blessed with some really great weather. It was lightly overcast with temperatures right around 70 at the start of the race. Other than the promoters putting the port-a-johns in the same space as the starting corrals, the start came off without a hitch. (BTW: I think the announcer might have been phil liggett, but that' just speculation)

The first couple miles were nice, snaking out of the downtown core and through the area around Brown and RISD. Beautiful communities and the only real hill on the course. I didn't feel great at the beginning, but I think I am finding it takes my legs a little while to open up.

By about mile four I really started to feel strong. I had my garmin with me so I could tell that I was doing a 6 mph pace keeping myself right at my 10 min pace. This was feeling good on a long stretch out along what looks like a municipal park of some sort (that we would come back along later).

In the mid miles I largely continued to feel good, pushing myself a bit, but not so hard that I'd be out of gas at mile 10. I started to feel a bit rough around mile 8 / 9 but was able to chug through it and felt better after we did a short downhill and got along the water around mile 10.

I don't know that there was any point where I knew I was going to do really well, but when I hit mile 10 I remember the timing sign saying 1:40. Knowing that it took me a couple minutes to cross the start line and that I had to take my shoe off at mile two to clear a rock, I knew I was running well below my goal and if I could keep on trucking along at the pace that I had been I would beat my goal.

Miles 11 through the end were pretty uneventful and were just a matter of slogging things out and getting to the end. I would note though that you're ever cheering on a race, never ever tell someone that they're "almost there." Especially not at mile 11.5. Until you cross the line you still have a ways to go. Clap and yell. I suspect most folks either know what mile they're at or are doing their best to be wilfully ignorant and are in their happy place. Shouting that "you only have a mile and half to go" at mile 11.5 is just mean.

I finished strong (although not as strong as the guy next to me who dipped into the suitcase of courage and sprinted across the finish line.) I was able to get cleaned up and go cheer for the marathoners and wait for Noel as she came across with a really strong time.

I feel really good about my performance. I think the training is working and my body is handling the runs better. I will say though that I could have put another mile or two in after the race, but my body still has a ways to go until it can get to 20....but I've got a couple months and alot of training miles.

All in all a great success all around.

I'm in!

2010-05-02T10:50:00.001-04:00

PR'd
2:08:28
9:49 pace
34 seconds faster pace than last half.
More details later.

This weekend.

2010-04-18T20:55:00.001-04:00

So I didn't quite get as much done as I would have liked, but I did get in the long run which was the main focus of the weekend. Events overtook the day on Sunday and I didn't get out and get on the bike. I did get alot accomplished around the house though.

The 13 mile run went relatively well. I headed out over a local bridge straight into the wind. Back down back into Edgewater. More wind. The first seven miles were relatively uneventful, if not a bit windy. As I turned back in for the second six, I started getting a few twinges in the right calf I blew up a couple months ago. I was able to take a few moments, pause, and stretch my calf a bit. I seemed to do that trick and I finished up the 13 feeling tired and sore, but not at all injured. I'm thinking that doing another 13 weekend after next should be completely manageable (I think I'll be doing the Providence Half while Noel does the full.)

This week we'll be getting ready for Jacob's Bar Mitzvah so I expect that I won't be running to much. Maybe I can take advantage of the 24 hour part of 24Hour Fitness next week and squeeze some workouts in.

Also thanks again to everyone who has supported my run. Click here to help.

Here's the map of yesterday's run.
<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/md/essex/565127151168632480">13 mile through londontown and along solomon's island</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/md/essex">Find more Runs in Essex, Maryland</a>

Training is going well.

2010-04-16T09:47:00.000-04:00

Training is progressing along decently. I got a ride in on Monday and ran a couple miles and hit a yoga class last night at 24 Hour Fitness. (BTW: those of you who do yoga in Annapolis should check out Di's classes at 24 Hour or Prana. Challenging and reinvigorating)

Anyway, I've noticed a bit more recently that my body is clearly unbalanced. My right side is visibly stronger and has much better balance that my left. I'm not sure how I fix this though. I've thrown single leg spins into some of my rides to try to strengthen the left leg, but I don't really think there is an equivalent running exercise. Should I hop a half mile every few miles??

This weekend looks good. Looks like a long run (maybe 13 miles) on Saturday morning and a ride some time Sunday, to spin out the junk and get the cycling fitness up.

In addition to NYC Marathon, Noel and I are tentatively planning on doing the Philadelphia Colnago Gran Fondo. It seems like it should be a lot of fun...a little less casual than some rides, but not a hammerfest by any means. I've ridden outside of Philly in the past and the roads a good and the terrain fairly challenging. I'm optimistic that it'll work in the schedule.

Things are good. I'm still holding my weight at 198, which as I've mentioned on FB is a big accomplishment for me (lowest weight since college), but is still about 18 lbs over where I want to be. If you see me with a cookie, slap it out of my hand and scold me.

Kicking Prostate Cancer's Butt

2010-04-12T15:05:00.000-04:00

As some of you may have heard, on November 7, 2010 I'm going to be running the New York City Marathon as a fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. I've done a half marathon in the past, but this will be my first full distance marathon. I'm both excited and pretty intimidated. I'm confident I can do it, but there's going to be alot of work between my current fitness level which comfortably takes me 13 miles and a level of fitness that will allow me to comfortably finish the 26.2 miles in Central Park this fall.

The reason I'm doing this is simple - prostate cancer killed my uncle and could have killed my dad.

I headed west last summer and got married to my wonderful wife Noel. We were married in San Diego and spent the week out there with the kids. My parents joined us for a part of the week.

On Thursday my dad called me at 5 am saying he was sick and needed me to come down to his room. The fact that it was 5 a.m. and my dad wasn't just toughing it out was a clear red flag that it was something big.

Without going in to too much detail, Dad's gall bladder had called it a day. As part of the diagnosis of Dad's troubles the hospital ran a bevy of diagnostics. One of those was an MRI of his abdomen. This discovered a spot on his kidney. Turned out it was probably stage 2 or 3 cancer. Had Dad not gotten sick there would have been no reason to MRI his abdomen and the cancer would still be on his kidney doing the nasty things it does. And even though my dad had been vigilant about getting prostate screenings - after losing his brother - during blood
work at the hospital they discovered problems with his prostate. Turns out there was cancer there too.

Fortunately they caught the cancers early enough and after a couple surgeries, my Dad's healthy again and cancer free.

Not everyone's dad is that lucky though. Estimates are that 28,660 American men lost their lives to prostate cancer in 2008.

Fortunately, prostate cancer can be beat. That's why I'm running. Annual screening saves lives. One man in every six will get prostate cancer during his lifetime, but if caught early, nearly 100 percent survive. ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer - http://www.zerocancer.org/ - has some great resources that explain how prostate cancer can be kept at bay.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I'm running the marathon as a fundraiser to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation. I've committed to raise $3,500 to support the programs of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund ZERO's efforts to end prostate cancer by providing comprehensive treatment information to patients, education to those at risk, and conducting more free screenings than ever before. By clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/TomJZERO you can donate online to support my race and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. If you'd prefer to donate with a check, please send me an email at tom.jones@gmail.com and I will send you my address.

Thanks in advance for your support of my race and the fight against prostate cancer.

In NYC Marathon

2010-04-08T16:57:00.001-04:00

Hey guys - I'm going to have a more thorough posting on this in the next couple days, but I did want to let everyone know (yes, both of my readers) that on November 7th I will be running the New York Marathon - my first marathon - as a fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. More details to come.

Coming Soon

2010-03-05T14:40:00.002-05:00

So i am tee-d up for running the B&A Half Marathon this weekend. I'm feeling good. I've accidentally run over 13 miles before (missed some turn arounds) so I feel pretty good about my ability to run the 13.1.

Also coming soon, I'm going to be doing some fundraising for the New York Marathon. I'm tentatively planning to run teh NYC Marathon with the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It also means I might be asking you for a few bucks to support prostate cancer research and treatment. I'll write soon about the half and then more details will come on the marathon.

Snowpocalypse Run

2010-02-09T16:09:00.005-05:00

So I was able to get my "10 Miler" in yesterday. I was supposed to have been Saturday but training was cancelled because of the storm.

Looks like fundraising and training with the Prostate Cancer Foundation will be a go this year, and depending on whether Noel gets into the NYC Marathon via the lottery we will either do NYC or Chicago. More details to come.

<a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/run/united-states/md/edgewater/857126574942971981">02/08/2010 Snowpocalypse Run</a> <a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/find-run/united-states/md/edgewater">Find more Runs in Edgewater, Maryland</a>

A Thankful Recap

2009-11-30T00:10:00.000-05:00

I should have written this post a couple days ago, but better late than never...so here it is...a short summary of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for:

Noel. My wife Noel has and continues to be a fun, lovely, supportive and wonderful friend. She makes every day more manageable. Without her with me over the last year, things wouldn't have been manageable.
My parents. My mother and father have given me the skills to be a productive and happy person. They're responsible for the person I am today.
The Kids. The munchkins are wonderful. Jacob, Bekah and Sophie are wonderfully smart, caring and loving little people who are almost always a joy to be around. ;-) They make every day an adventure and are a joy to parent. I look forward to getting to watch them grown into good and happy adults.
My dad getting sick in San Diego. As some of you may know on the Thursday of the week we were in San Diego for our wedding (we got married on Monday) my dad called me at 5 am saying he was sick and needed me to come down to his room. Without going in to too much detail, Dad's gall bladder had called it a day. As part of the diagnosis of Dad's troubles the hospital ran a bevy of diagnostics. One of those was an MRI of his abdomen. This discovered a spot on his kidney. Turned out it was probably stage 2 or 3 cancer. Had Dad not gotten sick there would have been no reason to MRI his abdomen and the cancer would still be on his kidney doing the nasty things it does. Additionally while he was in the hospital in San Diego they discovered that his prostate wasn't exactly looking right. Turns out there was cancer there too. By the end of the year Dad will have all the cancer out and will be back to full working order.
Doctors and Geeks. See above. Without thousands of people I've never met there wouldn't be MRIs and biopsies. There were scores of doctors and nurses we've dealt with who have diagnosed and treated my dad effectively. These folks have spent tons of years in school learning a profession that saves their neighbors. Thanks.
Cross and running. I'm not saying I am thankful for Sven Nys, but I am thankful that I am blessed with good health and have the good fortune to be able to go out on the weekend and enjoy myself on a bike or on the road. I'm healthier than most (although not as fit as I'd like to be) and even though it requires work, I'm joyous than my body continues to work well.
My Job. I've got the good fortune to work for a Senator I believe in and work on issues I really care about. I get to put my meager skills to the service of my nation in a way I really enjoy. If you like what I do, getting to work in the US Senate is like playing third base for the Orioles (in the years before Angelos bought the team.)

That's not the complete list, but it's a list that I needed to start. To all of you who have had a part in the above, Thank You.

MABRA State Cross

2009-11-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'm not up for writing too long of a report on today's race, but I will say that I enjoyed the race and did ok. I didn't race super well and didn't race super poorly. I'm going to have to spend sometime in the woods next years working a little more on my bike handling so that when I get to muddy sloppy courses like today's I won't be loosing so much time making stupid mistakes in the corners and the mud.

The course was much wetter and muddy than folks expected. It had been windy and dry for at least 4 days, but we got what might have been the muddiest course of the season that than Granogue.

For those of you who are interested here are some photos:

Stress Management

2009-11-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

So I headed back up to Hopkins today for a stress test. As some of you might remember, I've got less than a 100% functional heart. A couple years ago I was diagnosed with some heart problems. Turns out I have AFib and my doctors prescribed a couple drugs to keep it under control.

These drugs keep my heart from getting itself caught up in run away beats. This is good.

These drugs also suppress my heart rate. Which normally isn't an issue. On them I have a resting heart rate of ~43 beats per minute. This is the type of heart rate that an elite athlete has. While I am in good shape - I am not by any means an elite athlete. What's more troubling about the drugs is that they shave a whole bunch of beats of my max heart rate. In fact my normal heart rate max should be somewhere around 184 bps. Unfortunately when I maxed out on the treadmill and had to bail off during the stress test today, I was only chugging along at 150 beats per minute. Normally this isn't an issue, but when I am trying to keep myself moving during a race, shaving 30 to 40 beats per minute off my heart rate means that there is less blood going to my legs and less oxygen being delivered to my muscles and therefore my muscles fatigue more rapidly. At least that's the theory (which my cardiologist seemed to agree with).

So the doc has shaved the dose of my prescriptions down a bit in hopes that we'll be able to find a dose keeps the a-fib in check but also lets me crank my heart rate up to where it needs to be when I am exercising. I'll let you know how it works out. 'Cross your fingers!

More to come

2009-11-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit behind on the blogging, but I'll be doing a bit more in the next couple days. I've got Taccinno tomorrow morning out at Rosaryville, and I did All Hallows last week. I'll also be blogging on some of the training tips in The Complete Book of Cyclocross.

Until then, some slightly old photos from DCCX. Tag yourself if you're in one of the photos.

Cross Season in Full Swing

2009-10-18T11:38:00.001-04:00

Well I've raced in four races this year, and I feel like I'm racing a bit better this year than last, and I am certainly having as much, if not more, fun that I was last year.

I didn't ride my bike as much during the summer as I did last year. I took up running this year and a number of Saturdays and Sundays that might have been riding days were instead running days. I think this helped a bit with the run-ups and maybe a bit with the stamina. And I am very happy about it because I really enjoy the running. ( and running races give away better stuff that cycling rides although they are certainly more expensive than 'cross races.)

I do though need to put in more biking miles next year before the season starts. Noel and I are discussing next year's goals and I think we are going to put a century or two back in as goals next year. This should help focus the summer training. Additionally I'm going to look into learning how to swim well so that I can add triathlons to the training routine. As I tell folks, I can swim - if you push me off a dock, I won't drown - but I don't know how to do it efficiently and for long distances. Also I am going to be adding a half marathon and a full marathon to the schedule next year. I did the Annapolis 10 miler a couple months ago and think I will train for the National Half Marathon and then the New York Marathon with the Prostate Cancer Foundation. (If I haven't told you my Dad was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and in a couple months will be short one prostate. Fortunately all indications are that he will be fine.)

Ed Sanders Cross

I tried out the Master's B race at Ed Sanders and I can say that this was clearly a mistake. The guys in the race we just too strong for me and I got spit out the back pretty quickly. That being said, Ed Sanders is one of the most fun courses in the region. With the boggy goodness in the front half and the hills and great cheering on the "back nine" it's an excellent course. The race beat me up pretty good, but it was alot of fun and it was great to have the girls out there cheering for me. They also snaged some great waffles from the folks heckling/announcing on the back nine.

Kelley Acres

I got back to racing the C's for this race. This one was hard, hard, hard. Quite hilly and not a ton of space to regroup after climbing. There were a good number of different climbs on the course, but the highlight of the course was clearly the fly-over that the folks at Kelley Acres put together.

I felt a bit wonky after the race and not 100%. It was a fun race but I didn't feel my best afterwards.

Hayttsville / Arrow Bikes Cross

Arrow Bikes did an amazing job with their inaugural race. They set the race up in Magruder Park in Hyattsville which was nearly completely flat. They were able to find a good number of technical features they could incorporate into the course. They also threw in a nice death spiral on the back side of the course. It could have been a grass crit, but they structured the race really well and there were alot of spots where you had to hold it and alot where you could chase down the guys in front of you. It turned out to be alot of fun for me becuase even though I was on the back of the group there was a group of three guys I was racing with. Near the end of the race one of the guys was on my wheel and I felt like after I made one of the last turns he was going to over take me. Low and behold the turn before we turned onto road to the line, he came around me and beat me to the line. I just didn't have enough gas to catch him down the line.

This was a great race and alot of fun and I will be sure to hit it next year.

Granogue

Granogue is one of the best races in the mid atlantic and this year's race was epic. It had been raining for three days before the race and was 40 degrees and raining when the race started yesterday. The mud was great and during the first race of the day, the course hadn't been chewed up too much yet, but it was very slippery and it was tough getting traction.

They modified the course from last year and added more off camber switchbacks on the side of the bill hill under the tower. Staying up and doing it with speed proved to be a significant challenge, especially the later in the race, but it certainly rewarded technical skills. The run up on the front side of the course was brutal. It was completely soup by the time the race started. It took all your effort just to get through it. And then the SRAM run up on in the second part of the race was just plain brutal. It was long and slippery and seemed to never end, and was followed by the switchbacks.

All in all a great race and totally worth doing if you're considering the trip. Below are some photos from the morning races.

Bekah's First 5k

2009-09-12T21:58:00.001-04:00

I don't know if I mentioned it, but for the last few months, Rebekah has been training for a 5K. A few months ago we decided to pick the Run4Shelter 5K as the race that she would train for. She did an amazing job.

Race day was wonderful. Mom and Dad came down from Baltimore to watch the race with us. The weather over on Kent Island was great running weather. It was probably in the low 60s with moderate humidity. The rain of the last few days let up for a great morning.

The race turned out to be a perfect one too. The course was very flat and an out and back with a loop at the turn around. A very good starter race for Bekah

Noel and I ran with Bekah. We paced Bekah with a minute on and minute off pace throughout the race. She kept the pace really strong throughout the lenght of the course with no stopping. After the race Noel let Bekah know that she occasionally tacked 10 or 20 seconds onto the run portion.

On the way back once we had about 3/10th of a mile left and a boy in front of us that Bekah wanted to catch, we let Bekah run the remainder of the course.

Bekah finished really strong. We didn't catch the boy that we were following but Bekah dropped the hammer that last little section and finished looking great.

I can't begin to describe how proud I am of her. She set a goal and focused on it for a number of weeks and finished strong. I know she was very proud of herself. I think it was just icing on the cake that she finished second in her age group (under 12) and got a medal.

All in all a wonderful race and one we're likely to do again next year. She's going to be a strong happy runner.

View Bekah's 5K - Run4Shelter in a larger map

Annapolis 10 miler race report

2009-09-05T14:37:00.001-04:00

So its taken me a few days to get around to writing a race report, but here goes.

A couple top line observations. The race was a blast and I really enjoyed it. I found it very well organized and things seemed to come off flawlessly. I know the striders put alot of work into the race and should be congratulated for their work.

Also it was the first time I ran with that many people. The race closed with its final count of 4500 runners. Wow. Also while the beer at the end was swill that I would never drink again it was really cold and tasted really great after running 10 miles.

Personally, most importantly I ran faster than I expected. I did a 10 mile training run a few weeks before the race where I finished right around a 12:00 minute pace - the cut off for getting the finisher premium. I went into the race a little worried that I wouldn't make the 12:00 minute cut off for getting the swag. I got the swag. I'll model it soon.

To review, lets start with the important things. The results: I finished in 1:51:16 for a 11:08 pace. I was 3928 out of 4500 runners. This was fast and strong for me. Not the blow by blow.

First couple miles.

I went out worried that I would end up going too fast. Everyone had warned me that I needed to pace myself and not get caught up in the run and the excitement and run too fast and not have anything left in the tank at the end of the race. When I hit the first mile marker it was clear that I wasn't running too fast and that I should be ok. I heard some folks who said they were running an 11 minute pace and tucked in with them for a few minutes.

I did discover something in the first few miles though. Take advantage of the port-a-johns even if you don't think you need to. It was very disconcerting to feel like I had to poo for the first few miles. I came pretty close to despoiling some of the trees along the side of the road, but I kept things together long enough that things seemed to take care of themselves. I don't know what my bowels did to settle things down but they should be congratulate. YAY GI tract. It was a good thing they made things right, becuase the first port-a-john I saw was just after mile 5.

On a brighter note, right before I turned onto the bridge for my climb I heard a "DADDY" from Sophie and was able to get over to the girls and get a high five from everybody. Out of all the little people yelling for their dads I was clearly able to make out Sophie. The kids were super supportive and I was glad they were out for me. It was really sweet to see them out there.

Miles 4 - 6 ish.

The mid miles included the first climb over the Naval Academy Bridge. The bridge is a pretty decent climb, but since it had been incorporated into my training runs it wasn't overwhelming. I just had to sit in and start climbing. The bridge comes at about mile 4 1/2. As I was heading up the bridge (around 40 mins into the race) the winner was coming back down the other side (mile 9 for him). Amazing and impressive.

The next couple miles squirreled through some neighboorhoods on the other side of the river and were relatively uneventful. I started to feel really good on these miles and got into a nice groove. There were tons of make shift water stops in this area put together by the local community that really enhanced the race. The neighbors hosing us down with their sprinklers were particularly welcomed. The homeowner playing the Notre Dame fight song was a bit odd, but a fun spot.

Mile 7 - finish.

Once I got past roughly mile 6 3/4 there was a long out and back. The out and back seemed like a nice section from the begining but seemed to go on forever once. Once I got to the turn-around I realized that I'd been going down hill for a bit and would have to head back uphill. The climbing was fine but I did drink a little too much at mile 7 and paid for it later. I had been a bit hot and when I took in too much water a ended up with a bit of a stitch later on. It wasn't the end of the world and I was able to run through it, but it was a bit uncomfortable. Had I not taken on so much water, I could have run faster.

Once I finished the out and back I really felt good about the race. I knew I was near the finish and I still felt like I had alot in the tank. I still had to go back over the bridge and that was going to be a bit of a challenge, but I knew Noel and the girls would be on the other side. I made every effort to make sure I was smiling and looking strong when I got to the spot where I thought they would be. I expected that they would be at the same spot they were at in the morning but as I got there they weren't there. I knew they would see me before the finish so I kept the smile on and saw them out in front of our favorite place, Naval Bagels, where they had eaten breakfast earlier that morning. I ran by them and got a good high five from Sophie (who was tuckered out and sitting) and a high five from Sophie.

I then trucked on in to the end of the race and ran across the finish line to my finishers premium and a nice cold towel!

All in all perfect weather, a fun race and something I will certainly do again next year.

Splits and map below:

View Annapolis 10 Miler in a larger map

2009 'Cross Season

2009-08-31T13:06:00.000-04:00

Practice is underway, and going well (I'll have more details on that later).

I ran the Annapolis 10 miler yesterday and feel great about my effort. I'll have a race report soon.

In the meantime here's my schedule/map of my potential 2009 'cross season. Sadly word on the street is that Wonderland in Lancaster will not be a go this year, and my personal schedule doesn't look like it will accomodate IronCross or Gragnoue/Wissahickon. But things are always in flux.

View 2009 Cross Races in a larger map

New trail

2009-08-26T11:19:00.001-04:00

I had some free time after work on Monday night so I figured I'd take the cross bike out on a new trail. Jim had mentioned Fairland Regional Park in the past so I thought I would run out to PG county. It turned out to be a great choice and a nice way to get some cross bike time in after work.

The trail is definately cross bike ridable. The grades aren't too steep and are the terrain is certainly manageable with the knobby cross tires. There are numerous small branches and roots along the trail that enhance the riding and enjoyability of the trail. There area also a couple large logs across the trail that will require dismounting on a cross bike (and probably on an MTB too). The trail also has a nice section along --- I think Greencastle Road --- where there are some swoopy parts of the trail that have you going up and down quite quickly. Fun stuff. The trail seems very well maintained and is easily accessible. I parked at the Park Police parking lot on Old Gunpowder Road and was able to get right onto the road from being their lot.

As an aside, while out there I also had the good fortune to spot a couple deer. One of them was a male deer with maybe 6 or 8 points. Good stuff.

All in all I wouild definately reccomend going out there. I think there is a bit more trail that I need to explore. Its probably good for an hour or two of riding but if you're gonig to spend the whole day riding, Patapsco is probably a better bet.

View Fairland Regoinal Park in a larger map

Light week

2009-08-23T19:40:00.000-04:00

Spent this week on the stay at home honeymoon. Lots of quality time with the new wife. Good to hang out and spend time together...watch movies and such.

I did an 8 mile run this morning with an 11:23 pace which puts me on track to make sure I get the swag at the Annapolis 10 miler next Sunday.

Also getting very excited for 'cross season to start. First practice is this Thursday, with a potluck following at the shop. Means I am going to need to cook up some of the sweet potato casserole that everyone likes. I think I finally have sorted out the issues I have been having with the left cleat on the egg beaters not releasing. I adjusted the cleat on the sole a bit so that its has my heal facing in a bit more...this seems to let me release a bit earlier. I practiced a bit on it yesterday and feel much more comfortable with it. I went out on the local ball field and ran the bike up and down a first base line mounting and dismounting probably 50 times. It felt good and hopefully i'll be able to run up the speed a bit and get on and off quicker and better.

Run map here:

View 8 mile run in a larger map
Cross drills here:

View Cross training in a larger map

La Jolla Run

2009-08-15T16:11:00.000-04:00

I'm getting ready to head back east. I've always been a bit skeptical about the left coast, but this week I've really taken to southern California -- San Diego in particular. I had a great run last night and could certainly spend more time out here.

I'll post some more details on the honeymoon / vacation later, but right now I thought I would toss up the details on last night's great run by the beach.

View La Jolla Run in a larger map

A new trail

2009-08-07T17:11:00.000-04:00

So last night I was able to get out and ride with Josh from the Proteus 'cross team who I haven't had a chance to ride with in a while. Josh is a great guy - even if he doesn't make it to my Torah Study classes often enough - and it was great to get out on the trail with him and spend some time chatting and riding.

Josh had purchased a DC/MD/VA trail book and had read about and slightly explored a trail over in Anacostia. For those of you who aren't super familar with DC, Anacostia is one of the rougher parts of town. That being said, during daytime hours its fine to ride around, but I wouldn't venture over for nightime riding.

After our ride yesterday though, I will be back during the day/right after work and I would highly reccomend hitting the trail.
The Fort Circle Trail runs through a few different forts that were erected at the time of the civil war to protect the city. Its not the longest trail in the world, but it has some great things going for it.

The trail head is about a 15 min bike ride from downtown
You'll likely have the whole trail to yourself
Considering its proximity to urban life its very quiet
While it clearly hasn't seen alot of work in recent times the trail is in good shape
Its definately cross bike ridable but not so timid as to be boring for MTB. I think Josh enjoyed himself on his MTB.

All in all a great ride. I wonder if there is more to explore (it seems like there is alot of Fort DuPont we didn't ride in. Certainly something to check out at a later time.

View Fort Circle Trail Ride in a larger map

Looking for a Poster

2009-07-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

I saw a poster once when I snug into a shop during a ride one day...it had a rider loaded down with water bottles and such for his teammates and said "The Domestique, the unsung hero of the peloton." Any chance anyone's seen this poster?

Odds and Ends

2009-07-20T13:24:00.000-04:00

So it's been a little bit less than successful staying on the diet lately. I weighed myself last week and it was less than heartening.

Fortunately when I weighed myself this morning, it was more in line with where I want to be going. I'm back down to 203, and certainly still need to drop some more weight to speed up things on teh bike, but I feel alot better than I did at last week's weigh in. It was ugly.   Maybe someone had their toe on the scale or I was chock full of water, but it wasn't a good number.

Anyway, this weekend was pretty stresssful. I had a bunch of stuff unrelated to fitness going on, but exercise wise it was good. I did my first training run with the Striders and I feel good about it. I ran 6 miles at a 10:47 pace, which I was pretty pleased with. My right calf is a bit sore after whatever I did to it a couple weeks ago so I am pretty hesitant to push myself lest it blow up again and sideline me. Fortunely I feel like I'm somewhere around 90% with it and hopefully in the next week or so it will get back up to 100% so I can push myself when I run.

All in all I feel good about meeting the 12 minute pace and securing the awesome swag.   If all goes well today, hopefully I will be able to get home tonight and catch a bike ride. Yay!

So what's going on.

2009-07-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Let's see have a couple things going on since the last posting.

The 'cross season should be starting soon. My new pedals have been giving me a little trouble now and again, but I will get more used to them and by the time cross season is in full blast I will be fine. The season will get into full swing in September with Charm City Cross, but before that some folks up in New Jersey are putting together an event at the New Jersey State Fair. SpectraCross should be a blast and will hopefully be a fun family outing for everyone. In addition to the 'cross races there will be a demolition derby and a trials exhibition.

On the running front I am signed up for the Annapolis 10 Miler. Two reasons to do the 10 miler. First - and most importantly - its hard and its something I haven't done before. Seems like a good enough reason. In a close second is the fact that they give away really cool swag. But there's a hitch - you don't get the swag unless you finish under a certain pace - 12 min/mile to be precise. So here's the thing. I ran 7 miles on Saturday (6.92 if we're quibbling) at an 11:14 pace. Some background.

I blew out my calf a week ago - everything was going well - I was almost finished my run and then my leg started getting a little tight. Being a bonehead, I figured I would just power through it until I got home. Well then I had some kind of popping sound in my calf followed by excruciating pain. I gimpped home to the house. Monday it was pretty difficult to walk on. When I ran Wednesday with Bekah I was still feeling a little twing through my calf on each foot strike, but by Friday things were feeling pretty good so I went ahead and did the run on Saturday.

I felt good through about mile 5 1 / 2 and then my calf started to feel a bit sore and I was worried that I would blow it up again. Considering that I kept an 11:14 pace when my calf felt a bit rough, I am optimistic that I cna keep a 12 minute pace over 10 once my calf gets back to 100%.

A Couple Fun Rides

2009-05-30T00:38:00.000-04:00

So I've had a couple fun rides lately - one where I hammered longer than I had ever before and one where I got soaked to the bone.

The first was a fun ride on the Eagleman Triathlon course with some folks from the Annapolis Triathlon Club. Noel and I headed out early in the morning and headed over the bridge to the Eastern Shore. It turned out to be one of the more fun rides I've had in a while.

I jumped on with the fast group out of the gate and didn't stop. We basically pace-lined for 56 miles without slowing down. We got things spinning up to a 21 ish mph pace and kept hammering at that pace until we hit the wind. We kept hammering as hard in the wind but didn't go as fast. And when I say "we" I really mean most of the other guys in the group who were pulling up front. I was operating a bit out of my comfort zone and needed to use all my energy to keep from being spit out the back. I pulled once or twice, but mostly I hung on the back. I wasn't a parasite, but it did take a bit of work for me to hang on. I was pretty impressed that I was able to hold a 19.8 mph pace over 56 miles without one rest break.

It was a huge blast keeping up a high rate of speed and not actually stopping for a break. I'm pretty sure I've never ridden straight through this far. Now I will say that the course was pretty flat and lended itself to hammering, but still a strong output. Here's the course:

Today I decided to ride in the rain. Well I really didn't decide to rain in the rain as much as I decided to ride when I knew I was going to get rained on when I rode. I felt a bit guilty about neglecting the bike to run so I decided that I need to get out on the bike regardless of the weather. I was hoping that I would at least get a little riding in before the heavens opened up, but I hadn't made it to the South River bridge (~1.5 miles) before it was raining sideways and I felt like I was getting pushed off the side of the bridge.

It poured pretty much for the rest of the hour long ride. The best part of the rain was that it rained so hard so fast that I was soaked to the bone immediately and just kind of settled in and enjoyed the ride. I actually felt really good about my ride once I settled in and felt like I rolled at a pretty good pace. 17.1 mph in sideways rain and strong wind. Not too bad. The map is below:

Not sooo Dreaded

2009-05-23T17:06:00.008-04:00

So I finished my first organized 10 K this morning, the Dreaded Druid Hills 10K. I hit a couple of my main goals for the race. First and most importantly, I didn't walk any of the race. I wanted to make sure, regardless of the hills, that I ran everything. I did and I am pleased about that. I also wanted to do the race in a time that I felt was respectable for me. Considering I usually run 10:30ish when I am out running on the Mall, I wanted to run something in this area. I averaged 11:14 over the whole race. Considering that it was a pretty challenging course with 45 percent of the course being climbing I feel really good about that. That makes me feel more comfortable about being able to do the Annapolis 10 miler later this year. The Annapolis 10 miler has a 12 min mile requirement for finishers. (Annap. 10 miler gives away the most awesome swag, but you have to finish to get the swag - so finish I will.)

As for the course it was certainly challenging but I think I talked it up a bit in my head before the race. This probably turned out to be a good thing becuase I was ready for it to be horrible and it was only really tough. The hills themselves were pretty bad but the fact that you went down them on the way out was almost unfair. But the strategy of embracing the suck and chugging through the hills worked pretty well. I wasn't moving too quickly and there was certainly alot of "I think I can..." but it was good.

Great breakfast afterward at the City Cafe in Baltimore (HUGE mushroom omelet and a bloddy mary with old bay! Yum, Hon!). Great day so far and we've got some chicken sausage to be grilled out back coming up later today.

Elevation chart and map below.
UPDATE:Check out this video to get a feel for the course. Noel at 1:15. Me - nowhere to be seen.

Big Race Tomorrow

2009-05-22T22:04:00.008-04:00

For reasons still unknown to me I signed up for the Dreaded Druid Hills 10K. I've run 6 miles before but this thing is going to be extremely hilly and its going to kick my butt. I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm pretty intimidated. Its going to be a tough run, but I'll be ok with it. It will certainly be the hardest run I've done. Going to need to get a good night's sleep though.

The running has been going pretty well though. I was able to get a great run in with Jake Thursday morning. I'm looking forward to more runs with the kids. Assuming the weather cooperates we'll try to get over to the track at Jake's middle school on Wednesday nights.

2009 'Cross Calendar

2009-05-15T17:00:00.004-04:00

If you've got a few minutes, you should really take a look at the 2009 MABRA 'Cross calendar (below) starting September 20th with Charm City Cross.

The calendar looks great with alot of established races and a bunch of new races. It looks like pretty much every Sunday there will be a race and sometimes two in a weekend. I'm pretty stoked about it. The only downside I can see so far is that it looks like Ed Sanders might be the same weekend as the Erev Yom Kippur.

Rainy run along the Mall

2009-04-22T08:31:00.004-04:00

Rolled out last night for a nice afterwork run. Noel was supposed to be hitting the sack early yesterday so I figured it wouldn't be a huge deal if I stayed in DC a little later.

It had been beautiful most of the day and I was pretty excited to have a nice sunny end of the day run. Well by the time I got out of the office to walk around the building and stretch it was already crazy windy (probably 20 mph winds) and the sky was turning green. But I had already changed my clothes and was already outside so I figured I should go anyway.

Well I was about a 1/2 mile into my run (down by the NGA) when the heavens opened up. I was far enough away that there was no way I was making it back to the office without getting completely soaked so I figured I'd just have to plow through.

The run was a little rough becuase for unknown reasons (probably inadequate stretching in the hast to get out the door) I had some shin splints and some calf achyness. I ran through them, but I did run a little tenderly and this probably slowed my pace.

It was a nice run - and I think my longest to date - and I was rewarded with getting to see the Capitol bathed in orange sunlight as the sun set over the Potomac. Path below.

For details go to Abaqus GeoDiary share page for this track.

Just plugging along

2009-04-17T10:46:00.001-04:00

Things are going well - mostly. Diet went in the crapper this week with passover and the seders. I ate like a pig. Sat down one night with a jar of casher butter and tam tams. Finished half a box of tam tams and half a jar of cashew butter. not good for reducing weight.

But - I've been trying to keep up with the training with a nice 30 spin down at Hains last night and a decent six mile rune around the neighborhood last night.

Looking like I'm going to hit the mall at lunch for a maybe 5 mile run and then this weekend hopefully jump on the Bike Rack's Sunday morning ride (with my sweetie Noel) for their 40 mile ride.

Also on Google Maps Mania I came across a couple great training sites:

America's Running Routes from US Track and Field
My GeoDiary which looks a bit like MTBGuru which I use,, but maybe a bit better; and
WhereWeRide

Check them out.

Training for 184.5

2009-03-24T01:05:00.003-04:00

So I tackled the first serious training ride of the season. I'm trianing to ride the full distance of the C&O Towpath from Cumberland, Maryland to Georgetown in Washington, DC in one day.

This weekend I put 60 miles in on hard packed rock dust. The surface was roughly similar to what I'll see on the C&O - smooth but not paved. We had some light tree cover out there and chilly but warming weather.

I took a few things from the ride.

Not ready yet to do that 3 times in a row.
My ass needs more time in the saddle. South of 5 hours in the saddle was a little tough on the rear. Need to harden it up
and I need to condition myself more. and maybe most importantly.
I think I can do 184, but its not going to be a cake walk.

Those of you that read regularly will remember Ben from the last post who chewed everyone up at the Baltimore CX race. I rode with Ben this weekend and he put some serious hurt on me. I did ok on the first 20 but somewhere around mile 28 my legs really started screaming. The pain lasted through around mile 40 and then a light came on (and the path got faster) and I was feeling pretty good. I didn't roll into the parking lot doing 20 mph or anything but I did feel better at the end of the ride than I did at the lunch stop. Ben though looked awesome all throughout. Guy's a monster on a bike and the nicest guy in the world.

Surprisingly there was a fair bit of climbing during the ride, which I don't expect we'll encounter on the C&O. All in all I feel good about how I did and I am pleased that my legs aren't scream at me a day later.

70 miles in two weeks. Map and elevation chart below.

Baltimore CX Race

2009-03-15T00:34:00.002-04:00

Its a bit late and I'm not really up for posting too much but I just did the data dump from my Garmin, so I thought I would put some stuff from last week's Baltimore CX Stage Race up on the blog. For those of you who were not there it was a balst. roving impromptu multi stage cyclocross race zooming through 5 different courses in an industrial site in Canton, Riverside Park in South Baltimore, Federal Hill, Wyman Park and Patterson Park. It was a blast and we had a great group of folks from the Baltimore and Washington 'cross scene's racing.

Results wise the long and short is that Ben Bassett of the shop opened up a huge can of hurt on the field. Jim organized a great race and made it a ton of fun for folks. I think there is something to be said for swinging by Home Depot, getting some construction marker flags and setting up our own cross courses on the fly. A local guerilla 'cross crew would be a great way to keep the season running.

Anyway, below is the slide show of photos and the map of our tour.

Jim V. Still Awesome After All These Years!

2009-03-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

In spite of Jake having some variation of a sinus infection, we still have had a pretty awesome weekend with a bunch of Dad/Dude bonding. Jim V is responsible for a good portion of it. For those of you who don't know Jim V. he's 110% awesome. How is he awesome you might ask. Well certainly there are many reason's Jim V. is awesome but this particularly instance of awesomeness centers around Jim V.'s generosity.

As some of you may have seen, Jake is very into biking. He did a 'cross race last year and had alot of fun and is looking to do a good bit more mountain biking. Unfortunately the bike he was riding was getting way too small (actually its probably more accurate to say Jake was getting bigger - fairly confident that the bike has remained the same size.) - so small in fact that it was becoming uncomfortable to ride. I had mentioned this to Jim and asking him to keep an eye out for any deals at the shop. Jim did a huge one better than that.

Jim gave Jake a long-term loan of a really great single speed mountain bike. He provided the frame, the wheelset, fork,handlebars and everything. We only had to pick up a few minor odds and ends here and there to make it trail ready, but thanks to Jim Jake was hooked up with a really great bike that he's going to have a ton of fun riding. Jim was hugely generous in loaning Jake this great bike - Jake really loves it.

Jake and I spent a bit of last night and a good bit of the time after Hebrew school this morning getting the bike ready for the road. Jake and I took to the first floor and installed the brakes and some new cables, tossed on a new chain-ring, broke and shortened the chain, mounted the fork and the head-set and tossed in the spacers on the fork. Jake is a quick study and it was fun to see his brain process and learn how the various mechanical parts on the bike worked. He's also super stoked to have a new ride. Its a sweet ride and with the current gearing its going to be a monster hill climber. Might end up being geared a bit too small, but that's fine - it'll just be a good excuse to do some more Dad/Son bike work.

Jim V.'s awesome and his generosity is greatly appreciated in Casa Jones/Turner.

Could an Android enabled phone replace my Garmin

2009-02-17T12:11:00.001-05:00

Official Google Blog: Happy trails with My Tracks for Android-powered phones

Many GPS receivers require you to plug a separate device into a computer, install software, transfer, convert and upload your track to the web. With My Tracks, this has become a whole lot simpler. I no longer need to carry multiple devices when I go out for a ride, and I can easily share my rides on the spot with anyone I'd like by recording and uploading my track right from my phone and then sharing it out via email or even Twitter.

This seems very tantalizing. I'm usually lugging my BlackBerry out on the road with me anyway, so it would actually reduce the amount of crap I have to stuff in my jersey pocket.

Also the uploading seems much easier than the rigamaroll I have to go through currently.

Maybe it'll come to Blackberry soon.

First 5K

2009-02-15T10:47:00.002-05:00

Finishing with Bekah
Originally uploaded by Tom H. Jones

So I finished my first 5K yesterday morning. Noel signed me up for an Annapolis Striders "couch to 5K" program. I have to say that all in all I am really pleased with the program.

We met every Saturday morning for the last couple months for training at one of the local school tracks. We started out the first week with 3 minutes of running and 1 1/2 minutes of rest. This actually was a bit tough the first week. I got some really obnoxious shin splints. Shin splints has been the limiting factor in my running in the past and I was really worried that they were going to keep me from completing the program. Fortunately one of the coaches was able to give me a set of streches that have become an essential part of my pre-ride routine and have kept the shin splints at bay.

It was extremely satisfying each week to increase the distance and time and not actually die. It also helped out alot that we have a treadmill in the basement and can train indoors during the winter.

On Saturday I set out with two main goals 1) finish the race in less and 30 minutes and 2) not walk any of the course. I am pleased to report that I was able to achieve both of my goals. I rolled across the finish line at 29:45 and ran the whole course. The course was decent - a few hills here and there but nothing out of control.

It was great that mom and dad and the kids were there to cheer me on. Noel ran the race as well, but I only saw her at the start line, saw her at the turn around and saw her nice and relaxed at the finish line. She rolled across the line 7 minutes before me. She was there cheering loudly for me at the end. She was a very good cheerer.

I think I'll probably do another 5K (there's one with beer in Baltimore on St. Patrick's day) and may start working on a 10K.
Here's the course:

Last Race of the Season - First Race of the Season

2009-02-10T13:53:00.033-05:00

So I'm at least a week overdue on a race report from Cross My Heart. The importnat stuff up front. I finished 43 out of 57. While that's still in the ass end of the pack, I actually feel pretty good about how I performed. (This is of course not the important info but I did want to toss it out out front.)

A couple things I think were worth noting about the race. It was a pretty technical course with a moderately sketchy surface. We'd had a bunch of snow and freeze thaw cycling in the week approaching the race so the day before the course was covered with a crunchy layer of frozen-over icy snow.   But the day of the race the local weather decided to spike up to roughly 60 degrees and get the ice and snow all melty. When combined with riders rolling through the course all day the course became pretty muddy pretty quickly in alot of spots. It turned out to be alot of fun.

One of the more interesting spots in the course was a turn into a mulch pile area were you took a turn left, went up a short steep hill, turned almost 180 degrees and came back down. The mulch and dirt on teh hill was a bit loose so it made getting up and down it a bit tough. On the third lap I was pleased that I was able to make it though the turn and back down the hill upright and with a bit of speed. Unfortunately I came into the next turn a bit too hot and hit an as yet unmelted patch of ice and lost the bike out from under me. I swear that up until that lap I was chasing a race who would later finish 20th in the race. Maybe I'm kidding myself but between that fall and one I took a little later in some mud, I lost some serious time and places when I went down. But keeping control of your bike on sketchy surfaces is a big part of the race.

The course over all was great though. I really enjoy the more technical courses over the faster ones. They promote more thinking and tend to keep you on your toes more.   This one made for good fun and a challanging race.

Hopefully next year Jim will decide to move it even closer to the end of the MABRA cross season so we can have even more folks out at the race.

Can't wait for next year's season to start!

Great Race on Sunday

2009-02-03T12:41:00.001-05:00

IMG_2646
Originally uploaded by ryandudek

I had a blast on Sunday and rode really well. Progress is nice. I'll post a full race report soon, but thought I would toss up a photo real quick.

Also in slightly related news weigh in this a.m. 199.5! Sub 200 again for the first time in something like 8 months.

C&O Riding Today

2009-01-20T22:20:00.001-05:00

C&O Riding 026
Originally uploaded by Tom H. Jones

After sleeping through the inaugural speech I got out on the road and headed over to the C&O Towpath for some riding next to the frozen canal. The ride was a race against sunset and wasn't terribly long but it was pretty cool to get out there and see kids playing ice hockey on the canal with their dads and skating with their moms.

The photos are along the ride path in the map below. Enjoy.

Much Better Garmin - Slipstream - Chipotle

2009-01-17T20:55:00.004-05:00

Team Garmin-Slipstream introduces new kit for 2009
January 16, 2009 - Boulder, CO – Pro Tour Team Garmin-Slipstream unveiled its 2009 team kits today. The new team kit highlights title sponsor Garmin’s leadership role, while also bringing attention to Slipstream and its focus on ethical sporting and developing the next generation of American champions.

Much better Garmin - Much better. I'm much more pleased with this kit than the one they uneiled last year after adding Garmin as the name sponsor. This kit brings back the orange from the previous SS/Chipotle jersey while still prominently displaying the Garmin logo. It also has a stronger argyle element to it. Enhancing the argyle design element is nice in light of how prominently the argyle motif features in the fan base. I'm very pleased with this one. I'll be interested to see what the rest of the kit looks like and to see how the national champion kits look. Kudos Team Garmin. Wouldn't mind picking up a long sleeved version to diversify my wardrobe.

Running

2009-01-15T23:21:00.003-05:00

I know. I've never been a big fan of runners, but I have to say that this 5K class that I am taking is really making running quite enjoyable. I am finding that now that I seem to be able to manage the shin splints with pre-run stretching that I can actually have quite enjoyable runs. And since running is a little easier to do in a pinch (no getting the bike off the car finding somewhere to ride, etc.) I think I might be able to tuck in workouts a little more regularly.

Most importantly I have discovered that running can be alot of fun with music. I hit the treadmill the other night with the iPod and really enjoyed running with the Kaiser Chiefs blasting. I did end up listening to some good songs that were sadly not particularly running friendly. Good music and all, but not much to run to. So to keep a steady beat in my ears, I made a playlist. I know you want to know and without further ado here it is:

Gearing Up!!

2009-01-09T15:14:00.001-05:00

Have I used that pun before?   Yeah well - had to at some point.

So I got in a nice ride last night. Josh met me at the parking lot of my office after work and we headed up to Proteus.   He took me up there via some roads and trails I hadn't traveled before.   I think we hit the NE Branch trail for a bit and then jumped onto the roads behind Rt. 1 in College Park for a little bit. It was cold but it was a pretty clear night and the wind wasn't too terrible. Josh loaned me a light and we were able to get up there pretty quickly.

We hung at the shop for about 3 1/2 hours or so while Josh replaced the drive train on his MTB. Due to some overly aggressive tightening of the bottom bracket in the past by Josh, extraction of the cups required the use of vise grips and the application of some serious leverage in the form of an improvised lever and some serious umpth from Ben.   It was a sight to see, and quite an impressive mechanical feat.   After 4 slices of pizza, a few beers, 3 chain rings, 2 derailleurs, 1 bottom bracket and a little bit of football we were able to get back on the road and head southbound towards the city.

We rolled out just before 11 and almost immediately discovered that our lights didn't have much charge left. This made riding the wooded trails back prohibitively dangerous and/or slow, so were went with an audible and headed down Rhode Island avenue back towards home. By this time of night Rhode Island was almost deserted, so it was a cold and lonely ride back - but a good crisp ride. I split with with Josh at 1st and RI NE and he headed back to his house and I headed back to the car and drove home. Map below.   And oh yeah - Josh discovered today that he was riding last night on a broken front axle. Not good.

This weekend looks like running on Saturday morning in yicky weather and then some riding on the C&O on Sunday - possibly in residual snow.

Still on the Road

2009-01-08T15:34:00.001-05:00

I haven't been doing a ton of posting lately. There has been periodic riding over the last week or so, but nothing too exciting. I've also been keeping up with my running program, which gets me on the treadmill twice a week and on the track once.

Riding wise I am just planning on riding out to Proteus tonight with Josh, which should get me in a nice 30 miles out and back. Josh says the roads are pretty decent, so if I get run down its all his fault.

Other than that, I appeared in Roll Call earlier this week. Photo of me below. Link to the article here.

A staggering but good wrap up to the year

2008-12-30T09:21:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I put in what will be my last - or maybe next to last depending on how motivated I am today and tomorrow - ride of the year.

I don't know if yesterday's ride was a metaphor of some sort. I suspect it was a just a series of events that occurred on the same day. I don't like to make things out to be more than they are. Suffice it to say though, yesterday's ride was not the smoothest ever.

It started out OK - took a little bit to get my butt out of the PJs into some spandex and out the door. This isn't really anything unusual - like I've said before often the hardest part of my ride is the part between the couch and the saddle.

I got into the car and found an empty tank of gas. Much less stressful since that invisible hand has decided to push prices down to $1.52/gallon. When I was gassing up at the local mom&pop petrol station I noticed that my saddle wasn't quite straight. Turns out that some time in the past week or so I suspect my fat ass bent one of the rails on my saddle. I'm not really sure what happened, but the saddle was so badly off kilter that had I ridden on it I suspect I would have experienced some pretty nasty bio-mechanical issues.

So I swung home and after a failed attempt at straightening the rails with a pair of pliers I decided that I needed to replace the saddle with one that was sitting in the garage. After about 10 minutes of futzing (btw: spell check doesn't flag "futzing" ... interesting) around with a box-end wrench in the corner of the garage I got the new saddle off the seatpost it was on in the garage and hauled it out to the car and tossed it on the Jake.

So I got the bike all squared and headed back towards the Carderrock Recreation area. After missing a couple turns I finally ended up where I was supposed to be. I got the garmin on the bike, the camelback on my back and headed out for the trail.

Well I found the wrong trail. I read something online that said there was a short trail that headed to the towpath. I found a short trail. Unfortunately it was the wrong short trail. Turned out it was the billy-goat trail. Up and down, craggy and narrow. I rode on the trail for a few yards and it finally got so narrow that I had to shoulder the bike. I hit a point where the trail switched from leaves and brush to rock. In my mountain biking shoes I attempted to venture over the rocks. This was a mistake.

Shoes with plastic tread don't have a lot of "grippiness." In fact they have zero grippiness - they can dig into the mud, but they don't do dick to keep your feet under you on a slick rock. So it was - whats the phrase - ass over teakettle - for me - feet in the air, bike flying off the trail and my coccyx landing square on million year old rock. It hurt. Jumping up and down bouncing around hurt. Burn the roof of your mouth on a piece of pizza straight out of the oven hurt. Fortunately the hurt didn't last forever. I was able to shake it off - hobble down the trail and get to the towpath. It still hurts a bit today, but its going to get better.

After that the ride went really well. Other than having to navigate through a zillion people aimlessly wandering around the greater Great Falls area on their day off it was a good ride. The out was harder than the back because it was slightly up hill and into the wind and I probably need to swap the tires out for something with a little less tread - but all in all a great ride.

I'm getting very excited about the training season for the C&O Towpath ride. The first training ride on the trail has been set for January 11th and I'll be spinning down at Hains Point on the 1st.

The towpath ride is an extremely exciting challenge. It's a huge ride and is going to require me focus on building my endurance and keeping a sharp eye on my training. I feel like I am up for it and it looks like I have a good crew of folks who are interested in riding with me. I expect I will have more updates on training in this space over the coming year.

Below is a map of yesterday's ride.

21 Miles to Go

2008-12-28T22:43:00.002-05:00

So it looks good for me making my 3000 mile goal this year.

With the weather turning cold I've been spending a good bit of time downstairs on the trainer. This is incredibly boring but I'm able to mix it up with some videos and at least attempt to keep the monotony at bay.

My current mileage for the year is at 2979, which provided I don't get hit with an extreme fit of laziness in the next two days puts me in pretty solid striking distance of the 3000 mile year goal. I'm pleased I hit this, but clearly there are a couple places that I could have improved my cycling performance last year:

1) Better technique in cyclocross. I've talked about this before but I just need to race cross more and get more experience.
2) Stronger focus on maintaining an aggressive riding schedule after the big rides. After Tahoe, my longer distance riding fell off quite precipitously.
3) Better diet. I did good near the end of the year last year dropping some serious weight. In March I made it below 200 lbs. Unfortunately though that seems to have been the high water mark for the year.

I'm going to focus in 2009 on working on all these things. Cross season is a good ways off so that will have to wait a while. For #2 I've organized a group to do the C&O Towpath in one day. Hopefully this will help keep my fitness and endurance up. For #3 I am almost back at 200 lbs and hopefully if I keep the riding up and watch the food intake over the next week I can head into 2009 below 200. I'm aiming for 180 and am challenging some co-workers to keep the lbs. off so hopefully I'll be able to keep things in check.

For those of you who are interested below is a graph of my monthly mileage.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:00:00.004-05:00

To:
All my Christian Friends
My Communist Friends and
My Kitty-Cat Loving Friends

Rubbed the wrong way.

2008-12-22T12:05:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of Garmin-Slipstream. I actually have a jersey (which fits a little bit better now that I've dropped 4 lbs in the last two weeks) and enjoy watching the team race.

I would welcome more ways to support the team. Heck I've even imagined making a huge blue and orange argyle flag to wave as I cheer them on a grand tour.

So when I got this email - I thought COOL!

Based on requests from fans around the world, we created this unique opportunity for you to support the Slipstream mission and enjoy the privileges and benefits that come with being a supporting team member. 2009 is the program's inaugural year, so these exclusive benefits will only grow as we collect the input of Argyle Club members like you!

But JV -- $995. Really? I know cycling can be a bit of a high-end sport, but $995 to join the Argyle Armada. Don't you think that's a bit much in the middle of a recession for a kit and some casual clothes?

Really for that kind of coin DZ should come and rub his nutz all over my chamois himself.

Nothing to report

2008-12-20T15:50:00.001-05:00

So I'm hitting the winter doldrums on riding here. Its cold out and rainy and there is actually a bunch of stuff going on so its been hard to make time to ride. Honestly that's just a lame excuse for not getting on my bike as much as I want. Fortunately I'm going to have a week of down time between Xmas and New Years where I should be able to find some time during the day to get out and get on my bike.

Also for those of you who are interested in the C&O In A Day ride, the New Years Day laps at Hains Point should be the first of our training rides. It won't be anything exciting...in fact it could be the most boring ride around, but there will be alot of folks down there and hopefully the weather will be as nice as it was last year. And its a halfway decent way to work off a hangover. ;-)

If you're interested in the C&O In A Day ride let me know and I can invite you to the Facebook group that I've set up for it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all my cycling friends and I look forward to seeing all of you out on the road with the cool new cycling garb that your loved ones have purchased for you.

Jones Inc. Recovery Plan Needed Immediately

2008-12-09T11:17:00.003-05:00

Jones Inc. Stabilization Plan

Submitted for Review to MAC, MABRA, UCI, USA Cycling and All Appropriate Racing Authorities

As frequent readers of 528K may have seen, recent performance by Jones Inc. has been sub-par. While there are many fingers to point, Leadership understands and believes it is worth highlighting that leadership at the highest levels in Jones Inc. has made some management decisions that were not in the best interest of the organization, including but not limited to:

Agreements to acquire and regularly utilize numerous high-energy sucrose laden dairy products. The deal Jones Inc. reached with the Edy's Corporation, in hindsight can only be construed as disadvantageous to the long-term success of the organization
Decisions to utilize and consume excessive quantities of organic fuels. While it was clear that the acquisition of the fuel was not intended for the leadership of Jones Inc., efforts by other parties within the Jones enterprise to sequester the fuels, to wit: hiding them under the bed, was unsuccessful in preventing their diversion.
Indulgences in luxuious accomodations when the needs of the organization would have clearly been better served by investing in long-term training and development.

This is clearly not an exhaustive list, but does serve to highlight the path that has led to the poor performance of Jones Inc. While mistakes were made, it is unlikely that the situation will be resolved with finger pointing.

Clearly Jones Inc. is too large to fail - although some might note that it has also become too large to succeed. None the less, the continuing poor performance of Jones Inc. could have a profound ripple effect on the associates of Jones Inc. To avoid the tragic and widespread consequences that could result, it is imperative that a Jones Inc. Scoring ~~Bailout~~ Recover plan be implemented immediately.

To ensure Jones Inc.'s success in coming endeavors the following incentives must be implemented immediately:

A one lap ~~head-start~~ competitive expansion for Jones Inc. at upcoming races
Allowing half lap ~~short cuts~~ regulatory relief for Jones Inc. to ensure that high-performing competitors do not have an unfair advantage.
Acquisition of appropriate technologies so that Jones Inc. can bridge to various competitors.

It is our firm belief that these measures will be sufficient to ensure Jones Inc.'s future competitive success. And while we believe that these measures should ensure the enterprise's success it is important to note that this does not preclude the request of future measures at races that might be necessary to ensure success.

Jones Inc. of course regrets having to call upon you for this support, but knowing that you understand the importance of Jones Inc.'s sucess to everyone invloved, we are confident that MABRA, MAC, UCI, USA Cycling will do the right thing.

Season Wrap Up

2008-12-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

So a couple minor things here and there. Here are my results from this year:

Charm City Cross	Cat 4 Men	proteus bicycles	78	(600.44)	84
Granogue Cross	C Men	proteus bicycles	84	(699.17)	95
Wissahickon Cross	C Men & SupaFan U19 Men	proteus bicycles	DNF	(600.34)	97
City Bikes DCCX	Cat 4 Men	proteus bicycles	DNF	(726.62)	100
Wonderland Cyclocross	MEN C	PROTEUS BICYCLES	25	(640.27)	32
Tacchino Ciclocross	Men 4	proteus bicycles	53	(649.11)	63
Capital 'Cross Classic	C Men & U19 Men	proteus bicycles	61		72

I did in fact finish at Wiss and DCCX but as Jim said I think I fell victim to the end of the race judges inattention. As I said in the last post, I'm happy with how this season went, but am definately going to focus on improvement next year.

Also I am super pysched about the attention my flikr set of Capital 'Cross photos received yesterday.I got 3019 views to my photo stream yesterday and am currently at 816 views for the set!!!

Finishing up the season strong

2008-12-07T23:03:00.001-05:00

So today was the semi-offical end of my first season of cyclocross. A couple observations on the season in general and today in particular.

The season generally:

I suck at the this. I'm not very fast. I'm still lugging around too many pounds that I need to shed. I make too many technical errors - pulling out of shoes, shitty mounts & dismounts, taking corners too hot, stuff like that. The upside is that I can fix these things. More practice, more riding and more experience.
I love cross. This is just too much damn fun. I get to go out on the weekend and play in the mud on a bicycle. What's not to love?
The cross scene is great. There are just a ton of wonderful interesting, great people in the cross scene. Most folks are just out there looking to have a nice time on the weekend. Good people,, good times, and beer. Umm!
Competing is fun. As you can note from (1) competing for me means keeping track of all the people who are faster than me, which is pretty much all the people. But in the larger races (today, DCCX, wiss, gran) I'm able to find a group of folks at my pace and race against them. I ride faster when I have someone to chase / hold off.

On today:

Focusing mentally helps alot. The last day or so I had been thinking that I could ride much better today than I had in recent days. I feel like it helped.
Hydrating is a good thing. Lots of water is awesome. The only downside being the stop at the scuzzy sunoco on the way in.
I need to make a few less mechanical errors. I pulled out of my pedals twice on the same climb twice today. I watched a good 1/2 dozen riders pass me when this happened. This shit has to stop.
I'm getting better on technical stuff. There were some pretty challenging technical turns on the course today that I feel like I handled pretty well. The tight slow turns that we've been practicing on Thursday nights seem to be making a difference.

I've really enjoyed the season. We have a couple ad hoc races coming up including Bilenky Urban Junkyard Cyclocross outside of Philly in December and Cross Your Heart in February. I also imagine there will be a few underground impromtu rides being thrown together.

Can't wait until next year!

Photos from today's other races:

C & O Towpath End to End in One Day

2008-12-01T08:59:00.000-05:00

So next year I have a bunch of stuff going on and I am very unlikely to do the TNT Tahoe ride. That doesn't mean I won't be cycling though.

I do understand that I will need something to keep my training focused so that fitness does not go to pot next year. I'm nowhere near fit enough to race road so I'm going to look to something else. I will likely do a couple centuries next year, but I was thinking that I should put something bigger on my agenda to focus the body and brain.

What I have come up with is a ride from one end to the other of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath in one day. This is a 184 mile ride from Cumberland to Georgetown in DC in 24 hours. This is doable - in the sense that I know folks have done it - not that I am ready to do it. But there are alot of issues outstanding that I would need to resolve and work through in my head before I do the ride. If you have any experience with this ride or similar rides I would love your insights either in comments or at tom (dot) jones (at) gmail (dot) com

1) What did your training plan look like? Standard progressive increases in distance each week? What was the longest training ride?
2) How did you organize the support for the ride? I suspect I can rope Noel into this adventure - what would she have to do?
3) What did you ride and how was it outfitted? I am figuring on using the 'cross bike which currently runs 35mm panaracer cinder x's . I assume a rack of some sort will be in order.
4) Anything peculiar necessary on the nutrition front?
5) What am I not thinking of that I need to do?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

Weekend

2008-11-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

Did some post turkey-day riding down at Wakefield yesterday with Chris from the Proteus team. Good riding led to the discovery of some more trails in Wakefield. Nice to get a work out in and burn off some of the bird.

Wakefield has its pros and cons. Its a decent sized but not so large that you can get lost. We spent an hour and a half there yesterday and it was pretty good and interesting riding (except for the end-o crossing the bridge). Its a bit of a hike from Annapolis and I could certainly see doing the same trails over and over again could get boring.

Patapsco on the other hand has a much larger variety of trails (something like 180 miles of trails) and is much closer. Unfortunately I have no real idea of where I am going when I am in Patapsco - so for the time being unless I want to commit a fair bit of time to just kicking around the park there, I risk riding and getting all turned around in the woods. Not the worst fate in the world but definitely a possibility and one I need to keep in mind.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some riding in this weekend with Jake. Both Rockburn/Patapsco and Wakefield are doable with the cross bike so its definitely a go to head to either one of those places. We'll see what he's interested in doing this weekend.

Turkey Day Trails on the Cross Bike

2008-11-27T15:09:00.002-05:00

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I have been blessed with many things to be thankful for - wonderful kids, a great GF, awesome friends, a great job and a by and large great life. I hope both of the people who read my blog have at least as many things to be thankful for.

Since I plan on hitting the bird pretty hard tonight and making some sweet potatoes my bi-atch in a few hours, I figured that it was probably wise to get in some miles on the bike today before I got some miles in at the dinner table.

Being that its always more fun to ride with another person I was able to hook-up with Jim from the Proteus team and put in some miles at the Rockburn Branch Park and the Patapsco Valley State Park. Jim's ridden here a bunch of times (including at the cross race hosted here earlier this year) so he really knew his way around the trails.

It was great fun to take the cross bike out on the trails and kick around in the dirt a little bit. The trail wasn't too harsh so it was pretty manageable with the cross bike. There were a couple spots where I had to dismount and run over the logs, but that's good cross practive. There were also a bunch of spots where I could lift the front wheel and get over the log. There were even a couple fun water crossings where I got to get wet and be a kid!

A great ride and a wonderful way to spend two hours before Turkey-day. Jim was a blast and a ton of fun to ride with. He also turned me on to some rides early next year that could be a good focus for my post-cross season riding.

BTW: 2861 miles this year - not as many as I need but not a bad number and definately within striking distance of the 3000 goal.

Map of Today's ride:

Broke Bike Mountain

2008-11-25T19:26:00.001-05:00

Broke Bike Mountain
Originally uploaded by Hugger Industries

This is a very expensive way to DNF.

Wonderland Cross Report

2008-11-22T15:21:00.006-05:00

Well let's get this out of the way up front. I DFLd. It was a small race and a good crop of folks but I certainly would have liked to have finished higher. I know there was a guy behind me who wasn't on the print out - likely DNF'd - but when the listing comes out on Bikereg I will in all likelihood be listed last.

In spite of my poor place I had fun and I think I learned a fair bit today.

Elite Masters Getting Snowed OnFirst some background. It was cold. When I dragged my butt out of the car to head over to sign in it was below 30 degrees out -- more in the 25 degree area -- and the wind was occasionally whipping around. It snowed maybe 1/2 inch in Lancaster Friday so there was a nice coating of snow on the course when I got there. This made for a course that after a few laps got a bit muddy in spots and occasionally got crunchy where the muddy spots refroze. I was even lucky enough to get to ride while it was snowing during my last lap. See the photo to the right of the guys from the next race who got even more snow.

All in all my race wasn't too bad. I was pleased to see that under race conditions the improved technique that I worked on at Thursday's practice would actually work. I was able to remount and get my feet back to the pedals pretty quickly - much quicker than before -- almost. Unfortunately the conditions and my inexperience kept me from translating the smooth remount into a quick pedal away.

Unfortunately after a couple dismounts and run-ups the bottoms of my shoes were packed with snow and grass and mud - unfortunately so were my pedals. This made it extremely difficult to get my cleats back into the pedals. This slowed me down quite a bit on one of the uphills. I actually ended up getting off my bike at one point trying to clear things out and get moving again. This ended up being a huge time waste. In hindsight - in the car on the way back to Annapolis in fact - I figured out that I should have just ignored the screwed up pedals and cleats and pedaled along like they were flat-pedals and just waited for things to work out. Lesson learned. I'll know what to do next time I get out there in some cold and wet conditions.

Brakes in this condition don't stop wellAnother big take-away was that cantilevered brakes don't tend to grab so well when they're coated with mud and snow and ice. I noticed this before I rolled out of the start after the pre-ride but I really discovered it in one of the corners. I was on the way down one of the down-hills and came into a corner and started to touch the breaks so that I could take the turn - BUT WHOA - WAIT, what's this! NO BRAKES! That's a fine how-do-you-do. I tried my damnedest to take the turn sans brakes but between the muddiness of the grass and my not the greatest cornering skills I took the corner sans bike. Fortunately I just slid across some grass (upside of the wet course) and was able to get back up and get on the bike and roll out relatively quickly. I rode the rest of the course anticipating that my brakes would be a bit soft in the corners and did fine.

While I was certainly not pleased with my placing I certainly learned a few things and had a great time riding on a good course and enjoyed some authentic cross weather. On to Tacchino tomorrow.

DFL

2008-11-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

Oh well -- I know there was at least one guy behind me who DNFd -- full race report to come. Its cold out.

Argyle sock?

2008-11-22T09:16:00.001-05:00

Was undecided on the argyle sock but its too damn cold not to put another pair on.....its cold. Hands shaking. Typing hard...

In Intercourse

2008-11-22T08:48:00.001-05:00

This title will I am sure send my hits through the roof. Anyway pervs there is nothing good in this post.

I goofed and assumed that becuase every other race I've ever done starts 9am that this one would too...so I planned my morning to get me here at 8am. Well I arrived early and before I headed to the course I looked at the flyer for the race - CRAP - 10am start.

Not the end of the world - I found an Amish diner in Intercourse down the street from the course and am relaxing and having a bowl of oatmeal.

Today's race should be fun - there is a coating of snow on the ground and its roughly 27 degrees - perfect cross weather. No idea what the course will be like but if I like it - and there's a discount - I may do the 35+ masters race and do two today - although that might not be smart with Tacchino tomorrow morning.

Off to find a bank of america and head to the couse.

Getting Better

2008-11-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

Hopefully I'm getting a little bit better. I had a pretty good practice last night. While the turn out was relatively small - just Ben, myself and a guy named Jeff from Boston it turned out pretty well. We spent the first part of the evening doing some runs of the normal evening course - lots of technical stuff and some off camber runs. We spent the last half of the evening practicing mounting and dismounting the bike.

This is where I think I actually probably improved my riding a decent bit. It was one of those moments where once something was explained you go "Oh yeah that makes sense...of course it works that way." Jeff was able to explain last night that when I dismount/remount I need to stop worrying about the bike. A little background. During 'cross there are various barriers you encounter that require you to get off your bike and carry it or lift it over the barrier. When you've cleared the barrier you have to speedily get back on your bike and get back to pedaling. If you have the energy this is best done while running - fast. Usually you'll have one hand on the top of the handlebars and one hand on the saddle or the top tube while you're running.

What Jeff pointed out was that the bike's going to be moving along side of you at the same speed you're moving and it will keep up with you. "Ignore the bike - the bike will be there." Therefore you don't need to look at it to see where you're going to jump but rather just need to jump into the saddle and between inertia and your running, in all likelihood the saddle will be under your ass when you land. It actually worked really well last night I was able to get onto my bike faster and get back to pedaling a bit quicker...and I suspect that I looked a bit smoother getting onto the bike. We'll see how it all goes this weekend.

I'm looking forward to the races this weekend. I am feeling a bit under the weather right now, but I'll just have to do my best to shake it. Wonderland on Saturday should be alot of fun. It'll be small but it should be a good race - and according to weather.gov, Lancaster should have a 1/2 inch or so of snow on the ground today. Hopefully its all still on the ground tomorrow morning when I get up there.

More reports to come this weekend.

Turchia di Domenica

2008-11-20T16:00:00.023-05:00

Above is the course for this weekend. Looks pretty decent. It should be hilly though. If you look at the terrain map below you can see that the park has some serious rolling terrain in it.

View Larger Map

The email from the race states:

The course generally follows the contours of the park and includes quite a bit of elevation change, with fast downhills leading into steep climbs. Lap times will be between 7 and 8 minutes.

Which clearly means that I'll be spending significant time in the small chainring and will be dismounting and mounting frequently. If we get any rain on Friday or Saturday it should be really exciting.

Also interesting to note was:

We will have primes in nearly every race, including some unusual mid-pack primes in some races. Primes include gift certificates from Faccia Luna Restaurant, Hunter’s Head Pub in Upperville, VA, Bikereg.com cash primes, and subscriptions to Cyclocross Magazine.

• A special treat will be the “Suitcase of Sausage” prime; it’s like Phil Liggett’s “suitcase of courage,” only different.

Unlikely I win this. Its a shame Josh Nadas - my teammate who works for the AJC isn't riding. I'd nominate him to receive it.

Bike Hero

2008-11-20T10:45:00.001-05:00

This is pretty amazing. Keeping the biker's speed right - plotting out al the notes - not running into jogges! Kudos!!

Doing Two this Weekend

2008-11-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

I am now registered for Wonderland Cross - which looks to be a relatively small race - with only 23 riders in the Men's Cat 4 C and Tacchino Ciclocross which looks like it will be a normal sized race with 63 riders currently registered.

Weather report calls for snow on Friday in Lancaster - maybe if all goes well there will still be some snow on the course on Saturday!!!

I'm hoping to squeeze in a couple more rides this year, but the season certainly is getting closer to wrapping. :-(

When all you have is a hammer....

2008-11-16T15:34:00.010-05:00

So you know the quote -- "When all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail." Well I'm starting to think the same is true with 'cross. When you've drank the kool-aid for cross, every place you ride starts to look like a cross race venue. Today's example was Quiet Water's Park in Annapolis. I spent all of my ride today thinking about how I could set up a great race at the park. Check out the map below:

View Larger Map
There are a bunch of great hills that could be used for either run-ups or off camber runs (nice long ridges). There's also a great trail that has been cut out of some of the wetlands that would be a nice little maybe 1/3 of a mile stretch and there is a great gazebo connects to a bridge that would make for a great feature in the race. (Check it out in StreetView below)

View Larger Map

Anyway, if there is anyone from Anne Arundel County Parks and Recreation reading the blog, kick me an email and we can talk about how we can work together to fill one of the holes in the 2009 MABRA November schedule. (Capital Bikes, Bike Dr. Annapolis, Pedal Pushers, HTO Annapolis, want to sponsor a race???)

In addition to hitting the trail today, I've been keeping up with practice and riding hoping that I can improve some of my finishes in the upcoming races this year. It looks like I've got at least 3 or 4 races left this year including Wonderland in Lancaster and Tacchino in Reston next weeked, Capital Cross in Dec, a couple other misc races and some yet to be announced goodness. Its been a great season so far and I'm looking forward to the remaining races. If all goes well, maybe it will rain and snow for the remaining races.

Stoked to see my house on Streetview

2008-11-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

View Larger Map

Talking Strategy

2008-10-26T22:42:00.001-04:00

IMG_2541
Originally uploaded by bmpskier

Chris and me chatting with Jake pre ride.

Ready for DCCX

2008-10-25T23:02:00.001-04:00

Most of my stuff for tomorrow is ready to go. The car is clean and the girl's bikes are packed up. I know where all my clothes are and I am as much as I can figure ready to get the bikes on the car and roll out.

I think we (the Proteus team) are going to be rocking the pre-Halloween vibe with some zombie make-up on the course tomorrow. I also swung by Target tonight and picked up a nice pair of green and yellow argyle knee-high socks to roll with tomorrow. Between the 8 hours or rain we got today, the great food and beer at the ride and cool pre-Halloween vibe, it should be a blast at the ride tomorrow. Between my afternoon nap and my anticipation of tomorrow's ride I am going to have a bit of trouble getting to sleep tonight.

Anyway, here's the course we'll be riding tomorrow.
DCCX- in progress.alt
Find more Bike Rides in Washington, District Of Columbia

Post Crash at Granogue

2008-10-25T00:24:00.001-04:00

ouch
Originally uploaded by charmcty velo

Yeah between the road rash and a little damage to the knuckles it was a rough race. Things are feeling better thought and I feel ready for DCCX.

Make Mine a Double

2008-10-20T23:00:00.013-04:00

This weekend was 'cross times two - Granogue on Saturday and Wissahickon on Sunday. It was a blast of a weekend and a TON of cross fun!

So the weekend plan was such - ride up Saturday morning arrive ~ 8:00 a.m., reg, pre-ride, race, drink beer, watch pros, eat lunch, camp, get up get to Wiss at 8:00 a.m., pre-ride, race and go home. For the most part the weekend went according to plans, but it certainly wasn't as simple as it sounds above.

Lets start with our friends at Google.   I am a big fan of Google - I use reader, I use GoogleGroups at my kids religious school, I can't live without GMail. What exactly does Google have to do with cyclocross. Well nothing really, but Chris, myself and probably 30 of the riders in the Mens Cat4 C can attest to the fact that GoogleMaps has absolutely no idea how to find 2900 Monchanin Rd. As Chris (Chris rode up with me Sat a.m.) and I make the last turn on the the list of GoogleMaps directions we drove for about 3 miles and start to wonder why we've passed the prescribed 2.1 miles yet haven't seen a field full of bicycles. We ride a little farther and see a car with two bikes on the top. Ah-ha these guys must be going to the race. We'll follow them.

Yeah. They're lost too. They pull into someone's driveway we talk for a few minutes and follow them some more, thinking for whatever reason they might know where they're going.   The guy's driving like a nut and we eventually get dropped.

But look more guys with bikes. Surely they know where the race is...and they pull into a church driveway. Ok. Time to brake out the GPS. Chris cranks up the GPS in his phone, puts in the address and we figure we can put this excellent adventure to bed. We tell the other lost guys to follow us and we'll be off. I proceed to do a 3 point turn to turn the Corolla around. 1 - 2 - crunch. Yeah I wasn't so much looking out the rear window

And I backed into the other guys car.

And broke Chris's bike off my rack.

Onto the other guys hood.

Fortunately we were being followed by the coolest guys in the world and the guy was like "I'm not worried about the car, how are the bikes." Turns out that Chris' bike was ok and the cool guy tossed it on his rack and we headed to the race.

We made it to the race, but not nearly as early as we would have like. Chris had to beg them to re-open registration so he could race and so many folks had gotten lost by the crappy directions that the promoters had to bump the start back time 15 minutes.   All this before the race started.

As for the race. Since we were late, I only got to take a quick pre-ride of about half the course.   Even if I had had a really nice pre-ride it would have been hard to be prepared for the race. It was very challenging and highly technical. There were a number of off-camber runs integrated into switchbacks.   There was also a long run on the side of hill that was the cause of one of my two crashes on Saturday. It wasn't anything super exciting but I did end up whipping out on a turn and jamming my knee into my top tube and as I found out after the race running my calf along one of my chainrings.   It was a race where my inexperience as a cross rider really showed. I just haven't ridden enough to be able to intuit how to attack certain turns and runs. I imagine that when I go back to Granouge in the next couple years I'll be able to acquit myself better on the technical parts of the course.

I also left a little bit of skin in Delaware. There was a turn that transitioned out of grass across some asphalt and onto some dirt. As I made the turn out of the grass and across the asphalt, the bike came completely out from under me. I slid my right hand across the asphalt taking the skin off of two knuckles and my index finger and got a nice patch of road rash on my right thigh.

I am puzzled though. I was wearing bib short (spandex) and the shorts weren't shredded but my thigh has a good 4 inch circular abrasion where the skin has been removed. (Jim promised pictures) I understand the part on my hand - the road sanded off some skin. Simple enough. But what happened to my thigh? The spandex - which I can't imagine is any more durable than skin - wasn't harmed, but my thigh looks like crap. Is the road rash on my leg really a friction burn from the spandex rubbing down my leg? Regardless it still hurts and probably won't heal well.

More importantly though, was the reaction I got from folks. Right as I went down I got a "COME ON - GET UP - GO GO GO" from a woman standing nearby. This was awesome. Seriously.

It was a combination of "you're a bad ass and you can do it" and "no lollygagging Proteus this is a cross race" and "come on that wasn't so bad."   It was actually really inspiring to have someone yell at/for/to me after I crashed. It wasn't the worst crash in the world, but feeling sorry for myself certainly wasn't an option. Anyway, I got up and went.   And felt good about it.

I finished 84th out of 90. Not too bad. Not great by any measure, but it was a ton of fun.

We hung out and watched Shaun from the team race the Mens B.   It was a blast. He's hardcore and raced really well. Was hoping to see him bunny-hop some barriers, but that'd probably be pushing it in a race. He rode really hard. Kicked some hill butt and looked great. Here's some video below.

We grabbed a couple free beers and then headed out for lunch. Jim delivered with some local turkey burger excellence.   I was able to snag some licorice taffy and we rolled back and watched the pros. This was the first pro race that we watched and it was inspiring and demoralizing simultaneously. These guys killed this course for an hour and they made the parts of the race that made my lungs burn look like nothing. These guys were just amazing.   It was incredible impressive to see these guys put in such a strong showing for so long. Reinforced how much I suck. ;-)

That night was not nearly as eventful as the morning.   We didn't have too much difficulty finding the campground and Chris made some yummy veggies and we hit the sack.

The morning was COLD. There was frost on Chris' sleeping bag when he woke up. My car thermometer said 38 degrees when we broke camp and headed for Wissahickon.

Getting to Wissahickon was no problem. We got there and even though the sun was out it wasn't much warmer. It had warmed up to maybe 42 by the time we got there but there was a fair bit of wind and it was just biting cold.   I mean COLD.   Not too cold to ride, but boy am I luck I decided to throw my leg warmers into the bag just in case. As cold as it was though I was still sucking wind heading around the course.

Wiss was a completely different course than Granogue. It was much flatter and a bit faster, but still quite hard. The race took place at a horse show fairground. One of the obstacles was the course sand-pit that the horses perform in. The first couple laps in this I ran the course and this sucked alot of juice out of me. By the fourth lap the sand had been packed pretty well and I was able to ride the whole pit which saved me alot of time.

The highlight of the course had to be a "death spiral" where riders came in a circular spiral and went back out through the spiral again in the opposite direction. It was really cool to see. (photos above and right by Dennis Smith)

Somehow the officials missed my finish and listed me DNF -Did not Finish. Fortunately Jim was able to estimate that I finished somewhere around 80th.

All in all a great weekend and I will definitely do it again next year, but I think I'll go up the night before, get better maps, and stay at a hotel.

Photos from this weekend

Today's quote of day

2008-10-19T10:21:00.001-04:00

Anncouncer as I passed start/finish on lap 3:
There's a Proteus riding with his mouth hanging open like a goldfish trying to get oxygen.

Quote of day

2008-10-18T14:53:00.001-04:00

From the announcer at Granouge during the pro race:
"They're knocking on doors like ACORN trying to register voters."

The Stats Live From Grangoue Cross

2008-10-18T11:07:00.000-04:00

84th out of 90 finishers - a slight improvement still not DFL
3 skinned knuckles
2 crashes
1 broken rack on the car
1 patch on road rash on the left thigh.
0 blown chains!
Lots of smiles

Knew there was a reason I have SPDs

2008-10-15T22:50:00.001-04:00

Bikerumor.com's Guide to Using SPD Pedals from Bike Rumor on Vimeo.

Proteus Rocks!!

2008-10-14T23:18:00.000-04:00

So I rolled out of the office and headed up to Patapsco Valley State Park for some singletrack trail riding with the cyclocross bike. I sounded like a good idea and I figured in spite of the hour long ride out of the way to head up to Baltimore for the ride it would be worth it for the change of scenery and different terrain.

I got up there and got out on the trail and was exploring around the park having a blast. I was enjoying myself and about 15 minutes in really hitting my grove. My legs were warm and I was really having a good time. Then my chain stopped wanting to turn. I couldn't make the pedal go around. As you might imagine this is a ride limiting problem. Somehow on one of the climbs I broke one of the links on the chain.

In addition to being a bit pissed that I was going to have to have work done on my bike I was pretty bummed that a good ride just came to an end and I was on the other side of the park and about a mile away from my car with a none working bike. It looked like my day was offically in the crapper.

So I finally got back to the car and I rang the guys at Proteus up and asked them if they'd be able to fix the chain before Thursday's practice. They said they should be able to and bring it by ASAP. Well I rolled back down to Washington, took Yakkov into the shop and one master link and an unbending of the bent small chain ring and I was out the door with a good as new bike in under 15 minutes. The guys there were great and took awesome care of me. I was able to have th bike back up and running and headed over to the College Park campus to get in some 'cross training before it got dark.

I was totally stoked. These guys were great and salavaged an otherwise crappy evening for me.

The Towpath

2008-10-13T23:22:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been posting alot recently but I have been getting in some riding. I've been putting on some miles and if all goes well I should finish the year with roughly 3000 miles.   A decent number. I'd love to ride more but I don't seem to make enough time to ride. Really need to focus on my time management skills.

Anyway though, the C&O Towpath is my latest great DC discovery. I've lived in the DC area for ~10 years and while I've known the towpath existed - heck I would see the first mile or so of it on the zillion times I headed out the CCT - I've only been on it once. The only time I was on it was a few years ago was on my road bike. A road bike just simply isn't well suited to handling the C&O. Its a hard ride and takes a toll on your arms and neck and is generally unpleasant.

A ride on the C&O on the Yaakov (the new name for my bike) on the other hand is wonderful. Josh from the Proteus team lead a practice ride with me last week after work and it was a blast. Yaakov is able to mute the bumps from the towpath, but you still get a decent paced right that doesn't raddle your fillings out. Its really the perfect ride for the path. The hard-pack makes you work, but the ride is super enjoyable. I went back during the day a couple days after the ride with Josh and the scenery was beautiful. The water in the canal was scerene and mirrored the folliage above that was starting to turn. After you get a couple miles out of DC the trees and the distance quiet all the city sounds and you feel like you're in a the middle of the forest. Its really a wonderful ride and its a shame I hadn't done it sooner.

The only downside was that a recent storm cut out part of the towpath and a portion of the canal had to be drained. Its not the end of the world and the area is still beautiful, but it is a little odd to see trees and grass growing in the bottom of a canal.

All in all though its one of the most beautiful places in the district.   I'm certainly going to be spending more time on it and maybe -- maybe -- next year I will endeavor to take on the whole 184 miles of the C&O in one day. Maybe.

Hutchinson Tires Urban Video 2008

2008-10-09T19:51:00.001-04:00

I've ridden Hutchinson's and have been pretty happy with them -- they never made me this hip, but they're great tires.

Seagull 2008

2008-10-06T11:00:00.002-04:00

Well compared to previous Seagull Centuries, this one was marvelous. Last time I rode Seagull it was rainy, windy, 45 degrees and gross. Saturday on the other hand was between 60 and 70 degrees, relatively not-windy and sunny. It was a beautiful day for a ride.

Getting down to Salisbury was a bit of a hassle. I picked up Josh at his house around 3:45 and we headed east. All was fine until we got to Trappe, MD. Turns out there was some kind of traffic jam along US50. Why there was traffic on 50 so early in the day so late in the year is a bit of a mystery, but we were able to bail off onto a side road and avoid probably a half an hour of the hour long back up. Once we got past the "trap" in "Trappe" we rolled into Cambridge, MD where were were greeted by two wrecks in 3 blocks. Not much we could do but sit through them and wait. We finally arrived in Salisbury and were pleased to discover that the hotel was nice enough and that we weren't too terribly far from the start. We were able to catch up with some Teammates from Tahoe and grab a bite at the Applebee's before heading back to the hotel and getting our gear ready for the next day. (how Applebees "supposedly" ran out of broccoli and mixed veggies though is still a mystery - Tim at my table had broccoli and mixed veggies - why didn't I.)

The Ride
It started out really well. We rolled out at roughly 7:30. It was a bit chilly, but I decided to still go with the short sleeve jersey - mostly because Seagull doesn't organize a bag pickup and once it warmed up I'd be carrying the long sleeve jersey all day.

Took me about the usual 10 miles to get my legs warm. Josh and I had decided in advance that we were going to blow through the first rest-stop and head right to the second stop at mile 40. That was a good call. At roughly mile 30 we were able to jump on with a group of roughly 50 guys from the DC area. It was the same group of guys who get together the weekly down at Hains Point. It was a ton of fun getting in the group with them and trying to hang. The sound inside a group that large is pretty amazing. Just a solid whirling of spokes going through the air. I was able to hang for maybe 5 miles and then my legs told me I just wasn't ready to hang with these guys long term yet. I slowly slipped out of the middle towards the back and was finally got spit out. I think I went through almost all the stages described in this email I got a few years ago.

1. DENIAL --- "I'm not getting dropped. It's just a little gap and I can
catch up, no problem".

2. ANGER --- "I can't believe they're dropping me! Oh, they're going to
pay for this, when I catch them."

3. BARGAINING --- "Please God, give them a head wind or a traffic light
to make them stop or slow down, and I promise to spend tomorrow playing
with the kids."

4. DEPRESSION --- "I'm not any good at cycling. I should sell my bike
and start playing golf. I don't think my cycling buddies like me
anymore."

5. ACCEPTANCE --- "Ok. I'm dropped. Guess I had better just enjoy the
ride. It would have been fun riding with them, but maybe I'll catch them
at the next rest stop or even meet some new friends."

After riding with those guys and getting dropped I caught up with Josh at the second rest stop and we got in an out of there pretty quickly. The third 20 mile leg of the ride was pretty uneventful. I hopped onto a paceline and chugged it into Assateague. The food there was good and they had some great cranberry walnut bread which got me fired back up to head out and hit the next 40 miles.

Mile 80 delivered some pie and ice cream. Good yummy stuff and lots of empty calories to drag me through to the end of the ride. The last 40 were largely uneventful. We definitely saw some tapering off of our pace, but that's to be expected considering all the miles we had put in that day.

Fortunately though we were able to maintain a pace of 19.0 mph over 100 miles - and start to finish in 6 hours. This was pretty satisfying considering the most recent long ride before Seagull was the labor day ride. Josh and I didn't quite make our 20 mph over 100 goal but we came pretty darn close.

Most definitely a great ride and alot of fun!