Multisport Athlete

Ha, thought I forgot about posting today didn't you! Lots of little things so here we go in ramdom mode.

My new Topeak Comp 140 cycling computer came to me today via USPS. I purchased this because it has a cadence sensor.....oooooooooo : - ) I hope have this installed on the Slingshot soon.

It is snowing, and I rode in the snow to lift weights tonight. I love riding in the snow!!! Ok temps and low winds would make tonight a great time for an extended ride. Weight's were up, down, and repeat.

911 dispatch is going nuts tonight with the snow, cars going off the road left and right. I'm planning on at least one fire/rescue call tonight. And to increase those chances we have already had 2 fires today (fires come in 3's also). One hay bailer (how to you bail hay in the snow??) and one dishwasher caught on fire. Those get a big WTF!!! I got to soak the dishwasher so that was ok.

I took Ainsley to the doctor today for her flu shot. Nothing like watching a stranger stick a needle into your helpless childs leg. Afterwards I stopped at Europa to get bike box for the Trek 1100. Looks like it should sell tomorrow. There are 29 people watching it and it's had over 700 hits. Hopefully a couple of people get stupid and pay too much for it. Then I can buy _____________???? You'll have to wait for that to unfold!

Ok, need to get some sleep. Tomorrow AM is a bike workout with RPM kicks, see why I bought a computer with cadence.

ED OUT!

Winter is back……Oh joy!!!!! Pretty chilly out and some type of rain, ice, and snow mix on the ground. I will say that people were being safe this morning on the roads. This morning’s workout was completed on the treadmill. Not my favorite place to run but I was NOT running outside today, tooooo nasty. The run was: 30 min in Zone 1 and 2 (HR) with 20-30 second pick-ups. A pick-up is an increase in speed throughout the entire interval. This worked out fairly well as the treadmill has 1/10 increments so I was able to kick the speed up every couple of seconds to achieve my pick-up. The heart rate was staying low (131ave) and my RPE was next to nothing during the workout, which was good. Total of 3.0 miles and 30 minutes today.

In other news I was looking at a race schedule for 2006 last night. So far it looks like this:
Decorah MTB TT ???? - Always a fun race!
Sugar Creek 12hr MTB - New one for me!
Pigman Sprint Tri – Probably my favorite TriTimber City Adventure Tri (Canoe, bike, run) – New for me and first canoe event.CornMan Tri – The race that always gets me…. Not this year!!!!
Cedar Valley 12hr MTB – Local event and a good way to get in a looooong ride
Pigman ½ IM Tri - I still have the race #’s on my arm from the sunburn of 15 months ago. I will be better prepared this year.
Des Moines Marathon – This will be my first marathon. 6 weeks after a ½ IM? I must like pain!

It’s doubtful this will hold as summer approaches and other commitments come up, but I felt like having something in writing.
That’s all for now. Have a great day!

ED OUT!

Happy Monday everyone!!!! I most people hate Monday’s especially after a 4-day weekend. However, I’m having a wonderful Monday morning and you should too. The started at 4:45 with the alarm going off. I hit the snooze and then Katie kicked me, just like I had asked her to do, THANKS HONEY. You see I had said last night that if I’m going to be competitive next year it all starts Monday morning. Being the supportive wife she is, she had no problem kicking me out of bed. Off to the weight room I went for day one of Prep Stage. 8 exercises, 3 sets of 20 to 30 on each. 40%-60% of my max. Thank goodness it’s only for 4 weeks, that’s tooooo much up and down. Wait, I’m an endurance athlete right, is there ever tooo much of anything??? Hehehe.
I’ll keep everyone posted on a day to day of the workout plan. If anyone is interested I can post the plan in detail or email it to you, just let me know. It is based off Olympic distance and then tweaked to meet my schedule and goals.

Check out this website. www.muddybuddy.com It looks like a good time and I’m leaning towards hosting something like this instead of a normal trail run. It’s defiantly different. Chime in if you think this would fly or not.

Ok, better get some work done. Have a great week everyone.

ED

So that is it for my transition period. Prep phase starts tomorrow. 6 hours of training next week, stay tuned for details!

It was cold out today. I think it was mostly the wind making in feel soooo cold. I spent most of the day around the house. Did some laundry, fixed the baby gate, cooked some food for another gathering tomorrow. We also put up the Christmas Tree. It's like a lighted magnet for Ainsley. Do they make baby gates for Christmas trees?????

After the days excitement I rode to the weight room. 10 min on the elipical, 20 min on the treadmill, and finally 2 sets of 15 on the weights. I was a good workout, I think I still have an extra 8 pounds of turkey to work off.

Tomorrow has a good chance of a outdoor ride. My dad and I are working at the new shop in the 'loo so I get to ride my bicycle there!!!!! Yeaaaaaa.

Later
Ed out!

Anyone else feel like this?
I will need a long slow workout to destroy today's calories.

Is your gym open 24-7? Mine is and I consider myself very lucky. This is one of the perks for being a volunteer firefigher. 2 years ago we turned the junk room into a weight room, and we didn't skimp on it either. We went with quality products from the folks at Jesup Gym. (www.jesupgym.com) These guys also have the best prices on suplements you will find anywhere, ok you could probably get them cheaper in Mexico but you get the point. This makes my winter training a little easier and also cheaper. Keep at it, less than 6 months from my first race, wahoooooo!

Dear God what happened Friday night???? Too many cervesa's?? Whatever it was it has been fixed.
The Diamondback is back to it's natural state. Short and fat. That was a close one!

I've done this. Nothing good comes out of late night's in the garage with a bicycle. For some reason I wanted to know if I could get the wheels off my wife's 7100 into this old ass beater diamondback frame. Well, they fit with 700x38c tires. You know I have to convert this bike now. I will soon be in the back room of Europa Cycle and Ski snooping for parts to build this.
Damn my mind that never slows down.

Green tea extract boosts exercise endurance in animals

This is a very encouraging finding :American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (10.1152/ajpregu.00693.2004) that green tea extract appears to stimulate the use of fatty acids by the muscle, reducting carbohydrate use and allowing for longer exercise times.It is certain that the applications would be in Natural Herb base suplement & some sport drinks.The 6,000 years of Green Tea history is now confirmed by moderm research. However, the research done by the herbs Guru basically derive from thousands generation of physical test. It is the habits & routine in those years & days that Tea & Green Tea are serve throughout the day & even after dinner.Green Tea Extract Boosts Exercise Endurance In Animals28/01/2005 - Green tea extract could become a novel ingredient for the sports nutrition industry if new findings on animals can be confirmed in human tests.A team from the Japanese healthcare company Kao has found that mice given green tea extract regularly over 10 weeks increased their endurance in exercise by up to 24 per cent.They explain in an online edition of the American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (10.1152/ajpregu.00693.2004) that green tea extract appears to stimulate the use of fatty acids by the muscle, reducting carbohydrate use and allowing for longer exercise times.Green tea's effect on fatty acid uptake, speeding up fat breakdown, is also thought to be the reason why it helps weight loss, another area studied by the Kao researchers, and already targeted by supplement makers.In the new experiments, on Balb/c mice swimming in an adjustable-current water pool, endurance exercise performance was boosted up to 24 per cent when the mice were given green tea extract at a dose of 0.5 per cent of their weight for 10 weeks.It increased 8 per cent with a 0.2 per cent by-weight addition to food, showing that the effect was dose-dependant.

What the hell, the weather turns to crap and I start training on consistant basis. I like to be outside, not inside. What's wrong with me? So, here is a pic of the slingshot on the trainer. Both are Dirtram specials, he built the bike for me and is lending me his trainer. Thanks buddy!! After 45min easy spin at 100rpm I did the 18min gut buster known as Winson Pilates. It hurts, but how many fast athletes do you see with beer belly's....hummmmmmm?
The Jackal and I met for lunch today to discuss our 2006 endurance plans. Yes we have some water on the stove, just trying to get the burner lit and make it boil.
That's all for now, weather is crap but the training has been good.
Also, If you would like to see my last design for the bike rack I can email pics to you, I have decided not to post it. Thanks!
Later

ED

The snow is here, winter has come. Boooooo, booooooo.
I'm not x-country skier so I'm sad to see the snow. I am planning on a little more biking in the snow this year. I need to get my snow/trash bike rolling again. It's so heaving it can sink into 2 feet of snow before I even get on it.
Let's see, oh I have now completed 2 workout's in a row! I know most of you are like, yea so. But, this was my big problem last year, my schedule was crazy and I let my training slide. I was very inconsistant. Taking it one workout at a time this year.
Speaking of the coming year the Jackal and I are meeting tomorrow to discuss plans for the 2006 season. Looking to combine our endurance goals. That's all I will say for now.
While I'm on next year I'll mention some goals that I have. I'm not sure what races I'll be doing but I plan on competing in the following:
MTB Races
Trail Runs
Eudurance Race
Marathon
Triathlons
Duathlon
That sounds like a lot but the season will be spread from March to October. It will average out to a couple events per month.

One last thing, I have changed my design for the bike rack I'm making. I like it much better. In fact, I'm on my way to the garage to start the proto-type. I'll post pics later.

Ed Out!

Yesterday was good day. Left the house just before 9:00 to go hang out at Europa Cycle and Ski before the Turkey Trot. JK and the Jackal were setting up the ski area, we did a little chatting and then I rode over the Hartman Reserve for a little trail goodness. I registered, which was a mear $7, did a little warm up and then off we went. No race numbers, no clock, no top finishers, just a good day on the trails having some fun. The route had plenty of ups and downs and a killer stair climb at the very end.
Afterwards I got back on the bike and headed to GW to check out the new trails. Props go out to everyone that has worked on the trails, they were in good shape and it was a joy to ride with out getting bitch slapped by trees, weeds, and grass. After this lovely day of trail bliss I started to think of a route for an off road duathlon using Hartmann, Lookout Park, and GW. Keep the Run in South Hartman and Adams Trail, bike in GW and North Hartman. I think we could pull it off, there are few to none off road multisport events in Iowa. That would make next year busy, Trail run in the spring and DU in the Fall. Carlos and I also spoke of a particular "team" that may be coming in 2006, we'll have to see how it pans out.

Have a great day,

ED

Turkey Trot, 3-4 miles trail running, no age groups, many door prizes. Random give away of a long sleeve Turkey Trot t-shirt. 10 am start held at Hartman Reserve Nature Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Who's coming with me??????
Seriously, I'm just jogging the damn thing so come join me.

Sometimes when life gets you down the smallest thing can bring you back up. As you may have noticed I have not blogged for a few days and I have not talked about training for awhile. That means work has taken over my life for the past week and it was getting me down. Today while grocery shoping I got a breath of fresh air, my favorite apples are back in season, the Pink Lady. Firm and Tart, a product of the USA. I can live again.
So, when life gets you down, what's your pick me up??

So, I was buying mailing labels at the Evil Empire yesterday and this caught my eye. No, I'm not going to divorce Katie, I just thought it was funny.

Doing my best to fight off early signs of a cold. Katie and Ainsley have it pretty good. I missed my workout last night but that's ok. Better to let the body fight this cold. Hopefully everyone is feeling better by the weekend. It should be nice, I have lots of yard work to do and would like to get a ride/run in.

ED OUT