Sometimes, you have to say "what the **** "

So Risky Business may not have been Oscar-worthy, and the young Tom Cruise may have turned into a world-class flake, but the movie did leave us with something much more memorable than Joel dancing around in his tighty-whities..........the above quote was hammered home throughout the flick by the antagonist friend, Miles, and finally accepted by our tragic hero, Joel. And it was applicable to me this morning.



So there I was yesterday evening, standing on my back patio, noticing something strange. It wasn't hot. It wasn't humid. The gentle breeze was left-to-right -- a North wind? Heck, it was almost cool. Well, that may be a stretch, but you know what I mean.



Thoughts of a 25 mile morning ride started forming in my head......naturally, I first went through all the reasons to not do it.....none of my group can make it; have to wait until about 6:30 for enough light if I'm alone; With proper cool-down/stretching/shower I won't be able to make it to the office until about 9:00, blah, blah, blah.



So, after taking all of that into consideration, I said to myself, sometimes, you have to say "what the f***."



What an outstanding ride. Not necessarily from a performance standpoint. Yeah, I hammered out a half dozen sprint intervals, and ramped it up to about 26mph in one final near passout dash (that was a damn fast dog!)....but the best part was the, dare I say "crisp air", light-to-no traffic, curious cows, near collision with with a Snowy Egret (big white "cowbird"). And, yes, I made it into the office at a reasonable time, and was able to hit the ground running, so to speak.



As I completed the rural loop portion of the ride, and approached the city limits, the morning hustle-bustle was in full swing. As I navigated my way home, I began thinking how cool it would be to make this a regular part of my week. All I need is a clip-on light so I can get a little bit earlier start, and maybe keep pressuring the guys in my riding group to join in.



Then again, by next week, we'll probably have 88 degree / 90% humidity steam-bath conditions by 7:00 AM. Regardless, I definitely made the right decision this morning. Mornings like this in late July do not come around all that often. Remember, folks, sometimes you have to just hit the "pause button" on everything else that is goin on around you. Sometimes, you have to say "what the f***!"



Later.

A Great Ride. A TOUGH (meaning I struggled) Run

Even though the training calendar (for the 9/03 Austin Tri - see my "upcoming events") called for a "70 minute" ride workout this weekend, couple of riding buddies and I decided to take advantage of the lack of rain, and non-scorching temperature, and put in a 45 mile loop (the route is posted in the left column of the blog - although we started from our neighborhood, which added 5 miles). We had a great time. We mixed in some "social riding" while cruising at about 18, took several miles at 20+, and did about 3 sprint intervals at each persons' max/near passout stage.

Then at mile 40, we hung out at Starbucks for about 30 minutes, solved several problems, then leisurely pedaled home. Really enjoyed both the workout aspect of the ride, but more importantly, being on the road with some of our group for the first time in several weeks.....heck, since the MS150 in April.

Then today came, and I still had to get my run in . The calendar calls for "55 minutes". Well, with my wife and boys out of town, I naturally slept in. By the time I finished my "pre-run" breakfast, and read through the paper, the morning clouds had given way to unrelenting sunshine, and 90+ temp, with relative humidity pushing 80%. Typical Southeast Texas in late July.

And typical for boneheaded runners who wait until 10:30 AM to get their run in. I gave passing thought to going to the gym and hitting the treadmill.....but that didn't sound all that wonderful, plus, my dog would never forgive me. Not to mention that it is certain to be this hot, or hotter in Austin on 9/3. So I downloaded a couple of new songs for the playlist, and hit the road.

I typically drop the dog off after a 1 1/2 mile loop around the neighborhood, and she was ready to be dropped off today. Felt pretty good at that point. Sucked down some water, and got back on the road. Was running pretty good until the 3.89 mile (yes, I have a GPS) mark. Took a little walk break there and grabbed some water from my Amphipod water belt, but never could ramp it back up.

Maybe it was the ride the day before. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was just "one of those days." But, here came those thoughts again......."how the heck am I going to perform well in Austin if I can't even run a lousy stand-alone 10K without struggling?" "How the hell did I ever run a marathon for crying out loud?" Complete an Ironman? HAH!"......and so on and so on.

Then, I calmed down, reminded myself that training runs are always harder than the event itself. The Marathon was the culmination of a dedicated 18 week plan, and I always struggled on the long runs over 15 miles. But on race day, I performed better than I expected.

I continued talking to myself (remember, family is out of town, and the dog and I have run out of things to talk about): Relax, dude. You'll be ready for Austin, and when the time comes, you'll be ready for Couer d'Alene. This is July 2007. CDA is in June 2008. The real "training" doesn't even begin for months. These next few months are for maintaining a base while having fun. That's why you rode with friends on Saturday, as opposed to hammering out 70 minutes on a "training ride".

Don't forget that. Oh yeah, and also don't forget that anyone with an ounce of a brain cell will begin all summertime runs in Texas before 8:00 AM.

Have a great week everyone.

103 wet, flat, hot, lonely miles.......

.......whew. 103 miles is a long way. On a non-tri specific road bike. Not drafting or riding with anyone. Especially when there are thunderstorms during the first hour, and a 93 degree steambath for the remainder.

And the flatness. Good lord......endless stretches of flat farm roads begin to look like gentle inclines after about 40 miles.

Strange thoughts invade the mind after 60 miles. The last song I heard before getting out of the car? Pink's "U and U'r Hand"........hey, wait a second.........I get it........."....just you and your hand tonight...." Clever. Why the hell am I thinking of the meaning of the lyrics of a song by someone named Pink.......and doesn't she actually spell her name "P!nk"....what the hell is that all about.....

80 miles is obviously the "someone lit my ass on fire" point.

Riding endless flat roads sucks. I need rolling hills. The benefit of the descent far outweighs the price of the ascent, IMO.

Discouragingly slow. Stopped too often. 6 hours and 25 minutes to ride 103 miles. Not great. Not good. Heck, downright tortise-like.

Blood stained jersey in the chest area (can't bring myself to type "nipple") that I didn't notice until after the ride was kind of cool.

Must. Train. Harder.

The double meat Belt Buster at Dairy Queen (for those outside the jursidiction of Dairy Queen, that's a double meat and cheese burger) following the ride was beyond outstanding.

More later.