Showing posts with label Enrico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enrico. Show all posts

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Training day.....

Well ok this post is not about a movie with a courrpt Cop stelaing most of the drug money, but rather what the main extent of the last 12+ hours were like for me.
6:00am Alarm goes off...hit snooze...
6:30am Alarm goes off get up and throw work clothes in the dryer to "de wrinkle" them...hit snooze
6:45am get up pick up work clothes drive to the Dirty Water Y
7:00am-7:20am swim 1000 yds...cussing silently to myself that I should have bit the bullet and left a 6 like I had planned.
7:25-7:40 Shower, lavatory, dress and take off for work
8:10 Dunkin Donuts run Yay!
8:20 get to work.
11:30 Power outage cause 10 minutes of havoc
11:41 start taking care of customers when power is restored...
11:42 power goes back out for a minute
11:45 Power comes back on
11:48 finally resign onto computer
12:15PM take care of my last customer of the day after stating open 15 min. late to comphensate for power failures.
12:30Pm Blow the pop stand that is Webster.
12:35 Get Angry's voice mail that he will be unable to run this afternoon go home and work on plan B rails to trails ride. Take the siblings ( Chrissy and Michael)
12:45-1:45 do bicycle surgery on Chrissy's bike, fit mike's ride in the back of the car, set up bike rack drive out to Cheshire.
2:00Pm arrive at Cheshire rails to trails inflat everyone's tires and ride.
Now since it's fall and last night there was a torrential rain storm the path was lined with soaked leaves making the entire path a skating rink. To make matters worse as I repassed Chrissy and mike Chrissy's bike had gotten a flat and I didn't have a spare tube. I went and finshed my 20 miler as Chrissy walked and mike sort of rode at a slow pace. Meanwhile I tore up as much of the trail I could. Everything was fine until about 5 miles from the end. As I was riding down one of the more slick sections I approached a kid who was weaving back and forht on his mountain bike I shouted " Heads Up" and the kid turned left directly into my path. I turn to the left as he was trying to also go left for the grass, needless to say front wheels touched and we went sliding off road. I managed to unclip and stay up right as the poor kid fell over. After checking to make sure we were both alright I took off again and sped through the last 5 miles of the ride ( Viva Enrico!) . average speed was about 14 mph a little slow but considering the slick conditions and the NDE ( near death expereince) it wasn't bad.
4:30PM Went to dinner with the sibblings, then drove home.
5:30 unloaded bikes, went to room and changed into the most reflective run gear I own.
6:00-7:05 I ran a new route through Wolcott, I tried to stick to Route 69 and the newer developments on the side roads, you know the kinds that have street lamps. Well needless to say theses new developments are also some of the hilliest neighborhoods in town, so needless to say I got a nice 7-8 mile hill workout. I know it's usually a dangerous and possibly deadly propostion to run in Wolcott after dark ( not because of gangs of Ghetto Wantabes but the fact there are not many street lights and everyone ( myself included) seems to think 40 is the minimum speed in town.) but i want the experience of running in full gear ( ie fuel belt, hat, long sleeves) in the dark just in case something goes horribly wrong in IM NZ ( I bonk, crash on the bike and have a slower than expected ride, blow up on the run, take crap out to fast, do an extra loop of the run...etc) and I end up coming in inthe 14, 15, 16 hours or racing to just beat the 17 hour deadline mode. Also as winter approaches I am coming to the realization that 95% of my run training is going to happen either before 7am or after 5pm which means I'm going to be running in the dark, so I had better get used to it. Afterall if I'm going to be one of the top age groupers out of the water I would like to have a run split to match...

Ok enough of my training tales and not-so-secret ambitions to do well I am wondering if it would be too presumptious of me to write to my local paper and tell them I doing this thing. Now Normally I'd like to be quiet and low key, but another part of me is screaming, Human interest story! $ponsor$hip! Benifit$! so I am taking a poll should I write to the Dirty Water's rag of a newspaper and tell them of my New Zealand Plans or leave it all to the inner circle who knows I psycho enough to do this thing, my fellow athletes and bloggers, Please post a reply.

R.D.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Enough about baseball..my Ironman training so far....

Well my last few posts have dealt mostly with the New York Yankees post Season performance (or lack there of) so I guess now I should deal with my own post season evaluations. As many of you know I am training for Ironman New Zealand ( the financial implications are difficult to explain but hopefully I will pull this off...I'm filing my taxes at midnight Jan.1 so I can get my refund quickly to pay for this bitch...) So far the training has been not as intense as I would have hoped for, granted I'm only two weeks in . In the past week my runs have consisted of a 4 miler last Tue. on Central's rock hard knee killing indoor track, a 6 miler on the pitted back roads of my home town last Thursday, and a 12 miler on the same roads on Saturday Tomorrow Afternoon I'm hoping to cram in a 6 miler before class.. My pool performances have ranged from the grand total of 8, 200 yards I did last week ( 2000 on Mon., 3000 on Tues. and 3200 on Friday) this week I'm on pace to crack 10,000 ( I did 3200 yesterday, will do about 3500 tonight, and hopefully another 3000 tomorrow morning plus my Friday 3000 + master's workout) Yet the finding time to get in the necessary bike distances is tough. Last week I managed to get in a 50 miler on Sat. This week I only eked out a 25 mile ride on Sunday night and nearly killed myself on the trainer ( stupid uneven floor surface) causing me to feel shaky at best on it ( so much for my idea of watching the playoffs while riding to better fitness, granted now that the Yankees are done there is little point for me to watch accept that Colorado might Win the World Series which would be sweet for them, so the Ironman/TDF highlight dvd's will be getting much use.) Indeed I want to get as much time on the Bitch Stomper as possible. I know my reliable road bike ( Enrico) can handle any terrain and high cross winds but I really need to get used to how TBS ( The Bitch Stomper) will handle on varied terrain, and variable weather, also the fact I have to get used to clipping and unclipping into my Look pedals ( which I am very comfortable clipping in but bailing out is still a chore.) the unseasonably warm weather seems to be at an end which means the window for me to get in real long rides and not trainer simulations is closing rapidly by the day, ( and sadly my town is mostly hills that are not plowed exceptionally well and I do not find the idea of riding on a icy and steep descent while dodging speeding traffic fun. So on tap for the week are a lot of swim and run work outs ( which I can easily fit into my packed schedule) and trainer sessions in my room ( which has a steadier floor surface than my living room) and Hopefully long out door rides on Saturday and Sunday. At the End of the Month I have a week of vacation, so if the weather co-operates with me I will be able to have a real hammerfest bike focus week. (I will be stringing 25 mile daily rides together with a 75-100 mile ride and 10 mile run brick that Saturday. )All in all I'm hoping to at least have the base for the Ironman by Jan. and hopefully mother nature will bless Connecticut with a warm apocalyptic style global warming , winter ( you know the kind you can wear shorts on Christmas kind of Winter) So I will have the ability to still get in long rides on roads that are not covered in icy, snow, rock salt, sand, calcium brine, or some sick combination of all of them.
Well that's all I've got for now...If any one has any winter biking tips please post them on the comment board...any help I can get in this department is appreciated.
R.D.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Enrico Rides Again! and the week or so in review....


That's right it's been a while but I've been busy ( classes, working, lifeguarding, selling some of my possessions/soul to help my sister get to college, cramming in time to train. I feel flabby I've only run once this week. and I will get in a 7 miler tomorrow to get prepped for Hammerfest and little race coming up in a week. Sunday was a good day as I blew the dust off of trusty Enrico and went on a 6 town 60 mile tour of New Haven and Hartford County.

Yes for those of you who don't know Enrico is my sisters' pet name for my road bike. I am currently in the process of debating whether or not reliable Enrico ( with it's road gearing and granny gear goodness) to power my way through a New England Pyrenees senario or if I should suffer the climbs on The Bitch Stomper to gain speed and braking confidence on the flats and suicidal decents. It's such a tough call. For my long ride on Sunday I took out old Enrico and decended down to route 69 ( using a sucidal hill that I crawled down because cars F**king fly up and down it and I don't want to be a road pizza 2 miles in.) After crossing and turning on to 322 climbing "the Hill" near Pat's IGA I was treated to car infested rolling pavement until the usual fork in the road ( where I always go left ) and decended past the golf course into Southington. If I had gone right I would be treated to a 70-80 mph descent down the 10% gradient Southington mountain... trying to stop....not my idea of fun.....any way when I reached the bottom of 322 I took a right on to Marion Rd. I followed Marion Rd. Past Ansico Farms..over a hairy stech of grooved asphalt..across route 70. Then onto Route 70 then onto route 10 staying far to the right to avoid traffic and onto 42 to Lock 12 park and the canal trail. I followed the bike trail all the way to Hamden then back to its start point in Cheshire ( about 18-20 miles) I back roaded it to route 70 before crossing back onto Marion Rd. and then when I reached 322 I crossed and followed the other half of Marion rd. into Southington. I stopped at the Dunkin Donuts on route 10 to umm well..drain mass quantities of electrolyte replacement beverage. before backtracking to the bike trail which took me to downtown Southington. I rode through down town and stopped at the CVS on route 10 for much needed H20 and Gatorade. I followed Route 10 through Plantsville back to Marion Road. I did my second fly by of the three colonial era cemeteries then got to the base of the mountain. With my legs screaming for mercy, my brain trying to get in desperately needed salt, and my ego saying "Bring it On Bitch!" I climbed the 1.25 mile 10% grade monster averaging between 6.5 and 7 mph ( what hill's my bitch? ). I rode down Meriden road through the whole confusing three towns at once section ( officially putting me in Cheshire, Waterbury and Wolcott at the same time for 2 seconds) I then turned right onto Todd Rd. ( and officially back into Wolcott) and rode through it's nice somewhat pitted rollers, finishing off with a lovely 40-45mph descent. I turned on to Wood tick road and rode past rode up boundline again getting on to route 322 before getting onto 69 and doing a lap of my old hood and riding the last quarter mile home. All in all it was about 60 miles. in 5 hours average speed was about 16.5 mph not an earth shattering record breaking pace but it wasn't supposed to be. I capped my Sunday off with a 3100 yard pool work out up at Central. Monday was a some what rest day...went to class ,lifeguarded. got in about 1000 yards in the pool trying to pace Bjoern. Tuesday I got up early and got in a 4 mile run, followed by work, class, a 3500 pool workout and collasping until 8 am this morning. Today had plans for a 6 miler between work and class but a mad scramble to help my sister get fundage for college took precsdence ( how do you measure true love your brother will cancel his work out, max out his cards, sell his old books, and offer to pawn his high school ring for you. Along with your parents and other siblings doing the same...and when we find that mortgage broker who's been jerking us around for 6 months....well...alright it's not his fault our other lender is being a dick ..it's complicated and neither here nor there.) Tonight finds me letting off good karma and bad steam into the blogosphere.I've got 12 computer science questions plus 6 hours of sleep to get in so I can cram in my 7 miler tomorrow before work, school, and flirting with the sexy chicks from my guard chair. Leave the Love, or hate, or apathy, or utter randomness. Also Please Donate to the War on ALS! Even though it might sound completely insensitive we really need to Bitch Stomp this disease!

R.D.