The next stage

I've had a pretty active spring. I've done a 10k, my fourth Tour de Kota and three sprint triathlons since April. I think I'm breaking down a little bit. Good thing I'm going on vacation next week so I can heal and gain about 10 pounds.

The benefit of all this activity is that my weight is down to what it was many years ago. It's generally been the case that I get lighter after TdK and such and then start gaining back during the summer vacations. Thus is the natural cycle of life. I'd like to avoid that this time around. That probably means doing more running during the vacations, which is a tough thing to maintain.

But the big question is what to do next. There are some tris coming up but they're mostly in towns a bit of a drive away and I'm not a big enough enthusiast to spend the night in Watertown or Chamberlain just to do a tri. I'd rather go on the coffee and donut ride or the Something for Everyone ride.

There's a half-marathon in Sioux Falls in September. That seems like a decent goal but I have to see how it works with the golf trip schedule. So many social engagements... Training for the Half would be good though, as it would keep me engaged and really work that weight down.

I also have another bike project in mind. I'm probably going to tear down the Xtracycle and sell the free radical and then rebuild the old Boardwalk into a single speed or maybe internal three speed for tooling around on the train and such. I've got the Big Dummy now so I don't need the Xtra and it's unlikely that anybody would buy the entire unit.

Anyway, lots of things to think about.

Cheers.

up at Elm Creek

Good ride today in the Elm Creek Park nature area in Champlin, Minn. It's a fabulous area with great bike trails and hiking area and some single track. I need to bring the 1x1 up here some time.

Here's a couple vids....

Did my first triathlon today. It was a short one, 300 yards swim, 9 mile bike and 2.25 mile run. Still, I can see why it can be addictive.

My goal was to finish in under an hour. My transitions were horrible, which didn't help. Thought I would be strongest on the bike, which didn't really pan out. Here's the breakdown if you're interested. I wasn't horrible on the bike but I didn't hammer it either.

I ran hard the last mile or so to make the sub one hour and ended up at 59:46. Very pleased with that. But I can see where it's possible to find time to get that down to near 50. I believe that's possible between transitions - essentially having the right gear - and making something happen on the bike.

I swam well I thought and I lost a little time passing people.

The only person who passed me all day was right out of the transition to the run and after about a half mile I passed him back and never saw him again.

All in all, very happy with today's performance with identified areas of improvement.

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

A pretty good day

I haven't been taking many pictures or making video lately. That's because it's been pretty normal riding and living for me. I got in about 46 miles today, all urban touring on the Cross Check. That's not all bad. Worked in there was a complete loop on the bike trail. Technically, you can't do that right now and probably won't be able to in the near future, but today you could, if you were willing to bounce through a little debris and such. It wasn't bad. Pretty good actually. Chilly in the morning but it got better. Nice lunch with Ms. Hyphenation, bike club newsletter meeting and other adventures. But pretty mundane really. Just the way I like it.

Not sure about that

Spent the day riding and running. For whatever reason, it was difficult. Ran six miles and struggled the whole way, nearly 10 minute miles. Took the south loop of the trail home. The good news is that it was mostly passable, though dicey in a couple spots. The bad news is I felt like I was pulling cinder blocks behind me.

That's bad because I'm supposed to do a sprint tri in about a month and I don't feel like I'm in any shape all of a sudden. Couple weeks ago I started to feel like things were coming together. Guess not. I think part of the problem is just a lack of bike miles. I've been running some but I've gotten into a bike rut of going to work and home and that's it. 10 miles a day every day. Gotta do more than that. It's time to get on a better schedule.

Try again tomorrow. Maybe do five with noon group if I feel OK.

Hope to get the road bike out tomorrow or Thursday. That will help. 25 inch tires. Just think about it.

That's that.

I'll see you out there.