45-10...

So much for the "dream season" for the Bears. 45-10 to the f'n Bungles...the f'n Bungles...you have got to be kidding me! At this point, it looks like it could be a long season in Chicago. That's all I have to say about that.

Sleeping Giant (aka Sunday World Championships)

My weekend wouldn't be complete without the Sleeping Giant ride. I rolled out of the house at 9am hoping to get in some miles before the onslaught of the ride while the rest of the family went to church. I hope I'm not going to hell because I'd rather ride my bike than go to church...but, then again, the sleeping giant ride, combined with my current level of fitness, has become my personal purgatory.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17105954#

As for the ride, the pace was somewhat human for the first few miles. I few of the local superstars went up the road and I was hoping that the remainder of the ride would continue at it's current pace. But these are the World Championships, so that was not meant to be. Right before we hit Vernon Rd, a few of the superstars that previously went up the road decided to return to the group to torture the rest of us. By the time we reached the ski resort, my fuse was lit and I knew my time was limited. Once we hit the risers after the ski area, I was done. After that, I couldn't even keep with some of the back markers (who took the shortcut) that went by me like I was dragging a piano. Pride would not allow me to take the shortcut and I was resigned to the fact that the rest of my ride would be solo. The headwind out of the north didn't help either. Ed was nice enough to turn around and keep me company on the way home. I was hoping to stay with the ride longer than two weeks ago, but that didn't happen. I'd like to think my workout from the day before did me in, but I just think it's my lack of fitness. Oh well, on to next week...

October 24, 2009 Workout

With the crappy weather outside, I was stuck in the house for today's workout. I'm still trying to get back in shape from my run in with colitis, so the intensity may be harder than most at his time of the year. Normally, I would just do some random road miles or nothing considering the bad weather. My next races will not be happening until March, so I do have some time to get back in shape. I also think my heart rate is higher than normal due to multiple issues such my lack of fitness, the prednisone I still have to take daily, or the anemia from my illness. I'll be completely off the prednisone in about two weeks, so hopefully the swelling in my face and legs will end. As for the anemia, it has been improving and hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

As for the workout, after a 15 minute warm up on the indoor trainer, I decided to do one-minute efforts every five minutes to loosen up the legs for a run. In total, I did about 60 minutes on the indoor trainer including a 10 minute cool down. After my warm up on the trainer, I changed into my running shoes for a run on the treadmill. I ran for about 55 minutes for a total of 5.7 miles. I know the speed is not impressive, but that's the best I can do considering my lack of fitness.

Tomorrow is the sleeping giant ride which has become the unofficial "Cheshire Sunday World Championships". My goal is to not get dropped like I did two weeks ago. It rained last Sunday, so went to church with the family instead. This time I pray that I have enough in my legs to hang for the whole ride. There's always some local hero willing to torture the rest of us. With the crappy weather today, I assume there will be plenty of fresh guys for tomorrow.

Where the magic happens...

Maybe I'd be better off with some sort of man cave or something, but this room is where the magic happens. This room has become my favorite room in the house...especially on crappy weather days or for 5am workouts during the week. Having two children makes it hard to get in workouts so we decided to turn one of our basement rooms into a workout room with treadmill and smith machine. We installed insulated ceiling tiles so I don't wake up the little ones with the sound of the bike or treadmill. This usually works out well since I can get my workouts in before the rest of the clan gets up.

Having the 26" HD in the corner helps me get through most workouts. This is usually my one chance to catch the latest flick that doesn't involve cartoon cars or insects. ESPN is also a popular channel for catching up on all the scores from the night before. Other than that, there's not much on at 5am during the week.