Saturday...time is runnin short, the miles are getting long. Finally!

This past Saturday I got in 3 hours on Computrainer, 2.5 hrs outside.  It was very cold...

On the Computrainer I rode the IM Arizona course which is basically uphill for 23 miles before the first relief... Ive been there before...and the miles are BORING as is the trainer for 3 hrs...no music, no TV....I was able to average 20 mph on the dot!  Time to go outside!  SHT, its freezing!  There is snow on the ground and clouds in the air...PERFECT TRAINNIG!

Sunday...Here I am again, but this time it feels more like Im race simulating...How so?  Well, afetr you spedn 6 hrs on the bike go to bed and then throw in another 5.5 hours on top...it begins to feel like an ultra...So the weather is absolutely perfect!  Out the door I go....

Monday....Okay I was wrong, today feels like Im racing long distance becaus ...

Whew! Long week.  

Okay Ive had a prety easy week so far...but tommorrow starts a 3 day roll.

It supposed to snow with a high of 39 for Saturday and I have 135 to ride...yippee.

My legs are pretty cooked from Wednesdays intervals...31 of these to be exact followed by a thursday night SPIN class...

Friday posed as a rest day but there was no massage, ice bath or anything of that sort...

Worked very late last night with crew chief on sponsorship reuqests, postcards, and donation page....donation page to go live ASAP. postcards will go out as soon as they get final once over by Mary R. / crew chief.

Which brings me to the crew...Both Scott T. and Larry H. have volunteered their time to helpout during HOS500...We need 1 more female for balance.

Mary Rountree is Crew Chief and is currently organizing the reservations, fees, etc. etc.

TOP FOOD (REAL) ALTERNATIVES FOR TRAINING

By: Kim Brown, MS, RD, Sports Nutritionist

Are you sick of that same old sugary sports drink, that gooey sports gel, that bland sports bar?

Im getting there....Have had an easy weekend!  100 miles on Saturday.....Easy no problem... Chris MacDonald averaged 17mph during his HOS500 in 2005....finishing in 29:23 and for this route...thats getting  on it...

How do I compare and how do the numbers work:

I've done 225 in 10:35....thats 21+ mph  its also on an easier course

If the HOS500 has or is equal to  5 centuries

Then I need to complete each one of those centuries in sub 6 hrs to match Chris MacDonalds time....

I had acouple stops and still averaged 16.96 mph....VERY EASY NOT Aun a sub 5 hr for the first 100 during the race....but then I have Ft. Payne, and north Georgia to deal with..

so check this out:

IF  I ride at  17 mph = 5:50 Chris McDonalds Pace)

BUT  if I ride at;

I have been falling asleep during the writing of this so I am unsure of how it will come out.  Very sleepy....

Okay well last weekend posed a challenging series of rides, not bad really 2 x 6 hour ride ina row..total miles about  210...

This week is promising to be as equally challenging...

My weight still good holding on average of 182 - 184

Nutrition is pretty tight...

This week so far I have 1 day off...but I get another on Friday...

I rode my interval set on Tuesday, 1.5 hrs of intervals

Rode 5.5  hours today - 3.5 hrs then 2.5

I ride 8 x 20 minute intervals at 165 bpm plus  today , thursday

GREAT NEWS!!  We got sponsorship through Infinite Nutrition....this stuff is the best Ive tried yet!!, I have never wanted to d ...

With the last entry I could follow up with about agabillion lines of philosophical garbage but it would just take up space.

Let me get to the details of this training week -

Aside from my training, this past week sucked hard.  Many things caught me off guard leaving me a bit raw and uncertain...Moments like this are good for the psyche though, it shakes us out of the trees that we sometimes get comfortable in.., ( going back the bear analogy )

But I am alive and well, last week didnt kill me because of a powerful little tool called   "choice".

Sometimes what happens to us creates a belief system that can turn ugly and control the rest of our choices. A victim of our own self-depricating thoughts.

I had a pretty big training week to be finished up with 2 x 6 hour rides back to back.

The training week looked like this;

...

A proper eulogy -

The prior week i saw my grandfather buried.  Although I did not know him very well, I knew him enough for the military funeral to play over and over in my mind. 

'Taps'  began to sound and was acutely aware of how tiny this gathering was...15 - 20 people? 

The preacher tried desperately to say wonderful things about this man as if he knew him...truth is noone knew him all that well. He was retired master sgt./ Army a Vietnam vet, worked on tanks and cared a great deal for his son who has downs sydrome... He had a long white beard with with slick white hair combed back into a 50's sorta look.  He playe ...

The inaugural running of the Race Across the West will present a challenge to seasoned ultra-distance cyclists from
around the world.  Held in conjunction with the Race Across America, the race will start on June 11, 2008 at the pier in
Oceanside, CA with teams riding non-stop 24 hours a day.  Climbing up from the Pacific and across the coastal mountains,
the course will then pass through both the Mohave and Sonoran deserts of ...