today we were hit with a nice layer of snow - the term my friend kelly uses is SNOWPOCALYPE - maybe a foot? anyway.
getting my car (now a STUPID car) out of the parking lot at work took a ton of effort, and a lot of wheelspin. the car prefers that i spin the tires all the way through 5th gear, at which point i let off both the gas and clutch in a way that ALMOST stalls the motor. instead it seems to stick. just a little bit. for a little while. while sliding sort of sideways. then you wait a while, start to worry about sliding off the road, stop, start over...
traffic sucked on the way to the gym - a 10 minute drive became an hour plus. and the spinning of tires, and the getting stuck in the gym parking lot afterwards, and the people offering to help, and the "No, the car is just stupid and this is the technique" and then finally on the road home, where a sideways grade (for drainage) on a road I use everyday (and bike on) became too much and sucked my car into the curb. to which i said FUCK THIS and just stayed on the gas and bounced it back into the road.
no damage. my car is a fucking nightmare. it's complete incapable of handling any sort of snow, and while i should have expected that, what i didn't expect was that no matter what sort of cautious effort i put in, it just doesn't matter. off the road, no particular reason, just that i'm driving a light rear wheel drive car.
oh, i've got weight in the trunk, so that's not a solution. unless MORE weight is the solution. dunno. i'm not driving it tomorrow. fuck that.
27 January 2009
26 January 2009
I am now a coached cyclist
Yesterday I headed over to M College to check out their cycling center and meet with Dean P, who is the coach and man in charge of their many time national championship cycling program.
The cycling center is awesome - a couple of rooms filled will drool-worthy equipment, training tools, and way skinnier than I'll ever be 18-20somthing aged cyclists. Despite that, it wasn't an intimidating scene. Sure, I'll be the older fatter guy, but bike folks generally seem to be fun (much like beer folks) and I'm there with the same goals as everyone else: get faster.
I met with Dean and we talked about what I was looking for out of this experience, and as of today he's sending me daily workout programs with a goal of starting racing in May. He mentioned as many as 20 races this year, which seems like a lot, but I do trust him (as he said - "we've developed guys here that went pro after graduating") and I think it's going to be an awesome experience.
And so.
Today:
45 minute trainer ride at recovery pace (easy)
Add 3 x 6 (5) sub LT efforts (zone 3 -- a perceived effort of 5-6 on a a scale of 1 being super easy and 10 being maximum)
3x6(5) means three six-minute zone 3 intervals with 5 minutes off between.
As of lunch:
1,493 calorie diet. You may eat about 803 additional calories today.
* * * * *
You can count on this blog getting very boring now.
This weekend we worked at the BIG winterfest, pouring beer, carrying around ice, etc - and then afterwords drank some really nice aged beer at a very nice home. Then Ted bought us dinner. I guess. All I know is that I didn't pay for it.
Birthday over. I await your (late) checks.
The cycling center is awesome - a couple of rooms filled will drool-worthy equipment, training tools, and way skinnier than I'll ever be 18-20somthing aged cyclists. Despite that, it wasn't an intimidating scene. Sure, I'll be the older fatter guy, but bike folks generally seem to be fun (much like beer folks) and I'm there with the same goals as everyone else: get faster.
I met with Dean and we talked about what I was looking for out of this experience, and as of today he's sending me daily workout programs with a goal of starting racing in May. He mentioned as many as 20 races this year, which seems like a lot, but I do trust him (as he said - "we've developed guys here that went pro after graduating") and I think it's going to be an awesome experience.
And so.
Today:
45 minute trainer ride at recovery pace (easy)
Add 3 x 6 (5) sub LT efforts (zone 3 -- a perceived effort of 5-6 on a a scale of 1 being super easy and 10 being maximum)
3x6(5) means three six-minute zone 3 intervals with 5 minutes off between.
As of lunch:
1,493 calorie diet. You may eat about 803 additional calories today.
* * * * *
You can count on this blog getting very boring now.
This weekend we worked at the BIG winterfest, pouring beer, carrying around ice, etc - and then afterwords drank some really nice aged beer at a very nice home. Then Ted bought us dinner. I guess. All I know is that I didn't pay for it.
Birthday over. I await your (late) checks.
23 January 2009
blood, gore, disfigurement!
The tip of my finger - the one I tried to cut off last week - was healing nicely. I decided that it no longer needed a band-aid for protection.
And then yesterday while dressing for the gym, I caught it on a sock or something, and tore the whole thing back open. Blood running down the hand, that sort of thing.
This is only worth noting because it's going to heal somewhat uneven - I've got a small flap of skin (where it doesn't line up quite right) that hang over the fingernail. That's going to have to be trimmed away, eventually.
So when I'm 60 and my finger is missing a chunk of skin, I should remember that it all happened because I used a dull knife. And because I had trouble putting on a sock.
And then yesterday while dressing for the gym, I caught it on a sock or something, and tore the whole thing back open. Blood running down the hand, that sort of thing.
This is only worth noting because it's going to heal somewhat uneven - I've got a small flap of skin (where it doesn't line up quite right) that hang over the fingernail. That's going to have to be trimmed away, eventually.
So when I'm 60 and my finger is missing a chunk of skin, I should remember that it all happened because I used a dull knife. And because I had trouble putting on a sock.
22 January 2009
january
january is an evil month, because every january i manage to forget that a bunch of "surprise" costs are going to occur.
the homeowners dues i expect now, as well as christmas fallout.
what surprises me every year are the taxes due on my car (almost $300).
last night our furnace decided to not work. there's another bunch of dollars.
this on top of a recent spending spree for gym memberships and flights and a used flatscreen television and a different sattelite provider (and the associated costs) and an insurance deductable and a box of t-shirts means i am back to a kind of broke that i haven't experienced in quite some time. and i put a lot of this on my credit card, which WAS paid off not too long ago. stupid.
the worst part is that my tax return, which is like an extra special excuse to blow money on bicycles, has been spent already.
whatryagonnado.
anyway, not complaining. just reminding for next year.
the homeowners dues i expect now, as well as christmas fallout.
what surprises me every year are the taxes due on my car (almost $300).
last night our furnace decided to not work. there's another bunch of dollars.
this on top of a recent spending spree for gym memberships and flights and a used flatscreen television and a different sattelite provider (and the associated costs) and an insurance deductable and a box of t-shirts means i am back to a kind of broke that i haven't experienced in quite some time. and i put a lot of this on my credit card, which WAS paid off not too long ago. stupid.
the worst part is that my tax return, which is like an extra special excuse to blow money on bicycles, has been spent already.
whatryagonnado.
anyway, not complaining. just reminding for next year.
19 January 2009
weekend
friday good beer/bad-ok beer/blah beer
saturday gym/paged/fixed/trader joe's/the wrestler (good movie)
sunday fulham loss/chick pea ragout/sliced finger/bloooood/eating too much/football/yay kurt warner
get my car back today. my thumb is bandaged. damn unsharp knive + lack of any sort of knife skills.
sent an email to another bike guy. we'll see what happens.
unhappy with my weight loss, i adjust my off day diet. and i'll add an extra half hour on.
wondering what effect the 100 pushup challenge is having on weight loss. any? muscle gain? who knows?
saturday gym/paged/fixed/trader joe's/the wrestler (good movie)
sunday fulham loss/chick pea ragout/sliced finger/bloooood/eating too much/football/yay kurt warner
get my car back today. my thumb is bandaged. damn unsharp knive + lack of any sort of knife skills.
sent an email to another bike guy. we'll see what happens.
unhappy with my weight loss, i adjust my off day diet. and i'll add an extra half hour on.
wondering what effect the 100 pushup challenge is having on weight loss. any? muscle gain? who knows?
16 January 2009
slow week
yesterday i put a q-tip in my ear and pulled out what looked like an ant. it wasn't an ant - it was some weird ear wax ant-like monstrosity.
in any case, it is no longer in my ear, so no need to worry.
and that's pretty much been my week. you?
in any case, it is no longer in my ear, so no need to worry.
and that's pretty much been my week. you?
12 January 2009
recap
friday while at the gym i was told my bike posture needs work. this wasn't news to me, as i am perfect capable of posture that would embarrass the letter S. the key seems to be throwing your shoulders back, and maybe thinking of trees. my problem is that that position is very uncomfortable. but i'll work on it.
saturday dave and jon came to town, and we proceeded to hit brugge for lunch and beer, brbp for a beer, back to brugge, out to rollerderby, to deano's, back home for a nightcap...
it didn't seem like all that much drinking until i recalled a list of what i had the next day.
yesterday i made the ragout for the week. fulham were off this weekend (weather), but the game wasn't on anyway. today dishnetwork installs, and directv goes away, along with it GOlTV, which isn't that big a deal - though I've just started watching the occasional bundesliga match, and they are quite enjoyable. oh well.
now we wait for US/Mexico match tickets to go on sale - the game is just over a month away but no ticket sales yet. weird.
back to the gym today. i hope to put together a nice week of workouts.
saturday dave and jon came to town, and we proceeded to hit brugge for lunch and beer, brbp for a beer, back to brugge, out to rollerderby, to deano's, back home for a nightcap...
it didn't seem like all that much drinking until i recalled a list of what i had the next day.
yesterday i made the ragout for the week. fulham were off this weekend (weather), but the game wasn't on anyway. today dishnetwork installs, and directv goes away, along with it GOlTV, which isn't that big a deal - though I've just started watching the occasional bundesliga match, and they are quite enjoyable. oh well.
now we wait for US/Mexico match tickets to go on sale - the game is just over a month away but no ticket sales yet. weird.
back to the gym today. i hope to put together a nice week of workouts.
06 January 2009
New Year, New You
Yesterday I roll into the gym, a gym now filled with more than twice the amount of people that were there just one week ago. I knew this was coming, as I was warned that the gym would have a full lot and valet parking after the first.
In any case, the fleet of spin bikes went from the usual 20+ available, to just 3 available by the time I was halfway through my workout. That's fine, except the puts me into close proximity to someone I don't know, while I sweat and sweat and stink blow my nose into a towel (probably not supposed to do that but bikers' noses run. At least when they're working hard. Don't believe me? Look at biking gloves sometime - there's a soft area near the thumb for wiping your nose). I don't care I don't care I don't care I don't care. Just interesting. More people to gawk at while I'm dying.
"His last vision was that of a 55 year old man's ass in bike shorts who was spinning in front of him."
* * * * *
I haven't touched the weights since session 1, where I found myself sore for a week afterwords. I think I'm gonna get on a pushup program first, so as to condition myself for that sort of work. I think.
* * * * *
Saturday I got up early looking to find a ride with some people. It was very cold, and riding to the bike shop I thought "I am struggling".
Spun around the lot for a half hour, met a guy who informed me that no ride was coming (and they're all riding mountain bikes this time of year, so...) and now that my hands were painfully frozen I booked it back home - and found that I was very strong. Maybe it was the wind? I dunno. I suspect the working out is working out.
As for my weight... patience. Getting there.
In any case, the fleet of spin bikes went from the usual 20+ available, to just 3 available by the time I was halfway through my workout. That's fine, except the puts me into close proximity to someone I don't know, while I sweat and sweat and stink blow my nose into a towel (probably not supposed to do that but bikers' noses run. At least when they're working hard. Don't believe me? Look at biking gloves sometime - there's a soft area near the thumb for wiping your nose). I don't care I don't care I don't care I don't care. Just interesting. More people to gawk at while I'm dying.
"His last vision was that of a 55 year old man's ass in bike shorts who was spinning in front of him."
* * * * *
I haven't touched the weights since session 1, where I found myself sore for a week afterwords. I think I'm gonna get on a pushup program first, so as to condition myself for that sort of work. I think.
* * * * *
Saturday I got up early looking to find a ride with some people. It was very cold, and riding to the bike shop I thought "I am struggling".
Spun around the lot for a half hour, met a guy who informed me that no ride was coming (and they're all riding mountain bikes this time of year, so...) and now that my hands were painfully frozen I booked it back home - and found that I was very strong. Maybe it was the wind? I dunno. I suspect the working out is working out.
As for my weight... patience. Getting there.
04 January 2009
goodbye, directv
so after putting together a spreadsheet and everything else and comparing directv to uverse and dish network, it turns out i can upgrade to two HD DVRS (from one standard tivo), keep the same soccer channels (Setanta + FSC minus GOLTV... oh well.. see ya GolTV), and pick up a bunch of HD programming for....
wait for it!
oh, $25 LESS per month.
there are equipment charges, of course, but that should add up to less than $100.
so. heads up, if you're looking.
i called directv first, looking for them to compete, because i'd rather not change, and the best they could offer me was a free hd dvr... a $200 value! except i get two for $50 with dish network (first one's free, second is $100, but there's a rebate)
ANYWAY.
there, i've freed up money for retirement.
wait for it!
oh, $25 LESS per month.
there are equipment charges, of course, but that should add up to less than $100.
so. heads up, if you're looking.
i called directv first, looking for them to compete, because i'd rather not change, and the best they could offer me was a free hd dvr... a $200 value! except i get two for $50 with dish network (first one's free, second is $100, but there's a rebate)
ANYWAY.
there, i've freed up money for retirement.
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