ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 111)

There's not been a lot of activity over the past few days.  I suppose that means there has been a lot of holiday shopping and festivities to keep everyone busy.  It's been somewhat slow around here over the weekend, with exception to training.  We have had a couple of visitors and we went to see Madea's Christmas last night, making for some good holiday, family fun.

I have yet to finish shopping for a couple of things.  Lisa's stuff is what's missing.  She's already gotten the big item (as have we both) but I cannot stand her not having something under the tree on Christmas morning.  I'll be doing that shopping today while she's at work.

I have been pounding away on the bike the past few weeks.  I have been getting over 8 hours riding the past 2 weeks and over 6.5 hours the first week of December.  That kind of riding will come to a screeching halt this week as I head to Ohio for Christmas at all of the family's places and all of the visiting.  I am taking my trainer and bike and plan to get 2-3 rides in while there but I'll have to be pretty determined to ride. 

I also be getting some swimming in, which I may focus on a little heavier than in the past few years over Christmas.  My racing team is in a very close race for the swim championship for the USAT winter challenge.  We trade places with another team every week.  The weekends seem to provide our strongest push and then the other team seems to get a great week and catch up and pass us.  Currently we are ahead by 52 miles (weighted miles) and we may have a bit of an advantage since we're headed into a holiday week.

Losing weigh is overrated!  Especially this time of year, my wife is from a traditional polish family and there is nothing healthy about a polish diet but it is yummy! 

I wish I had time to get in that much bike time, currently I am lucky to get in 1 ride a week, and normally do a long ride that really beats me up.  Last week was sufferfest Local Hero, and this week was sufferfest ISLAGIATT.  I only made it half way through the ride and had to call it quits because of time constraints, but this is a really hard workout, I am looking forward to doing the entire thing but need to get some more hours in 1st.   I do plan on doing the ToS at the end of January so I should probably start planning for that.

Running continues to be my focus with the holiday running streak.  Ran 12 on Sunday and felt pretty good, lower legs were a little beat up but nothing major.  I have been averaging 30 mpw which should help as the trail season starts up in January.  I'm really looking forward to the races as they are extremely challenging and some are scheduled for Saturday/Sunday which adds in a extra challenge.  The shortest one is 8 miles and I believe the longest is 14, GOOD TIMES!

Oh, KARL - NOOOOOO!!!   Don't leave!!!  .      Seriously, though, I'll miss your input  - your posts always put a smile on my face with your southern twang.    I  totally support your decision and wish you the best that life has to give in your endeavors.  You've got a great wife and son and I pray you enjoy your time with them before your son is out of the house.   As Warren said, this is all supposed to be fun.   I commend your decision to keep it just that.   Blessings to you, my friend! 

Hey Gang - Sorry for disappearing again over the last couple weeks. I was on this pretty intense deadline here at work and once I was almost done I came down with a pretty bad cold. The job is now out the door but the cold is hanging on. I guess it was a good excuse to take another week off running to try and let the shins heal up completely. With the exception of taking the dog on a couple of walks and a one Kung Fu class I’ve been giving my legs a rest this past week. My ribs seem to have healed up as well so once this cold is gone I’ll start my slow build towards next race season.

I’ve caught up on a few of the recent posts and I see that we’ve been archived. I’d like to stick with the group for next season. I’m hoping to do my first Olympic and then my first Half Ironman next summer, so I’m sure I’ll need the support of this group to get there.

Karl – I’m sorry to see you stepping away from the group, but I completely understand your reasons. I’ve really enjoyed you being part of the Junkies. Definitely don’t be a stranger, and please let us know how your Masters swim and the upcoming HM go.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I had my first TT on a computrainer today (or at least since the indoor triathlon a couple of years ago.  My average in Feb. 2012 was 270 watts over the 20 minute time event.  Today was 272 watts over 25:45, not a markedly improved number on the surface.  However, the preceding 7 days I rode 7.5 hours and had one day away from cycling.  Some of the efforts were hard and one of the rides was a moderate ride.

I suppose if I took a little bit of time to recover from my rides before going into one of these TT's I might be able to make a little better showing.  I am planning to do another of these rides in about a month and I'll plan to take a couple of days to recover before I test again.

Another side note:  When I got my new KK trainer I tested on very tired legs to get some power numbers to work with.  Those numbers happen to line up very closely with the computrainer today.  My FTP according to TR is 273 compared to my 272 today everything looks like I'm close.  I'll see what I get on my next test to make a better comparison.

I also need to do some more study on power.  For instance: I would like to be better informed as to why I can generate 272 watts and ride about 1 minute faster than another rider hitting the same average watts.  Homework for me!

Weight is a major contributor to how much power is required to roll the wheels on your bike.  They weighed my bike before I began the test to calculate my wattage more correctly.  My bike as it was 5 minutes before the TT was 26 pounds.  I was asked my weight and height as well.  Upon finishing the TT I was told it put me in the lead for those that have ridden the course.  What got me thinking about the power to weight ratio was that I am tied in watts with another person but I beat his time by a minute.  I was told he was a much bigger than I am and that my time was faster.

Anyway, that was the long version of "you are correct Matt."

I remember the days of traveling form house to house on Christmas and I have to be honest, I DO NOT miss them.  My word!!!  All of the food and the expectation of being somewhere at a certain time.  It seemed like a lot of pressure.  It was a lot of pressure!  But I would have to say most of it was probably self imposed.  I now feel that my mom would have been fine had we decided to come a different day rather than cram everything into one huge day.  We were always rushed and hardly able to sit down before heading to the next feast and mom could sense that.  She finally began to tell me to wait a day and come to her house.

All of that pattern changed once we had a family of our own though.  I was very firm in my decision to have Christmas with our girls in our home.  No more gallivanting around the state of Ohio, etc.  We were home!  To celebrate Christmas with our new family and begin our own traditions.

.......Off to run with a friend this morning.....7 degrees and -7 wind chills.  This should be awesome!!

Dirk you riding has been incredible but running outside in those temps sounds a bit miserable!

I am feeling the holiday pressure for sure. On top of running around to our family celebrations we also take a trip once a year for my daughter to visit with her birth mother & birth family. Hubby and I were talking last night about how much extra stress this adds to our holiday. No offense to B.M. but being crammed into a college apartment that does not even have enough chairs for everyone to sit down and watching my kids sit on the floor to eat does not make for a pleasant holiday memory.

I had planned to go swim this morning but I am just not feeling it mostly due to the 40 min drive one way. But I think I would feel a lot better if I would go.

Merry Christmas Junkies!  May the day be filled with joy and laughter, memories and remembrance.  I pray all of you and your families with enjoy your day and create a lifetime of memories.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!!