Dream Chaser's 'Set a Goal and Capture it!' Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 23)

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I got a couple of runs in after a week of limited training and lots of "kid" time.

Was watching the Paris Roubaix on versus today and all I can think is how the hell do these guys ride that far and fast on all those teeth rattling cobblestones? What do they feel like after the race? Incredible

LOL!!  Great one!!

I was reading this the other day is was think OMG. Then I remembered it was April Fools and looked at your post date.....nice!

Dream Chaser - 2011-04-10 7:16 PM

I watched half of Paris-Roubaix last night on my tivo, and yeah -- absolutely riveting! Riveting to the riders and to me watching.   Can't wait to watch the rest of it tonight.  The crashes were pretty spectacular.  One crash, I think the second time Boonen went down, you can see a rider sitting on the ground and another rider crash into him.  The pedal scrapes across the rider on the grounds back and you instantly see blood.  That Race is just RAW!!

Okay Guys and Gals   We've got three FULL weeks in April to Get R Done.  Revisit your monthly goal and 'look at it' and project what needs to be done over the next 3 weeks.  There is plenty of time. 

This is Life; Not a Dress Rehearsal. 

This is a Lifestyle; Not a Hobby. 

Yes, it's Hard.  Yes, we need to cut out some goof-off and bullshiit Time; however, this Lifestyle Rewards those who put in the Consistent Time and Effort. 

I got in an immense amount of Quality Time Training this weekend and Quality Time with the Wife and Kids.  It's more than possible.  Just Focus.  Now let's make our April Goals Happen!!!

Full speed ahead!!!    ....the clock is tickin!

Happy Birthday!!  Hope you have a relaxing time!

Currently training for a half marathon in May.

Saturday morning able to run 7 miles in about an hour which I'm happy about the time given the fact that I haven't run this far since a marathon last yr

I decided I'm going to hold off on any biking until I've completed the 1/2, since Sat is the only time I can ride.

I have also joined a local Triathalon club as I said I wanted to.  HOpefully this will spur me on to training more efficiently.

I'm currently working through the BT Swimming training program, did 1500 yds today, feel good except my shoulder has a bit of pain, which I'm a bit concerned.

Congrats Jeff!  Sounds as though things are coming together and you're finding your groove re: scheduling!

I have to say I'm feeling a bit defeated.  I can't remember how I used to fit it all in.  Surely this little puppy couldn't have disrupted my life SO much that I feel I can no longer do all three???

I just find that by the time I get out of work, get my kid, come home and walk the dog, get dinner on the table, assist with homework, clean up, walk the dog, spend time with child and then... I'm supposed to get my stuff ready and get to the pool?  And by the time I'd get back it would be close to 11pm.  But I need to be in bed by 10 to be up at 4:45 for bike/run !?  And this little guy has me up through the night like a new born babe.  Up at 1am and I think I maybe got 2 hours worth after that... If I was fast enough I'd consider duathlon vs. triathlon at this point!

How does everyone else manage???

First ride outside this year!  I felt pretty good and was actually able to hang with the local A group ride.  Legs are fried but it felt great.  I think the strength training over the winter paid dividends tonight.  Last year it was mid season before I could stay with the group for the entire ride. 

I am so happy the weather is finally starting to show signs of Springs arrival.  Being able to get outside and train brings another level of motivation to training.  I was really fighting to stay motivated over the last month or so.

Hey guys - sorry to disappear. No excuses - just facts...being self employed sometimes work has to take priority over everything....sigh

I have missed several days this month but I haven't been completely idle...just haven't updated anything. After 12-14 hr days I haven't even had the energy to be on here. I haven't done the best with nutrition either...it is so hard to be prepared with food when working so much....correction - it is so much more convenient to make UNhealthy choices when working long days

I think things will settle back down by the first of next week...maybe sooner & I will update my logs.

Thanks for checking in on me - sorry to leave you hanging!

I think you were censored!  Thanks for the wishes!

Congrats on the outdoor ride Greg!  I'm hoping to get one in myself this weekend! 

Agreed John - eating UNhealthy is REALLY convenient! I tend to fill my fridge with snacks that are quick and healthy so I have no excuses.  As Chava said - hard boiled eggs, chopped veggies, yogurt or individual cottage cheese cups, fruit, cheese string, trail mix, granola etc.  So it's as though I'm grazing all day when busy vs. sitting down to a couple of big meals.  Just a suggestion.  Hang in there - self employment can be tough because to not work you are DIRECTLY impacting the business.

So I went to check out the newly renovated gym last night... YES... I got out and I have to say I'm hooked!  The gym/track portion was all a buzz which is motivating but the pool was empty which is great.  It'll cost me more but is worth it for the late hours.  And get this... Woody Harrelson was at the counter when he arrived ha ha.  Well if HE can work out there I guess I can too!  I'm still a youngin' compared to him

I present to you...the newly and vastly improved "House of Pain" (a.k.a. "The Pit", as my wife likes to call it):

This is the culmination of a major new treadmill purchase and my putting together of a Wieder gym that we purchased like 8 years ago and never put together.  It took me roughly 15 hours to put it together all told, including the, ahem, dis-assembly time correctly my mistakes (like having two cables switched...machine doesn't really work when that happens!).  The 2nd treadmill is there for the time being while the brand new one is waiting for a replacement board.  It will eventually <fingers crossed> be replaced by my bike connected to a Kurt Kinetic trainer.  Carpet is new, too...basic indoor/outdoor stuff from the depot with some padding under it.

I can't use the new treadmill because I'm too tall and only have like an inch of clearance to the joists above...might do some creative notching and sister-joisting to get around that issue.

The white "walls" are there to keep it brighter as well as hide 1) the oil tank, and 2) the ugly dusty foundation walls.

I will now have NO excuses not to squeeze in my workouts.  I'm looking forward to be able to do 5:30-6:00 a.m. workouts now as needed without having to leave the house.  I'm going to try out the Wieder today post-swim.

Random tip/thought for the day:  Bike Gearing/Shifting

I'm new to cycling.  Or...at least I'm new to modern, 21st-century cycling on a road frame bike.  For the past ten years I've been riding on a 21-speed hybrid with fingertip shifting (triple on the front, 7 cogs on the back).  I rarely noticed anything about the gearing, other than that I almost never went down to the "granny gear" on the triple and it was hard to upshift to the big ring from time-to-time.  Before that I had a 1988 Giant 12-speed, which didn't see much riding in the 90s anyway.

So, now I have my shiny new Fuji Roubaix ACR 2.0 road bike, with a 50/34 compact crank and 11-28T cassette.  Yippee...I'm going to be a speed demon!!

First thing (well, after learning how to clip in and out...)was to learn how to shift on STI shifters (Shimano 105s...if you're wondering).  What do you mean I have to slide the brake lever to side?  Wait...if I push really hard it moves three gears?  Got it figured out after a few miles of practice riding...a thankfully non-crash-course, if you will.

So now I'm out riding 1.5 hours rides, and I'm thinking "let's keep it simple, I'm going to focus in staying in the big ring only, and only drop down to the small ring on bigger hills. " Makes sense, right?  Less shifting overall, keep it simple, right?

WRONG!!!!!

Two problems with this methodology...

1) (and noticed this right away) when you are in the big ring on a large cog (50/21 through 50/28), you have a very sharp chain angle relative to the crank, which puts a sideways torque on the crank, robbing you of power and putting additional stress on your equipment...in the extreme your chain will rub against the inside of your front derailleur (mine was) which creates additional friction and probably a heck of a lot of wear on the FD; and

2) when in the small ring and the small cogs (34/11 through 34/13) you're going to experience the same angle problem (not as acute, but still there) and your chain will slack some

So, to minimize the problem, you'll want to get your gear selections to keep the chain as parallel to the crank as possible...sorta like this:

So, you'll want to use the big cogs with the small ring, and the small cogs with the big ring, as much as possible.  Question is...how to do this?

First, I started by putting down all the gear ratios on the bike:

 I then picked the gears that match the best between the two, keeping the chain as straight as possible and avoiding the two top and bottom cogs where possible when the wrong ring is engaged.  I found the closest to be the 34/13 and 50/19 gear ratios (in orange, above).  These will my crossover gears where I will shift to/from my small to big ring.  For instance...I'm riding the flats at 34/13 and want to accelerate, I will upshift to the big ring while simultaneously downshifting the rear to 17.  The nice thing is that my 105 shifters take care of this nicely, as I can do that three-cog shift with one hard tap to the left on the brake lever.  BAM...I'm now in 50/17.  Downshifting is a little more complex, as I have to tap the inner lever three times to emulate the upshift, and I go down to 50/21 before I move back down to the small ring (see yellow, above).  The downshifting gear progression is a little less steep this way.  Still not too hard with some practice. 

You will up with the following progression (this is the upshifting direction), with cadence/speed approximations:

 I had never really thought of this until I did some research on the subject, and randomly thought "hey, my chain looks like it's rubbing against the FD and making some noise...that can't be good".

Of course, it's 47 degrees and raining so there will be no testing of this today, but I look forward to it.

I have a hard enough time fitting it in and I work out of my house with accessible and safe biking and running very nearby, plus my pool 5 minutes away.  Oh, and I'm only training for an Oly...can't imagine the 15+ hour training weeks an IM would require.

My wife works part time so she really takes care of all the household stuff which really helps me out as I work alot and hours are sorta unpredictable. BUT, I promise, life will get easier with the puppy, I swear

So - a couple of updates here:

(1) Got home from the gym last night and went to bed at 11pm, woke at 3 to take the dog out and ... what a surprise ... he won't go back to sleep.  In fact he stood next to our bed and repeatedly tried to hop in so... a triathlete's gotta do what she can to get the rest and find extra time to get those workouts in so ya... I lifted him up and the little guy shared my pillow and we slept solid through to 6am!  I'm officially a furber FAILURE but a well rested one

(2) I can't believe your basement!!  I thought mine was awesome when I cleared the cobwebs, washed the floor, and installed a fan!  Like you I have the low ceiling issue.  I should take a picture of mine as a before and have you renovate it!  This could be a new business - one of those improvement shows on HGTV!

(3) Your note about gearing... To me - someone who clicks the lever and hopes for relief - one who still knows not how to clean or change her chain - it reads like this:

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Sorry bub!

I don't know jack about bike maintenance, either.  I was just wondering why my brand new, just serviced bike made noise in the big ring/big cog, and our friend Google had all the answers.  Then in my usual way I analyzed the heck out of it.

So all you heard was "blah, blah, blah, shift, blah, blah, blah"...got it!