Catching Up

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Anyway, here are some highlights from the week past:

Cursing Every god Known to Man

Last Sunday night, we had the family over for dinner to celebrate dad's birthday. I asked brother Neil if he wanted to ride Memorial Day Monday. After complaining about his sore butt from his ride earlier Sunday I finally said I'd be at his house at 8 for coffee, on the road by 8:30. Deal!

Memorial Day was one for the books, at least the weather books. The morning was absolutely perfect -- upper 60's - low 70's, not a cloud in the sky, slight breeze. Perfect for a ride.

We headed out right on time with a plan to go west from Neil's house, out to Baltimore horse country. (I'm sure some of you are thinking "Baltimore horse country? Huh? You'll just have to trust me that there is such a place.) A few miles in, Neil had a mechanical. We had to stop to get his chain recalibrated. Amazingly, the two of us were able to fix his chain and get him back on the road. (Amazing? Yes, we come from a long line of not mechanically inclined family [nothing personal, dad.] Normally we'd call a guy for help, so it was pretty amazing.)

From there, we rode. As we came up on the next hill, Neil was surprised by my climbing -- "Oh, you have three gears on the front." Yes, bro, those granny gears do help on the hills. We saw quite a few other bicyclists out there. At one point, I even counted seven consecutive vehicles with bikes on the back. Seems everyone had the same idea.

As we headed north on Tufton Road (not to name drop or anything, but we waved waved to the Ripken's and it looked like Ray Lewis wasn't home) we passed a police radar set up. We were all set at a cool 12 mph on that uphill section.

We turned back towards Neil's house and he warned me about the hills to come. Falls Road is notoriously hilly. At one point, I hit an all time speed high of 41 mph.

The hills we hit down from Neil's house seemed a long long time ago. Now the uphill battle was in front of us. Nothing like saving the toughest hills for mile 23. It was a killer. On the way up, I was cursing out loud. I think I cursed every god known to man on that last series. It was brutal. Something to look forward to next time.

When all was said and done, we did about 25 miles including more than 2200 feet of climbing in just over 2 hours, mechanicals included.

Neil says I kicked his ass, but I know he'll be back to kicking mine once he gets a few rides under his belt.

It was a glorious day!

Not Much of Anything

That pretty much explains Tuesday and Wednesday. My alarm went off early both days. I turned it off and turned back over both days.

Finally. . .

Thursday, I finally got to the gym for a Body Pump class. I really like the group weight class, cause I'm way too intimidated to going into the weight room. Need to get to a couple of these in a week.

Thursday night I went to the Team In Training Alumni thank you event. The guest of honor was Bruce Cleland, the New Zealander that founded Team In Training 20 years ago in honor of his daughter, who was afflicted with lymphoma. She has survived the disease and he has personally raised more than a million dollars for the cause. He's a pretty low key guy, but it's a great story and it was an honor to meet him along with about a hundred other TNT alumnae.

Friday was field day at school. Since it was my youngest son's 8th birthday, I had promised to volunteer. I hit both the morning and afternoon sessions. 4 hours standing out in a field as the temps broke into the 80's. It was good though, the kids appreciated it.

Yesterday I hit the road for 6 miles with the TNT group. Let me rephrase -- 6 awful miles. It's hard to believe that just a month ago I did a full marathon. These were the toughest miles I've had in at least a year. Clearly, the weather had an impact. It was hot, but not uncomfortably hot -- probably low 70's at the start. It was humid, very uncomfortably humid. Certainly 90% humidity or more. I struggled to run the first 3 1/2 before I had to walk. Then most of the last 2 1/2 were walking. I managed to run the last 2/10 mile to break just under 14 min mile average. I was just one big sweat ball. It sucked!

The weather concerns me particularly because I've signed up for the Annapolis 10-Mile Run. 8 am in Annapolis in mid-July could be pretty nasty. I've got some work to do to get used to the humidity.

With plans for a family birthday brunch mid-morning, I got up early and hit the road on my bike. Not too much going on at 6 am, so I headed into areas that I wouldn't normally go with traffic. Not a single car passed me for the first 4+ miles. That just doesn't happen around here. It was a very nice ride and speedy too, 21 miles in about 80 minutes. Just in time for brunch!

I think I'm all caught up!

L'Chaim!