Soccer and training

This past weekend my soon to be 3 year old started soccer. Its amazing how fast they grow. I feel like it was just yesterday we were taking him home from the hospital. We also took along our 16 month old little girl and she wanted to be in on the action. I enjoy watching them discover new things and most of all just being kids enjoying life.

On the training end, I put in some long running miles this weekend. Yesterday I finally made myself start a regimented speed workout. Its been awhile since I did a structured speed workout. With the duathlon and 10 mile race looming I want to make sure I have some kick for those final miles. I'm still riding about 3 times a week just for maintenance

Here is the speed workout:

2 mile warm up

4 X 1 mile repeats with 200 meter recovery jog in between sets.

2 mile cool down.

Total mileage 8 miles not counting 200 meter recover jogs.

My times were good, but lost time by the fourth set. The goal was to maintain the same pace for each mile. I may have started out to hard. By the fourth one was I was losing my kick. Things to think about and work on.

Forgot to mention the workout was done on the C & O Canal. Great place for mile repeats.

Here are my times

Mile 1 was 5 min 58 sec

Mile 2 was 6 min 5 sec

Mile 3 was 6 min 7 sec

Mile 4 was 6 min 11 sec.

All for now check back later.

Finally, some racing coming my way !!!!

So I've been quiet on the blogging end lately. I finally signed myself up for some races. I've been keeping the same schedule on the training end. My runs have improved significantly since the temperatures have gone down.

Sunday I did a 14 mile run with my Garmin Forerunner 305 logging the info. I averaged a 6 min 48 second mile pace for the entire 14 miles. I was tore up afterwards so I know I was working hard. Monday, labor day I ran a 5 mile recovery run and felt like absolute shit. I guess that's why it is called a recovery run.

I'm excited to race soon. I want to put all this training to use. Lately, I've taken a back seat to racing because I'm helping my wife train for the Marine Core Marathon. Its been fun not having to think about racing. I also enjoy spending my mornings with the kids while Momma is out training. I get to sleep in and hang out with my babies.

The two races I have coming up (which I signed up for already) are the Cape Henelopen Duathlon on October 11th (1.5mile run, 14 mile bike, 5k run). Second race is the 10 mile back yard burn run at Wakefield Park (Novermber 1st). I got 6th in this race last year with a time of 1 hr. 5 min. with no training. This time I want to podium. I ran out of gas last year and got passed towards the end of the race. NOT THIS TIME BABY!!!

All for now, check back later for more updates.

Weekend Recap and shots of today Hanes Pt. training

It seems August has brought back the heat and humidity. Still though, hasn't been that bad as last year.

Saturday I was able to do both an open lake swim and a run. I met up with one of my buddies at 6am to get in a mile swim at Montclair Lake in Woodbridge.










I then drove back to Mason Neck Wild Life Refuge and met up with my wife to get our running in. My wife has been training for the Marine Core Marathon. Her running plan had her running 9 miles. I always take the kids in the double jogger and run the same distance she does. The run felt good. Here is what my Garmin 305 recorded.

Distance 9 miles
Pace per mile 6:58 min
Calories burned 1900

It was a great double workout. Here's a pic of me and the kids in the double jogger. I was going to try and do my best impression of "Ice man" in Top Gun but my gut doesn't go that far in and I still need a full tan rather than a cyclist tan.



As for Hanes Point, the sprinklers are still up. We did the alternate loop and Mr. Chuck Hutch himself decided he was going to go hard so me and Guy Perotti latched on and decided to enjoy the ride. Chuck was pulling hard. We all stayed together for about 3 laps then it started getting a bit to dicey for me with the cars and pedestrians and all. Call me a puuuussey I guess !!!, but I still have to go back to work and in one peace preferably.

Here are some shots from today. Chuck Hutch himself and the mayor of Hanes Pt, Myron L. Trust me, Myron will let you know if your F'ing up a pace line. That's why we call him the Mayor.

Future Bike Geek

Here's my 2 yr old taking out the Hot Walker for a spin.

Open Water Swim

This AM about 6 AM I did an open lake swim with a friend of mine. I meant to take a pic of the lake but forgot my crackberry in my pack. It was about a 1600 meter swim. I always prefer an open water swim to doing laps in the pool. I hate f'ing around with flip turns and morons who don't understand this is the lap lane not the waddle your fat ass in the pool lane.

I wont be able to bring you great photos of noon bike training today because I have a luncheon to attend to. My boss is moving on to his next post so we're marching him out with a sit down at Red Hot n Blue.

C-ya.

Today's Great Falls Ride

Since the sprinklers are still up at the Point, we opted for going out to Great Falls. I don't know why I don't do that more often. Its a nice change of scenery. You still get the occasional asshole driver out there but for the most part it's pretty safe. The ride was a nice even tempo. It was myself, Art Brown, Matt B., and Steve Soltes. Missing from the picture is Guy Perotti and his nephew. They were lagging a few minutes back. Still humid as fu*#k out there so drink up and stay hydrated.

Busted Chain

Yesterday on Uncle Pete's Hill ride I busted my chain which saw me lose ground on the group very quickly. I was last rider so no one was aware of my problem. Luckily I was able to rig it so that I could soft pedal home. The bike needs a complete tune up (New cables, chain and rear cassette) Ebay here I come!!

As for the weekend, the running went well. Ran 12miles Sat. and 10 miles on Monday. I was suppose to do a 5k tempo run on Sunday but the heat on Saturday's run got to me. I did the entire 12 miles with the kids in the double jogger. I forgot how semi hilly the Mt. Vernon trail can be south of Belle Haven Marina. I guess you can say I bonked the last 3 miles. The positive thing about running on the Mt. Vernon trail is all the running groups there. They have plenty of water stations. I don't know if its cool that I drink their water but I think it was a well deserved water break. You try running 12 miles with two screaming monkeys in a double jogger.

I clocked an ok time for Saturday's run despite the hot conditions. I ran with my Garmin 305 and here is the info.

Distance 12 miles
time 1 hr 29 min
Pace/mile 7 min 29 sec

Today is a sprint workout on the bike with Mr. Bad ass Art Brown and Matt B. Should be fun, NOT!!!!!!!!!

Hanes Pt. Piss Water

I'm sure you're all aware they have set up the sprinkler system once again at the pt. For those that aren't Hanes Pt. regulars every year they draw water out of the Potomac through a sprinkler system and basically water the surrounding area including the street. You couldn't pay me to ride through it for fear of becoming ill. That's some nasty ass water.

In any case we do an alternate route which I'm not crazy about but it works. On another note, I finally got back into the pool yesterday. My workout was a 2,000 meter freestyle swim. I did 100s on a 1:45 minute intervals. I also mixed in some 50s on a 1 minute intervals. I have to say for not being in the pool in over a year my form was good and I was making the times. Shoulders and back are a bit sore, but I'm sure tomorrow I'll be hurtin for squirtin of ibuprofen.

I leave you with some photos of yesterday's training at the pt. As you can see, proof of toxic spillage and the one and only "Guy" who will remain nameless for fear of his wife kicking his ass for being at the pt. He can play a mean ass guitar though.

A KICK START!!!!

At the request of others, and not many, I've decided to kick start this blog again. I haven't had much to blog about. The kiddos are keeping me busy as is the wifey.

I know I'm going to burn some ears when I say this "I'm going back to my roots of multi sport racing next year." You can uncover your ears now roadies!!! Honestly I just miss it. Also, I had an easier time making the podium in multi sport. In my years of road racing the closest I've come to the podium is 5th.

I may make my return to bike racing when I can race Masters 35+. I always enjoyed racing masters 30+ before it was changed to 35+. I'm 32 so in the meantime I'll fill the void with some duathlon and triathlon.

My training is going well. I'm up to running 30-35 miles per week with long runs on the weekend. Bike wise I'm only riding tues - thurs. My running schedule goes Friday - Monday. I'm still trying to figure out where to fit in the swim schedule. If I can get 2 swim sessions a week that will work. I feel that with the running mileage, I don't have to put as much time on the bike right now. I feel pretty strong on the bike at the moment and would like to just ride for maintenance at this point.

I'm going to make an attempt to race 3 multisport races before the end of this racing season. Here's the schedule, August 16, September 13, and October 11.

that's it for now...I leave you with some training photos from Hanes Pt.

Self Portrait

The one and only Puerto Rican at the Pt., Jose

Matt B, winner of the Hagerstown CAT 4 championship

Mike C motorpacing us the pt. last week Wed.

Buell 1125r - new D&D Slip On Exhaust

Been meaning to post this for my southwest readers. Here is the new D&D slip on exhaust on my Buell 1125R. Let's just say I'm not making to many friends in my neighborhood. It is obnoxiously loud in a good way. F*ck em!!! LOUD PIPES SAVES LIVES!!

Happy Early Cinco de Mayo

For those of you going to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, celebrate hard but safe my amigos. God knows this mexican is. They don't call me "EL CARNE" for nothing.

Diggin the new HD 2009 Iron 883

For the cost of a new decked out Trek madone, you can buy one of these instead. Hmmmm, I may have to sell two of my bikes to get this bad boy. I like the old school vibe on it. Maybe this video will help you understand:

Haines Pt. REVIVAL !!!!!

After contemplating with myself whether to go to Hains Pt or not for fear of tourists, I decided to go scout it out anyway.

I figured screw it, it's Monday, I'll just roll easy and get in a recovery ride after Sundays training ride. Well it didn't turn out that way. There wasn't the usual large noon crowd but enough guys to get in a nice tempo ride.

Then the "Muscle" appears!! You don't see the Muscle very often at the pt. I'm sure most folks already know the Muscle but for my southwest readers, its Russ Langley of Harley Davidson Batley cycles Team.

It seems the Muscle didn't show up to just tool around. He was actually there to get a work out as was Harley's Sean Barrie. On one of the laps they (Sean Barrie and the Muscle) were off the front. It took me about half a lap with the rest of the group to tow them back, but as I made the final bridge, the Muscle decided to counter off of Sean Barrie's wheel.

At the start of the next lap I decided to go with the Muscle for a lap. We broke away for the entire lap with the rest of the group in chase. Let's just say I was a bit out of my comfort zone, while he looked calm and collected.

I would say I need more days like that at the pt, but the Muscle isn't always there, Oh yeah, wait I forgot!! That's why we have Chuck Hutch. Game on then!!

The moral of the story is that Hains Pt is almost back to normal.
Bye for now

Walkersville and Tysons

I can truly say it was an eventful weekend of racing. The weekend started off with the Walkersville road race. The Pro 1,2,3 race started with a crash about 5-8 minutes in. I got stuck behind it as did a great number of the other riders. We tried like hell to chase back on but with the wind gusting anywhere from 30-50mph we were unsuccessful.

I decided my day wasn't going to be done. To far of a drive to throw in the towel plus I needed the miles. Our little select group started with about 10-12 guys. By the end it was just myself, Eli Hengst (harley), Uncle Pete (NCVC), Eric Obergfell (NCVC), and this other kid with a cannondale kit (sorry bud, I can't remember your name). I should though, I spent the better part of the day with him.

We continued riding keeping a steady tempo. The Masters 35+ race eventually passed us. As we chugged along we came up on the master's field who were stopped on the side of the road due to a crash from our Pro 1,2,3 race. Eventually the pro 1,2,3 field who survived that crash ended up coming around again to where we were all stopped.

Once the accident had been cleared they restarted the pro 1,2,3 race ahead of the masters. Our little select group of five jumped back in the 1,2,3 field and sat in the back as to not disrupt the natural order of the race outcome. Funny how I felt fine riding those last 7 or so miles hard again with the main field. Had it not been for that initial crash 5 minutes into the race I may have still been in that group. As we backed off the 1,2,3 field in the final 200 meters we watch the sprint unfold. We rolled in a few seconds after them and we still got scored. With the field being 75 strong at the start only 25 finished. I was 24th, Uncle Pete was 25th, Eli was 21st,Eric 23rd and cannondale kid 22nd. I really wouldn't call that a result for myself, just a windy ass day on my bike getting some miles.

As for Tysons, I did the CAT 3 only. My legs felt like dog shit from the day before. I went to the front once to see if I could put in a hard effort and my legs just did not agree with me. So I melted back into the middle of the pack for a mindless pack finish.

Below are some pics courtesey of Kyle's wife Amy from the walkersville road race. Solid evidence of our walkersville training ride..haha. I'm in the hammer nutrition kit with the white arm warmers.

7 pound face off !!!!!!!

Yesterday while doing the hill ride in Arlington I realized I can stand to lose an extra 10 lbs. I don't want to start sounding like that anorexic Kyle Jones, but it needs to be done.

So in order to get the motivation to do it Matt B. (haines pt regular) and myself made a bet. The first to lose the most weight by May 1st, wins a Jug of Hammer Gel, $19.95 value. The bet starts today April 1.

Here are the quick facts. I'm at 199lbs. Matt is at about 182lbs. I want to be at least 190lbs and Matt is shooting for 175lbs. First to lose 7 pounds or nearest to it by May 1, is the winner.

I may have the advantage though. I have the weight to loose, Matt on the other hand, is a slim fit 182lbs. That douche is already playing dirty though. He knows I'm a sucker for pumpkin scones so he sent me this picture via e-mail yesterday.

Jokes on him though. Pumpkin scones are out of season.

I've never been one to ponder on my weight. I'm always around 200lbs and I feel comfortable there. The last time I weighed 185 lbs I was doing Tris and training for IRONMANS.

I blame my heavy frame on all the weight lifting I did during my college baseball days. I was around 230lbs of solid Burrito eating Mexican. I had to beat away the honeys with a fungo bat. By the way, fungo bats are not very effective on the big girls.

So Matt, its on. BTW Matt, I like the banana flavored Hammer Gel.

First full weekend of racing coming right up!!

Walkersville and Tysons will be my first road race and circuit race of the year. As of lately I've been racing on the dirt so this will be a welcomed change.

Saturday's Walkersville will be a true test to all the training I put into the off season. Since there is no CAT 3 only race and they've done away with the 30+ field which is now 35+, I'll be doing the PRO 1,2,3 race. I don't mind the whole change. I should be racing PRO 1,2,3 anyhow. What's the saying, "To get faster, train and race with faster peeps." YEAH I GUESS. Distance will be 70 miles. Last year I did the 30+ which was 50 miles. Its not the extra 20 miles I'm worried about, its the extra 20 miles at balls out speed that makes the race day butterflies want bust straight our of my ahole and into a Walkersville Porta John.

Next on to Sunday will be the Tyson's circuit race. I signed up for the CAT 3 only race. Normally I would double up and do the PRO 1,2,3 race, but this year with the whole economic shit storm I'm cutting back.

Well, I'm off soon to do Uncle Pete's hill ride in Arlington. Bye for Now.

Last weekend's Rockburn Reloaded Race Images

Pictures courtesy of http://www.singlespeeder.smugmug.com/

Rockburn Reloaded MTB Race Report

So this past Sunday was the Rockburn Reloaded mountain bike race. I competed in the CAT 2 sport. It consisted of three 5 mile laps for a total of 15 miles.

Let me back pedal a bit to Saturday. Since I'm really trying to get ready for the Walkersville, (CAT 1,2,3) 70 mile road race April 4th, I put in about 3 hours on the mountain bike Saturday. The course description for the mountain bike race said beginner friendly so I figured it would be a pretty easy course and the long ride Saturday wouldn't have any affect on my legs.

Let's fast forward back to Sunday' race. I did a warm up lap on the course before the start of my race and noticed that this course was not as easy as it seemed. Someone said that the course had about 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. I was thinking maybe I should have taken it easier on Saturday. The first half of the course had some very rooty sections that really didn't allow you to recover. The second half of the course seem to have all the climbing, at least in my opinion.

At the start line up I got there a bit late from my warm up lap so I had bad staging position. As the gun went off I didn't panic due to the fact that there was significant climbing. I have a pretty good base from my road training so I knew I could make up time on the climbs. Overall the race went well. I ended up 16th out 45 starters. Not bad for my 2nd mountain bike race ever.

I have added a video...It is of the start of our race. It is about 45 seconds long. You can see me at about 22 seconds into it. Video is courtesy of http://www.cyclingdirt.org. I'm still looking for pictures of the race. I saw many photograhpers there. Will keep looking around and post them when I can can get them. Enjoy.

Easier to facebook than blog.

Facebook has really cut into my blogging. I know I have some readers back in the southwest so I thought it was about time for an update.

I've actually been reading others blogs instead of updating mine. A few new favorites for me, well I wouldn't say they are new but I enjoy them regardless.

http://thewrobb.blogspot.com/, I read this one because I enjoy busting his balls with my comments. Also he's another fellow cyclist who is about to venture into the world of baby diapers and spit up. Plus he's discovered he can swim. Good luck Robb.

http://pedalnaround.blogspot.com/, Do you have to ask?

http://amateurdomestique.blogspot.com/, Fellow pt. rider who can fabricate a basket crate on his bike.

http://racethemuscle.blogspot.com/, Cause I just think this guy is fucking crazy.

http://gayracer.blogspot.com/, Because I don't know any other Gay guy that rides a bike. At least for now AND he is a fellow pt. rider.

Check em all out if you'd like.

On the racing end, I have my second race of the season, which is a MTB race in Elkridge, MD. Its the Rockburn Reloaded this Sunday, March 22nd. I've been riding the shit out of my road bike but have not been on my MT bike in about a month.

I never did write up a race report for my first MTB race of the season back in Feb. I think I finished 43rd. Not worth writing about. It was cold, full of snow and ice and f'ing miserable. I Crashed twice. First crash had my left shoe cover with my leg attached hung up on a barb wire fence, 2nd crash had me fall over a pile of cow shit.

My first road race of the year will be Walkersville, followed by Tysons Circuit, then Carl Dolan. Beyond that, I don't know yet.

Good Friday

It was finally nice to be able to get out and do a group ride at the point today. Pace was pretty high for a Friday but as usual that's Chucks Fault.

So tomorrow is the Snot cycle MTB Race. My race starts at 10:30am. Starting temperature according to www.weather.com will be 13 degrees, with the wind chill. That's officially colder than a witches titty.

I hope I don't puss out in the morning. Tomorrow is one of those days you have to strap up the nut sack and get it done ;) yeah we'll see, you crazy bastards.

Training through the Winter Blues

I guess we were about due for some winter weather. Tuesday we got snow then Tuesday night through Wednesday morning was freezing rain. I grew up in the Southwest so winters around here bumb me out.

The day wansn't a complete loss though. My son christian enjoyed playing in the snow. Second, I was able to get a ride in on the mountain bike.

Like I said, I managed to get some riding in Tuesay after most of the snow had fallen. I took me about 2.5 hours to cover 23.5 miles on the moutain bike. I drove down to Burke Lake and did a loop in there. Its about 5 miles long. That part was fun. I then headed out of Burke lake on the bike path to the Laurel Hill loop. The bike path was awesome because no one had been on it yet. The moutain bike tires roll better through fresh snow. Once inside Laurel Hill, I must have busted my ass about 5 times. The loop there is also about 5 miles. It didn't go very smooth and took me quite a while to complete the loop. On the way back to Burke Lake, I busted my ass once more on the bike path. I lost my focus and ended up riding off the bike path and hitting the lip of a driveway and down I went. I went down hard enough to tear my leg warmers. I felt like a complete dumbass. Luckily no one saw me look like a pathetic loser.

Wednesday all I did was hit the weightroom for my weight and plyometrics workout. Today, Thursday I ran a hard 10 mile run of which almost left me puking. My time was about 1 hr and 2 min.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

Signed up for my first race in 2009-snotcycle mtb race

So I went ahead and registered for my first race in 2009. Its the SNOTCYCLE Mountain Bike Race up in Leesburg, VA. I signed up for the Sport Male which consist of 3 laps for a total of 22.8 miles. The course is suppose to be rolling single track. It should be a good time. I've definitely been putting the time on the MTB this winter so it should go well. I'm going in with no expectations so we'll see. This is my first official mountain bike race ever.

For anyone that wasn't aware, come on out. Here's the registration link:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=7495

Good thing the "Chuck Hutch" wasn't at the point today

Cause I felt like shit!!!!

Let me stray a bit before I give you my Haines Pt recap.

Who in the MABRA community hasn't had a Chuck Hutchinson entry in their blog? Chuck is like a love hate relationship. You either hate him or you love the guy. I'm somewhere in between. I like the guy when he's not making me hurl my pre-Haines Pt. snack but I absolutely want to beat the shit out of him when he attacks you after you just put in a hard pull into the wind!!!

Dave Fuentes said it best, Chuck has two speeds, "0 mph and FUCK IT."

Chuck reminds me of a guy I played high school football with. His name was Omar Atilano and he was an outside linebacker. We called him "One Way Omar." The guy only knew how to play one way, "Fucking Hard" whether it was practice or a Friday night game under the lights.

I remember in practice one day Omar laid me out. My position was Tight end. I went up the middle for a dive pass and as soon as I made the catch Omar cleaned my clock. It wasn't a concussion type hit but it was the type of hit that made me say "What the F*ck dude." I remember coach yelling at him saying:

"Omar you damn knucklehead, Tony is the only tight end we have that can catch a pass up the middle get the shit knocked out him and hold on to the ball, please Omar don't waste those out here in practice."

I'll never forget that line. Anyhow, for me Chuck is Omar in the sense that he rides one speed year around, "FUCK IT" speed.

I say we have "Boycott Chuck Hutch Fridays" at the pt. Chuck here is to you, you heartless leg breaking Mother F'er.

Now back to my Point recap. It was about 6-7 guys and the pace was high on the Arlington side of the pt. We were consistently doing around 29-31 mph on that side. On the DC side of the pt was the headwind. That side was more tolerable. I stayed on the entire time but that last lap had me on the rivet. I just didn't feel solid out there today. AND that brought me to my initial reason for writing this blog. I'M GLAD CHUCK WASN'T THERE, for had he been it would have been a much harder ride.

Chuck, all in good humor, I'm glad you're out there making us stronger.

GamJams Reviews: Best cycling gift - GARMIN Forerunner 305

My lovely wife surprised me with a new training gadget for the holidays, the Garmin Forerunner 305. She said it was the only gift I knew I wasn't getting :) How many other wives do you know contribute to your cycling addiction by giving you a gift that may keep you out of the house for a few more hours. Unless Hmmmmm.

First let me start by saying I'm not into bike gadgets. I don't do bike computers or power meters. I do always use a heart rate monitor though.

BUT that's not to say I don't like running gadgetry. When I run I always like to know my pace and speed as well as calories burned. She figured this would work perfect for me.

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is a wrist mounted GPS unit. Its simple enough to use and the best thing about it, is the software. Its cool how you can map your training rides or runs. You can store and track all your workout history from your total mileage, avg speed, total elevation, to total calories burned etc.. You also have the option of toggling between bike mode, running mode or other sport.

The kicker is I've used it more on my training rides and than on my runs. I may have to eat my words about bike gadgets!! BUT I still don't see myself joining any power meter geeks any time soon. Sorry guys ;)