Shabbos +1: The 2007 finale

So here's the deal: I can't do the bike in the morning and run in the afternoon thing. And I can't really wait until the afternoon to ride. So I'm going at 8. Yeah, it'll be cold. Point of origin is negotiable, but I have to be at my house at 11:30. Oh, and the wind will be from the south.

There's frozen Goose poop everywhere!!!

At least on the Keystone trail between 25th St and Cornhusker, there is.

After reading this blog, I got a hankerin for a bike ride. I haven't really been on a true bike ride in about 3 weeks, maybe more. So after work, at 4:30pm, I figured I'd do my 1.5 hr loop down Bellevue blvd to Old Town Bellevue, then back up the trail. I'd have just enough time to pick up my woman from her work a little after 6pm. But wait Mike, wasn't it 23 degrees with a NE wind at 8-ish mph? Why would you head South at the beginning? And wasn't it foolish to try it on your heavy commuter without shoe covers???

Hey, I was jonesin for a ride so I threw caution to the wind (which really made me suffer going into that wind along the Keystone at the end of the ride) and went for it anyway. My core was fine and my feet were good....for the first half hour or so. Then the circulation somehow stopped flowing to the toes on my left foot. This always happens because I have bony feet and my left is my dominant mashing side. It was pretty outside with lots of frost and slow traffic, but man did the foot thing get to me eventually. I think even if I had had heavy shoe covers, they would have eventually froze.

After I got the the Keystone trail at 25th St, I realized the ride was taking longer than normal. I had to get off the bike and run for a while to thaw out my toes a little. After a 5 minute jog, they felt pretty good, aside from my 2nd toe on my left foot. It was the weirdest feeling. It felt like I had a metal toe ring on that was making all the rest of my toes (especially the big toe next to it) get cold really fast. I hopped back on the bike and tried to focus on pulling up instead of mashing. This is very difficult to do when you're tired, hungry, going into a headwind, and worried about getting home as soon as possible. Then the Goose poop came into view. It was all over the trail and was more dangerous than the sheets of ice by the under-bridges passes. I'd try to dodge them, but hit a couple and almost got taken out. Them suckers are like little boulders. So if you plan on riding the Keystone between Cornhusker and 25th, beware. I was late picking up the woman because somehow, the ride took almost 2 hours. I guess the heavy bike and running to thaw the feet made a difference, but man that was a tough one. I think I'm going to stay away from night rides and just do runs during the week. For feets sake.



Here's a looksie at the condition of said feet right after the ride: (warning, gross foot content ahead)





Directly after taking this picture, I hopped into the shower since my core temp was dropping. This was a bad idea because blood rushed to the reddish parts of my left foot and swelled up bad. I was also really really cold. After my shower I got fully clothed and just dove under the covers of the bed hoping the warm comforter would help me out. It did, but only after about 10 minutes of shivering. So can anyone tell me why my left foot does this and how I can remedy the situation. In the summertime, I don't care that the circulation goes away because it's hot and that blood is needed elsewhere. But in the wintertime, frozen feet keep me from riding outside. I think I need to go see an athletic foot doctor who specializes in cycling. Right, like there's such a person out there....

Weekend run or ride?

Any plans for this weekends get together, assuming we have one? I'm free all weekend and need some exercise. This weather better improve soon or I'm gonna give Ms. Thang mother nature a stern shaking of my fist followed by a serious look of disapproval.

Last mass email from dear old dad.

So my dad sends me great forwards from his work email. You know, those fowards where your address is in the middle of about 100 others. Good times.

Well my dad added to a forward today, " Just a Christmas funny to send along. And you can delete this email address. I am retiring from UP and this is my last day."

UGH, that hit me like a ton of bricks. My dad is officially entering retiredom. I can't even imagine the wave of emotions he's going through. All I can say is, thank you dad, for being the greatest dad I know. You have always been there and I hope you enjoy your free time now and I love you.

Thanks again and Congratulations!!

Saturday run

Is this still in the works? Time? Place?

Munsy's Tuesday run

My evening run by the numbers: (or something like that)

Distance: 4-ish miles on Brady's suggested route.
Conditions: Ice in spots where snow melt was turning as temp was dropping
Temperature: 30* or so at the beginning, mid twenties by the end
Elapsed Time: 30-ish minutes, not including walkdown
Average pace: somewhere between fast and slow
Max HR: up there
Average HR: somewhere between dead and up there
Calories burned: not enough to justify eating this. (shucks) Instead, I ate the leftovers of this(still probably too much, but too delicious).

Comments: Yay! I did a run on my own! I think the secret is to go out before I eat dinner. No more, "Oh I'll just wait till my stomach settles.." 2 hrs later... "Oh hey, my favorite show is on.." which is pretty much anything that will hold my attention for 2 minutes... Later... "Darn it, it's 10pm, time for sleep."

I will keep in shape this winter, oh yes, I will.

The Running Man

Now if only I had a fancy gold onesy with Pro-Wing hightops. (From the age of 9 to 13 I only wore full velcro Pro Wing Hightops - I was stylin)

Another good run with this guy and this guy yesterday. Another 7-ish miles. Bryan made the observation that most people getting into running do one-mile runs for a few months and then maybe move up to 2 milers. I thank him and Brady for the compliments. I would also like to know the feeling of being a really fit runner. I'm sure it's just as nice as being a really strong cyclist. Knowing that you can take on and bury most people that you run/ride with, and still smile and be nice to them while doing it. Now that's a good feeling.

So my plan is to ride to/from work and run for my exercise. Running is really easy to do even if there's drifts of snow along the roads. Not so much with biking. Then, once the drifts rescind, I'll head back out on the roadbike. I think this is a better long term health decision. I've read of 60 year old male cyclists who have the bone density of an 80 year old woman. Cyclings great for aerobic system and the joints, but it's recommended that you get some impact training on you bones, whether that be running or weight training.

So that's my plan. Now the hard part is committing to it. It's kinda hard for me to be sitting there after work in my nice warm abode and get amped up for a run outdoors when it's 20-something degrees and dark. Hence the beginning of my belly and my need for slacker pants. Anyone want to meet up for group runs after 6pm??

It's Done!

The finished product.



11-23 Powerdome cassette


Carbon Compact


Ti Front der


I think the scales is wrong! But I hope not!


These wheels are just sick! and cut off another pound!

I wish they were mine.

Learnin some skillz.

I've been riding to work and ya know, it's not that bad out there. You just have to go slow around corners and start the deceleration process on downhills a good couple blocks early. But it's kinda fun riding squirrely. I almost went down today in front of a bunch of Jr high kids. I transitioned from a sidewalk to brick street at a turn and that was truly slick. I felt the front end start to go, but I kept it up.

I think we should get out with the heavy bikes and do some easy riding. Learn some handling skills. Could be fun!

Former UNL Cycling Team member, now meber of MIT Cycling Team helps set world record in human-powered computation

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/dec07/dec13news

Former UNL Cycling Team Member, Nick Loomis, now student at MIT helps push 1.2 kilowatts! as a new method to power their brainiac, take over the world "Supercomputers" - Lance couldn't even do that...

A team of 10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) cyclists used bicycles to power a supercomputer conducting research on nuclear fusion Tuesday in order to complete the largest human-powered computation in history.

Riding bicycles attached to electrical generators, the students not only saved energy by using human power to run the SiCortex SC648 supercomputer, they used the computer to conduct research promoting alternative energy, as well. Several students on the MIT Cycling Team research nuclear fusion, a potentially promising source of energy that would provide an environmentally-friendly alternative relative to currently used nuclear fission power that produces dangerous radioactive waste.

A large part of their research is conducted using supercomputers that can model plasmas at nearly 10 million degrees centigrade. The bicycle powered computer ran a modeling application written by Greg Wallace, a graduate student at MIT and an avid mountain biker.

The MIT Cycling Team joined forces with the Massachusetts company specializing in energy-efficient supercomputing. The MIT cyclists powered the supercomputer drawing 1.2 kilowatts of electricity, riding non-stop for almost 20 minutes. A conventional supercomputer might require ten times as much power to perform the same calculations.

"By harnessing the energy creation processes of the sun, our research opens the possibility of limitless energy," said John Wright, a member of MIT's Plasma Science & Fusion Center and an avid cyclist. "But we still need to do our parts individually, such as by using energy-efficient computers in our research."

The start of something new!

We start with the Cervelo R3 @ 15.85lb


A little alloy and carbon here


A lot of carbon there


A double tap here


A power dome there


And lets not forget a little ti as well!

I'll let you know how things work out!

What am I, a runner?

So I ran again on Sunday for some unknown reason. Well, actually for a good reason; it's really cold and there's slick spots all around. Not very safe for a fast moving cyclist wanting to keep all their digits and stay upright.

Brady picked me up and we met up with Bryan out at Zorinsky Lake. I only realized after the run how insane this was. I've been on "serious" runs for a total of something like 10 times since I've picked up cycling. Now I was joining two runners who had recently become cyclists. Role reversal? I think so.

It's chilly so we get started right away. Now on all postings and mentions of the planned run pegged it as being about 4 miles. I'm completely cool with that. I need to do more of those 3-4 mile runs to get my legs used to the idea that they can hold body weight and not just mash bike cranks in a circle. So as we're running, all Brady and Bryan (who somehow had all this energy and extra breath to hold conversations) could talk about was how much they both hated this trail. I was having a blast. The scenery was nice, the wind wasn't bad especially in the trees, and the trail was padded with a slight layer of snow. We get to the 2-ish mile mark where we'd change direction and head back to the cars if we were doing the PLANNED 4 mile run. Well, since Brady and Bryan had all this energy and, "we weren't going very fast or hard," we decided to make the whole trek around the lake. Every now and then, between stories, Brady or Bryan would ask how I was doing. I'd be able to get out an, "I'm ok" on exhales, but that's about it. I tried a full sentence once and according to Bryan, it sounded like, "ablsiebhaevoiejghse." So that was the last time I joined the conversations. Until the topic of bike stuff came up. Then I slowed my running down to talk a little more. Nevermind this was at mile 6 and I was ready to fall over in the snow and make snow angels till I felt no more.

So the run finished up and we talked a little, drank a little chewy hot cocoa (Thanks Brady!!), then we headed our separate ways. I live in between Brady and Zorinsky, so Brady was nice enough to give me a ride. On the way home we were joking about the run and conversations, then it happened. Here's how the dialog went:

Joke, joke, joke, "Hey Mike, after that 7.5 mile run you feel like helping me move a TV up some stairs, don't ya?"
Me: "Heh heh, sure, sounds fun!"
Brady: "Well I'm not joking. Can you help me?"



Me: "Oh. Ok."
Brady: "And it's not a regular TV, it's a 36 inch Trinitron behemoth."



Me: "Oh. Ok."



Brady: "It's gotta weigh like 200-300 pounds."




Me: "Oh. Ok."


So we head over to his place and sure enough, it's basically the biggest TV I've ever handled. I've done plenty or 27" and 32" TVs, but this was a new experience. We only nearly dropped it 2 or 3 times, but we got it up the stairs. And into the enterainment center. After moving that around a few times. Brady was nice enough to repay me in a recipe and ingredients for my dinner I was cooking. All was good.

Today, I'm sore. And tired. Even after 8 hours of truly deep sleep. The coffee will keep my body going, but my mind and eyeballs are still tired. Don't know how else to explain it. So I need to go running more often so planned 4 mile runs that turn into marathons will be less painful.

So, On a whim...

I ran to work.

I didn't feel like driving since my car is not good in the snow and I'd be parking on the side streets. I also didn't feel like riding my bike and dying. So I ran. I only live 2.5 miles away. Plus I got to wear one of my fancy new cheap running shirts (over a long sleeve baselayer of course). My pants legs over my quads looked like I peed on myself since the snow melted right away as it fell on me. I also wore a thin beanie and my white cycling cap just to remove any doubt motorists may have had about the level of my sanity. Plus it kept the snow from falling in my eyes.

So now to get home after 8:30pm when my shift ends.....hmmm??? I could either take the MAT bus since the roads will probably be better by then, or just run some more. I'll let my feet decide.

Woah!!!

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This just came up while trying to keep abreast on everyone's blogs. Why can't they do maintenance at 3 in the morning when no one, except Bryan, is awake? It wasn't a big deal. All was said and done in about 10 minutes.

Not much else going on in Munsonland. Not a lot of exercise going on, just Santaday shopping. Kinda interested in running with the guys though. Come on Brady, post our Shabbos afternoon running plans here. I triple dog dare ya!

How does an "Ice Event"

as Bryan called it, take out the whole day? Well when you bake some cookies, watch a couple movies, then eat a wonderful food-inducing-coma stew, you generally don't get much done.

I meant to maybe leave the house and do something. Anything. Especially head over to Ryan and Roxys for their annual endo the year partay. However, the stew that my woman made was pretty serious. I mean, damn. I ate a bowl, felt full, and laid down for a second. 2 hours later, and well past my bedtime, I awoke and realized I should probably call it a lost day.

In other news, a brand spankin new Charbucks opened a block away from me. And here I am trying to get away from drinking coffee. Gah. All that construction at the old Aksarben area is either going to bring many conveniences, or turn my new neighborhood into a bustling, traffic-jammed headache.

In other, other news, I think I need to work off some of the laziness I acrued today. Bryan, post a time and place if you'd like to meet for a short-ish ride tomorrow morning. I'll check and confirm in the early morning since I'm going to bed now. I do have to be home by 11:30, and would like to take it easier on the ride than last week. It's supposed to be mid 20s with a NW upper teens wind - just lovely. If the rollers/trainer sound like a better option for you, I completely understand. I'll just head out for an afternoon run or something. It's all good.