I've Moved

All of my posts are now going here.

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Permanent Link: 11/21/2008 12:04:00 PM 0 comments, post a comment

Back To Running

The month of indulgence is officially over. This past month I took off from running to do two things; take a break from the past 11 months of training and two, allow my plantar fasciitis to heal. The foot pain has come a long way but is not completely healed. I think it turned into a form of tendonitis along the way as I was compensating for the plantar fasciitis. Ice has helped immensely. I put ice packs on the bottom of the foot three or four times per day and it was amazing how much it helped. I used ice for my shoulder after pitching oh so long ago but never applied it to the tendons in the foot or associated with it with running. It makes sense though.

I've put on an additional seven pounds the last few weeks. It could have been worse, much worse. I still ate good meals and no junk food--well occasional junk food cravings were allowed. After all, it's indulgence month, but I ate a few salads and went low-cal on several meals. I think I would have been even if it hadn't been such a drastic drop in cardio workouts.

I packed my running clothes for an afternoon run. The weather should be great. Something around 60 degrees and sunny with low humidity.

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Permanent Link: 11/17/2008 07:07:00 AM 0 comments, post a comment

Just When

Just when I think I know quite a bit of a certain subject, I'm reminded how little I do know. It's very humbling.

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Permanent Link: 11/15/2008 07:32:00 AM 0 comments, post a comment

The Day's Energy

Slipstream made its debut today with my 14-mile commute into work. Although the weather was perfect, my gut was telling me to drive in for some reason. I should have listened to my gut. It's correct 99.2% of the time. And if the gut was wrong then there's usually a foretelling event early enough in the morning to sway me in another direction. Experiencing something out of the norm or uneventful early enough in the day allows me to see where I jumped off track and to quickly get the day back on the rails it's supposed to be on. A flat tire within the first mile of the commute is an example of such an early event. One, if you notice it as such an event and two, you act on such an event. Within the first mile you can turn around, go home, change clothes and start the day over by driving to work.

I ignored the sign. So flat one was fixed and that left one air cartridge left with one spare tube and some patches.

As I had a meeting scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Looking at my watch I still had plenty of time, even with the flat to make it to work, get some breakfast tacos and coffee and make it to the meeting. And then I took a wrong turn. My gut said to go east for another two blocks and then catch S. 5th Str going northward. Except I went left and tried to take a sort cut through a neighborhood. It sent me five miles in the wrong direction.

I regrouped after I saw the street I used to take into work. A little busier traffic-wise but doable. I wasn't five minutes on the road and I had another flat. I parked the bike at the bus stop and changed the second flat. I used the remainder of the second air cartridge but it wasn't enough. I had to ride out of the saddle until I could get to a bike shop.

As I approached the bike shop there weren't any cars in front of the doors. Noticing the hours posted on the front window the shop didn't open until 10:00 a.m. So much for supporting the commuters. I decided to ride another mile over to Lance Armstrong's shop called Mellow Johnny's. As they support the commuters I knew they'd be open.

They were open. Bought some air. Bought a tire. Broke a tire iron. Used one of Mellow Johnny's tire irons. Paid the equivalent of a full tank of gas. Packed up and went on my way.

I looked at my watch and it was 9:45 a.m. Late for the meeting I reajusted my expectations of getting to the meeting, of eating breakfast tacos or making coffee. I just wanted something positive to manifest itself in front of me. To have something to laugh at, admire, aha at. Something. Anything.

I arrived at the office parking lot with loose handlebars. That was not my sign. It was more of the same. I took it as a sign not to burst into the meeting late. I sat at my desk while cooling down and knocked out a quick article for one of the publications. As I sat there I knew something had to be done to change the energy of the day. This was definitely the most expensive commute I'd ever had and quickly hovering close to the worst commute, except for getting hit by the truck or the lady who ran me into the curb where I cut my ankle up pretty bad. No, those were way up there as the two worst commutes and three flat tires weren't even close to knocking them off their pinnacle of bad commutes.

I got a phone text request for lunch. That'll do it I thought. A good lunch can always change the energy. It did. The whole afternoon was bliss. The second meeting of the day went well. People were good to work with. The day had the Friday energy back. The commute back home was going to be tremendous. Until.

Until I heard a sound. It sounded like something fell off the shelf and there was the sound of air at the window. A minute later my coworker says, "Tony, I think your tire just went flat. I felt a breeze in my hair, I looked around and watched the back tire go from full to flat."

Crap. So much for a change of energy. I called for an extraction. Packed up Slipstream into the SUV. Took it home. Crawled into bed.

Sometmes the only way to change the energy of the day is to change the day.

BTW, Slipstream is the newest old bike added to the fleet. It's a freewheel single speed on a an old steel Schwinn frame.

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Permanent Link: 11/14/2008 07:11:00 PM 0 comments, post a comment

Week Two Off of Running

It's been a tough second week off of running. The foot still hurts so it's going to take at least a couple more weeks to heal. This is the best time of year to run but there's just no way.

Permanent Link: 10/31/2008 09:06:00 AM 0 comments, post a comment

What a Shame

I'll let you form your own opinion on this one. It's a shame the race is now suspect as it raised $18 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Arien O'Connell, the real winner of the race, is not recognized on the official site. I should be cheering for the Austinite that was recognized as the winner, but the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Is this enough for you to switch brands?

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Permanent Link: 10/23/2008 06:51:00 AM 0 comments, post a comment

Sidelined From The Run

I'm on the sidelines for a period of time until my plantar fasciitis in the left foot gets better. I ran 10 miles on Sunday and then iced the foot, massaged it, stretched it and could hardly walk the rest of the afternoon. Rather than do permanent damage, it's time to lay off.

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Permanent Link: 10/22/2008 08:10:00 AM 0 comments, post a comment