Friday, May 29, 2009

A new addition to the family

Kian Jacob Rowe
6 lbs 3 oz
19.5 inchs

Both him and Mom are doing great!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Signs, Signs, everywhere are signs!

The day started off early, it was still dark outside. The air is crisp and there is hardly a soul out.

It is a beautiful time. It is also the time that my bike light goes dead! Ughh! NO headlights. Not a problem. Instead of riding into the desert, I’ll ride in the city.

I’m feeling good. The wind is in my hair, I am motoring along, but my mph is slow. First hour shows just less than 14 mph. If I am going to knock out a 100 miles before noon I better pick up the pace.

Second hour shows just about 12. WHAT!!!? I have actually gone slower? Crap. Double time it!

Third hour shows just under 11 mph!

F@#$^$!!!!!

I blow up! I hop off my bike; let it crash to the ground; I fling my helmet off into the desert; I slam down my camelbak onto the pavement and scream!

Full blown hissy-fit!

After a while .... I gather back my things. I debated about calling the Mrs. and having her pick me up, but one: I am completely as far as I could be from her. Meaning it would take forever for her to get my pansy ass. And Two: I am ONLY at 34 miles. I need to get some kind of workout here!!

I decide to hop back on the bike, if nothing else so that passing riders will stop asking if I am OK. I mean there is some serious rider love out there and while I appreciate it, I just want to pout!

As I hopped onto the seat, I noticed that I could barely sit down! My hindquarters were on fire! Every pedal stoke was painful and in short order it was miserable to sit down at all. I was finally able to stop at rest room and switch my shorts from the tri-shorts to the riding shorts (I had them layered).

Ahh!! Sweet relieve!

All these stops and all the tantrums combined with the extremely slow speed, made it impossible for me to knock-out a century today and so I settled on the idea that 80 miles would be close enough!

I am at mile at 73 and suddenly my chain starts acting weird. It keeps dropping to the smaller ring in the front. At first I think that perhaps it fell off but it’s still there. I shift it up to the big ring and then a few strokes later it pops down again. This happens over and over again.

What the???

Finally after a few more strokes...the chain snaps in two!! Yep! Cleanly in half.

The benefit of having your chain broken? You get to run the last few miles home with your bike…barefoot! Good way to toughen the feet.

So…

In closing:

1 – My light ran out of batteries and failed me
2 – My body ran out of batteries (I had NO power to ride fast) and failed me
3 – My bike ran out batteries (and broke) and failed me
4 – Even my clothes failed me!

Perhaps the gods are trying to tell me something?




So for those who wonder 'what does a chain break "feel" like::

Having your chain fall off feels just like you 'dropped your chain'. There is no big explosion (but there was a loud clang). It doesn’t hurt and you don’t suddenly go flying over your handlebars. Nothing BIG!

Really, it’s kind of a letdown! Then the realization that you’re out in the middle of your ride sinks in and then it’s a real letdown!

Friday, May 1, 2009

April Totals

Only 50 days left!!

Not that I am panicking or anything but.



AHHHHHHH!!!!!






What a month it has been. Two half irons, two centuries, and a whole lot of hanging out with blogging friends.

I know it’s seems to be a reoccurring theme, but somehow this month was still lower than February. I don’t know what I did for that month, but I must have been superman!!

On a good note, while I notice that something’s are lower than February or March, the time it takes me to get to those totals seems to be going down. I hope this means that I am getting fast and not that I am just going on easier courses.

7 Swim – 16199 yd – 06:05:46 (10.12 miles)
10 Bike – 395.0 – 28:59:42
13 Run – 70.9 – 12:09:19


Total:

30 Workouts
47:14:77 Hours
475.2 miles
22544 Calories Burned

Let’s see, how does that compare to last month?

Swim: 28% less than last month
Bike: 7% more than last month
Run: 4% less than last month

Total Mileage: 4% more than last month
Total Time: 2 hours less than last month

I think for this month, I will need to focus on speed (like last month) and also work on tying up the loose ends. This probably means more bricks and more form.

Hopefully, I would like to try to hit the pool more often too!

Right now, it’s time to focus on the bike. Breathless Agony (isn’t that a GREAT name!)