Good morning Gang...You all Rock Ya Know Hey Steve, 5 miles with a Gal friend...and lived to tell about it The weather is super nice now, and decided on cycling last night instead of running...well, ran too (Slo, you will appreciate this more than most I suppose)... and wanted to rest my sore knee. I knew the cycling folk were planning a ride around our reservoir, and these are very very hardcore rides...we call them "hot laps" I have not cycled since last Sept I think, and didn't know what to expect from me at all...but knowing my cycling Buds, they spent the winter drinking lots of beer - eating buffalo wings watching TV We meet up at our reservoir at 6:00pm when we are doing this work out. The Res is 15 miles from home, so I really have to hurry to get there on time...you late, you don't ride with the group, period. I barely made it, along with 12 others that showed up...normally it's not nice enough for these kinda rides yet. It's right at 13 miles around our Res, and it is a real dog fight and alll out racing (all anaerobic work). And, it's a real challenging hilly course...lots of rollers we call them. I said hey "lets keep it on the easy side tonight, since this is the first "hot lap" of the season. They all agreed...as I was smiling on the inside - but wondered how well I would do, really. The 15 miles to the start I was feeling good and averaged a little over 20 mph getting there, but it was work starting off cold, with no warm up at all. We took off, and at first there is a down hill that is about 3/4 of a miles long...I took the front and had us going 45 mph to start with. Then there is a sharp right hand turn, and I got into my drops and just let it loose. I pulled the pace line all the way at about 25 to 28 mph till mile 10, then my nose was running and I couldn't breath very well, and I patted my right hip to get to the back of the pace line and blow my nose...I told the next guy in front to keep us at 23 mph at least. Well, the pace was dropping off, so I made my way back up to the front to get us back at pace again. I pulled us till a 1/2 mile from the finish where it ends on a gradual up hill finish...very tough when your spent and HR is red lined.. My cycling bud Randy pulls up to my side and tries to pass me...nope, not tonight Buddie. My HR spiked to 192 bpm and we got up to 31 mph, and he drifted back...thank goodness. There is a Church at the end of the lap where we stop and drink water and let the others catch up. When I got to the Church, everyone was dropped except for my friend Randy....he he . As everyone finally caught up they asked...how did you do that? I said "I didn't sit around all winter and get all fat and lazy like you slobs"...actually, you guys all know I took time off too, due to my injuries. We then rode the 15 miles back into town in a pace line sharing the responsibility of pulling. I said, "keep the pace at about 21- 22 mph to keep our ave pace up". At one point I heard waaaay too much talking, so I moved to the front and got us back up to around 23 to 24 mph....geez girls I said, shut the F up and work. If I am going to put in a good effort, I don't want to hear stoopid silly talk, really. Then once in town, we split off and went our separate ways...OK, now it's ok to talk...what a bunch of nerds Lucky me when I got home...remember the gal the Holly said " I couldn't make straight, lol " "her name is Katherine...I call her Kat for short. She was in my Apt watching TV and was wondering where I had been...she has a key to my Apt, just like I am welcome in her home anytime, pretty cool actually. Well, she was waiting for me to run with her, so I put my running shoes on and we went out and ran 5 miles.. I love brick workouts.. At first my legs felt like rubber, but after a mile or so they felt good...ya know that feeling, huh Slo. OK, I am excited because I love hard / difficult efforts, and pushing myself to the max...cycling allows me to do that. Your now seeing my enthusiastic Triathlete side of me...as I am going to do more Tri's this year, along with my Marathons...heck, why not if I can, huh. Oh yeah, Stats: 43 miles - 21.2 total ave pace (good pace, but have to consider slowing for intersections, and people and such) Hot lap around the Res - 23.9 mph ave pace, which for this early in the season is good. Believe it or not, in June and July...the ave pace will be 26 mph or better, and will be 2 or 3 laps. The fastest lap we ever had was 3 years ago, when a Pro Tri Guy pulled us the whole way at a 26.6 mph ave pace...I survived with only two others, out of 22 riders. Also, 5 miles with my Fren: 42:32 - 8:31 ave pace - felt good after the initial rubber legged feeling...and I said I was resting my knee We shared some well deserved beers afterwords, and watched TV for awhile. Then a hug and a kiss, and she jogged home...she only lives a few blocks from me. So ya see Ribs, this is where I come from, and why it was hard for you to coach a cyclist / Triathlete. I now know, I can't run as hard allll he time as I cycle, so I found out. Hope you achieve all you desire...but it takes hard work, and It's worth the work put into it.... If all this "stuff" were easy....everyone would would be doing it, right! I'm kicking "old age ass" - People who sit around and get old...just simply sit around and get old...not me. What's really kewl and funny about last night - most of the guys that showed up to ride were mostly in their late 20's and 30's. My friend Randy was the only one about my age, as us old dudes showed the youngsters how it's done Geez, chatty TimBo...for a Greta reason OK, what was the question again

Excellent work Tim! That's the way to burn off those other guys' Beer Bellies! Happy Birthday Chatty Tim! Intervals for me today. I apologize to SkipAZ if this wasn't really "Intervals".) A while ago, he made a distinction between "Intervals" and "Repeats", but I don't remember what the difference is. Whatever. 8 miles altogether at 8:30 average pace with 6 x 1/2 mile, 90 seconds rest interval between each. Target was 3:34 per. But I ran the 1/2 miles in 3:39, 3:31, 3:32, 3:32, 3:29, and 3:33. That speed is tough for me and the last few were quite hard to complete. Got through it. (I think I'll back off a little on these next time.) I think I'm not all the way over my cold yet. Where has Meg gone off to? Where is Sal? Bill

Hapy Birthday TIMBO! My RA time has been kept to a minimum as well...work, concentratin on healing and a vacation that involved painting our kitchen, sitting area, mud room-entry hall etc. then installing chair rails and crown moulding. Done and DW are still talking to each other! Well it sure is nice to have the sun out longer in the evening with at least fairly seasonable temps...although yesterday was a bit cool at least I'll be outside for the rest of my runs until next winter ... I HOPE! Monday - 8.29 easy recovery miles with Joel - 1:19:23 - 8:30 - Sunny & a cool 36° Oh yeah I forgot...I ended up with two entries into the Beach to Beacon and three charges on my credit card...a definite fiasco to say the least.

easy-easy 5 miles for me today. 10:22 pace. Still recovering some from Sunday's long run.

Tim, you exude excitement! Awesome ride! (..you seemed like a border collie keeping everybody on pace and in line ) I've been easing to let my leg/hip (hip adductor muscle) heal-up so 30 min elliptical yesterday and 60 min today (AHR 137, max 151) Feeing good progress.

Sounds like a good workout, Tim. I still think there's something wrong with a sport that makes you change shoes, like Triathlon. 7:64 @ 8:16 m/m Good runs to all today. Walt

Yes Bill. Those were intervals you did. A workout of repeats has you doing each work session at fast pace and allowing you complete recovery, and you do them for a different reason. Good job. Happy birthday to Tim. Gorgeous day here. Headed out for a few miles after my coffee. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. Spareribs

Good Morning! Heckofa brick, Timbo! 11 miles for me today in 37°, including 6 x ½ mile intervals with 1 minute recoveries. In spite of the fact that I omitted my usual lower body workout yesterday, my legs were quite stiff and achy this morning from the weekend runs, and I approached my planned interval workout with some trepidation. I will admit to being a little paranoid about injury, especially in this last week before taper. But I decided to play it by ear, and cut the workout short if need be. Using Saturday’s race as my most recent 5K, I added 20 seconds to that pace (as per Spareribs’ advice) and aimed at a pace of 8:00 for my intervals. Actual results were: 4:01 4:01 4:01 4:00 3:59 4:01 I had intended 8 intervals, but 6 seemed to be the place to stop, so I did the rest of my run at a comfortable pace.