Friday, March 27, 2009

Doing our part to help the economy

Are you ready to see the coolest, most awesome thing ever? It's fully-assembled, fully-connected, and fully one of the most exciting things I've encountered in a while. It's not my new bike, but like my bike, it's not made in China (which makes it even cooler!).

Ready? You'll need to scroll down to see the photo. I don't want to give anything away too easy.















What? You don't think that's the coolest thing ever? Really?!? Maybe if you look at it from a slightly different angle.



Well, fine. You clearly don't know what awesome is. It's got a window in the front and it gets our clothes clean.

Still nothing? Whatever...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

These are not the photos you're looking for

These aren't the super-exciting photos I alluded to in my last post, but they are proof that Texas has hills (grainy, blurry, camera-phone proof).


They're from Burma Road, my new favorite road in (or nearby) San Angelo. I'm sure every other cyclist and triathlete in the area has already discovered it, but I feel special all the same.

Hannah had described Burma as being what she imagined the Ironman Wisconsin course was like (since she only saw me at one section of the bike course, she didn't actually see the hills).

To be honest, I didn't really believe that was possible. A tough, technical, hilly road in San Angelo? That can't be. There's no way it's as challenging as the really hard bits in Wisconsin (which I've ridden in case I didn't mention it a few times already).

As usual, when my ego gets the better of me, I'm usually quickly humbled. Burma is exactly like the tough rolling parts of IMWI, except swap out the green fields for mesquite, cacti and brush. And, with the added bonus of Texas being really hot in a couple months, it'll be just like the race in '05!

Friday, March 20, 2009

What have I been up to?

It's been a slow few weeks in terms of blogeable content. I was down in Texas a bunch. It's nice there (upper 70s most days). It was snowing this morning in NJ/NYC on my way to work.

I've been training. Despite easing back onto the plan, a glimpse at my training log reveals that over the last few weeks I've actually had the most consistent volume since I was rowing two-a-days in the summer of '02. That bodes well for IMLP in July. I'm not even feeling 100% and I'm consistently throwing down workouts that I couldn't regularly handle two years ago. This is on top of the travel and economic-crisised-work-hours doing wonders for my free time and stress levels.

A big part of that is due to me hooking up with Endurance Corner. Consistency is easier when someone is putting out a plan to follow. They've got a five level program for the working athlete. I'm at level two. Level five is well beyond my comprehension. Seeing as how level one would have me doing more work than I did for any of my past IMs, I think I'm in a good place.

I also got my road bike built up (I know, you've all been waiting with baited breath). You'll have to wait longer for some photos since I won't be back in Texas until mid-April. I do have one exciting photo from my last visit, but you'll have to hold out for a few days. Trust me, it will be well worth the wait.