Tub of Lard
That's what I'm turning into right now, a tub of lard. Suffice it to say that I'm probably at my lowest point in terms of biking since my daughter has been born almost 15 months ago. Yeah I'm still faster but nothing is right at this point. Here are the weekend numbers:
Saturday: 1:04, 17.4 miles
Sunday: 0:45, 12.5 miles
More numbers:
Saturday: 8 beers
Monday: 194 pounds
Yeah somehow I packed on 5 pounds again this weekend. I don't think I can claim I'm a serious biker at this point. I mean its the beginning of July, I rode maybe 5 hours last week, had 10 drinks, and have gained 8 pounds in 2 weeks. You know that Hindenburg picture, the flaming blimp? That's me right now.
I hesitate to make a post like this because it's not really that bad. The stars have just not lined up in the last 2 weeks and this is just how life goes. Between being sick, work sucking eggs, and the madcap weekend I'm just taking steps back right now. There's not much I can do but sit here and watch it go by and somehow try to fight through it.
The weight gain is disappointing. When I was sick I exploded which happens. And drinking so much Saturday night is also going to wreak havoc on my body which is another reason I blow up like that. By the end of the week I should have stabilized a bit. But when it comes down to it, I'm not helping myself. Sickness and work are out of my control, more or less. But the beer and amount I ride are, and I'm choosing to do what Donny Don't Does.
So the weekend. Same as usual Saturday morning. Alarm, snooze, snooze, work in basement. By the time I got on the bike I didn't have much time so I short-lopped it for just over an hour. My wife suggested I take it easy since it was going to be a long weekend.
About the weekend my wife was right. It wasn't as bad as I expected. We left Saturday at 9:00 am and decided to try the Turnpike based on a neighbor's suggestion. Well surprise surprise there was almost no traffic. Other than the merge it was clean. I had no idea it would be so easy that early. As for Julia, she was content for 1:05, then a little cranky for 15, then kinda high-maintenance for 25 minutes. All in all she did exceptionally well. We didn't have to stop and there was little traffic. Just over 1:45 to get there.
The weekend itself was OK. I don't really love the parties down there because the neighbors don't really do it for me. So we don't get to hang out with Vinny and Bridgette much and their kids are generally insane because there are a million kids around. Since Cliffy and Melissa bailed and Woody was also a no-show I really had little else to do but sit and drink beer. On the bright side Vinny and I went out to get 2 bottles of this which we drank before the party started:
Click here for eternal bliss
At $7.99 a bottle this isn't something you drink very often. Having said that it was pretty damn tasty and I'll have to get it again someday. In the future. Far in the future. Like maybe when Haley's Comet comes back.
Julia loved the pool and hot tub which Mom was in charge of. Since I don't care to expose my mostly naked self to the world-at-large mom handled that while I sat around working on my figure with beer and food. After the 120 Minute IPA it was mostly Michelob. Hey at least the first beer was tasty.
The ride home was even better. Julia had woken up at 5:30 and by 9:30 was pretty toasted. We left at 9:56 and she was asleep by 10:00. There was less traffic on the return trip and it took 1:40 to get home. Julia slept for 1:15 of it then woke up happy as a clam. Really incredible how easy she was in the car all weekend.
When we got home I eventually got on the bike and felt more or less as you would expect. I picked a short loop which turned out to be shorter than I thought. On the last 20 minutes I felt strong but jeez a 45 minute ride? Should have laid in some pig shit instead.
So there you have it. A bike oriented blog has devolved into stories about 4th of July parties, my daughter in the car, and beer. There can be no better indication - other than the scale - that my season is rapidly going down in flames. There's another race up at Stewart this weekend which I should force myself to do but I probably won't for the usual reasons. 3 hours of driving for a 1:20 race. I think what I really need is a lot of volume over the next 2 weeks to get myself back to form, at least mentally. I doubt I've really lost much fitness at all. I just feel like crap right now when you add up the last few weeks.
Off to work now. The next 2 days are a bit more insanity then I get a day off with more car time for Julia as we head out to my parent's in Pennsylvania. I'm hoping to drag myself out of bed and get a real ride in tomorrow but at 48 degrees this morning that's a tall order. Then Wednesday the plan is to do something substantial before we go. And my vacation day is tentatively scheduled for Thursday now, so maybe another high volume day there. And Saturday before the kid party gives me maybe 3 hours then Sunday is more or less a free day, either I race or do a 4 hour road ride. So if I play this week right there's no reason I can't shock myself back to form with a solid 12-14 hour week.
Alternately, I make a push to top 200 pounds. Wish me luck either way.
Saturday: 1:04, 17.4 miles
Sunday: 0:45, 12.5 miles
More numbers:
Saturday: 8 beers
Monday: 194 pounds
Yeah somehow I packed on 5 pounds again this weekend. I don't think I can claim I'm a serious biker at this point. I mean its the beginning of July, I rode maybe 5 hours last week, had 10 drinks, and have gained 8 pounds in 2 weeks. You know that Hindenburg picture, the flaming blimp? That's me right now.
I hesitate to make a post like this because it's not really that bad. The stars have just not lined up in the last 2 weeks and this is just how life goes. Between being sick, work sucking eggs, and the madcap weekend I'm just taking steps back right now. There's not much I can do but sit here and watch it go by and somehow try to fight through it.
The weight gain is disappointing. When I was sick I exploded which happens. And drinking so much Saturday night is also going to wreak havoc on my body which is another reason I blow up like that. By the end of the week I should have stabilized a bit. But when it comes down to it, I'm not helping myself. Sickness and work are out of my control, more or less. But the beer and amount I ride are, and I'm choosing to do what Donny Don't Does.
So the weekend. Same as usual Saturday morning. Alarm, snooze, snooze, work in basement. By the time I got on the bike I didn't have much time so I short-lopped it for just over an hour. My wife suggested I take it easy since it was going to be a long weekend.
About the weekend my wife was right. It wasn't as bad as I expected. We left Saturday at 9:00 am and decided to try the Turnpike based on a neighbor's suggestion. Well surprise surprise there was almost no traffic. Other than the merge it was clean. I had no idea it would be so easy that early. As for Julia, she was content for 1:05, then a little cranky for 15, then kinda high-maintenance for 25 minutes. All in all she did exceptionally well. We didn't have to stop and there was little traffic. Just over 1:45 to get there.
The weekend itself was OK. I don't really love the parties down there because the neighbors don't really do it for me. So we don't get to hang out with Vinny and Bridgette much and their kids are generally insane because there are a million kids around. Since Cliffy and Melissa bailed and Woody was also a no-show I really had little else to do but sit and drink beer. On the bright side Vinny and I went out to get 2 bottles of this which we drank before the party started:
Click here for eternal bliss
At $7.99 a bottle this isn't something you drink very often. Having said that it was pretty damn tasty and I'll have to get it again someday. In the future. Far in the future. Like maybe when Haley's Comet comes back.
Julia loved the pool and hot tub which Mom was in charge of. Since I don't care to expose my mostly naked self to the world-at-large mom handled that while I sat around working on my figure with beer and food. After the 120 Minute IPA it was mostly Michelob. Hey at least the first beer was tasty.
The ride home was even better. Julia had woken up at 5:30 and by 9:30 was pretty toasted. We left at 9:56 and she was asleep by 10:00. There was less traffic on the return trip and it took 1:40 to get home. Julia slept for 1:15 of it then woke up happy as a clam. Really incredible how easy she was in the car all weekend.
When we got home I eventually got on the bike and felt more or less as you would expect. I picked a short loop which turned out to be shorter than I thought. On the last 20 minutes I felt strong but jeez a 45 minute ride? Should have laid in some pig shit instead.
So there you have it. A bike oriented blog has devolved into stories about 4th of July parties, my daughter in the car, and beer. There can be no better indication - other than the scale - that my season is rapidly going down in flames. There's another race up at Stewart this weekend which I should force myself to do but I probably won't for the usual reasons. 3 hours of driving for a 1:20 race. I think what I really need is a lot of volume over the next 2 weeks to get myself back to form, at least mentally. I doubt I've really lost much fitness at all. I just feel like crap right now when you add up the last few weeks.
Off to work now. The next 2 days are a bit more insanity then I get a day off with more car time for Julia as we head out to my parent's in Pennsylvania. I'm hoping to drag myself out of bed and get a real ride in tomorrow but at 48 degrees this morning that's a tall order. Then Wednesday the plan is to do something substantial before we go. And my vacation day is tentatively scheduled for Thursday now, so maybe another high volume day there. And Saturday before the kid party gives me maybe 3 hours then Sunday is more or less a free day, either I race or do a 4 hour road ride. So if I play this week right there's no reason I can't shock myself back to form with a solid 12-14 hour week.
Alternately, I make a push to top 200 pounds. Wish me luck either way.
Labels: pointless
1 Comments:
At 6:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
norm, i know EXACTLY how you feel.
one very unexpect week in the midwest = many beers + kids are sick + me not sleeping = me not riding < no bueno.
that is the formula for fatarse.
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