3rd Day and counting

So for the third day in a row now I have woke up at 4:10am. This morning I shot up at my alarm and stared at it for about 3 min before realizing that I was awake. It does seem to be getting easier. The other mornings I woke up trying to fall back to sleep, and almost succeeding. I also did not crash on the couch last night(mainly because I did not lay down) I actually stayed up late enough to finish "Sons of Anarchy"(great show by the way). I think since I will be going on a hike on Saturday that tomorrow I should take a break, of course I may change my mind and get up anyways. I kind of feel like if I stop trying to wake up I may not be able to keep the streak going. I will decide that tonight just before I go to sleep.

In another thought I need to get my mind on track to take another ride before the weather gets bad and stays bad. I will have to keep an eye on the weather to find what days next week might be nice. At least I hope it will be next week. I may have to wait a few for the weather to be in my favor.

Morning work out to get in shape

I have now had two days where I woke up at 4:10 am to make it out of the house in time to go to the gym.
 I have decided since now I start work at 7am I should try to fit my workout in the mornings; 1 so I can work out everyday in hopes it will not interfere with my family life; 2 so I have the opportunity to work out a second time on Tuesdays and Thursdays(the second time will come after I get used to the morning workout).
 So far it has worked, but alas it is only day two.
 I will try to push myself to make it a permanent thing.

What I really should be doing is hitting the bike trainer on Mondays and Wednesdays after Kinley goes to sleep(not sure I'm going to get to that level of commitment)

I used to get called captain pump-y(by my friends) because of the fact I was going to the gym all the time for around 2-3 hours a day, so I know I have some sort of ability to commit. I am now however 4 years older and I feel like it, so I may not want to go so hard and burn myself out. I want this to be permanent, and do not want to feel like not going from being to worn out.

We shall see how I feel on Monday to see if I can still make it out of bed with a smile on my face, or see if this morning work outs fate is doomed.

Plan for the First Ride of the Year

I have decided that the first ride for 2012 that I do is going to be the Chilly Hilly. It is a ride that takes you around Bainbridge island. It is usually set for February, so its cold hence the name Chilly Hilly. I am going to have to force myself to continue on the bike trainer at home to keep up with my riding. Not sure how easy it is going to be this winter to convince myself to do so, but I am going to have to try. Push Push Push is all I can do. I think if I can get myself going to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays maybe just maybe I can get myself to do the bike trainer on Mondays and Wednesdays. That would be the perfect way to keep myself going, plus I may actually lose some weight at the same time.

Finished With a Big Ride

Now that I am finished with my big ride up in Mt. Vernon. It is hard to keep yourself motivated to train even though you don't have a ride to train for. The worst part is muscles and joints are still soar weeks later. I know that if I just get back on the bike and ride I'll probably feel a whole lot better about it all. Its just that when I get the chance to ride I come up with an excuse to go home instead. I have only ridden twice since September 10th. The weather has been nice enough I just need to get out there and do it. The other thing that I have been doing is hiking. Luckily Jeremy is going to be hiking on the 1st of October, so I am going with him for that.

I can't wait till next spring the roads around my work will be finished with construction, so I will be able to start my plan of riding to work from my sister-in-law's place. It is about 10 miles from her house to my office. That will be good to start riding 20 miles a day. I will only be able to do it twice a week, but that is still 40 miles a week. If I can force myself to do that I will be well on my way for training for any rides I may choose to do next summer.

Yes sir I am finished! Did 74 miles. I am done mentally and physically. Now I know my bicycle app is way off. Says I did 37000 ft climbed. It feels like it, but it was only 4200 or so. So I was not prepared like I thought. That all doesn't matter though. I finished WOOT! Thanks every one for the words of encouragement. It helped push me to the end.

@5:30pm

Stop #6

Home stretch 11 miles left.

@4:30

Stop #5

Made it to the second to last stop. Having serious issues with hills. I think I'm tired now. I wanna go home lol. Let's see how much further I can make it.

@2:30

Lunch Stop #3

Holy cow! Just hit our lunch stop at the south end of deception pass bridge. Lots of hills. At 35.5 miles only 20 min to cut off time. I think we will only be doing the 74mile rout. Kind of bummed, but we will do the best we can.

@12:30

Stop #2

So now we have stopped at Anacortes Middle school the second sponsored stop on our ride. 22.2 miles in still going well. I hit a bit of a wall earlier in the ride after on of the hills and a bunch of head wind. Here we go!

@9:30

First stop

First stop after 10.4 miles. Feel good so far we are keeping a good pace between 15 and 16 mph. Hardly any up hill yet though. We are going to stop for around 10 min stretch and eat. Then we are off to the next stop.

@8:30

The Morning

Got up this morning at 4:15(ouch). Had my egg and sausage burrito. Got all dressed up in my bicycle gear. Now we are driving to Mt. Vernon. I have that feeling of excitement and nervousness. I think I'm nervous because I want to be able to do the whole 92 miles, but not sure if I'll be able to make it to the cutoff in time. We have to be at the marker by 1:00. If not we are only allowed to do the 72 miles. Of course that is still a lot, but not my goal. We shall see. It's 5:58 now only 1 hour and 45 min till go time.

Night before the ride.

I am over at my sister's house getting ready for bed. I ate a large plate of spaghetti with some bread sticks. Carb loading the night before a long ride is a good idea. Tomorrow morning I will eat lots of protein. Probably a breakfast burrito. Best thing is to keep it bland. You don't want a torn up stomach on a bike ride.

Foothills Trail Ride

I learned an important lesson on my ride Saturday. You should always check over all the equipment on your bike every time you go out riding.

I found this out the hard way. I started my ride in Orting at the park trail head. As I made my way to South Prairie I realized that I was having a real hard time peddling. I know that I had not had much to eat that day nor did I drink enough water. Still for how hard a time I was having I thought something might be wrong with me.

When I finally made it the 9 miles into South Prairie I decided to take a long rest at the tail head. As I sat there trying to figure out what may be wrong with me. I started looking at my bike, and realized that my front brake on the bike was rubbing very badly on my rim. Finding this I had to give myself the old face palm slap.

After I got over the excitement that nothing was wrong with me besides being really stupid. I made my way the 9 miles back to Orting. Quite easy I may have to say. I decided to quit the ride instead of heading to McMillan and back, like I had originally planed.

I only ended up doing 18 miles, but I think the first 9 miles were hard enough to be happy with.



Your Performance on the trip started on: Sep 3, 2011 4:56 PM
sumner trail orting to south prairie

Trip time:	01:18:56
Trip distance:	17.4 mi
Trip calories:	2113 kcal
Average speed:	11.4 mph
Maximum speed:	50.5 mph
Climbed altitude:	10527 ft    <------Not true. I think the app was a bit off. From Pioneer to South Prairie is only 434ft.