A Good Ol' Fashioned Butt Whoopin'

My softball team won last night 20-3. That was a nail biter. The opposing team was filled with guys who were all at least 50 el-bees overweight, with one exception, the poney-tailed stick who looked like he should be teaching a junior high art class, not playing any sport. Their outfielders couldn't run, and their infielders couldn't bend over, which ruled out things like, oh, fielding. So scoring runs wasn't that difficult.

In the spirit of all my new motivations, I biked there (see below). It wasn't a bad ride to get there, but the ride back kind of sucked. Possibly because it's hilly, and the way back is mostly going up. Also, I ran 10k in the morning. When I got home and crashed on the couch, the strangest thing happened: both my legs turned to me and said, "What the fuck, dude?". So I'm giving them the day off. They're downtown at The Local while the rest of me struggles through a Friday at work. Today, the bike is staying in the garage and the running shoes on the hardwood floor.

Commute to softball at Aquila fields:

Biking and Running

I've gotten really into biking lately, even trying to do much of my commuting via bike. I'm starting to love the freedom and speed and the ability to see new things. As of now, I do not commute to work, mainly because it's 17.5 miles one way via car on the freeway, so on bike would probably be close to 20. I'm not to that point yet. I could probably do it one day a week, except I work out in the fucking suburbs, and the farther out of the core you go, the worse it is to be on a bike or walking. The city of Minneapolis, and many of the "inner ring" suburbs, are set up quite well for bike commuting. In Eden Prairie, which, as far as I can tell, is comprised solely of on ramps, off ramps, dead end streets, and generic strip malls, bike commuting is difficult, at best. It's one of those places that probably brags about it's parks, but they're the kind of parks where you have to throw your bike into the back of your truck (you live in Eden Prairie, you own a truck, right?) and drive to the park so you can bike around in circles for a while. So for now, my bike commuting has been reduced to getting downtown to go to the gym or go out to eat. Or getting to Uptown to see the lakes, get some grub, or one of the best caramel rolls ever. Even so, I've had a noticeable drop in my gas usage doing this, which has been pleasant. Especially since I really do it mostly because I enjoy it. I can afford the gas, and I can't honestly say that I bike to save the environment. But both of those are great bonuses, right? The icing on my huge caramel roll ;)

So last night my roommates and I headed out on bikes. Kyle has a nice mountain bike, and Brain borrowed mine. We headed down 45th, crossed the river, and biked down through Northeast and ended up in Seven Corners. Tom at Bullwinkle's greeted us with a pitcher of beer, as he has been known to do. Then we headed down the street through Cedar-Riverside to check out Freewheel (where Brian's cousin works, incidentally). I wanted to take a look at the Surly Cross-Check, one of the bikes I am considering purchasing. Then we headed back up the river and home.

So here's the question of the day. Assuming I buy a new bike sometime soon (good assumption), what do I get? Do I get a better road bike made of carbon and better components, to improve my experience -- which I really want to do -- or do I get a really good bike that is best geared toward the commuting I'm doing, like the Cross-Check, or something based on that frame? I already have a road bike, and the Cross-Check would be great for grocery getting, or getting downtown, in days where the weather is sub-optimal. These days are plentiful in Minnesota. Plus, it would save me roughly $1000. But, I really want a faster, lighter road bike because, well, they're fun ;) I have to think this one through.

And... the other half of my topic: running. My running seems to be reduced to four days a week now. This is because of two things, I suppose. First, I run better with more days off. While training for my last marathon, I logged at least five, usually six runs a week. I got pretty burnt out. By reducing it to four, I seem to be able to run faster and farther each run than I could the last go round. Second, I think it has something to do with the other half of the topic, biking. That's been taking up so much of my time and leg strength, that my running has fallen of. But it was refreshing that I biked about 25 miles last night, and was still able to get up this morning and run approximately 10k, and felt great doing so. It's all about balance. I just have to make sure I log enough miles on foot to prepare for the Twin Cities Marathon. But I'm feeling great, having fun, and most of my runs are faster and farther than I think they should be, so I guess that's good, right?

On that note, my morning run felt fantastic. And therapeutic. Lots of crap was floating through my head as went to bed last night and got up this morning. Any time you go through major changes in life -- and the last couple months of mine have seen some major changes -- your brain can get cluttered. Waking up and going for a good run really clears my head. It gives me a chance to process everything and get focused for the day. Not to mention how great I feel when it's over. Endorphins, I suppose ;) The problem with morning runs is that it usually takes me a mile and half or two miles to get warmed up, and loose. It can really suck to start out. This morning though, miles four, five and six felt awesome, and I really wanted to keep going. However, I was lost in thought through most of the run, and really had no idea how far I had been running, or what time it was, so I felt it best to head home. I had to get to work, too!

Morning Run:

The Backyard

We love our backyard, and the lake that is attached to it. Tonight I grilled some salmon out on the deck, and took some pictures while doing so. It was a gorgeous night. Then Kyle and I took the paddle boat out on the lake with a couple of beers because... why not? ;)

Here's some of the pictures I took:


Zeke (Kyle's dog)


More Zeke


Ok... just one more of Zeke ;)


The view of our side of the lake from our shoreline


Some ducks right off of our shoreline

Morning Run

Since training for the Twin Cities Marathon is officially underway, I drug myself out of bed at 7 am this morning -- yes, on a Saturday -- for a 10 miler. Ended up going 10.8 miles at a "casual" pace. By that I mean I didn't take a watch. Just went out running. So I don't have an exact time, but based on what I saw on the clock when I left and when I got back, it was about 1:38. That would be a 9:04 mile. This is good news for me, as it means my "casual" pace is quite a bit faster than it was when training for the Go! St. Louis Marathon. Maybe it's all the speed work I did (not that much), or the treadmill running on an incline (possibly), or perhaps my running efficiency has gotten better because I've been running more and longer (more likely). Either way, I'm happier.

Long Delay Explanation

So I've been putting off blogging for the last few weeks, with the exception of the map of my first bike ride. In that post, I promised an explanation. So here's my explanation, in short, I didn't feel like sharing much of what was going on in my life in the last few weeks... at least, not while it was going on. In a nutshell, on May 4th I separated (euphemism for "got dumped") from Holly, my girlfriend of three and half years who I moved to Minnesota with. Consequently, I have moved in with some great new roomates, Kyle and Brian. That's the big news.

In smaller, but better news, I set a new 5K PR of 23:38 at Dam To Dam in Des Moines on May 31st, finishing 15th in my age group. I have also begun training (finally) for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 5th. The first real month of training was replaced with a bender, horrible eating habits, and serious drop in workout time brought on by the break up and move. I'm coming around though. This weekend will be busy, as I have it free. I hope to get a run of 9 - 12 miles in, while also getting most of what's left in my condo moved out. We'll see how it all goes.

So anyway, I'm back. If anyone ever reads this blog anymore... sorry for the delay!