Is It Time to Try?

OK we are now soon entering the fall season. Some running is in the mix but also a lot of cycling. Is it time to take the plunge and focus on triathlon or should one embarce the opportunity to participate in running events again in the fall, albeit relays and short distances?????

Mulling it over. It is tempting to put all this cycling fitness to use.

Will make a decision soon, there is a tri in Freeport on Labor Day weekend. Need to start swimming.

Ye Olde Log Book

Yea verily, Master Crosstrain may get a running log book again. He has not had one for quite some time as a log book is pretty meaningless if one is not running consistently or with purpose. He has instead kept all his biking logs on bikejournal.com and just added the sporadic swim and run distance to his blog numbers on the right. He has also downloaded his Garmin to Garmin connect.

I like a simple log book. Will have to find one.

Ran the On the Run 7 mile route tonight, first time in a long time. Took it easy but finished strong. Biking tomorrow and Saturday, will run again on Sunday morning. Twice a week is working for me, no reason to mess with what's working.

Wine tasting tomorrow night. Yes I am a sophisticated man, not just a beer guzzling cretin.

Summer Vacation is Over

It's August, time for the annual Pub Crawl! You are invited.

I will actually write a blog entry after none in June and July. So what is happening?

- Facebook has stole my blogging time. Shame. Have resisted Twitter however. I am a baby boomer after all and we just migrated to Facebook recently.

- I spent the first half of July overseas.

- I have joined the HARRA Board as an At Large member.

- I have continued having ART done on my Achilles/peroneus tendon area near the soleus. I have continued doing my stretching and stability exercises. And I am running. I run no often than two days after my previous run.

- I started running in April. You can see the mileage on the right side of my blog. Four consecutive months of itty bitty increases in mileage. A magnificent 8 mile run in Amsterdam on July 11, my longest run since who knows when. The Lunar Rendezvous Run 5k on July 18, my second fastest 5k ever in 22:16. The Outriggers on the Bay 5k on August 1, my third fastest 5k ever in 22:19.

So I run 10 to 15 miles per week. When folks were training for Houston last year, I said to myself if I could ever run 10 miles a week, I would be a happy man. With the cross training I do, it is enough for 5k and 10k distance reasonable racing.

So yes I am a very happy man.

No I am not going to push the mileage nor the frequency. My leg is tight and sometimes sore. But so be it, I can run. I hope to run on relay teams during the fall series and have signed up for the Houston half.

Hope your summer is going equally as well.

Fire

Burn my sweet effigy
I'm a road runner
Spill my guts on a wheel
I wanna taste uh-huh
And I'm on fire
And I'm on fire

Sun, Sweet Potato Fries, and IPA

It does not get any better than that does it? Now being the generous soul that I am, it is time to share best practices to my male buddies that may read this blog. You see, in order to do what a man wants to do, for example spend all weekend cycling and exhausted from cycling, a man needs a little bit of cooperation on the home front, eg the wife in my case.

A foolproof method was skillfully executed by yours truly today. First take the lovely for a one hour hike in the mountains. Then relax in a meadow, preferably near a mountain stream. Take out of your backpack the book of poetry that you brought along. Read a poem that is sure to touch your mate's soul.

I'm good to go for the next few weeks.

Boulder Time

Back in Colorado. Ran the Bolder Boulder for the fourth time. My slowest result yet but that is becaused I paced my wife to a PR! The nice thing was I could enjoy the sights along the way, got up close to the belly dancers, drank some beer, had a piece of vegan bacon (YUK!), checked out all the bands, and very nearly did the water slide....it was just a bit too chilly for me.

Next up is a bike ride on Wednesday, and crossing fingers, a Gogol Bordello concert on Thursday night (sold out but got some via Stubhub....I hope).

Happenings

The problem with not blogging that often is that one's thoughts are all a jumble from the variety of the past several weeks. So let's start with a list.

Family - Dear spouse has become a non-competitive fitness junkie. Our new rowing machine is a big success. She either does 90 minutes of yoga, 30 to 60 minutes of treadmill running or 30 minutes on the rowing machine every day. She is looking pretty buff. Son is handling landlordhood just fine in Colorado. Daughter is with the National Park Service as an intern archivist in the Upper Penisula of Michigan. Crosstrain is content with all the above.

Work - Going well, got new responsibilities and apparently I am pretty competent. Going to travel some more again.

Running Injury - Nearly 2.5 years and counting. I do therapy every day and see the chiro a lot. Not getting worse. I'll take it.

Running - Am actually doing some at the behest of my chiro. I am running 3 to 4 miles every third day (eg two days off between runs). I raced the LP run and the Bayou Bash relay. Tomorrow I will run the Bolder Boulder 10k, but I will not be racing....pacing duties with my wife.

Cycling - Going great. Nearly back to top form, can sustain long distances at 20 mph average pace with the club peloton. Really thinking hard about doing a triathlon this summer.

Clubs - BARC has put together a great leadership team for the coming year. I only need to continue to do the eBARCer. The team is so strong that I actually expect to give HARRA a bit more of my time. I volunteered for the Space Race with the Space City Cycling Club, but am not involved in any leadership or ongoing volunteer activities currently.

Social - Spend too much time on Facebook. They say having friends is one of the healthiest things for you. I don't know, sometimes I long for the days when I was in my own little bubble and did not have to deal with you lot. Maybe my next reinvention will be Crosstrain the hermit. :P