Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New...


year. It's here. I got out of work on time, kids are at the in-laws, wife is working the back half of a 12 hr shift. House all to myself, which is very strange...and very quiet! I think I will have a little ice cream, we've got some Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip, man I love the Breyer's.

Then, the big decision, what movie to watch? Hmmm...Black Hawk Down, Star Wars Episode III, maybe Ronin?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Running after....

a night out drinking is not so much fun! It was a blast out with the guys last night, but I could not keep that pace up every night anymore. Man, those pitchers of Guinness, Blue Moon and Bell's White Ale were GOOD. The bartender even set us up with some free Jamison Irish whiskey; first time I've had it (or had any hard liquor in a long while, for that matter). Good stuff, no super bad bite afterwards or going down.

Sometimes I feel like my workout is actually better after doing harm to my liver the night before. Woke up with a screaming headache today, otherwise felt almost human. So I ran a 10k to the lighthouse (actually a 6.61 mile run, a bit over 10k, but whose counting?), 56:43. Not a bad time for this time of year, base building time with slower paces both running and on the bike.

So I made a new play list for the iPod for this run, here it is:

1) The Cars...You Might Think
2) Don Henley...The Boys of Summer
3) David Cook...Time of my Life
4) Offspring...Gone Away
5) Offspring...You're Gonna Go Far Kid
6) Counting Crows...Einstein on the Beach
7) Counting Crows...Rain King
8) Duran Duran...Come Undone
9) Duran Duran...A View to a Kill
10) Duran Duran...Ordinary World
11) Duran Duran...Wild Boys
12) Jackson Browne...Sky Black and Blue
13) James Taylor...Fire and Rain
14) Eagles...The Last Resort

The total play time was right at one hour, so it was good the music lasted as I did my cool down jog and walk. Quite the eclectic mix of tunes, hey? I've got to mix up my running playlists often, I can't listen to the same 10 songs over and over. I think right now, I've got 7 or 8 different playlists on my small iPod. I tried to add a few more new songs, but it was full. Time to do some iPod cleansing, make way for the new tunes man!

It was about 33 degrees, partly sunny, with a light W/SW wind. Nice running weather, roads were clear of ice and slippery crap. More snow allegedly on the way right now, supposed to be around 1-2 inches tonight. We'll see how slick the roads get for tomorrow, it might be a bike trainer (read: drainer) day!

Posted some new pics at Flickr, some from a few races I did this past summer. The Waterford Full Moon 4 Miler was a blast, as was the Pleasant Prairie Duathlon. It got hot the day of the dua, and I don't think my quads/hamstrings have every hurt so bad after that post race. One of these days, I will set up a link to the 2009 race calendar.

Monday, December 29, 2008

On the Town!

Whew, just got home. I was out with the boys on the town, at Chancery and Ivanhoe's, good times. Bob, Gemm, Rendon and Dennis showed up, we were drinking pitchers of Gunniess, Blue Moon and Bell's White Ale. Ummm, yeah, got a good buzz now. Good beer and good times with some good friends!

More additions!


I've made some more changes to my blog, mainly adding the Flickr badge and moving some things around, editing, etc. etc. I was browsing some other blogs the past day or two, wow, there is a lot of neat stuff out there! I want to add a small music player, if I can find one, and keep building on this page. I will try to make things somewhat interesting for anyone that looks me up.

blog additions!

I just added a HTML "widget" for my 2009 Police Unity Tour fundraiser!

Check out www.firstgiving.com/havs  for more info and some other cool pics hosted on Flickr.

More later.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

It's 1:04 am, do you know where...

I am having that black & tan now, mmm, good stuff. I am really appreciating Guinness again recently. I was just sitting here at the mac thinking about riding again tomorrow, my legs are sore right now, partially from running at work last night (most of you do not have to chase people at your job, I do occasionally, sometimes through snow and slush and over fences) and some from my trainer ride today. It actually feels good to start some "interval" or harder effort sessions; not really a true interval like I would do on the road rides, say in another 2 months or so, after getting more base miles in. But, all the same, it was a good effort today on the KK trainer, in the kitchen, doing some hill drills after a 30 minute warm up. One minute on in a big gear, four minutes off, then repeat. Two minute big gear to finish it up, then cool down.

I was thinking about my long ride coming in May '09, where I will head out (on May 1st) for some 1,000 miles over 11 days. A group of about 20 (or so) riders will be starting in Charleston, SC and we will end up in Washington DC on May 12th. I have heard that the longest days' ride will be about 115 miles, and we will average about 98 miles each day for the first 8 days. Then, a rest day on May 9th in Norfolk, VA. May 10th will see us riding a mostly flat century, with some hilly days following on the 11th and 12th. I am really looking forward to this year's ride!

I've also been thinking about what bike I will be taking with me. Last year, I tool the Trek 1500 and she performed flawlessly. 2007, I took the Giant TCR, and of course, that's my bomb, my A game bike, so she was grand. I am leaning towards taking the 1500 again; of course, I am also leaning towards having her stripped and powder coated, but more on that later! She needs some new cables and digs anyways, 3,500+ miles on 'em, plus the brake pads are shot from last years rain rides. And if I do take her, I will NOT be riding the Bonty wheels again, I want to build my own set of hoops or I'll take the Mavics (again, this is another post or three, for another day!). FWIW, the 1500 is my "older" bike, the E7 is my TT/Tri bike, and the Giant you see in the top at the river is my numero uno bike (so far. I would like to get a Cervelo or something else super high end one day, but...)

I was also admiring my new (to me, at least!) saddle I got from Jay in MA, a shout out to him for the great deal on the Fizik Arione Tri black saddle, which will eventually wind up on this here bike:

For the time, the seat is on the Trek, which is so affectionately hooked to the KK trainer in my kitchen, only about 20' away from me as I type this! I love this new saddle, I mean, LOVE, capital letters and all. I love it so much, that I have vowed that all my bikes will be so equipped with the Fizik Arione saddles. Did I say I LOVE the new (to me) saddle??


       Here is a better view:

Yep, love it. Lovin' it! Much better that the Bonty stock saddle, which is junk.

I will post the itinerary of my long ride in the next few posts, maybe.

In the mean time, if you want a little more insight in the long ride in May '09, go to www.firstgiving.com/havs for some more info.

Tonight, tonight, tonight...

At work for another 2 hours, been fairly slow, getting cold out again. Much of the snow melted here, then everything froze again, now there is ice everywhere and I've been slipping and sliding.

Think I'll go home and watch a movie, maybe have a black & tan (or two).

I'll add some more photos and stuff later tonight, or tomorrow.

This blogging thing is kinda fun.

Trainer riding.

Riding the trainer is, well, boring. But, it is a necessary evil in winter in Wisconsin. My bike (one of my bikes) is standing pat in my kitchen.

Today's ride, one hour, with hills spaced at 5 minutes. A good workout.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

A new blog.


This is the first post in my blog. What should I blog about on my first post? The weather, my bikes, how my training is progressing? Hmmm..well, here is one of my bikes. Man, I've got a lot of work to do on this blogging thing!