20 years and a bike ride.

It's been 20 years since I graduated from William Horlick High School in Racine Wisconsin. 20 years. 20 years...that is a long time. A few of us were talking about this, it feels like maybe four or five years have passed by, not 20 years. How'd this happen??

This was our 1st official class reunion; there had been an '11 year' planning reunion, which I missed by the way because I was in New Orleans. But nothing ever came of the 11 year, so another 9 years passed us by, seemingly very fast, and we're at 20 years. So we had the Friday night 'Icebreaker' gathering at a local bar/restaurant. Beck and I caught some dinner at a great small little Irish pub with our good friends Bob and Kim, before this. The place we went to is called Schillings, very small, a limited menu, but simply awesome food. I had a Rueben that was, no kidding, one of the best I've ever had-beef so tender and juicy it melted. And they have a great, great beer selection. We will be heading back again soon, I'm sure.

So Friday night was just a 'warm-up' for the real deal on Sat. There was a decent turn out, I'd guess like 50-70 classmates, so we took over the outdoor 'Friki Tiki' bar. Good times, got to see some friends I haven't talked to in like 15+ years. A buddy of mine flew in last minute from Texas, called me out of the blue to see if he could still get a ticket to the show. Here are a few pics...

My lovely wife and I on Sat night


Friday night, with my long time friend Stacey Kondrat, who I met in 8th grade, she says I'm the brother she never had (nor wanted!)



My friend Tina Parise and long time neighborhood bud TC (since 4th grade!) on Friday


A group shot from Friday, lots of friends in this one!


Our 20 Year Reunion Committee, an awesome bunch!


More classmates, Dan Teska, Christina Castro (all the way from CA!) and my buddy Liz Loew, who argued about the choice of meatballs for the reunion dinner-it became a running 'inside' joke for us while planning things!


My buddy from HS, Robb Mueller, who flew in last minute from Texas! Keep in touch Robb!


The reunion went well, better than expected in my opinion. Turn out was OK, with over 140 attendees (this includes spouses, dats, etc). Now I say OK, only because we had a graduating class of 420+ people, and we got in touch with over 100 of them. Maybe there were 70-80 who actually attended the reunion. Using FaceBook and Classcreator helped immensely, without the online resources we take for granted everyday, we would have had a much harder job to reach out to people.

We were a bit worried about how the food was going to be, would we have enough, would people like what we chose..so many things to worry about. But I think the choices were solid, and there was plenty of food left at the end. We had a 2 hr window to eat during, and we opted for a 'pasta station' with a chef who would cook your pasta to order, with several sauce choices. Excellent choice in this one! And the other side was a buffet style loaded with mini sandwiches, meatballs (2 kinds, like me and Liz 'talked' about!), Cristini's, hand made sausages grilled with veggies, fruit-cheese-snacks, quesaddillas. Drinks were included, beer/soda/wine, so that was a good call too. We ordered 2 sheet cakes, which turned out to be way too much, one would have done it easily. And we forgot to tell them to bring out coffee, that was the biggest slip, but nobody really complained. The DJ, Chuck Petrach, did an awesome job, as he always does-he did my wedding over 10 years ago, and I've been to many events where he DJs, always a top notch job. We did a little karaoke, the reunion group sang Super Freak which was, well, rather freaky. I got picked by the committee to give a little speech-couldn't pawn this off on any of the others, so I sucked it up and tried not to sound too foolish. Turns out, my 38th birthday fell on the day of the reunion, so Chuck set me up (of course) and told everyone it was my 40th Bday! We had a good laugh at this one. All in all, a good weekend, and there was already a lot of talk about our 25th reunion, how everyone would come back, and looked forward to us organizing that one too....oh boy, here we go.

A bike riding first.

My little bud, Abbey, rode her bike with no training wheels for the 1st time around the neighborhood tonight, and she doesn't turn four until the 26th! Until tonight, she had been just coasting down our driveway, and would stop, but tonight we went all the way around the pond a few streets over. Here she is


She did crash it once, and scuffed up her elbow, but she toughed it out and rode all the way back home!


Mom and the kids, post ride


And the kids with their bikes, and helmets, which they put on without having to be told to do so! Good girls!

Running life. And other things you do...

So I was off today, day one of two. AND my wife was off, so we were going to surprise the kids and take them to Wisconsin State Fair, figuring Monday is a good day to go to avoid the huge crowds of drunk and idiot persons that tend to go there at night.

But before the going to the 'best time of the year', I had to get my run in! Since I took yesterday completely off, I opted for a 'long' run, well, long by my current standards at least. I have probably 20 or more routes mapped out in 'MapMyride.com', so I looked at a reasonable distance run, something over a 10k, which I have done comfortably several times in the past 3 weeks. I found a nice 7.5 mile loop, taking my out around Wind Point, the gold course and lighthouse area with the million+ dollar homes along Lake Michigan. I ride here frequently, especially in the winter months, since it's close to home, I know it well, and i can easily add miles to my ride by loping back around again (and again and again), plus still get home easily enough. Oh, plus my buddy Dennis lives right on the route, so I can stop for a fluid refill (or a beer in the summer) if needed.

So I geared up early (well, not that early) and took off, not really knowing how I would feel on a little longer run. I brought along some hydration, and tunes of course. It was getting hot rather quickly, and still was humid today, surprisingly even right along the lake (you are literally a hundred feet or less away from the surf in the Point). But, I felt good during the entire run, and I kept a decent pace, roughly a 9:25 mile throughout. I need to pick the pace up on the longer runs, but not yet. I still want to get some more speed work in, in the form of 5k and 10k races this month and next. This Saturday, I believe several of us are running the 2nd annual Aurora 5k run in West Allis, where I work. I was supposed to ride the Dairyland Dare 100k, but my riding partners are down with knee injuries, so we opted to pull the plug on the ride, since there are so many hills in central WI (it's along the IM WI course, a road bike course for sure). I did not want to ride this one alone, call it a psychological thing or whatever, but you want someone suffering next to (or close to) you for this one. Maybe next year...

The running training is coming along nicely, IMO. I am able to easily run 6 of 7 days straight, no knee or foot pain. My legs feel decent in the night, and I only take a OTC pain relief (Tylenol) on occasion to knock down the discomfort. I have been wearing my compression socks after runs, or at night, if i run in the early AM, and I think they help big time. So this week will see me run like this:

Mon-7.5 mi longer
Tue-4.5 mi reg run
Wed-4.5 mi reg run
Thur-4.5 mi reg run
Fri-4.5 mi reg run
Sat-5k race pace
Sun-OFF

And then I will start the next week, a longer run scheduled up front again. I've got some plotted out, that's for sure.

And post run, we were off to State Fair. It got really really hot there, and the buildings block the breeze, so it was pretty hot! But the kids had fun, we saw some animals, had some decent food and a few beers. Here are some pics:







And I made dinner tonight...



Which I might add, has been a hit lately, here is last nights...crepes with ALL the fixings...



and here is how my night is wrapping up, my kid's handy work with my point and shoot...I think she is going to be a great photographer, she loves the camera!



Me, enjoying a nice glass (or two!) of Clos du Bois Chardonnay! Good stuff, even though, I have to admit I might have a headache tomorrow morning! That's OK, I think I deserve it!

One day I will be a runner.

I mean, I run now. What I mean is, I am sort of a runner already. But when I mean "runner", I mean the runners I see here and there when I'm out pounding the pavement on some of my runs. There are a few, yeah, you've probably seen them too, the thin, lean, long legged runners. The ones who run in a pair of running shorts, the young guys with no shirt, good looking girls in sport bras, running a fast pace, they just look like a "runner'. Hmm...I wonder...my philosophical side is coming out tonight...

I'm finding the more I've worked out in the past 3+ years since my back surgeries, the more similarities and more differences I think I find in the sports I participate in. I love to bike, and I love the solo rides where I can hit one of my usual routes, finding those stretches of road where I can suffer and think about how great it feels. Those steep, short climbs, the longer, gradual climbs where you have to find that cadence to settle into and just suffer, while you just keep pedaling. I can just pedal along and think, clearing my head or getting away from the 'demons' as I ride faster than they can go-whatever those demons might be. Cycling has brought me to the level of fitness that I enjoy right now, that level I didn't have even when I was 18 years old. I feel like when I jump on my Giant, the bike is just an extension of myself, it's natural, it feels good (well, most days. After 100 or so miles, it gets to be a little old). I think to myself when I ride, "This is how it should be. The bike is part of me".

Now that I'm running again, I find that I like running more and more. I've been logging more miles in the past three weeks, bought myself a new pair of shoes last week (finally), and feel more comfortable in my running. Not the 'runner' comfortable where I'm running without a shirt, but I feel my pace is quickening, my heart rate is staying a little lower, my breathing is more rhythmic now. And I can listen to my iPod while running, much more safely so than when riding. So with the music with, it makes the run that much more enjoyable, I have that much more desire and drive to run faster. The music play lists are set, I can get into a groove, I can think about things that happened at work, things that happened 10 years ago, and enjoy that music. I can still run away from those 'demons' as I call them, the ones that everyone has in the lives, albeit everyone's are different than the next. I feel more complete with my run done, like mission accomplished for today; what's tomorrow's going to be? I feel guilty if I don't get out there for a run.

The thing I am also finding is to do both cycling and running at the same time, and to do both as well as I want to do them, is a tough thing for me to do (and swimming is not even part of my plan right now, that's a whole 'nother story!) I started out training on the bike late last year, early into this year, riding hour after hour on the trainer, getting ready for the long FLETC ride, and really did not run at all. I didn't have a need to train for running races that early on in the year. Now, summer is here, and most of my long rides are done. The Milwaukee Marathon is less than 2 months away, and I feel the benefit of running much more than biking right now, so running is just 'right' at this point in time. Does this make sense?

I don't know, I guess it makes sense to me right now. I feel pretty good, and even though I've got a lot of miles to run yet and a long road to go before the marathon, I feel good about my approach to things. Could I jump on my bike and ride a century tomorrow, and feel good about it? Sure, I know I could. Will I ride a century soon, No, I won't. I don't really need to is all.

This winter, in the off season, I might try another approach to my training. I really do not know what events I will do next year, there are a few that come to mind, but how will I train for what I don't have planned? I want to keep running, all winter, and maybe mix in less trainer time, more road rides if the WI winter cooperates. I want to keep that 'winter 10 lbs' off this year. I want to become the 'runner' I picture I could be in my mind; I want to run a 5k in under 22 minutes, I want to run the '10 Full Moon 4 Miler in under 30 minutes, I'd like to do a travel marathon somewhere warm, maybe a Rock N Roll mary? I want to run the Chicago Marathon too, and run in New Orleans.

And there are the cycling goals I want to do, maybe not next year, but sometime. I want to do RAAM one year, even as a team. I want to do L'Etape du Tour, I want to see the Tour de France in the Alps, and ride my bike there. I want to see a Spring Classic, and go to Belgium to take in a race while drinking a pint of Belgian Ale. Maybe ride some cobbles too. Wouldn't that be cool, to ride some of the Paris-Roubaix lines or in Flanders? Yeah, it would be OK in my book.

Maybe I'm rambling on about all this because I feel like I'm getting old some days, that our 20 year class reunion is this Sat night, maybe I'm just getting more sentimental and see more gray hair on my head, maybe I think of old friends and what the past really meant to me. Maybe I'm just rambling!

I do know today was my 'off day' for this week; I'd run 6 days straight, and felt I could have easily run today. But common sense tells me not to, to avoid pushing off the edge and into an injury, so I took today completely off. I ran about 26.5 miles since last Sunday, and about 24 miles the week before. Tomorrow, will be my 'long' run, either a 10k or a 7.5 mile loop, depending on weather and how I feel.

I know there will be more time to think when I run, more music to listen to, more energy to blow up when mad about something at work or something from 15 years back, more 'demons' to keep at bay. And I will ride my bike. Just not as much until Oct 4th is done and I've hit my goal of finishing my 1st marathon in the time I want. That's all I got now. I will post about my training/running log in the next post, details of how I am training for the marathon. Maybe a pic of the new shoes, not much different than the old shoes, but they're new and feeling good!

In the mean while, time to route out another new running course!

I need to update this thing!

Man, summer makes it hard to keep up on this stuff. Especially with something like FaceBook, where I log in, look at messages, updates, get the info and get out in like 2 minutes.

So quick update, race info and such. My racing has been limited; I got sicker than I have been in years right before the Spirit of Racine 70.3, where I was signed up on a relay team with a few buddies. So with my 104 degree fever, my other friend took my spot in the bike leg. So no race there for me, but my buds did a great race!

After recovery from the big sick, I started running more. I revamped my main route, going up from a 5k to a 4.5 mile loop. I started doing 10k runs again, and this past Sat night, I ran the Waterford Full Moon 4 Miler for the 2nd year in a row. I was slower a bit from last year's time by about two minutes, here are the stats:

33m 31s
515 kcal
8:22 pace
164/178 HR

Last year I ran it in 31:38, and finished 10th in age cat. But, I had been running more last year before this race. A different year means different training strategy.

It was a beautiful night for a run, cool, no winds, a great event. I ran this one by 'feel', instead of relying on my HR monitor and spilt times on the course. I felt good, and ran a pace I could maintain. The run training has been good, I am looking forward to the Milwaukee Marathon on Oct 4th, where I'm shooting for a sub 4 hour finish.

Other things of interest, SuperWeek races came through here a week ago. We hit the Racine Pro race and Downer Av SuperWeek Prime, really awesome racing. I got to shoot some great pics, Team Garmin had 3 riders and I got to see US Olympian Mike Freidman in both events.

2009 Trek 100.

Well, the Trek 100 is a done deal. It was on Sat June 6th, things were a little unlike how I planned them to be for this ride (isn't that how it always happens!). It started with a 1-1/2 hour drive, then a diversion to a different parking lot than I had planned on; I was originally planning on parking at the Waterloo High School lot, it was only a mile or two down the road from the ride start. And afterwards, I could hop in a nice hot shower.

Well, I got diverted to a parking lot in a field, nowhere near the HS. So, I drove out there dressed in my clothes, and had to figure out how to get changed into my bike gear. Well, nothing like changing in a field, next to your van. Oh well, no big deal. I get dressed, opting to wear some extra layers due to the cold temps (low 50s) and chance of rain. Yeah, glad I did wear some layers, let me tell ya.

So I ride to the start, grab a hot cup of coffee and some food, again great support for this event, many tents, lots of food, music, great tech support, as they have each year I've ridden it. The Trek factory, yes the one where they hand assemble the carbon fiber Madones, was smaller than I had envisioned, much smaller in fact. I talk with a few guys about the ride, one guy was doing his 1st century (I feel sorry for him later in the ride, for sure). We getting rolling late, about 30 minutes behind schedule right away. I've got to get done and drive back for a cookout this afternoon, so I think, well, I will put the hammer down a bit, make up some time. it worked, at least initially it did.

The riders are bunched up at the start, even with the start of different waves spread out each few minutes. I pass many riders, and eventually I hook up with two guys who know each other, we are hammering along at 23mph. A few other guys jump on, and we have a group of 7 or 8 of us flying past most everyone. Great pace, to the first rest stop. I stop for some water, snacks and bathroom break-keeping my breaks short, to about 5 minutes.

I get riding again, and before you know, 50 miles are done. I'm feeling pretty good, despite having not been on my bike in about 3 weeks. I was averaging over 18 mph for the 1st 50 miles, so far so good.

Well, at the 100k/100 mile split, the riders really thin out. Its much harder to find a group to ride with, and the winds are kicking up good now. Its also starting to mist, and it is still cold. Much of this time is now riding into a headwind, gusting 20 mph or more. And the rain starts in earnest, hard at times, light at other times. Yeah, I'm starting to feel my lack of training, basically running a little since getting done with the long ride on May 12th, no riding at all to speak of.

Well, by mile 70, my legs are fried. I was feeling a little weird too, almost nervous, like butterflys in the stomach. Oh, did I mention there are many hills on this ride too? Yeah, this is central Wisconsin, so there are mucho hills compared to my normal low lying flat land near Lake Michigan. So this doesn't help; it becomes a mental battle, as much as a physical one. I think, hey, I just need to HTFU, only 25 miles to go. In the rain. And the cold. And not feeling really good....

I start riding with a guy on a Trek TTX tri bike, talking about the course, about his doing an IM, and things to pass the time. It was still fairly hilly, and I am shifting back and forth between my 53 and 39 rings, as needed. Well, we hit a bit of a downhill (slight) run, and I go to shift into my big ring, but the chain will not kick up. I shift the lever down, then up, down/up, down up, trying again and again to get it to kick, but the chain won't budge off the little ring. I tell the tri guy my FD is DOA, and tell him not to wait, so he takes off and is up the road in a minute. So I solo it to the next rest stop, with about 20 miles or so to go. I stop at the tech support/repairs tent, and I see 3 tech guys standing around. Good, no line. I hand them my bike, explain the problem, and tell them it looks like my FD is bent (it was at a weird angle to the chain, best way to described it, not straight like it should be). They confirm, it looks bent.

So I go grab some Famous Dave's BBQ and dessert, making the best of the repair time. I walk back over to check on the bike status, the bike is still on the repair stand. Hmmm. One of the guys tells me, "Well man, your FD is FUBAR'd. It broke off". I am a little shocked, but ask him what can he do for it. He says he will pull the entire FD off, and I can ride in the little ring to the finish. Great, do it, I say. Turns out there is a metal bracket (brazed type FD set up) that bolts to my CF frame; the FD bolts to this bracket. The tech guy explains, its not Shimano's fault, its the cheap POS China/Taiwan/fill in the blank piece of crap metal bracket.

I take off, with about 8 working gears to get me by. There are more hills, some shockingly steep for this phase of a 100 mile ride. I am glad I've got the small ring for the hills, I curse it for the downhill runs, as I can't get up much in the way of speed. About the last 7 miles, I start to actually feel better. Maybe it was the BBQ. I certainly ate and drank enough during the early part of the ride, so I don't think it was a bonk, just a little soft on my part is all. I end up riding with a guy I catch, he looks like a Trek employee (maybe), he is riding a very nice Madone (a 5.1, I think) and has some Trek kit, leading me to believe he works there. We ride along for a bit, and then a few more hills just in case we weren't tired enough. We hit one longer uphill grade, Trek guy blows up. He simply pulls over and can't ride on, he tells me to keep going, so I ride on. I finish like this:

ride time: 6hr 8 min 20sec
distance: 101 miles
kcals: 4119
HR: 141/161 avg/max
speed: 16.5/30 avg/max

All in all, this was a hard bike ride for charity! Maybe it should be this way, not an easy stroll but a torture ride, makes you feel alive and thankful for being healthy.

I did not have my Polar CS200, so I had no idea about cadence on this ride. I sent the Polar back in for a service estimate, thinking it would be time to upgrade to the Garmin. Nope-Polar fixed the CS200 for $45, installing a new case/back, batteries, seals and cleaning the insides up (some moisture was in, as was apparent by the rusty parts they returned to me). I got my Polar back, and need to get it back on the Giant. And I need to get up to the LBS to get that new FD bracket, as well as a new chain and cables. Time for some servicing on the Giant.

Shout out to the Pens!

Way to go Pittsburg Penguins, a great game tonight! Awesome 2nd period, 3 goals in 5 minutes. Crosby and Malkin are alive and well!

The series is even at 2 games a piece, game 5 is Sat back on NBC. The announcers were right, Detroit looked tired tonight.

Looking forward to the next games!

Mission Accomplished!

Well, at least the 1st mission of the season. The FLETC/PUT ride was grand, one minor crash (had to bail off the bike when a fellow rider crashed on some rail grade in front of me in the pouring rain, I was OK, my bike, well, some nice deep scratches on the frame and fork). Here are the final #s from the entire ride:

Ride time: 67 hr 32m 43s
# of days riding: 11
k calories: 37,746
HR: 122 avg/174 max
Speed: 15.5 mph avg/47.5 max
Distance: 1,069.3 miles

We should have ended at 1,060, but a group of about 10 of us (yeah, Dennis, you know it was fun!) had to hammer through DC traffic, near the Capital, across the 395 bridge, with a police escort (read: one squad leading us) at 22+ mph nearing rush hr traffic to get to our hotel. Crazy hammer time. Wild, I wish we had video of it! The long days, we actually hammered out some decent avg MPH's. Like day #1, 118 miles total, 16+ mph average speed.

It was a blast, not much time for much else other than this typical daily routine:

Get up, eat/have cup of coffee, ride all day (almost 8 hrs on the longest day), hit the hotel, shower, eat, pack for next day, clean the bike (some nights), wash the jersey (some nights!), have a couple beers, go to sleep.

Get up, repeat.

The hills in SC and NC were CRAZY at times, like nothing we have around SE WI. One of the females had a Garmin GPS, she said we did over 16,000 feet of climbing, all in about 2 or 3 days. The grades were steep, 8-11 % at times, possibly a 12-13% for the steepest sections. Imagine a 4-5 mph climb in your biggest gear, yep, thats it, crawling along. Bombing downhill, you could easily hit 50+, if you hammered it, one stretch you could have seen 60+ (near Lowe's Motorspeedway at the NC/SC border, Mecklenberg CO), I topped out at 47.5 mph without trying. Crazy steepness, crazy long hills. I got the front wheel "death wobble" once at about 37 mph, scary scary stuff.

All in all, a great trip, one I will remember the rest of my life!

Oh, one other stat I should post; we finished off 15 cases of beer on the trip as well (well, during the 1st 8 days, that is ;). 18 riders for the 1st 8 days, but about 3 or 4 did not like beer.

Now, on to running as well, started my Milwaukee marathon training (Oct 4th). First, I've got the Trek 100 century (benefiting the MAAC fund, battling childhood cancer in SE WI) this Sat June 6th. Then, the Spirit of Racine Tri in mid July, and the Dairyland Dare Aug 15th, this will be a 200k ride in central WI with 15,000 feet of climbing! Yeah, it will be a fun summer!