We finally have some dry weather, and I am trying to take advantage of it. I went out on Friday and did my usual run from the shop. I felt pretty stiff for most of the run. I listened to a book on my iPod while I ran which made the time fly by. I was listening to Dead Heat by Dick Francis. I was out in my shorts and short sleeve shirt for the first time in a while. My sister had sent me an email from Iowa earlier that day saying that they had near white-out conditions and that it was supposed to get up to 17 that day.

Yesterday Claire and I rode the tandem into work with Mathilda along for the ride. We took the boring route, staying on the bike paths as long as possible. Claire loves to ride in over Pleasant Hill and Bloomfield, but I have to talk her out of it from time to time. Here is a map of our route, we are on the bike path from Forestville till we hit Llano road. It is a bit sketchy climbing up 116 from Martinelli to Forestville, but we didn’t have any gravel trucks pass us yesterday. Mathilda has a great time in the back of the trailer, and we draw plenty of smiles from people out on the road.

Here is another look at the Sonoma Mountain loop using the USA Track and Field Website. It should show you elevations also. This website is great for checking out running and cycling loops, but takes some time since you have to manually draw in the route. I do like the elevation part of the program though.

Okay, it wasn’t really a brick, but I did get out for an hour run in the morning, and then rode for 2 hours in the afternoon. I feel great this morning, except for some pain in my calf. I did a slightly different running loop, going to the end of Summerhome Park, and then running down Martinelli to the two mile mark. I figure it was about 8.5 miles. I tried to take it pretty easy.
My bike ride was one of my old favorites. Up Roberts Road, turn right on Sonoma Mountain, drop down Enterprise, turn right on Bennett Valley, then right on Warm Springs, and then right on Sonoma Mountain again and back over to Roberts and back to the shop. I had the pleasure of riding a Cannondale Super Six. It was a good test ride for the bike. I tell you, who ever invented those fancy looking carbon fiber water bottle cages doesn’t ride Sonoma County roads, I had to turn around twice to pick up my water bottle after it went flying across the road. The bike road great, and really felt smooth on those very bumpy roads. I still love the way my full Cannondale Aluminum bike feels on those same roads, but it was fun to try a different material. I think I will get out today and try the same loop again.

The weather has finally turned. The next week or so is supposed to be nice, so it will be good to get out and do some more training. Yesterday I went out and did the Elmo loop. It took 1:02.27 for the 8.6 mile loop. I will get that down under an hour next time. I ran 7:27 and 7:02 minute mile on Martinelli Rd. I have those marked out as my “speed trap”. I am still feeling some tightness in my calves, which I need to address.

Our Cannondale rep dropped off a SuperSix for a week or two, so I will be taking that out for a couple of rides. It is a beautiful bike, and I like the fact that it is made in Bedford, PA. This one has a full Dura-ace groupo on it, except for the Cannondale SI cranks, which I love. I haven’t ridden much Shimano stuff lately, so it will be different for me.

I went out on a great loop with some of the guys from the shop. Claire was out of town, so she missed the fun. The weather was perfect, it rained right at the beginning and right at the end. It was A2’s first ride on his new LeMond Sarthe road bike. I was a little worried when at the start when it started raining, but A2 was game. I was a bit more worried when we had to pedal through 2 feet of water out near Starr Road, but except for some cold wet feet, everyone was happy. A1 and Jimmy Neutron were also along for the adventure. It ended up being almost exactly 40 miles. We downed some homemade sourdough toast and granola afterwards and stood around the woodburning stove warming up.
I think I finally found a third person for the 3 for the price of 2 sign up for the Vineman. I will hopefully be signing up today or tomorrow. I need to do it before the end of the month to save a couple of dollars. I also need to sign up for the Death Ride. Claire is unsure of where she stands on that ride this year.
I have been running a couple of times a week and feeling very good. I have some tightness in my calves that I need to work out, but probably nothing that some good stretching won’t take care of. I did an hour run on Sunday around my Scenic loop. I felt terrific. All my runs have been timed out to be right around an hour. I probably need to bring that up to maybe an hour and a half. I will try to get out today from the shop. I have a fun loop around Cypress/Poplar that is just over 8 miles.
The bike shop is going great. Business is very good considering the time of year. I actually have enough tune-ups to keep me busy everyday. We are also at an all time high with our employees. I think we have the best staff we have ever had. It makes it fun to be there.

Claire and I went out today and did a great loop on our old Ibis tandem. We put on some worn out mountain bike tires, and parked down in Duncans Mills. You can check out the loop at this link. http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=188849

We are going to be doing a longer version of this on Monday with the employees from the shop. I hope they know what they are in for.

I have been running and doing some riding on the rollers. About an hour a day 4 or 5 days a week. The Grasshopper race series starts March 1. Aaron and Claire have both expressed an interest in doing some of the races. On Monday we are going out over Old Duncan Road, which is part of the first race.

I haven’t signed up for the Vineman yet since I am waiting for a third person to commit to the race. They have a special where 3 people can sign up for the price of 2. I am definitely planning on doing it though. 196 more days. It is getting late right now, so that is it for now. I will update more often with my increase in training.

Well, it is January, and the rain has been coming down. I have been able to get in some short workouts, mainly just hour runs and hour roller rides. We will be heading up to Tahoe for some cross country skiing, so I will get some good exercise there. It is 132 days till the Auburn World’s Toughest Half Ironman, and 208 days till the full Vineman. I am sure the time is going to pass very fast. I will be signing up for the Deathride in July, and I am considering the Terrible Two which takes place in June. I figure I have about a stone and a half to lose before the World’s Toughest.

It has been over a month since my last post. Things are going great at the shop, so there hasn’t been a lot of idle time. I have been on a pretty regular training schedule. Nothing to rigorous, but hopefully just enough to keep me in shape. I have been alternating daily hour runs with hour rides on the rollers. I have been relying heavily on my heartrate monitor to keep me honest. I put a Kreitler Killer Headwind attachment on my rollers, and it has made all the difference. I can actually stand up for 5 minute increments with the headwind option on. I usually mix up my roller work outs with hard/easy intervals. Five minutes hard, three minutes easy, etc… This makes the time go by fast. My runs have been funner. I have been doing my favorite Scenic loop around our house as well as the Elmo Loop. Yesterday I ran in Golden Gate Park for an hour and 15 minutes. Claire and I were down in the city for the weekend.

I haven’t decided whether I want to do the World’s Toughest Triathlon in May or not. I have two more weeks to decide. There is a break in the weather right now, so maybe we will head out for a bike ride.

I went out and did my favorite loop this morning. I did it in reverse to add some excitement. It is awesome to live out here where I can run right out the door and not see any cars. I love the loop since it has lots of hills and some dirt. With the time change, I will need to do my exercise in the morning. Tomorrow I will hit the rollers for the first time in a while.

I haven’t had much time to do much training lately. I have been able to get out for a couple of runs here and there. I ran to Sebastopol from the shop the other evening. I was planning on running to Ragle Park, but it was starting to get dark and I was on some narrow country roads. Claire picked me up with a mile or so to go. I figure I ran about 13 miles.
Claire and I rode into Healdsburg the other day for lunch. We took Mathilda in the trailer and rode the tandem. It was a gorgeous day. We stopped at a regional park on the way home and let Mathilda swim for a while.
We loaded up our mountain bikes for a ride yesterday, but we had forgotten that we didn’t have anyone to close the shop, so we couldn’t leave early. At least we tried. It has been rainy today, which is nice. The shop has been slow, so I have been able to finish up on some of the repairs that I had been putting off.