The shop has been much busier than expected, and that means that Chaz doesn’t have as much time to exercise as he would like. I can’t complain since business is so good and I’m having such a good time at the shop. I get a big grin on my face sometimes at the shop since I am having so much fun working on bikes and talking to people about bikes, and I’m getting paid for it. Anyway, enough about that. I did get out this morning before work for a 7.5 mile run. I felt pretty good, but I could tell that I’m not getting much running in. We will be going out tomorrow morning with our son, William for a short mountain bike ride. William hasn’t been on his bike in quite a while, so we are going to make it short and sweet. Claire and I plan on doing the Chalk Hill loop on Monday. I also have my sourdough starter out on the counter getting ready for some bread making in the next couple of days.

I went out and ran a half marathon today. It felt terrible right from the start. I had to force myself to just keep going. I had measured out the distance earlier in the week on my bike. I ended up running out Martinelli and taking the bike path to the Graton water treatment plant. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes. My knees were hurting pretty good at the end of the run. That is all I have to say about it.

I finally broke the 50 minute barrier on my loop. It happened Thursday evening after a day at the shop. I had a good 20 minute warm-up, and was psyched to break the record. My previous best was 51:10. I knew when I got to the top of Scenic Road and I was over a minute faster than my previous splits that I was on a good pace. I ended up going 48:06. I am going to try to include a picture of my loop from Google Earth. According to my path, it is a 6.5 mile loop. It is very hilly and about a third of it is on dirt. If you check out the map, you will notice that I leave the road a couple of times to run on some very old logging roads and some pretty cool single track. I feel so lucky living out here having these loops to do.

Yesterday evening I rode home from the shop on my new Somec Fixed Gear. I don’t know if I have already mentioned that I built up the old frame that I bought back in 1990. I will get a picture of it in here sometime. It is fun to ride. With a smaller front wheel, it can get a little rough on the bumpy sections of the road. I have it set up with a 39×15 gear right now which seems to work pretty well on the hilly terrain around here.

Today Claire and I are going to pick some apples and pears and made lots of sauce to freeze. I am still waiting for our figs to ripen so I can try drying some of those. There are some ripe looking figs up in the tree, but they don’t want to come off easily. I have read that the figs should be practically falling off when you go to pick them.

Went out for a run around my hilly loop. I still haven’t been able to break that magic 50 minute barrier. I went 51:10. I think now that I can make up some time at the start of the run. My loop is up Scenic, around Canyon, and then down the secret road. I then turn left on Terrace, take Terrace till the hairpin where I take the secret path. Run to the end of Summer Home Park, and then run back home. I have tried to sketch it out on Google Maps, but I can’t figure out how to get my secret trails in there.

My dad and grandparents are here for a couple of days before they head up to Oregon. We are going out for a short bike ride in a bit. Dad and I will ride the Ibis tandem and Claire will ride her Cannondale Six-13. I have made a couple of loafs of sourdough bread which are going through their first rising right now. One is a traditional recipe, the other is whole wheat with walnuts and oats. We also made about 3 gallons of apple sauce this morning from some of our apples. It turned out terrific. We will be freezing most of it. I checked the figs, and there are finally some that are blackening up. I have been doing some research on picking them, and it sounds like I need to wait until they are just about ready to fall off on their own. Here is a picture of my bread.

On Sunday, we went out for a 4 hour hike in Austin Creek State Recreational Area with our friends Greg and Sherie. It was a good, hearty hike that was made tougher by the sun and the heat. We started early, around 8, to try to beat the heat, but by the time we finished we were hiking up the side of some big hills in the direct sun. We went in to Guerneville afterwards for some great Mexican food at Taqueria La Tapatia.

Monday morning I ran 10 miles and felt terrific. I was trying to take it easy and smooth. After the run I went out and rode my newest fixed gear bike around our favorite loop.

It was a beautiful day in Sonoma County today. It was the second of two days off, which is a first in about 3 or 4 weeks. We spent yesterday recuperating from the work week. Claire and I went out on the tandem this morning and did a 36 mile loop out to Duncans Mills. We stopped at the Gold Coast Coffee Company and had a couple of mochas and a couple of slices of pizza. When we got back, I put on my new Pearlizumi running shoes and went out for a 7.5 mile run.

We have been working 6 days a week for the last 3 weeks. It is hard to fit in a lot of training. Today is our one day off, and we are trying our best to relax and recuperate from the week. I went out and ran for about an hour early this morning. My hamstring was tight as a drum, and didn’t want to loosen up. The run was not as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. Claire and I then went out for a 20 mile loop from our house. It is our favorite loop. We are now going to have a homemade mocha and sit by the pool.

I went for a great run last night in Annadel State Park. I ran for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes. I am planning on participating in the Humboldt Redwood Marathon which will take place on October 21. I haven’t set any goals for myself yet. Many, many years ago I ran 3:05 in the Drake Marathon back in Iowa. I didn’t train at all for it, but I was only 19, and was coming off a swimming season where I had been swimming about 5 hours a day. It would be great to break that 3 hour mark, but I don’t know if my legs have that many 7 minute miles in them. I really have fallen in love with running, so I am looking forward to the training. The run was definitely my weakest event during the Vineman, but part of that can be attributed to my lack of food and water.

I will just say for now that I made it. It went well overall. I finished in 12 hours and 22 minutes. The run really kicked my butt. I got out of the water in around 56 minutes, which was a pleasant surprise for me. I felt GREAT during the swim. Claire figures that I was 2nd out of the water in my age group. My bike ride ended up taking 5 hours and 54 minutes, which brought me into the run transition in exactly 7 hours. That was exactly where I wanted to be. The first half of the bike ride went great, and I was drinking plenty of water and actually had to stop twice to pee. I hadn’t anticipated any problems with food, but I was surprised that there was so little of it at the aid stations. I think I am used to bicycling events where there is plenty to eat. I had brought along three packages of Cliff Bloks, but I went through those pretty fast. I was able to grab a couple of banana halfs and a Cliff Bar, but I knew that I wasn’t getting the calories that I needed. At the end of the bike leg, I was feeling worse than I had hoped, and I wasn’t too hopeful for the coming marathon. The run consisted of three “out and back” loops, each a bit under 9 miles. As I set out on the run, I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt. I kept telling myself to take it easy, but I was clicking out 8:30 miles with no problems, or at least I thought there were no problems. I was still having trouble getting water and food into my system. I was again surprised that some of the aid stations just had junk to eat like oreo cookies or fig newtons. So, at the 6 mile mark, I forced down a little coca-cola, some water, and finally a cliff shot. I was excited that I got something down, and I was still feeling light on my feet. Then at the 8 mile mark, I lost everything I had just drank and eaten, if you catch my jist. It was not a pretty sight, but I did at least move off to the side of the road. Anyway, I felt great after that, but knew that there was trouble to come. At the 10 mile mark, the trouble hit. And basically, the rest of the run was spent hobbling along with cramps in both legs and not feeling to good. My first lap took me 1 hour and 15 minutes, my second lap took me 1 hour and 55 minutes, and my last lap took me 2 hours and 10 minutes. I know where I can make up some time next year. I did manage to lose over 15 pounds in the course of the day. That is a lot of water.
Claire, William and Carrie were waiting for me at the finish line. They all said that it took them some time to recognize me when I was running towards them. Claire ran down and took a picture as I crossed the finish line. We then went out to dinner at The Bear Republic in Healdsburg, but I couldn’t eat anything, and was only able to drink some Sprite. I did wake up the next day feeling great, and was able to work at the shop with Claire and Nelson.

Tomorrow is the event. Claire and I stayed home from work today. I have been resting for the most part. We rode our bikes to Windsor to pick up my race packet and to drop off my running stuff at that transition. It was about a 20 mile loop, nice and easy. It looks like I will be getting lucky with the weather tomorrow since it is only supposed to get up to about 80. I’m sure all the athletes will appreciate that. Maybe not the aquabike people since they would be done before it would be getting too hot. I’ve got the bike in the bus ready to go along with my wetsuit and stuff. Now I will be getting my prerace, good luck, haircut from Claire. Next time I write, it will all be over with.