Snowin' & Blowin'

this morning with the temp's hovering around 19-20 degrees, wow it was cold, and still is for that matter. Tony and I skipped the group ride from B-vlle and got out on the cross bike and mtb and did the nursery roads and Outdoor Y. The nursery roads were completely frozen and so were the trails @ the Y. We stayed somewhat warm though with about 6 layers on and rode for an hour and forty minutes, got off the bikes and did a quick transition run. It was a great workout on the bike, we worked hard, (mostly to stay warm) and rounded out the run to make it 2 hrs.

Nick, Tony and I went out this afternoon to play catch for while with the baseball because it finally quit snowing and I managed to stay out for about 30 minutes until I called it quit's and did my best 5k race pace back inside. Nick and Tony came back in about 10 minutes later. Nick said he couldn't feel the end of his right middle finger because his hands were so cold, that sound's like the start of frostbite to me, he said it has feeling in it now.

I think the average temperature for this time of the year is supposed to be about 37 or 38 degrees, which is totally tolerable, this single digit's, teen's and twenty's stuff is really getting old already! Warmer weather cannot get here fast enough for me..............

Later all

Hittin' the pool

tonight for a masters swim class. I didn't double up with a bike or a run today because I had a killer headache for some reason so I popped 4 ibuprofen and took a short nap when I got home from work. I got up and had a couple cupz o PEET'S so hopefully I'll be good to go tonight. Weight workout tomorrow followed by a quick spin and a long hilly ride Saturday from Brecksville with the team.

Asta

Outside ride

My cuz and I got outside today for 35 hilly miles, cold and windy but we were outside. Scott's riding strong, especially on the hills. Good to get out of the garage for a change!

Out

Girdled Rd.

trail run. Scott, Tony and I drove to the North entrance of the Girdled Rd. Reservation this morning in a blinding snowstorm for an anticipated 8-9 mile trail run. The terrain there is very rugged, probably one of the most intense of all the Lake Metroparks Reservations, which also makes this one of the best for trail running due to all the hills. After a couple of picture's we headed out on a short 1.3 mile warmup loop before heading down into the valley and up to the South side where all the XC skiing takes place. It was snowing pretty hard for the first half of the run or so, then it quit and peeks of sun came out, everyone was feeling good so far and we knew it was going to be a great run. The trails had about 4" of snow on them and the Park hadn't groomed yet which made traction pretty decent and the running difficult in terms of wattage output, meaning it's harder to run in 4" of snow than it is to run on bare pavement or trails.

We did the loop out to the skiing parking lot and then headed back to the North side with a few slips and falls and turned ankles along the way, but no injuries. Once we returned back to the parking lot, we took another pic and called it a day. Scott downloaded his Garmin GPS data when he got home and we ended up with 8.5 miles with 1,070' of climbing and 1:32 of running, everyone felt good afterward and we got in a great workout today.

Levi

really put his stamp of authority on the TOC yesterday as he rocked the TT in Solvang. Dave Zabriskie put in a great effort for Garmin Slipstream but it wasn't enough to hold Levi off, Lance even re-named his company for the day to LEVISTRONG., pretty cool. Speaking of Lance, he looked pretty solid too as he finished in 12th. Any other time we would all be saying, what the heck hapened to Lance today, but it's still early in his comeback and it was his 1st. HARD effort so far.

You can watch the race live on the internet commercial free

if you don't have Versus.

http://tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

Conway's Irish Ale

This fine beer is named after a Cleveland Police Officer that directed traffic for 25 years near the now present GLB in then "Irishtown" way back when. This is a very tasty ale with a pretty malty and almost a toasted carmel taste with a pleasant aftertaste, I really like this one alot. It would be a good beverage with corned beef and cabbage, Irish pizza, Irish Lasagna, Irish perogi's..............aw what the heck, you can drink this one with anything or just enjoy it all by itself.

On the training side of things, we've been doing pretty good on the bike, our running is pretty decent and so is the swimming, I guess it's where it should be for this time of the year and the nice conditions have made training outside so far this month pretty enjoyable. Winter wouldn't be so bad if we were able to get outside occasionally like we have been.


Tour of California sure has had some dismal conditions in the early stages. Wow, I couldn't imagine riding in the cold windy rain for 4-5 hours each day, although today was quite a bit nicer. Tyler Hamilton had a good ride only to get reeled back in with his break away companions with about 3 miles to go. Mark Cavendish just barely edged out Tom Boonen for the win with Levi still keeping the gold shirt. I have a hunch Lance is going to have a good ITT on Friday to move up into the top 3.

Slan for now

2:21 today

with quite a bit of climbing. I think the patchy snow might have scared some away this morning, but the conditions were nice. It snowed lightly for about 10 minutes at the start of the ride and that was it, the roads were dry and it wasn't windy at all, very pleasant conditions, well all except for when Matt decided to attack on Sherman Rd. hill and do his best to try to put us all into oxygen debt.......it wasn't that bad though and the rest of the climbs were fairly tame, nice climbing today you guys.

We tackled the main hills in and out of the Valley on the way to Chagrin Falls and hit a few more on the way back. Everyone climbed strong today and just rode River Rd. pretty easy to recover from the climbing efforts. We did a finishing sprint to round out the ride with Scott looking pretty strong..............!

Saturday we weren't able to make the ride from Brecksville but from the sound's of it, the weather wasn't cooperating down there. Tony and I did a long run but probably could have ridden since there was no snow going on here. It was a good weekend though. Now to stay up on the latest of the Tour of California. Lance was only 5 seconds off of the winning prologue time yesterday. He finished 10th. at only 5 seconds back, not too shabby.

See ya.

New 404's

My new 404's arrived at the shop on Wednesday so I went to pick them up on Thursday after work. I got them, left the shop in enough time so I wouldn't hit major rush hour on the way home. Sped home and mounted the tires then put them on the bike. I took it for a quick spin to the end of the street and back just to see how they felt, they felt pretty good by the way, and now she sits in the garage waiting for some racing or at least a nice day with no wet roads. I would like to get out on it with the new wheels before I race them just to get the feel for them. The bike sure does look good sitting in the garage though.

Weekend double

Shawn is having a group ride from Brecksville Saturday morning leaving @ 11 a.m. from the top of Valley Parkway and Brecksville Rd. (Rt. 21) 3-4 hours endurance and tempo. riding

Sunday we will also be leaving @ 11 a.m. from Squires Castle in the North Chagrin Reservation for a 2 - 2 1/2 hour group ride with hills.

Get the Chamois Creme ready.

See ya this weekend.

5 for 5

and.........

4 in and counting

I know our luck is gonna run out sooner or later since it's so early in the season, but while the weather is here for the takin' we're takin' it! My cousin Scott Marut, Tony and I got out once again this afternoon for a hilly 42.5 miler, which makes 4 day's in a row now that I've been out, with about 143 miles in. We're getting some good base miles in with some climbing which is perfect for now. I just found out yesterday as a matter of fact that the Chippewa Creek Road Race is back on for this year, May 17th. is the date. Last years race was cancelled due to poor road conditions, evidently the powers to be have repaired the roads and all is good once again.

But back to our training ride today. Scott has been running now for quite a few years with a few Marathons under his belt, many different length road races, and he's a very good runner. Last year he decided to give triathlon a go by doing the Presque Isle Triathlon and did very well finishing 7th in his 35-39 age group, and everyone know's what a strong age group that is. The swim in that race should have been cancelled, and I have been in races that the swim was cancelled and the conditions were not as bad as Presque Isle. Being that it was his first triathlon, he was a little apprehensive about the swim but decided to go for it, I think I remember him saying, what's the worst thing that could happen to me? I said, you could drown.......he said don't be ridiculous, I'm smuggling water wings inside my tri suit and I'm going to slip them on once out in the water.........I thought something looked a little out of proportion down there that day Scott.......
Anyway, he finished the swim well and had a great bike and run and the rest is history.

He is very determined to get better in each discipline and loves to train. He has become a member of the Cleveland Tri Team, he bought a new Cervelo Solist from Bike Authority and swims with us at Heisley each week. Today was his longest, hilliest ride so far and he kicked ass. I was surprised he did so well, I think he might be doin' some o that stuff that A-Rod was doing back in 03....That stuff'll get ya banned from the Fairport tri this year Scott! No just kidding, he's been workin' his butt off and it show's and Tony and I are VERY IMPRESSED, nice job Scott!

TLE training ride

today. Robert, Rudy, Todd, Mike, Matt, Tony and I rode from Brecksville this morning into the CVNP, Summit County, Brandywine Falls area and did some pretty nice climbing. Todd rode from home near Kent, so he was going to end up with over 60 miles in after his day was done, we finished off with 33. Nice riding today, the weather was decent and the temps. were in the 40's with not much wind at all. We all rode at a good zone 2-3 pace which is perfect for this time of the year. Hats off to Robert for climbing strong today, you're really going to be flying uphill once you get on your lightweight bike. Your looking good.

This was a good training ride to round out the weekend with nearly 100 miles in for me since Friday, all outside.

2 hrs. outside

this morning. Yes, we got in some nice climbs and some very fast tailwind sections which made the headwind sections worth working in. Pretty much stayed in zones 1-3 but on the climbs we got a little higher but then backed it down once we were over the top. The roads were very wet this morning with all the melting snow, but that's okay it was all good.
We're going to try to get out once again tomorrow, meeting at the Brecksville Reservation. Brecksville Rd. and Valley Parkway @ 11:00 for about 2 hrs. easy pace with some climbs, weather permitting.

Bike ridin'

and Peet's coffee. Got out this afternoon for an hour and a half on the bike and a 2 mile transition run. Afterward we came in, ground up some Peets and drank coffee for about an hour and talked about bike racin. This is the start of a good weekend.

What's to blog about

lately? Not too much I guess. The weather has been so darn snowy and cold, it's hard to get outside to do much beside's shovel snow and plow. We've been hittin' the pool on a regular basis along with doing our bike workout's on the trainer, actually we're gonna get a fast 5k in on the treadmills before our swim class tonight. Tomorrow, hopefully we're going to get outside on the bikes for a training ride just to spin and get the legs turned over for more than just 1 hour. The weekend is looking rideable as of now, so maybe we can strap the fenders on due to the melting snow and get some good hours in on the roads.

Later

Super Sunday

Wow, what a nice day today for a change. Woke up to sunny skies and warm temps. this morning with the smell of fresh Starbucks brewing in the kitchen, I knew it was going to be a good day. We all went to Heisley later on for a swim workout. My cousin Scott, Tony and I did a 45 minute drill session with some ascending interval sets for a total 2400 meters. It was a better swim workout than I thought it would be after skiing yesterday for the first time in a while, but my shoulders were fine where I thought they would be pretty fatigued.

We finished the swim workout and Lynn and Nick dropped Scott, Tony and I off at Lake Erie College so we could get a longer run in. We ran 8.5 miles home from the college with a few hills thrown in just to keep the hr up, along with Scott pulling us along for about the last mile where my H.R. was a little higher than I would normally have liked it to be. Scott was pacing us along when Tony dropped back to me and said "wow Uncle Scott can run" I said I know, but you'd better get back up there or else he's gonna drop us both! Nice run today Scott, your lookin' strong, keep up the good work.

We got home and showered and I logged on to Universal Sports dot com and watched the Mens and Womens World Cyclocross Championships from Hoogerheide The Netherlands. What a great race Katie Compton had to finish 3rd. She had the lead for most of the race but Vos and Kupfernagel were just too strong together and caught and overtook her with Vos winning, Hanka 2nd. and Katie 3rd.

22 year old Neils Albert from Belgium won the mens race. He, Stybar and Nys were 1,2,3 with only 22 seconds seperating 1st. from 3rd. Jeremy Powers was first American and he came in 35th. at almost 3 minutes back. The winners averaged over 18 mph. on what looked to be a pretty technical course in spots with a pretty good climb.

Now it's the Superbowl where Pittsburgh is leading 10 zip in the 2nd.

Go Pittsburgh!