Day two - yahoo!

I had a tough time getting up this morning! Finally I crawled out of bed at 5:30am and headed for the treadmill. The treadmill was easier today than yesterday...I'm always amazed at how well my body adapts to the stress I put on it. I did a little more jogging today than yesterday; although my left foot hurt a bit. Was on the treadmill for 25 minutes. Tomorrow is the spin bike...I don't want to push too hard too fast on the jogging...my mantra for this year is staying healthy and strong.

Morning Workouts Are Us

It has become obvious that I can't get a workout in if I don't workout before work (especially since I have class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). So today was the first morning workout. I had planned on going to bed at 9:00pm; but I was wide awake so I read till 10pm (no not homework...a novel). So 5am came a bit early; but I decided that this was the morning...so out of bed and into sweats! I already like the morning workout thing, because I can feed the dog and let him out first thing; so that when I'm finally ready to leave for work, he is fed and walked.

This morning was the treadmill. The last time I was on the treadmill ,I had a lot of pain on the front of my right leg...so I was a bit nervous that it might continue to bother me. But, alas no pain. So I walked (and jogged a little) for 45 minutes. It felt good to get a workout in before work.

Tuesday, September 16

I have sewing class tonight so I wont get a workout in this afternoon, so this morning I jumped on the treadmill for the first time since spring.  It seems to take a week or so for my body to get use to the treadmill.  My right shin ached for the first 10 minutes and I had to take it easy to keep the pain at bay.  I remember this from winter.  I'm hoping that a few more days on the treadmill and my body will adapt.  I start classes next week, so it  is definitely time start up my morning workouts in the home gym.  Summer got so crazy that I didn't get to watch the latter half of the Tour de France.  So this morning I watched a bit of it.  I really like watching cycling.

Monday, September 15

My usual walk up to capital hill from downtown.  The hike up the hill is getting easier.  I followed it with a late morning walk down to Pioneer Square for a meeting and then after work a walk into downtown to do a little shopping.  

Sunday

Julie and I rode West Tokul again.  I like that area.  We discovered that the best way to get to the top is the route that I took with Fredricka on a club ride.  Of course we found this out by trying to ride up several other trails.  We rode upper Outback (which was a challenge), lower Outback, and Full Bench.  I loved full bench.  I was on the Nomad and I'm just not as good on that bike as I am on the Juliana.  So I'm taking the Juliana next time. We rode for about 2.5 hours and were out for a total of 4 hours. 

Saturday

I spent the day cleaning up the mess from the tree and stump removal.  There was enough wood chips from the 4 stumps to cover about 5 flower beds (I got the worst ones done...the ones that are always full of weeds).  I spent most of the day.  Once I moved the wood chips, I used the blower to get the small chips off the lawn.  The stump grinder guy broke two of my sprinkler pipes.  Thus I need to do some pipe repairs.  I don't do much manual labor, so I was beat by the time I finished.  I still have another day's worth of work in the yard.

Friday

Rode Beaver with Julie.  We were running low on light so we had to keep moving (which I like).  We rode a much tougher part of Beaver than Julie had ever been on...she didn't like Terror trail (I loved it).  We got a full two hours of riding in with a nice amount of climbing.

Crazy day

This morning I got up at 6:30am to get a jump on the day.  I had a ride scheduled at 9am in Fall City and a sewing class at 1pm in Kirkland thus I decided the day's chores needed to get done early.  I went grocery shopping and cooked breakfast for the week (I make a big pot of old fashioned oatmeal on Sundays...which I eat every morning before work) all before 8am.  I met Julie at Tokul West.  I had rushed all morning and managed to forget the map!  So we rode up the same route that I rode in July (on a club ride).  Once we got to the turn off half way up the hill we decided to ride straight up.  I recognized the forest roads when we got to the top which was cool.  the ride up was quite a climb (with some hike a bike); but the ride down was so sweet!  I like Tokul West, and I plan to ride more of it.  I'd like to ride it each Saturday for the next few weeks (until I know the area).

Sewing class sucked.  I (and my fellow students) didn't remember that we were suppose to bring projects with us.  So the time was a waste.  The class has got me sewing; but I didn't learn enough to warrant the drive to Kirkland and the class fee.    I start a new class on Tuesday and I'm hoping it is better (it is in Issaquah).  I still have one more Sunday session; but I'm not sure I'll go.  I'm thinking of skipping it.

Beautiful day for Sawyer

Rode Sawyer with Katie.  Boy can she climb!  She climbed up "Its a Bitch" like it was flat.  We had a great ride.  Rode Oxbow, Mystery, Toothpick (picking up part of Blair Witch), Dancing, 1-90, Bypass and MLR.  We were out for a total of 2 hours and I worked hard...it was a fun ride.

Beaver is awesome

Mechanicals

When I rode with Julie on Sunday, we cut the ride short because my bike (Juliana) was having brake problems (and rear derailer issues).  When I got home, I had to decide how much of my last 2 days off I wanted to spend working on the bike.  I decided to take it to the new bike shop in Issaquah (Veloce Velo).  I also had them replace a rear spoke that was bent and fix the gauge for the rear derailer.

Monday, Labor Day

I couldn't believe how great Beaver was on Sunday, so I was excited to ride it again.  So I grabbed the Nomad and drove to Soaring Eagle park.  The Nomad made pinging noise non-stop.  It has been doing this for a while but not this bad.  So cut my ride short and dropped it off at the bike shop as well. I knew it was the rear wheel making the noise, well it was the spokes (which were loose).  Apparently the spokes on Mavic Cross Max XL are known for coming loose.  So I left it at the shop as well.  The good thing is that Both bikes were ready on Wednesday.  The spokes on the Mavic Wheels are thick...so I need to learn how to check the tension on them.  I've not done any maintenance on them at all...so I need to do some research.

Friday, September 5, 2008 - Feeling Strong!

Headed back to Beaver with Julie.  I rode the Juliana.  Julie was struggling with lack of energy (this was the first time this summer I wasn't trying to chase her down...she had gotten strong since she has been riding 6 days a week).  We rode and then rested, rode and rested...you get the idea.  We rested as much as we rode, and had a great conversations with a few other riders.  We met a guy (Travis) who rides Python Tires (which I hate and I happen to have a brand new pair).  As soon as I saw Travis' tires, I was wheeling and dealing...yes I sold my tires.  This was especially good since they came free on a set wheels I bought. 

The interesting thing about this ride is that I rode the whole ride in my front middle chain ring.  I had to work hard on the climbs and made it up all but one.  The one I didn't make it up, was too long and steep for my middle chain ring, and as soon as I tried to drop to the granny I stalled and ended up not making the climb.  Overall, I was thrilled.  This is the first time I've stayed in my middle ring for climbs.  This included one very long fairly gradual climb.  This was a very good feeling since I have not been feeling strong this summer (mostly because I just haven't been riding a lot).  Of course all the rest helped because I never felt particularly tired on the ride.