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Marley & Me - by John Grogan => http://www.marleyandme.com/
March 29th thru ...



Got the paperback at "Wally's" for under $10
With the rainy/nasty day ... I will watch some NASCAR and read this humorous book ...
Preview @ http://www.marleyandme.com/book.html
Photos   @ http://www.marleyandme.com/scrapbook.html

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Well I finally got another long run (almost 2 hours) in on Thursday afternoon/evening.  It was 83 degrees, Sunny, and Windy ... but with the recent flooding, I wasn't sure about the availability of water.  So, I carried 4 - 10oz bottles on my fuel belt along with my cell phone & camera.  (I did get several photos of the recent flooding) 

I ran from the Burns Park Golf Club House to the BDB (Big Dam Bridge) and then back to the east to the rehab house ("crack house") and then back to the car.  Saw several friends out riding ...

The run went fairly well without too many problem with the plantar faciitis in my left heal.  After the run I quickly changed clothes and went to Lakewood to watch Alex play soccer.

You can click on the following photos to see other sizes and you can click on MY PHOTOS for additional photos.

Bike & trailer below would have         This photo was the same spot a
been under water a few days ago       just a few days ago ...

 
These two photos of the "John Barton" Curve show the remnents of the flooding



Here is another photo of the same area without any flooding


YES ... a BLUEEEE SKYYYY DAYYY and 83 degrees ... 

Tuesday was a great day for training ... Sunny and temperature in the mid 70s ... but WINDYYYYYY

Met with Marianne, Jo, Jan, James, & Heather for a 40 minute TT (time trial) at Scott. 

The plan was to do a 20-30 minute warm-up and then do 20 minute bike down HWY 165 to the southeast on the wide shoulder and then back to the start.  But the wind was gusting 18-30 mph from the SSW ... so changed the plan to go SSW out Scott (HWY 161) on a narrow country HWY so that we could avoid the crosswinds.

While we were waiting for everyone to get ready ... we took some photos ... a few of which are shown down below (you can always click on the photo(s) and get to the larger photos or you can click on MY PHOTOS for additional photos.) ...

Well, I felt good during the warm-up ... so I was psyched for a good effort.  Based on the wind ... I guesstimated that we should go 26 minutes out and 14 minutes back.  I averaged about 19 mph into the wind and 29 mph on the way back ... but power meter showed that I was well below where I was at this time last year ... 

Still trying get back to where I was last year ... Between the lack of good motivating days and different training due to the crappy weather ... I have a long way to go ...

Looking at the power meter download ... it appeared to be functioning nominally ... but after 1/2 way to the turn point power faded dramatically ... and after a 2 minute soft pedal at the turn point to make the 40 minute power numbers correlate prorate to 1 hour power ... power faded after one minute ... but I hung on to match my power on the way out.

Most of the way back I was over 30 mph ... and over 33 mph part of the time ... could have went faster on smooth pavement ... but at 30-34 mph you can feel just how rough that road is ...  It was kind of neat flying along at 30-34 mph watching the terrain go by thinking ... this is the way it looked to LANCE ... (I know it was a nice tail wind ... but still fun) ... 

Just as I finished ... I had a couple good ole boys in a pickup truck dragging an old trailer behind me ask ... "Were you going 35 mph on thanngg?"  That makes you feel good also ... even though I was way down on power ...

After the TT, we did about a 30 minute run and then headed for the house ... FUN ... but I got a long way to go to get back to last years efforts.

Here we are ... waitin' on Jo
 


              Jan makin' a call                         



Marianne doing some pre-ride stretching?


             A little reflectivity ...                         
 
    Marianne & Heather ready to roll


Jo & I are just glad to be riding in sunshine!!!                                         

James lookin' into the wind

Jeremy & Rachel had to leave for St Louis after church ... so we had a family supper Saturday evening at our house ... Pat and her Mom did the prep work and Jeremy did the grilling ...

After supper, Pat & Rachel went to the store ... while Corbin entertained us with her dancing and singing ... I will post a podcast later ... you have to see/hear her to believe the actual entertainment value ...

Sunday we went to Fellowship Church and afterward we got a few photos even though it was very cold with the cool temperature and the ever present wind.

The Family ...
Jason w/Corbin, & Reba(our daughter) w/Alex, Betty(Pat's mom), Rachel & Jeremy(our son) and Pat & I
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Saturday Ride - 7:00 am - Cabot Route ride
I am still waiting for the warm/dry/sunny Saturday morning.  But since it was 45 degrees/dry/sunny we went with 2 out of 3 ... so I left the house at 6:50 to meet the group at 7:00 am for the Saturday 57 mile ride.  Of course, as usual I got a cell call on the way from a rider, Mike M., that was going to be late ... But his excuse was better than the run of the mill ... didn't get up in time ... The Arkansas River which was flooding was over the trail forcing him to reroute his direction to the meeting place.

Most of the hills were in the first 12 miles of the ride.  Around the midpoint of the ride, Mike had a flat and some of stopped to help him fix it and some went on.  After we got rolling again, we had to chase to get back together so that we could tell the riders in front where the route was ... they rolled past the original turn point so we made a slight course alteration when we regrouped which made the ride a little longer than planned.  Actually, I ended up with 72 miles since I rode from my house and went down to the NLR River Trail to check out the Arkansas River Flooding.

Drat, Since I had gloves on (45 degrees) ... I missed a great panning photo of the 4 girls on the ride passing us ... 


        Robert & Mike                        Mike & John
(Mike messing with his bike became a common theme for this ride)            



Saturday Transition Run - around the Burns Park
After the ride I ran a couple laps around Burns Park with Mira (actually Mira took off like someone was chasing her with a gun and it wasn't me ... I couldn't get close enough to use it if I would have had one even though I was running about 8:15 pace).  And Marianne & Heather ran together on a slightly different course ...

After the run ... (Mira left before we could get her cheery smile)
               Heather & Me                        Marianne, Me & Heather   Heather & Marianne
 
  
Me on the trail below the Emerald Park area about 1.5 to 2 feet of water over the trail behind me  
The NLR River Trail leading to the Ski Lake disappears into the Arkansas River 
 


Me on the road leading out of the Ski Lake/Dog Park area

The triathlon coach that I have been working with, Rich Srauss of Endurance Nation, says we need to do "Cool Stuff" with all of the fitness that we get from all of the Ironman training.

So taking the grandkids (Alex & Corbin) for a ride in the trailer behind my bike, definitely falls in that category.  This was the first time to take them both this year, so it was a little bigger production getting ready.  (I had taken Corbin on Primary Election day in early February just before the tornadoes surrounded us).  But after we got rolling, they had a great time.

Alex would tell Corbin, get ready, this is a big downhill and it will be fast (29 mph max).  As we would go down the hills, they would put their hands up in the air and scream ... like they were on a big roller coaster ...


Alex & Corbin anticipating the ride  
 


Over the shoulder shot while we were riding
 


Just as we were leaving my house ...

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More Crap Weather - the 80s were short lived
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Tuesday March 11th - Great Brick workout
Met Mira @ the RAB ... for a Brick workout ... after a warmup we did 2 x 3 mile intervals with 5 x 30/30(s) before and after each 3 mile interval ... My power averaged 350 watts for each of the 15 - 30/30(s) and averaged 280 watts for the 2 x 3 mile intervals.  After the intervals, we had just enough time to get a quick 4 mile run in.  By running a 7:45 pace I was able to keep Mira in sight.    

Wednesday March 12th - The 1st 80 degree day of the year
Met Bill @ the SUB for and easy JRA cruise.  We hit a couple of hard efforts ... but mostly just soaking up the warm sunny air.  Saw a lot of friends out and talked to the Bartons at the Ski Lake (little did we know that in 10 days this area would be under 5 feet of water).
    Bill on a 80 degree day               Heading into the SUN!           
 

              The Bartons


Thursday March 13th - Early morning long runFGSG ride
I met Marianne & Drew at Cooks for an early morning long run ... The weather was sunny and not so cold for a change ... The pace was pretty easy for the 1st half of the run with lots of chit-chat ... but on the way back ... we picked up the pace to work some up the higher heart rate zones.  My pace for the miles 8 & 9 was in the low 7 minute pace territory ... which is pretty hard for me ... especially after already running 7 miles ... after 10 miles we found someone to take a group photo and then the fun had to end as it was time to go to work ...

Me, Marianne & Drew After 10 miles  Drew & Marianne @ the BDB    
           


Marianne directing Traffic
 


Thursday March 13th - FGSG ride
Pat had a "Bunco Party" ... so I went to do an easy ride with FGSG (Fast Girls Slow Guys) ... but there was no slow group ... so I switched gears and jumped in for some quick/hard efforts ... ALMOST hit a squirrel at about 29 mph ... which would have been more excitement than I was lookin' for ...

After the quick (45 minute) ride ... we just beat the incoming storm ... then Jerry & I went to American Pie for some Pizza ... then Jenn & Robb joined us for some cycling chit chat ...
Jerry anticipating the ride                    Robert looking relaxed & ready      
 

    John looking focused

Wow ...

Last Sunday (March 2nd) was the LR Marathon (13.1 for me) and then that was followed by snow on Tuesday and Friday.  But by Sunday (March 9th) afternoon the roads were clear and the temperature was in the 50's.  So we (Jo, Jerry, Donna, Liz & I) met at Two Rivers Park (Map Link , Link to Two Rivers Park info) for a Ride around Roland followed by a run.

After some JRA (Just Riding Along) to Roland, Liz and Donna decided to ride up Wye Mtn.  Jo, Jerry, & I did some Time Trial efforts on the 8 mile loop around Roland.  I took the front on the first 8 mile loop and then Jo took the front on the second loop.  (We had about 30 motorcycles blow past us on the second loop ... one of them did a "wheelie" for me when I pulled out my camera).

We then headed back to Two Rivers Park for the "much anticipated" run.  The ride ended up with 47 miles and then we followed that up with a 5K run.

You got to love it when you have friends to join you while you are having so much fun.  The ride was pretty good ... and the run was a little better ... still behind where I was last year 3 1/2 months before the Ironman.  Hopefully when the weather warms up ... I will make up some of the difference ... 

              Liz & Donna                                               Jerry                              


                Jo




               Me (David)                           Jerry adding some CO2          
 

     Jo goin' hard ...



2 Rivers to Roland ride with a couple of 8 mile TT loops around Roland. 
Of the 30 motorcycles that passed us ...
the front guy was showing off for the camera with a wheelie ...

Well, it was in the 60's during the LR Marathon on Sunday and in the 70's in the afternoon ... Then colder on Monday and SNOW on Tuesday.

It warmed up nicely into the mid to upper 50's on Wednesday and Jo & I did bike FT intervals and a 3 mile brick run afterward.  That was the 1st run after the Sunday 13.1 Marathon, so the first couple of miles were kind of hard ... but by the third mile was down to 8:00 minute pace.

Thursday was COLDER and then ... they began talking about a major snow storm ... of 3 to 8 inches ... by Friday morning not much here ...

But by mid-morning it began to pickup and then by mid-afternoon we had several inches ...

Here are a few photos from the snows ... for more photos Click Here  for my 2008 Arkansas Snow  photoset ...


The Red, White, & Blue and the Snow
 


Ironman Snowman with LR 13.1 Marathon Medal
 


Easy Rider Snowman 

 

Urban Cowboy Snowman 
 


Ironman Snowman with LR 13.1 Marathon Medal - after the real Snow

Alex and Corbin were at our house for breakfast this morning since their adult supervision had to be at work early.  So after they ate breakfast and before Pat took them to school I took the following photos ...

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The facts:
Weather ==> Sunny and upper 50's warming into the low 60's and windy

Chip Time 1:56:57 (8:55/mile pace)
M50-54        22/93
Males       305/947
Overall   427/2174

I was excited to see the fantastic weather on race morning.  (I hate the cold!!!!) It was warm enough that I didn't have to think about long sleeves, tights, or gloves.  I didn't even need any warmup stuff before the race ... and since the race was so "long" I didn't really do any warmup

















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Saturday was a fantastic for the Crosswind Classic in the Scott/Keo area.  The day was sunny and warm and there was a huge turnout for this road race. 

I watched and took photos during the event.  There were a few little hitches ... but for a first time event I think most spectators and participants enjoyed the event. 

There were a few crashes that I'm sure caused some pain (Yale ... hope you are doing better) and the ensuing costs of bike repairs (Jerry you may need an open ended account at the bike shop). 

There were also some problems with the course due to some classes not having a lead vehicle and the course not being marked well enough to keep everyone on course.  It is the participants ulimate responsibility to know the course, but it is my understanding that the course had to be changed at the last minute due to some road problems. 

This did upset the final standings in the Womens CAT IV group as a girl that had been dropped ended up finishing ahead of the main field that had dropped her earlier and then took a wrong turn.  So Jo & Donna ended up with a great sprint for 2nd place.

You got to love that shirt!!!



More photos can be found in my photo titled 2008 Crosswind Classic

Results can be found at Cycling Arkansas

Valentine's Day this year came on a Sunny day ... with no snow (don't laugh ... I remember some of biggest snows in our area of central Arkansas falling near Valentine's Day).

Pat and I decided to go to some place new for dinner, and so we selected the Argenta Seafood Company.  The important thing was that the food was good and it was a nice/quiet place to eat. 

This place is a converted business garage complete with the original overhead doors including the tracks to raise the doors still in place.  (They could have at least taken the tracks for the doors down.)  They had added some stretched fabric partitions which look somewhat like the Lakewood Village Pavillion.  There were several sea themed paintings/photos on the walls lit from below.  But other than that the decorating was pretty spartan.

The food was good ... average to a little above average ... but the selection was very spartan which matched their decorating ... But we had a great evening ...

                                         

Well ... good news ... bad news ... The facet joint problem in my back is better ... but the soleus problem with my left lower calf area is still a problem ...

Thursday
Went running with Alex Thursday evening.  The plan was to run 1:45:00 with 40' Easy/z1, 30' Steady/z2, 2 x 15' Mod-Hard/z4.  (Z1 easiest heart rate zone and Z5 being the hardest).    

It was 54degrees cooling to 45 during the run and sun quickly turned to clouds & mist ...
Pushed Alex the 1st 45 minutes at easy Z1, but as we started the second loop and started to pick up the pace ... the left soleus area started to tighten up ... so cut the run short ... with only 7 minutes of Z2 & no Z4 during the run ...

When we got back to the car ... we saw Alex's basketball coach travis getting ready to run ... and so we got a couple of photos ... and then headed to the house ...

When Reba & Corbin got there ... Corbin was in "one" of her moods ... but she finally got out of it ...

Friday
Heard about a little baby that was thrown about a 100 yards during the tornadoes on Tuesday and was perfectly okay ... showing once again how crazy those things can be.

Planning on a swim and then looking forward to some nice weather this weekend ... 

        Alex & Travis            Pop & Alex after running                       
 

        Reba & Corbin                 Corbin being Corbin

2008 Primary Vote in Arkansas

Went out to vote @ noon and wow ... I think after 4 hours, I was number 99 to vote at our polling location.  Which is hidden at Crossroad Church, a block east of Camp Robinson road off of a side street.

After voting, I went out for a run ... and drat ... felt a twinge in my left soleus (lower calf muscle) ... so had to walk home.

Pickin' Up Corbin from School

After work, I hooked up the trailer to my bike to go pick up Corbin after school.  She was excited and talked during the whole ride.  We went by Henley's Meat Market, because she likes to look at the huge cows on top of their buildings. 

The skies were ominous due to the impeding storm heading our way.  The temperature was in the 70's all day with a HEAT INDEX of 78.  Of course in Arkansas, that usually means TORNADOEs.  And they did come, but we only had high wind/rain in our area.
        
                 2008 Primary Vote                                         Pickin' Up Corbin from School
                       

      Quick stop for adjustment            Henley the cow            Corbin posin' with the bike
     

Corbin Posin' with the Bike         How's this for excitement              Silly Hat -- Silly Girl             

Jeremy & Rachel ate supper and watched the Superbowl with us.  And their full of adrenaline dog, Sofie, came with them.  Sofie is like Corbin, fully capable of providing fulltime entertainment.  So we had our attention split between Sofie & the Superbowl.  

Sofie does not like certain sounds, such as grease in a pan on the stove and electric pencil sharpeners.  And so I got a few Sofie photos, including a great shot of Pat trying to hold onto her, while she was trying to get free to attack the pencil sharpener.


How 'bout those Patriots??   Is there ever going to be any scoring?        Excitement???? 
 


Dang ... the Patriots are dead ...         I hate Pencil Sharpeners    
 

                                                                Great ... a Treadmill just what I need
Wow ... look at that Eli guy go ...          something else moving in on my turf ...
  

The temperature finally warmed a little and the SUN was out for our Saturday ride.  It was very windy with some gusty crosswinds, so we decided to do a 2 x 20' (w/2' recovery) ride ... basically Scott to Keo and back for 16 miles for our TT.

There was four of us, Mira, Charlie, Paul, & myself and we did the 14 mile ride to Scott for a warmup.  I can definitely tell that I have a lot of work to do to get back to where I was last summer.  I managed about 235 watts for and 22.5 mph for the 16 mile TT.  That is down about 40 watts from where I was last summer.  I think the gusty crosswinds had a little to do with the reduced power ...

Mira had here first flat, ever, on a bike ... unbelieveable ... but definitely better than in a race ...

            Charlie                                    Mira                                    Paul

Basketball
Alex played basketball on Saturday.  His team is still undefeated and he is playing very well. 

Birthday Supper
Alex wanted to go to Cheeburger Cheeburger for his birthday.  I am not sure exactly why he likes that place ... but they sure have a gillion flavors for malts & shakes. 

The place is done in kind of a 50's motif.  The kid meals even come in a cardboard 57 Chevy.

And I even got a photo of Corbin with Marilyn Monroe.  After supper we went by the Fresh Market ... mostly browsing.

Photos - Basketball & Birthday Supper




                                                              Alex @ Cheeburger Cheeburger
 


                      Corbin & Marilyn Monroe                          Corbin & Rachel
 

        Rachel goin' for a ride