Spring is in the air!

Well after travelling the last 3 weekends I am looking forward to April. I have verry little planned and can get back on track with cycling. BRAN is the second week of June so I've got 2 months to get back into shape for that type of riding. I am far better prepared to ride in cool spring weather than I was last year. So I plan to get a jump start in April while the weather is cool. Now that we are post day light savings time I can get out after work and have plenty of time to ride. I'm planning on logging about 300 miles in April and 500 miles in May. That will give me close to a thousand miles in the saddle before BRAN. Then I just need to maintain for RAGBRAI at the end of July.

This coming weekend will be the first weekly Wabash Breakfast Ride that I organized. I've made it a standing reservation for Saturday mornings. I sent a note out to all my cycling friends and let them know I'd be there every week unless they heard differently from me. It makes it so that I don't have to organize who is going to be there weekly. I'll be there to ride regardless so if someone joins me, all the better. We start at the trailhead in Council Bluffs, IA and ride to Malvern, IA 22.5 miles to the southeast. There is a great little family run diner there that we'll have breakfast at and then head back. It will give me a great excuse to get some use out of my new cyclocross bike and also to get up and get going on a Saturday.

The Dude

Sham Rock On!

What a weekend in Virginia Beach. We were there for the Yuengling Shamrock Sportsfest. We did some sightseeing, some eating, a lot of running, and a lot of drinking. The run went pretty good, as well as 13.1 miles can go anyway. My wife and I ran together the whole time. We ran the first 6 miles and ran/walked the last half. By the end my legs felt like tree trunks and would barely function. We finished in under 3 hours as planned at a time of 2:47. After we finished we put on some warmer clothes and waited for one of our friends to finish the marathon. It was her first marathon and she finished in 3:14, qualifying for the Boston Marathon in 2009. Not to shabby. One of the reasons I signed up for this run was because it was sponsored by Yuengling beer. There was a huge tent set up on the beach right next to the finish line that was full of kegs. I celebrated the run and the St Pats holiday with several beers (11). Did I mention they were all free!

The downside of running 13.1 miles is the aftermath. Oh yes the pain that ensues is brutal. Unfortunately I had a little extra pain beyond the norm. I have (warning, self diagnosis) a tendon in my foot that I think is strained. It only hurts when I walk and doesn't hurt to the touch. If it still hurts in another day I'm going to see a doctor. I hate going to the doctor so that means it's bad. I've been icing it a lot so we'll see how it goes.

So now that the run is over I can turn my concentration on to cycling. I've got a long list of rides I want to do this year. I just need my foot to heal so I can go full out.

My Own March Madness

March has been so far and will be a busy month. Last weekend I made a run to my families farm in Missouri to prepare for our annual spring camping trip. Sunday I went with a couple of me friends to help them pick out new bikes. They are pretty green to cycling and don't know much of anything. So I was glad to help. You don't realize how much you know about bikes until you help someone pick one out.
This coming weekend (St Patty's Weekend) is the half marathon in VA Beach. We leave Thursday and Get back on Monday. I'm pretty under trained and so is my wife, so we are just going to have fun and run as much of it as we can and not try to kill ourselves. It will be a great weekend and I'm looking forward to it.
Next weekend we are flying out to Pittsburgh. We'll spend a day taking in the sights of downtown Pit and then drive up to spend some time with my brother and his family. We haven't seen our 2 nieces and nephew since early January.
Finally to finish off the month is the aforementioned camping trip in Northwest Missouri. We'll be joined by 6 of our friends, and every one's dogs. It's a good relaxing weekend given that the weather cooperates.
After that April will slow down and that is when I start my cycling season. It was 66 in Omaha today. I went out and got 20 miles in. I felt strong considering it was my second outside ride. I think all the running I did over the winter helped me more than I thought.