Head for the Hills Ride Report and head for the future…

I hadn’t done any serious cycling since last Summer.  Though I had gotten out on the bike a few times this Spring, it’s been difficult trying to find time and place to do everything.  I was concerned whether or not I was ready to ride 60 miles at the Head for the Hills rally this past weekend. But, I was anxious to get out on a really long ride.

This ride is in Cedar Hill, TX; very near where I live.  I think this was my fifth year to ride it, but I’m not sure. It has always been a fun ride that is not too challenging.  I even got lost year before last and ended up in Mansfield, TX and had to make my way down a major highway just to get back to Midlothian.

I checked the weather the night before because wind can be a major factor on this ride.  My Weather Channel app said that the wind would be out of the north-northeast at 10 to 15 mph.  That didn’t sound bad.  However, the weather man ( or my weather app) lied about the wind speed.

I actually ran into a couple of folks I knew and lined up with them for the start.  They were talking about riding together, but when the start happened, there was too much waiting, so I took off.  Times a wastin’, ya’ll.

The whole first 35 miles or so was not only good, it was scary great.  We were moving fast.  I knew we had the wind at our backs, but it was only 10-15 mph, right?  We must just be moving well.  NOT.  The wind was at least 20 mph, and probably gusting higher. On some descents, it made it white-nuckle scary.

The back roads around Cedar Hill and northern Ellis County can get pretty narrow.  Many of these are chosen for the Head for the Hills ride and they are chosen well.  The twists and turns make the ride fun.  However, when you are dropping into a tight downhill turn on what is really only a one lane road at about 24 mph, the fun dies back somewhat.  I was fortunate in that I was in a large group of riders and could depend on them hollering back if any cars were coming.

I ran across one lady rider that was down just after a curve.  She had a lot of help around her, but I still thought it appropriate to ask if she was alright as she was being helped to the side. “Nope, not really.  Everything’s not quite alright,” was her answer as I peddled away.  I saw another guy go down in front of me.  I still don’t know what happened to him.  He was about 100 yards in front of me with his partner when he just flipped out and went down; on a straight road.  He was OK too, so I rode on.

When we made the turn back to the north, all the fun stopped.  Facing a 20 mph wind on a bike is a chore.  But, I’ve done it before and the ride still had to be finished, so I dropped the gears and the speed and just kept it up.  We made it up to the 40 mile rest stop fairly soon after the turn.  I decided it was time for a good rest before tackling the wind and the hills back to Cedar Hill.  This is a good rest stop because it is at a glider airport.  This time I got to see a glider get pulled up into the air.  It was a good day for gliding.  Lots of wind.

The last 20 miles or so were uneventful.  Just slow gutting it out against the wind.  Did I mention it’s all uphill back to Cedar Hill?  But, near the finish of the ride, things picked up. One guy near the finish that said he was going to draft off of me for a while.  I thought that was funny.  I’m not usually fast enough to draft from.  I also got a crack out of the two ladies that had just decided to stop at the Dairy Queen at the highway and have some ice cream before finishing.  Then there was the group of guys that turned back into the ride about a quarter mile from the race.  They had stopped to have lunch at Babe’s Fried Chicken before they finished.

I finished up in 5 hours even.  Certainly decent and typical for me at 60 miles.  However, we took off at 8AM and I was at 20 miles at 9:12 and 40 miles at 10:40, so you can get an idea of how much the wind slowed me down.  Five hours put me back in exactly at 1 PM.  You can see that it took from 10:40 to 1 PM just to get the last 25 or so miles done. Whew!

Cedar Hill is always a good ride.  I’ve hardly ever had any rain beyond just a few sprinkles.  It is often windy in one way or another.  A north wind in May is unusual and its a little better on this ride to have a south wind.  In addition, this ride helps a lot of folks in their area with the proceeds.  I’d recommend this one to anyone in the DFW area, especially because it’s close to us.  Most rides are much further out.

I’m probably going to be writing less for a while.  I’ve got several things I would like to work on besides just this blog.  I’d like to get a tech blog going and see how that works.  I’ve lost some of the motivation I used to have for writing, but thankfully, people keep actually reading what I write.  That always helps me remember that there is a good reason for what I’m doing.

I think I’ve finally gotten together a workout plan that works for my new schedule.  I run on Monday and Thursday mornings before work.  I spin on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to take off a little of the pressure from running.  I am doing my long runs on Saturday mornings (unless I have a ride).  That has helped in getting the longer miles in without getting up at 4 AM.  Now, I ride on Sunday afternoons when I can by taking the bike to Campion Trail.  I’d rather ride out myself, but the traffic just doesn’t work well.  I round this off with one or two evening swims, if I can.  That schedule should keep me fit and ready for whatever I want to do.

That should be enough for now.  My next ride is the Tour de Pepper in Dublin, TX in early June.  I’ll probably write again after that ride.  Happy running and cycling!

Time to Catch Up

Wow, I haven’t written a post on this blog since February 24th.  That’s wayyyyy behind.

Well, RL has intruded quite squarely into my writing.  It’s a toss up between the new job and the weather.  The new job is going well, but it’s a lot more tiring than I thought.  I’m pretty beat when I get home in the evenings, physically and mentally.  Add to that the rather longer stretch of cold weather we’ve had in North Texas this year and my motivation for writing seems sapped.

So, I started today on something maybe to change that.  I’m working on making video posts.  I hoped to do up one just in a jiffy…NOT.  I worked last night and this morning on that task and am still not finished with just a short two minute introduction video.  I have it made, but now I need to edit it just a little (cut off the bad front and ending), but I can’t figure out how my editor works.

I have been keeping up on my running and riding, but it’s not as consistent as I’d like.  I’ve managed only one 20 mile week since December.  Most of that problem is just weather.  Tired of the cold mornings.  I couldn’t run this Wednesday because of rain.  I did get up and run a good 8-miler Thursday, but it had just finished raining and dropped into the lower 40′s overnight.  A good run though.  I think the only thing that has gone good is my strength training.  I’ve moved up in weights some.

Not too much more to say today.  I’ve got an evening shift which is the only reason I managed to piece together enough brain cells for this much.  However, Spring is coming and things will be getting warmer.  I’m also finally starting to get comfortable in the new job, so I can shift my brain around a little more.  Happy Running and Cycling!

Any Cliche’ Will Do

The past week or so has been good for running, though in a weird sort of way.  I thought I’d relate my week to you all because as I reflect on it, I realize it’s time to take down my shingle as a “newbie“.  I write this to encourage anyone that can still safely and proudly display their shingle as a “newbie” runner, cyclist, or triathlete.

It’s February in North Texas and that means I am completely ready for Spring to be sprung, but the weather just doesn’t cooperate.  We go from warm humid days to freezing and raining overnight, it seems.  It can make one’s planning for morning run preparations quite difficult.  In addition, I usually try to ride early on Saturday mornings right now, but have found that below about 40 degreesF is just too cold. So, what to do?

Last week, I got in a full four days of running as is my usual bent.  On Thursday, it was the coolest of the week, I think.  I had to run a four miler to finish out the week and thought I’d run an old route I used to run.  It has a few hills and I discovered via an achilles problem that it’s not good to run hills every day.  But, my usual route is so flat and boring I just needed the change.

Being a cool morning, I could take out fairly quickly but figured I’d lose it pretty soon.  I’ve been working on pacing since last Fall during marathon training.  I’ve always tried to run by feel, but have found out that I can get lazy.  If my fitness, distance, and time is going to improve, I need to keep my pace in a range that keeps my body challenged.  So, I’ve been working on finding a pace that is comfortable, but at the edge.  It’s a bit like threshold running, but without going quite that far.  I am doing this so that I keep my pace improving as my fitness improves, and that I don’t get lazy.

This was a good morning for that.  I know that if I feel myself speeding up during a run and that it’s not correspondingly hard, then I am doing well.  On that morning, despite the cold and the hills, I was speeding up.  During the last mile, I was wondering if I would break a goal of mine, 4 miles in under 45 minutes.  For the longest time, I’ve been a 50 minute 4-miler.  During the last half-mile, I did my best to run nearly as fast as I could.  My final time was a little over 44 minutes.  Just a little over an 11-minute mile average.

This week, I was hopeful for a full week of running, but the weatherman wasn’t.  After two good days, I had to stay home on the trainer for Wednesday and Thursday because of cold and rain.  Although, the weatherman’s doom and gloom forecast for Thursday morning was behind schedule and I could have run.  Since Saturday was forecast to be sunny but cold in the morning, I thought I would console my missed runs with a real long run.  Cycling down near freezing is just uncomfortable to me and running is doable. I planned an 8-miler, longest run since December.

The first three or four miles seemed normal for this distance, but that was probably the hills.  At about 3.5 miles, I hit a flat spot that holds for a while.  I felt that same increasing pace again.  I was able to hold it and it was doing fine.  I was expecting to see another 11-minute or so average.  Imaging my surprise when I finished out and looked at the Strava reading: 1:30:29 and a 10:30-ish AVERAGE pace.  I cannot ever remember or believe I could have run this distance that quickly.

No it’s not real fast, relatively.  Yet, for me it’s speedy.  It hasn’t been that long since I was just doing 13 minute miles and if I had a really good day, it might be a 12:30. So, 11′s and 10′s of any sort seem like I’m burning rubber.  I guess after four and a half years of running, I might better quit considering myself a beginning runner.

Someone I know that just started a fitness regimen recently asked me, “How do you run for 26.2 miles?”  They couldn’t imagine running that far because it hurt so much to run just a little.  Well, when I started, it hurt then too.  But, I didn’t quit.  I adjusted and my body adjusted also.  If we keep going our body will continue to improve and prepare itself to improve even further.  But, we also have to watch out for plateaus where we become content with what we have done and forget to continue to improve.  If you’re a beginner or a “newbie”, then be proud you are.  Carry that title with honor and just keep going.  Tell yourself that one day, you will have to take that title down and put up a new one.  But, until then, even though it’s just a cliche’, you’re lapping everyone still on the couch.  You’re a runner.  You’re a cyclist.  You’re a triathlete.  Those are much better titles and having beginner beside them is no problem.  Happy running or cycling!  Remember, Spring will be here soon.

A New Life For an Old Phone

This will be just a quick post this evening. Things are going well at the new job. We are learning how to adjust to the changes around the house.  While we were working on our cell phone plans to make them less expensive, I found a way to get my GPS tracking back without buying a new garmin.

I broke my smartphone a couple months ago. Phone-wise, I have been fine with my older phone. But, my smartphone was how I tracked my rides and runs. Without it, I fell back on known routes and a stopwatch.

In the process of swapping phones, I found out we couldn’t activate my wife’s smartphone on my account and lower the rate.  It was going to just be left aside, but then I got a brilliant idea.

Since the phone would still connect to wifi and I knew that Strava would work as long as it could access GPS, why not use it for runs.  Sure enough, after downloading, installing, and setting up Strava on the phone, I could use it like a garmin.  I took it out on this morning’s run.

Worked like a champ. Yet, there are a few tiny drawbacks.  I have to pull up Strava and make sure I am logged on before leaving the house.

Additionally, it will not sync new runs or rides until it is connected to wifi again. But, those are small problems indeed.

Keep this in mind if you have an older phone around or just have to upgrade. That older smartphone could be put to use for yourself or another runner.  And, another good mark for Strava.  Happy running!

And, We’re Off and Running…

It has been a good two weeks since my last post.  I have had a lot to do in that space of time.  I started my new job and am getting comfortable and working on that task.  I just finished my final exam today for College Algebra (Whew!). I survived a DNS outage and got ready for a presentation on the web site I’ve been working on. And, I’m still running mostly, sort of, kind of, regularly.

I began work at the new hospital two weeks ago.  I’m doing HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) work for them, plus refrigeration.  We’ve both been getting used to each other, though I think I probably have more adjustment to do than they do.  I came from a “one person doing it all” kind of opportunity via a huge mega-hospital experience and have now stepped into small-town-cozy-but-very-energetic hospital experience.  It’s a challenge sometimes, but I am adjusting and getting to learn everyone and our new systems.

I just finished up two days of working evening shift, which I have never officially done before.  It’s quite different, but it went well.  I’ve managed to keep up my work and still get a few things done that we couldn’t during the day.

I have a good crew of people to work with.  Two other guys doing HVAC with me and a host of folks that handle lots of other things.  They’ve been very helpful and friendly.  I learned quickly after starting work there that this really is where I am supposed to be for right now.  It’s a good place.

Because of the new job, I managed to purchase my first pair of Nikes this weekend.  I tried wearing some regular hard working shoes for two weeks, but they have been killer.  I think I’ve become too accustomed to living in running shoes.  I managed to find a pair of Nike Alvord 10 trail runners for work.  Their main feature that I wanted–they were all black.  Hopefully, they won’t get noticed and I’ll get to keep wearing them.  They were certainly comfortable last evening.

Our city’s bike lane task force is getting going again for the year.  We had the first meeting this last Wednesday.  I was on the agenda to show off the work we’ve done on getting a web site ready for bike advocacy in town, but it’s been quiet for a month or so.  I happened to get a weird e-mail error from my server early this week and thought to check on it.  I discovered my Internet provider had changed my home’s IP address and all of my DNS settings were now useless.  Since the web site is based on WordPress, if the domain name isn’t right, the site doesn’t work.  I still haven’t gotten the problem fixed, but I got a work-around done so that at least I could to the presentation.  The web site was well received by the members and we’ll hope to have it up live soon.  I have a few changes to work on and then get the ‘go ahead’ from our fearless leader.

Speaking of our bike lane task force’s fearless leader.  Our city is blessed by a lady that really knows her stuff on getting things like this done.  She has been leading the charge for bicycle advocacy in our town for a few years now and we are seeing some of the rewards of her work.  Things never move as fast as we would like, but things are looking up. We are getting more interested folks in what we are doing; though gas prices aren’t hurting our efforts either.

Also, yours truly got an e-mail recently from a site called Pocket Change.  It seems they liked my blog and sent me an Editor’s Pick award for the site.  You can see it posted in the column on the right.  It’s always good to get noticed for your work.  Though, at this stage in my writing, I do it just for the fun and to get to know others out there.  In addition, WordPress sent word a while ago that I’ve kept the blog up and running for three years.  That’s probably not long unless you count it in World Wide Web years.

I’ve just finished up my first semester back in college with my Algebra final exam this morning.  I think I passed, maybe.  With all the other stuff going on, I think I’ll let that be enough for now.  It was much harder that I expected, especially getting used to all the new technology of classwork on the Internet.  I learned a lot though and much of it may be useful on the new job.  We’ll see.

Running has been doing alright.  Back working in a hospital means lots of walking every day.  Not wearing decent shoes hasn’t helped how my legs and feet feel in the morning when I get up to run.  I’ve kept close to my weekly quotas that I set, but I am a bit behind.  I had hoped to be further along towards my 20 mile weeks by now, but I will have to be happy where I am at, not where I wish I were.  I am hoping for milder weather for a bit.  Twenty-something to thirty-something degree mornings get old in a hurry.

However, the quality of my runs is doing quite well.  I’m running a little slower than in October/November, but it is still going well.  It’s just been harder in the first mile or so to get going.  I should be able to adjust as I get used to the walking.  It’s side benefits are good though.  I was able to record a five pound loss for last week.  So, I am back down to my pre-Holiday weight (yippee!).

I am also starting to move my swim lengths back up.  I’ve kept them down to 600 yards each time so as not to interfere with my marathon training.  Now, with that over, I can start to edge back up to 1000 yards soon and hopefully get to a mile by about Summer (I hope).

Lots of new changes and adjustments.  Which is often disconcerting to a guy like myself.  I am a creature of habit and ritual.  I like for those things that I do to be somewhat in a rut at times.  When I can depend upon something being the same, I believe I am able to adapt to the changes that come my way.  Notice I said believe.  That may or may not be true.  Lately, there have been many changes that seem to happen all at once (though probably not really).  But, as Mark Lowry said once “this too shall pass,” which is from the Bible, but it was funnier the way Mark put it.  Regardless of whether it suits me or not, I have to adapt to the change.  Just like I do when the city road crews mess up one of my favorite running routes–detour through the neighbor’s yard and keep on going.  Happy Running!

Not enough running

Well, it is my last “free” weekend before going back to the world of work.  But, please don’t think that while I have been out of work that it has been “free” time at all.  Looking for a job in this day and age is challenging, frustrating, and just plain difficult.  It is only free in the sense that as of tomorrow morning, I’ll be back among the employed.  Hallelujah!

I can certainly tell from my time without a job that I am not cut out for being without a job or retired just yet.  I do need things to do.  Though, if I didn’t have to look for work, I do think I could think of enough to keep me busy.

Running of late has also been problematic.  I put it down to age, but the cold weather has been unbearable.  We in North Texas are experiencing a colder weather than we have had in the past couple of years.  It’s probably not too abnormal, but we are not used to it.  Last Tuesday, we woke up to a blanket of unexpected and unforecasted snow-like stuff.  It wasn’t snow in the pretty flaky sense.  These were little round snow pebbles.  We spent most of the week not getting hardly above freezing all day and the mornings have been mostly 20′s.  Brrrrrrrrr!!!!

I just wasn’t able to force myself out the door after these same temps have been with us off and on for a few weeks now.  I stayed on the trainer most of the week and even was desperate enough to get on a dreadmill at the fitness center for a couple of miles.  Friday turned out gorgeous and in the 60′s so I even broke my usual Friday rest rule and went out to run a couple of miles in the evening.  It was good to do, but they were a couple of tough miles.

Saturday morning was finally normal at 41 degrees and I felt reasonably good enough.  I debated how many miles I should run…three…four?  It is usually my routine to ride on Saturday morning but I needed to not be out too long so I elected a run for this time and didn’t want it to be a short one.  At Running Bear park (about two miles out) I went for broke and headed off for six miles.

The weather was good and I was dressed right for it.  I just wore a long sleeve tech-T and running pants.  I was comfortable and had set a comfortable pace.  I hadn’t run any hills since December and now would run three this morning.  Things worked well and through miles four and five, I felt really good running.

The city recently finished the addition of a small trail near a park I pass at about the end of five miles.  I thought I’d try it out.  It was really well done and brightly lit.  I took me around to an alternate street I could run down without being off course too much.  Since I was without a garmin I had to guess, but I think it was just enough to make my usual 6.14 miles into an even 6.2.  I finished up in 1:17 exactly and was ready for the day.

Winter running can be really hit and miss.  All I usually have to deal with is the cold, but even that can be daunting.  Everyone reacts to temperature stress differently.  If you’ve been running a while, it’s really frustrating to be off your schedule, but you just have to be patient and wait for the right time.  Treadmills have helped a lot of folks keep up in the Winter.  I use my bike trainer a lot, too.  You have to get creative.

Hopefully, with a return to work I’ll get back into my regular routine.  That should help me a bit and then I can get my miles back up to where I want them.  I’m working on getting back to and holding 20 mile weeks.  I’d like to get my long runs to about 10 miles.  I would like to be ready at almost any time to run a half marathon, though this year I might need a registration fairy for that to work.  Regardless, running is still well worth doing.

I guess I have wasted enough time away from finishing my algebra homework.  My semester is almost done and I’m ready to get it over with.  So, while I work on geometric progressions: Happy running!

Finally

Yes, I know.  I haven’t written a post in a couple of weeks.  It’s been a little hectic around here.  So, I’ll make up for it today.

I have a job, finally.  After a little more than four months of searching, I got a call this week.  However, even that turned out to be a little weird.

Back at the end of November, I interviewed at a nearby hospital.  Most of my experience is doing facility work (electrical, air conditioning, mechanical, etc) in hospitals.  After really striking out looking for IT work, I turned to my old faithful.  However, even that proved to be slightly difficult.  Yet, this job that I applied for seemed to be a bright spot.

It didn’t take them long to call me after I applied on-line and set up an interview.  I went out and met the engineering manager and his foreman.  We talked for a good while.  I say “we” talked.  They did most of the talking.  I just responded when needed.  They seemed fairly impressed with my experience and the three of us got along well.  They were looking for someone to handle the HVAC systems (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) for the hospital as well as the refrigeration needs.  No problem.  That’s right up my alley.

My little area of the crew would consist of myself and another technician.  They were interested in someone that could help mentor and train the other tech as he was fairly new to the trade.  There is also a tech that takes care of the preventive maintenance.  It’s a small-er hospital so there is a good deal of cross over in trades and work.  I kind of liked the environment and walked around with the other tech and got to know him.  It sounded like a very good fit.

The only drawback to the job was that it was at a much lower pay rate than I have had.  But, I was willing to work there and see how things went.  I waited for them to make a decision and even called back a few times.  The manager said on my last call that he thought I was number two for the job, but he wasn’t sure if the other guy would take the job.  Since I heard nothing more, I blew it off and kept looking.

Near the end of December, I applied at an electrical contractor I knew of and another local hospital.  The other hospital job sounded promising and would have been a better paying job.  I was hopeful, but wasn’t hearing back.  I received a call from the electrical contractor last week to come in and start orientation.  With no other prospects, I decided to start.  I went in and did the paperwork, safety training, and my physical.  I would be assigned to a project manager the next day.  When I got home, I put all my tools together that I was going to need and starting getting ready to go back to construction.  Then the phone called.

The lady on the phone was from the first hospital I applied for, the one with the HVAC job.  She wanted to offer me the job and it was a little better pay than the contractor.  I said yes and called the contractor back that I wouldn’t be able to work for them.  There is nothing wrong with electrical construction, but when you haven’t done it for about 30 years, it’s not the best idea.  I was glad to be called by a hospital.  I hoped the other hospital would call back, but I checked their on-line employment thingy today and the other guy had been selected.

I believe that’s just how God has answered my prayers.  I needed a job and wanted to be where He needed me.  Though I don’t know what or how that is supposed to turn out, I know now I am going to work where He has ordained.  It will be hard.  New people and new places.  New things to do.  The finances will be a struggle, but that’s nothing new either.  I know He will provide what I need.

My racing and rides for this year might be off.  There doesn’t seem to be a way those are going to happen just yet.  However, I’ll still be out most days doing my runs and riding as many Saturdays as possible.  I’ve become too accustomed and too obsessed with those two things to just give them up.  During this past four months, they’ve been very important to have as part of my regimen of keeping things as “normal” as possible.  So, your just going to have to put up with me coming up with other things to write about for running and cycling.

I’ll keep you posted on how the new job is going  and how I’m fitting my riding and running into all that.  I’m already thinking of how can I work out a route to the hospital.  It’s further away, but it’s still possible.  Thank you all for your thoughts and concerns while this period of my life had to happen.  I sure hope that it doesn’t have to happen to any one though I know it happens every day.  It’s a new year and there are new things to do.  Happy running and cycling, ya’ll!