Motivated to Succeed

9:00 AM - Temp about 62 and sunny (at least when I decided to go biking that is); Quickly decided to change to overcast and windy 12-15mph as soon as I started. This was definitely what I feel is the hardest ride of the season. Though I only logged 13.7 miles a significant portion of it was uphill. Max elevation of 2172'. Phew! Basically sums that one up. Though I think it's good to get another ride in. I really should aim for about 3 more of these hour rides, and maybe one other of about 1.5 hours this week. Hopefully this is helping! I have already noticed my weight is going back down. This morning I weighed 174 before my ride. That's six pounds I've lost in the last three weeks. Woot! I just hope this is going to keep me in shape aerobically too, which I think it will to a degree, though it certainly felt like I ran a lot farther than 4.57 miles!

Total Time: 57:30 Total Distance: 13.7 mi Average Speed: 14.3 mph

Interview @ 1:00 for a Graduate Assistantship Program for school. Butterflies in my estomacho! eek! Hopefully a walk later this evening to enjoy the weather though!

4:00 PM - Went walking with Emma today in Pittsfield. It was so much fun! Sunny and a little breezy. Temperature was about 75 or so. We went walking on a back road and walked up Dean Hill Road in Richmond, Massachusetts and then came across this marker from 1898 that marked the MA/NY border which was cool. Emma gave me a little kiss and it was funny because then we concluded we were kissing each other in two places at the same time :-*. All in all a nice walk. We went 4.5 miles in 70 minutes. Wish we could live there! 

8:40 AM - Overcast and temperatures in the low 60s. Weather forecast was for rain, but I wanted to take a chance. All in all an okay day. Actually didn't start misting on me until I hit 30 miles. Just made it hard to see the last few miles. This was the best ride I've had all season. Went on the normal roads for my long rides, the really hilly Jockey Street and then hung a left and went through Charlton and into Ballston Spa. Actually went a few miles longer than I usually do, and went all the way to Route 50. Couldn't believe how great I did. Only downfall was that the last 3.63 miles really kicked my butt and I only averaged 12mph for those miles, but there are a ton of uphills and it was raining. Other than that I was flying! (Weight: 173 - holding steady)

• 10 mile split: 34:35 (17.4mph)
• 20 mile split: 34:29 (17.4mph)
• 30 mile split: 35:33 (16.9mph)
• 33.64 : 18:09 (12.0 mph)
• Max Sustained Speed: 33.7 mph

Total Time: 2:02:47 Total Mileage: 33.64 mi Average Speed:16.4mph (fastest average speed for a long ride so far this year! Alright!)

10:00 AM - Cloudy and Temps around 65-68 degrees. Sun came out towards end of the ride. So I was undecided if I was going to go biking today but was kind of leaning towards a short ride since it is overcast and threats of showers, but the next four days are projected to be humid, hot and miserable (85-93 degrees according to latest meteorology reports!). Well my mom and Su (sister) asked me if I wanted to go so of course I said yes, since one of my rules is never turn down a run or ride if another person offers! It was funny because we were all wearing yellow shirts, different styles but all yellow. People honked their horns a few times (I like to think it's because they were congratulating us for taking the initiative and riding for our own mayo de journe.) Ended up having a great time. We rode down Jockey St. to Charlton by way of Parkis and Old Mill Roads. Ended up taking a break at the little country store in Charlton and I bought a gatorade and pineapple coconut muffin! Delicious! At the end of the ride, my mom was having trouble on a few of the hills because her muscle disorder was starting to flare, so she asked if I could ride on ahead and get the car for her. So I pushed it hard the last couple miles, jumped into the car and swapped with her and then rode her bike home with my sister. Had a great time. Probably tomorrow will be a rest day.

Total Time: 1:50:58 Total Mileage: 24.3 miles Average Speed: 13.1 mph

 PM: Core work - crunches and situps, pushups on the exercise ball, plank exercise. arm bicep curls and tricep raises. Really trying hard to get in shape!

8:30 AM - Man if I could sum up today so far in one word it would be UGH! So the night was good. I got home from work, caught an episode of Man vs. Wild and got dinner and then passed out. Slept from 10:30pm to about 8:00 AM this morning! But I was like Oh I need to get my ride in early, so I laced up and headed out because I knew it was going to be a scorcher. There was a bunch of fog for about the first half hour, but then that burned off and it was game on with the sun. Ended up biking into Charlton and then Ballston via Jockey St. like normal, though right about at the turnaround at mile 15 I was like , "Wait, why are there so many people out?" I saw about 10 bikers in a pack going the other way. .. They gave me some looks with me in a tshirt and corduroy shorts haha. Well so I came to the conclusion that today was Saturday the 7th which meant I had a workshop in Albany at 9AM to 1PM I was supposed to be at. I came to this realization at approximately 9:51AM. Needless to say I didn't go as I wouldn't get there until about 12, but the rest of the bike ride became a kind of tempo ride because I think I was a little angry. Problem solved though. I reregistered today for one in October. This was just a hectic week with the interview, another workshop, and 5 days of work. Oh well. What's another 50 bucks I guess :-. Temperature when I finished at about 10:30 was 80 degrees; sunny. High today expected to be 92. Eek! Perhaps 95 or 96 by Monday they said.

Total Time: 1:48:38 Total Mileage: 29.67 mi Average Speed: 16.4 mph

3:00 PM - Dang. It was darn hot. My car said it was 101 degrees, and it felt like it. Felt like a sauna. I went to Spa Park with Emma and tried to do a run, kept it slow and all. Ended up feeling okay though my achilles is a little tender and sore now. So not sure about that one. Overall I guess it's a good run since it was a run. Just darn frustrating. I will make it a point to find out how to get in contact with a PT, Brent. Hopefully my insurance covers it, but I'm guessing not. My sister was referred by a physician to our dermatologist to get a mole removed because it might be cancerous. They did it and it wasn't covered so we owed $180. Same with my physical. Preventative medicine is frowned upon by the medical profession, at least in NY. I guess I'll have to ask up front if it would be covered, because I sure can't afford a medical bill.

Total Time: 34:14 Total Distance: 3 miles Average Pace: 11:23/ mile

Note: Iced my achilles for an hour last night. Found industrial strength seran wrap, and when combined with ziploc bag of icecubes, amazing things happened. Woke up at 5:00 am this morning soaked in sweat. It's disgusting in NY. Today might be the hottest of them all so far, with temperatures expected in Albany to be 97. I might cry. Luckily I work at 8am to 4pm today so I am not going to have to go outside until the hottest part of the day. Joy. I don't know if I'll get to the track to do 2 miles or not. There might be showers. If not, I'll see if Jonn will ride his bike with me to the track for an easy 2. Good news though - - no pain in the achilles when I wokeup this morning..

9:00 AM - Yesterday's storms rolled through and it was crazy how fast the temperature changed. I actually went outside with my brothers to play a game of TIPS, but we were watching the storm clouds build. I sat on the front porch and within a matter of minutes the rain poured and the temperature dropped by a good 20 degrees. Today I woke up and temperatures were in the low 60s and it was sunny. A perfect morning for a bike ride. I warmed up with a 3 mile ride to Crane Road, parked my bike and stretched and did two miles of jogging using Galloway's 4minute:30seconds for running:walking ratio. Overall felt good and no pain during the run. Miles were 11:05 and 11:27. Then stretched and got on my bike and did a 17 mile ride to finish up for the day. Felt strong throughout and it is remarkably less humid than it has been the last few days.

Total Time: 1:38:27 Total Mileage: 22 miles Average Speed: 13.2*

*= overall for both the jog and ride. Average Speed for the bikeride alone is - 16.0 mph

8:15 AM - Sunny and mid-60s; Equates to - one heck of a monster ride. The longest bike ride of this season actually, and arguably the longest at a consistent speed. Even in 2005 I think the 40-50 milers we did while training for the bike hike were five hours or so. I ended up doing 41.10 miles today down Jockey St. and into Charlton, Ballston and then Scotia-Glenville. Stopped at 30 miles because my 2 water bottles were empty and I bought a Gatorade to finish. Could have probably used two of them actually. I drank a lot! Total liquid for the ride: 76 oz. Achilles felt fine and not even a twinge the whole ride.

Total Time: 2:35:35 Total Mileage: 41.10 mi Average Speed: 15.8 mph

Make it a great Thursday everyone!

RELAY FOR LIFE NIGHT - I worked 8am to 3pm today and afterwards went home and got a bag together. Relay was tonight. It was great weather - only a little humid and low 80s. It really made for an awesome time. This was the best Relay I've gone to in the last five years. It was really superbly run. I loved being able to walk around and read the luminaries and think about all of my friends and family that I've lost to cancer, but also all those that fought and won their battles. Emma came up here from Massachusetts and we walked around and had a few heartfelt moments which was really nice. Then after the final luminaria ceremony at 10:30 we decided after the track cleared to go ahead and jog a bit. We walked 3 miles before the ceremony and afterward eased into light jogging, mainly in the outermost lane (#6). Some people seemed offended, but I assure you I was courteous and made it a priority not to impede any walker's way. And if they only knew how much I identify with their cause.. Ended up jogging 2.5 miels with Emma. Felt really great and only a little soreness by the end! These miles are for you Paul & Larry C. Thanks for supporting me and you were on my mind for much of the night. Fight the good fight and always believe. We will find a cure one day, I'm sure of it.

Total Time: 29:04 Total Mileage: 2.5 miles Average Pace: 11:37 / mile

5:15 PM - Sunny and temp was about 82 degrees. Emmy was still here so I was able to have someone to do my shuffle with. We went down to my dad's school to the nature trail. We stretched and then started with 1 loop on the big trail, followed by 2 on the small, then another 2 big loops. Overall I felt good, except for when I scissor kicked a fallen branch and it left a gash on my bad achilles of course. No pain really from this though, nor the run the other day. Yesterday was a big day with Jonny getting his Eagle Award and everything. It felt really good to be a part of the ceremony, and I could tell my parents were proud. Jonn even surprised my mom and gave her a special award which made her cry. So cute. Overall today it was a good day. I did 2.6 miles of jogging, and .9 miles of walking warmup/cool down. For the run..

Total Time: 30:00 Total Mileage: 2.6 miles Average Pace: 11:32/ mile

7:40 AM - So yesterday's ride got cancelled do to severe thunderstorms. Luckily since we're in the foothills they missed us just barely again. We got loads of rain and lightning, but fortunately no hail. About 15 miles south of us they showed pictures of 2" diameter hail, the worst in nearly thirty years!! So many cars and houses were trashed! Said a prayer of thanks that it didn't hit us!

Woke up early this morning because I helped out at another Eagle Scout Ceremony for another kid in Jonny's scout troop who had his court of honor last night. I was asked to give the Eagle Charge and it was a very nice ceremony at the Catholic Church in the village. Biked to the track and stretched and eased into 2 miles of jogging. It felt really slow and relaxed like at relay, but I don't know if it was because of the biking cadence or something, but I went faster than I wanted to. (8:56 and 8:55 were the splits). Then I biked back home. A nice little workout, and I think this will work nicely to get both x-training and running in. I wanted to ride more, but didn't because I have a long day at work today 11am to 8pm. This week is going to be a long one work wise as I'm scheduled a full 40 hours, so I think I might have to make do with the shorter workouts like this.

Total Time: 53:00 Total Mileage: 11.3 miles Average Speed: 12.6mph

8:30 AM - Windy, overcast. Temp at start about 58. Became partly sunny midway through, though wind stayed. Expected to get more storms this afternoon. Good news is that no pain despite the early a.m. run yesterday and then on my feet all day 11am to 8pm!! Crossing fingers that this continues. For today, biked on the backroads to Crane Rd. 3.25 miles in 12:07, then did 2 miles of jogging in 22:28 (11:11 and 11:17 splits), .5 mile cool down, stretching, then eased into 14.67 miles of biking in 55:01. All in all a great day!

Total Time: 1:29:46 Total Mileage: 20.42 Average Speed: ~13.61mph

3:45 PM - the weather this week and for the upcoming weekend isn't exactly Summerish. It's rained on and off the entire day and tonight was no different. Temp was ~68 or so, cloudy and windy. Not good biking weather. I decided to do a short workout, and biked to the track 4.54 miles in 17:32, then eased into jogging. It started to thunder and rain on me so it was all I could do to get the 2.13 miles in in 20:49 (9:46/mile - faster than I wanted to go :(). Biked home the 4.54 miles in 18:15. Tonight is the first of two nights of Dave Matthews Band concert in Saratoga so the traffic was crazy. Luckily I'm not going near there tonight!

Total Time: 56:38 Total Distance: 11.2 miles Average Speed: 11.9 mph

6:00 AM - Very exciting morning so far. Am on my way to work, and just placed an order online for my new road bike! It will be my first one and man did I snag a deal. Through the brand's website this 2008 Dawes Lightning 1500 retails for $1195 plus tax and shipping. My price? $495.99 INCLUDING 0 TAX and FREE SHIPPING! Such a good deal that my younger brother Jonn wanted one for his bday so my mom ordered him one earlier in the week. Lucky duck! He'll get it before me! I'm stoked! And it comes with free aero bars so I can't wait to take it on its first test ride!

4:00 PM - In Pittsfield this weekend. Been very rainy and temperatures in the 70s and humid. Blah. It was nice though because after one of the storms Emma and I went for a walk. Took about an hour. It was fun, and on one road we literally saw HUNDREDS OF SNAILS! I've only seen a handful in my life and usually in the garden or on a hike in a damp area. It was hard to walk without stepping on them, and I apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Snail if I stepped on a couple of their babies, but dang there were so many!! Crazyness!

Total Time: 60:00 Total Mileage: 3.5 miles Average Pace: 17:08

9:00 AM - So I am back in New York and today I didn't work until 4 in the afternoon, and I had a CD that matured at the bank. Jonn's bike came last night and I helped him put it together. It's pretty flippin' sweet. I can't wait for mine to come! We decided to take his bike on its maiden voyage, and we biked up to the bank where I sorted out the CD issue and since interest rates blow right now, only renewed it for 3 months. Then we biked down to the track and I did 1.02 miles in 8:57. Jonn informed me my running form is atrocious and that I need to work on it. I said I would, I guess I just need to practice on correct form when I do my cool downs every day he said. I'll give that a try. Also funny that we managed to break the speed limit in town :). Were going through the village and the school speed limit is 25mph, well I accidentally accelerated to 31 mph!! haha! Oops! Cruised on another 10 miles to home. So a little over 15.5 miles today on the bike. I'll do more tomorrow before my workshop. If the weather holds up that is! It's been horrible weather here in New York :( this whole week.

Total Time: 1:16:32 Total Distance: 16.53 Average Speed: 13.0 mph

*Max Sustained Speed: 38.0 mph

8:40 PM - So today was day number 3 of 9 in a row at work. 2 girls quit, one left for Pennsylvania and another to camp for seven weeks, so who else do they call but Super Benn. I swear I own that bookstore. They would be lost without me. Worked 8:30 to 2:00 to cover for a guy, then drove to Albany and had a workshop 4:00-6:30 on Child Abuse Prevention. Get out of the workshop and Jonn leaves a message saying he was goofing off in the basement of the garage with my other brother Harry and their friends and they threw a tennis ball into the glass of our sauna and busted it, so I am thinking about that the whole way home and how my parents are going to kill him. Then I get home and he tells me to go look at it, and its my bike.. no cracked door to the sauna, but my nearly fully assembled bike!!! I did some tinkering and took it down to our road and did 8 x .3 mile hills :) It is definitely a flippin' sweet bike!!! Today is day #1 of a new bike! :) Yay! Hopefully I can get in a quick ride on it before I have to work @ 10am tomorrow!bb

7:50 PM - Long and tiresome day at work. Hot and humid. About 85 degrees, and hazy. I think I was sweating before I even got on the bike. Was frustrated because with 4 girls just missing from the store I get shafted now. I spent all day helping to set up the store's stand at SPAC, and now I don't even get to work it. I looked at the schedule and I am by myself in the cafe all day each day from 8am to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday. Kind of funny seeing as a guy (whose name oddly enough happens to be "Guy") who was hired 2-3 weeks ago somehow gets to work both days after a manager promised me in April that I would definitely be on the list. Oh how I am not appreciated huh? Oh and I got another warning about not getting 60% of my transactions using the rewards card. Well I won't get into detail but I've decided I don't care, and if they threaten to fire me I'll quit and I think for once I'll be happy!

Onto the bike ride. Got home and knew I didn't have much time if I wanted to get a ride in. So I quickly changed and headed off. Felt nice on the new bike, except I noticed from about the first mile a weird squeaking noise as I pedaled. I finally figured out with about 5 minutes left in the ride that it wasn't the wheel, but actually a manufacturer sticker that they didn't remove after mounting the chain on the sprockets. Ended up going on the usual route on Jockey Street, and turned around. Swallowed way too many bugs tonight! But it felt good to get a ride in. I will make myself get in another one tomorrow after work. The new bike is so sweet! :)

Total Time: 55:30 Total Distance: 16.05 miles Average Speed: 17.3 mph!b

Sigh. Disheartened with the stupid fricking weather. It has rained every day for more than a week, and it was oppressively humid today, but of course no showers until about 4:00 pm, an hour before I got out of work. Torrential rains. Temp is about 83 or 84 and humidity near 100%. Same weather for tomorrow and from 8pm tonight until 2pm tomorrow the hour by hour forecast on weather.com says that it will be raining. I hate global warming and I hate not being able to get a bike ride in. Grumpy today sums it up. Stupid work. Stupid weather. Time to go pig out on food now. Ciao.

8:00 AM - Had to go pick up my sister from the airport last night. She was in California for two weeks watching my cousin's kids for her. Got about five hours of sleep. Up at 6:00 AM and waited until there was a small break in the rain and went for a bike ride. Roads were all wet and I got a streak up my back and for some reason that stupid squeaking noise still will not go away. When I got home I sprayed the crap out of it with WD-40. Hopefully this will help. We'll see. So I got my ride in. I wanted to do more but it was the most disgusting summer morning yet. I was sweating like a pig. Maybe it will help detoxify my body though? Kind of like a movable sauna? Weight this morning was 173. Still want to get to 166 though.

Total Time: 47:16 Total Distance: 12.68 miles Avg. Speed: 16.1 mph

5:45 PM - So I got out of work and zipped home because there was no way the race in Wilton was going to happen. No matter. I knew that I could still make something of today. I got home, changed and hopped on my bike. Only downside was that I noticed that the stems to my tires are a little bent :(. I will probably have to get that fixed at a bike shop. Still works as of right now though. Temp was about 80. Biked to the school, 4.9 miles in 17:50, stretched then eased into a cross country run on the nature trail at the elementary school. 6 x .6 loops repeating. No stopping and I felt really great. No real visible pain. Did 3.6 miles in 35:13, good for 9:46 a mile pace. A little fast, but I felt relaxed. It's hard to transition to a slow jog after pounding out some sick times on the bike! For a cool down did the 4.9 miles home in 18:25. All in all a great day!

Total Time: 1:11:29 Total Mileage: 13.4 miles Avg Pace: 9:46(r); 15.8 (b)

*Note: Best part about today besides being able to run 3.6 miles pain free?! Weight: 170. Lowest it's been in a year!! Down 11 pounds from February. This is good! Next goal: 166. To be lean, tough, and a biking machine!! I can and willdo this! Giving 110% each and every day. Staying positive, and looking forward to the future.