Motivated to Succeed

10:00 AM - Went bike riding with Emma on the Ashtuwilltacook Trail in Pittsfield today. Yesterday was a great birthday she said and we had a great time at the Ethnic Festival. Temp was 75-80 today with showers on and off all day. It actually didn't get really nasty until right after we went for our ride. We went at the perfect time!  Had a blast. Saw a bunch of cute old couples that were going for bike rides too. Emma goes "Is that going to be us some day?". I go "Well yeah only I'll be uglier than that guy and you'll be my better 2/3 because I'll probably by that point be a little senile." Emma: "BE? As if we BOTH aren't a little senile already?" Me: "Naw, I'm just crazy... about you." She smiled ;)

Total Time: 1:40:00 Total Distance: 22 miles Average Speed: 13.2 mph

5:30 PM - Long day at work. Glad to be done and home. It was chances of showers all day today, and they said it will continue at least until this time next week with no completely dry days. Hoped that the rain wouldn't hit while I was out on the bike. I was lucky! Had a great bike ride through East Galway and Charlton into Ballston and back. Did 35 miles. My legs are a bit sore, probably from all the miles I tacked on at the end of last month. I think the trip to Canada is going to be a nice break from both work and biking. I will try to get one nice bike ride in, and hopefully Emmy and I can go jogging nice and slow a couple nights. :) One more day of work and then Canada here I come! I hope they let me in! haha.

Total Time: 1:55:00 Total Distance: 35 miles Average Speed: 18.3 mph

Well it is finally here! I leave for Canada with Emmy tomorrow for a whole week! I'm excited and yet kind of bummed that I'm going to be away a whole week. I have to make sure I don't indulge in Canadian treats too much and come home 10 pounds heavier. Even after the fun at the food fair and an Indian buffet this weekend at Emmy's my weight this morning after breakfast was 173!! Only a pound heavier than my lightest weight all summer!. I tried to do a good ride last night, but it was getting dark so had to cut it off at 35 miles. Anyone have a suggestion for anything I can do during the week to make my return next week better? I'll be gone until the 14th, so I'm looking at close to 8 or 9 days without my bike. Should I just take it in stride, enjoy my vacation and try to do a slow 40 or 50 miler to get back into things when I return?

6:00 PM - Hi everyone! I am back from Montreal! Emmy and I had a blast. Montreal is truly a city that everyone should experience at some point. I have to admit that the first day I was a little bummed because it was so hard to resist the urge to bike. There are so many bikers in Montreal that there are actually separate biking lanes on nearly every road! Plus there are hardly any hills (highest elevation in the whole province is less than a thousand feet which is smaller than most of the hills around my house). We did somewhere between 20 and 30 miles of walking throughout the course of the week. We had a blast and tried out a new restaurant every night. We had Vietnamese, two Indian restaurants, Cambodian, Chinese, dinner at a couple different family restaurants and a sports bar. Long story short, I am wiped. I slept like nine or ten hours a night the whole week because I was so pooped from running around town (figuratively of course). But we made it back home tonight and stopped off at an Olive Garden where we ate so much food our second and third tummies nearly burst!

After getting home and catching up with my brothers and sister, Emma, Jonny, Harry and me all biked to the track where we found my dad doing his normal routine of walking 4 miles. He started this earlier this summer each day after work and I'm really proud of him. He was a runner for about 30 years but stopped running a couple years ago because of achilles issues and heart problems. He is back at it though and tomorrow is his 58th BIRTHDAY! I'm so excited. And to think he doesn't look a day over 46.. seriously!

So we did 10 miles of biking, 5 to the track and 5 from in 20:00 and 23:00 respectively. While at the track I eased into a shuffle for the first time in about a month I want to say. And it felt REALLY REALLY GOOD! It was so cool, my dad walking in lane five, Jonny in lane 4, Harry in lane 3 and Emmy and me in lanes 2 and 1. There was no one else there at the track so we just jogged 4 abreast and my dad gave us encouragement each lap around. I was so happy because I had ZERO PAIN! I know I didn't want to overdo it but I ended up doing 3 miles without stopping (10:08, 10:08, 9:35). The bike ride home was so much fun and we all had a blast. I am so happy to be back in New York. Montreal was a fun place to visit with all the people, languages, buildings, parks, and sights, but it's pretty flat and a little boring! New York is so diverse and full of twists, turns and undulations! :) Weight tonight: 172.. 1 pound lower than when we left and I pigged out on so many yummy foods! haha.

Total Time: 30:18 Total Distance: 3.04 miles Average Pace: 9:57/ mile

11:00 AM - Wet and rainy Friday up here in New York. Took Emma to meet her mom in Saratoga this morning and then came back home and got changed and went to the track with Jonn. We got there and did some stretching and eased into a jog on the nature trails and then finished up on the track. Jonn was nice enough to take it easy and run with me, even though his easy pace is probably around 7 or 8 minute pace. Little brothers are great! Was really ecstatic though because today's weight after the run: 170. Lowest weight since when I did the half marathon in January. Really happy about that! Overall felt really strong and ended with 3.5 miles total in 31:50, a little fast, but no pain! Now time to get ready for work.

Total Time: 31:50 Total Distance: 3.5 mi Average Pace: 9:05 / mile

9:20 AM - Got up and the sky was blue and sun was out. Good morning for a bike ride. First half was awesome, second half not so much. What I had not noticed on the way out was that the wind was picking up. Coming back there was a cross wind and alternating headwind that made it a slow go. I thought I was booking it, but then I would look down and only be going about 15 mph. Ugh. But I persevered and made it through it. On top of that I nearly scored a dog bite on my right calf. As much as I would not like to deal with a nasty dog bite, I have to admit it would have been nice, considering its owner is a rich lawyer :). Made it home though in one piece even though I had to struggle the last three miles after the dog incident blew my concentration. Oh well. Live to bike another day.

Best part of today so far: WEIGHT - 167!!! The lowest I've weighed since January 1st!!! So happy! Now if only I could knock off a few more pounds and get below 160 maybe?! 

Total Time: 2:14:20 Total Distance: 40 mi Average Speed:  17.9 mph

9:45 AM - Woke up and saw it was sunny and blue skies. Temps in the 70s. A little breezy but as I wanted to just get a good easy ride in today I figured it was near ideal conditions. Suited up and out the door. Felt good and no killer dogs today which was good. No other cyclists out on the roads this morning which is weird since it is Sunday and hence most people's long days, but did see two runners and a rather rotund grandma in a bikini with an eletric weedwacker trimming the grass by her mailbox. (I nearly fell off my bike trying to close my eyes to get the picture out of my head!). Ended up doing an easy 35 miles. Felt good. Now time to order textbooks :( . Not cool. Looking like it will cost me $400 even WITH scoring some good deals from half.com. Grr. Stupid private Catholic Colleges. *shakes fist. (Well it only cost me $320 through half.com -- amazing that you can order books from CA, WI, even Hawaii and get them shipped to you and it costs 80 bucks less than the campus bookstore that is 40 miles away ahaha!)

WEIGHT THIS MORNING: 166! Lowest all year!

Total Time: 1:59:40 Total Distance: 35 mi Average Speed: 17.55 mph

7:40 PM - Muggy and temps in the high 70s around dusk when I got home from work. Changed and went to the track. An awful lot of people there so I took it easy and started with a walking warm up and then when the track cleared eased into a jog. My legs felt pretty sore and tired today from all the biking and jogging this week. Doesn't help that I'm still on my feet about 8 hours a day at work too. Took it slow and played it by ear. Man is it ever a sweet, sweet thing to be able to call myself at least a jogger again! Ended up doing 2 miles in 9:52 and 10:10, then cooled down and stretched. 3 miles total for today. Felt really good though. This would be the third day within this week that I've been able to jog! My cousin and her babies are up this week and she said she'd like to jog with me at the track tomorrow, so hopefully I can keep my promise! Keep on truckin' FRBloggers!

10:00 AM - Harry had an eye appt today and I actually made one too as it has been about three years since I got glasses last and my vision is blurry. Ended up going to the track with the family before hand. I biked there and then eased into a run. 3 miles jogging with negative splits! 9:10, 8:40, 8:17, then cooled down with .57 miles of walking (34:30 total). Felt really good. Strong. Then biked home. Ride there was 14:55 and home was 17:55 (took it easy). The way there I really pushed hard, hitting 3 miles in 9:12. Felt like I was flying. New glasses should come sometime in the next week :). Temp right around 60 and sunny. Gorgeous out there :)  WEIGHT: 166

9:45 AM - Warmer than yesterday. Temps in the mid 70s. Slight breeze. Biked to the track and then stretched and eased into a jog. Ended up doing 3 miles without stopping again. Felt really great doing it! This truly is an awesome feeling. Felt good to get out there and enjoy the day. Biked home afterwards. Splits for the miles on the track were a tad fast, but I felt great and no pain. Tomorrow will probably just be a short bike ride after work. Splits for the miles: 8:28, 8:45, 8:30 .

5:00 PM - My mom and cousin wanted to go to the track again like we did yesterday, so I of course couldn't turn down an offer to tag along. I road my bike back to the track and stretched out and waited for them. They must have been slow getting the babies in the car because I beat them there for the second time! My legs were a little tired from all the hills on the bike today, but I eased into a jog next to my mom who is just starting to run again. She's had a muscle disease since I was in fourth grade, and she's taken to swimming, especially in the winter, but lately she's been trying to jog more at the track. As it is she usually walks a couple miles a day with my dad there when he gets out of work. We did realy well. Ended up jogging a mile in 9:24 and then walked 2 more miles briskly in 14:33 and 15:00. Coming home I took it easy until about halfway home and then pushed hard on the uphills to get home. Phew! I'm exhausted! over 2000' of elevation gain on the bike. Time for another shower and then food! :-D Feels so great to be a jogger woot woot!

5:40 PM - Got out of work and zipped home and right into riding attire. It is getting dark really early here with the sunset by about 7:30 each night. Depressing. Was determined to get in a decent ride so headed out down Jockey Street into Charlton. Took the usual roads into Charlton and then Ballston and back. Only bad thing about the ride ... the bugs. Too many bugs in the face and such. It was annoying to have to keep wiping bugs off. Note to self: invent "the BugGuard" for the cyclist! Total ended up doing 31 miles. Not bad after having a week off. Need to get back into shape now!

Total Time: 1:50:00 Total Distance: 31 mi Average Speed: 16.9 mph

Not exactly how I wanted to end my week... in pain. At work today I was helping carry out an outdated fixture mainly of metal that had one of those computer lookup things in them that customers can use to search store inventory. Well It took about an hour to get the computer components out of it, and then finally carried it to the dumpster with my General Manager... We got it halfway in and he decides to climb up on the dumpster and push it deeper into the bin. Bad idea. It slid out and I tried my best to get out of the way, but there was a gate in my way. It comes crashing down on my toe with a THUD. I thought my toe was broken, but somehow I got the toe out of the way.. well most of it. It filleted me like a fish, an inch and a half piece of skin. I didn't even know until I got inside and someone said "Benn are you okay?" I go "Yeah just my toe's sore." They go< "Dude your shoe is gushing blood!" Sure enough it was. I went upstairs and what could be worse than a foot injury like that? Not having a First aid kit. All we had in the store's first aid kit were bandaids and an opened packet of gauze. So I came home early because I said I needed to ice my foot and get it elevated if they expected me back into work tomorrow. Grr. I'm just frustrated. Was finally feeling things were on the up and up, now I have to go and take a couple more days off. Such is life though. Oh well, now I can get some ice cream and watch Ryan Hall in the marathon! Come on USA!! This is what I've been waiting for.. Hall, Ritz, Sell. Slicing and Dicing!

12:00 PM - Gorgeous day. Couldn't possibly ask for a better day. Blue skies, temps in the mid 70s. Sunny. We went to the town of Hadley to climb Hadley Mtn. (Emmy, Jonny, Harry, my mom, and me). Had a blast. You could see forever at the fire tower at the top! I have so many great pictures. I will try to post a couple tonight after I home from class this evening. Had great fun, and no achilles issues at all, and the left big toe was sore, but bearable. I put a big bandaid on it to ward off possible friction against the scabs. Felt really great. Was such a great hike. First one this year. Now I want to hike Marcy again! Total Elevation gain ~2200'. Way up: 54:00. Coming down: 40:00. Woot! And class last night was a blast. Hopefully it transfers over to today as well and the class tonight is fun as well.

10:30 AM - Sunny, humid. Temps in the mid 70s. Went running at the track with Emmy. We had fun, though it was humid so we decided to stop around 35 minutes. Good run. Not too much soreness from the hike the other day and no pain from the achilles. So, all in all a great run!

Total Time: 35:00 Total Distance: 3.75 mi Average Pace: 9:20/mi

5:45 PM - After work I went home and changed and headed to the track. Temp around 80 and no wind. Felt like an oven. Eased into a jog. Felt absolutely amazing. A little soreness in my hamstring from roughhousing with the brothers yesterday playing volleyball over the clothesline. Oops! Did 3 miles, stretched, and another 1.4 miles cool down. This was the longest run in probably 3 months I have done without pain!

Total Time: 39:47 Total Distance: 4.4 miles Average Pace: 9:02/ mi

11:40 AM - Finished all the work for one of my grad classes. Decided to take a study break and went to the track. Stretched and eased into a jog in my customary Lane #6. There's something I like a lot more running in the outermost lane - maybe it's because it's easier on my knees? Or maybe just less laps? Ended up doing 5 miles!!! Pain free without stopping. Stretched and did a 5 minute walking cool down. Felt amazing. Tomorrow I want to maybe do a recovery ride on the bike. Definitely feeling optimistic. Want to slowly build up to be able to at least jog the 15k this November!!

Total Time: 42:23 Total Distance: 5 miles Average Pace: 8:28/ mi! Holy monkeys!