Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 60' on the trainer. 180W. HR 122.

Shorter ride as Megan had a meeting. I could use a shorter day anyway. Saddle sore creeping in and Thursday Night Dirt tomorrow. Should probably run later as it is Global Running Day. 

Our friend is coming to watch the boys so Megan and I can go to dinner. We haven't been out since the boys were born. I haven't been to sit down inside at a restaurant since before COVID hit. Think we will still sit outside.

We had a good dinner at White Horse Inn.

PM: 3.5+ hours on the fat bike. HR 159.

Thursday Night Dirt. We rolled around 18+ and there was a photgrapher, so I got a great shot of me coming down Sheldon. People were going to RJ's but I don't feel like going out to a bar just yet. The beer stop that started during COVID has come to an end, which made the ride feel anticlimatic, but I did set my fastest time on the Dequindre hill and I dropped people on that hill and Campground. 

AM: 2:20 on the fat bike. HR 135.

The air was really fresh and clean. Easy breathing. Went through Metamora and explored a few new roads.

Bike shop called and got a line on my bike in a different color that was directly on the website, so the bad thing is no team discount, but I have secured the bike. I think the other colorway was way too busy. Hopefully should be in with a week or two, but we are heading to Maine around mid June anyway, so I will likely have to wait until we get back to pick it up.

I think was the day I got a request for an interview to get a class or so at Lawence Tech.

AM: 7.4 miles, averaged 9:26. HR 147.

Did some strides. The air felt amazing. Longest run in a little while. I am thinking I might pick a low key running race for fall. There's a local 8 miler, which could be fun as I could do 8-mile tempos and get a sense of what I could run. Not sure how it will work off 1-2 runs a week, but I do know my endurance is about as good as it has ever been (at least cycling). Now that I will have a gravel bike again, I have some plans for that as well. It is just tough with little ones, such is why I think I will return in some fashion to running races. Nothing serious, just something to keep things interesting. Cycling is still my primary sport.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 131W. HR 105.

I have an interview tomorrow to teach a few classes at another university. It seems promising.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 168W. HR 123.

Got the offer to adjunct at Lawrence Technological University. They don't pay as well as Oakland, but it is much better than other places. Adjunct pay actually recently went up and they are trying to expand enrollment. I might end up teaching 5 classes total if I end up with a third class at Oakland, but I am taking whatever I can get. 

AM/Lunch: 90' on the trainer. 241W. HR 153.

Strong effort. 20' @ 283W toward the end.

AM: 8.2 miles, averaged 9:05. HR 153.

Very comfortable running weather, so I went for it. Actually did feel like running. Did 5 x 1' on/off after the hour. Smashed my quads up a bit. That happens when you run little and inconsistently and try to run fast. Hopefully I didn't hurt them too much for the group ride tomorrow.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 127W. HR 108.

PM: 3:38 on the fat bike. HR 149.

We got a pretty soaking rain as we headed north and we got blasted. Muddy and gritty. Nothing like riding next to a few guys with $12,500 bikes and running gravel through their drivetrains!

HRM a little glitchy, but I figured out that the battery is low, which I guess I had forgot since it was relatively new somewhat recently, but I have a few hundred hours already this year.

AM: 90' on the trainer. 145W. HR 108.

Megan went to Toledo to watch our youngest nephew. The boys and I had a long, but very good day together.

AM: 14.3 miles, averaged 9:25. HR 153.

Just felt like running. I was enjoying myself and the weather was highly favorable, so I decided to test my endurance. My aerobic system can go for a while, but my muscular skeletal system definitely needs to rehardening (to be expected). Ran the Polly Ann for a while, which is more than I have run on, then the safety paths, and then some of the dirt roads in Oxford. Legs started to not want to move around 2:05 or so. Capped it at 2:15 and walked through the back field into the subdivision. 

Definitely my longest run since we bought the house. I would need to go back through my training to see when I went over 12 miles, which I think was the longest I did last fall.

Toying with doing a half marathon this fall to keep things interesting. I imagine I will only do two runs per week (something with some quality and then a long run with some quality at times). 

AM: 3 hours on the trainer. 113W. HR 98.

Legs were pretty beat up from running. This actually seemed to help. Long time, but very low intensity.

PM: ~1 hour walk with Megan and the boys. HR 89.

AM: 5.2 miles, averaged 8:34. HR 158.

Tried to run slow, but the person who was supposed to do the gutters and take down the lights from the previous owner decided the roof was too high even though I gave Megan an estimate on the phone. Stress and travel anxiety.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 160W. HR 114. 

AM: 2 hours on the trainer. 166W. HR 110.

HR likely off as the monitor has been. Ordered a new one with replacement. They are going to replace every damn one of them the second it doesn't work too. 

Both the bike I ordered from the Specialized website and the one I ordered through the shop came in the same day. I decided on the one I originally ordered because it had the discount. They built up the bike and it was ready in 3 hours. Of course I couldn't pick it up as they hadn't credited my account, but I did go see it.

Off to Maine tomorrow. Well, to New York and then Maine.

Off.

Travel to Maine. We got to Canandaigua, New York. The boys did very well. We ordered some food and went to pick it up. Always weird eating where you kids are sleeping but we didn't seem to both them. 

Off. 

Got to my parents' house around 8:00 or so. The boys did well. Charlie had a rough last 90', but the second day can be tough. They only had their Kindle Fires for the last part, so maybe an hour at most.

Off.

Should have gone running, but didn't even with lots of people around it is hard to leave the boys in an un-babyproofed house and Mom has to constantly wait on Dad.

Off.

The day of my mom's party. Dad had a couple minor meltdowns, but kind of hard to tell the difference with how he is now from what he was, but he has changed a lot since the last time I saw him. He has started rummaging, which is basically what it sounds like (collecting objects arond the house with no apparent logical connection). 

Should have gone running. A few days off are fine, but I needed to get out more than the one time we did (on Father's Day).

PM: 4 miles with Megan, no watch, which I apparently forgot.

It was in the low 50s and raining, but we got it done. Weather turned cold this day and the next day.

Off.

I don't recall what we did this day.

Off.

This was the day we went to Duncan's soccer at Erskine. School looks a bit different than when I was there, but not much. It was a bit hard to watch the game as the boys were running around and we were trying to feed them.

Off.

Took the boys to DEW Animal Sanctuary. They enjoyed it. 

Off.

Started back to Michigan. I was wildly anxious this morning. It was better toward the second part of the day, but I could barely function the first part. Not having an easy time with my dad's condition. We stayed in Utica, New York. The boys slept A LOT. We had Taco Bell for dinner. It's been a few years. Magical stuff.

Off.

Last travel day back to Michigan. We picked up colds from my nieces and nephews. The boys seem unaffected, expect Sawyer, who show some signs the last day or so in Maine. Picking up my new bike tomorrow with any luck.

PM: 1 hour+ on the new bike. HR 152.

No power numbers as I don't think the power meter was ever install, which makes sense because I couldn't add the sensor. Took down a KOM in one of the neighborhoods.

HR was pretty high as I am having moderate anxiety and am dehydrated from travel. Nice to be back on a drop bar bike. It is snappy and agile. Very fast and light. 

The boys are still very tired. They took a 3-hour nap today.

Got an email from a few days ago that I will have a third class at Oakland this semester and a decent possibility of a fourth, which would mean turning down one of the classes I got at Lawrence Tech. I told Megan I would just take them all, but she thought it would be too much, and I think she is right. 

AM: 1 hour+ ride. HR 136.

Went back to sleep on the couch after feeding the cats. The boys got up, but then fell back to sleep. And I didn't get them until almost 8. I went back to bed for about an hour as my energy is completely drained. Went out for a easy ride and went back to bed while the boys napped. 

Feeling more tired today and slighly confused, like this might be a head cold. Probably should take a COVID test, but haven't. Anxiety up and down, but nothing all out. Trying to hydrate and get nourishing foods and rest. 

AM: 60' on the trainer. 171W. HR 134.

Issues with the new bike already. Left shifter battery not working properly. I took it in to have that fixed and the power meter installed that was never installed. I think it was probably rushed to get it out to me, but I am worried things were missed. The brake hood cover wasn't quite seated properly either. 

PM: 3.1 miles w/ Megan and the boys, averaged 10:28. HR 142.

Had a very tough day mentally with anxiety. Came in waves, and had some near panic attacks on the run. I went to bed right after the boys did and slept mostly through the night from 8:00 to 7:00 or so the next day. 

AM: 120' on the trainer. 199W. HR 148.

Felt much better toda. Deydrated from travel still and quite tired, but happy to be feeling better than I did yesterday for sure.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan and the boys. HR 148. 

Pace was off due to a GPS error. Megan and I made a list of daycares for fall. A much better day mentally for sure. Fighting a mild cold, which is both fleeting and lingering on different day. I haven't heard anything on the bike. I need to deep clean my fat bike so that if I want to at least get outside I can, but I hate spending all that time cleaning bikes. Not much choice at this point I suppose. I will likley miss another week of Thursday Night Dirt. Oh well. Try to make most for the rest of the semester.

AM: 120' on the trainer. 210W. HR 154.

Tried to keep it moderate than add some pressure over the second hour. Still feeling sluggish and was probably better to go very easy. 

PM: 4+ hours. 152W. HR 157.

I got a call last night that they fixed the issue with my bike. I picked it up in the morning and decided to do Thursday Night Dirt.

It was pretty warm out. I started with A group and we started hard up Sheldon to grab a segment. That pretty much killed me as things continued to be quite fast. I got dropped before 31 Mile, which is the earliest I have been dropped. I waved off Frank to let him go (he got shelled hard too). I was bummed that I got killed, but knew I was still recovering from being sick and should have done B group. Ended up breaking off and heading north and then west toward home. High effort the whole time. Stopped in Metamora for a selection of drinks to get me home. I was a little ill when I got home, which I think was all the sugar from the Gatorade and the slushy Coke thing I drank.