unmotivated, even hoping for rain, but went the extra distance anyway.

Last night after work, David (my son) and I ran 3.625 miles. But I was NOT motivated and was hoping that the thunderstorm would end our run sooner than later.. it never did. Then after the 1/2 lap cool down he did a 100m sprint/race.... I won, barely. Not bad for an old guy.

All the biking stats are more tiring than the ride

All of last year I posted my miles and I believe I completed 4800+ miles last year, but the actual miles for each day? Well I do keep those in a spreadsheet for my benefit, but to remember to post them here in this blog is just too much work. I do have goals this year and I did get in some riding albeit fewer than last year at this time. I do think I am at least as strong as I was this time last year. This past weekend is what indicated that yes indeed I am as strong. I got in a 40+ mile ride at a 17+ mph pace on Saturday and an 81 mile ride in Sunday. Now I am thinking of doing the same this weekend. Saturday is going to be tricky though. My son has a wrestling tournament Saturday, so I will have to get up extra early, get in my 40, then come home shower, eat and head out to Clarkston for his tournament. I have also been running 2x each week this year... I feel an improvement on my fitness could also me attributed to this.

2011 Addison Oaks XC

Well this is my second year doing this race as Expert. I improved over last year by 11 minutes.

Last year’s Addison Oaks time (Expert men 30-39):
Lap 1: 31:34 Lap 2: 33:43 Lap 3: 35:33 Lap 4: 37:31 Total: 2:18:20

THIS YEAR’S Addison Oak time (Expert men 30-39):
Lap 1: 29:32 Lap 2: 31:43 Lap 3: 32:13 Lap 4: 33:57 Total: 2:07:24

The race had a total distance of 28 miles. I notice that the first 2 laps were aprox. 2 minutes faster and my next two laps this year were 3+ minutes faster. My goal for next year is to not only be faster but to have more consistent times. I did a single lap and some 2 two track the day before which was 8.6 miles as a "warm-up".

Last night Pauly and I rode a portion of the Grampian Challenge course I got in 32 miles. The course is not even close to being as physically challenging as our normal routes.

YTD Distance: 3002.05 miles.

Keeping up, but still behind

I have been riding every week but not consistent in posting the miles where on my blog. But I did keep the spreadsheet (Google Docs) up to date. I have so far this year put in 2913.45 miles (mostly dirt miles).

The quick summary from the last post til now:
2011-06-25 (Saturday) 15.500
2011-06-26 (Sunday) 30.000
2011-06-28 (Tuesday) 39.000
2011-06-29 (Wednesday) 7.500
2011-07-02 (Saturday) 50.000
2011-07-03 (Sunday) 25.000
2011-07-05 (Tuesday) 40.000
2011-07-07 Thursday 36.500
2011-07-09 (Saturday) 30.000
2011-07-10 (Sunday) 50.000
2011-07-12 (Tuesday) 7.300
2011-07-16 (Saturday) 16.000
2011-07-17 (Sunday) 41.500
2011-07-19 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-07-23 (Saturday) 14.000
2011-07-24 (Sunday) 13.000
2011-07-26 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-07-28 Thursday 26.000
2011-07-30 (Saturday) 40.500
2011-07-31 (Sunday) 44.500
2011-08-02 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-08-06 (Saturday) 26.000
2011-08-07 (Sunday) 24.000
2011-08-09 (Tuesday) 42.000
2011-08-11 Thursday 16.000
2011-08-13 (Saturday) 48.000
2011-08-16 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-08-18 Thursday 7.000
2011-08-20 (Saturday) 49.500
2011-08-21 (Sunday) 46.000
2011-08-23 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-08-27 (Saturday) 24.000
2011-08-28 (Sunday) 24.000
2011-08-30 (Tuesday) 40.500
2011-09-03 (Saturday) 28.000

Today's 28+ miles included 3 laps at Addison Oaks.

One mid-week ride, then I lost my riding journal

2011-006-21 (Tuesday): I got in 7.5 miles last Tuesday... I did record the miles there, and even though I would sometimes forget to update this blog I never forgot to add the miles there. Well my hard drive failed and I did not back up the spreadsheet. So now I have to recreate in. I will use an online (Google) spreadsheet this time. Being an IT guy I should have known better.

YTD distance: 1809.65 miles.

What's been going on lately..

You would think that with no blog updates that I must have been getting in a lot of miles. No I have just been busy with other things including work. This is about to change. I am getting back to the longer rides starting last Sunday. The following has been the extent of the riding since Memorial Day:

2011-06-02 (Thursday): One lap at Lake Orion HS Trail 7 miles.

2011-06-04 (Saturday): One lap at Lake Orion HS Trail 7 miles That night after this ride I noticed a flat... was a thorn in back tire.

2011-06-05 (Sunday): 3 laps at the Hanson Hills CPS XC race. My worse performing race this year. I lost my chain at least once on every lap and twice on the second lap. 30 miles.

2011-06-07 (Tuesday): Two laps at Lake Orion HS Trail 14 miles. This was a hot day.... I was exhausted afterward.

2011-06-09 (Thursday): 1 1/2 laps for the Lake Orion XC Race a fun race I got 4th place. 11.1 miles.

2011-06-11 (Saturday): A combination of The Red loop and Blue loop at Fort Custer for a total of 12 miles. I didn't do much riding... it was a TIRING weekend.

2011-06-12 (Sunday): One Full Fort Custer Timer Trail including warmup. 15 miles. I felt like I did alright but was not really happy with my placing. I did take a wrong turn that last couple miles which probably cost me a minute. Also I dented my rear wheel (not happy). I got 10th place.

2011-06-14 (Tuesday): One lap at Lake Orion HS Trail Just a brisk single lap, 7.3 miles.

2011-06-15 (Wednesday): Two Race laps at Lake Orion HS Trail and a 3rd Place finish in the Expert/Advanced class. I felt good and I recovered fast. I feel like I am getting used to the trail also seems like it takes to about this time every year before I get used to fast peddling. 14.5 miles.

2011-06-18 (Saturday): Three FULL laps at Lake Orion HS Trail I felt fine even after crashing, later that night I notices yet another flat! 22 miles.

2011-06-19 (Sunday): Back Roads and Addison Oaks for a total of 42 miles. A halfway decent ride... could have been more miles and more speed, but Pauly (my riding partner on the road rides) wasn't as fast as normal.... or maybe I am getting faster?

The YTD distance: 1802.15 miles... I am a bit behind in schedule... so I guess I have to get in more miles this next month!

Really good weekend of biking.

34 miles today. This means I exceeded my Memorial weekend goal by 12 miles. Today's ride was supposed to be a "recovery" ride, but the uphill sprints were just too temping. I was also really surprised at how I recovered from the other 118 miles. Trust me I felt the last 10 miles of my ride, and I was glad it was close to being done. Normally I sprint Heights Rd. all the way to my driveway (Mayer Ct.) but I just didn't have it in me. My weekend total is 152 miles.

Oh I almost forgot about the big group of Harley Riders on Lake George Road that were riding along side of us cheering us on. One dude said "Man you are making me tired" as he was doing a peddling motion with his legs. It was cool to be able to cruise along side them for almost 3/4 mile.

YTD distance at 1620.25 miles.