Happy Easter!

It is a beautiful Easter morning here in central Kentucky. God is so good to us! This morning as my family and I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are once again reminded that He lives - up from the grave He arose. Praise the Lord, He rose!

The Bike

Well is has now been three weeks since I have been on my bike. The job change has really messed up my schedule. The few days it has not been raining, I have been unable to get time to ride due to work. I am hoping that the weather will be nice enough tomorrow that I can get a nice long ride in.

Half Marathon

After not exercising at all since the 18th of March, I ran my 2nd half marathon this past Sunday. I had a great time. Cameron, Brittney, and Tony from my church ran it also. It was their first have marathon. I am so proud of them. They each started training back in late December with the goal of running this half marathon with me. They all did great. Cameron finished about 30 minutes ahead of me and Brittney and Tony finished about 10 minutes ahead of me. Annie, Ryan, and Cathy were there to support us. It was a beautiful morning in Xenia, OH. We all had a great weekend. My time was slower than I had planned, but I was not surprised given the fact that I had been off the road since starting my new job.

Here is a picture of the runners prior to the start of the race:



Here is a picture of the whole group taken after the race. From left to right: Ryan, Tony, Cathy, Brittney, Cameron, Annie, and me.

Really Nice Ride

Today was just a beautiful day. It was 60 degrees, sunny, and calm at 5:30 this afternoon when I started my bike ride. It was a really great 27 mile ride! Central Kentucky is such a beautiful area. The fields are full of calves this time of year. They are really fun to watch. They get wide eyed as they see me riding up the road toward them along the fence line. When I get close, they run away frightened for a short distance and then turn and look at me like I am some two wheeled monster. I laugh every time. I look forward to more days like today this spring! I need to take my camera with me next time and take a few pictures to post.

Mild Hypothermia?

I went for a planned 30 mile ride yesterday in a 40 degree rain. Needless to say that I was soaked fairly quickly. I was wearing a rain coat but you still get soaked, just from the inside. Anyway, I was really cold by the time the ride was over.

As a side note, I had to end the ride early due to the road being closed as a result of a fatal car accident. Rather than ride the additional 12 miles on the safe detour route, I called Annie and she came to pick me up in the truck.

I was unable to get warm last night and really didn't feel all that well. This morning I was out at 5:30 AM for my planned 10 mile run. It was 40 degrees, foggy and drizzling. By the time I reached the 5 mile mark, my legs felt like lead, I was soaked through and shivering. I ended the run and came home. After breakfast, I collapsed in the bed. I ended up missing church and sleeping for more than 3 hours. I am finally warm but still feel really weak. Lesson learned here is that when it is cold and wet, stay home! Either that or invest in some wool cycling wear and a better cycling jacket.

2nd Group Ride

I went out for the "C" ride this evening. The majority of the riders there were "B" riders and quickly left 4 of us behind. The other three riders could have easily left me as well as they were all strong riders. But they were nice enough to hang back with me and teach me about pace lines, drafting and riding fundamentals. Really nice people. I had a great 20+ mile ride with an average speed of 14.1 mph. The ride leader discussed scheduling a "C" ride for Thursday night. I hope he does... I will be there. I am getting hooked on this group riding.

First Group Ride

Well, this past Saturday I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and did a group ride with the Bluegrass Cycling Club. I joined the club back in December after lurking via their website most of last year. The club held their season opening ride on Saturday and I decided to join them for a group ride to see what it was all about.

I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by the number of really thin and fit cyclists with really nice road bikes. There I was with my steel touring bike and still 40 pounds overweight. Prior to the ride starting, I mingled and listened to various groups discussing the upcoming ride. Unfortunately, the ride sign up sheets indicated distances but not pace for each group so I had no way of knowing which group was going to ride which pace, "A", "B", or "C". While listening to a couple of ladies discuss how this was going to be their first ride of the season after not riding hardly at all over the winter, I gambled that their group would not be too fast paced.

So as the faster groups of predominately male cyclists departed I stood waiting for "the ladies" to roll out. As their group departed, I found that there was only one other male riding with the group. So be it. I am a realist, I am too old and still too fat to let my ego get in the way of my riding with the "girls". By the way the "girls" were all very strong riders and could have easily dropped me at will. The were riding the slow pace by choice not because it was the best they could do like me. Anyway, I had a great time! At the second turn, we stopped to let a couple of the ladies catch up and the ladies introduced themselves to me. Overall, they were very friendly and very welcoming. It was a very pleasant experience in spite of the stiff wind we faced on the return leg of the ride.

I enjoyed the group experience so much that I have decided to join a "C/B" group ride scheduled for this evening. The wind is supposed to be much calmer this evening so I hope to be able to keep up or at least not get dropped too early in the ride. It is posted on the calendar as a planned 21 mile ride. I have ridden more than twice this distance by myself, but probably at a much slower pace. I think I need the group experience to push me to push myself to work harder than I would on my own. You never know, maybe the ladies will be there again tonight for me to ride with...

101 lbs lost!

Well, as of this morning I am officially down 101 lbs!. The weather here is great today. I had a great bike ride into work this morning. It is supposed to be 60 this afternoon for my ride home.

I need a Schwinn Stingray!

I love this picture!

Back Pain Running

Tonight was the first time trying to run since my back went out last Wednesday morning.  It id not go well.  1/4 mile into my run my back was killing me and I had pain radiating down both of my legs.  I ended my run and then got on the bike and rode it for 17.7 miles.  By the time my ride was over all of the back pain was gone.  It looks like my running days, at least for a while are over.  I am just thankful that I can still ride my bike with relatively little pain.  It is still disappointing because it does not look like I will be able run the half marathon I was planning on in April.  I will still go and walk it to support the group from church which is preparing for it and planning to run it.

99.2 lbs Lost

Well, as of this morning I have lost a total of 99.2 lbs.  I was hoping to reach the 100 lb lost mark by the end of January but missed it by .8 lbs.  I had my highest bike mileage month yet with 267 miles ridden.  And this is with being off the bike this past week due to low back issues.  My goal for February is to ride at least 300 miles, (if my back allows me to do it) and to lose the next 6 lbs.

Back Pain

Back pain has kept me sidelined this week from any activity.  Back in 2000 I had problems with a bulging disc in my low back.  I have not had any problems since.  But, this past Tuesday morning, I went to sit down and felt a stabbing pain in my low back.  It was a rough couple of days.  The icing and Advil have helped.  And, I can once again walk, stand, and sit.  I am not sure what caused the flare up, whether it was the running, the cycling, or both.  I will take today off and then take a short ride on the bike tomorrow to see how it goes.  I am not sure about running.  This may end my plans on running the half marathon I have registered for on April 5th in Xenia, OH.   I will see how it goes this next week.  

As an interesting side note, I lost 3.5 lbs this week.  This is my largest weekly loss in several months.  It is interesting that it occurred while having virtually no physical activity.  It will be interesting to see what my loss is this next week with very light activity compared to what I had been experiencing working out heavily.