dj whitebread

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Back at it

I am coming to my third week of really riding my bike consistently. I am starting to feel stronger, though nowhere near strong enough. The weight is starting to come off again, little by little, which is a good thing. I went under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time this week, so that made me happy.

I was feeling good this weekend on the bike, so I decided it was time for some humbling. I went ride up some of the hills near here in an effort to remind myself I'm still slow and heavy. Mission accomplished. Ladera Norte is still steep, they didn't change that. But in all honesty, it was good to get up it (however slowly).

I've been watching the stages of the Giro, and it is just so impressive how the leaders can power up those mountains. It is always nice to see the giant group that comes in many minutes down. It's nice to know that even professional cyclists aren't all climbers. (Though, comparably they can still fly up the climbs.)

Work is going well. I am excited. I should hopefully know very soon what the final destination is for next year.

Friday night we're heading to another cooking class at Central Market. Joanne Weir (a chef who had a show on PBS the year we didn't have cable, and thus we watched a lot of PBS) is teaching. I am really excited. I loved her show (I even have one of her cookbooks).

I am going out to the Driveway tonight to take part in our weekly crits. The series has been awesome this year under new management, and the addition of the 4/5 race actually gives me a workable target. We are doing the long course tonight and going up the corkscrew, so hopefully I'll hold on past the first time we go up the corkscrew. ;)

I'm going to get a little bit more work done before I get ready and head out on the bike to ride to the crits. I hope everybody's weeks end well!

Labels: cycling, driveway crits, Giro d'Italia, job search, Ladera Norte, personal training, work

3:46 PM |

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

To Catch Up

Last Thursday when I posted seems like eons ago.

We did officially pull the paper. I was okay with that... the results just weren't happening. Friday I ended up not getting a chance to swim or bike, so I went into the triathlon on Saturday not having swam since last summer.

However, before that, we went to the ballet on Friday night. We got to enjoy the new Long Center for the Performing Arts as this was the ballet's first performance there. Very nice place, it is going to make a wonderful home for the arts in Austin. The symphony performed the music live, which was a nice touch. Don Quixote featured a large amount of point work, and it was pretty amazing to watch the women stay up on their toes like that for so long. The lead female dancer of the performance put on an amazing show of dancing; it was truly impressive.

Saturday morning was the triathlon. Basically, it went as well as could be expected for not exercising for two weeks and doing absolutely no running or swimming training. I felt really good on the bike, I could have pushed harder, but I was nervous about the run. I was also probably using way too big of a gear the entire ride. I forget that you really want to push an easier gear at a much higher cadence to keep the legs fresh for the run. The run was the most absurd two miles I've ever done. I felt like an old man just shuffling along. My body just did not want to run at that point. Oh, and the swim. Yeah... let's move on. We both finished and got it done, so it was nice to get that done and on the books. I definitely want to do several more this summer... I really want to do a triathlon where I actually swim the entire distance.

Harry's bachelor was party on Saturday night. The highlight was probably our time at the shooting range. I rented a .45 caliber Glock... that was fun to shoot. Overall we had a great time, though the giant meal of heavy, Salt Lick barbecue was a little much in retrospect. Sunday we ended the weekend with a showing of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Crude, ridiculous, and very silly... but I laughed the entire time.

I'm leaving for Baton Rouge early on Thursday morning so that I can make it there in time to do the Tuesday/Thursday training race out on river road. I really would like to get on the bike today or tomorrow to try and get some work in the legs so that it isn't a total shock come Thursday. I would at least like to postpone the inevitable drop for a little while.

The Giro is in full swing. So far it's been a good tour, though it's always sad to see so many guys break their collarbones so early. However, my fantasy team member Mark Cavendish took a crazy sprint today to bring me some quality points. He has made it clear that he may not stay in the Giro through the mountains to contest the later sprint stages. Hmmm, here's hoping he feels good and decides to stay in.

So the paper deadline has come and gone. It is sinking in that the next deadline in front of me is that of my dissertation. Finally, it has all come down to this. It's kind of crazy... to think this thing you've been thinking about for so long has finally arrived. There is a lot of work to be done, though, so I really need to stay pretty focused from here on out.

I hope everybody has a good week.

Labels: Baton Rouge, dissertation, Giro d'Italia, pro racing, Rookie Triathlon, training

2:44 PM |

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Goings on

The paper got off. The Lagniappe blog has more details.

Di Luca is continuing to keep the Giro under control. It has been some quality racing.

Been catching up on WoW. The game still rocks. The changes in the most recent patch were well done. Blizzard continues to impress me as a company that seems to actually listen to its customers.

Went for a ride yesterday. For being on my bike a little under two hours, and really not going hard at all, I should not have had an average heart rate of 154. The heat got me, and I was I think dehydrated before I even started. Luckily, we cut short the original planned ride. I didn't completely bonk myself out. Got a good bit of sleep last night, however. I'm going for another ride today, hopefully the results will be much better.

This of course implies that I'm not doing the crit tonight. I will gladly pay 10 dollars to get destroyed. However, I will only do it if I think I can improve and hang on longer. The lack of riding in the last few weeks, however, will not help that and going for a normal ride will be of much more benefit. I think next Tuesday I'm doing the Tuesday Nighter. It is about time for me to man up.

This weekend is Greg LaBorde's bachelor party at a lake house out on Lake Travis. Should be a good time.

Have the last two episodes of Heroes on the DVR. Also have the last two episodes of Studio 60. I'm glad to see it did in fact come back. Not sure if they renewed it for next season, though. Hopefully.

Oh well, hope everybody is doing fine.

Labels: Giro d'Italia, work, WoW

2:57 PM |

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The Killer strikes again

Liquigas showed an amazing team effort today and DiLuca held off a few other people to take the stage and get himself back into la maglia rosa. Amazing riding... the Giro has been very entertaining so far.

Labels: Giro d'Italia

1:14 PM |

Monday, May 14, 2007

Giro d'Italia

I caught the last two kilometers of today's Stage 3. Petacchi put in a fantastic, superman sprint. He seemed to be out there in front for 200 meters. I was really happy to see him win, he has had a rough season so far. I think there are still a lot of sprinter stages left, so there will be many more opportunities for he and Robbie McEwen to dual it out.