Sunday's Bike Ride

Today Daniel and I rode twenty-eight miles north along Parmer Lane. What a great ride--the temperature was in the mid seventies, with almost no wind. We started from the Avery Ranch subdivision shortly after seven AM and we rode for about two hours, only stopping at stop lights and when we turned around to head back to the start point.

We decided to turn around several miles after we crossed Highway 29. The land had become very flat. It was farmland, with corn growing off to the sides. We went for about a mile in this terrain. Then suddenly we reached a large valley and the road dropped away for what appeared to be several miles. Since we had only planned on going 15 miles each way and we were approaching that mark, we decided to turn around a mile early, giving us a 28 mile total instead of 30.

After we finished the ride, we retraced our path in the pickup. Since this is all new road and it is not on Google maps yet, we wanted to see what the hill we avoided was like, and what was at the end of the road.

The road continues for seven more miles and ends at RR 2338, about four miles from Andice and about seven miles as the crow flies from Florence. Ten years ago, who would have thought that I would be riding my bike to Florence! That was the last major town before Killeen, which is the home of Fort Hood. My perception of distance has changed significantly since I first began riding my bicycle.

On a future ride, we will have to extend our route into Florence. Maybe we will even make it to Killeen someday.

The ride north:


Exploring in the pickup:

Hot Ride at the Veloway

Daniel, Stan and I rode about nineteen miles at the Veloway this evening and it was hot! The hottest ride of the season, about one hundred degrees Fahrenheit at the start, according to Motionbased.

Here is the Motionbased report:

Monday Night's Trail Run

Daniel and I ran at Bull Creek Greenbelt this evening. We started at a new location in a small parking lot at the intersection of Spicewood Springs Road and Old Spicewood Springs Road. The trail was beautiful. We took a single track trail up along the tops of the cliffs. Occasionally we could get a wonderful glimpse out over the Texas Hill Country, but generally the tree cover was too dense to allow seeing very far. This was okay by me; the more trees that were between me and the sun, the better, since the temperature was in the mid nineties.

The first half of the run was over part of the same path we took last week. But where we turned down towards highway 360 last time, today we continued following the trail. Eventually, we hit a new road that had been bulldozed into the side of the hill. It was tragic; one moment we were in the thick woods, running along, and then suddenly we were in a rough road cut out of the forest. At this point we turned and headed back for our pickups.

We still have not found a trail to get down from the cliffs to the main parking lot at Bull Creek Park. We will have to continue searching next week.

Here is the Motionbased account of the run.

Dad's Day Du Race Report

Today I came in first in my age group (60+). Yippee!

My very first Du and to be able to pull this off. Yippee! Guess all my running and biking has trained me better than I thought.

Now I need to start planning and training for bigger and better duathlons. This one was a small one, with two 2 mile runs, plus 10 miles on the bike. The next one in this series is two 3.1 miles and an 18 mile bike ride.

I had gotten Yankz! to put on my running shoes in preparation for the event. These are stretchable shoe laces that allow you to slip your running shoes on and off during the race. I also got a big orange Homer bucket from Home Depot to hold my shoes and helmet at the transition area. Plus it was really handy for transporting things!

Some of the things I need to think about getting in the future:

• A lighter weight jersey, perhaps even a sleeveless one. (The one I used was hot and it covered the numbers they had marked on my arm.)
• Nipple guards to make things more comfortable during and post-race.

Some of the things I need to do to make the race better:

• Go out and drive or preferably ride or run the course.
  
• Practice my transitions.
• Do some brick work outs.
• Go someplace where we can practice with long stretches of road way.

It all started off on a sour note. On Saturday I rode my Cannondale bike down to Jack and Adams to get my package of race day things. My numbers, tee shirt, and instructions on how to get to the event. Of course I wore my Garmin - I wear it for any exercise - and it worked flawlessly. When I got home, it had been about a twenty mile trip. I connected it to the computer to download the route. Motionbased kept telling me that it could not connect to my Garmin. I tried several times testing to make sure the Garmin was in the cradle, changed where the USB connector was plugged, finally rebooting the computer. All to no avail.

About this time I noticed that the text that is normally displayed was not on the screen. So I tried to power up the unit and it would not power up. At this point I was pretty bummed! I was counting on using it during the DU, to pace myself and record all the details of my first duathalon.

I talked to Marilyn and she reminded me that I had got the Garmin at REI just over a month ago. So we took the Garmin back downtown to the REI store. They exchanged it with no problems, since we had bought it with our membership card. To say that I was very relieved was an understatement.

This morning started on a much better note. I set my alarm for 4:30, and then I woke up several times in the night just to make sure that 4:30 had not already passed. When at 4:30 the alarm went off, I quickly started getting ready. The first order of business, of course, was coffee followed by my oatmeal mix.

I planned to leave at 5:30 to arrive at 6 AM. However, I was about 15 minutes late in getting off.

When I got there I was very happy to see Andrea, Daniel's wife, there. It's good to have someone who knows the ropes in helping you get set up and ready. She is in serious training for the Sacramento Marathon so she was not going to do this race. She was there simply as our cheering section, picture taker, and support crew. I am not sure how many triathlons she has done, but she is quite experienced. She has been training with some of the best athletic training programs in the city. It was really nice of her to come out and lend support to us newbies. Thank you, Andrea!

At 7:15 we had the pre-race talk, where the officials explained the route, the rules and introduce various people. At 7:30 they start the people who were doing the Double Du, and five minutes later the people who were doing the Du.

Daniel and I ran together for the first two mile run. Then at the first transition he got ahead of me and slowly pulled away on the bike. I probably should have reeled him in on the first hill, but there was several people I was jockeying with and I lost track of him.

When I got back in from the bike ride I was feeling pretty good. I probably should have pushed harder. But this is where having ridden the course ahead of time would have helped. I never really knew what was ahead or how much more to expect.

The second two mile run was a different story from the first. I don't think I had run over a quarter of a mile when my legs became dead weights. My feet did not want to turn over but I plodded on. The only time I stopped to walk was at the turn-around and at the water stations.

Finally, about a quarter mile from the end I heard them announce that Daniel had crossed the finish line. A few minutes later I crossed the finish line.

We hung around and ate breakfast and a short time later they posted the results of the race. Andrea noticed that I had finished first in my age group and Daniel was fourth in his age group. So I hung around for the awards ceremony. I don't get many awards.

Yippee!

Here is what my Garmin recorded. Unfortunately I did not get the last running leg and I did not change to biking mode until I had gone for about half a mile on the bike.

Run


Bike


The official results are in.

Time: 01:27:09
Chip Time: 01:27:09
Bib: 144
Place: 49
Name: Gary Pickens
Gender: M
Age: 61
City: Austin
Class: M 60-64
Event: Dad's Sprint Du
Class Pos: 1
Gender Pos: 33
Run 2 Mile Rank: 48
Run 2 Mile Time: 21:42
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:52/M
T1 Time: 01:58
Bike 10 Mile Rank: 45
Bike 10 Mile Time: 40:14
Bike 10 Mile Pace: 14.9mph
T2 Time: 01:28
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:51/M

Thursday's Run

This evening I ran three and three quarters miles. It wasn't as hot nor as windy as the night before, but it was still pretty warm: about ninety-three degrees. I ran to the south end of the Highland Mall parking lot, then ran along Guadalupe Street to T.A. Brown Park, and returned home. I was in hopes that this would be about five miles, but it was still a little short. I will have to keep searching for a good five mile loop.

This evening I was also experimenting with the Multisport setting on my watch so the run is broken into three sections. I wish the Multisport was integrated into the Training Center. It seems to be a powerful feature but lacking in many ways. For example, it would be nice to use courses or advanced workouts with particular legs of the run.

Here are the Motionbased reports:

Wednesday Night's Bike Ride at the Veloway

Last night James, Daniel and I went for a bicycle ride at the Veloway. The temperature was near one hundred with a brisk wind out of the south.

Earlier in the week Daniel and I decided to go to the Dad's Day Du in Leander, TX. This will be our first duathelon so we wanted to practice a little. We decided to run one mile, ride about ten miles (3 laps), then finish with a one mile run. Everything went pretty much as planned.

The first mile was brutal with the temperature about ninety-eight in the shade, and we were not in the shade for most of the run. Things got better on the bike, perhaps it had cooled down a bit or more likely we had faster air flowing around us. My average speed for the three laps was sixteen miles per hour, unfortunately I slowed down a lot toward the end. I suspect that the run before the ride had taken its toll or perhaps the temperature. In previous rides I have been able to spin up the final hill and lose very little speed. This evening I just could not make it happen.

On the final run I wimped out, we did half a mile and when we ran past the pickup I decided I that I had enough. It felt like I was hardly moving but as it turned out my pace was similar to the pace I did on the first mile.

In summary, I think we are in pretty good shape for the race. Hopefully the weather will be a lot better. The thing I will have to watch out for is not to burn out on the first two races. Save some energy for the last race and pour everything into it.

I need to get my Garmin to do Multi-sport mode. I have read how to set it up and how it should behave. This evening I need to practice with it.

Here is the results of my workout:

Trail Run at Bull Creek Park

This evening Daniel and I decided to run at Bull Creek District Park. It is a little further from work than the Barton Creek Greenbelt, where we usually run, but I have heard so much about the trail that I still wanted to do it. The Hill Country Trail Runners used to have a Sunday run out there that I always wanted to do. I was a bit worried about the traffic getting over to it; I used to have to commute past the park and the traffic was always bad. This evening it was not bad, however; I guess it helps having school out.

It was a hot day for running (97 when we started out, down from 101 earlier in the day). I will have to consider getting a second hand water bottle. We both just about went through our bottles of water.

We started out following the creek north and east until we reached Spicewood Springs road. At that point there was a trail that headed uphill, so we followed it. Rather than following the canyon valley, it climbed up and along the cliffs that line the south side of the canyon. For the most part the trail was in trees and shaded; occasionally there would be an opening where you could look out across the canyon and see large parts of the Texas hill country. It was beautiful!

There was one small canyon along the way that was particularly secluded. I bet the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the canyon. It sure felt good.

Now we were pretty much lost and running low on water; we came to a fork in the trail and were unsure which trail to follow, but we met a walker with his dog. We stopped and asked him directions. He told us that the trail we were taking would take us back to highway 360. The other forks would take us further southwest and there would be several more forks along the way that we would have to figure out. So we opted for the 360 route, and had to run on the shoulder for about a mile to get back where we parked.

Daniel and I talked about doing the Dad's Day Du this weekend, its part of the Texas Du Series. It is in Leander, about 20 miles north of here. It looks like a small duathlon, perhaps a good one to get started doing triathlons.

Sunday's Ride

This morning I went out for a bike ride to the river and back. I wanted to explore new routes to downtown for several reasons:

1) I want to be able to get down to the river to run early in the morning. I really don't want to drive a vehicle down to the river when gas is four dollars a gallon or more.

2) I want to figure out a way to Mozart's coffee shop that allows me to ride my bike there. Mozart's is used as the starting base for numerous bike ride these days, including a ride to the farmers market and several rides out of town, to Lytton Springs and Creedmoor, for example.

Today I wore my new florescent-green jersey, the one Marilyn says makes me visible blocks away. I normally dress in quiet colors, but not on a bike!

Thursday's Run

I ran two and a half miles this evening using the new route. It was hot and windy; not quite as windy as the previous few days but still windy.

For some reason Motionbased is down so I can not upload my run. I will do it later.

Finally at 10 PM I was able to upload the file:

Today's Bike Ride at Veloway

This evening Daniel and I did a hot and windy ride at the Veloway. It was 97 degrees when we arrived and Daniel said that he'd heard that the winds were gusting to 35 MPH.

As a side note; Daniel and I are planning to ride the ACA Ride Saturday morning along Parmer Lane, the ride's called There and Back hosted by Somer. Hopefully, the wind will not be like today. It would make the first half the ride nice, the ride north. However, when we turn and head south again it would be another story.

Here is the Motionbased report (Motionbased seems much better today; it has been really sick for the past several days):

What a weekend! Wonder if I will lose any weight?

Friday evening I ran for about five miles, burning about 651 calories.

Then on Saturday I rode the Cannondale bike down to the ARC meeting in the city hall complex (we actually met at the Fit City space in the complex). They elected new officers and gave out the awards for the Spring Sprint Series. I came in fourth in my age group so I did not win one of the ribbons, however, I did get a new technical tee shirt and a cloth bag for storing things in. Which will come in handy for carrying things on the bike. I used a plastic bag for the trip down town. (1899 calories on the trip!)

I left my bike at Mellow Johnny's bike shop today while I was at the meeting. It worked out very well; they charged one dollar for the bike "parking" and they also provided a changing room and a place to leave my belongings. So I rode down in bicycling clothes and changed into something more appropriate for the meeting. (The meeting was for runners, not bicyclers!)

Mellow Johnny's was a busy place. I'm not sure what was making it so popular, perhaps it's the location adjacent to the farmers market, and just a few blocks from the meeting I was attending. They did say that there were about half a dozen other people who dropped off their bikes were headed to the same meeting I went to.

The next day, Sunday, I attended the Pfinally Pflugerville Hosted Bike ride sponsored by the Austin Cycling Association(ACA). The group leader was Eileen Schaubert and helped by Monte Morast.

We rode twenty-four mile route, with the last half into a strong head wind. I guess the wind was probably doing about fifteen MPH. Unfortunately, Motionbased has been down all day, so I have not been able to upload my ride.

I think there were about ten to fifteen people signed up for the hosted ride. About halfway though, some of the people went off the front, and so at the end there was only about four or five of us. All in all, it was a good ride. (1536 calories)

On Sunday afternoon I walked to the drugstore, and that burned another 231 calories.

So for the weekend I burned a total of six thousand calories!