January 2011

Photo of the Day

I'm still going with the third year of my Photo of the Day project. I've been so busy lately that the quality of the photos has declined significantly (often just taking a photo of whatever I happen to see when the clock strikes 10 pm). I'd love to be able to devote more time to this (and a dozen other neglected projects).

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Running

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	13.54 Mile	3	4.51333 Mile
Total	13.54 Mile	3	4.51333 Mile

I recently realized I now have over nine years of training data logged, so I might as well plot some historical trends. Here is monthly running mileage for the past nine years.

See if you can spot the injuries. The good news is my knee is slowly getting better and I was able to do a little bit of running in January.

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Cycling

I climbed onto the trainer a few times in January, hoping I could spin the pedals. Each time my knee would be pretty sore for a few days.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	23 Mile	3	7.66667 Mile
Total	23 Mile	3	7.66667 Mile

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Walking

While cycling is still a problem and running is partially problematic, my knee doesn't mind walking at all. Mostly I just walked Will to daycare a few times per week.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	51.1 Mile	14	3.65 Mile
Total	51.1 Mile	14	3.65 Mile

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Cross Country Skiing

We had a few days of snow and a few days when my knee felt up to it, but really only one day where both of those conditions were satisfied.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	2.92 Mile	1	2.92 Mile
Total	2.92 Mile	1	2.92 Mile

February 2010 Stats

Photo of the Day

Too many indoor shots here. I need to get out more.

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Running

After taking some time to recover from the Riddle Run, I actually got did pretty good running in February. I was quite happy to see my heart rate stay below 150 for several miles at 7:30 pace during medium and long runs. I'm actually feeling quite fit at the moment.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	109.05 Mile	10	10.905 Mile
February	76.18 Mile	8	9.5225 Mile
Total	185.23 Mile	18	10.2906 Mile

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Cycling

On the bright side, I got my first (and only) outdoor training ride of the year in last weekend.

February 2010

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	18. Mile	5	3.6 Mile
Pocket Rocket	27.67 Mile	1	27.67 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	95. Mile	6	15.8333 Mile
Total	140.67 Mile	12	11.7225 Mile

January - February 2010

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	18. Mile	5	3.6 Mile
El Fuego	40.9 Mile	11	3.71818 Mile
Pocket Rocket	27.67 Mile	1	27.67 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	220.35 Mile	15	14.69 Mile
Total	306.92 Mile	32	9.59125 Mile

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	166.25 Mile	20	8.3125 Mile
February	140.67 Mile	12	11.7225 Mile
Total	306.92 Mile	32	9.59125 Mile

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Cross Country Skiing

Snow is good for one thing, I suppose.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	6.07 Mile	2	3.035 Mile
February	19.73 Mile	5	3.946 Mile
Total	25.8 Mile	7	3.68571 Mile

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Walking

I'm still not quite sure what got into me here. I ended up walking to work more times than I biked to work last month. I guess I'll blame the weather for the frequently-unsuitable-for-riding conditions.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	28.66 Mile	9	3.18444 Mile
February	51.45 Mile	16	3.21563 Mile
Total	80.11 Mile	25	3.2044 Mile

January Stats

Photo of the Day

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Running

Lot of running. Lot of running. Exactly the same mileage as January 2009.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	109.05 Mile	10	10.905 Mile
Total	109.05 Mile	10	10.905 Mile

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Cycling

I finally got my butt into gear and started riding on the trainer at night after Will (and usually Melissa) goes to bed. Riding on the trainer is not my favorite thing to do, but when it's dark and icy out the trainer is just about my only option.

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
El Fuego	40.9 Mile	11	3.71818 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	125.35 Mile	9	13.9278 Mile
Total	166.25 Mile	20	8.3125 Mile

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	166.25 Mile	20	8.3125 Mile
Total	166.25 Mile	20	8.3125 Mile

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Cross Country Skiing

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	6.07 Mile	2	3.035 Mile
Total	6.07 Mile	2	3.035 Mile

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Walking

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	28.66 Mile	9	3.18444 Mile
Total	28.66 Mile	9	3.18444 Mile

Commuteski

We got a fair amount of snow last night and into the day today. I skied the 1.8 miles into work, which in these conditions was A) faster than walking and B) safer than cycling.

Most of my trip follows Kirby/Florida Ave which has a lot of grass off to the side, perfect for skiing. It gets a little tough around the Assembly Hall where there's a whole lot of pavement and not much grass.

I expected to be pretty sweaty by the time I arrived at work, but I wasn't that bad. I had a brutal headwind the whole way there.

The End of 2009

Photo of the Day

My Photo of the Day project was a success for 2009. I took a photo every single day of the year and posted them all to Flickr. I created this nifty poster-sized image below, which is being printed as I type and will soon be hanging on my wall. It contains all 365 daily photos.

This project really took a lot more time and effort than I initially thought it would. On the bright side, I think I've improved tremendously as a photographer over the past year, and I have some really great photos that will last a lifetime.

I am tentatively planning to continue the project. My motivation has been to do so has not been great lately (and I've completely run out of ideas on a number of occasions), but I've recently found a few good sources for inspiration. So I do plan to continue for the foreseeable future.

Races

Date	Time	Place	Div
Tecumseh Trail Marathon
2009-12-05	04:20:06	80/595
FOLEPI River Trail Classic
2009-11-28	00:22:38	15/439	2
Allerton Trail Race
2009-10-25	00:35:38	5/462	2
Danville Memorial Day 5K
2009-05-25	00:17:54	5/398	1
Rockford Marathon
2009-05-17	*03:09:05	15/249	3
Twin Cities Twosome
2009-05-09	00:18:15		3
Masters Swimming 500 yd TT
2009-05-07	*00:06:48	1/2
Tri the Illini
2009-05-02	00:55:05	10/301	2
Illinois Marathon
2009-04-11	*03:22:15	151/1620	24
Hillsboro Roubaix Cat 4 RR
2009-04-04	01:57:31	19/100
Land Between the Lakes 23K
2009-03-14	01:46:32	6/61
Masters Swimming 500 yd TT
2009-02-25	*00:07:10	1/1
Riddle Run
2009-01-31	04:56:42	1/10
Siberian Express
2009-01-03	00:50:49	25/398
*personal best for the distance

Running

My running in 2009 was really one of extremes, both high and low. I started the year with some really strong races and a spectacular build-up to the Illinois Marathon, which ended in spectacular failure on my part. I bounced back quickly with a great run at the Rockford Marathon, only to notice a gradually worsening pain in my right knee (my good knee) less than a month later. This knee injury kept me from running for over 10 weeks, and severely cut back my cycling. Around Will's birth I finally started running again and slowly built up both my speed and my endurance. I had a couple of good (though not great) races this fall before the horrible experience for me that was the Tecumseh Trail Marathon.

Despite the significant time off, I still ended up running about 17 miles farther than in 2008. I guess training for three marathons and an ultra-marathon will do that. I took it easy running for a few weeks after Tecumseh to make sure I wouldn't injure myself again. I'm relatively healthy at the moment, but I'm far from peak condition. I really wanted to run the Siberian Express tomorrow morning, but a cold this week put a damper on that. Running is the one sport I have going for me at the moment, which isn't saying a whole lot.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	109.34 Mile	10	10.934 Mile
February	55.83 Mile	7	7.97571 Mile
March	108.792 Mile	10	10.8792 Mile
April	74.85 Mile	8	9.35625 Mile
May	64.5669 Mile	9	7.1741 Mile
June	7. Mile	1	7. Mile
July	0	0	0
August	16.3 Mile	5	3.26 Mile
September	39.78 Mile	7	5.68286 Mile
October	42.52 Mile	7	6.07429 Mile
November	112.5 Mile	11	10.2273 Mile
December	41.04 Mile	4	10.26 Mile
Total	672.518 Mile	79	8.51289 Mile

Cycling

Cycling was one of my disappointments for 2009. I started the year decent enough, but I was really concentrating a lot more on running for the Spring marathons. Once I injured my knee in June I cut way back on my cycling and never made up for it. I ended 2009 with less than half the miles on the bike as 2008. I only competed in one cycling race and one triathlon, despite my intention of focusing completely on these events after mid-May. Fortunately, both were fairly successful for me, so it wasn't a total loss.

Sadly, I don't think 2010 is looking that great for me. I'm horribly out of shape on the bike. I've struggled to keep up with my friends on the last few easy training rides I've done recently. I really need to get my act together here before it's too late. 2010 starts now.

December 2009

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	19.4 Mile	5	3.88 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	65.82 Mile	3	21.94 Mile
Total	85.22 Mile	8	10.6525 Mile

January - December 2009

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	611.15 Mile	139	4.39676 Mile
Big Red	12.07 Mile	4	3.0175 Mile
El Fuego	75.2 Mile	8	9.4 Mile
Pocket Rocket	329.78 Mile	44	7.495 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	1857.4 Mile	46	40.3783 Mile
Total	2885.6 Mile	241	11.9734 Mile

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	139.41 Mile	22	6.33682 Mile
February	232.35 Mile	23	10.1022 Mile
March	411.9 Mile	26	15.8423 Mile
April	372.18 Mile	27	13.7844 Mile
May	347.83 Mile	24	14.4929 Mile
June	209.21 Mile	23	9.09609 Mile
July	206.74 Mile	12	17.2283 Mile
August	275.94 Mile	22	12.5427 Mile
September	287.11 Mile	21	13.6719 Mile
October	219.2 Mile	23	9.53043 Mile
November	98.51 Mile	10	9.851 Mile
December	85.22 Mile	8	10.6525 Mile
Total	2885.6 Mile	241	11.9734 Mile

Swimming

I had a good start to the year swimming. My swims mysteriously stopped around August 12 for some reason. Anyway, I swam a personal best of 06:48 for 500 yards in May. I did swim 25% farther than I did in 2008. I really need to get back into this. Again, 2010 starts now.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	1.87452 Kilo Meter	3	0.62484 Kilo Meter
February	14.9504 Kilo Meter	6	2.49174 Kilo Meter
March	19.5224 Kilo Meter	7	2.78892 Kilo Meter
April	13.3502 Kilo Meter	6	2.22504 Kilo Meter
May	12.7806 Kilo Meter	7	1.82579 Kilo Meter
June	17.15 Kilo Meter	8	2.14375 Kilo Meter
July	15.55 Kilo Meter	6	2.59167 Kilo Meter
August	7.9 Kilo Meter	3	2.63333 Kilo Meter
September	0	0	0
October	0	0	0
November	0	0	0
December	0	0	0
Total	103.078 Kilo Meter	46	2.24083 Kilo Meter

Walking

I didn't plan to keep track of walking stats, but now I'm kind of glad I did (at least after my June knee injury).

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	0	0	0
February	3.75 Mile	2	1.875 Mile
March	0	0	0
April	8.51 Mile	4	2.1275 Mile
May	6.7 Mile	4	1.675 Mile
June	11. Mile	3	3.66667 Mile
July	29.52 Mile	10	2.952 Mile
August	35.02 Mile	14	2.50143 Mile
September	29.82 Mile	12	2.485 Mile
October	19.42 Mile	9	2.15778 Mile
November	41.17 Mile	12	3.43083 Mile
December	29.65 Mile	8	3.70625 Mile
Total	214.56 Mile	78	2.75077 Mile

Skiing

I'm certainly not good at skiing, but I enjoy it. There was just very little snow in 2009.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	26.67 Mile	6	4.445 Mile
February	0	0	0
March	0	0	0
April	0	0	0
May	0	0	0
June	0	0	0
July	0	0	0
August	0	0	0
September	0	0	0
October	0	0	0
November	0	0	0
December	10.36 Mile	2	5.18 Mile
Total	37.03 Mile	8	4.62875 Mile

Scooter

It sure seemed like more than that. Well, it was a transitional mode of transportation anyway.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	0	0	0
February	0	0	0
March	0	0	0
April	0	0	0
May	0	0	0
June	0	0	0
July	13.4 Mile	4	3.35 Mile
August	0	0	0
September	0	0	0
October	0	0	0
November	0	0	0
December	0	0	0
Total	13.4 Mile	4	3.35 Mile

Blog

I ended the year with roughly half as many blog posts as last year, with the rate of entries really dropping off in August. William has tried to pick up some of my slack with his blog.

Additionally, I assume you have noticed how all the titles of all my blog entries begin "The ...". It has been a lot more difficult to maintain this naming scheme than I originally thought it would be two years ago. In fact, there are a number of times when I thought about writing a short entry but never got around to it because I couldn't think of the right name. I think it has been holding me back a little. So it is with mixed emotions that I declare this will likely be the last entry to strictly follow that convention.

The End of February

Photo of the Day

Bike

The February weather wasn't great, but there were a few good days when I was able to get a small amount of quality miles in on the bike. I had two good road rides and a good mountain bike ride.

February

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	74.3 Mile	14	5.30714 Mile
El Fuego	16.86 Mile	1	16.86 Mile
Pocket Rocket	23.8 Mile	6	3.96667 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	117.39 Mile	2	58.695 Mile
Total	232.35 Mile	23	10.1022 Mile

2009

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	144. Mile	30	4.8 Mile
Big Red	2. Mile	1	2. Mile
El Fuego	39.92 Mile	5	7.984 Mile
Pocket Rocket	23.8 Mile	6	3.96667 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	162.04 Mile	3	54.0133 Mile
Total	371.76 Mile	45	8.26133 Mile

Run

I eased up on the running a bit after the Riddle Run. This probably isn't great for my training for the upcoming Illinois Marathon, but my body needed to recover. I chose to focus more on quality than quantity. Last Tuesday's Armory fun run was the fastest I've done all winter.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	109.34 Mile	10	10.934 Mile
February	55.83 Mile	7	7.97571 Mile
Total	165.17 Mile	17	9.71588 Mile

Swim

In February I ramped my swimming back up with the start of Masters Swimming for the spring semester. We had another practice meet and I also swam the farthest I've ever done in one go (4300 yards).

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	1.87452 Kilo Meter	3	0.62484 Kilo Meter
February	14.9504 Kilo Meter	6	2.49174 Kilo Meter
Total	16.825 Kilo Meter	9	1.86944 Kilo Meter

Cross Country Skiing

No snow = no skiing.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	26.67 Mile	6	4.445 Mile
February	0	0	0
Total	26.67 Mile	6	4.445 Mile

The Insight

In 2002 Melissa & I bought our first new car, a Honda Insight. The little two-seater hatchback has a hybrid 3-cylinder gas/electric engine. The funny aerodynamic shape has the lowest coefficient of drag of any production car available in the U.S. (at least at the time of its introduction, and possibly still). It also has the lowest emissions and best fuel economy of any car, then or now. This thing is great. I would say that it was ahead of its time, but I think it would be more accurate to say all other cars are behind their time.

Melissa named her car Iris, after her favorite flower. It was originally our second car, so the lack of a back seat wasn't a problem. When we moved to Nicaragua we got rid of my Civic and since we've been back in the U.S. we have only the Insight.

There have been a couple of times were it would have been nice to have a back seat (e.g. picking up people from the airport), but we've always managed to get by.

As you may or may not already know, Melissa & I are expecting a baby Ragfield this summer, so the lack of a back seat in our only car isn't going to work for much longer. That's why we've decided to sell our beloved Iris and replace her (probably with a much more luxurious, yet fuel-economy-inferior Toyota Prius). We test drove a Prius on Valentine's Day... it was very nice.

So I've decided to pay tribute to Iris, who has been like a member of the family the past seven years...

Iris in the Smoky mountains

I still don't know how we were able to fit all of our clothes, food, camping gear, and two bicycles completely within the tiny car.

Okay, so it may have been a little cramped in there

Here she is packed up to move out of our old house

Here she is with a Christmas tree

and skis

We've had good fuel economy

and terrible fuel economy

That's a pretty accurate range of the real world fuel economy we saw with Iris. In the summer it would regularly be in the high 50's to low 60's. In the winter it would regularly be in the mid-40's. The seven year average is just over 50 miles per gallon. In the summer of 2004, when I was bicycling nearly everywhere and Melissa was in Nicaragua, I spent around $20 on gas the entire summer.

One of the great things about this car is the instantaneous fuel economy gauge (the Prius has this too) that shows you exactly how good the gas mileage is at any given time. This has helped me learn how to drive to best conserve fuel. Surprise, surprise, the most important thing to do is slow down. But it's a little more complicated than that. It takes a light touch to get it just right. You have to connect with the car and feel how it reacts to the slightest changes.

Even with all the things we love about this car, she's not perfect. I found her lack of cruise control frustrating at times, but I made due. How does a car produced in this millennium not have cruise control? Also, the gas tank is on the wrong (right) side of the car (now I'm just nitpicking, but seriously, all gas tanks should be on the left/driver side of the car). Fortunately, the Prius remedies both of these shortcomings.

We'd love for Iris to go to a good home, so if any of you are even the slightest bit interested in buying her, let us know soon.

Good night

The End of January

Photo of the Day

Bike

Bike	Distance	# Rides	Avg per Ride
Bianchi	69.7 Mile	16	4.35625 Mile
Big Red	2. Mile	1	2. Mile
El Fuego	23.06 Mile	4	5.765 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird	44.65 Mile	1	44.65 Mile
Total	139.41 Mile	22	6.33682 Mile

The weather has been too nasty to do much recreational cycling. These miles were mostly commute. I got in one road ride and one mountain bike ride the entire month.

Run

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	109.34 Mile	10	10.934 Mile
Total	109.34 Mile	10	10.934 Mile

This was my highest monthly run total since I started running again.

Swim

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	1.87452 Kilo Meter	3	0.62484 Kilo Meter
Total	1.87452 Kilo Meter	3	0.62484 Kilo Meter

Not much going on here. I'm going to start swimming regularly again tomorrow.

Cross Country Skiing

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	26.67 Mile	6	4.445 Mile
Total	26.67 Mile	6	4.445 Mile

What the heck, I spent a lot of time skiing last month. I still don't think I'm quite as good at it as I was last year. It hasn't come back to me quickly enough.

The Glide

I'm starting to get the hang of skiing. As I watched the snow fall all day Friday at work my excitement grew. I had been hoping for one more good snowfall this season so I could get just a little more skiing in.

Friday night we had a dinner party with neighbors, then after that (around 12:30 am) I headed over to the Arboretum for about 20 minutes of skiing. The sledding hill was packed with (fairly uncooperative) people, most of which appeared to be college students. The snow was a little bit too powdery, but it was a good time nonetheless.

Saturday was supposed to be the big day. I ended up heading out to Allerton Schroth trail at about 2 pm. Unfortunately, much of the snow had melted (though it was still below freezing), and it was very spotty. That is, there was lots of bare ground that I had to try to avoid. So it was good, but not great. I thought the chances for good snow on Sunday were pretty slim.

Fortunately, I was proven wrong. The snow was actually fantastic. I again went over to the Arboretum. The snow was just a little icy, but not too much, and it was less spotty than it had been at Allerton on Saturday. In fact, I was skiing so well that I deviated from my original plan of doing a couple of loops at the Arboretum and just kept heading farther and farther out. There is some wooded area just across Windsor road. When I got to Windsor I took the skis off, ran across the road, put the skis back on, and kept right on going. The snow in this area was packed down and frozen just enough that I was able to glide nearly effortlessly along. After I skied in that wooded area for a while I crossed Race street and skied around at Meadowbrook park. I was now a few miles from home.

It felt so hot Sunday that I took my hat off. Then I took my gloves off (yes, skiing without gloves... it was weird). Then I had to roll up my sleeves. I had the foresight to bring a water bottle with me. Just when I reached to the back of my waist pack to get it the lid popped off and all my water spilled onto the snow. Crap. I guess it was time to head home soon anyway.

After lunch, I went back out for a 40 mile bike ride, which was somewhat enjoyable, though fairly boring. Everything looked like this:

You couldn't really tell where the ground ended and the sky began.