TR Training: Week #5 & Week #6 Numbers

Week #5 consisted of 12-18 through 12-24 and contained a half week of power failure and the start of our trip out east for the holidays. The first few days of the week were spent coping with the cold, dark house and although I got out onto the mountain bike trails, it was with a saw and not a bike -- I spent a couple hours on Tuesday clearing about a dozen trees from the singletrack at Tolt-Macdonald Park. I got a good 29 mile training ride in on Thursday on the mountain bike and then spent the following days finishing some DVDs I was making as Christmas gifts and packing for the trip. Fortunately I was able to drop my bike off before the trip to have a new bottom bracket installed and have the rear linkage's bushings replaced. Again.

Week #6 took us from Christmas to New Year's Eve and although I had grand plans of getting to a gym at least twice while we were away, the truth was that every day was booked from early morning till midnight or so. My in-laws did have some exercise equipment at their house and Kristin and I were able to get a workout in Wednesday morning. She ran on a display-less treadmill while I scrunched myself onto a artifact of an exercise bike -- complete with gigantic sheepskin seat cover! We should have taken a photo of me on this bike, because Kristin said I looked hysterical on it. I could only ride it for 17 minutes before succumbing to some horrid knee pain thanks to me being way too tall for it. The seat was raised as high as it would go and my knee was still bent at least 45-degrees on the down-stroke. The exercise room did have some nice weight lifting equipment though, so I cut my losses on the bike and got in a bit of lifting.

Anyway, barring a locust invasion (which really wouldn't surprise me at this point), I think things should get back on track now in the coming days. I received some great cycling-related gifts for Christmas (several Sugoi jerseys, bib shorts, an awesome set of hex-wrenches, and a couple training DVDs, as well as some socks and tubes) and I'm anxious to get back on the bike. I'll pick up my mtn bike from the shop on Wednesday and, if all goes well, will get the new Ellsworth frame in a couple weeks.

Oh, and just in case I'm short on motivation, I just registered for Seattle-To-Portland. The 204 miles in a single day version. Time to get cracking!

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