In a fit of madness and with the poorly optimized decision to save the Active.com registration fee by doing it person, I signed up for the Seattle-to-Portland (STP) bike ride at the Bike Expo this weekend. (The cute woman at the sign-up counter egging me on in front of my two sons didn't help, but hey, I got a low number - 358 - and I saved $5.25!)

This is a 200 mile bike ride between Seattle and Portland (as evidenced in the name of the event. I'm doing the somewhat more sane two day ride; the real crazies do this in a day. Of course, since I've never ridden more than twenty miles in a stretch, I have some work ahead of me to get to back-to-back centuries before the July 15 date.

Who else is in?

After my long run yesterday, I figured I shouldn't run again today, so I went for a bike ride instead (yes, a bike ride on a real bike, outside and everything!)

I took my Trek out for an hour-long spin, riding over the I-90 bridge from Bellevue to Mercer Island, about twelve miles in all. It wasn't a particularly long ride, but it's pretty hilly.

So, it turns out that hills matter. This is obvious, but especially so when you're at the bottom of a big hill. After my first ride, which was twenty miles, I figured twelve would be easy. Well, that first ride was flat; today's wasn't. As I rode down this huge, mile-long hill (Eastgate Way) on the way to the bridge, I thought to myself, "Self, this is going to suck coming back up." And so it did.

I have a lot more strength training to do. My legs are a wreck now between the run and the ride. I was thinking about doing the Chilly Hilly ride next month, but now I'm not so sure.

Still, it was great to get outside and the ride felt good, feelings of near death notwithstanding. I may learn to like riding yet...

I did my first run over an hour today (1:02:43 to be exact.) This worked out to be 6.18 miles, easily my longest distance as well. The previous longest run/distance was around :40 minutes/3.5 miles. Average pace works out to be a little over ten minutes a mile -- not too bad for me.

I was afraid that boredom would be an issue, but I had tunes, which seemed to alleviate most of those concerns. I also ran with a water bottle in a hip carrier (first time I've need to carry water.) The weight and the sloshing didn't bug me.

I felt strong through the whole run, even sprinting up to a blistering (for me) 6:20 pace for the last .2 mile. I wasn't sure I could go for an hour/six miles, so I'm actually kind of proud of myself for getting this done. Hopefully, my shins won't fall apart now...

I did my first swim/bike brick yesterday; this is a swim workout followed by a bike ride. I did a pretty intense swim. My main set was 400m, 200m, 100m, and 50m at my fastest pace (albeit with a lot of rest in between). I haven't swum that fast for a long time.

I had a few moments of "flow", the semi-nirvana state of everything working right; my stroke felt fast and efficient and my turns were crisp. Inevitably, my arms would get tired and my lungs would ache, disappating the "flow". I'm still a lot slower than I was during my high school swimming days, still, the swim felt good.

When I went to the locker room to change for the biking, I found myself a little dazed. I made a bunch of big mistakes like putting my biking pants on backwards and then my shirt on inside-out. I had a hard time concentrating. I had read about the difficulties people have during their transitions in triathlons, but this was my first real experience.

Once I got on the bike (a stationery spinning bike, actually), I found my legs didn't work quite right and everything seemed harder than normal. I don't normally start my rides already tired, so I suppose this is to be expected. After a few minutes, things settled in, and I felt OK. Watching TV (Seahawks game highlights -- go Hawks! -- and the first part of Total Recall) helped pass the time. I threw in a bit of weight lifting afterwards for good measure.

I wasn't sure I could swim for 30min and ride for 60 so it felt good to finish it without feeling like I needed to die. Those will be longer than the times I need to sustain for a sprint triathlon. I just need to be able to run 5K after doing the swim and bike... And I definitely need to practice transitions.

To start off the new year right, Bruce, Malcolm, and I ran in the Resolution Run 5K at Magnuson Park, an old naval air station here in Seattle on Lake Washington. It was reasonably warm for January in Seattle (high 40's) with no rain, but it was bit windy -- in our face for the outbound leg. The course was flat (a nice change), so there was really no excuse for a slow race (other than being fat, old, and slow with aching shins).

Bruce and I both ran personal bests today. I finally crashed through the 27 minute barrier, running 26:35 (actually 26:24 if you subtract the 11 seconds it took to get from where I started to the starting line.) I felt pretty good through the whole race, although my average pulse is still higher than I'd like (183 actual).

This was Malcolm's first run with us and his first 5K in a long time; he came in all humble thinking he'd run nine minute miles and wound up crushing me by 20-30 seconds. Sandbagger.

We skipped the optional "trip-n-dip" into Lake Washington at the end. The 47 degree water didn't sound very inviting. The beer and chili afterwards, however, was very nice. All-in-all, it was a great start to 2006.

I'm laying out my goals for 2006 now and will post them here shortly. I think they will include a sprint triathlon, the STP (Seattle-to-Portland bike race - 200 some odd miles over one or two days), and a bunch more running races. I may move up to 8K and 10K races; I'm not sure if I really want to push for a half-marathon. We'll see.

Click for a larger view of the route. Ignore the finishing time. Not sure why it's so much shorter. Cool image generated by SportTracks.

I just installed the v3.00 firmware upgrade for the Garmin Forerunner 301. In addition to some bug fixes, the major improvement in this release is the addition of support for MultiSport.

With this upgrade, you can configure the Forerunner for events like triathlons. You specify the order and type (run, bike, other) of each leg. After you start the event, you hit the "Lap" button to transition from one leg to the next. You can even have it record your transition times (hit the "Lap" button at the start of the transition and again at the end). I used this feature yesterday on my brick (run, bike, run) workout. Worked like a charm!

Click here for the upgrade. Click here for the updated user guide (Owner's Manual Rev. D)
Click here for a page describing the bug fixes and previous firmware upgrades. Good accessories too.

Yesterday morning, Bruce and I went for a bike ride. This was my first real ride on my new Trek 1500 road bike, so I was a bit anxious. Frankly, I wasn't sure I'd like it, never really having done much road biking, plus I had a host of other anxieties including dealing with the pedal clips, doing an aerobic activity for 90 minutes (longer than I've done in recent history), and staying warm on a bike on a cold day. Plus, I didn't want to look like a newbie boob. I had lots of new cycling clothes including tights (eek!), a headband (to keep my ears warm), and a bright yellow jacket.

Fortunately, my fears were foundless. I really enjoyed the twenty mile ride on the Sammamish River Trail. We kept a pretty good pace (averaging 14 miles per hour including a stop for a few minutes to fix my cleats after a screw fell out), I managed to handle the pedals OK, and I was very comfortable temperature wise (with the exception of my feet which were very cold. I need some booties for cold weather riding). Bruce assures me I passed the fashion test and the newbie boob test as well. He's typically one to call a spade a spade, so I'll take him at his word.

I felt great immediately after the ride and today, the day after. I do need to make some saddle adjustments (move it forward a bit so I'm not sitting on my perineum so much) and get the booties I mentioned. Some sunglasses might help too. That said, I'm excited to go for my next ride.

In my ongoing quest to get into shape and spend more time outside, I picked up a 2005 Trek 1500 today. This is my first road bike. I had done a lot of research online, but when it came to doing ride tests, I really didn't know what I was looking for. I tried a bunch of other bikes out; at the end of the day, the 1500 felt the best. The fact that it's a 2005 closeout and, hence, on sale, was a big plus. I also was happy to find one of the 1500's with an Ultegra rear derailleur and a 105 brake set. Some of the other 1500's I saw had a 105 rear and no-name brakes. Nicer components at the same price are bonus.

Of course, when you get a new bike, there's more than the bike cost. Naturally, I "needed" a computer, so I added a Shimano Flight Deck. This is a pretty standard bike computer except that it integrates with my other components; the control buttons are on the brake hoods, there are sensors that know what gear the bike is in, and it calculates cadence (how fast I'm pedalling) from a combination of the speed and gear. Slick.

Next up were clip in pedals and shoes. I went with Shimano again. I'm hoping to use the same clips and shoes for my other bike at some point, so I went with SPD-style clips on PD-A520 pedals (two sided, basic pedals) and SH-T092 shoes (ones I can actually walk in!). I need to learn to how to ride a bike with clips; I've already done the slow-motion fall twice in my garage, banging up one of my control levers, my knee, and my ego. Time to find a softer place to practice.

I added some bottle cages (blue to match the bike), a Blackburn Air Stik pump, a little adapter so I can fill the Presta valves with a Shrader pump if needed, and some Pearl Izumi gloves (full winter ones and normal shorties). I still need some riding pants and a water/wind resistant jacket. I think I can make do with my other running gear.

Jimmy at Gregg's Cycles (Aurora store) was a great help, explaining everything, making sure I had what I needed (and no more). I highly recommend the store and Jimmy.

I can't wait to go for a ride (once I figure out the damn pedals so I don't tip over like an idiot).

Bruce, Will, and I ran the Toys for Tots Trot 5K today. Bruce, of course, is veteran companion for these races, but today was Will's first time out with us. It was pretty damn cold, especially since it was foggy, so I had a warm hat, running gloves, and a vest on. These made standing around before the race bearable, but proved to be a bit of a pain during the race; I still need to figure out my clothing strategy in these things.

I ran a respectable 27:08 by my time (I think the official was 27:17 or something) which works out to 8:29 miles on my clock and a bit more (like 8:45) on the official clock. I like mine better. If my Forerunner is to be believed, then I finally beat my 8:30 split target. However, my splits were a mess. I started out too fast at 8:14, had a bad second mile at 9:02, and then came home in 8:27 for the third (including a short walk to get my heart rate back under control). I finished strong at 7:13 pace for the last part. I had hoped to beat the Marine who ran the race in a flak jacket and carrying the Marine Corp standard; I passed him at one point, but during my short walk, he passed me and then ran a strong finish.

I did, however, beat Bruce, who normally beats me by a minute per mile. It would be more accurate to say that Bruce beat himself, deciding to do an extra loop around Seattle Center. The course was not well marked and the attendants were not always diligent, but I like to think I had better course management than Bruce. In the end it looks like he ran an extra .8 of a mile -- definitely significant.

Will did very well, finishing in the low 25's I think. I guess all that Salumi's didn't slow him down.

Of course, the most important part of our races is the brunch afterwards. Today we went to an old haunt of mine, Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe. Per my tradition, I had huevos rancheros (with grits this time!) -- lovely.

(This is quite possibly the most unflattering photo ever taken of me.)

I did my best impression of a drowned rat today. As is typical of Seattle in November, it rained today. Actually it was a bit heavier than our normal spitty, drizzly rain. But, if you live in Seattle and let the rain stop you from going outside, you'll never leave your house.

So, Bruce and I did a bike ride around Mercer Island this morning. It was a rolling twelve mile ride; Bruce was kind to me and kept the pace managable. He also brought a bunch of useful wet/cold weather biking gear. Since I'm new to this, I have almost nothing (this was actually the first time I've done a ride with someone other than my kids and the first time I've taken my bike somewhere else to ride.) Nonetheless, I came back soaked from the rain (especially my legs) and soaked from sweat (especially my torso). I hadn't brought any other clothes, so I drove home wet.

Shortly after I got home and showered, Andrew (8) and I headed back out, this time for a hike with his Cub Scout pack. We went to Twin Falls State Park, about about 45 minutes east of Seattle. There, we hiked up to Twin Falls with eight other boys plus ten other adults. It was raining moderately for the first part of the hike, but it really opened up when we reached the farthest point (of course)of our out-and-back hike. Despite being pretty well equipped for the weather, Andrew and I both came back to the car wet. I can only imagine how the less-well equipped families did (one guy just had a fleece jacket and jeans on and an umbrella to keep him dry). Learning from the morning's ride, I brought extra clothes this time. A quick change in the car made the ride home more bearable. (Our Honda Element was perfect for a soggy outdoorsy day. Lots of room to move around, plus waterproof seats...)

I think everything I own that's moderately waterproof is soaked. There's a difference between waterproof for daily use and waterproof for hours in a rainy forest or zinging along on a bike. I do have sailing foul weather gear, but I think I'd steam to death in them on a hike or a bike ride. Oh well, if you play outside in the rain, expect to get wet.