SUCCESS!

at 08/28/10 11:07AM
it was actually 35 miles.

Who wants s'mores!

at 08/26/10 9:21PM *
So I just saw that they are selling marshmallows on thinkgeek. Kinda weird, until you realize they have 100mg PER PUFF! Best s'mores ever are going to be happening soon.



Addendum:
I'm also planning a long ride tomorrow, 50% more than my previous longest ride. Here's the map.
  • littlelamb
    Oooooo. Thanks Thinkgeek for coming through once again!
    by littlelamb at 08/26/10 9:27PM
  • nickkrumrei
    I still want the Taun Taun sleeping bag, (pouting).
    by nickkrumrei at 08/27/10 11:22AM
  • heatheronthehill
    Great work!! 35 miles is terrific!
    by heatheronthehill at 08/28/10 11:12AM
  • rebekah
    Yay!
    by rebekah at 08/28/10 11:59AM
  • nickkrumrei
    Excellent! Way to go Aaron! Oh and I discovered they are 100mg of CAFFEINE!!!
    by nickkrumrei at 08/28/10 3:29PM
  • iammountainfolk
    yeah, I wasn't fully clear that it was 100mg of caffeine in them. Kinda goes without saying that thinkgeek doesn't sell foodstuffs without caffeine, though, right?
    by iammountainfolk at 08/28/10 9:12PM

I have felt this way my entire life

at 08/18/10 8:11PM
xkcd
  • nickkrumrei
    (insert clever witty response here)
    by nickkrumrei at 08/19/10 5:07AM

July totals

at 08/03/10 11:08PM
I gave a partial totals listing last week and I thought I would post an update to it now, and also give June to show the progression.

July 2010
177.8 miles
15.28 hours
34 workouts (including commutes)
8,688 calories (kcal)

longest, hardest, furthest ride:
1:37:27 (h:m:s), 1065 kcal, 20.39 miles


June 2010
83.72 miles
7.79 hours
22 workouts (including commutes)
3584 calories

longest, hardest, furthest ride:
1:08:03, 561 kcal, 13.31 miles


I am by no means impressive, but I'm having fun.
  • littlelamb
    I totally missed your goal post, but I'm caught up now. You've made quite a bit of progress. I don't know much about cycling (yet), but it looks like you've pretty much doubled everything and that's great. My goals? The Rocket City Marathon on December 11. I'm not sure if I'll start cycling just yet because they say not to start anything new while training for your first marathon, but I've been doing spin classes several times a week for over a year so it's not really "new".
    by littlelamb at 08/05/10 1:27PM
  • el_magnifico
    Hey man, I'm at least impressed. Keep up the good work!
    by el_magnifico at 08/05/10 7:42PM

goals

at 07/30/10 11:21PM
So SOMEONE just had to ask about goals. I actually had never thought about it before. I started cycling because I needed and wanted to exercise but my choices were limited. I hurt my foot around the time Amos was born and have been unable to run; I've tried 3 times and always around week 5 it flares back up. So I chose cycling as a substitute for running and haven't really made myself any goals. My running goals were to run a 5k and then a 10k, but there aren't really many equivalents for cycling that I know of. I've been making them up as I go along now. I'm trying to get faster, go farther, and explore. Going new places was always what kept me going while a child. Knowing I was choosing my own path as a child was exhilarating; I could really travel places at age 12 without my parents driving me. Well I translate that now into being able to explore the nooks and crannies of my town that I would normally ignore or be unable to see from a car. Last week I rode all the way to downtown (about 12 miles away) and discovered lots of neat little things about the area. There are a lot of cool paths that wind through the river bottom amongst the trees. There is a neat old yacht club on stilts to avoid floods at the entrance to the park. I found a new restaurant on my route that I want to go try and I never would have found it (smelled it) if I had managed to drive by it by car. Those are just some of the recent things I've discovered about our area, and I look forward to finding more.

Enough yammering, on to the goals:

Health:
-Lose weight: about 20 lbs should do, but I really want to lose enough weight to be able to jog again.
-Better general health: I don't have good benchmarks for cholesterol or blood pressure so I can't really get anything measurable down here yet, but those are the things i'm working towards.

Cycling:
-Average speed: 16 mph. My current average is 13, but I did a 13.7 last night so it may be improving again
-Distance: do a 50 mile week. Right now if I can complete a 15 mile tomorrow I will have this one in the bag
-Distance: 200 mile month. I can round out this month with 175 miles if the aforementioned ride happens tomorrow. This goal requires a weekly average of 47 miles so it might be tricky.
-Distance: ride a 1/2 century (50 miles). Last week I did a 20.5 mile ride (plus 1.5 from earlier in the day). That is currently my distance record and it took a lot out of me. This one is going to require eating right as well as hydration and snack breaks, which is something I haven't had to deal with much.
-Location: there are tons of trails I want to do around the metro area, including one old abandoned train bed that runs all over minneapolis. But this year I want to make the calhoun loop. It is a 40 mile loop that takes me from my doorstep all the way to lakes harriet and calhoun south of minneapolis and back.


Got any goals?
  • rebekah
    - Increase my speed to a very humble 10 minute mile. Depending on the heat I'm around 12-12:15 right now.
    - 10k on October 23rd! Walking a bit is fine with me.
    - Lose the rest of the baby weight (but that's really an eating goal, not a running goal) and tone up.
    - General "be healthier." Last time I checked my BP was fine (100/60 at the end of my pregnancy.. I'm just like mom!) but no number can beat feeling good on a daily basis. Clean food, less food, and regular activity are the key for that!

    One of my skinny friends from college recently asked me for advice on losing weight. Can you believe how much we've changed?
    by rebekah at 07/31/10 7:06AM
  • kendrad
    Not too worried about CPR. Brent is a 911 operator. He tells people how to do it every day. : )
    by kendrad at 07/31/10 10:39AM
  • iammountainfolk
    Average speed today 14.2 MPH! Also made the 50 mile week goal!
    by iammountainfolk at 07/31/10 11:42AM
  • nannytwistyfingers
    My goal is that we go to the Velodrome while you, Hilary, and Amos are here. It's so much fun! I will talk to Daniel about it. :) Tuesday night races are free in the summer too!
    by nannytwistyfingers at 07/31/10 12:01PM
  • weekendsongservice
    i want to do a century next year ... but that may be a bit out of reach.
    by weekendsongservice at 07/31/10 4:35PM