Finally had some nice weather! Until today, the weather in Ohio has been kinda nasty; cold and rain. (At least it's not snow!) After staying up late last night to watch the Flames beat Chicago (!!!), I made an early-morning decision to forgo the early run, and go in the evening. I'm sure glad I did-- it was absolutely gorgeous out!! I'm writing this at 1:30am, and it's still +14 C. Unfortunately, along with the sun came the bugs... mmm.... extra protein. I gagged pretty hard on one that stuck in my throat though. Not good.
40 minutes, distance 8km
I had every intention of stretching... until I saw the basketball game. Let me just say, it is not wise to attempt to play basketball in running shoes. I didn't get hurt, or break my shoes, but there were moments.
After basketball, one of my work buddies and I drove to an outlet mall (all the Americans we were hanging out with thought we were crazy-- but they take the outlet malls for granted, unlike us Canadians), then made it back in time for Karaoke. It was a bit of a long evening, but I won't go into any details here.
Tomorrow (or today, I guess), it's back on a plane at 4, and hopefully there won't be any delays, and I'll be home at a reasonable time. I'm spending half my time hoping for no delays, and the other half hoping the snow is gone when I get home!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Running with Faith and the Thin White Line
I've been meaning to write this post for a few months now. Down in Ohio again, and again, it's a challenge to find a place to run-- I'm realizing how great Calgary is, with all the pathways and green spaces. Where I am this week, it's hard to find even a sidewalk to run on sometimes. So I've found a default run.
Right near where I'm staying there's a whole compound of churches--there have to be 10 churches within the same small area. I'm sure it's busy in the evenings and especially on Sundays, but early in the morning, it's deserted. Clear, perfect pavement, great landscaping and pathways, and even a bit of a hill. It's well lit, too, unlike the residential areas.
Unfortunately, it's not that big of a place. So my 30 minute run loop ends up on a back country road. Nice, quaint houses, even a horse stable. The crappy part is that the shoulder is 2-3 inches wide. A good time to run into traffic, with one foot in the ditch. Still, I don't think local drivers are used to seeing a runner on the road so I end up praying more as I tightwalk-run on the white shoulder line than I do around the churches!
~30 minute run, 6-7 kms (?)
*****
Also just updated the links to races I'm planning to run. Looks like the first one will be Try This Tri at Foothills pool, May 24th.
Right near where I'm staying there's a whole compound of churches--there have to be 10 churches within the same small area. I'm sure it's busy in the evenings and especially on Sundays, but early in the morning, it's deserted. Clear, perfect pavement, great landscaping and pathways, and even a bit of a hill. It's well lit, too, unlike the residential areas.
Unfortunately, it's not that big of a place. So my 30 minute run loop ends up on a back country road. Nice, quaint houses, even a horse stable. The crappy part is that the shoulder is 2-3 inches wide. A good time to run into traffic, with one foot in the ditch. Still, I don't think local drivers are used to seeing a runner on the road so I end up praying more as I tightwalk-run on the white shoulder line than I do around the churches!
~30 minute run, 6-7 kms (?)
*****
Also just updated the links to races I'm planning to run. Looks like the first one will be Try This Tri at Foothills pool, May 24th.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Adventures With Pedals
Growing up, I had two bikes (not counting the tricycle that I apparently broke). One was "BMX style", and the other was a mountain bike. I remember riding both of these literally ALL THE TIME. The mountain bike was an oversized birthday present when we lived in Lloydminster-- I will always remember the moment I first saw it in the basement cold room. It had actual gears! It seemed like a technological wonder-- and I fell off it all the time. It's a wonder I don't have more scars than I do; and I have quite a few scars.
That mountain bike, as much as I loved it, seems like a clunker compared to the bike I have now. I mean, I need special shoes just to ride the TCX! Sure, I've got a pair of "platform" pedals (which are slightly more advanced than "reglar" pedals, in that they are bigger, for a more stable platform), but as N has recently discovered, those don't provide nearly as much pedaling power as a pair of today's road pedals do. Yes, that's right-- she finally put the pedals Santa brought onto her bike.
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there like myself who are willing to just hop on a bike, and bind their feet to the pedals without thinking. Speaking from personal experience, though it might work for some, I don't recomend this method. You're almost guaranteed to crash-- at low (no) speed, most likely, but still. N is smarter than that, and much more cautious.
Teaching and doing are two very different issues altogether. Though I've never been a bike instructor, I've taught snowboarding, and participated in course development... not that either of those skills were immediately apparent, seeing the fear in N's eyes at the prospect of locking her feet into her pedals on the first ride of the year!
After a little trial and error, we came up with a pretty good progression for learning clipless pedals. She'd had some experience with them on the spin trainer, but it's different when it's on your bike, even if I'm holding onto it, trying to keep it from tipping over. Anyway, here's what we came up with:
After the fact, I found this video:
****
I almost forgot my own adventures... my tri shoes are cracked from using the CrankBrothers Candy pedals that came with my bike : (
Well, they're really designed for mountain-bike shoes, not the stiff plastic soles that my shoes offer. So I decided to spring for a pair of Look Keo pedals-- just the basic ones, though. I'm hoping they'll make my shoes last one more season. The catch is, they're taking a little getting used to! Went for a solo ride yesterday (Saturday) through Fish Creek park (Sicome and back, then west all the way to 37 St and back via residential roads). They were great-- better power transfer, less wobble, but a slightly different unlock, just because of the deeper toe cleat. Didn't actually crash, but was a little worried at times.
Back in Ohio this week, planning to log some miles.
That mountain bike, as much as I loved it, seems like a clunker compared to the bike I have now. I mean, I need special shoes just to ride the TCX! Sure, I've got a pair of "platform" pedals (which are slightly more advanced than "reglar" pedals, in that they are bigger, for a more stable platform), but as N has recently discovered, those don't provide nearly as much pedaling power as a pair of today's road pedals do. Yes, that's right-- she finally put the pedals Santa brought onto her bike.
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there like myself who are willing to just hop on a bike, and bind their feet to the pedals without thinking. Speaking from personal experience, though it might work for some, I don't recomend this method. You're almost guaranteed to crash-- at low (no) speed, most likely, but still. N is smarter than that, and much more cautious.
Teaching and doing are two very different issues altogether. Though I've never been a bike instructor, I've taught snowboarding, and participated in course development... not that either of those skills were immediately apparent, seeing the fear in N's eyes at the prospect of locking her feet into her pedals on the first ride of the year!
After a little trial and error, we came up with a pretty good progression for learning clipless pedals. She'd had some experience with them on the spin trainer, but it's different when it's on your bike, even if I'm holding onto it, trying to keep it from tipping over. Anyway, here's what we came up with:
- Stand over the bike, in front of the seat. Space your feet wider than shoulder-width.
- Choose a leg to stand on. With the other foot, move that pedal to the bottom position-- closest to the ground. Practice clicking in and out of the cleat-- toe in first, then push down. Twist your heel out to disengage.
- Now, click in that one foot, and push off with the other. At this point, just put your weight on the foot that is in, and coast. Brake, and put your foot back on.
- Next, you want to push off, and sit in your seat. Don't worry about clicking your other foot in just yet-- rather, rest it on the pedal, and pedal with the foot that is clicked in. (You need a little momentum to be stable.) Maybe push down on the free pedal with your heel, but just practice gliding for now, and leave that foot free to set down when you brake to a stop.
- Do the same thing, except click your second foot in, pedal a few times, then click that same foot out. To do this, stand up out of the seat, with your first foot in the bottom position, put your weight back on that first foot.
After the fact, I found this video:
****
I almost forgot my own adventures... my tri shoes are cracked from using the CrankBrothers Candy pedals that came with my bike : (
Well, they're really designed for mountain-bike shoes, not the stiff plastic soles that my shoes offer. So I decided to spring for a pair of Look Keo pedals-- just the basic ones, though. I'm hoping they'll make my shoes last one more season. The catch is, they're taking a little getting used to! Went for a solo ride yesterday (Saturday) through Fish Creek park (Sicome and back, then west all the way to 37 St and back via residential roads). They were great-- better power transfer, less wobble, but a slightly different unlock, just because of the deeper toe cleat. Didn't actually crash, but was a little worried at times.
Back in Ohio this week, planning to log some miles.
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