Team McAlister

Today I started with a bike ride to the Mission. Just a short one, but I did climb the hill next to Dolores Park. According to the SFBC bike map, it’s a 10-18% grade for about six blocks. It varies quite a bit, so it’s closer to 10% at the start and maybe 15% or so at the end. I’m just getting over a cold so my lung capacity is not 100%, but I did it!

Today was also my first workout at 24-Hour Fitness. I did the elliptical machine for 30 minutes (144 strides per minute, 157 heart rate, 442 calories) and finished up with a weight circuit. I’ll start running on the treadmill when I’m in better aerobic shape and this cold is totally gone—I’m shooting for the end of next week.

Oh, and those of you who are concerned that I don’t wear a helmet when I’m riding—I won’t mention any names here—those days are over. I got a brand-spankin’-new Bell Volt off eBay, and it arrived today. Only two words to describe this helmet: Friggin’ sweet. I want to go for a ride right now just so I’ll have an excuse to wear it. Or I guess I could just wear it around the apartment…

Tags: bicycle, bike, san francisco

This may not mean much to anyone else, but I covered 2.2 miles in 30 minutes today. That included 15 minutes of actual running even though I walk about as fast as I run right now. Heart rate was good, averaging about 115 with a high of 156. It seems like it was about equivalent to cycling in 40 degrees at an easy 17 to 18 mph. I probably should be adding something. This running stuff makes you pretty hungry too!

You don’t have to be crazy to be here, but it helps!

Usually, stories about guys that set off on some sort of major undertaking begin with, “Well, we were just sitting around having a couple of beers and then…” The reason for suggesting to the guys that we embark on this mission still is pretty unclear to me. It seemed like a good idea at the time though. We definitely have some athleticism in the group: I was a college athlete, sort of, and have been involved recently in cyclng; Jett has run multiple marathons; Colin was an excellent competitive swimmer and started cycling last summer with me; Schuyler has always had athletic ability beyond his willingness to exhibit it (unless marching to the beat of a different drummer counts). So, the idea that we might be able to perform the events in a triathlon wasn’t all that far-fetched. The idea that we might all converge on a single, competitive Ironman-length organized event is where it began to get interesting. No alcohol was consumed until after we realized what we had agreed to do.

Colin says that laughter ensued when I mentioned it. He might have said that “derisive laughter ensued”. The fact that Jett almost automatically agreed to do it, even if his brothers didn’t, may say more about the effects of Chicago winters on a person’s brain than it does about anything else.

Enough history for now, though. With only 103 days until my 56th birthday, we’ve wasted the better part of a year talking about this mission, but doing little more than routine training and living. Agreed, Jett has started swimming and is on a schedule as his marathon training continues. I’ve continued my cycling regimen and am happy with it. I’ll let the other guys speak for themselves about their activities. The only other comment I have is that I’m at the beginning of Week 2 in a running program.

Running is my weakness. (I almost wrote Achilles heel, but that would have been very poor, don’t you think? My self-editing will probably never be that tight again.) Hopefully, using Hal Higdon’s book “Masters Running” will help get me through this discipline. So far, so good.

Tags: goals, intro, story, triathlon