So, no more running between now and the big day. Just lots of swimming and cycling. I think I’m beginning to look forward to this.

Anyway, Tuesday’s ride was a killer.  I needed a day of healing and meditation.  I put together a little playlist of “gospel” songs, which probably aren’t all technically “gospel songs”… but more of a mix of country, bluegrass, folk, and gospel… and hit the road for a short, flat, spin at a very easy pace.  Unfortunately, the head wind made keeping it chill difficult… and the inevitable tailwind made holding back a little tricky, but the resulting ride did the trick of recovering some toasted legs.  I followed it with a VibraFlex session and all is once again right with the world.  Taking the day off today… but planning something good for tomorrow maybe (if my rear end is recovered).

Armed with a brand-new playlist crafted especially for this ride (see below), the iSport ready to go, Cyclemeter all warmed up and awaiting its instructions, I hit the road about 12:15.  The set up for the ride was perfect.  Great breakfast; plenty of hydration in advance of riding; snacks for the ride; beautiful weather; a route that is safe for a solo rider and has some teeth.

Predictably, I started getting hungry at the 1.5 hour mark, in spite of Jelly Belly Sport Beans (Lemon Lime, of course) every 20 minutes.  A small break for part of a nutrition bar and some water and back in the saddle.  Happily, at the 2 hour mark I was still feeling pretty strong.  That was just about the time, though, that the last climb hits.  No problem.  Climb. Ride around.  Descend.  Simplicity itself.

But the deal is that at the bottom of that climb, I had to turn back into what had been a strong and nasty headwind.  Granted it was only for 4 miles, but suddenly everything hurt – feet, neck, shoulders, butt.  Another short break at the turn point allowed for some adjustments in equipment as well as some stretching.

Then it was just a matter of letting that nice friendly tailwind shoot me back those last 10 miles to the finish.  Ah, yes….

Suffice to say, that back at the office it took a while to recover and now my office stinks, but I liked getting this one under my belt.

http://j.mp/b9Ptx0

Big Chief – Professor Longhair

Curly Haired Baby – Professor Longhair

She Ain’t Got No Hair – Professor Longhair

I Gotta Have It – Jace Everett

Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand – Professor Longhair

Looka, No Hair – Professor Longhair

From Four Until Late – Eric Clapton

Mardi Gras In New Orleans – Professor Longhair

Marie – Randy Newman

Longhair’s Blues Rhumba – Professor Longhair

East St. Louis Baby – Professor Longhair

Bad Things (Club Mix) – Jace Everett

Her Mind Is Gone – Professor Longhair

Rednecks – Randy Newman

Bye Bye Baby – Professor Longhair

Cadillac Style – Sammy Kershaw

Hadacol Bounce – Professor Longhair

Longhair Stomp – Professor Longhair

Louisiana Hot Sauce – Sammy Kershaw

Been Foolin’ Around – Professor Longhair

Back on My Feet Again – Randy Newman

Misery – Professor Longhair

Birmingham – Randy Newman

Little Queen Of Spades – Eric Clapton

If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl – Sammy Kershaw

She Walks Right In – Professor Longhair

Boogie Woogie – Professor Longhair

Accentuate the Positive – Dr. John

Willie Mae – Professor Longhair

Oh Well – Professor Longhair

Between The Night And Day – Professor Longhair

Right Place, Wrong Time – Dr. John

Tipitina – Professor Longhair

Hey Little Girl – Professor Longhair

Kind Hearted Woman Blues – Eric Clapton

Rockin’ With Fess – Professor Longhair

Let the Good Times Roll – Dr. John

Professor Longhair Blues – Professor Longhair

No Buts – No Maybes – Professor Longhair

Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Dr. John

In The Night – Professor Longhair

Walk Your Blues Away – Professor Longhair

I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Ball The Wall – Professor Longhair

Bald Head – Professor Longhair

Getting Mighty Crowded – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Boyd’s Bounce – Professor Longhair

Cry Pretty Baby – Professor Longhair

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace,

Love and Understanding? – Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Who’s Been Foolin’ You? – Professor Longhair

K.C. Blues – Professor Longhair

Guilty – Randy Newman

Traveling Riverside Blues – Eric Clapton

Byrd’s Blues – Professor Longhair

Hey Now Baby – Professor Longhair

Gone So Long – Professor Longhair

Me And The Devil Blues – Eric Clapton

Look What You’re Doing To Me – Professor Longhair

Mr. President

(Have Pity on the Working Man) – Randy Newman

Louisiana 1927 – Randy Newman

Hallelujah – Ray Charles

Nothing But The Blood – Randy Travis

A couple of interesting articles for you today! This first article is about how coffee (more precisely, caffeine) lessens the pain associated with working out.

Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise

And this one is about how there is an ideal running pace for everyone, at which metabolic efficiency is its highest. For men this pace is, on average, 8.3 miles per hour.

Perfect Running Pace Revealed

These two articles would seem to confirm the validity of my preferred workout method, known as the Drink a Lot of Coffee and Then Run Your Butt Off Method.

I have been listening to a lot of Ratatat as my running music lately. Good, good stuff.

Anyhow, I got home with the rollers and managed to get in a 35 minute session.  It was nice to have them back; I’ve actually missed those stupid things.  Good training music is important when riding rollers in the garage!  Led Zepplin is great for cranking a fine, fast, high cadence.  However, Keb Mo’ is the challenge.  It’s hard to ride a smooth stroke when you’re wanting to juke along with that foot-tapping, thumping blues he turns out.  Hopefully, tomorrow will see some high-quality road miles.

Today’s workout music was Girl Talk’s Feed the Animals. (Warning, MySpace link!) It is impossible to get bored with that album. Put a Radiohead riff behind Jay-Z, and you can hold my attention for as long as I can stand to be on a treadmill.

I broke down and bought some new workout clothes. I only have two sets of clothes suitable for running, and I got tired of washing them by hand in the sink after every workout. Next month, perhaps, I’ll finally get real running shoes. This is really just a roundabout way of saying, don’t be surprised if you see ads on the site soon.

Laura (my beautiful, awesome girlfriend) was in town last week, which meant no training, which meant no updates on training. We did, however, walk so much that my feet hurt for two days after she left, so I’m going to pretend I trained a little bit. Touring the city on foot is not only a great way to take in the flavor of the neighborhoods, it’s a great way to wear yourself out.

Today was my first day back at the gym. I did a 5K run (3.1 miles) in 28:27. I held an 8:37 mile pace for the first two miles, a big first for me. Most of the last mile, after a little walking, was a 9:30 pace, about on par for me. My heart rate was 184 for about the first 18 minutes, and for the last six or so minutes… For a little while I thought my heart might explode, messily, and that would suck because they’d probably make me clean the blood off the treadmill. My next goals are to do three miles at 8:37 pace, and then to break 25 minutes for a 5K, then to add distance a half mile at a time. At the same time I’ll stick to my loosely interpreted version of Hal Higdon’s schedule, with a weekly long run and cross training day.

I’m seven pounds in to my 20-pound weight loss goal, so that’s going well. Laura bought me a stovetop espresso pot, so I’m drinking lots of very strong coffee. I mention this because supposedly coffee, being a stimulant, not only suppresses your appetite and lowers your blood sugar but also allows you to exercise harder, longer. I’d drink it anyway though, I looooove my coffee.

I loaded up some different music on my iPod for the run today. Modest Mouse’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is a surprisingly good running album. I’m to the point now where I don’t have to listen to Dragonforce to distract myself from how hard running is, which I count as progress. Dragonforce is still awesome though. I’m toying with the idea of reviewing albums based on how they help with a workout, so maybe look for that in the coming weeks.

Overall I’m pretty happy with how training is going. After a week off I was still able to accomplish a personal best, and each goal I set I accomplish fairly painlessly. Maybe I should be setting the bar a little higher, but I like feeling like it’s easy to be awesome.