Two weeks already gone!

With a couple weeks already in the bag in figure I needed to check in on my fitness progress. With so many goals this year there is no time to waste and a good start to the year will reap huge benefits later on in the year.

Week 1
Week one was consistent with good base conditioning. I was able to get two runs and two rides in. The runs were a little more difficult than the rides were. Each run was along my normal route starting at my house and continuing around Maidu park before heading home. Both runs were between 4 and 5 miles with the second one being a little more difficult. The legs were still a little sore from the first run. It felt good to open up the lungs and feel a little burn. My first ride was a 25 mile ride going through Granite Bay, Loomis, Rocklin and finally back home. I kept it at a nice training pace with an average of 16 mph. I did make a quick pit stop at the parents. I tired to get the Brothers to jump on for a quick ride but they had just gotten out of bed. It was past 12:30pm! My second ride that week was along a similar route but with an extra 5 miles added. I did this by riding a bit farther up Auburn Folsom road before turning back to Loomis. I pushed it a bit harder with more climbing and a 16.5 average speed. Overall a good first week.

Week 2

This week was another good training week with 3 runs and 1 ride. The runs totalled 16 miles with each run being between 4.5 and 6.3 miles. Each run was along a similar route from my house and then around Maidu with varying finishes to add mileage. By the last run of the week I was up to 6.3 miles fairly easily with 9:10 minute miles. The legs are starting feel stronger and the lungs are feeling good. This weeks ride featured a long lost friend and riding companion. My brother Kenneth took some time out of his busy schedule to ride with my. I was a nice change from riding by myself. We caught some fairly decent weather despite the early morning fog. The sun decided to come out on occasion warming up the ride. We ride covered 22 miles through Granite Bay, down the bike trail and back to Roseville.

It has been a great first week of training and look forward to many more.

Brent

2010! Big Plans!

It's 2010! I can't believe that the year is over and a new one has begun. This year I'm a bit excited about starting a new year. It feels like the slate has been wiped clean and great things are waiting to be taken advantage of. I didn't have the type of year athletically that I was expecting to have. Having to have surgery on my wrist to fix a broken bone put a pretty nice kink in all the plans I had for last year. That being said I have decided to use my blog as a journal for all my training goals this year. Here are a few of my goals for this year.

• Ride in the Tour De Lincoln
• Ride a total of 5,000 miles this year
• Go to two Tour of California stages
• Ride two Centuries
• Ride to Grandma K's house from Roseville
• Ride 600 miles during Bike Commute Month (May)
• Ride the PacWest tour. 375 miles down Highway 1 in five days.
• Ride the Foxy Falls Century
• Complete a Triathlon

He's Back!!!!!!!

Lance Armstrong has officially announced his return to professional cycling and I personally can't wait. It will include five races starting with the Tour De California right here in Sacramento and the finishing race will of course be the Tour De France. Some of you may not share my optimism at this news and that's OK. I'm not trying to change your mind but I will share why this will be a great year for cycling.

We have the opportunity of a lifetime to watch the greatest cyclist of all time in person right here in our backyard. Lance will be racing in the Tour De California with stage one a twelve mile prologue starting and finishing at the state capital. Will I be there? Are you kidding me! I thought I would never have the opportunity to watch Lance in person but my dream will soon be realized.

Second, the Tour De France wont suck this year. Since Lance retired the Tour has been filled with pathetic story lines and a majority of contenders being caught for doping. Now all you see is a group of ten to twelve so called contenders grouped together without the ability to breakaway. This leaves us with a boring march through the mountains and nothing to talk about except how boring that stage was. There is also the fact that there are no contenders with overall abilities. Each one is a specialist in one of the disciplines but Lance is a cycling specialist.

Even if you don't like Lance it's hard to argue that he is the greatest of all times. If the seven Tour De France victories wasn't amazing enough the way he won them is astounding. He has a certain quality that few athletes have show on a consistent basis. That would be the will and ability to win no matter the circumstances . I grew up watching Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods who have shown this very ability. Whether it was MJ scoring thirty five with the flu in the finals or Tiger winning a major with a bad knee. The fact that they refuse to lose makes them special. Lance has exhibited this very trait throughout his life and I'm excited to watch it again. I remember watching Lance on a number of occasions over come challenge after challenge like falling off his bike, or riding off of the road at forty miles an hour. Every time he has risen to the challenge and won.

I have always looked up to those who never say die and succeed. I strive to live my life everyday in this manner and examples like Lance help keep me going. It's sad when a hero retires and you only have the memories of the past. I will take full advantage of this year and watch every moment of Lance's last epic journey.

I can't believe I'm actually blogging!

First and foremost let my start out by saying I use to be the person making fun of those who would blog including my lovely wife. I have since discovered that blogging (which is still lame) has it's purpose and I have decided to join the ranks of lame people everywhere. You might be asking yourself why I have decided to join you despite my distaste for this ever popular activity. The answer is simple. LIFE! By this time you have either already stopped reading this post wondering why you have wasted precious seconds of your life listening to a babbling idiot who doesn't make any sense. Or you might still be reading wondering why you are still reading this blog and wasting precious seconds of your life listening to a babbling idiot. No matter, I aim to please. Back to why I started blogging. It 's as simple as life. Who here has ever listened to Bill Engvall? If you raised your hand you can put it down now. If you have ever heard Bill Engvall's comedy you would know he is defined by his "Here's your sign" stick. That very saying is the reason for my leap into blogging. People and life are annoying and cause such frustration that I'm often seen sputtering like Porky Pig at the stupidity. I finally realized that I needed an outlet and wallah blogging. Now that I have completely lost you the truth is, this is just my front for blogging. That way I can retain some coolness because I will mostly be writing about my new found passion. Drum roll please. Cycling. For obvious reasons I had to try and deflect how lame I'm going to be by writing about cycling. Oh well, life goes on and as long as your having fun who cares.