Base Building

Building is the key word here.  Amy and I have made some progress with the bathroom remodel and are currently at the point of getting the sub-floor put in with the help from my pa.  There was a significant amount of destruction that had to take place to get where we are at today.  That included taking down the remaining plaster from the walls and ceiling along with tearing up the floor.  Everything came out pretty easily except the flooring which I suspected the potential for asbestos.  That ended up with sending Amy and Willliam to her parents for the night so that I could complete the removal of the floor.  A few long hours of hard work it was out and the bathroom was completely gutted.  Next up is getting the tub/shower and putting the plumbing in.  Then it's off to dry walling.  Hopefully we'll have this thing finished in the next month or so!

Now to the base building.  I've began my training for the 2012 cycling season and starting from scratch.  Building a solid base or "foundation" is critical to ongoing training.  Cycling training can be depicted as a triangle with the base of the triangle being the greatest amount of training.  A well established foundation allows for more specific and intense training in the future.  All of my training has shifted to the morning hours, something that I've never enjoyed but now have to get used to.  Luckily, when I do have to train in the evenings I still get to be around William.  The picture below is what cyclists consider their winter "pain cave", or at least this is my version of it including necessary safety features for keeping William out of danger.  On the TV is the 2009 Tour de France.  I'll be training all winter to the last three years of TdF races which helps to pass the many hours that will be put in over the course of the next 4 months of indoor training.  William will also be around to keep me company and motivated.

There's an idea I've been floating around in my head over the last couple months that I never though I'd say after my junior year in college.  That's running.  I haven't considered running since I had Illiatobal Band Syndrome in my left hip during training on the UW-Platteville cross country team.  The pain that I endured that year completely shifted me away from running and moved me over to the bike.  Now, I am kicking around the idea of running a marathon.  This is quite a large feat to try an conquer mainly because I haven't run more than a few hundred feet at a time in over 6 years.  I'm thinking about doing the Lakefront Marathon close to home which is in October.  I'll have to commit by late March to make registration so there's time to thoroughly think this through.  Additionally, there's plenty of time to train.  I definitely will not be doing any running outside this winter nor will I be running on a treadmill.  Riding a bike on a trainer all winter is hard enough.

In other news, William is growing significantly and is in need of his first haircut.  I'm looking forward to Christmas to see William's reaction to all the lights and activities.  Amy's been doing well besides having a rough few weeks here.  She had a tooth ache that's ended up to need additional work to be completed.  To say the least, it's a painful process and I hope she recovers quickly after tomorrow's appointment.


That's all folks!

Awesomeness or Insanity

You make the call.  I stumbled upon this video of MTB downhill racing this evening while surfing the interweb.  The guys that do this are either some of the best riders ever or are all on the verge of insanity!

http://vimeo.com/9970489

Sedentary

Sedentary is defined as "accustomed to sit or rest a great deal or to take little exercise."  This is essentially how my lifestyle has been since Labor Day weekend.  Mainly I've been working on miscellaneous projects around the house and if not that, relaxing and hanging out with Amy and William.  I have however participated in a few rides but nothing that would help keep any form of fitness so I'll be starting this next year's training from scratch.  Some would say that this is a bad thing and it will take considerably longer to get back to where I was.  Yes, it will definitely take longer to achieve the fitness level was at last racing season, but I see that as a good thing.  It's a long racing season and there's plenty of time to regain fitness and actually achieve a higher level of fitness than previous years.

Cleaning House

That's what's been keeping Amy and I busy the last week or so.  Cleaning carpets that is.  We've regularly vacuumed but Amy was mentioning for a while that we should get the carpets cleaned.  Amy had a great point because even though we vacuumed, we couldn't remove the spots from the carpet that William made when he was done eating.  We started in the basement and moved upstairs beginning with the living room.  To say the least, what comes out of the carpet that you don't know if there is absolutely disgusting.  If you haven't had your carpets cleaned in a while, I recommend it.  You'll be shocked to see what comes out of it.

New and Improved Blogspot

Starting this new blog and shutting down the old one (pelotonaddict.blogspot.com).  Reason: I left like it.  Look for more updates on this blog on a little bit of everything rather than specifically biking only, but biking will still play an important factor.  Hence, 700x23c.  Life as it is on two wheels but less than an inch of rubber.