March Madness Update

The month of March came and went before I knew it.  Between the increased hours, travel and demand from work, the 3 birthdays, home improvements, cycling activities, and daily life in itself, it seems as though in a blink of an eye 30+ days can go by and here I sit looking back having a hard time believe all of the activities that were piled in to that time frame.  The biggest events of the month were Amy’s, William’s and my niece Allison's birthdays.  William is now over 1 year old and is growing like crazy (most likely because of all the pancakes he can eat).  Amy being the best mom ever went above and beyond planning for William’s party which was a huge success.  Some of Amy’s neatest ideas that came to fruition included “bee” cake pops, a “honey comb” cupcake cake, and a picture banner that included a picture of William each month up to his birthday.  The party was a blast and all of William’s family and friends attended.

William's Honeycomb Birthday Cake

Digging in the cake

 

Amy's Bee Pops & Pretzels

 While there was a lot of partying we also continued to work on updates to the house, ultimately working towards putting the house on the market.  Amy and I are looking to move a little closer to family but keeping the commute to work manageable.  We’re currently eying up the West Bend area while keeping the Hartford area option open.  Both areas are great “small-ish” cities that are good for raising William and there are plenty of rural roads for excellent cycling.  Also, there’s no lake breeze to keep the temps cold like there is in Cedarburg.  Last Sunday was a great example where it was 46 degrees in Cedarburg; however, when you headed further inland (10-15 miles) the temps were near the upper 60’s.  Chill from Lake Michigan is not welcomed by this guy!

On the cycling front, things have been less than consistent.  Inconsistency has been the theme for March thanks to colds and travel for work.  The beginning of the month led off with me being under-the-weather with a cold that affected my respiratory system (never good for training), followed by a week-long work trip to St. Pete, FL, and further followed by another week of recovering from the aforementioned cold.  I did manage to get some longer rides in on the weekends when I felt better and because of the lack of time to train, picked the intensity up.  The notable ride of the month was a ride that I did from Horicon to Cedarburg into a strong headwind for the entire 40 mile route.  Only plus side to the ride was the fact the sun was out and it was warm with above average temps.  Due to the strong headwind and lack of daylight I hammered the pedals kicking out big numbers.  Primary stats include: Ride Time: 1:57:27; Ave. Power: 259 watts; Normalized Power: 278 watts; Ave. Cadence: 86 rpm; and Ave. Speed: 20 mph.  This ride provide a boost to my overall morale and set my bar of expectations a bit higher.

The inconsistent nature of my training for the month however led me to what I perceived as my “poor cycling condition” (insert Amy laughing) but after Tuesday night’s functional threshold power (FTP) test, my perception was proved wrong.  While the training may have been inconsistent, it was spot on for providing physiological gains.  The gains were so much so that I was shocked by the numbers, mainly the % change in FTP.  My average power output increased an amazing 27 watts over the course of a month for an increase of 8.56%.  This FTP test was also a great motivating factor for my continued training which is becoming tougher as the weather gets nicer out but still spending most of my training hours in the basement.

 In other great cycling news, William got his first bike!  It’s a Strider bike that has no pedals but provides for kids the ability to push themselves with their feet while learning their balance.  William’s maiden ride on the bike was successful with big smiles and laughs followed by the required “I have to taste this thing” by trying to eat the handlebar.  William’s legs are a bit too short yet for him to fully utilize the bike on his own but he’ll grow into it quickly.  His bike also matches his dad’s in its yellow and black paint scheme.  Look for William to be flying by on a sidewalk or patch of grass nearby this summer.

I’m sure the month of March had many other great events taking place but I cannot think of anymore at this time.  On that note, THE END.

Working

Putting in the hours in the name of the game to get things done at work, at home and on the bike.  It's been well over three months since the last post because of just that... work.  Work itself has been extremely busy with an increased amount of work with less resources to go around.  16 key enterprise-wide projects to oversee and ensure each and every milestone is hit and objective met prior to established due dates.  Not easy to do when your team consists of your manager, your two employees and yourself.  No worries though, the annual plan I developed is in motion and moving swiftly.  Now just to get through the onsite review with the Feds.

Work at home has been progressing well too, just slower than ever expected but we're almost done with the remodel of the upstairs bathroom.  With the help of my Pa we hung the drywall and I spent the next few weeks mudding the joints.  Only a few things to finish up and we'll have the bathroom usable again.  Remaining tasks are painting (second coat), caulk around the tub, tile the floor, put in the vanity and install the toilet.  Aiming for a few weeks out for wrapping it all up.  Amy and William are getting antsy to use the new tub and shower and are getting sick of the walk downstairs.  The hours of work put into this project makes you appreciate what all goes into the full remodel of any room in a house.

Cycling has been going well also with additional time being put in to up my fitness for a challenging year of racing ahead.  I completed my first power test of the year a few weeks and the results were quite surprising.  I didn't anticipate the higher than expected sustained power output but it did provide me with additional motivation knowing that I'm not in as big of a hole than originally thought.  I'm also using new software to analyze my workouts and applying new metrics to track my ongoing progress.  I'm looking forward to having a few months of additional data to leverage many of the interesting analysis tools that are provided.  More hours in the saddle and focused attention to each training detail are required for continued progress and my eyes on strictly focused on a few important goals.  Should be interesting to see how they play out.  Until spring is here and racing starts it will be just long and tiresome hours on the trainer in the basement in front of the TV.  Can't wait!

I also can't wait to see what William will be up to in a few months.  His 1st birthday is just around the corner (1 month from today) and he's already walking fairly well with significant progress each day.  It's amazing seeing what new things he's able to do each day.  Amy and I have already picked out William's birthday present.  He will be using it in no time and it will be fun to watch him speed around!  This next year is going to be a blast with many potential changes on the horizon.  I can't wait!

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!