Howdy!
My off season has now been successfully completed, I'm nice and heavy and begun some form of casual riding and training. Since my last post, Lauren and I have graduated from apartment living into finally having our own house (to rent of course). It's a 1920's bungalow style house, two bedroom one bath, hardwood floors, mmhmm. We have relocated a bit further south in order to be closer to work and with Lauren going to graduate school, the ability for her to intern in or around the state capitol is much better.
After nearly a decade of apartment living, I never realized just how much piece of mind it is to have your own home..... WITH ROOMS! holy s*&t! this is awesome, I can wakeup in the bedroom, then walk to the kitchen, actually cook something for breakfast, THEN walk to the dining room where I can eat at our freaking table! afterwards we can go to the LIVING ROOM and watch a movie or go in to our basement/man cave to workout or build stuff. Mind blown. It still feels like we're house sitting for someone, except we brought all our own stuff. That sense of home hasn't quite sunk in yet.
No longer am I spending $200+/month on gas and 30-45 min drive to work each way. I am car free and commute on my bike for 25-30 min each way. It's about 5 miles to work by bike which is 10 miles/day and 50 miles (5 hrs)/week of riding right there. I'll be using it as my recovery rides during the week and incorporate it into my training program. BOOM! commute & training program into one, plus if my bike breaks down I know a good shop that will hook me up.
My off season has now been successfully completed, I'm nice and heavy and begun some form of casual riding and training. Since my last post, Lauren and I have graduated from apartment living into finally having our own house (to rent of course). It's a 1920's bungalow style house, two bedroom one bath, hardwood floors, mmhmm. We have relocated a bit further south in order to be closer to work and with Lauren going to graduate school, the ability for her to intern in or around the state capitol is much better.
After nearly a decade of apartment living, I never realized just how much piece of mind it is to have your own home..... WITH ROOMS! holy s*&t! this is awesome, I can wakeup in the bedroom, then walk to the kitchen, actually cook something for breakfast, THEN walk to the dining room where I can eat at our freaking table! afterwards we can go to the LIVING ROOM and watch a movie or go in to our basement/man cave to workout or build stuff. Mind blown. It still feels like we're house sitting for someone, except we brought all our own stuff. That sense of home hasn't quite sunk in yet.
No longer am I spending $200+/month on gas and 30-45 min drive to work each way. I am car free and commute on my bike for 25-30 min each way. It's about 5 miles to work by bike which is 10 miles/day and 50 miles (5 hrs)/week of riding right there. I'll be using it as my recovery rides during the week and incorporate it into my training program. BOOM! commute & training program into one, plus if my bike breaks down I know a good shop that will hook me up.
The downside to moving into a new town is that I have no idea of places to ride, there's Salem Bicycle Club and a few shops plus some training buddies that promised to show me around. But in lieu of that and the crappy weather that's rolled in Lauren and I have been running. Yes I said it and no my bike isn't broken. I've been running and it feels pretty good. For work I've been wearing these shoes called Hoka One One's they're a highly padded shoe (ugly as hell) but very comfortable to stand on a cement floor in and running with these, my knees haven't flared up at all.
Lauren and I have been going out for about an hour, running at roughly a 9-10 min pace, fairly easy. Yesterday we did about 4 miles and then finished with an 8 min pace on the track. It felt good and easy to run again. I'm toying with the idea of putting in a bit more training to see just how fast I can get my 5k time down to, I know that I can put down 6 min miles for a 5k comfortably. In high school when I was running a lot my 5k PR was somewhere in the 15:50s which would put my mile splits at about 5:05, not sure I can hit that mark again but I think it would be interesting to try. Who knows, maybe I'll attempt a 10k again and see if I can't beat my PR (I know what you're thinking...what is the world coming to when Andrew thinks he can run again).
I've received word from Mr. English and our bike are just about ready to go to paint, here's a teaser of the decals being applied and an idea of how they will look. Lauren and I are super excited, it's been fun to go through this process of having custom bikes built and assembling all the bits & bobs for components. We should have them up and running for the 2015 season. Want to know the coolest part of all this... My bike is #97 and Lauren's is frame #100!
On the topic of bikes, I've ordered myself a dedicated commuter bike. After hours of scouring the internet for what bike to build, buy or steal. I've settled on the best value for my money and it would be a Novara Arkham. 3 spd belt drive, disc brake, chain guard, fendered, racked and upright commuter bike. Weighing in at a whopping 31.8 lbs (and more once I put lights and panniers on it) this thing is sweet. Not designed for speed, rather comfort and ease of use, it also has the option to mount a front basket. This grocery getting, cat carrying, do-it-all machine has replaced my car and I'm stoked, it even has a kickstand & bell!
Another addition to my sanity while living in this new dig is I can have my piano and saxophones out and can play them whenever I want to. At most apartments we're either not allowed to have musical instruments or can only use them with headphones. Not anymore! I get to serenade the entire neighborhood with my glorious noise whenever I damn well please. Lucky for them we go to bed early....for now....
That's about it for now folks, I'll update again once running and training picks up and as we learn more about our new place. In the meantime, read, comment, enjoy and share with others.
Until next time!
Cheers,
-Andrew-
Until next time!
Cheers,
-Andrew-