Independence Day weekend is over. Sigh. I used to get really excited about this holiday when I was younger. For one reason only really…. bottle rocket wars.

This year, like many recent years, the holiday hasn’t really impacted my summer. No big plans. Just continued training, with the bonus of a bratwurst on the grill and some fun fireworks on Saturday night. I put some extra miles on Frankenbike as I rode in and around downtown with a bunch of friends which is always fun. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was Denver’s “Bike to Work” day. I work from home, so I joined some other entrepreneurs and biked downtown for some free breakfast and hung out with a bunch of bikers for a while. It was a great morning for a ride. Then a 5 mile run! Woohoo!

I just finished a 40 mile bike ride with Jeremy down Bear Creek Trail, down to Chatfield Reservoir and back on the Platte River trail. It was the perfect day for a ride. Sun shining, cool breeze, and great views at the foothills made me smile throughout. Sometimes with everything going on around us, we don’t realize how great we have it. I am thankful today for what I “got”.

After I returned, I had this lovely photo sitting in my inbox. This is my best friend Michael holding his just-born daughter. Teyla (named after a character in her parents’ favorite TV show) was born to Michael and Denise through a birth-mother in an adoption program. She came a few weeks early, but is all healthy and gorgeous! I am so happy for the new addition to their family! Can’t wait to meet her!

Sunday was a long swim / long run workout. Monica and I swam 2 miles in the morning and then I set out to run 12.5 miles that afternoon. For those of you outside of Denver, this map won’t mean much to you, but for those of you that “recognize”, you can appreciate this distance a little more.

I felt good through five miles when i started to feel my IT band acting up again. I was able to adjust my stride to where most of my weight was being powered by my left leg and that seemed eliminate the pain from getting any worse. As I got past 3rd ave, I forgot that Capitol Hill is just that… a hill. Climbing up to Cheesman Park was very hard on my gimp leg. I knew that the rest of the run was going to be uncomfortable… which it was. The good news is that the pain was tolerable and I was able to keep my heart rate low throughout.

After I finished and stretched, I was able to get Kara to do some physical therapy on my knee which helped alot. I slept really hard last night and my legs are very sore today. I’m glad all I have planned is a gym workout and a short bike ride this afternoon.

In other related news, I was able to work a deal with Whole Foods and The Pub on Pearl to start a public weekly run around Wash Park. Starting Wednesday June 30th, I will be hosting a 5K run that will start from The Pub on Pearl, circle the park, and run by Whole Foods on the return to the Pub. After we return, all runners will be treated to a buffet of healthy food donated by Whole Foods. I’m really looking forward to building a large group of new, fun people to run with in the neighborhood. Whole Foods has committed to my project through the fall. I will be making a formal announcement this week along with the details. So stay tuned and hope you can join us!

Song of the Week

Descender is a relatively new band that was started by my dear old friend Casey Hess, back in Dallas. I used to release CDs from his former band Doosu back in the 90’s on One Ton Records. Every so often he sends me demos of new music he is writing in his bedroom. I always enjoy getting these and listening to his art. Earlier this month, he “officially” released a CD called Army of Elephants and played some shows with his new band. Here is the first “single”. It’s called “What was Missing”.

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Today is also my mom’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!

I was planning to go to Chatfield Reservoir this morning for my first open water swim, but it has been raining on and off for 2 days now and the temp is in the 50’s. So… not a good day to get adjusted to the cold water. Instead I went to the gym, then got on the bike and rode in the cold rain. I ate some lunch and crashed on the couch. Now it’s 10:30 and I’m writing in my blog. Isn’t my life exciting???

Seriously, it’s weird how minor adjustments to your lifestyle can radically change other aspects of your life. Now that everyone knows I’m not drinking, I don’t get invited to the bar as much. And when I do, I often decline or stay for an hour to see everyone and then leave. Not to mention that my early morning workouts have me going to bed before midnight even on the weekends. I am staying focused on my goal. I’m spending alot more time outside. It has become my release. I do alot of thinking when I’m in the water, on my bike, and running for hours and hours. I think about friends I haven’t talked to in a long time, yet I still don’t call them. I need to. And I will. Writing it here will hold me accountable.

Friday was my day off (from workouts) and I literally spent my entire day playing with Facebook code to create this new page for Cruiser Rocks. Learning new programming is something I dread. But after I hammer through it, I always feel inspired to do more. I applaud people who tackle new software and the latest versions of everything.

Off to bed and watch some SNL. Don’t be jealous!

So… My cruiser bike was stolen last winter (boo!) and it was time to shop for a new one. I did some online shopping and hit a few local bike shops, but nothing really said “Aden”. So I went to craigslist to see if there were any hidden gems in people’s garages… Then, like a ray of light, I clicked on an ad selling this beautifully enormous assembly of chrome, rubber and steel. I immediately had to ride it. So I called the guy and did a test drive. It was an odd ride and the bike needed a little TLC. I hesitated to buy something that needed some work (especially at the asking price), so I took the entire winter to think about it. As the days turned warmer, I wanted to get out and ride. So thanks to Dirk, Pau, Nash, and Birdman (long story), I had some spending money to pony up for the (luckily) unsold bike. I painted the rusty wheels and chain guard orange, added some orange grips, and found the perfect orange sparkle banana seat to finish out the look. The hardest part was making the banana seat work on such an unusual frame. Kendall and I (mostly Kendall) took stabs at making it work over the course of a couple of months. No dice. Yesterday we called Dr. Thom to come in and assess the problem. After 5 hours of drilling holes in the frame and piecing together all of it’s complexities, Thom and Kendall were able to bring “Frankenbike” to life! SPECIAL THANKS TO KENDALL AND THOM FOR ALL OF THEIR HARD WORK! I owe them!

Frankenbike has 36″ wheels and is 8 feet long. I stood it next to a normal sized cruiser bike so you could truly appreciate its massiveness.

Now I can’t wait for …

www.cruiserrocks.org

Another weekend of long workouts in the bag. I’m starting to experience general fatigue at all times. I go to bed at a decent hour and still have trouble getting out of bed. Throughout the day, I am generally tired and I usually fall asleep if I sit on the couch too long. I credit it to not drinking enough water throughout the day. So I am going to stay more on top of my water intake from here on out and see if that helps.

I biked 40 miles on Saturday followed immediately by a five mile run. The transition from the bike to the run is one of relief and stress. First off, you are so glad to be off the bike and standing in an upright position. Then as you begin your run, you can feel your quads screaming as your legs adjusts to using a different set of muscles. It is really hard for me to keep going for the first coupe of miles, but soon enough my legs start to get back in “running mode” and then I feel fine.

Sunday I ran to the pool, swam 2100 meters, and attempted to run 4 miles after that. Well by the time I was out of the pool it was 3 pm and 90+ degrees. This was the first time I’ve run in such heat and direct sunlight this season. It sucked. I had to stop several times to walk. I found it funny that no one else was running on the trail at that time… I guess I was the only idiot. Here is the kicker though… I will be running in the heat of the day on race day and it gets hot AND humid in Sonoma. So I need to be prepared for this type of running anyway. Boy I am not looking forward to that.

Anyway… enough whining. This is my challenge, and I am up for it.

Dude! A double-post! Carissa, Sharlene, Serena and I all went to see Tom Petty at Red Rocks last night. Great weather, good friends, good music, good times.

3 months ago (on March 3rd) I was eating Chinese take-out. I opened my fortune cookie and my fortune read “Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you.” I’m normally not superstitious, but I really needed some good news. So I wrote the date on the fortune and taped it to my monitor on my desk. Well yesterday was June 3rd, and I sprained my ankle on a curb during my run. Boo on you mister Chinese fortune man!

So my workouts have ramped up to extensive miles per week, and I’ve been staying on top of it pretty well. I was really sick for 10 days early in the month, I’ve quit drinking, and I’ve been eating healthy food…

Oh yeah, and my pants are falling down.

I’ve lost 14 pounds this month. My normal weight is around 225. Now I’m at 211. If my dad reads this, he will likely call me and tell me to eat more. He is always concerned that I am too skinny. Ironically, he always wants me to wear baggier clothes too. Maybe he thinks bigger clothes will make me look thicker. Who knows… Anyway, I’ve never felt that I was too skinny and that I am fairly well proportioned given my height. I’ve seen taller and skinnier guys and I am very thankful for the way I look… Don’t get me wrong. There are lots of things I wish I could change, but I don’t worry about it on a daily basis.

This week, I’ve had my friend Carissa in town from Dallas and we’ve been eating out alot so I bet the weight will start rolling back up the scale a bit. Last night, she and I, along with Kendall, Kelly, Monica and Kara, all went to Watercourse for dinner. Ive been avoiding this place because I like meat. No apologies. Watercourse is a Vegan restaurant on 17th. I have to say I was delightfully surprised. I had some sweet potato and black bean tacos on corn tortillas (gluten free) with avocado. They were delicious. I topped of the meal with gluten free chocolate cake. (Although I’m pretty sure our waitress had to bake the damn thing before she brought it out… wtf?) Anyway. Don’t be afraid of Watercourse if you are a carnivore like myself. They have some delicious meals regardless.

Song of the week… “A Place Called Home” – PJ Harvey
Most of you know I am a h-u-g-e PJ fan. This is an oldie, but it is worth a good listen (or 12). Enjoy.

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