Turkey Day
With my parents sunning it up in Hawaii (more on that later) and Jill's parents in Oklahoma, we figured to just do a small dinner at our house for the 4 of us (the two humans and the two pooches). Then we got an invitation to crash Chris & Molly's Thanksgiving dinner at their place, which we gladly accepted.
Note: Don't ever extend an invitation to me for turkey & dressing if you don't expect me to accept without ever thinking twice.
Thanksgiving was a mix of Chris & Molly's families, friends and classmates. Lots of good food and fun times, and maybe the most important part - leftovers to take home! We watched football, caught up on all the happenings of MBA & Law School life, played some games and talked a lot. A very eclectic group, but a good time by all.
Parental Vacation
The Parentals took a much overdue vacation to Maui over Thanksgiving, partly to watch the OState Cowboys in the Maui Invitational basketball tournament. While the Cowboy's results left quite a bit to be desired, it sounds like they really enjoyed their time living it up on the island.
Some Light Reading
Winter's short days and cold temps bring me indoors in a hurry. In preparation for the "fattening season", I picked up a couple books last week that I've been eyeing for some time now. One is The Cyclist Training Bible, which is written by Joe Friel who is a Boulder resident. The other is Training and Racing with a Powermeter, which is a change I will likely make this winter. I've been using the Polar heart rate monitor for several seasons, and I'm finally starting to get to the point where I think I could use power training more effectively.
Training Time
Last winter I built a nice aerobic base before basically burning myself out in early June. The good news was that even though I didn't fully take advantage of my newfound conditioning, I did find myself having a much better overall base conditioning even late in the summer when my riding had been minimized.
So this winter I'm out to build on last year's semi-successful winter program. I'll again be using PC Coach Cycling Plans to at least outline my plan and to help me keep from working myself too hard and to generate the periodization (4 weeks of build - build - build - rest) for me.
November has been a very good month so far. I've just wrapped up my hardest (exertion point based) week to date, but I still feel like I've got pretty good legs. I'm using a different approach in PC Coach this year, which seems to be working better for me so far. I'm working on setting some goals for next summer, but the one that seems to keep coming up is the Laramie Enduro. I'm still upset I didn't get to finish that one last year, so I'm expecting that is going a major goal for me next summer.
You can see here in my PC Coach monthly calendar view that the majority of the work is easier, aerobic base building work.
Yesterday I managed to get out and hit the tarmac and avoid 2 hours of trainer time. It was sunny and 50 when I started, but as the sun moved behind the clouds it got pretty chilly buzzing down the road at 17mph. I've got some shoe covers on order that should help my chronically chilly feet, but they have yet to arrive.
And the real bottom line here is this:
During the week of Thanksgiving I managed to lose 4 pounds, and gain a lost belt loop.
More updates on the fitness front to come, and if/when I ever do make the switch to power you can expect to be inundated by charts.
You've been warned.
Guitar Hero 3
While waiting in Sam's Club to get new tires on Jill's car, I starting playing Guitar Hero III on the display they had setup. After a quick tutorial by the worker who was undoubtedly tired of hearing my bad attempts, I was hooked. I somehow fought the urge to buy it off immediately, but gave in later that night.
For those who have no idea what it is, its basically a guitar you play by pressing buttons on the neck while strumming. The notes come down the screen at you, and if you play them correctly you get the sweet sounds of music. Incorrectly gets you a squawk from the guitar. Its very fun and addictive.
I pretty much mastered the 3 button Easy mode, but have found myself struggling with the Medium mode which uses 4 (of the 5) buttons and the notes come much faster. Its a long winter and the replay value is high, so I expect to conquer medium in due time.
1 comment:
I love this post, and I'm glad to see someone has updated their blog since Thanksgiving! I'm happy you were able to come help make a dent in the 24lb bird.
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