Staying Active

Although I’ve mostly been posting random, barely-triathlon-related things lately, I AM still trying to keep my good base for the 2008 season. I’ve been lifting weights 2-3 times per week, doing my leg exercises, and trying to get it a swim/bike/run a few times a week.

On Tuesday, I ran 1-mile intervals; on Wednesday, I went mountain biking; and on Thursday, I ran a 5.5 mile tempo run.

On Tuesday, I felt like being speedy. I’m running a 5K in Como Park on Thanksgiving morning, and I’m TRYING to see if I can break 19 minutes (and maybe be in the top 5% of finishers). So on Tuesday, I ran four 1-mile intervals. I wanted to run them faster than my 5K pace (under 6 minute miles). I started a new mile every 10 minutes, so the faster I ran, the longer break I got. Here were my interval times:

Mile 1: 5:59
Mile 2: 5:36
Mile 3: 5:42
Mile 4: 5:40

Sweet, I’ve got some speed left. Let's try to break that goal next Thursday...

And then the next day, Wednesday, I finished teaching for the day and headed out to Theo Wirth Park to do some single-track riding. That’s right folks, mountain biking! I hadn’t been out on a MTB ride in over a year. I was itching to get out. In fact, dare I say, I would like to fit in an “Xterra-style” off-road triathlon during my 2008 season. Anyone know of any good ones in or near Minnesota? I think there’s an official Xterra in Michigan, but that’s still quite a drive.

Anyway, as I loaded up my bike, some white crap started falling from the cold, cloudy sky. I got to Theo Wirth and unloaded:

Oops, I cut off my head a little.
That’s what I get for using my car as a tripod.

For the entire ride, there was a light, light snow. It wasn’t a problem. I had a blast! I rode the B loop and the A loop each once, plus about a mile or so of partially paved/partially dirt track out to the loops and back. Parts of each loop are fairly technical, but nothing that was beyond my skill level. I logged a total of about 6.5 miles on the day.

When I got back to my car (after breathing all that 40 degree air), I launched one of the first (and best) snot rockets of this winter riding season:

I hope you were eating.

Yesterday, on Thursday, I had a nice 5.5 mile run. My stomach wasn’t feeling too well, so I started easy. I kept building so that my last 3 half-mile times were 3:32, 3:26, and 3:05.

Today...well, today is a different story. This morning I went to the Children’s Museum in Downtown St. Paul to be part of an “Advisory Board” for designing upcoming shows at the Museum. It was basically a 4 hours brainstorming session among 6 different creatively-minded people. No physical activity. But there were pastries. And cola. And donuts. Tues, Wed, Thurs I was good. Friday...bad Steve.

The fun part was that I got there extra early and was able to roam around the museum before it opened to the public. That was SWEET! First, I learned how the water travels through our city:

Then, I learned how conveyer belts make some peoples jobs easier:

Then, THEN, I found the giant crane:

I moved all kinds of beams! I put this one in the truck all by myself!

Then I dumped it out of the truck. Finally, and maybe my favorite part of the day, I was in an Ike and Tina Turner music video:

Freakin’ sweet! Then I had to take a little nap because I was getting over stimulated. When I woke up, Mom changed my diaper because I had made a little poopy. I wanna go back! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!!