Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Back on the Saddle

What happened then...
Growing up, I loved riding bikes.  My first "real" bike I remember was the standard bike for many kids in the '70's.  I had a Red Schwinn Stingray.  Banana seat...  tassels on the handles.  The whole deal.

In the blizzard of '78, I had left my bike outside.  I giant icicle formed on the side of the house... you guessed it, it encased my bike.  When it thawed, it pretty much crushed the bike.

My next bike didn't last long.  It was a Huffy "BMX" bike.  Months after getting it, it was stolen from school.  Myself and 2 other friends had our bikes all locked together onto the playground fence at grade school.  Mine was closest to the fence.  We left school at the end of that day and my bike was gone, the other 2 were still sitting there.  The "good" thing that came of this?  The school installed bike racks up next to the building for us to lock our bikes up.

My next bike was a small 10 speed.  I've never been all that tall, so this small 10 speed fit me and I had this one until it literally fell apart around about the time of my Junior/Senior year in high school.

By this time, I had my drivers license.  Getting a new bike wasn't a priority.

About 10 years later, in the early to mid '90's, I had a junky 10 speed bike that I paid $25.00 for.  It didn't fit me well, but I rode it all over the place for several years.

In 1996, I was swiped by a car while riding my bike into work.

It's a moment that plays in my mind in slow motion.  I can remember feeling the car so close to me and seeing the hood of the car.  Then the sharp pain as the side view mirror finds it's target in my left side caboose.

It sent me, and my junky 10 speed flying.  Irony being as it is, this happened right in front of an EMT's house.  The EMT heard the car and came rushing out to see me and the bike sprawled on the pavement.  He came up to me and asked me where it hurt.  At the time, all I could think of was my back.

He had a call into emergency and the ambulance was on it's way.  I got the full deal ride.  Neck brace, back board, gurney ride.  A trip right to the hospital with all the bells and whistles going the whole way.  X-rays were taken, I was poked and prodded for a while.  

It came back that there was nothing broken, but I was going be having a very difficult time sitting down for quite a while.

The bike sat in the garage, until I moved to Indy.  The bike stayed at the old house, I never even thought of bringing it along.

I started running
After moving to Indy, I'd finally had enough and started running.  You can go back to my first blog entries to find out about this trip.

In many of the sites, books and magazines I read about running, it came up over and over again that cycling was a good cross-training activity for runners.  So the thought was planted in my mind about getting a new bike.

I would look online at bikes and drool over everything that I couldn't afford.  

I finally made up my mind at the end of 2013 after I had sprained my ankle.  It was time to serious look into getting a bike.

We wound up with a decent bonus at work for the year and I made my purchase.  I briefly spoke about that in the blog when I got it.


Giant Defy 5 (small)
Giant Defy 5, size small.  I got it on closeout.  The first time I picked it up, I was amazed!  It's so light compared to anything I had ever ridden before!

I went through and got fitted to the bike.  I purchase clip in shoes and pedals.  I have a water bottle.  I got a trainer so I could still use it in the 6 months of crap we call winter here in Indy.


Bottle Holder - Matches the bike almost perfectly!

The Water Bottle!

SIDI Genius 5 Road Bike shoes

and, of course, a helmet.
And there it all sat.  I rode it a total of 4 times in 2014.  FOUR times.

2014 - The year of saying F-it.
2014 was not a good year fitness wise for me.  I pretty much gave up again.  

Sure, I did several races, but I didn't train properly or at all for them.  They were all painful experiences.  Not something I would recommend for anyone.

One day, I hear on the news about the Tour de Cure here in Indianapolis.  I look into the event and it sounds really cool!  A chance to ride your bike on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

So, I tell my good friend Rick about the ride and it sparks his interest too.  By the time November rolls around, we're signing up!!  I'm jazzed to go for the big ride.  Let's go all out and do the Century ride!  100 Miles on the track.

Once we sign up, there's 2 options for the Century, all on the track or do the 75k ride and finish out the 100 on the track.  We're opting for the latter.  40 times around the track sounds like it might get boring!

My Century training has begun
So, here we are, 12 Weeks out until the Century ride on June 20th!  My training has officially started!

Tonight was my first time back on the saddle since sometime last year.

I'm saddle sore.  I'm also other kinds of sore.  Biking uses different muscles than running.  Those muscles haven't been used in way too long.

The PLAN for tonight was to ride an hour.  I made it 35 minutes before I just couldn't stand to be on that saddle any longer.  My GPS watch sensor on the bike says that it was near equivalent to 10 miles today.  Wow... 1/10th of the way!  That's a scary thought right now.

That was also on the trainer.  I had some resistance, but not enough to make it seem like a real ride yet.  

I also need to do something I never did before while training for my running events.  Get some other types of training in!  I will begin phasing in some in-home core exercises that I can do that should benefit both running and biking.


Tour de Cure - Indy

Click this, and help!



Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp


2015 - Rebuilding from the Shoes up!

Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Moving Forward

Training has begun!
Not for a half or full marathon, but another type of endurance race.

A Century Bike Ride.  In this case, the Century is 100 Miles. 


This is my first attempt at a fund raising event.  Frankly, I kinda suck at it.  My Dad has been my only supporter so far.  

I went with the lowest goal of $500.00.

This is to support the American Diabetes Association.  Because of my weight issues and family history, this is quite relevant to me.  I've been bouncing in and out of the Type II Diabetes area for years now.

A good friend from work, his daughter is Type I.  I have met his wonderful little girl and admire her for her battle against this terrible condition.  At times, I'm ashamed of myself. She was born like this and has no choice in the matter.  For me, it IS a choice.  I've done this to myself by not staying healthy.  I need to stop this cycle and with this event, I hope to begin the path back to a healthier lifestyle.  Along the way, I'd like to help out a little by getting my goal, and hopefully a little more.

If you can please help me, click on the Tour de Cure logo above, which will take you to my donations page.


W1D1 Couch to 5K
I'm still running, as part of my training for the bike ride.  Today was my first training day, which I began with starting the Couch to 5K program once again.

Start from the beginning.  I know what worked before, it can work again.

Even though it was about 60 degrees F out, I decided to do this first run on the treadmill-o-doom.  Start off on the springy surface before hitting the asphalt again.

Was it like starting C25K was 4 years ago?  Not at all.  Sure, I was tired and I'm feeling a bit sore now, but I was pretty much able to handle Day 1 at my "normal" pace.  


The idea this go around, I have a base to start from.  I want to get better than I ever was in the past 3 years!

Goals for this year
I want to finish the Century ride with my good friend Rick.  I talked him into this, so I had better be ready for this!!

My running goals for this year?  I'm not even sure I'm going to sign up for any races for this year.

I do want to return to Disney.  I would like to do the Half once again and get A PR!  A few of the WiSH running team are going to be there next year and I will look forward to being with them once again!

The only other race I'm even possibly thinking of is the Indy Monumental Half Marathon.  Last year was the first medal in a 4 year series.  I'm thinking that I'd kinda like to get the whole series of medals!

Other than that, the number one goal is to loose weight, get fit, get healthy!



Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp


2015 - Rebuilding from the Shoes up!

Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

A Year of Silence

What happened before

Chicago Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon July 20, 2014

  In May, the doctor prescribed a new medication for me.  I had NO idea how it would affect me in a race setting.  Some things learned:

1) GU / Cliff Gels, no longer a good idea for me.  This new medication didn't like the pure sugar bomb effect these have and tore me up.
2) Gatorade/Power-aide, A few drinks of these had me feeling like I wanted to barf. 

Rick had other types of replenishment and they were much more acceptable to my stomach.

With pretty much no training, it took everything I had to continue on.  Without Rick and Mike, I'd have bailed when my stomach went nuclear. 

Since this event, I have found Hammer Nutrition products do not have these adverse effects on me.

Air Force Marathon  September 20, 2014

Bailed on this event.  No training due to being a lazy ass and getting ready to move the following week or so after this event.

I also had a "not-mandatory" but suggested mandatory company function to attend that evening.

Rick went to this event and didn't have a good go of it.  It was very hot and humid.  Not an ideal situation for a Marathon held at an Air Force field and area, or any type of area really.

Indianapolis Monumental 1/2 Marathon November 1, 2014

Rick came down for this one again!  I had next to no training for this one.  Moving at the beginning of October had played havoc with any plans I had originally made.  Plus the fact that I was still just being a lazy ass.

Rick stuck with me to about the 10K/Half Way point.  At that time, he went on ahead, as the portion of the course we were still on was about to officially "close".  We could still progress on, only on the side walks.

It was much better once I got to the point where the full marathon and half marathon courses re-joined.  They had done something different.  They actually marked the left side of the road as the half-marathoners and the right side as the full.  So, here I was, practically the sole person on the half marathon side as the full marathoners zipped by me on the right.

Many words of encouragement from the full marathoners!  I had a Mickey Mouse hoodie on, and many of them would go by and shout "GO MICKEY!".  It brightened up my mood considerably.

I finished.  Not last, that I found out later, but darn near so.

Space Coast 1/2 Marathon November 30, 2014

Rick was thinking of bailing on this event, until I let him know that I was signed up for it too.

Rick stuck with me for the first several miles, almost to the half-way point.  We walked most of that time.  After Rick departed, I fell into a decent pace until the half way point.

This race is an out and back race, so the wind was to the back on the way out.  Coming back, it was in my face.  I kept going along, getting some running in when I could.

I finished.

2015 Disney World Marathon Weekend

I signed up for the Goofy anniversary race(s).

My last preparation for this event, was the Space Coast Half.

The Half Marathon.

Dead. Last. Finish. 

I started my battle with the Balloon ladies coming into Magic Kingdom.  There is a hard cutoff right at the area where you double back to enter into the Magic Kingdom.  We had to be in front of them when we got to that bus.  I made it.

The next battle was on the road going past Polynesian Resort.  The ladies let us know once again, if we weren't in front of them by the time they passed the bus, you were done.  I managed to get in front of them with great effort.  This is where I know 2 of the blisters popped.

The remainder of the course, I was followed closely by the safety team on bikes.  They let me know that as long as I could communicate with them and I was making an effort to continue, I was probably safe.  They spoke with me often, if I started to slow down.  They urged me onward, or else they would have to pull me.

On the way back to Epcot, I was surrounded by many of the Team in Training coaches, as they were concerned about their last person.  A young lady that was participating in the race, very pregnant.  Between her and I, we were the LAST.  Even though I wasn't part of Team in Training, they commented on my WiSH team shirt, saying that they saw those shirts at as many races as they were at.  They loved our saying, and it certainly was going to apply to me on this day.

Dead Last Finish is greater than Did Not Finish which greatly trumps Did Not Start.  DLF>DNF>>DNS.  This motto is now a charm on my RoadID wrist band.

I got lost in the crowd of coaches and they celebrated the last runner as the pregnant lady.  If you saw the live feed, I come across the line after she did.  I didn't care, at that point, I was glad I was done.

Dead.  Last.  FINISHED!





I wound up with very bad blisters on both feet.  So I didn't even attempt 
starting the Full Marathon.  With no training and having managed to complete the half, I left it where it was.

I cheered on my friends and everyone else that was in the marathon with the rest of our WiSH running teammates at the Hollywood Studios area.

There is a much longer story to the Marathon Weekend adventure, but I'll write that up another time.

Where am I going from here?

I'm almost back to square one, from when I first started this blog.  I'm back up even heavier than I was last year, topping out at a massive 285 pounds.  I've made some efforts and have lost the first 5 pounds to put me back at my goal.

To loose one hundred pounds...


With that, I'll end it for tonight.  The rest of the story begins tomorrow.

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp




2015 - something, something!

Check the link above to see my current and past races.