35 Miler!

Got a spinning class on Tuesday and a 35 mile ride (OUTSIDE!) on Wednesday in Columbus.  It was terrific to be outdoors ridining and although it's a bit sad to think that 35 miles is a long ride for me, I am working my way up to 100 by early August.  AND my riding buddy Patrick is coming to Columbus with his family over July 4th, so we'll get in some riding then.  HOT DOG!

45 MInute Spin and First $500

We're off to a good start. I just joined the Battelle gym today and participated in a 45 minute spin class. I thought I was going to pass out after 10 minutes (talk about not being in shape!) but I got my groove and was ok by the end of the class. I'm so glad to have this resource on campus and look forward to getting back in shape.

We've also managed to raise our first $500 - on our way to becoming a "High Roller".

New Team

Team Nothmann is partnering up with the Battelle team this year in the Pelotonia and we are excited to meet new people and raise $ and awareness to fight cancer. We have been blessed with a healthy family and look forward to new adventures... and getting back into shape.

3 miles

"Swim"

The move from CA to SC has been tough on the training regime. Bike lanes are non-existant, shoulders are spotty, and drivers aren't overly accepting of cyclists. The humidity is a shock to the system. The pool isn't close and the hours aren't terrific. Combine all of that with the demands of a "new" job, and the ~20 pounds of weight gain provide a good proxy of how much (little) I've managed to work out.

That said, the boys and I have started to get in routine on the weekends that involve going to the pool, and while it's not much, I got in a few (emphasis on that word) laps yesterday while they were playing. As minimal of a workout as it was, my muscles feel a bit sore today, which attests to how out of shape I'm in. It's a good feeling though - one that I've missed.

I will continue to carve out sessions a few times a week to start on my road to recovery.

Combining Passions

As I embark on a new journey into a different occupational space, I started to conduct some research and ran across an interesting article about a pair of guys who rode their bikes about 5000 miles and planted over 100 trees in their "Spokes and Stems" bike tour.

It's great to see folks finding their passion(s) and following them - that is the key to success.

NoCal MS Ride

Just over a week ago I joined the Monsanto Mavericks in Northern California for the MS Bike Ride from San Fransico over the Golden Gate bridge and along the coast, up to Sonoma and ultimately on towards Healdsburg. The first day was WET and unfortunately, I didn't have my video camera set up this year (all footage borrowed from other riders). The view wasn't as spectacular because there was a lot of fog and I was focused a lot more on the road this year, but it was still pretty tremendous.

I only got one self photo at the end of the ride on the first day (at the beer tent) , but several photos Day 2, which was overcast, but no rain. Pretty much perfect riding weather. Here are some photos of the Monsanto crew at the lunch stop.

The Kelly Family (Ross, Leo, Margaret)

Carl and Erin

Heiko

Katherine and Byron

SOLOMON & DAVID

Gotta Fuel Up!

Team Nothmann spent a few weeks in Northern CA (partially for week and some vacation to boot) recently and we managed a few "longer" rides - 30 and 40 milers. Isaac took seriously the need to fuel up and always had his water bottle and plent of snacks to much on along the way.

He and I stopped a deli on one of our rides and it was some great father-son bonding.

Half Way There!

WOW! We've only been at it for 6 weeks and we've hit the 50% mark for our fundraising goal.

THANK YOU!!!

We've still got some work ahead of us, but I wanted to take a minute to stop and celebrate a big milestone.

Illinois Ag in the Classroom 2009

2009 will be the first time in YEARS that I won't be able to join the Illinois Ag in the Classroom bike ride to raise awareness of agriculture with kids. It's put together by the Illinois Farm Bureau and is a great program and a lot of fun. I've met a bunch of great people that I've always looked forward to seeing each year and I'm bummed that I'm going to miss 2009. So, at a minimum, I thought I'd give them a plug and encourage you to participate if you have a chance. It's GREAT!

Here's a picture of me, the vegetarian, holding a big "Beef" sign promoting the livestock industry... oh the things we do for a chuckle!

Training Update

It's been awhile since we've blogged, but we've been busy!

Last Thursday we were scheduled to go out with some other Seminis Mavericks, but it ended up being a small group, so Jessica and I decided we would just go out as a family. That said, when we picked up Isaac and Solomon from daycare, they were NOT interested in cycling. Isaac had his eyes set on the "Spielplatz", which is German for playground and code for wanting to go to the daycare at the gym. So we hustled to get our stuff together and Jessica made it in time for her class and I got in about 5 miles on the treadmill.

Friday, Isaac redeemed himself by continuously chanting "Fahrrad fahren!" (Let's go bike riding!) despite the fact that neither Jessica nor I had ANY motivation. We loaded up and did 14 miles in an hour - Moorpark to Simi Valley It wasn't very challenging for Jessica, but it was the best I could average given the hills and the extra 80 pounds. Next time, I'll let her pull the boys. :-)

Got a good swim in on Saturday and ran 11 miles (in 95 minutes) on Sunday. I've been using the Jeff Galloway method of walking for ~30 seconds every mile and it's a good way to be nice to my body. Even with the "walk breaks" I averaged about 8:38 minute miles.

So... the training continues and I'll be riding home today from work and back into work tomorrow morning.

Leg Length Discrepencies

My buddy Patrick wrote today telling me his leg pain, which he thought was IT-Band related, is more likely a leg length discrepency. Apparently, this is fairly common. You can read about it at in this article, but the short version is that about 85% of people have "function" leg-length discrepency (as opposed to a congential condition). Unfortunately, of those folks, two-thirds apparently suffer pain or discomfort from the condition. High mileage runners / cyclists are especially prone - YIKES!

So - from his warning comes my warning... it's real, it's common, and it's a pain in the...

It Must Be Love

My wife must really love me. Yesterday I got a phone message saying that the Moorpark Athletic Club, the sports club we belong to, is selling their used spinning bikes for $200 and she wondered whether I was interested. Keep in mind that I already have four (4) bikes in the garage and am in the process of ordering another one (Lynskey or Steelhead Road Bike) from Maplewood Bicycle assuming Stewart and I can ever connect.

So you may be asking yourself, "What does one do with four (soon to be five) bicycles?"

Ride, of course!

At some other point in time, I'll have to do a run down on my GEAR, but let's just say that over the past two days I've been using my Quintana Roo Santo Triathlon bike to commute back and forth to work - and I'm lovin' it.

It's good to have support of loved ones. There's no way we could do this without them. So thanks to Jessica for thinking of me, and for those of you still wanting to know... I didn't get the spinning bike.

Outdoor Running

Yesterday was my first outdoor run in a LONG time... too long. Usually I take one or more boys to the daycare at the gym and do my long runs on the treadmill - BORING. The benefit is that I can monitor my pace, have plenty of hydration and don't have to push the extra weight of the carriage.

Yesterday, both boys got up early and were ready for a nap by 9:00-ish. So I was out the door ready for a 10-11 mile run by 9:34. It was HOT! Even by 10:00, the sun was bearing down and wreaking some havoc. I have definitely run in worse, but for someone who has become accoustomed to the treadmill, it was a bit of a shock... and the HILLS! After lap #1, I refilled my water bottle and forced myself to start a second lap. After a little over 2 miles (into the second lap), I decided to turn around and head home.

Let's just say that my final mileage was more like 8.5 miles and a got healthy cool down walk.

Too Many Migraines

As if on queue, I caused another treadmill migraine on Thursday when I tried to do some intervals. It's odd, because it was very delayed relative to when I "over-exerted" myself. I warmed up, did 1 mile at a 7:30 pace and rested for 3 minutes (walking). I repeated that and felt like my heart rate was going up to much. So I cooled down, stretched out and after about 10 minutes felt good again. So, I did another 3.3 miles at a 9 minute pace, followed by 1 minute of walking. It wasn't until after I showered helped get the kids in the car and got home that I felt the first twinge of a migraine - about 1 hour after the exertion. I thought it was going to be a light one, but it lasted the entire night and I went to work early Friday with a nagging headache.

Today did a few quick arm / ab exercises after Isaac and I returned from the park and he went to bed for a nap. I was waiting for Solomon to wake up so that I could go in for a swim. I knocked out about 1.2 miles and came home for a quick bite, a quick nap and we still have the afternoon ahead of us!

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Swim Bark Run

Here is a fun triathlon fundraising event in Colorado that I happened upon: Swim Bark Run - Tri For MS. It's a chance to get your dog involved in the fun raising activities. If it weren't in Colorado, I'd have to get Pauli (photo here courtesy of Ben) suited up to compete.

Now if they had a competition on who could lick the most salt (sweat) off of someone, Pauli would DEFINITELY be a contender!

Diane

I recently got some financial support from one of my colleagues; someone I've known for about as long as I've worked at Monsanto - 12 years. She's also one of the reasons I ride. She's a mom, a colleague and a friend. Makes me humble.

99 Miles

I wish I could say that I rode 99 miles in a single ride, but not YET this year. Last week, all of my riding was during the (extended) commute. On Monday I drove into work with my bike and rode home... which meant that I had to ride into work on Tuesday morning. Thursday night (my bike was still at the office), I met up with 3 other Mavericks after work, cruised to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and turned around and headed home (for 35 miles total). My better half inquired Thursday night if I was riding in on Friday, to which I answered "do I have a choice". So Friday AM was another 21 mile ride to work. That's good, because I didn't get on my bike at all this weekend due to some neck pain. Bummer!

Nonetheless, here's a shot of John and Jan who were ahead of Kerstin and me on the return trip. Glad to have the company - GO MAVERICKS!

Heart Rate

On the commute this morning, I revelled in the fact that my early morning ride to work is significantly easier than my ride home. It took me 61 minutes to get to work (versus 68 to get home yesterday) and my average heart rate was 141 (versus 152 yesterday).

It made me think about my Resting Heart Rate (RHR), which at last (recent) check was about 42 beats per minute (BPM) and my Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). According to Wikipedia, there are several formulas:

• The most common formula encountered (Fox and Haskell, 1970), with no indication of standard deviation, is: HRmax = 220 − age (for me = 182)
  Unfortunately, this method has an error ranging from 7-11 BPM!
• Another formula deemed least objectionable is: HRmax = 205.8 − (0.685 × age), which for me is 179.77 (gotta love the .77), which a more acceptable standard deviation of 6.4 BPM.

Unfortunately for me, I know that my MHR is more than 180 as I've seen it go to 186 on the heart rate monitor (recently).

So the MHR and RHR help determine the Target Heart Rate (THR) depending on how hard one wants to exert him/herself.

THR = ((MHRmax − RHR) × %Intensity) + RHR
Examples for me with a MHRmax of 186 and a HRrest of 42:

• 50% intensity: ((186 − 42) × 0.50) + 42 = 114 BPM
• 75% intensity: ((186-42) x 0.75) + 42 = 150 BPM
• 85% intensity: ((186 − 42) × 0.85) + 42 = 164.4 BPM

So my intensity yesterday was about 76% and my intensity today was about 68% - that's the training lesson the day!

Commuter Bliss

Didn't set any landspeed records on the commute home today, but the weather was PERFECT. It was sunny and cool with only the mildest of breezes. 21 miles in 68 minutes (average HR = 152) but I felt good and I havent' been on my bike for awhile. Looking forward to another commute in the morning and a few other weekday rides to get me back in the swing of things.

Seminis Mavericks ride set for Thursday night and the prospects of a record turn out. Bring your cameras!