As it turns out, there is a line that shoots at 5:00, so by going early I can shoot and make it to fencing in the same night. There were only two of us so we made it through the entire course in an hour and we were done by 6 pm. I didn't catch my scores from each round but my total was 371 again. I was much more consistent tonight and was in the gold more frequently with several x's. Had some trouble settling on target and some release control as well. I managed to fall out into the blue only a few times.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
It's December already...
Iain is running indoor track so Monday night fencing is even quieter. Kind of want to take a break from the regular schedule and keep shooting, so I'm trying to shoot every other week in the Monday night archery league at West Albany Gun Club. Last night was the second week and it had mixed results.
The format is 3 rounds of 5 ends of 3 arrows, 45 arrows total from 18 meters.
Week 1 I settled down pretty quickly and shot a 371. 118/139/114, with a high end of 30.
Week 2 I never really settled down and seemed to chase my groups high-low, up-down. 331 106/106/119, high end of 27.
The format is 3 rounds of 5 ends of 3 arrows, 45 arrows total from 18 meters.
Week 1 I settled down pretty quickly and shot a 371. 118/139/114, with a high end of 30.
Week 2 I never really settled down and seemed to chase my groups high-low, up-down. 331 106/106/119, high end of 27.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Where did the season go?
This has been a pretty uninspiring season. I had a lot of trouble getting out the door. At least I wasn't completely inert all year, fencing twice a week, played a bunch of lacrosse, getting some running in. Anyway, I'm trying to refocus and get back in some kind of groove. Looking forward to next week as Thaddeus is coming up and we're going to get some riding in.
Iain and I also just got involved in archery. This past weekend was kind of crappy as far as weather goes but we spent as couple of hours at the range. Iain grabbed this image of my first flight of the day.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Brief diatribe on cycling politics
Preface:
I'm not a professional cyclist nor do I know any personally. I could be completely full of crap. Please feel free to leave a comment even if you disagree with me.
If you follow professional cycling at all, you may tend to look forward to certain races and keeping tabs on certain riders and their teams. I've really been looking forward to this year's Tour de France as I'd like to see Levi Leipheimer improve his 3rd place finish from last year. I also wanted to see his Astana teammate and fellow American, Chris Horner ride another TdF. Last week, the ASO, organizer of the Tour and a bunch of other classic bike races in France declared that Astana would not be invited to any of their events this year. You could debate this issue at length, and it is a deep and convoluted one involving past interactions between the ASO, the UCI and other entities, but since this is my blog I'm going to state that some of these organizing bodies really suck. No transparency, no due process. They break their own rules when it pleases them.
I've come to the conclusion that professional cycling would be better off without the existing organizing bodies. I think the situation would be improved if cyclists disassociated themselves from the UCI, the IOC, WADA and its national bodies. I'd like to see them all gone, flushed goodbye. Let cyclists organize and manage their sport to their liking. Government Of, By and For the Cyclists.
If cyclists worked with parties interested in organizing events for the benefit of cyclists, they wouldn't be at the mercy of organizations like the ASO, or the ASO would have to learn to serve the needs of cyclists first. No sporting group owns the roads. If the ASO won't throw a good party, organize a better one yourselves. If pro cycling teams don't learn to play hard ball with ASO, RCS and Unipublic, more will find themselves in the same position as Unibet and Astana. All dressed up with no place to go and soon out of sponsorship. Kind of ironic that the teams had the chance to put collective pressure on ASO last year prior to Paris - Nice, and they declined. When the UCI subsequently backed down, they all handed the reins to the independent organizers who are now dictating terms to the rest of the cycling world. Of course, RCS followed suit and Unibet couldn't find a big race to attend, and they had to fold. Anybody else wondering how long Astana will last? You could write a cheap novel about Russian (or Kazakh) gangsters getting ready to hunt down Christian Prudhomme and shoving a bike frame up his ass before strangling him with a blue and yellow jersey.
Maybe I'm naive, but the case of Floyd Landis is one where a guy gets screwed over by a bureaucracy that's chasing its own agenda instead of serving the truth. I believe Floyd is clean. I have years of experience dealing with sampling and analytical issues and I wouldn't trust the French lab to find the bottom of an empty coffee cup. And the ass backward "hearing" that was able to rule against Landis' defense is an example of a process that serves an agenda, not the truth. Sorry, I know I'm shifting my vitriol between both sides of the issue. I see ASO/RCS/Unipublic as the other side of the coin as the UCI/IOC/WADA. Different side of the same screwed up relationship, each group as fundamentally fucked up and wrong as the other. When people say cycling is dirty, they're right but they're overlooking the worst offenders.
Please consider supporting Levi and Astana's cause by visiting LetLeviRide.com. Sign the petition, email the ASO and voice your displeasure. Hey it won't do jack but it can't hurt to speak up.
Ride safely out there.
I'm not a professional cyclist nor do I know any personally. I could be completely full of crap. Please feel free to leave a comment even if you disagree with me.
If you follow professional cycling at all, you may tend to look forward to certain races and keeping tabs on certain riders and their teams. I've really been looking forward to this year's Tour de France as I'd like to see Levi Leipheimer improve his 3rd place finish from last year. I also wanted to see his Astana teammate and fellow American, Chris Horner ride another TdF. Last week, the ASO, organizer of the Tour and a bunch of other classic bike races in France declared that Astana would not be invited to any of their events this year. You could debate this issue at length, and it is a deep and convoluted one involving past interactions between the ASO, the UCI and other entities, but since this is my blog I'm going to state that some of these organizing bodies really suck. No transparency, no due process. They break their own rules when it pleases them.
I've come to the conclusion that professional cycling would be better off without the existing organizing bodies. I think the situation would be improved if cyclists disassociated themselves from the UCI, the IOC, WADA and its national bodies. I'd like to see them all gone, flushed goodbye. Let cyclists organize and manage their sport to their liking. Government Of, By and For the Cyclists.
If cyclists worked with parties interested in organizing events for the benefit of cyclists, they wouldn't be at the mercy of organizations like the ASO, or the ASO would have to learn to serve the needs of cyclists first. No sporting group owns the roads. If the ASO won't throw a good party, organize a better one yourselves. If pro cycling teams don't learn to play hard ball with ASO, RCS and Unipublic, more will find themselves in the same position as Unibet and Astana. All dressed up with no place to go and soon out of sponsorship. Kind of ironic that the teams had the chance to put collective pressure on ASO last year prior to Paris - Nice, and they declined. When the UCI subsequently backed down, they all handed the reins to the independent organizers who are now dictating terms to the rest of the cycling world. Of course, RCS followed suit and Unibet couldn't find a big race to attend, and they had to fold. Anybody else wondering how long Astana will last? You could write a cheap novel about Russian (or Kazakh) gangsters getting ready to hunt down Christian Prudhomme and shoving a bike frame up his ass before strangling him with a blue and yellow jersey.
Maybe I'm naive, but the case of Floyd Landis is one where a guy gets screwed over by a bureaucracy that's chasing its own agenda instead of serving the truth. I believe Floyd is clean. I have years of experience dealing with sampling and analytical issues and I wouldn't trust the French lab to find the bottom of an empty coffee cup. And the ass backward "hearing" that was able to rule against Landis' defense is an example of a process that serves an agenda, not the truth. Sorry, I know I'm shifting my vitriol between both sides of the issue. I see ASO/RCS/Unipublic as the other side of the coin as the UCI/IOC/WADA. Different side of the same screwed up relationship, each group as fundamentally fucked up and wrong as the other. When people say cycling is dirty, they're right but they're overlooking the worst offenders.
Please consider supporting Levi and Astana's cause by visiting LetLeviRide.com. Sign the petition, email the ASO and voice your displeasure. Hey it won't do jack but it can't hurt to speak up.
Ride safely out there.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Dismal cycling results
To make a long story short, my performance on the bike has sucked. My power numbers have declined steadily since 1/29. I tried resting a bit but my power tonight was horrible and my legs started burning less than 15 minutes into my workout. Maybe the effort I've put in fencing and playing lacrosse is preventing me from pushing harder. I'm fairly concerned about this but not sure whether I should be resting, pushing, seeking medical advice or ignoring the numbers. I'm waiting to see what things are going to feel like on the road in a few weeks.
Fencing went pretty well this week. We bouted all night on Thursday using the electric gear, then had an extra practice Friday. Saturday we fenced in a non-sanctioned team tournament. We got housed but we had fun and our coach took 1st in team epee with two of his old buddies.
Last night's lacrosse game was a blast. We were a little short handed so we played 5 on 5 full field with 1 sub each. Running full field wore me down a lot faster but my recovery wasn't bad. Had a lot of trouble catching the ball. No in game injuries though and my joints feel pretty decent today.
Fencing went pretty well this week. We bouted all night on Thursday using the electric gear, then had an extra practice Friday. Saturday we fenced in a non-sanctioned team tournament. We got housed but we had fun and our coach took 1st in team epee with two of his old buddies.
Last night's lacrosse game was a blast. We were a little short handed so we played 5 on 5 full field with 1 sub each. Running full field wore me down a lot faster but my recovery wasn't bad. Had a lot of trouble catching the ball. No in game injuries though and my joints feel pretty decent today.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
That feels better.
After those last two dodgy rides, I was able to crank out a 20 min peak power of 203 watts and an average speed for the whole workout of 18.3 mph. That makes me feel a lot better. I have to credit Alex Simmons (his blog post) for the idea of posting the power graph. Thanks Alex.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Two steps forward, one step back.
Well, I thought I was all set to move forward. Had a couple of busy days that kept me off the bike, then two very discouraging rides. Saturday and Sunday I could barely keep my output above 160 watts for any length of time, and the effort just made my quads hurt like hell. On the up side, my calf muscle feels pretty good and is loosening up very well. Monday night while fencing I had some decent explosive lunges.
Regarding fencing, I had an interesting experience developing defensive footwork. I found by keeping my weight slightly forward instead of balanced 50/50, I could use my front leg more effectively to spring backwards and create more of a buffer between the opponents blade and mine, allowing me to make more leisurely parries. I was also able to stick the rear foot with more authority during a retreat, allowing me to change to an advance more smoothly. Now that the left leg no longer hurts, I want to do some lunge drills using the jumpstretch bands around the left foot to right shoulder
Tonight I played my first game of lacrosse with a mixed group of thirty-somethings and over forty guys, and I sucked. It was a lot of fun though. I ran out of gas pretty early and had no sprint left after a very short time. The good news again is, it didn't hurt the leg at all. I'll keep stretching it and plan on doing some treadmill miles over the next 2 weeks and see how it goes. I wasn't planning on trying to run until late February, but I think the injury is sufficiently healed. If I can run and sprint in short bursts more comfortably I think I'll be able to settle down and concentrate on better stick handling.
So, I hope this valley in my power numbers is just a burp.
One more thing. I've wanted to write about this but I keep avoiding it.
On January 14, my Dad passed away after suffering a fall and subsequent head injury. He was 85. This past summer, my son, my Dad and I went on a couple of local sightseeing outings. Here's a shot of them both. I miss him.
Regarding fencing, I had an interesting experience developing defensive footwork. I found by keeping my weight slightly forward instead of balanced 50/50, I could use my front leg more effectively to spring backwards and create more of a buffer between the opponents blade and mine, allowing me to make more leisurely parries. I was also able to stick the rear foot with more authority during a retreat, allowing me to change to an advance more smoothly. Now that the left leg no longer hurts, I want to do some lunge drills using the jumpstretch bands around the left foot to right shoulder
Tonight I played my first game of lacrosse with a mixed group of thirty-somethings and over forty guys, and I sucked. It was a lot of fun though. I ran out of gas pretty early and had no sprint left after a very short time. The good news again is, it didn't hurt the leg at all. I'll keep stretching it and plan on doing some treadmill miles over the next 2 weeks and see how it goes. I wasn't planning on trying to run until late February, but I think the injury is sufficiently healed. If I can run and sprint in short bursts more comfortably I think I'll be able to settle down and concentrate on better stick handling.
So, I hope this valley in my power numbers is just a burp.
One more thing. I've wanted to write about this but I keep avoiding it.
On January 14, my Dad passed away after suffering a fall and subsequent head injury. He was 85. This past summer, my son, my Dad and I went on a couple of local sightseeing outings. Here's a shot of them both. I miss him.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Back on track
Had a pretty decent ride today and my previous ride was encouraging as well. My goals were 2 intervals above 200 watts at least 10 minutes each. Last time the 2x 10s went well (209/209 wattts), and tonight I stretched those out to around 12:30 each. Actually they wound up being 2x 4 miles at 209/206 watts. PE for both workouts was high, around 9.
My leg is getting better but it's not ready for me to run on it. I still have plenty of time though to build up to 4 or 5 miles before the triathlon season kicks off. I'll have to be careful while fencing as that tends to aggravate things a bit. Hopefully I won't need any PT. I really can't squat or deadlift either until it's fully healed.
I think the reduced dose of the beta-blocker and avoiding under fueling has successfully addressed those fatigue/dizziness issues. Now if I can stay healthy and injury-free I can concentrate on training and dropping some more weight.
My leg is getting better but it's not ready for me to run on it. I still have plenty of time though to build up to 4 or 5 miles before the triathlon season kicks off. I'll have to be careful while fencing as that tends to aggravate things a bit. Hopefully I won't need any PT. I really can't squat or deadlift either until it's fully healed.
I think the reduced dose of the beta-blocker and avoiding under fueling has successfully addressed those fatigue/dizziness issues. Now if I can stay healthy and injury-free I can concentrate on training and dropping some more weight.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Belated Happy New Year
Time to get caught up on things. Well, my diet made it through the holiday season relatively unscathed. A few days eating like crap then back to good habits. I really wanted avoid having my weight creep up but I'm afraid I've lost some ground. Currently am up to 221 from 216, but its been stable there since mid December.
High points: Cycling and running is going well. Fencing is also going well. Had been feeling very comfy running up to about 30 minutes on the treadmill after a good warm up on the bike.
Low points: December 29 I tore my left calf muscle. Gimped around for a few days and couldn't get back on the bike for 5 days. Even then it still tightened up pretty badly on me. A combination of heat, ice, massage and stretching seemed to help things heal up. Today it feels almost normal.
I also have had some problems with the beta-blocker. I really felt wickedly fatigued and a bit dizzy for a few days. My regular doctor suggested I cut the dose in half and so far it seems to be helping. After a good hour long ride today I felt pretty good, then I pulled it running around at lacrosse practice.
Today I decided to stretch out the time on the bike, as I just mentioned. I also wanted to slip a couple of intervals in there. I didn't know what to expect so I set my sights low and tried for 2 x 2.5 mile efforts above 200 watts. Each interval took 8 to 8.5 minutes, and wound up with output of 206 and 211 watts. Sitting here now I'm pretty confident I could have kept the intervals going for 10 minutes, so I'll continue interval work with 2x10s and build from there. Hopefully I'll be able to run again by March 1st.
I happened to be talking to a couple of folks about comfort issues on the bike, and the topic of saddles came up. I had some really uncomfortable hours in the saddle until I switched to a design with a radical perineal channel. Here are a couple of pics of my Adamo ISM racing saddle. It takes a little getting used to, but it is comfortable, and you'll never have any numbness with this baby.
High points: Cycling and running is going well. Fencing is also going well. Had been feeling very comfy running up to about 30 minutes on the treadmill after a good warm up on the bike.
Low points: December 29 I tore my left calf muscle. Gimped around for a few days and couldn't get back on the bike for 5 days. Even then it still tightened up pretty badly on me. A combination of heat, ice, massage and stretching seemed to help things heal up. Today it feels almost normal.
I also have had some problems with the beta-blocker. I really felt wickedly fatigued and a bit dizzy for a few days. My regular doctor suggested I cut the dose in half and so far it seems to be helping. After a good hour long ride today I felt pretty good, then I pulled it running around at lacrosse practice.
Today I decided to stretch out the time on the bike, as I just mentioned. I also wanted to slip a couple of intervals in there. I didn't know what to expect so I set my sights low and tried for 2 x 2.5 mile efforts above 200 watts. Each interval took 8 to 8.5 minutes, and wound up with output of 206 and 211 watts. Sitting here now I'm pretty confident I could have kept the intervals going for 10 minutes, so I'll continue interval work with 2x10s and build from there. Hopefully I'll be able to run again by March 1st.
I happened to be talking to a couple of folks about comfort issues on the bike, and the topic of saddles came up. I had some really uncomfortable hours in the saddle until I switched to a design with a radical perineal channel. Here are a couple of pics of my Adamo ISM racing saddle. It takes a little getting used to, but it is comfortable, and you'll never have any numbness with this baby.
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