Frankenbike & Tir Na nOg: 2/14

Recently, I have started taking Franken-bike (my single speed Cruiser) to work instead of driving.  I really enjoy my commute to work by bike, and I consider it a welcome addition to my workouts.  However, I have never really kept up with it on my blog because I didn't have a good way to track the distances, nor did I really consider these rides to be all that important to my daily workout regiment.  But, I have recently notice that when I talk to Hiroko about my workout, I'll say something like . . . "and I rode my bike to work!"  Like these rides are a huge addition to what I am doing, and she should be impressed.  (Yes, I am trying to impress my wife!  Most of the things that I do are attempts to either impress her or make her laugh, and I am more than OK with that!)  So, I decided that since I have Old Bob, that I may as well use him to track these rides.  Mainly, because I don't want to get an overinflated idea of the of these rides worth.  I realize that they are better than driving, but it's not like I took an hour long spin class either.  Also, I hope that by including these rides in this blog that I will be more apt to ride to work rather than drive when I don't have a good reason to drive.

Today, I rode to work.  I also had to run an errand from my campus to the main campus in the middle of the day and rode then, afterward I rode home.  All in all, I rode 7.03 mile spent 44:03.42 riding (and in traffic) and burned  687 cal according to Old Bob.  On a normal day, if I didn't go to the gym by bike, the total would be half this.  So as I suspected, these rides are not that big of a deal. 

After work today, I went to the nOg for the Run Club.  Since it was Valentines day, they were doing an event where single people were suppose to wear green and people in a relationship were suppose to red: Green for Go and Red for No!  Hiroko couldn't attend the run because her work has been CrAZy all week, and she would need to work from 5am to 5pm on Tuesday, so the nOg run was out for her.  She was joking with me saying that I would wearing a green shirt under my red one, but Audrey, Victor, and Ernie can call attest to the fact that I rock my Red Krispy Kreme Challenge tech shirt the whole time!



Blurry picture of me Rockin' the Red as I run.

I have wanted to take pictures at the nOr Run ever since I started attending, so that people could get a better idea of just how vibrant a running community there is there.  The last run on the 7th had 200 runners according to the club website, and since we all scan in for our runs, that is not guesstimating. 
Today, the weather was awesome -- right around 70 degrees, but windy -- and I would be shocked if we didn't hit 200 again despite it being Valentine's day!

People hatting in the nOg before the run



A group of runners preparing to start their run


















My run was really awesome.  I ran the 2.80 course in  24:48.87 at a 9:05 pace, which is my fastest run at the nOg thus far.  I did the first mile in  8:19.68, mile 2 in 9:10.98 and the last .80 in 7:18.21.  I attempted to take pictures as I ran, but the lack of light made it difficult as you can see from the pictures below.  However, I think I run faster when I try to take pictures!



Oakwood Ave. at the end of mile one.



Heading toward the Capitol at the end of mile two.



Tuesday's Good Weather Workout Diversification!

 Oh -- Man! I have no idea what it is about this winter, but I am so glad to see it starting to fade away. We at long last hit 70 degrees here in Raleigh. Normally, cold weather doesn't bother me at all, but for some reason, it has gotten under my skin this year. I can't wait for the sun to come out so that I can get outside. Now, for anyone who doesn't know me all that well, I am a bicycle freak! I love to ride my bike and take it to work anytime that the weather will allow, and I use it as my main mode of transport. However, my wife has been afraid to ride here in America. She is afraid of how fast the cars go, which I can understand. But, I am happy to say that on Monday, she bought a new bike, so I now have a riding partner and can share with her something that I truly enjoy.

I ride a Simple by Giant, which I have modified for more street riding: new handle bars, metal pedals, re-enforced rear rim. I've swapped out so much of it that the bike's name is Frankenbike! I is a single speed with balloon tires and only has a coaster break, which means that I get a really good workout whenever I ride and that my bike is virtually theft proof because no one wants it! So, as the weather begins to get better, I will be adding more rides in to my workout regime. My wife and I took our first one yesterday, and I can't explain how happy it made me. But before I get all weepy over the joy of biking, I should write about my morning workout class.

Yesterday morning Dan offered a special 30 min Plycore class, which I decided to attend. The class was much more focused than our regular plycore classes and used more weights. It was a nice change of pace. I have been seeking a class on Tuesday morning that would appeal to me, but the Y's current offering for Tuesday morning is just not my cup of tea. Dan won't do this every week but I will try to attend whenever he does.



Tuesday Morning's Class:

4 Laps around the track (the track is 1/15th of a mile)

20 Lunges (each leg) with 10lbs weights
20 Squats w/ 10lbs. weights
walk around the room with weights
X5

3 sets of 5 chin ups
3 sets of 10 box jumps

This was a pretty short class, but it was a nice little workout and what I needed after National Run Day on Monday. After work, my wife and I went on a 5 mile ride through the streets of Raleigh. I used USATF's Route Mapper to measure the distance after I got home.