Friday, June 25, 2010
Fathers' Day Ride
Last Sunday, Fathers' Day, I went for a ride with my son, Francis. His favorite participatory sports is skateboarding, but he's getting used to biking, going to school and to work. It was great to ride with him around Ahwatukee on Sunday.
When I ride with Francis, I assume that I need to slow down and make sure I don't leave him behind, but we did a few good hills on this ride. Up the first big hill, I left him behind about halfway up. I wasn't being competitive, but I needed to keep my momentum up.
Then we hauled down the backside of the hill and started the second big climb together. After a few minutes I suddenly realized Francis was twenty feet ahead of me and pulling away.
Well, yeah, at that point I did get competitive. :-) I had to shift up and stand out of the seat a little while to catch up and pass him. I'm old, but I'm not dead yet.
He caught up again in a short while, but I think I was ahead of him when we crested the hill. However, it's pretty clear that if I had any edge on my son on the bike, it is fading fast.
Oh, well, it's more motivation to train harder.
And a great way to spend Fathers' Day.
Then we hauled down the backside of the hill and started the second big climb together. After a few minutes I suddenly realized Francis was twenty feet ahead of me and pulling away.
Well, yeah, at that point I did get competitive. :-) I had to shift up and stand out of the seat a little while to catch up and pass him. I'm old, but I'm not dead yet.
He caught up again in a short while, but I think I was ahead of him when we crested the hill. However, it's pretty clear that if I had any edge on my son on the bike, it is fading fast.
Oh, well, it's more motivation to train harder.
And a great way to spend Fathers' Day.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
A Visit from a Legend
I know, I've been a non-blogger and a non-runner with a running blog for a while. Well, not quite a non-runner. I've been putting in 10-12 miles per week.
But here we go. I have three straight days of working out.
Saturday I had a great 40 plus mile ride with Jenny and Lynanne, two friends from Triabetes. We weren't fast, but we did the Usery Pass hill, 4 miles of climbing, which is a good workout however you do it.
Then Sunday I was feeling lazy, but I got a call in the afternoon from the legendary Bill Carlson. Bill is almost my age, a year younger, has had diabetes almost as long as I have, a little less. He is an elite level bicycle racer, a marathoner and ultramarathoner with a sub-24 hour finish in the Western States 100, and the first type 1 diabetic Ironman, having done Kona in 1983.
Bill told me last week that he was coming out to Arizona, and he'd like to go for a run with me while he and his family were in Phoenix. For me, this is a bit like having Michael Jordan say he'd like to shoot some hoops with you while he's in the neighborhood.
So Sunday night, Bill and I ran from his hotel to the Ironman Arizona venue and went around Tempe Town Lake. It was a little over 7 miles at a comfortable pace for me, which I'm sure was tedious for Bill. But it was great to talk to him again, to share some stories and hear some of the wild stuff he's been doing and is planning to do.
It was very inspiring. So I'm getting back on track.
But here we go. I have three straight days of working out.
Saturday I had a great 40 plus mile ride with Jenny and Lynanne, two friends from Triabetes. We weren't fast, but we did the Usery Pass hill, 4 miles of climbing, which is a good workout however you do it.
Then Sunday I was feeling lazy, but I got a call in the afternoon from the legendary Bill Carlson. Bill is almost my age, a year younger, has had diabetes almost as long as I have, a little less. He is an elite level bicycle racer, a marathoner and ultramarathoner with a sub-24 hour finish in the Western States 100, and the first type 1 diabetic Ironman, having done Kona in 1983.
Bill told me last week that he was coming out to Arizona, and he'd like to go for a run with me while he and his family were in Phoenix. For me, this is a bit like having Michael Jordan say he'd like to shoot some hoops with you while he's in the neighborhood.
So Sunday night, Bill and I ran from his hotel to the Ironman Arizona venue and went around Tempe Town Lake. It was a little over 7 miles at a comfortable pace for me, which I'm sure was tedious for Bill. But it was great to talk to him again, to share some stories and hear some of the wild stuff he's been doing and is planning to do.
It was very inspiring. So I'm getting back on track.
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