Barrett, I finally did it! Or, Johnmark would be so proud. Or, because I know you hate it when I don't smile in my pictures.

I finally grew a beard.  Sort of.  As much as I could handle anyway.  Here's the progression:

Week one (weak one)

Week Two (front and side) - I liked this length the best.  If I had to keep it, I'd keep it trimmed to this length.

Week Three (up close and scary!)

Finally!

In case you are wondering, yes, that's a new hoodie I'm wearing above.  Gotta love Christmas!  Can't wait until tomorrow morning so I can go running with Jorge and be reminded of how cold a north wind is at 8 in the morning at the end of December.  :)

Lab rat (chasing Lance Armstrong)

So my buddy, Jorge, who is getting his PhD in exercise physiology at UNL, asked me to do a max test on the bike today; he needs baseline readings for a study he is doing.  I told him that, other than doing exactly one hour on the trainer on Sunday,  I haven't been on a bike since early August, and that I have only been running for a week after being off for the entire month of November for tour.  "Perfect," he says, "I need readings for normal people."  Well, I was willing to help out and slightly interested to see what kind of fitness I have in the off season.  

So, I get to the lab, he puts all kinds of sensors on one of my legs, straps a heart rate monitor on me, shoves a big tube in my mouth, puts a clamp on my nose, and tells me to go (that's the shorthand version).  I was to pedal at 70 rpms, starting at 25 watts, and every 2 minutes the resistance would go up by 25 watts.

It was hard to keep the rpms down at first because it was so easy, but then it got better.  It was also hard to breathe with that tube in my mouth, but once I actually started to work I didn't even notice it.  The one thing  I did notice was that 70 rpms is hard to do for someone who is used to cycling because it was quite a bit slower than I wanted to pedal.  

I was really happy with the numbers, and Jorge said he was impressed.  I was pushing 275 watts when the test ended (I couldn't hold 70 rpms any longer); Jorge said  that was 50 watts higher than he thought I would do given my weight and current fitness.  My max heart rate was 190.  My VO2 max was 61.5.  They said that because of the difference between running and cycling it would  have been around 66 if I had done the treadmill test.  

Of course I had to find out how good that is, so I did a little research.  The average untrained male has a VO2 max of 45.  Apparently if it's over 60 you're considered an "athlete."  Lance Armstrong's is 85.  Not bad for being "out of shape," and considering I ran 5 miles yesterday and did a swim workout at 5Am this morning (which apparently is not allowed for an actual max test), however, I would like to have it done sometime when I'm in racing shape.  The only downside is that Jorge says I have a lot of potential and that now he knows how much harder he can push me when we're running together.

Guess I need to get to work if I'm ever going to be as fit as Lance!

Netflix and a long winter spent indoors

Contrary to the title of this post, I ran outside in a windchill of -20 degrees today.  Yes, outside.  Yes, -20 degree windchill.  I can only stand the treadmill so much, so I'll save those days for when it's icy or when I want to do a little speedwork.

That being said, yesterday I set up the spin bike that Barrett so kindly left here when he moved (because he couldn't fit anything else in his truck) and did my first indoor ride.  It was only an hour, but went more quickly than I remember indoor rides going.  Unfortunately, if Barrett ever comes back and manages to find a way to get that thing home, I'm going to have to shell out the money for an indoor trainer.  On the bright side, I joined Netflix so I will have an endless supply of movies to watch while I'm hammering away on the bike.  Luckily, that won't be too much, since I've decided that we'll be touring too much for me to do my first Ironman next year.  Instead, I'm going to ramp up the running, (attempt to) run through February tour, and try my first full marathon in Lincoln in May.  Planning on getting up around 70 mile weeks for about 3 weeks before I begin a long taper for the race.  I figure some big run mileage will make for a good base and building a big "engine."  

Johnmark and I decided we're going to re-read Moby Dick together.  If you want to be part of the reading/discussion, let me know and we'll figure out how to include you.  I think we're starting on Sunday.

In other news, there is no other news.

Cheers!

Eric

What does a blog do?

Got back home last week from our second successful tour in a row.  We must be doing something right?  However, I paid for the good karma of tour with a busted computer.  I spent all of my savings on a new computer so I could continue to book our February tour.  Down to about $40.  So it goes.  Other than that, I'm just getting back in the swing of working and training.  I have been doing some nice short (6 miles or less), easy runs, and on Sunday I went climbing with Kate.  I'm still a little sore today (Wednesday), but I REALLY miss climbing (and that girl).  Also meeting back up with Jorge on Sunday to get our long runs started back up again.  I'm excited to see that guy.  We're only going 6, but we always have a lot of fun.  It's great to have a good running buddy, especially during the cold and windy Nebraska winters!