First of all, I must say I am getting sick of Jo Pa and PSU football already. OK, I am not sick of it, but Penn State really does need to get a quarterback. Anthony Morelli just isn’t getting the job done. After 2 years of him blowing game after game, you think something would be done, but nope, they keep sticking him in the game and he keeps loosing it for them. Makes me sick to my stomach to see some of the games.

Onto the training. Yesterday was a scheduled rest day, and today originally had planned for a 40 minute cross training session. The beauty of the plan is that things can be changed and that is what I did. I traded tomorrow’s 4 mile run for todays 40 minute cross and hopefully tomorrow morning I can get in a quick bike ride before I head out for Interbike. At least that is the plan, but either way, I got the long run in for the week and that is the most important to me. Here are the stats: 4.319 miles in 38:55 with a 8:55 pace. This week while in Las Vegas is going to be tough for me to keep this plan up, but I plan on doing the best I can and waking up early enough in the morning and hitting the treadmill. Some people may laugh that I say I want to get up early, but with the whole time difference, I am usually up at 5am anyway. Posts might be limited but I will do what I can.

It seems as if the USADA has proved that Floyd Landis did indeed cheat during the 2006 Tour de France posting an 11 to 1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (normal range is 4 to 1). Landis is the first tour champ in over 100 years to be stripped of the title. Quite a shame.  He was given a 2 year ban from all cycling and an extra 2 year ban from any racing.

Feel free to read all about it on Velonews.  It is quite a lengthy read.  Also, if interested, they posted an 84 page .PDF file of the full text of the case.

Tonight after work, I headed down to Olympia sports and picked myself up a new pair of running shoes.  I am now the proud owner of some Asics Gel-Nimbus VIIII.  I laced em up, put them on and went out on the run.  Seemed like the normal run, nothing to special except for the fact that the batteries in my GPS were dead and I was on the sole recordings of my Nike+Ipod jobber.  I must say it was a tad off.  I think I have to recalibrate it.  Tonight’s run is exactly the same run I do every 3 mile workout and it was about .8 of a mile off over 3 miles from the last time I ran the same exact route.  Good thing I have run it a couple of times and know the distance.  The distance was, or at least should have been, 3.6 miles in 30:38 minutes with a pace of, according to some pace finders, 8:30 minute/mile.  That is more than 2 minutes off the last time I ran the same route.  I feel that with more running, my stride has become a bit longer and it is now off track a little.  I can really feel the stride becoming longer on some of the downhills that I run.  Sure, runners should have a constant stride, but on a downhill, I like to stretch things out.  So far seems as if the shoes are working well for me.  Currently being shipped is my new pair of custom moldable footbeds.  I can’t wait to get them, mold them up, and give them a shot.  I can feel that the current soles in those shoes are the weak point of them.

The Transrockies Run…goodness gracious.  5 stages, 5 days, 125 miles, with racing altitudes reaching over 12,000 feet in some of Colorado’s most beautiful mountains.  Today is day 5 and I have been following the race reports for all 4 days so far.  Quite the race I must say.  Give me a couple years of training and some free time to be able to do it and I will see you there.  Now, I just have to line up a partner just as crazy to run it with me..

Today’s training plan called for either a 2 mile run or cross training.  Since I am entering some cyclocross races in the upcoming weeks, it is crucial that I still ride the bike, so that is what I did.  A group of 4 got together and decided to shuttle the Red Tail Trail.  I have always had an issue with driving my jeep to the top of a hill just to “coast” down it, but then again, I’m certainly more of a cross country rider and not much of a downhiller.  Sure, I like to go downhill as much as the next person, but I enjoy a more “pedally” ride.  I will still do it from time to time, but isn’t my favorite trail in the area.  It took about 1.5 hours to do a normal 40 minute run as we had a new rider with us, not that I am complaining about it as we were once all beginners.  However, I did get a ride in that made me do a little work and I think that is the point of the cross training…

After talking with some folks, I have decided that I need to get me some quality running shoes.  Sure, I have top notch trail running shoes, but that isn’t what I really need to run on the pavement.  I hit the internet with a vengeance.  I did all kinds of searching and reading on all kinds of running sneakers.  I then took that knowledge bank with me into Olympia sports to try some out.  Of course, they didn’t have anything I wanted.  But I did try on a pair of Asics Gel-Nimbus 9.  I must admit they felt like little cloud pillows that were strapped on my feet.  I honestly think that this was one of the most comfortable shoes I have ever tried on.  Then I looked at the price tag and the $120 price knocked me back a notch a bit.  I put them on hold and now I am “thinking” about them.  I have a strong feeling that I will buy them.  I just need to find a cheaper price for them.

I came home and went out on my scheduled 3 mile run.  The stats are: 3.6 miles in 32.32 with a 9:05 pace.  I guess thats not so bad for a second week of running, but what do I know.

Well, they have made it official and it seems as if I am going to be an uncle.  I have to start planning what I will be teaching the young one…

Yesterday was the big NASCAR race down in Louden, NH and it was one heck of a good time.  This was both kelly’s and my first Nascar race and we had a great time hanging out all day, taking in the sights and sounds of race day.  We got there about 7:30 am, got a great parking spot and set up our little tailgating camp.  Hung out for a while then decided to head into the stadium, check all the stuff could buy and sit in our seats to get ready for prerace.  When the famous words, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” were said, we both giggled as we heard and felt the rumbling.  It was a good race with few wrecks (too bad, I wanted to see a car hit the wall at 200+ mph) and unfortunately Clint Boyer won the race.  I was pretty impressed on the speed of the race.  Watching a car go 200 mph on tv is nothing like watching it live.  Also, watching 4 guys change 4 tires in 14 seconds is MUCH faster in real life than it is on tv.  It seems to just zip right by you.  The one thing I was disappointed about.  I really thought it would be louder than it was.  I really thought it would just blow my eye lids open, but kelly and I could have a conversation without much struggle.  Maybe it was because we were in the 45th row.  Maybe if I was down trackside, it would have been much louder.  Don’t get me wrong, it was loud, I just thought it would have been much louder.  The other thing that was disappointing, the guy next to me had to have smoked 14 packs of cigs in during the 3 hour race.  It was constant smoking the entire time.  With all that, it was a great day, great race and I can certainly see kelly and I going back for more…

I forgot to mention that the other night I added the 24 hour race pictures.  Check em out when you get a chance.  Some of them are good.  I must say I like the bags under my eyes on this one.  It was taken at about 6am as the sun was coming up and we had been racing for about 18 hours, 8 or so of which I have been pedaling a bike and not sleeping the other 10.

Today was quite a busy day.  It started of by sitting around for the better part of the morning watching tv.  When the rain decided to stop, I went out for the 4 mile run that I had planned for the after noon.  The stats are: 4.44 miles in 41.53 minutes with a pace of 9.26 mile/minute.  Not to shabby I guess.  I think it is just more important that I actually ran 4 miles at one time without considering stopping.  When I got home, took a shower and took the dog for a 2.5 mile walk into town and back.  It certainly kept me busy for a while.

Tomorrow will be quite a busy day as well.  Tomorrow, Kelly and I will be heading down to the New Hampshire International Speedway to enjoy the Nascar race.  Now I have never been to a race, so I really do not know what to expect, except one hell of a good time.  With that said, I do have to leave the house by 5am so we can get there early enough for a 2pm race.  Either way, I hope Capt Carl can pull out the big victory….