The Training Blog of Matt Wheeler

Susann (my wife) is in FL for a conference this week, so after feeding Nate, giving him a tubby, and getting him to bed I hit the basement with the baby monitor for a trainer ride.   All went pretty well.  Nate woke up at 40 minutes and wouldn’t go back to sleep.   Then Susann called so I had a little breathless chat with her (no sense in stopping spinning,)   and then Nate woke up again, so I called it a ride and hope to do better tomorrow.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 02/27/2008
• Time: 21:00:00
• Total Time: 00:55:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 138
• Max Heart rate: 175
• Calories: 1000
• Average Cadence: 86
• Max Cadence: 105

I’ll ride again tonight.  Didn’t get to do anything over the weekend.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 02/25/2008
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 00:49:34.00
• Average Heart rate: 146
• Calories: 1000
• Average Cadence: 89
• Max Cadence: 105

Now I’m headed out into the cold to see if I can get a good shot of the lunar eclipse.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 02/20/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 1:12:15.00
• Average Heart rate: 140
• Calories: 1438
• Average Cadence: 84
• Max Cadence: 100

Sorry about the limited details to start - I wanted to get the stats in and then go to bed.

So, I’ve been sick for two weeks now.   Went from some sort of stomach upset that nexium seems to be helping to a massive sinus infection and moved on down into my lungs.   Did a quick hour ride on the trainer last week and got worse the next day.

This really sucked because it was a major chunk of training time I just didn’t have to waste.  My weight is still dropping, but I’m not building.   Our team is holding their annual “Tri-State Ride”, a sick little 88 miler that runs over Taborden Pass into Berlin, NY, up over Petersburg Pass, (a six mile long steady grade climb,)  into MA, north into VT and then back into NY to go over Rabbit College Rd.

Let me describe Rabbit College Rd.   First off: why do rabbits have to  go to college, what could they possibly learn.  Second: why does it have to be so steep.   Repeating 20% grades for miles with little false flats between them.    Seriously steep and not meant for a big guy like me.  I’m OK on Petersburg.  I actually enjoy the head down grind of a long 5-10% grade.  But Rabbit College is sick.  For those of you who know the area and are saying “Yeah, but can I compare to Beaver Damn and Pinnicle Rd?” the answer is YES!  This is worse.

The Tri-State is out for the weekend, but I need to get back on the program, so when Nate finally went to bed last night I trudged down into the basement and got on the trainer.  Did my first hour and just kept going.  Around 11:30PM I started to think that maybe I should be in bed since I had to be up around 5:30.

So my program is way behind, but I’m back on it with gusto.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 02/18/2008
• Time: 21:30:00
• Total Time: 1:53:08.00
• Average Heart rate: 138
• Calories: 2206
• Average Cadence: 86
• Max Cadence: 110

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 02/11/2008
• Time: 21:30:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

So, after trying to convince myself that I wasn’t sick it turned out I was sick.   I was suffering with dull stomach pains behind my sternum and waves of nausea kept me off the bike since last Monday.  Thursday I went home after an hour of work to sick to stay and decided to call the Doctor.  After multiple test she seemed to think it was a bacterial stomach infection.   They stuck me on Nexium to help with the symptoms and promote healing and asked for me to get an ultrasound.

The good news is that with the lack of eating I’ve dropped about 5 lbs and am now no longer a Clydesdale.   I’m feeling much better, although not perfect, but I’m hoping to ease back into training tonight.

Health:

• Date: 02/04/2008
• Weight: 199
• Mood: Less Happy
• Sleep Hours: 8
• Sleep Pattern: Normal

I have been coming down with something my son brought home from day care, but I am trying my tried and true home remedy. Denial.

I don’t get sick. Just doesn’t happen. Yeah, ok, I have some sort of stomach upset, and some sinus stuff, and a dry cough down in my bronchial passageway, and just general aches and a headache. But sick? No. That’d be overstating the problem. I’ll just drink more water, and get some vitamin C. I’ll be fine. I’m probably just dehydrated. I know I didn’t drink enough water today. I’m sure that’s it.

In the mean time, I’ll just keep riding and running, but try to take it a little easier.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 01/27/2008
• Time: 10:30:00
• Total Time: 1:07:49.00
• Average Heart rate: 150
• Calories: 1468
• Distance: 17.7 miles
• Average Speed: 15.66 mph
• Max Speed: 21.13 mph
• Average Cadence: 84
• Max Cadence: 150

Just me and OGS (Office of General Services) out salting.    There was a very light dusting of snow, not even worth salting, but it was 11 degrees out.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/25/2008
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 00:49:14.60
• Average Heart rate: 165
• Calories: 1133
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Average Pace: 10:56.93/mile

Nuthin’ special. 

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 01/23/2008
• Time: 22:27:00
• Total Time: 1:02:48.00
• Average Heart rate: 140
• Calories: 1144
• Average Cadence: 84
• Max Cadence: 117

I get cold feet.

I think it started on a hiking trip with combowedge (of the world famous comboblog) It was our second day out and it was 14 degrees below zero. We were hiking off of Henderson Mountain following what we thought was the trail, but turned out to be a stream bed, covered with snow and some ice. Key word here…. SOME ice. Talk about a sinking feeling.

It was only mid-calf deep and I jumped back out instantly. I didn’t feel wet, but by the time we hit our next camping spot my feet and socks had frozen in the boots. Lesson learned… always stop and change your socks and put vapor barriers (aka grocery bags) over your feet. Oh well. My big toes turned black, the nails and some skin fell off and from that point on my feet tend to sweat, and get cold very easily.

Even with thick wool socks and neoprene over booties my limit is around 20 degrees. The rest of me is fine. In fact, I love the cold, but my toes just ache when riding. The top plate of the cleat just sucks all the heat out of my toes, down to the pedal and away in the wind. So I was looking for any solution I could find to help out.

I did some research into electric foot warmers, but they all seemed way over priced, $150 and up. I am a cheapskate and just couldn’t do it.

I did find one other solution. Cozy Feet is an electric foot warmer that runs on 2 AA batteries each side, and costs under $20. I ordered a set on-line and some rechargeable NiMH batteries with charger for another $17 and figured I had a cheap answer to my problems. But would it work?

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