joereger.com

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Joe Reger, Jr. — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:26:06 GMT

05:33:50 AM: First snag of the day: Kendy's pool has a new gate code. First time in years and it happened in last four days. So onto the bike a little after 5am.

05:35:44 AM: Morning duke out at mile zero on the comet.

07:39:57 AM: Out at tunnel, mile 31. And what's this? A good ride?!? Unseen for half a season, owing itself to wonderdrug capital C... Caffeine. Thank you chemistry.

08:05:12 AM: And let's not forget Big P... Pacing.

08:05:41 AM: Or little m... modesty.

08:06:35 AM: At halfway point... the old school end of the trail at mile 39.5. Wet, drizzly, humid and warming up.

10:25:00 AM: Off bike. 80 miles @ 18.6mph avg hr 136 with 15 min break. Legs roasted.

12:26:06 PM: 10 mile run done.

Coyote in the Back Yard

Joe Reger, Jr. — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:16:00 GMT

I stepped out onto the deck a few minutes ago and a coyote was walking down the stream. Bigger than a fox. About the size of a medium dog. But definitely not a dog. I got a good 20 second look at him. Called Terp out who barely caught the back of his head. When we moved into the house they told us coyotes were in the area. Too cool. A straight-up predator animal lurking around the house. Aves, sorry kiddo... no alone time in the back yard. YouTube vid of another coyote in suburban Atlanta. This is exactly what I saw.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Joe Reger, Jr. — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:37:24 GMT

35 Min Swim, 20 Mile Ride

Joe Reger, Jr. — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:20:00 GMT

I was up at 5am but distracted by work. By 8:15 I had sauntered into the pool with a couple hours of good work under my belt. My swim was basic... back and forth slowly but consistently for a half hour. I'm starting to feel some strength near the end of my second week of, well, swimming. Imagine that, eh? But I'm holding back so that I don't fall into the trap of anaerobic work too soon.

A short but hard weights workout. And then out to the comet for a ride. After some elbow pad tweaks my steed felt manageable and I did a comfortable 20 miles at 18.6mph. Still not yet training with heart rate. Saw Blair Folkes out there... she ended up doing 13 miles on the run. Good stuff.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Joe Reger, Jr. — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:38:42 GMT

50 Min Morning Swim and 30 Min Comet Ride

Joe Reger, Jr. — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Another boring but necessary and fulfilling LSD swim. For some reason I woke up at 4:44am and just went with it. The alarm was going off in 15 minutes anyway. Little core workout after the swim. Then off to The Comet for my first ride there in a while.

You know how I've said about 80 times that I've got my aerobar fit "dialed in" or "perfect"? It's not. Cups aren't cupping my elbows. Will work on it.

Cool morning. Extra layers and numb hands. But the sunrise was spectacular.

Silver Comet Assaults Update

Joe Reger, Jr. — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:01:00 GMT

It's been a couple weeks since I heard anything about the assaults on the Silver Comet. The original info was passed through the cyclist email grapevine. A cyclist reported his rather scary attack. So today I called the Cobb Police Department and got the updated scoop from Sgt. Dana Pierce. He's working closely with the detectives working the case and knows everything that's happening.

Quick summary: On March 13th a person reported two men coming out of the woods by the comet with what looked like a gun but they didn't get close enough to verify... no crime. On June 10th there was an assult. On June 16th a cyclist was knocked down and 4 suspects took the contents of his pockets before returning them... this is still a robbery and was the incident that triggered the email thread. On June 17th a cyclist spotted 4 men coming out of the treeline near the Spicewood Townhomes (anybody know what mile marker that's at?) and turned around, as he should have... no crime.

So, there are four incidents and two crimes for all of 2008. Overall makes me feel a lot better about comet safety. I called wanting to know whether there had been more attacks... whether this was becoming a common occurrence, etc. Apparently it isn't and is a small cadre of knuckleheads doing this stuff.

There's also stuff happening that should make you feel more comfortable about riding on the comet. But Sgt. Pierce asked me to not disclose it for a couple days. Which makes me awesome for having top secret info. Deal with it... lol.

Apparently tonight there will be a story on Channel 5 by Denise Dillon who talked to Sgt. Pierce earlier in the day. And she's going to interview one of the victims... my guess is that it'll be the one who made the email report to the cycling community.

Sgt. Pierce told me that most of the crime is in cars parked at the comet. GPS devices, cell phones, etc.

Still, be careful out there. Use common sense. Report anything suspicious. Ride with a buddy. If you're hot in spandex, ride with me. No, Marc, not you.

Meeting at Booze | Allen | Hamilton

Joe Reger, Jr. — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:56:00 GMT

30 Min Swim

Joe Reger, Jr. — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:26:00 GMT

Body's feelin' it. Not the low speed aerobic fitness work. The squats I did on Sunday. With the weight vest. I knew I should have done them on Friday afternoon. But I kept thinking that maybe I'd get a weekend workout in. Yesterday they got very sore. Today they're killing me. I had a bike planned but I'm abandoning. Need to get the legs somewhat recovered.

One win on the swim. I'm getting that feel of fitness backed by aerobic depth. For the early part of the season I was gaining speed and strength. But it wasn't backed by aerobic depth. Not really an issue for a half ironman or less. But at the full distance I need to be backed. Today I felt the smooth, lung comfort of a little acceleration with aerobic backing. It's snuggly. Something I felt for my first few seasons but haven't felt in a while now.

Mod hard core weights workout following the swim.

P Double Oh with the Fam

Joe Reger, Jr. — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:04:00 GMT

We spell out "pool" as "p double oh" when we want to talk about going to the pool without Ava knowing what's up. Today I ran and Heather drove to Matt and Kendy's pool for some good family time. Knox, Matt and Kendy swam too. Ava swam on her own in her floaty vest. It was the first time she had to kick or go under a little and so she kicked. She was scared at first when I stepped away from her but she kicked hard and smiled when she stayed up. Then she'd say "I can't swim." But I stayed at it and after a while she said "I can swim." Which is all pretty cute. Emme sat by the side of the pool with mom until I got out and mom got in. Aves mini melted when it was time to get out, of course. She loves the p double oh.

The most amazing part of the experience was seeing Ava's emotions. When she was afraid I wanted more than anything to help her, but I didn't because I knew she could do it. When she looked at me for help I felt like a daddy. When she started to smile it felt great. I was proud of her. When she finally made it to me and clung to me I felt her love.

50 Min Swim, 30 Min Spin, 40 Min Run

Joe Reger, Jr. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:23:00 GMT

I took the weekend off. While everybody else turned out great mileage. Swim this morning felt good. I continue to be amazed at how much work low speed can be and how additive it is. I can't really claim that I feel much faster but I do feel better in the water. Morning bike was a bust... legs sore. Afternoon bike was a bust... just wasn't into it. So when we decided to take Aves and Emme to the pool I decided I'd run there. On the hills around the neighborhood. In the heat.

Terp Tatted

Joe Reger, Jr. — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:26:00 GMT

Ok, not permanently.

45 Min Swim, 1hr15min Run

Joe Reger, Jr. — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:46:00 GMT

Nothing special here. Swim felt fine. Run felt fine. This concludes my week goal of getting back onto the horse with a ten hours week. Not sure what next week holds. Maybe an incremental increase. Maybe none. At this low intensity and given the time until the race I should be turning out closer to 17-20hrs but given where I've been recently, I'll take 10. Met Jim in the pool who's apparently a mad man because after I got out, did a 30 min weights session and my run he was still swimming. He's training for the Chattanooga Oly. Still no heart rate monitors in my life these days. Nice change.

45 Min Swim, 1hr15min CompuTrainer

Joe Reger, Jr. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:10:00 GMT

Amazing how three days of actually slowing it down and hitting the aerobic zones works. Today's swim felt great. The Austell LA Fitness morning swim couple was there. They're a cute couple and swim their laps in sync, although I've seen her mini-resting at the wall as I think she's a bit faster than him... that's dedication! Anyhow, they were there and it was nice having some company in the pool, even though I've never spoken to them. At one point we had four people in the pool turning laps. Four swimmers. Almost unheard of for the early morning. I kept the workout slow and it felt good.

Then back home for the bike. Low hr. Not as fun but I listened to an audiobook and cranked it out.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Joe Reger, Jr. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:36:18 GMT