i love lamp

and artsy/emo pictures of downtown norfolk.

this week has gone by rather quickly. it seems like the afternoons are just flying by. finish lunch, turn around and *thwap* its 4pm. im not complaining.

today was my second game in the ever-popular office raquetball tournament. i had first decided to play in the advanced league (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert), but quickly thereafter realized that i was kidding myself. i hadnt played in many moons. and i did not want to get embarassed in a box with a glass wall by anyone and everyone who i played in a best of 3 games every week. so i lowered my standards and signed up for the intermediate level.

last week was denise from the legal dept. and she went the distance. i won the first game 15-3. the second game we went blow for blow and won 15-10 i think. i pulled a rabbit out of my ass for the last game to take her 11-8. it wasnt a very pretty performance, but much of that can be credited to denise's epic serve. putting it right in the back left corner to a dead stop. it took her a game and a half to get it going, but once she did, it was super hard to return.

this week was mark from IT. my form came around and the match was over in 2 sets. 15-8. 15-1. it was a nice confidence boost. bear in mind, before my game with denise, i hadn't picked up a racket in about 7 months. and i didnt play between her and mark. i am thinking that i will just continue playing on game day only. that way i can keep riding and not worry about the games. however, if i start playing like super garbage, i am going to need to practice more often. i have too much pride to not make it into the playoffs in office raquetball.

looks like i am going to do some time trialing with kris down at the oval on saturday morning. he wants to test out his new pinarello, and i might as well get some intense efforts in before racing. then we are heading to north park, via his car, for a 2-3 hr ride. upon completing our ride, i will cruise the 15-20 miles home back to shadyside. should make for a big mileage and time day. hopefully it will go better than past rides to/from north park! lets hear it for bonking!

quick cycling weight-loss tip: go for 1 or 2 long rides over the weekend. you can do intervals and stuff if you choose, but the pace doesnt need to be super intense. im talking 3-4 hours min. then get your grub piece on. over the course of the ensuing week ride the stationary bike or trainer daily, moderate/recovery efforts. bring down your meal portions, consuming mainly fruits, veggies, beans/lentils, and soup. make sure you hydrate yourself adequately as well (note: do not attempt this if your name begins with an A and ends with an LIEN).

dig the new buzz cut homeboy

peace be da journey

so much for escaping to a warmer climate next weekend. looks like good 'ol jmu is going to peak at a brisk 40F on saturday/sunday. oh well, at least it will be warmer than 10F with wind chill like its been up here for the past couple weekends in a row (which, by the way, has made me very upset at my decision to not purchase a new stationary trainer yet).

regardless, i have a fit session with les scheduled on friday morning and am thinking of scheduling an ear lowering at a nice little place down there as well. pull the "you still give student discounts, right?" and whip out the jac-card. workin the system baby.

sorry er, but im still bringin the viner. need to have a backup plan in case one of the days turns nice. but i promise it will be a shorter ride with the dudes. probably not more than 3 hrs. unless the gauntlet is thrown, at which point i will put my tail between my legs and crawl home.

single speed/fixie reverse courtesy of jc superstar

finished reading thunderstruck today. phenomenal book. stava review = bbbbb. also had finished plot against america a couple weeks ago. while interesting, it was sort of boring. stava review = bbb. also started up on last town on earth today and it is off to a great start. also proving to be a fairly quick read.

jasper getting mega lift up by isat

if you feel like you are pretty good at what you do and enjoy doing it, check out the puehse twins. these lil shredders were born in 1997. wish i was this good at anything when i was 10. shit, i wish i was that good at anything now.

so begins another week of work. pc loadletter? wtf?

tt

a pretty worthless result today. since my workouts are relegated to stationary bikes at work (due to it being below zero for the past 2 weeks) I decided to hop on the bike with numbers today, as opposed to my usual seatpost-saddle-bar height-combo bike.

so i get on this recumbent piece, and after warming up for 5 minutes i decided to give it some gas and do a 30 min tt. you know, see how much strength i have accumulated from my 3000+ mile base period over the past several months. i quickly came to realize a few stark factoids

1. my ability to maintain a tt effort with serious power is non-existant
2. while i have been significantly improving my pedal technique with high cadence and powering through the entire pedal stroke, that means nothing when you are pedaling from a recumbent position (it hurts a ton more)
3. the recumbent bike i was on can't calculate accurate power/speed for shit. according to it, i am strong enough to average 24mph for 30 mins at its near-highest level. thats only 4 mph faster than a co-worker who is in significantly worse shape than me.

i felt like my hr was at a decently high level and that i definitely remained outside of my comfort zone. my cadence was anywhere between 85-105rpm. so i dont really understand why i wouldn't have averaged closer to 27mph+ at least? i blame the machine. isn't it supposed to equate to riding a flat road with no wind? i guess part of it may be due to the fact that my 5 minute warmup was included in my total 30min tt. sigh.

i think that the bike and i may need to have a rematch tomorrow at lunchtime. its on like donkey kong!

i am super excited to get down to the ever-wonderful town of harrisonburg, va the weekend after this. a toasty forecast of 40degrees is certainly lifting my spirits (keep in mind that we have been between -15 and 5degrees here in pittsburgh for the past 2 weeks). im not gonna lie, i am probably going to bring my rainbows and work on my thong tan. yeah, i know what you were thinking. perv.

speaking of rainbows, i am making a solemn vow to someday move back to san clemente where we would visit gobby and check out the tide pools of del mar and have mom point out landmarks of her childhood. in my opinion, it really doesn't get much better than that.

2006 Dirty Dozen - 38% gradient Canton Ave. = gnarly

its the pain train!

i may have had a few drinks already, but tell me this wouldnt be awesome to have at work...