Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

Greg at Natural Strides  asked members of the racing team to send in a bio.  Here is mine: I ran some in high school for basketball but it was mostly sprints. Running was punishment. It never occurred to me to run cross-country or do any distance running at all A mile seemed like a long run. I became really overweight in my 20s and was smoking cigarettes. However, when I was around 28 I had the urge to run, so I did. It wasn't far but it seemed like something I should be doing as a way out of an unhealthy, unhappy life. I only ran a few times then forgot about exercise for several more years. In 2008 I began bicycling and my whole life changed. I began to lose weight and feel better. I was finally becoming the person that I always wanted to be. My wife Renee mentioned trail running to me. It was one of those ideas that sounded so outrageous yet intriguing. Trails are meant for hiking not running! Soon after I went to Pine Mountain in Cartersville, Ga. and gave it a shot. T...

Rope Mill Half-Marathon June 14th 2014 My goal this year was to get on the podium (top 3) in the Long Course race series for Mountain Goat Adventures.  The long course is 9 miles or over with the longest race being a half-marathon (13.1 mile) race at Rope Mill in Woodstock to wrap up the series.  Last year I missed the podium because I sprained my ankle in the first race of the series in Cartersville, GA and it was difficult to overcome the deficit.  One has to have 4 consistently good race performances in the series to have a chance.  While I didn't podium in any one individual race and came in 4th on today's race, I am still enormously pleased with my result today coming in 2nd on the Long Course for my age group. I put in a 12-mile effort last week in Raleigh,NC where I was on temp assignment working on a technical manual.  There aren't as many hills over there but I knew that I needed to get at least one long run in while I was there.  This helped my ...

Had a great time and an excellent race at my 3rd Rope Mill Duathlon. It consisted of a 6 mile bike, 3 mile run, then another 6 mile bike.  Try to imagine all out effort for nearly 90 minutes.  This race was a beast last year and was one of the toughest races I did.  This year was no different except that I am pleased to report that this year I felt a lot better physically and mentally. My bike to run transition was more "pleasant" and I didn't feel nearly as trashed going up the first awful hill to Explorer Trail.  I was a lot more assertive and in control.   I had rested all week except for a short MTB ride on Wednesday. Also haven't been doing much running to speak of for the past several weeks.  I think I may have pulled a muscle in my right quad as it's been bothering me since the ride on Wednesday. We had a race start in the 30s this morning. I couldn't feel my hands and was having to rest my palm on my bars and brake with 2 fingers.  My feet wer...

5 years ago I decided to make a change in my life.  I was pushing 250 pounds and wore size 42 pants. I was extremely depressed and had little desire for anything.  A black cloud hung over me.   Also, I was pre-diabetic.   If one ever finds himself doing blood-tests to check glucose levels, something is wrong. That would be your wake up call! I remember getting on a basketball court and how my knees and back hurt and how slow I felt.  The agility was gone and certainly the endurance.  I was a shadow of my former athletic self.  10 years before I was a pretty good basketball player  How could this happen ? Slowly and surely, that's how. Bicycling was on the periphery of my life a few years before that, around 2004 or 2005.  Casual rides around the neighborhood or on the Silver Comet Trail happened without much thought.  I remembered what it was like to have fun with exercise and feel like a kid again.  I always had a blast with bike...