Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

MAF test #1 at Boling Park 8/6/16 Humid and warm. Went over 145 several times and up to 147.  Average was 143, 144, 144 for each mile. 1-mile intervals were 8:54, 10:24, 11:34 I found it difficult to stay below 146 and was surprised how often my HR alert went off. Breakfast was larabar, half kindbar, coconut oil. MAF test #2 at Boling Park 11/19/16 14-week interval Factors: Living with my 3 month old precious infant daughter for the past 3 months! Poor sleep and 30 mph headwinds.Temps in 60s.   MCT oil and egg ham muffins for bfast HR strap would not wake up until 2nd mile so I took miles 2,3,4 for the test HR went up to 147 and 148 several times and it was difficult to keep it at 145 but I am not going to adjust my times due to the headwinds, which pretty much evens everything out or close enough. 1-mile intervals 8:18, 8:45,8:49,8:57 HR per lap 143, 146, 146, 146 Note, my HR strap didn’t work until after the 1st half-mile so I’m ...

Welcome back to my blog! I have been busy training for the Augusta half-Ironman for the past 4 months and am glad to bring you this post straight from the murky depths of training stupor.  I thought that I would dedicate today's post to running and my thoughts on the subject, observations and stuff I have learned over the last 3 years.  Enjoy my post on speed and getting faster! Flat footfall and no flexion = happy shins! Do not brake every time your feet hit the ground.   If you hear "scuffing" every time your feet hit the ground, that is essentially braking yourself and slowing down.  Aim for a nearly silent footfall.  Achieve this by increasing your cadence. Ideal cadence for most is 80-100 per minute.  Top marathoners barely strike the ground. Run fast.  Often.   To get faster,  do short sprints and if those are not feasible, then run up hills.  Running up hills will make you faster and stronger on the flats.  Sprint...

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 ...

Around 5 years ago when I began Mountain Biking there was one trail that struck me as one that I must ride one day when I obtained the skills and fitness to do so, that trail is Snake Creek Gap near Dalton, GA.  Just a mere mention of this trail seems to strike awe in bikers and runners alike, for its daunting technical features (roots and rocks ad nauseum) and lung-busting climbs.  This is not a "fun" trail necessarily (although there are plenty of fun downhill sections) but more of a trail to help you discover what kind of person you are.  Call it a vision quest for the modern age.  "The Snake", as it's affectionately called, can definitely teach one a thing or two about themselves.  Some people ask me, "Jonathan, why do you do what you do? Why subject yourself to such torture?"  I don't really have an answer for that except, to see if I can do it.  "Because it's there." 5 years later I finally got up the gumption to enter thi...

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...