It’s been a nice week off since the Duke Half-Ironman but its time to get back to work.  The Austin Livestrong Challenge is less than three weekends away and then the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon is six.  I’ve been doing some digging and based on the training plans I’ve found I may have put myself behind the eight ball on the marathon training.  I’ve been doing the base miles it suggested in my half-Ironman preparation but I haven’t been hitting the long run distances they have laid out.  Looks like my marathon may not be as enjoyable as I hoped.

Regardless my current concentration has to be on the Livestrong Challenge.  I’ll be riding Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, and a long ride on the weekends.  This schedule will allow me to work on my running for the marathon as well as be ready to go for the Livestrong Challenge.

Yesterday I got back on the road for the first time since the Endurance Challenge Triathlon.  I did a quick run of four miles on one of my normal routes.  It turned out that I felt really good on the run, any residual soreness was completely gone.  I turned in an average pace of 7:59 a mile which was my fastest average pace yet.  I also turned in my fastest mile during this run so all in all it was a good day.

This morning also had Zack and I back out on the road cycling.  I haven’t had a chance to take Ron’s bike back to him yet so when I told Zack I was going for a ride today he was up for doing a ride.  So I got up about 5:30 am, loaded up the bikes, and headed over to Zack’s.  We got out to the park in Cary where I usually start my rides and mounted up.  I kept the pace slow and we averaged about 16.5 mph over 23 miles.  Zack kept up really well and at some points even overtook me.  There’s a lot to be said about a lighter bike, though I do think Zack’s probably better at cycling than he gives himself credit for.  I’m pretty sure he’ll be buying a bike of his own fairly shortly.  He also got to try out his new Garmin 305 which I have to admit I’m fairly jealous of.  It has GPS built in and does speed, elevation, heart rate, and maps the routes.  I definitely have to upgrade my Polar heart rate monitor.  Also the Garmin can be setup to track bike cadence as well.

Tonight I met Zack out at Dick’s Sporting Goods so that he could pick up a pair of goggles for the Endurance Challenge Triathlon we’re doing Saturday morning.  From there we headed over to Ron’s house to pick up a bike that Ron generously offered to let Zack ride in for the triathlon.  Zack doesn’t have a road bike and has never ridden one.  One of the many firsts he’s in for with this triathlon.  Anyway we got over to Ron’s where Ron proceeded to go through an entire tune up for “Big Red”, his old trusty Red Kestrel bike.  The same bike that several years ago I did my first ever ride on as Ron showed me the ropes.  He cleaned the chain, the bike, put on a new cassette (gears) for the back wheel, and lubed everything up.

Next we put the bike up on Ron’s trainer so that we could make sure that Zack’s saddle height and position were correct for the race.  It wasn’t a perfect fit but it was close enough.  With that Ron gave Zack a quick run through on how to work the gears and sent him off on a loop around the neighborhood.  Zack came back with a huge grin and it was easy to tell he was hooked.  It reminded me of when I first road that same bike and how I thought it was way to small, light, and would tip over at any moment.  Then the amazement at how fast you could get up to in such a short amount of time with such little effort and how sturdy the ride actually was.  I’m sure these were the same things Zack was thinking as he took the first ride, we’ve all probably been there as cyclists.  He said several times that he’s looking forward to getting out of the pool so that he can ride the bike again.  Maybe this is the beginnings of having a new cycling partner if he does get addicted and picks up the road bike.

I also spent today putting my car racks on my new Subaru and making sure everything was good to go transporting my bike and Zack’s to the triathlon Saturday.  Tomorrow I’ll head out to pick up a set of toe-clip pedals for Zack since he doesn’t have cycling shoes and I figure it will be a good idea to have a set around just in case.   Also I’ll be picking up a spare flat kit for Zack to carry because Ron was telling us that we’ll be responsible for any repairs on the course and receiving help will be grounds for an immediate disqualification.  On the ride to Hillsborough, where the triathlon is being held, Ill go over how to change a tire with Zack and bike ettiquete with announcing passing, hazards, etc.

One day to my first ever tri.

Thought that I’d pass on the sad news that the Discovery Channel team is disbanding at the end of the year. This is the same team that evolved from the US Postal Service Lance Armstrong Teams. This team won eight of the last nine Tour De France’s so it was truly a dynasty. It’s pretty sad that cycling has become so stigmatized that a great team thats been a bright spot for the sport is left to fold. I can’t believe no one in America stepped up to sponsor them and keep them going.

Discovery Channel team to disband

By Darren Ennis 18 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Discovery Channel, the U.S.-based cycling team, will disband at the end of the season after being unable to secure a new sponsor, team manager Johan Bruyneel told Belgian television on Friday.

“I had contacts with candidate sponsors but the situation in the sport is so bad that nobody wants to be involved with us,” Bruyneel told VRT television in Dutch.

The team were forced to search for a new backer after Discovery Channel executives opted not to renew their title sponsorship worth in the region of $14 million a year.

But with the sport blighted by doping scandals, Bruyneel could not find a new sponsor.

Bruyneel added he was also retiring from the team — partly owned by seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

This year’s Tour winner Alberto Contador also rides for the outfit.

“After Armstrong, I wanted to win yet another Tour just once and that has happened. I have given it a lot of thought and I am satisfied that I have reached all I can with the team, so I stop,” Bruyneel said.

Bruyneel was in Madrid on Friday with Spaniard Contador, who held a press conference to proclaim himself a clean rider.

Last year, the 24 year-old was implicated in the Spanish anti-doping investigation Operation Puerto, but was cleared by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

However, suspicions and allegations in the media resurfaced after Contador won last month’s Tour de France which was dogged by doping scandals.

“I won the race cleanly and greatly enjoyed it,” Contador said.

(Additional reporting by Mark Elkington in Madrid)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/sp_nm/cycling_discovery_dc_2;_ylt=Ah5B4yG9RFHG79ycyW7mHRoE1vAI

So we woke up Saturday morning and checked our gear and most of it was still wet.  There were changes of clothes but not much could be done about our shoes still being soaked.  Ron and Brad both weren’t feeling too motivated to get back out to the Booty loop.  I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was disappointed.   My bike was on Ron’s car and his was the only way to get my bike to and from Raleigh.  So my plans were intertwined with Ron’s intentions. With the skies being overcast and rain looking likely plus our wet equipment and loss of campsite neither of them wanted to head back out.  We ended up watching the time trial of the Tour de France to see Contador retain his yellow jersey and Leipheimer put in one hell of a ride.  When it was over everyone decided to go grab lunch on the way home.  Of course when we got out of Charlotte the clouds cleared up and blue skies followed us home.

When we got back to Raleigh even Ron admitted that it may have been premature to have left and not gone back to continue riding.  His reasoning was that we go to the 24 Hours of Booty to put up maximum mileage and test ourselves and if there was no possibility of a lot of miles there wasn’t enough reason to go back.  When it got around to unpacking my car the rain finally started and after getting wet again I knew that I wasn’t up for another wet ride.  It wasn’t till later I found out that it hadn’t rained in Charlotte all day.

As a penance I rode 33 miles yesterday on the roads around Lake Jordan.  Booty showed me that riding the trainer wasn’t as good of a substitute as I thought.  I definitely need to spend more time on the road coming up.  Also I had forgotten just how much better it is riding on the road versus the trainer.