Zeb and Rocky’s Big Adventure – Part #2

Jan 222011
 

My original plan was to see how far I could bike without stopping.  Ultimately, I need to be able to complete 112 miles on a bike in around 8 hours if I want to be able to complete the Ironman, so I wanted to establish how far I could last without having any training at all. 

My brother and I worked really hard on fixing up the bicycle as you can read in a previous post, http://runningbrothers.com/363/my-new-bicycle/, but the thing was old and covered in rust.  I was a little scared knowing that this bicycle was not in tip-top shape.  The gears didn’t work, so I told my brother to set it at the highest gear and I would just work from there. 

We were dropped off by one of our heroes, our Mom, at the entrance to the Santa Ana River Trail.  The ride began simply enough, my brother and I, side by side just like The Lone Ranger and Tonto, only we were riding bicycles (and don’t ask which one was Tonto). 

Six miles into our adventure, I faced a short uphill climb . . . so I powered my legs to build up some steam to make it to the top of the hill.  Just before the top, I heard a loud “SNAP,” the tension in the pedals gave way and my knee skyrocketed up into the handlebars bringing me to an instant stop.  I yelled at my brother to stop, but he pedaled on, not noticing my misfortune. 

Several bike riders behind me stopped to ask if I was ok, I’m assuming because serious injury can come from breaking a bike chain.  I retrieved the bike chain and eventually my brother returned to see if I was ok. 

At the beginning of the bike ride I planned on trying my best to complete 112 miles and just before we had traveled 6 miles, my rusted bike chain broke and our ride came to an end . . .

. . . or so I thought.

Stay Tuned for Part #3 of Zeb and Rocky’s Big Adventure!

Zeb and Rocky’s Big Adventure #1

Jan 212011
 

Our Big Adventure began at 9:15 in the morning at the beginning of the Santa Ana Bike Trail on January 16, 2011.  We knew that we would be in for a long day, but had no idea what the day had in store for us.  The trail is a 30-mile bike ride from Corona to Newport.  My previous long bike ride was just 12 miles.  And, not only that, but we would have to make a return trip to Anaheim, another 17 miles or so.

So, with my newly fixed up bicycle, my brother and I headed to the Pacific Ocean.  Stay tuned for the rest of our 5-part series:  Zeb and Rocky’s Big Adventure.

Here is a website for information about the Santa Ana River Trail – http://www.trailsafetypatrol.com/

Ironman Training Week #3

Jan 202011
 

ZebI completed my goal for this week . . . are you surprised?

Weekly Amount:

Running = 10.2 miles
Biking = 43 miles
Swimming = 4300 M or 2.7 miles
Total Amount: 54 miles

Overall Amount:

Running = 30 miles (7.3 miles to downtown L.A.)
Biking = 43 miles (68 miles to downtown S.D.)
Swimming = 12,600 meters or 7.8 miles (29.5 miles to downtown L.A.)
Total = 79 miles (32 miles to downtown S.D.)

Accomplishment:

Zeb Bikes to L.A.

BEAR ATTACK! ….. almost

Jan 182011
 

Stephen Colbert is right.  Bears are a huge threat to America. If America is at war with Bears the front lines are in San Luis Obispo, and the running brothers experienced this first hand.

When my brother first brought up this project, my first thought was, “what about the bears?” But I eventually accepted that we may run into a bear or two throughout our entire training program. I told myself, that risk was acceptable in comparison to the enjoyment and fullfillment we would get from this project. On our very first run through San Luis we arrived at the Mission and encountered the first Bear of our training program, a gigantic Grizzly jabbing at the water.  He wasn’t bothered by us but we kept our distance.

After surviving our first close encounter, on our very first run, we continued on our run. Fully satisified by the laws of statistics  that we would not encounter another deadly creature we continued our run along the stream that runs by the San Luis Mission and through downtown.

I am leading the way,  on this dark gloomy rainy night at about 11:00 pm we emerge from behind a building and….. BEAR!!!! It was croached in an attack position waiting for anyone to come out from behind the building only a few feet away. Startled I jump away from the bear, Zeb seeing me follows in my cat like evasion tactics but we quickly are frozen in our tracks.

After further investigation we confirm that this bear is as harmless as the bear at the Mission. An obviously hilarous jokster placed this bear in this particular location to startle people like us. IT WORKED.

So one day into our training and we have already encountered my full anticpation of bears for our entire training program. Unbelievable. We will keep you abreast of any future close calls with bears.

“Go Gluten Free”?

Jan 182011
 

In my interview with Mitch Roberts, he made a suggestion to me and our readers, he said “Go Gluten Free.”  When he suggested this I thought I had gone Gluten-free my whole life, because I thought it was referring to the muscle on my rear-end.  Turns out, Mitch was talking about something else entirely.

Gluten-free is a diet, completely free of Gluten.  Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, malts and triticale.  Mitch said that he did not realize how much Gluten affected him and that by going Gluten free for a time period, he felt much healthier as a result.   He recommended that everyone should try it for at least a week to see how you feel afterwards.  Perhaps later along in the training process I may try to go “Gluten Free” for a week or two. 

Mitch, thanks for the advice and enlightening us all about “Going Gluten Free.”

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