This was great! Not only was Jim K there but Steve B and RC R showed up as well. Per Jim's routine we are alternating walking the stairs two at a time and running them two at a time.

Boy, Jim can just kill that first running flight and leaves me in the dust! My legs are screaming for mercy and he just bounds up. But then on the second runner are more-or-less equal and on the third I finished ahead of him. Sucking wind but ahead. :) This has GOT to do me some good.

Ouch... last night was too much for Martin and I paid for it today. I was at this dinner party and had cocktails, beer and then wine with dinner and guess what I did not have - water. It does not take a genius to do that math; I was hurting today.

On my way down to Leschi I swear I was trying to ride 'soft' so that the bumps in the road would not jostle my brain so much. Pretty hilarious in hindsight but I was totally serious at the time. When I arrived at Leschi everyone was chatting it up per usual and I just sat there silent and glum. I proposed my route and off we went.

The hills at the north end of Lake WA are really nice. They are all about one half to one mile long and the incline is just right meaning that you can actually ride up them kinda easy if you have/want to but they are steep enough so that you can get a good workout for sure. My goal next year is to be a better climber so I figured that a few hills all the time, even when I'm not going hard, is a good thing.

Finally, after some sweating and drinking my hangover subsided enough for me to carry on a pleasant conversation with the bunch. It was Jim K, Dan B, his coach/mentor, RC R and Todd M on their fixed gears, Charley D and a couple of others.

After hill mania we got to I-90 and everyone except Dan and one other guy pulled off. The three of us finished up the ride with a loop around the south end. This is where we got rained on but it was also some much needed flat riding.

The pace was mellow today and so I stayed at the front all the time. At first to KEEP it that way and then later just to stay there and somehow maximize the benefit of this ride in my little brain. Coming home on Rainier I did speed up and managed a good pull all the way up to Rainier Beach.

Bianchi Volpe, 38/50, 12-25

God this is a great bike! Heavy as hell (30 + lb. at least) but SO damn useful and comfortable and practical. The bonus is it makes my race bike feel like a feather come March. All part of Martin's secret training plan...

I _love_ this class! I first participated in this about four years ago, did it for two years and then had to miss last year due to my f'd up back. But after six + months of solid core exercises I'm back and loving it.

We run, do some calisthenics, run some more, do push-ups, run some more, jump around in the sand, run a little race, do more calisthenics, keep on running... you get the idea. :) The group that shows up is HUGELY different in terms of skills and fitness and we have been breaking up into two groups so it's all good. Discovery Park is such a fantastic terrain garden and it's so beautiful that it's hard not to have fun.

Today we did our timed run (something the 'fast' group usually does each week) up this trail/flight of stairs. Two weeks ago my friend Jim set the record at 5:30 and I was told I ran it in 4:50. :) I have to take that time with a grain of salt though as the guy timing me was quite a ways beck behind me on the trail. And although he said he could see me clearly when I finished I'm not sure this time will be repeatable soon. I felt like I stepped into quick sand half way up this torture test (of _course_ I started too fast...) and even fell on some stairs as I passed some slower folks. Good god, you know that feeling when your breathing turns to rasping? I was there with at least two minutes to go.

Then I got to stand around and gasp for air as I tried to cheer everyone else on as they crested the trail.

It's interesting, I'm not a fast runner but if the run is sorta uphill and longer than a sprint I seem to do okay. Too long of course and I would fade next to the real deal.

There is this woman in the class with a slight Slavic accent and she is a machine. When it comes to all the circuits we do on the beach and push-ups, etc. she comes in first ALL the time. The only thing I can beat her at is this longer run.

5:15 am - gym

5:00 pm - stairs

gym - 60 min

stairs - 30 min

weights - all over with five sets of leg press today

core - the usual 5 sets of plank plus extras

stairs - walk, run, repeat

The gym felt good - I am well rested if nothing else. But then the stairs felt hard, like I had just done them or something... I guess it was just one day ago but still.

The bar was set kinda high from the stair session with Jim K yesterday so today I had to alternate walking and running again. :( I made it but boy, not easy...

6:45 am - smoothie

10:00 am - big handful of almonds

No matter how you slice it, these stairs are hard.  Today I met Jim K and it's _so_ nice to have company let me tell you... :) Jim was there for his first day so did five flights.  I've been doing these for three weeks already and so did three more.

ASIDE - I think I'm doing one flight (down and up) in just under four minutes or so...  I got in eight flights today; four walking and four running.

But, when I have done them previously I would just walk up two at a time; not so with Jim...  He alternates walking with running.  Man, running that second flight was KILLER.  Right away I was gasping for breath.  Somehow I managed to finish those extra flights after he left.

What a great day! The sun was out, the group was fantastic and we rode hill after hill. :) I have never been up Forest and it's a good one. And the view from the Newcastle golf course/plateau was simply amazing. The sky scrapers were sticking out of downtown Seattle, downtown Bellevue and you could even see the Olympics. Epic.

Did I mention that my legs hurt trying to lug my lazy ass and my piggy bike up all those hills? They did.