Pretty Fly For A Bike Guy

"I've been working on the Railroad..." (cross training John Henry style)

That was the mantra that rang through my head as I began to undertake the task of manually shoveling my rather long driveway after yesterday's snowmagedon.  I feel that shoveling snow by hand is a great opportunity to strengthen the core (not to mention saves me from buying and then storing a snowblower).

As I began to heave the monstrous piles of snow over my shoulder, I noticed that the neighbor was literally using a bulldozer to clear his driveway... my competitive instincts flared as I remembered the story of John Henry... that guy who rebelled against the industrial revolution.  He challenged a machine operated crew to a battle to see if he could lay railroad track faster using only a sledgehammer.  If I remember correctly he did win but died right afterwards...

Actually I suffered a similiar fate... I finished before the neighbor could come by and offer me a sympathy plow (what?)... but then realized my lower back was 'dead'.  I hobbled around for the next few hours fearing that I would have to forego my afternoon workout.

Nah... a heat pad, some ibuprofen, and stubborn determination helped motivate me to challenge my treadmill to a battle of wills.   I have been gradually increasing my mph on the treadmill for a 3 mile timed effort (about 5k)... Still high from beating my neighbor during our snow battle, I set the mph to 10 and gave it a shot...  I felt better than ever, and though the last part was grueling I did indeed finish in 18minutes, which was my goal for the winter... that is definately 'pretty fly for a bike guy'.   I hope that I can run at least one 5k race  to see if I can match this outside.  (NOTE: Adding running to your cycling training regimine is risky... please consult a fellow roadie before attempting).

Sunday is the Velosport Iowa Roller Time Trial... I can't wait to hang with the gang at Jeff Bradley's Davenport Trek Store and some of the guys/gals from Velosport/American Equity.  I am looking forward to using the energy in the room to lay down a pretty solid time as well.  Come on out and join in the fun.