Birthday Blog - Part 1

So today I am officially "older" but don't they say that the 30s are the new 20s. And the 40s are the new 30s? So using that logic I am basically a teenager again, or something like that.

Well being that I am old and you have to suck every ounce out of your birthday I got up early and went to breakfast with Carri at Chick-fil-a. Nothing like starting your day with some chicken goodness. (Sidebar: I really like Chick-fil-a it is certainly my favorite fast food place, I mean flowers on the table, a pepper grinder, those are touches of class that you do not see normally in a fast food place).

Next I headed to Target to try to find some sweat pants as I had a Christmas Target gift card burning a hole in my pocket.



Not only did I find sweat pants on clearance I also got two military style shirts and a goofy straw hat on sale. I have been looking at these hats the past few years at ACL Festival but the price ($40-50) always scares me away. So drum roll please after using my $20 gift card my total out of pocket was $0.76. What a bargain shopper.

BTW I know this post is in complete opposition to my last Year Without post but give me a break it is my birthday.

A Year Without - Recap

As some of you may know last year I attempted to go a full year without buying new clothes. This might not seem like a big deal but if you have seen my closet you know this is actually a much bigger thing than advertised. I used to buy tons of clothes and like to constantly have something new. But what I noticed is even with tons of new things I consistently wore the same things over and over again anyway.

So last year I made it a goal not to buy anything new with a few exceptions as noted here. And all in all I think I did a pretty darn good job.

All that I bought was 6 short sleeve polos, 3 pairs of pants, and dress socks. All of these items fall into the category of business casual clothes for work and were items that I needed going into my job at HMH. I also purchased a LIVESTRONG long sleeve tech tee after the ride in October.

For gifts I received two tee shirts, a mid-weight pullover, a Ravens jersey, and some cycling socks. Also as part of the autoship program with Hammer Nutrition I received free bib shorts.

So all in all 11 new tops, 3 bottoms, cycling bib shorts, and socks.

Also I attempted to continue giving to Goodwill as I have in the past. This year the pickings were a little bit slimmer but I still managed to give away:

10 button down shirts
10 tee shirts
4 tech shirts

In 14 items, Out 24 items. Not bad. At this rate by this time next year Carri might actually get half of our closet. But don't bet on it.

Painfully Slow

This year I am really focusing on cycling and for the first time will be following a program that does not only include specific mileage but also incorporates specific HR zones to cycle within. In the past I have generally just gone out and ridden based on feeling and never payed attention to recovery days, interval days, hill days, etc.

Today I did my first ride strictly in Zone 1 which for me is below 125 BPM. Everything I read states the importance of this easy ride every week. Let me tell you though this was one of the hardest rides I have ever done as it was painfully slow. I'm talking watch paint dry, granny with a walker passing me slow. I did my best but lost focus for less than a minute and put on just a MPH or two and my HR crept up to 140. Focus, Tim, focus.

Overall my average HR fell in the correct zone but I need to get rid of the few spikes. Tomorrow it is back to the fun stuff and hills.

Enjoy the ride.

The Beauty of Knee Warmers

Today I rode for the first time with knee warmers and let me tell you I really liked them. I have ridden in the past with tights but they just seem to really not work for me as they kind of defeat the purpose of wearing bib shorts in the first place, since they cut into the gut, and right now I am carrying around a little extra of that. But knee warmers fit underneath the bibs and gave me the perfect amount of coverage for today's ride which was in the upper 40s.

Perfect in my opinion.

Warm and windy in January

This week we had three very nice days and I was able to get out and ride all three of them. It has been awhile but I am so happy to get back on the bike. Right now I am slow and the powerful wind is not helping but riding into the wind in the early season will only make me stronger later in the year. Also all the additional weight I am carrying sure makes those hills tougher but when I lose the weight my power to weight ratio should skyrocket.

Downhill - 46.7 mph
Uphill - 4.6 mph, yikes

It's been a long time

There was a time that I really enjoyed blogging it was a way to get some thoughts out there, keep friends updated on my life, etc. but for some reason I let life get in the way of keeping the world updated. Well hopefully for 2009 that will all change and I will go back to chronicling snippets of my life.

Here are some random musings to get me started.

- I really love Austin weather, even though it is absolutely crazy. A few days of 70s/80s this week and also a few 50s, gotta love it.

- Out of all my athletic endeavors cycling is clearly my favorite. This year I am completely focusing on it and actually trying to train properly. Hopefully it will all work out.

- Fail to plan, plan to fail: My new favorite saying.

- Funemployment is still fun. Let's see if I say the same thing if it is prolonged.

- I do not miss running but I do miss my running group.

Not much else for now, but I think this was a good start.

Enjoy the ride.