The Latest — Steve Block

The Latest

Goals and adventures, February 2015

It’s been a month since I wrote anything, so I thought I’d put together a little ski trip report and summary of what else happened in February. Other than the ski trip it was a pretty ordinary month, just snowy. Not a lot of cycling, but I still kept running.

Whistler ski trip

The fun part of February was the ski trip I took with my friends Alex and Danielle and their friend Kat. We booked a 3 day trip to Whistler in British Columbia. This was my first time there, and my first time skiing outside the US.

Since Alex and Danielle live in Seattle, we gathered there. I flew in on Friday night, and on Saturday morning I went for a fast run in the winter rain. I’m noticeably faster near sea level than I am here in Denver, which is fun. I also ran with a bunch of army guys for a while, which was also fun.

Around noon we packed up the Jeep and the Maserati with all our ski and snowboarding stuff and headed north to Canada. Alex, Kat, and I rode in the Maserati, and Danielle generously drove all our gear in the Jeep. The border crossing was easy, and the drive through Vancouver and up to Whistler was quite pretty. I’d love to go that way in Summer.

Unfortunately it has been an oddly warm winter in the west, and there was no snow in town. Conditions on the mountain were spring snow at best, and only above a few thousand feet. Nothing we could do though, so we skied and boarded the heck out of the place anyways.

On the first day we went about halfway up Blackcomb and mostly stayed frontside. It was warm and wet, and I had trouble staying in control. My skis like to go fast, and they really go fast in wet slushy snow. After a while I headed up to the top of Blackcomb, but the runs I felt comfortable with were crowded. The first day was beautiful, but it was frustrating compared to the skiing I’ve had in Colorado this year. We ended the day with a few beers and some great steaks, so all was not lost.

The second day was better. I headed straight up Whistler and spent all day in the Harmony and Symphony areas. Harmony was two groomed runs, a green and a blue, which gave access to a huge open bowl of varying difficulty. Symphony was a mix of an open bowl and a variety of treed runs. I started pushing myself and took a number of black runs. Other than the constant rain clogging up my goggles it was really amazing. Sure I was only using a tiny part of a huge mountain, but it was a tiny part with low traffic and great runs.

I was pretty much wiped out after two days on my skis, but I still tried to make the best of the third day. I went back to Harmony and Symphony for a long while, then after lunch got in one more long, long run to finish out the trip.

I wish the snow had been better, and that we had a winter wonderland in the village. But you can’t control the weather and I still had a wonderful time. I’m glad Alex invited me and I’m glad I made the trip. I hope we do it again in the future.

Lots of snow

January had a lot of nice weather, and I tried to take advantage of it and get a few bike rides in. February also started nice, and I did one long weekend ride, a big loop of the south part of Denver. But since the ski trip we’ve had snow and cold. I kept running but didn’t do any more riding.

What’s kind of amazing is how Denver, which gets plenty of snow in late winter and early spring, always seems to freak out if there’s any storm. Forecasts predicted anywhere from 8 to 16 inches last weekend, which honestly isn’t all that much when the streets are clear and the city has equipment to handle it. But the night before the snow started you would have thought the end times were coming. I was out of food so I stopped by the grocery store after work on Friday. It was a zoo, and almost all the meat was gone. You wouldn’t think it hard to find chicken breast in a modern American supermarket, yet there was none.

You’d think people would stock up on staples and not perishables if bad weather was coming. And of course this is Denver, and it was not the storm of 2007. The streets were OK on Saturday and fine by Sunday.

Then this week we had two good solid snowfalls. The first hit hard mid-afternoon on Wednesday. It snarled up traffic in the evening and give me a wet and soggy run and some car dodging as people jammed up the intersections. We got about 2 more inches on Thursday. I mostly don’t mind the snow, but people drive dangerously and put pedestrians at risk in bad weather. At least I don’t have a commute.

It also can make running hard. I’m thinking of getting some of those running Yaktrax for days like Thursday where I couldn’t get good traction for my interval sets.

Not much progress

I lost no weight in February. Maybe it was eating too much over vacation, or maybe it was because I only managed one bike ride, or maybe it was simply too much snack food. I’m behind my targets though. I have to do better.

Activity 2015 Goal February To Date Progress
Running 1,000 miles 81 miles 172 miles 17%
Cycling 1,500 miles 38 miles 143 miles 9%
Weight Loss 20 pounds 0 pounds 2 pounds 10%

— Steve

2015-03-01
Goals, January 2015

One month of 2015 has passed and I’ve made a good start to the year. January weather was mild and I tried to spend a lot of time outside.

I’m in the middle of training for a half marathon in March. I also somewhat foolishly signed up for a second half marathon two weeks after the first. The first race is the same one I did last year. It’s a hilly course, and I’m looking forward to learning how much I’ve improved. The second race is a new one, the Three Creeks Half Marathon, which is being held just down the road in Cherry Creek State Park.

I also ran the Yeti Chase 10k last weekend, and set a new personal best time of 53:27. I have a ways to go to get to my goal of 50 minutes, but a new best is a good start.

I only did a half dozen rides this month, but 100 miles isn’t bad for January. I took a couple short rides over long lunch breaks when the weather was nice, and I got one long 40 miler in on a weekend. And I got to work at 6:30 in the morning last Tuesday so I could skip out early and get 20 miles in on a sunny 70 degree afternoon. I’m really looking forward to longer days and later sunsets so I can do more riding after work.

On the weight loss side I set myself back a little over Christmas break, but that’s life. I started pushing the numbers back down again this month, and if I’m starting a little slow I’m also feeling very optimistic. We’ll see how the rest of winter goes.

Activity 2015 Goal January To Date Progress
Running 1,000 miles 91 miles 91 miles 9%
Cycling 1,500 miles 105 miles 105 miles 7%
Weight Loss 20 pounds 2 pounds 2 pounds 10%

— Steve

2015-01-31
Goals for 2015

I set a few goals last year, and all things considered I did pretty well at working towards them. I blew my running mileage goal right out of the water. I met and exceeded my cycling goal too. And though I didn’t achieve my ambitious weight loss goal, I did make good progress.

As I start 2015 I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m at the lowest weight of my adult life too, just over 190 pounds.

I can run faster and farther than ever before. I’ve set a number of personal bests for long bike ride speeds, and can easily handle a 40 mile ride on any of my working bikes. I plan to increase my cycling mileage significantly this year, and get in century ride shape again.

But last year’s goals were simply progress to a number. Measuring runs and bike rides and daily weigh ins and watching the total tick closer to the goal. All they really took was persistence, even if that wasn’t easy.

So what should I do for 2015? Plan another 1,000 miles running, maybe go up to 1,500 miles riding? I think those are fine places to start, but I have a harder set to work for.

Here’s my plan then, for 2015:

Running

I would like to repeat this year’s total distance, so I’ll set a goal of 1,000 miles. That’s just under 20 miles a week, which is doable as long as I run routinely, like I already do. I consider that my easy goal.

But I have harder goals. I want to run at least two 10k races and two half marathons this year. Before year’s end I want to run a 10k in 50 minutes or less, and a half marathon under 2 hours. Those are the hard ones.

My personal best for a half marathon run is 2:03:07, 9:23 a mile. I only need to drop to a 9 minute mile over 13 miles to break 2 hours, so this should be relatively easy. 9 minutes a mile was 2014’s 10k pace, but I already know I can do this with the right training.

My personal best for a 10k run is 54:07, so I need to improve from 8:42 a mile to an 8 minute mile. That’s a huge change. I can run a mile under 8 minutes, but right now my best 5k is at an 8:15 pace. I think I can do it, and my best chance is probably a race in the midwest where there’s more air to breathe. This may be the hardest goal I have. If I don’t make it at least I’ll have tried.

Cycling

I’m going to do at least 1,500 miles in 2015. This should be pretty easy, since my second cycling goal is to ride RAGBRAI. Between training for the ride and the ride itself I should have no trouble hitting this distance. I’m looking forward to seeing how much faster I can ride as I get into even better shape.

I probably won’t buy any new bikes in 2015, but I may get a new bike computer/GPS.

Weight

This is the big one, and what all my other goals are at least tangentially related to. I’ve been overweight my entire adult life, and rarely been under 200 pounds in that time. At worst I got up over 240, and was hardly active at all. Since then I’ve made my way below 200 twice: in 2008 and again in 2014. The loss in 2008 was almost entirely reduced calories, with some cycling. 2014 was partially reduced calories, but a big part of my relative success was the huge amount of running and cycling I did. It made it possible for me to not feel starved or overly deprived of food I love, but still burn more energy than I consumed.

I had hoped last year to get down from about 215 to 175 pounds, a 40 pound drop. I ended up at a little over 190, a smaller loss but still a success, at least as I measure my waistline.

But I’m still carrying too much extra weight. It’s obvious to me, though I am grateful that my family and friends focus on the loss when they see me.

My plan for 2015 is therefore to drop another 20 pounds, and then settle on a weight between 170 and 175 pounds. That puts me in the normal range for my height and frame. Then I’ll stop and take stock. It may be I need to lose more, or it may be that I want to keep that weight but add additional strength training. Since this is uncharted territory I won’t know until I get there. But I’ll keep you posted.

— Steve

2015-01-01
Goal update, December 2014

This is my last post of 2014, and something of a wrap-up of the whole year before. December was mostly good, but I did my fair share of holiday eating and so have lost no weight this month. But that’s fine. I’m going to set up new goals for next year, and I’m confident I can make it to where I really want to be.

Based on how far I went in 2013, I set a goal to run 600 miles this year. I blew right past that goal months ago, and estimated I’d make it to 900 miles instead. And as I kept running I actually made it all the way to 1,000, with a few days to spare. That’s a pretty incredible distance to me, and a good reminder of how slow, steady, day by day progress adds up.

I’ll follow this post up tomorrow with a plan for 2015.

Activity 2014 Goal December To Date Progress
Running 600 miles 97 miles 1,007 miles 168%
Cycling 1,000 miles 13 miles 1,292 miles 129%
Weight Loss 40 pounds 0 pounds 27 pounds 67%

— Steve

2014-12-31
Goal update, November 2014

It’s getting colder, and so it’s getting harder to lose weight. I tend to want to hibernate and eat when it gets cold. But I still made progress; I’m down 2 pounds and feeling pretty good.

We had some very cold weather and the first snow of the year, but I kept running. Then it warmed back up and I got some good chances to be outside. Last weekend was especially nice and more than half of my cycling miles were in the last four days of the month.

I started thinking about my goals for 2015. Should I focus on distance again, and simply up the numbers? Or should I make goals to run a certain number of races, or set specific times? I’ll think a while on it. A hard but achievable goal to run a 50 minute 10k might be a good place to start. Maybe a 2 hour half marathon. I guess I’ll decide in the next month.

Activity 2014 Goal November To Date Progress
Running 600 miles 96 miles 910 miles 152%
Cycling 1,000 miles 138 miles 1,279 miles 128%
Weight Loss 40 pounds 2 pounds 27 pounds 67%

— Steve

2014-11-30
Two years running

It’s an anniversary of sorts. Two years ago today I put on a cheap pair of running shoes and stepped out the door on a cold November morning. I made it just over two miles in half an hour, and I felt like I was dying. But I made it. And then I did it again. And again.

Over time I got faster, and I could run longer. I started feeling more like a runner and less like a fat guy trying to run. And while I still have a long ways to go, the progress I have made is awesome.

Two years later I run four or five days a week. An easy run is 3 or 4 miles. I’ve done three 10k races, one actual half marathon and one unofficial half marathon. I can run nine miles at the pace I raced my first 10k and hardly feel tired at the end. I ran 540 miles last year, and I’m on pace for nearly 1,000 this year. I weighed nearly 230 pounds when I started; now I’m at 190.

Progress happens slowly. I don’t notice these changes from one day to the next. But over time, with measurements to reference, I can see clearly just how far I’ve come.

I’m a runner. I’m two years a runner. And I finally feel like one. Happy anniversary.

— Steve

2014-11-28
Bike rebuild: a 1984/2014 Trek 610/105
In the summer of 2007, not long after I moved to Denver, I bought a used Trek 610 road bike off of Craigslist. A little research showed it was a 1984 model, with a frame of Reynolds 531 steel and a nice set of Shimano 600 (Ultegra) components.

It was already 23 years old and it was well loved. The finish was scratched all over, but it was solid and straight and a really good bike.

I rode it in this nearly stock condition for about a year. Then I bought a Brooks B17 saddle, a taller seatpost, nicer handlebars, and a new stem. I also installed a set of fenders. The result was a nice comfortable riding position and clean clothes, at the cost of some weight and speed. I kept riding the bike like that for several years, and I loved it.

Eventually though the frustrating Maillard Helicomatic hub^[1] started to give out. There was a huge amount of play in the hub, and the bike was hard to shift. And since parts and tools to work on those old hubs are hard to come by I decided to buy new wheels instead. I ordered a set of heavy but lovely hand-built wheels from Thill wheels. It was relatively new 8 speed technology but aesthetically they matched the rest of the bike almost perfectly.

But things went bad on the Fourth of July. I was on a long 40 mile ride from my house out to the Aurora reservoir, on unfamiliar trails. I got to a section of trail that was under a few inches of water. I thought it was just a short section, and that I could just ride through it slowly with my fenders. It was actually well underwater, about 6 inches deep, and had a sandy bottom. I couldn’t keep going, and I had a slow motion fall into the water as I failed to unclip from my pedals.

I thought I was just wet and muddy, but the fall bent my derailer hanger and I didn’t notice. The bike kept going just fine and I kept riding. But on a hard uphill climb on a busy road 10 miles from home suddenly everything went very wrong. I was in the lowest gear, off the saddle, pedaling hard. I heard a terrible noise and felt something very very wrong happen in the back of the bike.

Between a bent derailer hanger, a hard climb, and a fairly flexible frame the rear derailer had made best friends with half the spokes on the right side of my rear wheel. The derailer itself was destroyed. The rear wheel was unrideable. I had to phone a friend and get a ride home on a holiday afternoon.

After that I let the bike sit. I thought about trying to rebuild the rear wheel, then I thought about buying a new wheel. But what I actually did was ride my old Schwinn single speed for months instead. Then I bought the Raleigh Tamland in September.

But I love my old Trek too much to let it sit dead forever.

Instead I ordered a complete set of 11-speed Shimano 105 components and compatible wheels and rebuilt the bike from the frame up. The parts and tools I needed arrived over three days, and I spent much of last Saturday building the bike. I took my time and walked through the whole process carefully, using the Shimano dealer manuals for reference. The brakes didn’t work with the frame—recessed nuts and not enough reach—but I expected that. I wouldn’t have bought them if it wasn’t a package deal, and I have a nice set of Tektro long-reach brakes I reused instead.

But other than that I’m kind of amazed how I was able to install a set of 2014 parts on a steel frame from 1984. 30 years of bike development and changes, but the basics are still the same.

The build took me about 5 hours, and after a run and lunch I managed to get in one test ride on Saturday afternoon before the sun set. The bike feels amazing. It’s not a magic night and day change from the old bike, but everything is just slightly better. I feel like an old friend is back. The look is a little modern on the old frame, but since I bought silver components it still looks good.

The only issue I have, which was apparent on the faster sections of my ride, is getting the cable tension right for the front derailer. The kit didn’t come with barrel adjusters, probably because it assumed the bike would have them on the downtube stops or that whoever was building the bike would know what to do. I didn’t think about it, and so I didn’t have one ready. I tried moving the downtube clamp I was using to increase cable tension but all I managed to do was crease the downtube when I overtightened it. I think it’ll be OK, but I feel bad about that.

And now winter is moving in, so I may not get much time to ride it. But I’m still happy I spent the time to rebuild.

— Steve
1. In the words of Sheldon Brown: “The Helicomatic was a nice idea on paper, but poorly executed. These hubs are losers.”↩︎
2014-11-10
Goal update, October 2014

October came and went. I ran my solo half marathon, backed off on my running miles, rode my bike, spent some time in Iowa for Beerpig, watched part of the Des Moines Marathon, and watched all the leaves fall off the trees.

I also hit my 1,000 mile cycling goal early in the month, and rode a really excellent trail before meeting a friend for some beers. And I ordered a bunch of new components for my old Trek bike. Hopefully I can make the 2014 parts work on a 1984 frame.

I got a good picture of the lead runners in the marathon too. The man in blue with the number 4 bib won the whole thing, and set a course record.

I did OK in October, though not as well as I might have hoped. I lost only 3 pounds because I spent almost two weeks eating too much. But I’m still losing weight and that’s what matters. The weather was good all month, and I tried to get outside a lot. But now the leaves are almost gone and the color of the landscape is back to pale blues, tans, and browns. We’ll be that way until spring comes back again.

And no, I don’t think I’ll hit my weight loss goal for the year. It was pretty ambitious anyways.

Activity 2014 Goal October To Date Progress
Running 600 miles 65 miles 814 miles 136%
Cycling 1,000 miles 180 miles 1,142 miles 114%
Weight Loss 40 pounds 3 pounds 25 pounds 62%

— Steve

2014-10-31
A Saturday I needed

I had just the Saturday I needed.

Last week was rough. I had too much stuff going on at work: too many priorities, too many tasks, too many deliverables. I was on a short break from running after my half marathon, eating too much, drinking more than usual, unhappy with the rain, and generally feeling down.

But we got everything done, and I wanted to do something better with my weekend than just sit around Denver. I sent a text to my friend John on Friday and suggested we get together in the Colorado Springs area.

A run and a ride

Saturday morning was clear, cool, and bright. I started my day with a chilly 4 mile run, and saw more runners than I’ve ever seen on my regular trail. The trees were brilliantly colored, and one of the ponds had a lovely layer of fog as the sun burned off the thin layer of frost that built up overnight. My run was unstructured, and I mixed fast and slow periods as I went. My legs still need some time to recover from the half marathon, but the rest of me felt amazing.

After my run I put on a red shirt, loaded my red bike into my red car, and drove down south to Palmer Lake to try out the New Santa Fe Regional Trail, an unpaved rails-to-trails route that parallels the interstate for a while until it gets to the Air Force Academy, where it winds through more hills and trees. The weather was still perfect, and the trail started out downhill. Because of recent heavy rain parts of the trail were soggy and slow, but it was mostly in good shape. I rode 15 miles south before turning around and heading back uphill.

Most other riders were on mountain bikes, but I saw a couple people on cyclocross bikes. The wide 40mm tires on my bike did well on the soft trail surface, and the lower gears were plenty for the short steep climbs.

I even overcame my general aversion to stopping while on a ride to actually take some photos. I only had my iPhone, but as they say the best camera is the one you have with you.

I joked in my last post that “I planned to hit my thousandth mile of the year on some long weekend ride in lovely fall weather, on my beautiful red Tamland.” Well I may have hit 1,000 miles one ride early, but this was that ride I imagined.

Catching up with a good friend

Before I left for my ride I sent John a text asking if he’d like to meet for a late lunch. I hadn’t seem him since May and I was already going to be most of the way to Colorado Springs on my ride. He was game, and suggested we meet at a the Manitou Brewing Company in Manitou Springs. Solid beer and solid food, just like he said. I had a nice refreshing sour, a couple commons, and a tasty burger. I also had a great conversation with someone I love who I hardly ever get to see.

After lunch and a couple of beers I followed John down to Colorado Springs where we stopped at Bristol for the afternoon. Bristol moved into an old school building, which includes a coffee shop, bakery, kitchen, and is really all kinds of amazing. Good beer too. They’ve hit 20 years in business now, which is pretty darn good for our local microbreweries. And John and I had time to continue our conversation before it started getting late and it was time to head back home.

It was the best kind of Saturday. And incidentally the bike rack I built kept my Tamland safe and sound all day.

— Steve

2014-10-13
2014 cycling goal achieved!

I set a goal to ride 1,000 miles this year. I got a strong start in late winter, lost early spring to travel, and then made steady progress all summer and into fall. I had a minor setback when I broke my road bike in July, but I own enough bikes that losing one or even two is not the end of the world.

About a month ago I started riding to work a few times a week, and even though it’s only 7 miles round trip it adds up. Today it added up to a round 1,000 miles.

I planned to hit my thousandth mile of the year on some long weekend ride in lovely fall weather, on my beautiful red Tamland. Instead I hit it on my ride to work, on a boring stretch of road, on my fixed gear commuter with a bad pedal bearing.

Hey, I really can’t complain. I set a goal and did the work to achieve it. It’s been a good year.

And here’s a chart of my two distance goals, for the chart lovers.

— Steve

2014-10-08