Spring is here!

I finally got to take my bike off of the trainer and ride outside. With the days a little longer (and warmer) I was able to get in a hill workout on Wednesday. My training session called for hill climbs and unfortunately, the only hill that I have close that fits is 9th street hill. For those of you not familiar with Wood River 9th street hill is a motha.... it consists of a 1.5 mile climb that peaks at 8% at the max. I ride from my house in Bethalto to 9th street then proceed to do repeats. It was great to ride outside and it was even better to see that my power output was in good shape. In the flats on the way to the hills I was able to generate over 200 watts of power (a cyclist measure of how much energy applied to the pedals over time) and really good speed. I truly will not know how my off season training has been until do my typical ride and take a few tests.

Generally I am feeling pretty good right now. I have had to do a little schedule juggling to get it all in but I have been able to get all of my workouts in this week. The downside is that it is beginning to take a toll on my family. My new early work schedule starting my day well before my kids get up is taking a toll. I can tell Kathryn and Nathan miss me being around and it is tough not only on them but on me too. I hope the example I am setting today will have a lasting effect on them. This is a pretty limited window in the grand scheme of things and it is important that they learn now about finishing what you start even when it is tough. Only time will tell if that message gets through.

So, thank God for my wife. She has a great "life barometer (sp)" and keeps things as even keel as possible. Today the KGB and NBB have a 1/2 day of school so I am taking the afternoon off and we are going to the St. Louis Science Center for the afternoon. I will still have an 1 1/2 hour bike ride tonight after we get home but it will be good just to spend some time with the family this afternoon.

Again, I know no one reads this so I kind of treat this as my personal journal. Rene and I have been talking the last couple of days about doing something to help some friends of ours. If we ever take action on it I will write about it here so I can capture the date in my log.

More to come and get out and enjoy the Spring!

Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com