I'm not a runner!

I am not a fan of running, but I went for a run regardless today. I was short on time and shorter on clean laundry. It felt fairly good and I know I ran further than usual, which I found very surprising. I am sure all of you are thinking how could that be, Matt has been slacking on training. The truth is I have.

Although over winter break my friend Lauren Kleppin came home from Forth Collins where she is a proud part of the sport that I have such a passionate dislike for, running. She gave me a tip about breathing both out of my nose and my mouth. She told me she had taught herself this and It improved her performance. I know she could kick my ass in any kind of race, so I knew her creditability was there.

If anyone has ever been in a 30 foot radius of me while I am riding or doing anything that involves labored breathing they know I breath out of my mouth loud enough to wake the dead. Today I finally applied the technique and got fantastic results, although I was not on the bike which will probably be a little different I am confident a little improvement will come of it. Hopefully this warm weather stays and I get motivated enough to do some laundry so the longer weekly rides can once again commence.

These Shoes are a FEW years old and look brand new because they are never used.

Oh Concordia, How I've missed you.

I woke up today and hoped on the bus and went to school. About 15 min before my last class had ended I had received a call from Ben Folsom informing about a Cafe Hollander ride leaving tomorrow at 11, which coincidentally is the time I start work tomorrow.

Since it was so warm out I just decided to go for the ride today. I got home detached my trainer that I rarely use and headed out the door in a outfit that was insufficient for the weather. As I headed down Locust to Lake to go north I began to remember why I hate the cold so much. I contemplated about going back to get warmer cloths, but decided to tough it out instead. After arriving at Concordia I realized that I needed booties and booty, so I picked up the pace to going home. My hands began to go numb around Doctor's Park and my toes had been numb since the first pass.

At about Bayshore my lack of winter training really caught up to me. I was struggling keep a simple pace, but at the same was so happy to get that feeling back. Hopefully it stays like this for the whole weekend if not warmer so I can sneak out for a quick ride on Sunday, but I will keep in mind it is still February.

My toes felt like they were frozen in ice and to go along with this I could barley move them. It was so bad I was walking funny too. Totally worth it!

My hands were swollen and when they started to get warm again it was an extremely odd feeling, but the ride was still worth it.

I really wanted booties at this point!

The snow made it seem a lot colder than it probably was.

The Proof!

I skip when i want to stay up late.

So it is New Years and I have given no thought to my actual resolution. I think I am going to go with the same from last year and stick to a training regiment. I figure that snapping into it 100% would be unlikely, but I am making room for surprise. I skipped my session today so I would have some extra energy for work, which I had more than enough of. I am still wide awake because of the god damn caffeine in mixed drinks and a missed work out. If you can get past my jumpy ideas I have realized that I should have no excuses to not be on the trainer. I will repost when I am somewhat sober and able to proof read without being disrupted by my own thoughts. Until 24 hours...

matthew povlich

Training with Pow...T.A.L.

Christmas has past and I now am taking training a bit more seriously. I just got off the ole fluid 2 after putting on a lil less than an hour. Although it was not as boring as some of the other sessions I have had. I was thinking of a hundred things that would be more interesting. This American Life has been a great companion since it is usually interesting and keeps my attention. Most of the shows are an hour give or take a couple minutes, which is perfect for acheveing litespeed while standing still. I am pretty drained and lazy so it will be short. I hope everyone has a happy new year.

P.S. To shawny smalls I am holding the ditched breakfast date against you!

P.P.S. That's right, I am too lazy to post pictures.

Hopping on the Training Train

It has been over a month since I last updated the ole blog and not a lot has happened. I made a safe recovery from my case of mono and currently feel great. During that time I watched the state race which was pretty exciting. I had never wanted to race so bad as I did when I was watching the Cat. 3s. Team Pegasus had pulled out all of the stops and rolled in with two tents with windows, a heater that was designed by N.A.S.A., Grill and lots of other goodies. Then Jason and I helped tear down the course, which was about as enjoyable as setting it up at 7 a.m.

Last time I had up dated this thing was also the last time I had ridden my bike. Since it is almost half way through December I have decided to start putting in some base miles on the trainer and rollers. I noticed last year that at the end of my races I was a little too exhausted so until late January it is going to be an endurance based training. This is over a solid month and I hope to make some real progress. Also it will help me lose the 7-10 lbs. of weight I have put on since I had gotten mono. Ideally I plan to get a heart rate monitor, but my funding is running low and I have been going out more than I should have. Is there ever really an off season when you are a cyclist? I will answer that one myself with "kind of". The month I decided to slack off, blow money, and gain weight was a break from the bicycle, but I am now going to have to work twice as hard to get back on to where I was. Then I have to account for the effort of getting back into the groove of training. So yes there is an off season, but should you regulate what you are doing in that time, yes. So the "kind of" answer kind of makes sense.

Now all it will take is motivation which I already have plenty of. If anyone out there ever feels a lack of it I suggest you check out some you tube clips of Jens Voigt. That guys is arguable the ideal teammate and cyclist. After watching it I felt guilty that I had not worked on a winter training program yet or had touched any of my bikes in over a month. Now I just have to see the actual movie about team CSC.

Don't drop the ball or you won't be dropping the hammer come Spring.

Ending Early to Find Hilarity.

A trip to the Doctor Sunday morning infomed me that I do not have strep throat, which was at first a sign of releif. The Doctor had ran a test for strep and it can back negative. We both were still curious to why my lymnph nodes were swollen to the size of tennis balls and I could barley speak. I offered my expertise on the subject by recommending I be tested for Wucheria, but since I hadn't spent anytime in the jungle or have gotten bit by and mosquitos lately it was out. She next asked if I had been seeing anyone in the past two weeks?

I replied, "No, but you are quite a bit older than me and I don't think it would work. Although..."

She then explained to me that she thought I might have mono. I mentioned that my love life has been on the back burner now that cyclocross, school and work were all out to get me. When I explained, cyclocross she ran a blood test and bet me that I probably had mono. When the results came back she was correct and I was pissed because I knew this was worse than strep.

I was told that I need to stay off the bike for 2-3 weeks because if I were to rupture my splene, while it was enlarged I could potentially be fatal because it would spill blood into my body aka internal bleeding. Don't get me wrong as metal as an inner blood bath would be I was forced to obey her orders since it could be fatal.

What she asked next was probably one of the best compliments I have ever received in my life. Whether those were her intentions or not I still felt extrmeley PRO.

As my memory recalls the words that fluttered off of her lips were, "When is the next time you have to take a drug test? Because one of the drugs I want to perscribe you will make you test positive.

My at first confused retort, "Drug test? and positive for what?"

The doctor looked blankley back at then explained, "For your cycling since, if you have to take drug test you will test positive for doping."

It was as if the most beutiful girl just had confessed her love for me. I turned as red as the sprinters jersey at Super Week(bad picture of jersey).

I told her no and was soon on my way out the door with a perscription for a mild pain killer and steroid. As I went home to mope about not being able to race. I jumped on the internet in hopes of being cheered up. W/Mild man's blog had helped do the trick as well as Bike Snob for introducing me to this gem. I do not know if it was the pain killers or the actual blog, but my sorrow had soon left after reading the posts. I do think it is possibe for Kanye to have written about a set of zipp 808's seeing these pics. I would have gone with Lightweight's and Mono.
I will still be working the State Championship race, but I will not be competing for the the crown. My attention now lies on getting better and coming up with a training reigment for the winter months.

See you suckas later.

Estabrook and a Farewell...

I regret to inform all of my friends and family that I will be switching teams for the 2009 season. Team Pegasus has be more than great to me and are everything I have ever wanted in a team, but our views have grown apart. I have found that HCC appeals more to my needs as a cyclist. I 100% recommend Team Pegasus for anyone who likes to ride or race their bike. I hope there wil be no bad blood between us and I will complete my 2008 under the Pegasus uniform.

Woke up around 8 am and was too excited to fall back asleep. I was going to work the p.m. and take down the course, but teammate and friend Jason had called and was troubled by a lack of my presence. I called back and asked if they needed any extra help which he responded, "not really". I headed over to Estabrook Park because I was tired of sitting at home. When I arrived the final touches of the course were being done. I taped off a couple of sections and carried around some tape and stakes until completion.

The family came out once again with a couple of additions, which was a nice surprise. The starting line consisted of 22 riders and was about that wide across. A race was going on in ILL so our field was thin. At the start of the race I took it easy a bit and worked my way up. Lucky for me a single barrier was put up and I was able to hop over it. I saved some energy doing this, but a couple of times I was unable to get past the person in front of me because they were all over the place(a.k.a. avoiding a crash). Thomson Remo from Baraboo Sharks was killing it in the flat sections leaving me more than a couple of bike lengths behind. I usually caught up to him on the barriers or the shacains. Second last lap Jason and Cale had caught up to me. We rode together from there with Remo. On the final lap Remo made his move and turned on the heat in a flat section with pavement. I was dead by this point and assumed he would blow up and we could catch him on the shacain or barriers. Unfortunately, He knows himself better then I thought and he left our sights. On the last set of barriers I could see Matt Kamphius from Brazen Dropouts ahead of me. I should have put on the heat after the second set of barriers. It was pavement, flat and down hill in that part not to mention it meant the race was almost over. Next time I will have to think more about strategy such as good times to attack and bridge. The Pegasus Trio rolled through the finish together with Jason laid down a sprint that came from behind me trying to pass in the final straight. I can't remember how I knew he was coming or if I saw him when he was beside me, but was forced to get out of the saddle and give it my all. I beat him by less than a foot I imagine and was totally dead afterwards. It was a good race I rolled in at 8th which is what a got in Washington Park. Next race is in Northbrook, but I may sit that one out due to how I feel now. I think I might be getting sick again, but who knows.