I wish that was true…the fun part.
This blog isn’t about work, but that’s why I haven’t put anything up for a while. Things have been nuts the past week.
Now for the fun stuff…crap what happened? Oh yeah…
Friday I got it stuck in my head that I was going to start running and weight lifting again. I went to the gym after work, took note that yep I and four other people don’t have a social life on a Friday evening i.e. why the gym was empty at 5pm. I found my treadmill—why I didn’t go outside is a mystery to me too—turned on the iPod and started moving. About ½ way through my run I noticed some discomfort below my left knee. I figured it was just the aches and pains when you start running again. I thankfully finished. I then moved on to weights—man I have lost a lot of what I used to have. Can you believe when I was a gym rat I could squat over my body weight and now…I’m lucky to squat a 2 year old.
Saturday. I made plans with Holly a few days earlier to go for a 40 mile bike ride in the afternoon. It was one of those rainy days that all you wanted to do was to curl up on the couch and watch a movie or read a good book. Not us—it was a perfect day to feel even more like a kid (riding your bike + rain = Fun!). While driving over to Holly’s I was thinking ‘you don’t typically start to ride your bike in the rain you typically get caught in the rain.’ While I was getting ready in her driveway we looked at each other and commented about how the rain was coming down harder and the wind was getting stronger but neither one of us was caving into scratching the ride. I think if either one of us would have said something the other one would have gave in quickly—neither one of us said anything. A quarter mile down the road we were soaked. The theme of the ride was: Oh well, wet is wet—let’s keep going. As it turned out, it was one of my favorite rides especially when the rain came down harder and we had tailwind—AWESOME!
Sunday was a bridal shower for one of my Hellion girls. It’s been about a month and a half since the four of us have been together (TTT race). Kristy did the Short&Fat at Chequamegon the day before on a single speed with tubeless tires. A few miles in she got a flat with nothing on her to fix the flat so she rode the rest of the 13 mile course with a flat tire—Amazing! AND she never got one dent in her rims!
Monday I went to the gym for a light workout. Dang, I’m not a fan of the Plymouth LTF the locker room smells like someone forgot their wet swimming suite in a locker. After work I met Paul at his Elementary school for my first swimming lesson—yep I’m a Guppy! Turns out I’m not a sinker—I just need to get over the fear that I’m not going to drown, learn the techniques, and to put all the parts together—breathing, arms, and legs.
So with all this talk about cycling, learning to swim, and running. I want to make clear if I mention about February timeframe—because sitting behind my desk at work I come up with some great ideas for myself—and think that doing a triathlon is a great idea (tri-geeks your help is not needed at this point) please remind me: 1. It really isn't a good idea and 2. The duathlon I did last May.
As for the "goal"—thanks Neil and Matt for your suggestions but after last year’s stories and “attempts” to ski I don’t think MTB night riding and the Berkie (or naked pilates—yeah thanks Matt) are right for me. I decided to do a 1/2 marathon at the end of Jan in St. Paul. I was kind-of shooting higher but then realized I don’t have any money to fly to AZ or FL to do a full marathon. I look at it this way, I was doing 10 miles on my own last winter and I need something to drive me to get off the couch and out of the Christmas cookie jar. Needless to say, there will be a lot of "why did I commit to this" in November/December.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Next Adventure
I need a goal to keep me motivated and something to work on for the next couple of months. Any ideas?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Wisconsin Ironman
No, I didn’t do it.
Believe it or not, I went to watch a few REGBRAI friends take part in the event on Sunday. Yep, they like to let their hair down and have a few “energy drinks” (for an entire week) but also focus on a bigger goal.
I don’t know why I insistent on driving 4.5 hours to Madison, WI to watch a triathlon. I’m pretty sure everyone there was thinking the same thing. I’ve been in a funk the past couple of weeks, not wanting to work out or believe it or not wanting to be on the bike. I guess watching 2100+ people push their bodies to an extreme for an average of 13 hours—I wanted to get inspirited. Did it work? Yes. Now I just have to figure out what I want to do.
I’ve seen this event on TV—you hear the stories and are moved by one’s drive to be there but to feel the energy was amazing!
I’ve heard the start was a spectacular scene—and it was! It was a perfect day. The racers couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions. At 7am, the temperature was in the upper 50’s the water temp was in the low 70’s. The sun was just coming up over the water creating a pink hue in the clear blue sky. A sea of bobbing heads spanned the designated area of the lake. The gun shot off and all 2100+ amatures started the swim in a mass start, the music started blasting “Beautiful Day” by U2, the crowed was roaring… The energy was amazing! You knew these people spent about a year training for this one day and were now embarking on an adventure of a lifetime. I heard about half of the racers it was their first Ironman.
I thought watching the pros would be fun, but seeing the every day guy (or girl) was a 100% better. They were there for the heart of the event, the pros—although as amazing as they are—as one girl said while we waited, it was like chearing for someone who drove to work everyday.
We waiting for over an hour for Matt, our first person, to come out of the water. He looked good. Smile was still on his face while he ran up the helix to the transition area. Next was Jenny—what a rock star! Then Bob. We were able to find a perfect spot only a few feet from his bike. All eight of us were yelling “the bike is all yours!”. With a few shout outs for “where’s the stereo?”. Bob caries the 50 lbs stereo on his bike during REGBRAI. Instead he had a 2008 Trek Equinox TTX 9.5—sweet bike!
After the swim five of us jumped on our bikes and road out to the course (about 12 miles). It was no 112 miles that the racers were doing, but the way we bitched you would have thought differently. We all had backpacks that were full of clothes and items handed to us at the last minute from the races. 10 of the 12 miles were up hill in a headwind. We persevered and made it to the part of the course that would start their second loop. The pros were already going through this section. Calculating were we were and how fast our friends were probably going we thought we had about 30 minutes before Matt would come by—to our surprise he was 15 minutes early! He must have been averaging about 21/22 miles per hour—amazing! Jenny followed 30 minutes later and Bob 40 minutes after Jenny.
It was funny. You stand there for an hour to see someone for 10 seconds to yell at the top of your lungs. Once they pass—you wait again. With all that time to wait…we had to do something to entertain ourselves so we made video blogs on why it was so hard to be a spectator. Some of the topics included: Solving Math problems—Figuring out variable times and speeds of each rider and what time they would cross the area we were in. How much time we have to run over to the bar for a drink and how many drinks. The aches and pains our body was going through standing around caused our feet to hurt. Figuring out where we should go to find the racers. Etc.
The best video blog was called the “cowbell finger” or CBF. We couldn’t have planned it better—while Jared was pretending he was hurt ringing a cowbell an ambulance pulled up. The medics saw Jared, got out of the van, put on their gloves and proceeded to walk over to us. We couldn’t believe this was happening!—Can you imagine us doing a parity bitching about how hard is to cheer the racers on when out of no were medics came by trying to attend to us two feet away from racers that were probably at mile marker 100 on the bike course with 12 miles left and a full marathon in front of them? I kept the tape rolling—this was good footage!
Jared told the medics that he was fine and that it was just a little cowbell finger and that he would be ok. The medics didn’t think it was all that funny and went back to their van. We finished up our video entry with a more bitching and fell on the ground laughing at what just happened. Two days later, I’m still laughing about the situation—we couldn’t have planed it better.
After seeing our friends pass the last time on the bike course looking like it was just another bike ride and another video entry on the way back and dinner we found the rest of our cheer squad. We should have spread out but we thought they were closer so we stood there for over an hour. While waiting we were left with only time to add another entry to our video blog. Mike put his backpack down in the middle of the sidewalk, laid face first into his bag like he was giving his last ounce of cheer he had in him, mumbling “we’ve got to keep cheering” while trying to ring the cowbell. The best part was the sign we put on him that read “Pain is only temporary. You will always be an Ironman.” It was so funny, other spectators waiting for their loved ones came over and were snapping photos of him.
Matt finally came by, he was walking but started to run when he heard us yelling his name. I ran around the corner to give him one more cheer and to tell him he was almost done only 1 mile left. I started laughing when he gave me the stink-eye. You could tell he had nothing left.
Jenny came by two minutes later looking like she was ready to take on more. Bob came by with side pains. We knew he was only ½ way done with the run. We spread out with walkie talkies and cell phones in hand so when he made the turn we were ready to show him our support.
Jared and I rode up to the finish line and found Matt at the food tent back to his upbeat self. Knowing him, he made a beeline to the tent. He came in at about 11 ½ hours—exactly when I predicted he would finish. We found Jenny a few hours later ready for a drink and to go dancing—she got 2nd in her category and qualified for Kona next year! We made our way to the other side of the course to cheer on Bob then back to the finish line. Watching the people finish was amazing! Seeing them on the course in pain then knowing it was almost over and somehow found the energy to run across the line looking like it was just a day in the park, some with kids, was awesome!
Bob came across looking great until he crossed the line and had to sit down. We all hung around while he got food and was able to recover a bit.
We didn’t get back to the hotel until 10pm. Jenny wanted to go out and celebrate her entry into Kona so we rode around and found this little bar—the only place open on a Sunday night. We closed the place down after several pitchers of beer then hung out in the lobby of the hotel until 4am with a few more drinks.
I got about 2 hours of sleep before I had to get up and drive 4 1/5 hours back to the cities in order to make it to work by noon.
I haven’t talked to the three racers yet, but I figure they are physically sore but mentally feel like they are on top of the world.
Believe it or not, I went to watch a few REGBRAI friends take part in the event on Sunday. Yep, they like to let their hair down and have a few “energy drinks” (for an entire week) but also focus on a bigger goal.
I don’t know why I insistent on driving 4.5 hours to Madison, WI to watch a triathlon. I’m pretty sure everyone there was thinking the same thing. I’ve been in a funk the past couple of weeks, not wanting to work out or believe it or not wanting to be on the bike. I guess watching 2100+ people push their bodies to an extreme for an average of 13 hours—I wanted to get inspirited. Did it work? Yes. Now I just have to figure out what I want to do.
I’ve seen this event on TV—you hear the stories and are moved by one’s drive to be there but to feel the energy was amazing!
I’ve heard the start was a spectacular scene—and it was! It was a perfect day. The racers couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions. At 7am, the temperature was in the upper 50’s the water temp was in the low 70’s. The sun was just coming up over the water creating a pink hue in the clear blue sky. A sea of bobbing heads spanned the designated area of the lake. The gun shot off and all 2100+ amatures started the swim in a mass start, the music started blasting “Beautiful Day” by U2, the crowed was roaring… The energy was amazing! You knew these people spent about a year training for this one day and were now embarking on an adventure of a lifetime. I heard about half of the racers it was their first Ironman.
I thought watching the pros would be fun, but seeing the every day guy (or girl) was a 100% better. They were there for the heart of the event, the pros—although as amazing as they are—as one girl said while we waited, it was like chearing for someone who drove to work everyday.
We waiting for over an hour for Matt, our first person, to come out of the water. He looked good. Smile was still on his face while he ran up the helix to the transition area. Next was Jenny—what a rock star! Then Bob. We were able to find a perfect spot only a few feet from his bike. All eight of us were yelling “the bike is all yours!”. With a few shout outs for “where’s the stereo?”. Bob caries the 50 lbs stereo on his bike during REGBRAI. Instead he had a 2008 Trek Equinox TTX 9.5—sweet bike!
After the swim five of us jumped on our bikes and road out to the course (about 12 miles). It was no 112 miles that the racers were doing, but the way we bitched you would have thought differently. We all had backpacks that were full of clothes and items handed to us at the last minute from the races. 10 of the 12 miles were up hill in a headwind. We persevered and made it to the part of the course that would start their second loop. The pros were already going through this section. Calculating were we were and how fast our friends were probably going we thought we had about 30 minutes before Matt would come by—to our surprise he was 15 minutes early! He must have been averaging about 21/22 miles per hour—amazing! Jenny followed 30 minutes later and Bob 40 minutes after Jenny.
It was funny. You stand there for an hour to see someone for 10 seconds to yell at the top of your lungs. Once they pass—you wait again. With all that time to wait…we had to do something to entertain ourselves so we made video blogs on why it was so hard to be a spectator. Some of the topics included: Solving Math problems—Figuring out variable times and speeds of each rider and what time they would cross the area we were in. How much time we have to run over to the bar for a drink and how many drinks. The aches and pains our body was going through standing around caused our feet to hurt. Figuring out where we should go to find the racers. Etc.
The best video blog was called the “cowbell finger” or CBF. We couldn’t have planned it better—while Jared was pretending he was hurt ringing a cowbell an ambulance pulled up. The medics saw Jared, got out of the van, put on their gloves and proceeded to walk over to us. We couldn’t believe this was happening!—Can you imagine us doing a parity bitching about how hard is to cheer the racers on when out of no were medics came by trying to attend to us two feet away from racers that were probably at mile marker 100 on the bike course with 12 miles left and a full marathon in front of them? I kept the tape rolling—this was good footage!
Jared told the medics that he was fine and that it was just a little cowbell finger and that he would be ok. The medics didn’t think it was all that funny and went back to their van. We finished up our video entry with a more bitching and fell on the ground laughing at what just happened. Two days later, I’m still laughing about the situation—we couldn’t have planed it better.
After seeing our friends pass the last time on the bike course looking like it was just another bike ride and another video entry on the way back and dinner we found the rest of our cheer squad. We should have spread out but we thought they were closer so we stood there for over an hour. While waiting we were left with only time to add another entry to our video blog. Mike put his backpack down in the middle of the sidewalk, laid face first into his bag like he was giving his last ounce of cheer he had in him, mumbling “we’ve got to keep cheering” while trying to ring the cowbell. The best part was the sign we put on him that read “Pain is only temporary. You will always be an Ironman.” It was so funny, other spectators waiting for their loved ones came over and were snapping photos of him.
Matt finally came by, he was walking but started to run when he heard us yelling his name. I ran around the corner to give him one more cheer and to tell him he was almost done only 1 mile left. I started laughing when he gave me the stink-eye. You could tell he had nothing left.
Jenny came by two minutes later looking like she was ready to take on more. Bob came by with side pains. We knew he was only ½ way done with the run. We spread out with walkie talkies and cell phones in hand so when he made the turn we were ready to show him our support.
Jared and I rode up to the finish line and found Matt at the food tent back to his upbeat self. Knowing him, he made a beeline to the tent. He came in at about 11 ½ hours—exactly when I predicted he would finish. We found Jenny a few hours later ready for a drink and to go dancing—she got 2nd in her category and qualified for Kona next year! We made our way to the other side of the course to cheer on Bob then back to the finish line. Watching the people finish was amazing! Seeing them on the course in pain then knowing it was almost over and somehow found the energy to run across the line looking like it was just a day in the park, some with kids, was awesome!
Bob came across looking great until he crossed the line and had to sit down. We all hung around while he got food and was able to recover a bit.
We didn’t get back to the hotel until 10pm. Jenny wanted to go out and celebrate her entry into Kona so we rode around and found this little bar—the only place open on a Sunday night. We closed the place down after several pitchers of beer then hung out in the lobby of the hotel until 4am with a few more drinks.
I got about 2 hours of sleep before I had to get up and drive 4 1/5 hours back to the cities in order to make it to work by noon.
I haven’t talked to the three racers yet, but I figure they are physically sore but mentally feel like they are on top of the world.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hellasious Hills
Those who know what those two words mean knows what I just did this morning. Yep, I went to Jody’s class. Imagine, not attending spin class since April and then hearing those two words come out of Jody’s mouth…i.e. I just set myself up for a hell of a workout!
As usual I went to “my” bike, set it up, said Hi and gave hugs to the regulars I haven’t seen in months. After 2 minutes of spinning I realized that those seats are not comfortable. Although, how can that be when they are larger than my bike seat? 5 minutes into class hearing what was in store for today’s workout, I was thinking I’m going to see Jesus today. With perfect timing, Jody said that the church song was on. I don’t know if Pastor George Michael singing “Faith” would qualify as a church song…but who am I to judge someone’s religion?
After class Jody asked about Matt. She said the last time she saw him he was wearing a leotard at a race. Can you image a guy at a bike race wearing a leotard?
After finding the following image…
…I can’t STOP thinking about a guy wearing a leotard at a race. It’s not a burned image that one wants to remember. After some description the “leotard” is what we call “bib shorts”.
As usual I went to “my” bike, set it up, said Hi and gave hugs to the regulars I haven’t seen in months. After 2 minutes of spinning I realized that those seats are not comfortable. Although, how can that be when they are larger than my bike seat? 5 minutes into class hearing what was in store for today’s workout, I was thinking I’m going to see Jesus today. With perfect timing, Jody said that the church song was on. I don’t know if Pastor George Michael singing “Faith” would qualify as a church song…but who am I to judge someone’s religion?
After class Jody asked about Matt. She said the last time she saw him he was wearing a leotard at a race. Can you image a guy at a bike race wearing a leotard?
After finding the following image…
…I can’t STOP thinking about a guy wearing a leotard at a race. It’s not a burned image that one wants to remember. After some description the “leotard” is what we call “bib shorts”.
Productive
I have to admit this past weekend, although it didn’t seem like it at times, was productive. I rode the most miles I’ve ever rode in one day AND I painted my bathroom.
Saturday I woke up late grabbed my lights and was on the bike by 5:45am in order to meet Dave (a new rider this year) then rode up to Trailhead in Champlain. The ride up to the shop was 14 miles from my place. We got there knowing that a tentative century was planned for either Saturday or Sunday. What an ambitious group. It was a double century weekend.
Not prepared for a century I was feeling it by mile 40. To understand what I was going through here is how it went based on the face expressions below: (thanks Neil this sould be fun…) No traffic on Vicksburg or Weaver Lake road Face 1. When I found out we were doing a century Face 2. Talking with Jorge Face 1. After going over the rollers on CR 201 Face 3. When I told Dave H. that I wasn’t physically able to do a century and wanted to go home Face 9. When Dave set me up with the question “Don’t you want to ride?” and gave me a Gu Face 7 then Face 1. When we got to Watertown and had a breakfast croissant a big Face 1. Then I was told that I should stay on the wheels of Berger and Bernie Face 2—Berger likes to cut people off. Neil was right Bernie is a good pace car—thanks guys! After 5 minutes and we were flying down the road at 28 mph Face 1. When Larry, Berger, and I turned off to head home we were exhausted and still had miles of headwind to battle Face 3. When I rode on my own and had to stop to go up two small inclines that I’ve never noticed before Face 9. When I got home and found out that I just rode more miles in one day then I’ve ever rode (112.5 miles) Face 7.
Sunday I was wiped out from Saturday’s ride so I slept in for the first time in…who knows when, and did house stuff I’ve been putting off all summer.
Monday was Labor Day. It was probably the nicest day of the week—but I had no interest in riding. I know! Can you believe I just said that? Instead, I painted my bathroom. I know—another shocking event! My family has only been on my case since I moved in to start painting. Yeah, no wonder I was putting it off—don’t believe those who say they like painting…they must be breathing in too much of the paint fumes. I love the color (medium brown with white accents) it makes the room look rich, but I realized through the process that I have OCD—lines are not straight, ceiling is all jacked up! That’s all I can see right now. Yes, I used the tape. I’m going to have to figure out how to fix some of the mistakes.
Tuesday evening I opted to ride on my own. I did a route I did several times last year, but only a few times this year. The route was great, the weather was perfect, the wind—I struggled. I quickly found out that mentally pushing through the wind when you got other stuff to work out kills a perfect ride. Ugh, I must have pinched a nerve in my lower back because it’s been killing me ever since I got off the bike even after a good stretch.
Saturday I woke up late grabbed my lights and was on the bike by 5:45am in order to meet Dave (a new rider this year) then rode up to Trailhead in Champlain. The ride up to the shop was 14 miles from my place. We got there knowing that a tentative century was planned for either Saturday or Sunday. What an ambitious group. It was a double century weekend.
Not prepared for a century I was feeling it by mile 40. To understand what I was going through here is how it went based on the face expressions below: (thanks Neil this sould be fun…) No traffic on Vicksburg or Weaver Lake road Face 1. When I found out we were doing a century Face 2. Talking with Jorge Face 1. After going over the rollers on CR 201 Face 3. When I told Dave H. that I wasn’t physically able to do a century and wanted to go home Face 9. When Dave set me up with the question “Don’t you want to ride?” and gave me a Gu Face 7 then Face 1. When we got to Watertown and had a breakfast croissant a big Face 1. Then I was told that I should stay on the wheels of Berger and Bernie Face 2—Berger likes to cut people off. Neil was right Bernie is a good pace car—thanks guys! After 5 minutes and we were flying down the road at 28 mph Face 1. When Larry, Berger, and I turned off to head home we were exhausted and still had miles of headwind to battle Face 3. When I rode on my own and had to stop to go up two small inclines that I’ve never noticed before Face 9. When I got home and found out that I just rode more miles in one day then I’ve ever rode (112.5 miles) Face 7.
Sunday I was wiped out from Saturday’s ride so I slept in for the first time in…who knows when, and did house stuff I’ve been putting off all summer.
Monday was Labor Day. It was probably the nicest day of the week—but I had no interest in riding. I know! Can you believe I just said that? Instead, I painted my bathroom. I know—another shocking event! My family has only been on my case since I moved in to start painting. Yeah, no wonder I was putting it off—don’t believe those who say they like painting…they must be breathing in too much of the paint fumes. I love the color (medium brown with white accents) it makes the room look rich, but I realized through the process that I have OCD—lines are not straight, ceiling is all jacked up! That’s all I can see right now. Yes, I used the tape. I’m going to have to figure out how to fix some of the mistakes.
Tuesday evening I opted to ride on my own. I did a route I did several times last year, but only a few times this year. The route was great, the weather was perfect, the wind—I struggled. I quickly found out that mentally pushing through the wind when you got other stuff to work out kills a perfect ride. Ugh, I must have pinched a nerve in my lower back because it’s been killing me ever since I got off the bike even after a good stretch.
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