Out With The Old (way of thinking)

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here! No real reason why, just life I guess. I won't bore you all (for anyone still checking in) with a recap of everything that's happened the past 8 months, but I'll reserve the right to look back on occasion if I get back to this blogging more frequently.
I think one of the reasons I'm here now is the whole New Year's thing and making resolutions and all that jazz. I've never really been one to make resolutions and then do everything I can to see them through. I usually just think to myself "let's try to do this, this and maybe this during the year" and then just go from there. If they come to fruition then great, if not, no big deal. It's not that I have anything against resolutions of this sort, but I guess I don't like failure and it seems so many new year's resolutions end up not working out. So, with that being said, I'm setting some resolutions for 2010! How's that for double-speak?! For now, I'm going to keep them semi-private, but since you're just dying to know what they are I can at least tell you something about some of them:
1. Try to get back to blogging more regularly. I actually miss this "writing", if I can use that term loosely for what I'm doing here (I won't tell you how often my resolution calls for)
2. Yup, lose some weight and health-related goals (I won't tell you how much my resolution calls for)
3. Something in the romance field (I won't tell you to what degree my resolution calls for)

Are you sensing a pattern here with what I'll tell you and what I won't? ;)

4. Maybe some race time/results goals, but we'll have to see how training goes before I get too semi-serious to be setting time goals.
5. A financial goal (I won't tell you what or how much my resolution calls for)
6. A parental goal (there isn't any one specific thing in mind, just some general thoughts on how I can be a better father for my children).
7. A family goal for myself with my siblings and parents (this could involve a personal change so this one might be tougher to accomplish on my end)

And so it goes. These aren't in any particular order and there may be another resolution or two that pops up over the next day or so so this isn't necessarily a finite list. Just typing these out has me thinking about all of them already so maybe that's the whole purpose of making resolutions - just getting them in your stream of consciousness (thanks, Childress, for that terminology). Hmmm, time to ponder and get a little more specific (offline) about some of these. Hopefully I'll be able to sit here 366 days from now and check off the ones I was able to accomplish. Adios 2009, Hola 2010!

It's Shorts Weather!

Just wanted to comment quick about what a gorgeous evening it was tonight for a run - mid 60's, cloudless! I wasn't the only one who thought this either as the paths around L. Calhoun were busy. I was doing my best Dale Earnhardt impression weaving in and out of pedestrians - passing on the left, passing on the right, even did some drafting off a faster runner for a bit. The TNT marathon team met tonight for our run. There are some strong runners on the team this year and it's been nice to push my limits with them. I think (hope) it's making me a stronger/faster runner. We'll see come race day I suppose. I hit the pool after the run for 2300 yds of liquid enjoyment. No cramping tonight so we'll call the swim workout a success as well. I need to continue to work on my stroke though. Coach pointed out I was crossing over center which isn't effective so I have to continue to concentrate each and every stroke. That can make it hard to remember what lap I'm on, but thankfully there was someone else in my lane with me so I just let her lead and stopped when she stopped after each set. How chivalrous of me, huh? ;) The swim portion of a triathlon is nice in that regard - you just swim from one buoy to the next and eventually back to shore. You don't have to worry about how many laps you've done and how many you have to go. Now, if they'd just put visible lane lines in the lakes we'd be all set. Hour and a half spin session tomorrow so that'll be another fun night.

Blogging teaser - I have a couple of parental type subjects to write about, but not tonight. For any parents out there put on your advice hat and feel free to let me know your opinions. For you others, feel free to chime in as well, just because we're parents doesn't mean we have all the answers (just don't tell my kids I said that). I'll write about these subjects this week yet so check back.

Until then...

Jockstrap Jon

It was a fun, busy weekend.

Saturday morning started off with a tri group run. It was the first time I've been to this group's run because I'm usually running with the marathon group over the weekend, who ran on Sunday (read later) so I was able to get to the tri group run. It was fun to shake things up a bit and run with new people and see how they're all doing. It was also a Zone 2 run which I admit I don't do so it was nice to be forced to do that.

After the run a group of us went to Fuddrucker's for a not so healthy lunch, but we were all given a pass on that today. It was for a fundraiser a teammate and I had - Fuddrucker's donated 20% of their sales for each person who brought in a flyer that we distributed. We won't know for a few days how we actually did, but let's hope there were a lot of people who came in with flyers!

Today was the "tougher" of the 2 days. After an overnight dusting of snow (grrrr, I dislike snow in April) the marathon group met for an easy jaunt of just 14 miles. It actually wasn't too bad out there as the paths were clear, but the wind wasn't exactly our friend. It was a good run and I felt strong.

After cleaning up after the run it was off to do something I haven't done in nearly 3o years - dodgeball. Another tri team teammate was hosting a dodgeball tournament so I got thrown on a team and we represented. I have to say we did pretty well! We got 2nd in both the 1st and 2nd sessions, losing to the same team both times, so obviously 2nd place overall. Not bad for a bunch of wanna-bes! Our claim to fame though isn't in dodgeball, but in sippy cup competition. Once you lose a dodgeball match you're automatically entered into the sippy cup tourney which masquerades as the dodgeball losers bracket. If you win the sippy cup tourney you get back into the dodgeball. We ruled in sippy cup and couldn't be beat - we were 5-0! Unfortunately we couldn't carry that over to the Championship round for what we were there for in the first place! Oh well, no one (me included) expected us to get that far! There were some interesting outfits worn (maybe by yours included) so I'll try to get pictures posted once I receive them.

Overall, a fun weekend, but alas, it's nearly over so now I better recoup for my 3 day work week this week (taking Thurs. and Fri. off).

Let's hope this was the last snowfall of the season!

Remember me?

Hello old friend Blogspot! I'm back after an unknown hiatus. I'm sure I've lost whatever audience I had so it might just be you and me for awhile. So much to tell, but don't know where to start. I won't try to get you caught up on everything for the past month and a half, but suffice it to say there hasn't been a whole lot of down time.
I think I subconsciously chose today to check back in because it's normally one of my most fun days of the year - April Fool's Day! If you know me, you might have reason to think I'm somewhat of a jokester. I say it's normally one of my most fun because the sad thing about this year's AFD is that it kind of snuck up on me and I didn't have time to plan anything really worth reporting. Not that it was a bad day, just not as fun as I could have made it. I did send out an email though to my department telling them there were DQ dilly bars in the breakroom when there weren't, but that's about it. I think I got a couple of them mad at me for that. You don't joke about free food in the workplace, especially desserts! Anybody could bring anything in, edible or not, and it would be gone by the end of the day.
How's this for a day living up to its reputation - 10 years ago today, 4/1/1999, I became engaged. Yup, I proposed on April Fool's Day. I guess the joke was on me since we all know how that marriage worked (or didn't). :)

Marathon and triathlon training are going well. The ol' body is holding up thus far and I'm feeling stronger so we're on the right track. Coming off a chest cold last week though so my breathing isn't 100% on my runs, but each time out is a little better than the last. I had a 6 mile run tonight and then headed over to the pool for an 1800 yd swim. Not the longest swim I've done, but a mile's a mile.
Well, that's all for tonight. I gotta ease back into this blogging thing. ;) I'll talk to ya again soon and promise it won't be another 6 week break!

Website

Check it out and see why I do what I do.

click here.

Hump Day Is History

I made it through Wednesday and I'm still alive so that makes me happy. Today was the grueling day of the 3 previous so it should be smooth sailin' from here through Sunday. Monday started out with a great run with my LTF group. Just a shorter 5 miler, but at a decent pace. I ran the last 3 with another new runner to the group. It was kinda funny because when we got done we both confessed we were pushing it, but neither of us wanted to ask the other to slow it down any. That's what happens when you run with new people and the competitive side of someone shows its head. I didn't want to look like the slacker so I wasn't about to say anything and neither did she. I did tell her once we were done that if we run together again I probably still won't say anything if she's going to fast, but I'll probably be thinking it so she can just assume it and that I expect her to slow down then.

Tuesday was an awesome spin class for an hour. I'd tell you where, but the class fills up before it starts so I don't need to advertise it and risk not getting a bike. I can only make this class every 2 weeks (parental schedule) so I don't want to give it up. Yup, I'll admit to being selfish over a spin class. After only a couple of sessions with this instructor I can already feel some improvement. I know some of that has to do with my other workouts, but I was pedaling at a higher cadence with more tension than what I have in the past.

Tonight was the doozy. After a long day at work I had a double workout planned. It started with another 5 mile run, but tonight's difference is that it was nearing 0 degrees with the blustery wind. There was a decent turnout for the marathon team considering the temps so that was great to see. After the run I jumped in the car right away (thanks Kristen for carpooling) and headed over to the triathlon team's swim workout. About 1,000 yards into the workout I was the lucky recipient of a calf cramp. I guess that's what I get for not stretching after the run. This has happened before so you'd think I'd learn. Oh well. Wanna take bets on when it'll happen again?

Tomorrow night is another spin class, Friday is a rest day (woo hoo!) and then a group run Saturday morning. I should be able to handle those workouts without too much drama (as long as the cramping doesn't come back).


On the fun side of things, I have another fundraising event coming up so check your calendars and maybe swing by. Along with another teammate, we have set it up with Fuddrucker's in Bloomington that for everyone who comes in with our flyer on Tuesday, March 10th, Fudd's will donate 20% of those sales to LLS. Pretty easy and low maintenance so let's hope it raises lots of moola for a great cause. I'll try to get the flyer posted here, but can't seem to do so right now. If you think you might come out and support this effort just email me and I'll email you back with the flyer.

VD Recap

The boys had their Valentine's Day parties last Friday at school. All week Devon was so excited for it. I think he was really just excited because he knew he'd be getting candy. He even asked if we could go around the neighborhood door to door to see if anyone else had Valentimes (that's how he pronounces it, with the "m") for him. I told him this wasn't Halloween. When I picked them up Friday after school he told me about his party and all the valentines he got. I asked if he had any girlfriends and he sheepishly said he did. I pressed the issue and he said he had 3 of them. He said 2 of them were in his class and "Sara, but she's in another class. She's hot!" I busted a gut when he said that. I may say some things every now and then I hope the kids don't pick up on, but he didn't get that one from me! It was cute.

Conner's cub scout pack had their first Blue/Gold ceremony last night. It's when cub scouts have made it through all the cub ranks and are eligible to cross over into boy scouts. We are a pretty new pack so this was the first batch of boys to make it to this level. It was kind of a neat ceremony, but I won't bore you with details. Conner really enjoys scouting so I hope it's something he keeps up with. He isn't really the outdoorsy, get your hands dirty type so maybe this will help with that in a fun way for him.

This was kind of a boring post, but it's all I got tonight. Just wanted to get something down for ya to read. This is going to be a busy week for me both at work and working out with my various groups so I'll jot something down later this week if I survive it all. Ciao.

Mean Daddy Moment #1,793

Have you ever butted heads with a 5 year old? Have you always caved first? Yeah, me too. But not tonight! Nope! I stood my ground and stood tall for all us parents out there who eventually let our kids get their way.
Devon had a rough evening, and over something so trivial to an adult, but apparently life shattering to a kid. He didn't want to take a shower first tonight, but wanted Conner to. Yup, over that.
I told them both before supper that tonight was shower night and that Devon was going first. Sometimes they need to be told these things otherwise they'll argue between themselves. They were both fine with that, Devon even said okay. I actually even had my reasons for that order tonight, but I won't bore you with those (insignificant to you, Joe Reader, but valid here).
I slopped dinner on the table, we ate and then the fun began.
This is when he said he didn't want to go first. I said get in the shower. He started crying. I said get in the bathroom and get in the shower. He cried harder. Eventually he made it to the bathroom, but was still crying and fussing. After a couple of minutes and no sound of running water I went to the bathroom to check on him. He was just standing there crying, looking at himself in the mirror. He started crying harder and stomping his feet so I mimicked him. That didn't help the situation from his standpoint, but the game was on. He eventually got undressed with some stern warnings, but still wouldn't get in the shower. By this point, Dad's fun-quotient was used up so he had 1 more chance. Nope, he didn't take it so down to his bed he went (not willingly). Rounds 3 and 4 of who was going to get his way happened in the bedroom. After round 3 he knew he shouldn't get out of bed again, but that didn't stop the crying and screaming. Luckily it's the middle of winter so no one was walking by otherwise they might've thought Social Services should be called, I'm sure he could be heard through closed windows.
Suffice it to say, he eventually calmed down after about 20 minutes once he saw Conner was going to bed so he thought he better too.

As I'm tucking him in the conversation went something like this-
Me: Did you think Daddy was mean tonight?
Devon: (he nods)
M: I'm sorry for copying you in the bathroom. Who makes the rules in this house?
D: You do
M: Who follows the rules in this house?
D: Me and Conner
M: That's right, but I have to too. Sometimes you might not like the rules or think they're fair, but we still have to follow them, okay?
D: Okay
M: I love you and always love you even when I'm a mean daddy
D: I love you too

Tonight wasn't about who got to take a shower first. It was about the principle of doing what your told as a child, about standing your ground as an adult and not teaching your kids if they pout enough they'll eventually get their way. Parent first, friend second.

Anyone want to come down to my house and not follow my rules? I'll send you to your room!

Still here?

Sorry I've been neglecting you, my reader(s). What have you been doing with your time since it's not spent reading about my trivialities? Today I decided I'm going to make a better effort to keep you entertained on a more regular basis. If you think these postings are entertaining, well, then I think you better see someone about that. I have to admit I miss coming in here and blotting things down. I don't know why I don't more often, but it's probably from a variety of things that all boil down to not enough hours in the day.

The big thing this week is that the new TNT season and teams start this weekend! Woo hoo!! We have our Kickoff Party on Saturday. All the teams for the summer season - marathon, triathlon and bike teams - get together for a big rah rah meeting and meet each other for the first time. I like this kickoff party - getting to meet my new mentees (I'm a mentor again for the Tri team), seeing their nervous excitement, trying to guess who I'm going to be friends with by the end of the season, getting motivated by our team honorees and just having that feeling of wanting to be out there exercising with a goal in mind.

I'm fundraising again this year so check out my website and help out if you can. I'm already done with one of my fundraisers that brought in $500 so I'm off to a good start. Only a few thousand more to go!

I started training on my own a couple of weeks ago just so I wouldn't be a complete load at the start of the TNT season. It's been somewhat sporadic, but when I am out there I've really enjoyed being back at it. A coworker introduced me to her running group at the Bloomington Lifetime Fitness and they're a great bunch. I'll only be able to run with them every other Monday, but I think just that little bit will help. They're a great bunch and have some fast runners! They should help push me which is what I need. This winter has been brutal for running outdoors and I find it hard to get out there when it's just me so between TNT and now this LTF group hopefully that'll help hold myself accountable for getting my runs in.

Work has been feast or famine it seems. I'll be crazy busy for a couple of days and then there'll be a lull...and then busy again! There were some pretty major reorganizations (in the accounting world, not in the layoff sense or workforce) that took affect Jan. 1 and now that we're closing the books for the first month a lot of issues (i.e. clean-up) are surfacing. It'll be a fun next couple of days (heavy sarcasm). No major complaints coming from my end though. I'm thankful for my job and enjoy most of the people I work with.

I say most because there is that one. I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this so let's discuss - he's a slurper. It drives me nuts!!! Every morning when he gets his coffee I can hear him slurping every sip. The first day I heard it I didn't think much of it, but the next day I realized this was going to be a daily occurrence. I may eat with my elbows on the table every now and then, but I like to think I have good table manners. Slurping is right up there for me as one of the biggest no-nos for table manners. All in all he is a nice guy and probably doesn't even realize he's slurping, but C'MON! How do you tell a grown man he has a bad habit?

Well, there's my rant for tonight. Ah, that feels better.

Off To The Races

And we're off into the new year!

Conner had his Pinewood Derby for scouts last weekend. He was pretty excited heading into the weekend because last year he placed 5th in his pack and got to advance to the district races. He was pretty confident he would do it again. Without bursting his bubble or squashing his dreams I tried to instill a sense of reality into things. This year there are about 15 more boys in the pack so there was going to be that much more competition.

Over the past couple of weeks he built his car. Okay, I built it, but under his direction. He decided he wanted to go for speed so he picked the "fast" design. I cut it, but then he sanded and painted it.

We gave it a couple of test runs the morning of the races and things looked acceptable for the most part. There was a little wobble, but nothing we could do about it at that point, the wheel axles were already glued into place.

The format was that each scout would race 3 times, once on each lane, and then their average time would determine the finish order. Conner ended up winning each of his 3 heat races (3 cars race at once) so we thought there was a pretty good chance he would advance. Once they started announcing the results though we knew we had empty hopes. The 5th place car was one which had posted faster times than his in 2 out of the 3 races. Conner ended up placing 9th, an average of 6/100ths of a second behind 5th place.

Conner was pretty disappointed, but he kept himself composed. His lower jaw was pretty set and and his eyes weren't exactly dry, but he held firm and was able to muster a smile for the camera.

Devon got to race a car this year too in the "family" division (for dads, siblings, anyone who's not a scout). In a life-is-cruel sort of way for Conner, Devon ended up getting 2nd place and won a ribbon! He was so cute and a little smartass all at the same time. During his 3 races, the first 2 he got 2nd. He was happy to just be racing and said that's okay that he didn't win because "Daddy built my car anyway". My own son is calling me out! The 3rd race he won and said multiple times "I won, I won". Did Dad get any recognition that race? What do you think? He was all smiles after getting his ribbon proclaiming that's the first time he's ever won a ribbon.

It could (?) be fun next year when Devon is an official scout and they'll be racing head to head against each other. Let's just hope they both make it to districts or neither do! Actually, this year and whatever next year holds, are good life lessons learned over something minor (in a parent's eye anyway, I'm sure Conner thought this was a major letdown though).

----------------------------------------------

As for me and my non-derby races, I started training/running again last week and it feels good to be back at it. I have a few races on the horizon so there isn't going to be much downtime between now and mid-October. I was updating my Ellipsoid account the other day after a run and calculated I ran, biked and swam a cumulative 1,145 miles during '08. This doesn't count many hours inside on the spin bike. I know 1,145 is piddly compared to a few others, but I was actually surprised by it as it didn't seem like I did that much. With 2009's schedule I wonder how much I'll do. If I train properly for everything I have scheduled I'm guessing I could be bumping up against 1,600-1,700 miles this year. Check back in 12 months to find out the total I guess.

'08 Recap

Wow, over a month since my last post! I have a theory for why it's been so long, but we'll just keep that mute. Reading that last post is a wake-up call that I better get my rear in gear and start training seriously again. I actually did have that planned to start tomorrow so let the sweat begin!
This post is something that came to me on my solo drive up north last Wednesday for New Year's Eve. A 4 hour drive gives you time to ponder. This is going to kind of be a quasi year-in-review, but I'll just pick out something from each month that made it special for me. Some of these are going to be about family, some about me and the races I did and some about living vicarioulsy through others. It was kind of difficult trying to think back 10, 11, 12 months to come up with something and there are 2 months that I'm drawing a blank for anything significant, but what I did come up with all affected me somehow during the year.

January: This was Conner's first Pinewood Derby for cub scouts. Building his car brought back a ton of memories from when I was 8-10 and building my car with my dad and the subsequent races. I was able to relive some of my childhood with/through Conner, but hopefully give him some memories he'll be able to look back on 30 years from now with his son(s). He finished 5th in his pack and thus able to move on to the District races. Although the 5th place ribbon was pink he was still all smiles about winning and every time his car went down the track. Just watching him smile and be proud of how he did made me happy, but more importantly he was a gracious winner, just cheered for his car and his friends when he wasn't racing and never rubbed it in when he beat someone like I saw a couple of others do.

February: The new season for TNT started. This was my first time on the triathlon team so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was much larger than the marathon teams I've been on and I knew some of them already knew each other so I wasn't sure about fitting in. My past TNT experiences were all positive and I had made lifelong friends. I didn't know if these triathletes approached the TEAM aspect in the same regard, but quickly realized they did and it became another positive, "mankind is good" type of experience. I've added a few more close friends to my contact list and many "friends" to my facebook because of my TNT relationships.

March and April: These are my lost months. Apparently nothing too exciting or memorable happened these 61 days.

May: Ran the Fargo Marathon and recorded my 2nd fastest time to date. I was pretty pleased with that considering my fastest time had come almost 10 years earlier. 5 states down, 45 to go on my quest to run one in every state.

June: I got a letter from Conner's school saying he was going to be placed in an advanced curriculum for 3rd grade based on some assessment tests they give the kids. Growing up I was a pretty athletic and active kid and still did pretty well in school as well. I figured I'd be pretty proud of my kids too like my parents were once they started playing sports (not that I'm not proud of them if they don't play anything). We knew Conner was pretty astute and a good student, but once I read that letter the proud parent cup was overflowing and I was beaming! I know it's only 3rd grade, but if he can be ahead of the curve and excel in school who knows what he can accomplish when he graduates?!

July: Probably the most significant month of the year. There was addition by subtraction. My grandma had a stroke and passed away shortly thereafter. Within that tragedy though it brought my older sister back into my family's life. For 7 years she let some outside factors influence her and keep her away from my parents, my younger sister and her family, me and my family and all extended family functions and holidays. My grandma always kept in touch with her though. My grandma's passing helped my sister realize how important family can be and she took the steps to become part of our's again. We all celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas together for the first time since 2000 and the kids have begun to get to know their aunt.

August: A new running experience for me this month although the race has been around for 3 previous years. The Ragnar Relay, a team relay run covering 205 miles from La Crosse, WI to Minneapolis. This was a totally different running experience than anything I've done previously and I'm hooked on it now, it was a total blast! Staying up for 36 hours, running different stints on sleep deprivation, one starting at 2:00 a.m., being confined to a van with 5 other sweaty runners, etc etc. Ragnar has a series of these runs throughout the country, all under the same format. It would be fun to get a team to travel to some of these other races, but I'll definitely have a team every year for this WI/MN race.

September: This month I lived vicariously through 2 members I met on the TNT tri team. Kimmi and Rachel trained all year for the Ironman Triathlon in Madison, WI and a group of us went to cheer them on. I have a few other friends who have completed the Ironman, but I never went and watched them. Being at this race and cheering Kim and Rach, seeing the whole thing firsthand and knowing what the went through to even get to that point was just inspiring! Someday, when the parental schedule allows, I hope to do an Ironman. Having 2 more friends as inspiration and mentors to look to for advice can only be a good thing.

October: 2 other triathlon teammates tackled another endurance event this month and they allowed me to be a secondary part of it. Dana and Kris ran the Twin Cities Marathon, for Kris this was her first marathon (see previous posts). Leading up to this race I passed on little tidbits I've picked up along the way, about this marathon in particular and just some in general, so I felt somewhat invested in their performance. The weather conditions they had to endure were worse than anything I've ever run in which made me even prouder of how they did.

November: The Big 4-0 and another marathon on my birthday. Kind of an insane birthday present to give myself. Along with another Finishers medal I was able to be beat my Fargo marathon time and come within 2 minutes of a setting a new PR.

December: This is another PPP (Proud Parent Post) and gives me a greater feeling than anything physical I've done. Kayli informed us that she made the A honor roll for the first quarter and Conner won a drawing contest. This is the first year for the kids in their new schools after transferring districts. I wasn't sure how they'd adapt, but apparently my worries were all for naught. Kayli is a bright girl and it's great to see the transfer didn't affect her academically. Conner has proclaimed (verbatim) "he doesn't like playing sports except for bowling, but likes arts and crafts" and it showed when he won 1st place in a drawing contest for all of 3rd grade and got his holiday picture published in the local paper. He was happier about getting a $20 check.

Well, in a nutshell that's my year in review. As I was thinking about this and once I came up with my monthly choices I noticed there weren't any about me and my work. Some of these choices seem somewhat superficial in the grand scheme of things so that brought up a whole new tangent of internal debate and something else to ponder. I guess with the new year and making resolutions it's as good of time as any for some self-reflection. I might have to drive up north and back a few more times this week.