JAM's attempt at blogging

2011-12-26T14:21:00.002-06:00

Most likely my final post for 2011 considering my dedication to this blog these past few months so I’ll recap what I can.
Riding home after spending Christmas up north (Kristin’s driving, I’m letting her). It’s always fun up there with family, but there’s always something missing when I don’t have my boys. They’re with Lindsay this year. Arrived Friday evening, had burgers at the VFW and then proceeded to eat all weekend. Definite post-holiday purge is in order! Sunday was the fun day with gift opening, de-decorating and the annual bonfire. Everyone celebrates Christmas by packing up all the decorations and taking down their tree, right? In years past the bonfire has been more of a New Year’s Eve bonfire, but with Mom and Dad wintering in AZ now they take off shortly after Christmas so they can arrive in AZ as close to Jan. 1st as possible. Can’t blame ‘em for that!

Prior to this I finished up my athletic year with a marathon in Huntsville, AL. Went into it with lofty, but unknown expectations. With all the training I did this past year I definitely wanted to PR (4:07 or faster) and would’ve been disappointed had I not. Beyond that I wasn’t sure what sort of time I would get. I’ve never gone sub-4:00 so despite my good training year I didn’t know how realistic that was for me. My training lately had been in the 8:10/mile range which equates to about a 3:35 marathon, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to sustain that over 26 miles. My next goal level was 3:45ish and then if everything went perfectly and the stars aligned I thought maybe a 3:30ish was doable.
Arrived in AL and got settled at my hotel, hit the small expo and went to dinner. The weather prediction was for a cool start (low 30s) and warming into the upper 40s, but windy. The big dilemma at the start was if it would be warm enough to just run in shorts of if I would have to wear my tights. It was 33 so it got a little nippy, but I figured I was there to “race” it and shorts would provide the best results there. Bared the legs and took off!
I started with the 3:45 pacer and stuck with him for the first mile. The 3:40 pacer started a little further back (Alabama math?) so I latched onto him once he caught up at that first mile. Got warmed up over the next couple of miles and was feeling good. At mile 3 I told myself to just run my race, but remember that I was “racing” so I slowly sped up and separated from that pacer. I was hitting my watch every mile and was consistently in the 8:03-8:09 range. Gradually I started reeling in the 3:35 pacer and caught them at mile 10. Stayed stride for stride with that group, but once we turned into the wind at mile 16 I ended up dropping. I couldn’t sustain it and with no one to draft with/off of I slowly started to fade. I maintained 8:30ish/mile for the next few, but then around mile 19 McBlister made its presence known on the ball of my foot. The final 7 miles became more of a struggle dealing with that, altering my stride, but by then I knew I was going to at a very minimum PR and go sub-4, it was just a matter of how much under I could get.
With about a mile and half left the 3:45 pacer passed me back and I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up. Damn it, wasn’t going to hit that mark. Settled into a pace I could maintain the rest of the way, as much as my blister allowed, and trudged across the line at 3:49. Pretty happy with the overall time, but not ecstatic. I knew I left a few minutes out there and even with it being a PR knew it wasn’t my “perfect race”. I guess that’s part of what keeps me coming back.
Alabama was state #11 (#14 marathon overall) and a PR at 43 years old. Can’t complain too much and feel blessed that I’m physically able to continue to do this!

So, in recap, all the training this year paid off. Even though the times below didn’t win me any age-group awards, I’m just happy it shows that I can still improve at my advanced age.

May: PR ½ marathon 1:48
June: PR Olympic distance tri 2:33
July: PR ½ Iron distance tri 5:10 and PR the ½ marathon run portion 1:46
September: Finished (and PRed cuz it’s my first) the Ironman 13:32
December: PR full marathon 3:49
Remainder of 2011: recover from a mentally draining training year, as much as physically.

Up next, Nashville in April. Should be a fun with a fun group of people going (11 as of now). I’ll try to post more often and before that though. Happy New Year, Everyone!

Not Tits for Tat

2011-12-08T21:26:00.004-06:00

So, I'm 2 months into the whole internet dating thing. I've had a few dates, but nothing solid yet. A few more emails with others, but nothing that's moved beyond that. Some my decision, some theirs. The thing that's confusing me the most though is the lack of response when I contact someone. Now, I'm not saying the lady needs to drop what she's doing, write me a novel and hand deliver it, especially if she isn't interested, but to me it just seems like common courtesy to at least acknowledge that you received my wink/email. No response just seems mean. You're online dating, you know winks and emails are how people first connect. Not responding is akin to if you were physically face to face with someone, they tried to start a conversation with you or asked you out for a drink/date and you just stood there staring at them and then walked away without saying a word. Match even has a feature where you only have to click 1 button and they'll send a form letter email declining the invitation. How simple is that? If someone initiates contact with me, first, I'm flattered; second, if I'm interested I'm going to let them know sooner rather than later; third, if I'm not interested I'm still going to thank them for the interest, but let them know. They took the chance, stuck their neck out. The least I can do is say thanks, but no thanks and not leave them hanging there. That's just me though. I actually think more highly of those women who respond with a decline than I do of those who don't respond at all. I'd be interested in hearing why women don't respond. Is there a good reason why? I'm not going to cyberstalk you or try to talk you into rethinking your position.
Okay, enough of that rant.
The one lady I saw multiple times started out great. We saw each other on a Saturday night, found out both our birthdays were coming up that following week so we took each other out for birthday lunches and were both genuinely interested in seeing each other again. 3 dates in 6 days with interest for more! Things are looking promising, right?! Well, it turned out I had my hunting weekend, then came home and had a couple of social functions (non-dates), scouts and watched the kids on one of my non-scheduled nights and she didn't take too kindly to me only providing her with 1 night to see each other in a 2 week period. She actually said she felt "insulted" and accused me of seeing multiple women! I laughed at that (it was in an email, not to her face)! In her defense, she doesn't have kids so she probably isn't the most tuned in to the schedule of a single parent. I can't stop being a parent just to appease someone I'm first getting to know. Maybe if/when a relationship starts getting serious I'll be more inclined to accommodate schedule changes, but not within the first week lady! It was good to find that out early I guess, save some headache later!
On to the next, whenever that may be. I'm keeping my parameters somewhat strict. I don't want to date just to date. There actually is a long-term purpose behind this courtship thing so I want to reel in a keeper. Just gotta keep casting.

My exercise year is finally winding down. I'm heading out in the morning to Alabama to run the Rocket City Marathon! This will be state #11. When I picked this one out and signed up back in October I was pretty excited. I have to admit now though, I'm actually more looking forward to it being over and just getting home than I am about traveling and doing another marathon. Usually I get pretty excited about them. I've spent the whole year training though and I need the mental break more than anything, more than physically even. I just need to step back and not be dictated by my workout schedule. It'll be nice to not worry about that for a few weeks. I'm not retiring by any means, just will enjoy the off season.
With that said, I'm not going to lolly gag my way through this one just to get it over with. I'm actually hoping to do well and I'll be disappointed if I don't PR and break 4hrs. I haven't done that yet. All the training this year will hopefully pay off this one last time and I'll be able to enjoy the off season that much more.

With that said, logging off so I can throw everything in my bag and get to bed. My chauffeur is gonna be here (not quite) bright and early to take me to the airport. Good night and let's hope AL becomes my new favorite state!

IM Is Easy In Comparison!

2011-10-16T23:52:00.006-05:00

I think I’m embarking on something more daunting, scarier, harder and definitely more unknown to me than Ironman. I’m attempting to jump back into the world of dating. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it's probably been 3+ years since I’ve been on a date and even that recent outing needs an asterisk as it wasn’t anything official. More on that in a bit. I haven’t been opposed to dating over the past 3 years, just haven’t focused on it. I bit the bullet the other day and signed up for a Match.com 6 month membership, give it an honest effort. Skimming through all the profiles; trying to decide what to write for my profile that describes me yet will also attract someone I’m interested in; fretting over what to write in an email to a prospect that will entice her to want to write back – all that is hard work! Doing this part of the mating game isn’t particularly fun for a guy like me, but I know it’s necessary in order to get to where I want to be, and that’s to have a significant other in my life again. I miss “her”, whoever “she” is.

If you know me, you know I don’t talk much. I feel though, deeply. I know what love is and I want to feel that with someone again. I’m ready and I don’t want to waste any more time. 6 years is too long to go without romance. I know I want someone here with me. After the big D, I’ve felt the necessary feelings to know that. I’ve expressed those feelings. I’ve felt sorrow when those feelings haven’t been reciprocated. I need to grow a thicker shell, but at the same time continue to stick my neck out so as the rejections come in I don’t slink back in to my comfort zone of saying “I don’t have time/interest/money/desire to date”. I know with the way the online dating system works there are going to be more rejections before things even have a chance of getting started than there will be potential dates. Just the nature of the beast, it’s a game of numbers. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but I better get used to it and learn how to cope with it.

The *outing* I alluded to was just that, a social outing with a friend with no romantic pretense. Well, that’s not totally true. I may have had multiple motives, but I didn’t let her in on them so as to not make things uncomfortable. The night was advertised as a celebration of things we both had recently accomplished, just friends going out. As the night wore on things were going great and I started seriously thinking “why not”? I got butterflies. I got giddy. I couldn’t sleep. I was smiling and I was thinking this is nice to be feeling these feelings! To make a long story short, I did ask her out, she sounded interested, but after a few days of not being able to plan anything the answer became apparent. You win some, you lose some, I thought, at least I threw it out there and I emotionally moved on.

That turned out not to be totally true too and that surprised me. I eventually did receive verification from her that we wouldn’t be going out. It saddened me to actually hear it, but I wonder why. I thought I had already moved on and it’s not like we had even started any sort of romantic relationship yet to move on from. It’s strange to feel feelings for something that isn’t even there. Maybe it's just wanting what I can't have. That’s the part of dating that sucks – trying to figure out when to open your heart so you can move a relationship forward, needing to expose yourself first in order for something to develop later, and when not to so as to protect yourself.

And therein lies my Catch-22. I think of myself as a romantic so I’m destined to open my heart sooner, but am I just setting myself up to getting it knocked around? If Ironman has taught me anything though I guess it’s perseverance and to keep plodding along. I’ll keep at this dating thing until I find “her”, have to keep at it! I have too much to offer “her” to not have “her” here with me.

What's Next?!

2011-09-28T20:13:00.003-05:00

Well, I guess it's probably time to move on from IM and start thinking about life post-140.6. Despite my last post, everything about the day was great! I've forgotten about the pain and only remember the joy. Yes, the swim was scary, but I just laugh now thinking back to the chaos and realizing how much fun I had once it was done. It was the scariest and coolest thing, all at the same time! Yes, sitting on a bike seat for 6 straight hours is a long time, but it flew by and certainly didn't feel like that long. Yes, the run wasn't quite ideal, but I will learn from it and didn't have to do the whole thing alone. Plus, this was my first IM so no matter how I did I was going to set a PR and I know that 13:32 also leaves room for realistic improvement!

I've had a few workouts since. Been back in the pool a couple of times and hope to maintain where I'm at there by only going once or twice per week. Put the bike back on the trainer in the basement since the evenings are getting darker earlier. I truly believe the biking is the greatest contributor to my faster running so I'll continue with those workouts, hopefully all winter. Have done a couple of shorter runs and this past Monday night I was finally able to run with the "fast guys" at run club! I was never able to do that pre-IM. Just another indicator all the training paid off.

Throwing around some ideas in my head about a tattoo. Nothing for sure yet, not even the decision I'll get one, so we'll just have to wait and see where that leads.

I've started looking for a December marathon to run so I need to nail down a date and get back to a set schedule. It's only been 2 1/2 weeks since IM so I know I'm still recovering and will try to honor that so I don't breakdown, but I miss the structure training provides and going to bed after a rigorous workout (sometimes showering first). Probably won't do 2-a-day workouts for awhile yet though.

Enjoying a few more social, guilt-free beers too. Life is good!

5:55:29

2011-09-17T14:47:00.009-05:00

Sitting here wondering where to start with this post. It’s been over a week since IM and I think I’ve gone over the run portion mentally a thousand times already. Playing the What If…Could’ve…Should’ve…game.

Q: When is a run not a run?
A: When it’s a walk.
That’s what’s gnawing at me the most – how much I actually walked instead of ran.

Let me back up a minute and make a disclaimer, if I may: I’m ecstatic with my overall finishing time of 13:32! It was my first IM, I had no idea what to expect doing that distance and from everything I’ve been told the only thing to concern yourself with the first time around is to just finish! When I look at it in the big picture like that, I still get goose bumps and a Cheshire cat grin. I am an Ironman, have the medal and t-shirt to prove it, and no one can take that away from me (well, I s’pose someone could steal the medal and t-shirt, but you know what I mean)!

Okay, now that that’s over with, time to get down to the analysis of The Walk.

The last 30 minutes or so that I spent on the bike I started to visualize the run and what it might entail. I mentally went over what I took in for nutrition while on the bike and realized it probably wasn’t enough. I was drinking enough, but I didn’t eat enough considering everything I had already put my body through and what was yet to come. I took enough food along with me, but just couldn’t choke it all down, nor did I have the urge to eat. I ate, just not enough. Something I’ll have to teach/force myself to do next time. I think part of this was due to the warmer than expected day as well. Remember back a couple of posts how I said it was going to be in the upper 70s and approaching warmer than ideal temps? Well, it turned out to be in the mid 80s which is definitely warmer than ideal. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the end of the world and I had definitely trained in warmer throughout the season, but I could feel the heat was taking its toll.
I wobbled off the bike, walked into the building to grab my T2 bag with my running clothes and headed to the changing room. I somewhat took my time, but not 48 minutes worth, got dressed and stretched my back before heading out. Stopped to get re-lathered with sunscreen and hit the biffy again. I didn’t have a strong urge/need to go, but thought it’d be better to get it out of the way so once I started running I wouldn’t have to stop. I was able to relieve some and take note. I mention this, not for your reading enjoyment, but to paint a picture. Even in a biffy, a guy can tell to what extent he’s hydrated by assessing the color of his tinkle. I could tell that, not only did I not eat enough, but I was edging towards dehydration based on the darker-than-I’d-like-it-to-be urine. Hmmm.
Wow, this post is going places I didn’t think it originally would!
I took a glance at my watch and noticed it was 2:33. Pleasantly surprised with how my performance had been up to that point I was quickly able to figure that if I could just pull out a 5 hr marathon I’d be right around 12.5 hrs total, smashing all my expectations. I had a shot! Excited about that, I exited the stall, said “Let’s get this over with!” and hit the ground running!

Here I am, 20 yds into the 26.2 mile run. Notice the nice tan lines from biking. Sexy, huh?!

It always takes me 1-2 miles to get my running legs under me and into a rhythm in a triathlon and today was no exception. I was able to somehow get a decent stride going right away as evidenced by this picture, but I think I owe most of that to the thick crowds along this section and the downhill slant after the first couple of blocks. I certainly didn’t feel as good as this looks.

When I got to the first mile marker I looked again at my watch for the first time since starting the run. 7:50 mile 1! WTF!?! How did I pull that out?! I questioned the accuracy with where they had the mile marker sign, but could only chuckle at running “that fast” that first mile. It’s not necessarily what I wanted to do, would’ve rather started out slower and gotten faster as the marathon went on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold that pace and forced myself to slow down. By then I was starting to get some running feeling going in my legs and lungs, but I didn’t necessarily like what I felt. I knew I was in for a struggle.
I came upon the first water stop and made the decision that due to a number of factors – heat, nutrition, getting tired – I would walk through each one so I could get liquids, and “rest” while still moving. The one thing I was adamant about doing was making sure every movement was directed forward. There would be very minimal lateral movement and absolutely no backward movement, even minimize stopping altogether, just keep moving forward! At this early stage, food didn’t sound appealing so I just grabbed water, Pepsi and Gatorade. After a block or so I started running again, but it was a struggle. My stomach wasn’t my friend and when I ran I got nauseous and lightheaded.
After a very short distance the route came to a slight rise in the road and looking at that I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. I wouldn’t say I love running hills, but I typically don’t mind them and usually do a fair amount of gaining or passing others going up them. When this small, short rise looked more like Mt. Everest, I knew I might’ve won the swim and bike course battles, but IM was going to win the run battle. I would just have to hold out hope that I would eventually win the war. And we’re only at mile 2.
From here, it became a matter of walking a lot more than I was running. I picked my runs stints to be on flat or declining sections and then would have to walk 5-10x as long to recover from however long I was able to run. At mile 3.5ish we wound through Camp Randall, the UofWI football stadium, and I claimed a small victory when I was able to run that whole lap. Unfortunately though, my run stints became shorter and my walk stints became longer.
Observatory Hill – mile 6ish. A beast of a hill! A major climb, with a false flat section and then right into another climb. I’m walking up this 2nd climb section and I hear someone yell, “I seeee yooouuu McCarthy!” Yup, I know that voice and know it means she has my camera. $%!*&^#@)*$@! I don’t like getting caught like that and if someone calls you out, you better step up so I started hoofing it faster up the remainder of the hill.
The other triathletes around me at the time thought it was funny though, glad they could get a chuckle out my demise. Thanks, Kimmi, for entertaining the others!

1 last major climb and then a steep descent. Even that downhill hurt to run because of the steep grade so it just became another section I had to walk. You know it’s a bad run when even downhills aren’t your friend!
State St was next and a section I was looking forward to. This section is flat and a rowdy, loud spectator section so it re-energized the batteries somewhat. I was able to run this out and back section and saw some Team McIronites cheering so that helped. Upon exiting State St I saw Tim for the first time as he was just entering. I was wondering where he was at ‘cause I expected him to pass me on the bike. When he never did I was wondering if something had happened to him. It was good to see a familiar face and we gave each other a look that said all it needed to say, neither one of us was in our happy place. He was only about a mile behind, if that, so I figured he’d be catching and passing me soon enough. We’re through mile 8.
The next few miles were all pretty much the same – ran when my stomach and head allowed, but for very short segments; walked when I needed to. There was another out-and-back section so once I hit that turn-around I’d see who was behind me and how far back. I figured Tim would be right there. He was a little closer than the first time I saw him, but hadn’t closed the distance as much as I thought he would. “Hmmm, he really is struggling as much as I am” I thought.
The run course, like the swim and bike courses preceding it, was a 2 loop course. What this meant was that the turn-around for lap 2 was near the Finish line. As I approached the end of lap 1 I was able to muster some longer running stints, feeding off the crowds again. Team McIron was nearby and they certainly did their part! Heading out on lap 2 I actually felt like I might be improving, started feeling somewhat better as my stomach issues were dissipating. Miles 14-16 actually felt somewhat normal and my run stints nearly doubled in length.
And then came the jaunt through the stadium again. I vowed to run that entire section again, getting moral little victories when I could (okay, okay, this also happened to be a section where one of the official photographers was and I didn’t want any pictures taken of me walking! I'm vain that way.). When I got done with that lap and started walking up the exit ramp I didn’t think I was going to make it up! I got extremely lightheaded, vision became blurry and my steps got shorter. I thought I was going to pass out and it kind of freaked me out. At that point I promised myself I wasn’t going to run again until I got to the next water stop and tried to get some food in me. The full IM distance is 140.6 miles when you add up all 3 segments. I remember thinking “they don’t make 130.6 bumper stickers so don’t get a medical DQ at this point you schmuck! Just swallow your pride, do what you have to do to get to the next water stop and reassess there.” That was a long, lonely, depressing walk.
Eventually I did make it to that next stop, grabbed drinks and this time started grabbing potato chips and pretzels, something, anything to get more food and sodium back into my system. Walked another full mile plus to the next water stop and repeated the intake. By now, I’m back to the frickin’ hills and my leg muscles are all starting to hurt, fatiguing, tightening up and I fear cramping if I try to run. I figure my Sherpa is still up there at the top with the camera. Somehow I scaled the climb again, she was there, along with Kristen (Tim’s GF) and I told them to tell Tim to “hurry the F up and catch me” so we can get through this together. Fortunately, he had closed the gap and was only a couple of minutes behind and when they told him he did muster up a little more to get up to me.
He found me just before entering State St. again, mile 19ish, and it was a much needed lift in my spirits. We walked and talked and were able to distract each other enough to make the miles tick down. This picture captures perfectly the way I was feeling! Wow, I am really short when I stand next to tall people!

Together we helped each other get closer and closer to the finish. As we got within the last mile and a half or so and it became apparent we were going to finish and become Ironmen, it dawned on me the appropriateness of Tim and I together at that point – he and I stood in line together 52 weeks prior and signed up for this madness; although we didn’t train together every single workout, he was the closest thing I had to a regular training partner as we did many long weekend rides and made 2 weekend trips to Madison during the year together; we constantly bounced ideas and suggestions off each other via email. It felt fitting that what we started together way back when, we were now finishing together!
As we came up to the Capitol and only had 2 more turns before the final stretch into the finishing chute we were able to muster our last bits of energy and run those final few blocks, had to put on a good show for the thick crowds!
I crossed the Finish Line in 13:32:29, a 5:55:29 marathon split. Not quite the 5 hr marathon I was thinking after T2 in order to hit that 12.5 hour mark, but at that point I couldn’t care less. I finished and I was an Ironman!
After being on Cloud 9 for 30-45 minutes after finishing I started coming down. My body had had enough of me and was beginning to revolt. I figured I needed proper nutrition, but nothing sounded good and just the thought of food made my stomach more upset. I opted to rest. Don’t I look good?
When I was finally able to get up again, I went into the bathroom to jump on the scale. I weighed myself that morning before I left for the race so I wanted to see how much weight I lost during the race by weighing myself after. Taking into account everything I ate and drank throughout the day, I still dropped 7 lbs! In one day. I was beat up and battered, but I won the war and had a grin.

Coming soon: The Final Finale

6:07:09

2011-09-16T10:11:00.006-05:00

After spending 8:42 in T1 getting ready to bike, completely changing clothes and making sure my nutrition was tucked safely in my pockets, I headed out of the changing room and onto the terrace. The atmosphere was electric and you couldn't help but feel pumped! Stopped quick at the sunscreeners to get lathered up and then it was off to my rack to jump on my trusted steed. Everything went off without a hitch and I was soon rolling down the pavement, heading out of Madison towards Verona and the awaiting hills.
The first 16ish miles were pretty uneventful, just had to get the bike legs under me after swimming, but being mindful not to push too hard, especially so early. Again, there was some jockeying for position as there were many bikers around and drafting isn't legal. If you got caught committing a penalty (there were officials patrolling the course) you had to stop at a penalty tent and serve up to a 4:00 penalty depending on the infraction. When you get passed it's your obligation to fall back to a minimum of 4 bike lengths and if you're doing the passing you have to get it done within 20 seconds. With the crowded roads this early on it was a little difficult to abide by all the rules, but there wasn't any blatant disregard that I witnessed. For the most part, triathletes are pretty good at policing themselves. I was warned by an official at one point to fall back, but thankfully didn't get shown a penalty card. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, was boxed in after just turning a corner, but penalties aren't challengeable so I tapped the brakes a bit and let those in front of me get a little further out front. No biggie.
After leaving Verona the smaller, rolling hills began. I was rolling pretty good, feeling strong, and passed others more than I got passed; a definite confidence booster.
The first major spectator spot was Mt. Horeb, approx. mile 29, and I knew there would be my cheer crew there along with Tim's, my main training partner throughout the season. Entering Mt. Horeb is the first somewhat significant climb. I shifted into granny gear and just spun on up, picking people off as I went. Team Juice (Tim's cheer crew) saw me coming and let out a cheer and of course that fired me up so I rode strong by them.

Just a few blocks down I could pick out my orange wearing maniacs and we were able to wave and yell at each other as I zoomed by. Feeling good and strong at this point, averaging 19.5 mph!

Shortly outside of Mt. Horeb the real hills begin! There were some quick descents where I hit 37+ mph followed immediately by granny gear climbs. It was a technical course in that you have to know where to expend your energy and pay attention to shifting gears so your chain doesn't fall off, a lesson I learned on some training rides out here earlier in the Summer. Those lessons paid off and I didn't have any such issues on Sunday!
Shortly down the road there was a rapid S-curved decent where if you didn't know the course beforehand you better have been paying attention to the "Slow Down" signs otherwise you could've easily ended up in a tree on the down slope! I'll admit I used my brakes a fair amount through this section even while still clipping along around 30 mph. Got through there safe and sound and back to flat roads approaching Cross Plains.
Team McIron's 2nd cheer spot was near Cross Plains, approx. mile 42. I knew where they were going to be and I was able to spot them from a distance before they spotted me.

The orange shirts again, and the Irish flag waving at the end of a long pole were easily identifiable. They saw me coming, we yelled and waved again, it recharged my batteries and rolling by I went. At this point it became a mental game. I knew the 3 toughest climbs lay shortly ahead so I just told myself to take 'em 1 at a time and soon enough it would all be over.
The first one wasn't too bad, or as bad as I remember during training rides. Tim and I have an inside joke about that hill (it's really not that funny, you had to be there the original time for it to mean anything so it isn't worth explaining now) so I just talked to myself about that and with the crowd along the edges here it was fun to climb. It's even more fun to pass people on the uphills when there's crowd. I wasn't purposely pushing hard to "show off", but it just happened that my effort carried me past others.
There was another major hill where the crowds got a little thicker so their energy helped there and the 3rd major climb, considered the "Tour de France" hill was even more fun. Along this one the crowds were really thick and the bike lanes to get up were tight. We could reach out and grab someone on either side if we wanted. They were cheering and yelling for everyone and genuinely wanted you to push it and do your best. There were a lot of guys that were dressed up in dresses, bras & underwear, superhero costumes, anything to lighten the mood and get a laugh. It was a nice distraction to see the crowds really getting into it and gave extra motivation to want to perform well for them.
Shortly after this climb we were rewarded with the fastest downhill section of the course. I topped out with a white-knuckled 44 mph! I hit a small little bump and thought I was going to lose it and go ass over tea kettle! Took mental note of that section and vowed not to hit that spot on the next loop.
From here there were some uneventful, but quick miles and we were shortly rolling into Verona again, approx. mile 54. This is the major spectating spot as there were shuttle buses hauling spectators from downtown Madison out to Verona. I knew I'd have a few more Team McIron members out here so I wanted to show them I was still going strong. It's also a fast section, smooth road with a slight decline, so I was worried I wouldn't see them, or more so, that they waited all that time and wouldn't see me. Didn't want them to think they were out there for nothing! Thankfully, we did see each other, they were loud, and once again I was re-energized.
Lap 1 done.
Lap 2 didn't go quite as well, not that there was any drama or it was disaster. The exertion was starting to take it's toll and I made a conscious decision/effort to take the 2nd lap a little slower to hopefully preserve some energy for the remaining miles and the run that was still ahead. I struggled a bit from miles 65 thru 80, but was able to catch a 2nd wind after that. I truly believe it had a lot to do with my cheer crew and feeding off their energy! I saw the bulk of them again in Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains and then the same cheerleaders in Verona (thanks Marcy, April, SAB and John for hanging out there for 2+ hours waiting for me to come around again!). I was also talking to myself a little bit and got a stare or two from others who passed me. Just repeating 1 simple worded mantra told me by a fellow triathlete who's better at this whole endurance event game than I am (thanks, Jens, it worked!).
Finished up the 2nd loop (avoided that 44 mph bump!) and started heading back to downtown.
At mile 110ish there was 1 final bridge to go up and over and then it was smooth sailing through a parking lot and along the lakefront. On the opposite where the bridge met the road there happened to be another good bump. About 50 yards in front of me I saw a guy hit that bump, lose control of his bike, go down, and the guy right behind him didn't have a chance to react either and he ended up crashing over that guy as well! They both went down hard! There was a policeman controlling traffic at the nearby corner and he immediately called the medics, but how sucky would that be to crash at mile 110 of 112?! I paid a little more attention to that spot as I rode by and finished up my ride w/o incident.

Riding up the helix to enter T2 I started shifting my focus to the run and what that would entail. I already knew I was probably in trouble because of my nutrition, but I was just going to have to tough it out and see what the whole "running" portion was going to bring. First things first though, getting off the bike and getting used to using my legs to run and not ride! I'd pay good money if anyone got a video of what my first few steps looked like. I know they weren't too graceful and I wobbled and even chuckled at myself at that point. Ahhhh, good times.
Finished the 112 mile ride in 6:07:09, an 18.3 mph average. I'll take it!

Coming Soon: The Run!

1:13:34

2011-09-15T19:26:00.019-05:00

So much to say, but I don't know where to start. Should I go back a couple of weeks and confess my apprehension about even getting to the start line because of my back strain? Should I write about all the trivial things leading up to race day like the daily tips I sent out to my cheer crew and last minute bike repairs? Or, should I spare everyone the build-up drama and just jump right into Sunday morning?

We'll get right to it. You're welcome.

Had the alarm set for 4:20 a.m., but I never heard it. I was awake at 4:10 on my own so I decided the extra 10 minutes were better spent getting ready rather than trying to get just 10 more minutes of rest. Really the only thing I had to get ready was myself. This race was different than other triathlons in that I had already dropped off my bike and transition bags the day before so I didn't have to worry about any of that equipment. Kinda nice.
Got out of bed, stood in the shower for a few minutes to refresh and jumped out. Threw on what I would wear under my wetsuit, an outer layer to stay warm and prepped some breakfast - oatmeal, fruit, bagel, yogurt - and what I would carry and eat on the bike - 2 PB&Js, some homemade energy bars, cut a banana and mixed my water bottles with the appropriate powders. By this time my sherpa helper, Kimmi, was up and at 'em and being her cheerful self that early in the morn. We went through my bags and lists one final time to make sure I had everything and headed to the car for the 10 minute drive to downtown Madison. The day was supposed to be gorgeous weather-wise so there weren't any worries there. The last I heard (or paid attention to), the highs were going to be in the upper 70s w/ minimal wind/breeze. Approaching a little too warm by a triathlete's standards, but certainly manageable.
We parked the car, got bodymarked with my race number
and while I went to prep my bike, Kimmi went to drop off my Special Needs bags a couple of blocks away. I did my thing with my bike - topped off the tires with air (140 psi in case you wanted to know); made sure the computer was working (speed, cadence, etc.); put water in my aero bottle and put my other premixed bottles in their racks; and took the plastic bag off covering my seat (didn't want a dewy moist seat for 112 miles). My trusty steed was ready, nothing else to do, so I gave it a final love tap and asked it to behave once I got done with the swim and for just a few hours after that.
The plan that morning was to meet my family, aka Team McIron, at 6:00 a.m. so I could see them before I got in the water. It was as much for me to say my final goodbyes in case something happened as it was for them to wish me luck. They arrived on time, all donned in matching orange shirts and crazy hats.
We had about 10 minutes together and then I bid them farewell and said I'd be back in "about 14 hours. See ya then!". Probably could've held out and hung around for a few more minutes, but I wanted to get in the biffy line so I wouldn't wait until the last minute. This also allowed me some alone time to gather my thoughts, calm my nerves and separate from the commotion for a bit.
Took care of business on the throne (you really wanted to know, didn't you?!) and headed towards the water. This section of the tri is what had me worried the most. I consider myself a pretty decent swimmer, but that's based off 50 meter splits in a lap pool with a lane to myself. This time I was going to be with over 2,500 of my closest friends that day, all starting at one time, already in the water! After watching this mass start in previous years, it's pretty intimidating and scary even from dry land. It literally looks like a washing machine! I was scared about being able to hold my own with all the hands, elbows and feet flying around. I tried not to worry about it, it is what it is, I knew that when I signed up so just told myself to buck up and deal with whatever comes. Finished putting on my westuit and went straight to the water to get into position, no more procrastinating! I was in the water at 6:37 with a 7:00 start time.
I had already decided I was going to try to keep a tight, inside line. Some were talking about starting wide and angling in towards the first corner because it might not be as crowded starting out there. I felt it was going to be crowded no matter where you were and the corners were going to be a cluster f*ck no matter what angle you came at 'em from so I might as well swim the shortest distance. I warmed up and swam out to the Start line. I stayed about 15 yards back and about 10 feet off the very inside edge. I had a nice pocket to myself and was able to relax for a few minutes before the cannon was fired starting the race. Once that cannon went off, HOLY HANNAH, all Hell broke loose!
Within 3 strokes my little pocket of lonesomeness had disappeared. I was up in the masses ahead of me and the masses behind me all felt like they wanted to get in my wetsuit! It definitely was the slugfest I was warned it would be. There was very little room and nearly impossible to get a good, full extension stroke. My arm turnover became much more rapid and I fought with the best of 'em to protect my space. I took a couple of blows to the back, buttocks and legs, but nothing that really kept me from moving forward. After a couple hundred yards though, still jam-packed, I took an elbow (I think) to the face. Luckily, I was rotating to breathe so it didn't hit me square, but did manage to hit my goggles. Immediately I felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was. "That's weird", I thought. "My goggles are still on, but I can't see out of my right eye. They don't feel broke so I wonder what happened?" It took me a couple of strokes to figure out that just the goggle on that one eye had gotten flipped inside out and was pressing on my eye! Thankful that it wasn't shattered, I tried flipping it right side out again, but continuing to still stroke and swim. I didn't dare stop swimming lest get run over by everyone behind and around me! I couldn't get it to flip so I was pretty much resigning myself to swim just being able to sight with one eye for another 2.2 miles when the goggle fixed itself. Hallelujah, minor crisis averted!!
With that behind me I re-concentrated on what was going on around me. I started hearing something and couldn't figure out what it was and then it dawned on me. It was 2,500 other swimmers! Wow, that many swimmers all at once is LOUD! Having never been in that situation before I didn't even think about it and know it would be like that. If anything, I figured the water would probably muffle some of the sound. So not only does it look like a washing machine from above, it sounds like one when you're in the middle of it!
Up next came the first turn. "This is gonna get interesting", I thought. No matter how many swimmers are in a race, there are always human traffic jams at the corners. Who wants to swim extra yardage by taking it too wide, right? I made up my mind to try to take it as tight as I could (most traffic right there too) and just deal with it. Once I got there it was tighter than I imagined it would be, but I just kept fighting (i.e. swimming). There was no time, nor room, to wait for others to get through so I just kept stroking, but with my head out of the water so I wouldn't get kicked. If I could take a stroke and work my arm and shoulder in-between those in front I was then able to pull myself through (i.e. over) and get by. It didn't always work on the first stroke and sometimes took 3 or 4 and eventually I made it around the corner. Whew, 1 corner done and I survived it! Just a short stint later though and we were at corner #2 and doing it all again. After this one though it was the long back straight-away and we were able to separate and thin out a little bit. There was still jockeying for position going on and clean water to swim through was no where near to be found unless I went really wide. I stuck with my strategy to swim the inside line, fight a little more now rather than swim the wider, longer distance.
Corner 3 came and so did the same bottleneck conditions. Corner 4 came, same thing, but now we were on lap 2 of 2. I was jazzed that the first lap was done and I was still feeling good and felt like I belonged! I was swimming strong, feeling good and not letting anyone push me around.
I don't think it ever really thinned out enough to where I wasn't constantly hitting or getting hit until the final backstretch on that 2nd lap. Everyone was swimming close enough to each other that if I wanted to steal a kiss I probably could have if I timed it right and the person I was swimming next to breathed when I did. The men all had 1 color swim caps on and the women had a another color so it wouldn't have been hard to differentiate. I should've tried just to see what would've happened. :) Maybe next time. After turning corner #6 of 7 and getting 20ish yards beyond that I got bonked on the head. The lady who did it was kind enough to say "I'm sorry!" but it really wasn't necessary. "Just part of the experience", I thought and I kept going on my way.
Turned the final corner and started heading towards shore. At this point, knowing I was going to be sitting on my bike for the next 6 hours I started kicking harder and faster to get the legs warmed up. It felt like I skimmed across the water and finally struck terra firma. Exited the water after 2.4 miles in 1:13:34, right in the window of my predicted time!
Once on dry land it was the strippers turn to go to work. Sorry guys, it's not what you think. The wetsuit strippers where there to help us get our wetsuits off, all I had to do was hold my arms out so they could peel it off my upper body, lay down when they told me to so they could peel it off my lower body and then let them help me stand back up. From there, just a short little jaunt up 4 flights of the parking ramp helix to T1 and time to get ready for a leisurely 112 mile ride!
After surviving that swim I now have tons more confidence for any group swims I'll do in the future. Measely little 50 person group wave starts will (hopefully) feel like child's play!

Tomorrow's post: 112 miles of rollin' rollin' rollin', keep them wheels a rollin'

The End Is Within Sight

2011-09-10T19:50:00.002-05:00

Sitting in the hotel room, the night before IM, wondering what tomorrow will bring, wondering what I'll bring tomorrow. As I thought, this past week has been a whirlwind and flown by. The culmination of everything is kinda surreal and I want to say this weekend feels real, but I still don't know if I understand what I'm about to embark on. Ah, I take that back. It feels real. I know what I'm about to do and let me be honest, it's FRICKIN' SCARY AND AWESOME AND I WOULDN'T WANT IT ANY OTHER WAY!

My cheer crew just came through to wish me good night, good luck and all that jazz. Having everyone here makes it that much more special and a little extra motivation to push through the wall when I know I'll want to quit. I know at some point I'll start to question things, consider dropping, but I'll dig deep for myself and for the others who are along on this journey too.

Team McIron:
Mom and Dad
The Best Aunt Jan
Kristin
Liss and Ken
Carmen and Thomas
Kayli, Conner and Devon
Tracey Patterson
April Seifert
Shawn Anne and John Buttschau
Marcy Sackett
Jen and Mitch Wall
Amiee Decker
Kelly Hanson

And, last, but most definitely not least, IRONSHERPA Kimmi!!! Thanks, Kimmi, for being here and holding my hand through this.

This hasn't been the deep and meaningful post I thought it might be. Still too many things bouncing around in the noggin' so let's just end it and say it's gonna be fun to post a recap sometime next week. Check back soon!

Happy IM everyone!

Somebody Please Tell Me How To Feel!

2011-09-05T17:02:00.003-05:00

I'm all over the board emotionally. That might surprise many of you who may have thought up until this point that I don't have emotions, or don't emit them. Ah ha, I do!

My quandry is with the Ironman and what I'm feeling with just 6 days to go. I'm excited, nervous, eager, scared, confused, panicked, cocky, doubtful, apprehensive, chomping at the bit, you name it. About the only thing I am not is indifferent.

I think the most confusing thing is is that I haven't felt this way in a long time about an event I'm doing! That's because, up until now, all my events the past many years haven't been new to me. During my many moons, I've completed many triathlons, a dozen marathons and even some 24+ hr relay runs. Sure, the Ironman is "just" another triathlon (that's what I'm trying to tell myself), but it's not. Wait, did you just understand that last sentence? If you did, please explain it to me cuz I don't know if I understand it! Because this distance is new to me, I don't know how I'm going to do, what I'm going to think of it, what I'm going to think during it, or how I'm supposed to feel leading up to it. I've lost some control just because of the fact that this is new and I don't like losing control (it's a guy thing)! Sprints, Olys, marathons - I need to physically train for them, but my mental game doesn't need to come out until the morning of. I've physically trained for the IM and am ready in that regard, but this will be so much more mental than anything I've done previously. I only hope I have what it takes "between the ears" to get through it too.

Just have to survive this first one so I can learn the ropes. I'll let you know in 7 days.

Updated Totals

2011-09-03T18:25:00.002-05:00

June:
Swim - 25,290 yds; 14.4 miles
Bike - 434.3 miles; 23:30
Run - 108.6 miles; 15:00
Total - 557.3 miles

July:
Swim - 29,262 yds; 16.6 miles
Bike - 485.1 miles; 24:34
Run - 105.6 miles; 14:58
Total - 607.3 miles

August:
Swim - 17,050 yds; 9.7 miles
Bike - 301.5 miles; 16:50
Run - 68.0 miles; 9:35
Total - 379.2 miles

Cumulative, thru August
Swim - 205,927 yds; 117.0 miles
Bike - 3,098.9 miles; 170.7 hours
Run - 673.1 miles; 98.1 hours
Cumulative - 3,889.0 miles

August really dropped due to 1) hurting my back and missing/cutting back on workouts for 2 weeks and 2) taper started. FYI, just didn't want you to think I was slacking off.

Next Weekend

2011-09-03T18:04:00.002-05:00

Wow, guess it's been awhile since I've been here again cuz when I logged in even my profile picture was gone! I guess Blogger thought I quit or died. Nope, just had to keep you all guessing again on when I would post.

Next weekend! Wow, that sounds weird to say. Up until now it was always 'weeks' or 'months' until IM. Not anymore! It's next weekend!! Today was even the final Saturday. Did my final long workout of the season today before race day - 3 hr ride w/ Tim, ~50 miles. From here on out the schedule calls for everything to be under an hour, with most of them only around 30 minutes. Gotta love tapering!! I'm not sure what to do with all the free time though. Suggestions?

This training season has been fun. I've already made the decision that I will do another Ironman someday, regardless of how this one goes. I've liked the structure all the training provides and having that kind of big goal out in front of me. Getting back into pretty good shape hasn't been a negative either. Even a guy likes to hear he's looking good and younger! I'll hopefully only take a year off from this distance and eye one for 2013. Focus on some 1/2 iron distance tris next year and a couple of more marathons. I'm sure my boys won't mind me being around a little more next year (at least I hope they don't).

There have been some pitfalls though. Well, maybe just 1. Hurt my back 3 weeks ago, in week 32 of 36, so the timing wasn't necessarily the best with that. Boneheaded move on my part thinking I should help move a piano just 4 weeks before the biggest athletic event of my life! Paid for it with some strained muscles which forced a longer taper period than I planned, but at this point it won't keep my from doing the event! Prior to this mishap I was starting to believe I could focus on setting a pretty decent time (for myself anyway) in this event. Now though, my main focus has just been on making sure I can finish (making sure I could even get to the start line!) and just try to go out and enjoy the whole day. I know the muscles won't be at 100% full strength so even if they feel okay I can't expect them to perform at max output.

Next weekend! Looking back, the past 35 weeks seem to have vanished in a snap. Can only wonder what the next 7 days will be like!

A Few Updates

2011-06-20T21:36:00.002-05:00

May #s:

Swim: 25,150 yds or 14.3 miles
Bike: 480.5 miles or 27:30
Run: 92.8 miles or 13:05

Cumulative
Swim: 134,325 yds or 76.3 miles
Bike: 1878 miles or 105 hrs 50 minutes
Run: 390.9 miles or 58 hrs 30 minutes

Weight: dropped 4.8 lbs in May, 21.8 total
----------------------

June 11-12 MS 150

Rode my bike 150 miles from Proctor (near Duluth) to White Bear Lake over 2 days for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The first day, Tim and I used it as a training day and rode hard-ish. It was a fairly flat ride so we pushed hard until the lunch break stop around mile 45. Stopped and had a sub sandwich about 10:00 for "lunch" and then pressed on for the final 30ish miles. Caught up to another pair of riders and we "pelotoned" with them for 10ish or so miles, each taking a turn and then falling to the back. It was a fun way to ride and kept the speed up as a group vs trying to individually. We were clipping along around 23-24 mph in our 4-some until we dropped them and finished up on together. Tim and I averaged 20.7 mph over that first day and came in as the 3rd and 4th bikers overall. Not as impressive as it may sound, but we walked around with puffed chests. Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll expound on that in a further post.
Sunday found it to be a much more casual ride with the full team of 7. We stopped for lunch about mile 39, then again around 65 and finally at the finish. It was a great weekend for a ride - made a few more friends, solidified others and got some good mileage in on the saddle. Just have to make sure I don't get a false sense of security because it was sooo flat, Madison will be nothing like it!

Just wanted to get that down on "paper". Gotta get up early for swimming, but will hopefully write more tomorrow night about my first tri of the season (PRed the Olympic distance, there's your teaser!).

Team Chubby!

2011-06-06T17:35:00.005-05:00

Memorial Weekend in Madtown went rather well, if I do say so myself! Tim and I left town early Friday afternoon and had a good trip all-around. The drive down went quick and not without a chuckle or two and a story that become the theme for the weekend.
We had to stop for gas about an hour or so from Madison. As I'm pulling into the gas station, we notice a single female parked by a pump not dressed too outrageously, but she just had "that look" about her that said stripper. Tim mentioned something along those lines and we didn't think anything of it and pulled in a row over to fill up. As I was standing there at the pump, Tim went inside to buy a snack, followed quickly by 'the girl' running into the store (not because Tim went it). She came running back out, moved her car to the other side of the pump I was using and then ran back into the store. Kinda strange I thought, but who am I to ask why so it was just a fleeting thought. I finished filling up, she came running back out, Tim came out (not because she came running out, but was done with his purchases) and I went in to empty my tank. After a couple of minutes I came back out, got in the car and we started driving away.
Tim starts out the conversation at that point with, "Yup, she was a stripper.", or something along those lines. I look over and said, "Really?". He then proceeds to say how she was having trouble with the pump (first time filling up with gas?) and couldn't figure it out. She was calling Tim for assistance, but he tried to ignore her, but to no avail. He said she started out with "Sir? Sir? Oh wait, Man? Can you help me?" Who calls out "Man"?! Maybe she realized Tim didn't look old enough to call him Sir. Anyway, he finally stops ignoring her, gets out to assist her and he hears her reading what the pump is scrolling across the screen. Yup, definitely must be her first time. She gets the pump to finally pump and then asks Tim where he's from.

Her: Are you from around here?
Tim: No, we're from Mpls.
Her: Are you going to Chubby's?
Tim: No, we're going to Madison
Her: Oh, okay.

Tim went on to tell me that while he was inside and she came running in apparently she was having trouble with the other pump and using her credit card and the pump told her to "see the cashier". She then had to switch pumps, run back inside to use the ATM and pay cash. She kept saying how late she was for work.
Being ditsy, dressed provocatively, going to work on a Friday evening, and then asking if we were going to a place called "Chubby's" (in a way that implied that she was working there) can only mean that, yes, she is a stripper, or works at a such an establishment. From that point on, chubby was the word of the weekend. It probably didn't help that we were camping that weekend and thus, had to "pitch our tents" when we got there.

Now, on to the training and the real reason for the trip. We happened to pick the same weekend that Madison was holding their marathon on Sunday. We originally were going to bike the main part of the course on Saturday and then run on Sunday, but since the marathon interrupted our course we had to switch our days around. No big deal. We rode from the IM start out to where the loop begins in Verona and back, about a 34 mile round trip, and got familiar with that section. It's a manageable section that felt, for the most part, uphill on the way out which hopefully means it'll feel downhill on the way back. Could've just been the wind that day though. There is 1 nasty hill on the way back though that'll be interesting on race day. That'll come about mile 105.
Off the bikes, took about a 15-20 minute transition and off to the run. On Race Day it'll be the same running loop 2x. This particular weekend we were just going to do it once though. Before the weekend, I made a laminated copy of the course just to have to familiarize myself with. Glad we had it! There are a few turns and neither one of us had done the whole thing in the past. We were each familiar with some of the same sections, and some sections only 1 of us knew. We were able to figure it out and got a nice 12 mile run in. 34 mile ride, 12 mile run, not a bad BRick!
Saturday night saw gorgeous temps, clear skies and s'mores by the campfire.
Sunday saw a late start and rain.
Our intent was to break down camp, pack up and drive out to the bike loop in Verona and be riding by 9:00. Karl and his girlfriend, Jen, also come down for a training weekend (Karl did the IM last year and is doing it again this year) and camped with us. We were bouncing questions off him all weekend and it was nice to have him there for course familiarity. The only issue with training groups getting bigger is that there are more people that you end up needing to wait for.
We broke camp and drove to Verona, but we didn't end up starting to ride until almost 10:30. Once on our bikes, it only took about 3 minutes before it started raining and didn't stop the whole first loop (42 miles). It didn't rain as hard as my training weekend in Rochester, but this was a much more difficult course and the wetness just added to it. Within a couple of miles of finishing the loop we saw/heard lightening and thunder so once back to our cars we opted to wait out the storm. It turned into a 45 minute wait so we had time to eat and drink, but also time to get cold, especially from already being wet. Karl opted to call it a day and started packing up.
Tim and I didn't really say anything to each other about riding a 2nd loop other than say let's see what the weather does here pretty soon (Tim had his iphone w/ him so we were able to track the storm. It turned out to be a bigger storm we were actually riding in than what we thought at the time!). After the clouds finally stopped dripping, we decided to head out for our 2nd loop. We drove all that way, we wanted to make it worth it and get the miles in! We both admitted about 1/2 way through that 2nd loop that if the other would've said let's call it a day and not head out again, the other probably would've agreed without a second thought. Now that it's over, I'm glad neither one of us spoke up!
It turned out to be a pretty good educational loop for me in that I knew what was coming up because we had just finished riding that first time so I was able to apply that knowledge right away this second time around. It was also eye opening in that the hills seemed hillier because I was more energy depleted. Something I'll have to train for and keep in mind for race day.
Thankfully, the 2nd loop stayed dry from above (just wet from road spray), we finished in about the same amount of time as the 1st and we called it a day. Cleaned up as best we could, found a local pizza joint and devoured a meat lovers and hit the road to come home that same night so we could have Monday off to recoup.
All in all, a good, eye-opening, course educational weekend. I have a better sense of what the bike portion will need from me, what I can put into it and some time splits to give to the family and any of my spectators.
The biggest thing I came out of there with though is that I'm getting more confident that I'll be able to do this sucker! After riding 119 total miles over the weekend, covering the whole course in 2 separate bits and experiencing the run course I thought that if the race was just a week way, I'd be able to finish it! It may not be pretty at the end, but I would be able to finish! 3 more months of training and hopefully I'll be able to work on getting it to a somewhat respectable and "pretty" finish.
Team Chubby tamed the beast this weekend!

Review and Preview

2011-05-26T22:26:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I headed down to Rochester with the boys for a training weekend. I was able to unload the kids onto my sister (thanks Liss!!) while I headed out for my longest weekend yet - 4.5 hrs on Saturday and 3+ on Sunday. Plus, the Rochester area isn't exactly flat.
The forecast all week leading into the weekend called for rain so I was pretty prepared mentally for a wet workout and by the time Saturday rolled around was actually, dare I say, looking forward to it! Mother Nature didn't let me down either. About 5 minutes after I jumped on my bike for my 3.5 hr ride it started drizzling. Nothing major, but enough to make me pay attention more than normal. Fine, I thought, I can handle this. At that point I was actually more concerned about the wind. It was a crosswind coming from the SSW and a majority of my route was E to W and back with a loop in the middle. I got to wondering if I'd rather have a crosswind the whole time, either direction or would it be better to have a headwind and then a tailwind? I think the headwind/tailwind scenario is a better one.
Well, the first 2 hours went well and I was holding my own. The wind was more of an issue than the rain, that just made things wet. At that 2 hr mark things got interesting though. As luck would have it, I was at the farthest point away from where I parked, out in BFE, and all I can see coming towards me is a wall of gray! For the next 15 minutes I pedaled in my granny gear (on flat roads!) straight into a blowing downpour, or it would actually be more appropriate to call it a diagonalpour. With the wind, the rain felt like pins and needles hitting my arms and legs. It brought back memories of when we'd get caught in the rain waterskiing and trying to make it back to the dock.
I did think about stopping, but didn't really have any place to pull off to. I could've just layed in the ditch and let the storm pass, but then I thought this is why I wanted to ride in the rain, to see if I could, what it was like, get used to it in case race day has crappy weather. So, I rode on. Not my best decision, but I won't tease you and make you think anything happened. I got through it, but 20/20 hindsight says I probably should've stopped and waited it out.
That storm lasted about 15 minutes, it rained off and on for another 20ish minutes after that and then for my last 45ish minutes on the bike the sun slowly made it's way out and it cleared up. Just in time to get warm and humid for my run! Yippee!
Remember that crosswind I was talking about during the first part of my ride? Well, it decided to turn into a headwind on my way back. Yup, it switched directions and made this bike workout one I won't forget anytime soon.
So, I get done biking (my longest ride ever, personal best distance and duration!), clean up/dry off and head out on my run. By now, the sun is out and heating things up, just another less-than-ideal workout condition. I would've preferred it stayed overcast. Running after biking is always a strange feeling, odd sensation - the legs don't feel like they're working, but somehow you're moving forward. The whole 50 minute run I didn't feel like I was holding a very good pace, but once I got done I was more than pleased that I held an 8:15 pace for 6 miles! If I were a bettin' man, I would've thought they were more like 9:15s. Good thing I didn't put money on that.
Sunday's workout was even more interesting. I signed up for the Rochester Triathlon on June 19th so I wanted to run/ride the course to get a little familiar with it. I ran first this time and it was pretty uneventful. The course is nice in that I can break it up into little segments and just move from one segment to the next. There are a couple of interesting "off road" portions that I'll make sure to mention in any post race survey, but that's for another day.
The ride was brutal. Sunday was even windier than Saturday and it just made the hills seem even steeper. With the course layout, it was a tailwind first which only meant a headwind coming back. I'd much prefer the opposite order! Add on top of this hard workout some nutritional mistakes I have since learned from (eat more!) and it made for a very long, slow ride! With the wind as strong as it was, there were actually times I was slowing down while going downhill!!
I finally got back to my car about 20 minutes later than what it normally takes me to cover that distance (40k) and said good riddance to Rochester until the 19th! I like to think I persevered and powered through Saturday, but the elements dominated me on Sunday.
I've had a good training week since - some long swims, a nice BRick on Tuesday with a 30 mile ride and 6 mile run right after (@ 7:45s!) and another 8 miler at sub 8's tonight. This is all leading into what I hope will be a fun and worthwhile Memorial Weekend.
I'm heading down to Madison to ride and run the course with Tim and Karl, 2 other IMers this year. I'm using it as more of a learning weekend than hardcore training. I just want to see what the bike route is like, experience the hills I keep hearing about, and get a lay of the land for the run route. There is a 30-40% chance of wetness, but after last weekend I'm more concerned about that because we're camping in tents, not because of the rides or runs we'll do!
Check back next week and I'll let you know how my first foray into the belly of beast went!

CC Gaffes

2011-05-20T10:17:00.003-05:00

I was biking on my trainer the other morning and had the t.v. on, but muted, while I was listening to music on the radio. Closed Captioning is kinda funny to read, especially with live television. Here are a couple funnier goofs that were typed out:

N-double A-C-P (wouldn't it have been faster to just type AA, and w/o the dashes?)
Crap apple tree (not sure I want to eat that fruit!)

Gave me a brief chuckle during an otherwise monotonous workout.

The Fish That Got Away

2011-05-17T21:06:00.004-05:00

So for a couple of weeks in April (maybe even dating back to late March?) I was doing most of my swimming in the evenings in New Hope. I soon noticed that around the same time, 7:00ish, on Mondays, Wednesdays (and 1 Friday when I was there) the same female would show up and also swim. Could tell she was possibly training for something or at least it was a serious workout (for her), not just casually swimming. She wasn’t the fastest, but knew what she was doing. I never really saw her without my goggles on, without her swim cap on, we never swam in lanes next to each other and never started/finished at the same time. It was hard to pinpoint her age, especially cuz she had a cap and goggles on. Anyhoo, the last time we were both there she did happen to end her workout first and get out of the pool and take off her cap. As (not-so-good) luck would have it I was at the other end of the pool, but had time to “rest” at the wall and flip my goggles up. From what I could tell she was in the right demographic ballpark and I liked what I saw. I’ll admit, the past couple of weeks I’ve purposely delayed some of my swims to happen in the evenings in hopes of seeing her again. I didn’t purposely do that yesterday by oversleeping, but I wasn’t all that disappointed when I realized what day it was and that maybe she would be there. Unfortunately, she wasn’t, and I haven’t seen her in 3-4 weeks now. I’m thinking I probably won’t again, especially with my training schedule getting longer I’ll need to be more diligent about getting there in the mornings.
So, it begs the question, how does one successfully go about asking someone out when you're at a health club? Too often, too many people, men & women, are in the club and you know they're there just see and be seen and it's quite pathetic at times. I've always had the mindset I'm going to the gym to workout, not hookup, and I'm going to assume most others have the same approach so I'm going to respect that. When someone does come around that catches my eye, am I then supposed to wait outside until they get done and stalk them to their car so I'm not a hypocrite? Kidding (sort of).

2011-05-16T22:42:00.002-05:00

This biking thing is getting better! Had my longest, and dare I say it, best, ride yesterday. I headed out to meet the twins, Karlene and Nicole, on the Liberty Tri course, a local 1/2 iron distance tri. The bike loop consists of a 28 mile route you do 2x. The first loop I kind of rode with them. Being a little stronger than them I was able to pull ahead on some segments, but then I'd stop and wait at each turn. The second loop I rode straight through, it was planned that way, and held a nice steady pace. Did I mention it was windy? Oh yeah, it was windy! Mostly a crosswind which I seriously had to adjust for and some wide open roads with a headwind that literally kept me from speeding up while going downhill. No lie. This course wasn't flat either, a lot of rolling hills with a couple of climbs I had to bust out the granny gear (for you non-bikers, the granny gear is the easiest gear). So, with the wind and the hills, being able to hold an 18 mph average over 50 miles, I'm pretty happy with that!

And because I just didn't get enough hills yesterday, I did more repeats on the ski hill by my office today for a short 45 minute ride! I'm going to own Bush Lake Rd by the time this training season is done. You're gonne be mine, Bitch!

Lessons Learned?

2011-05-10T23:15:00.002-05:00

So a couple of days ago I was thinking back to my 1/2 marathon last weekend, going through it mile by mile, and a smile started forming and then it got bigger...and bigger... I made the realization that that race was now the owner of my best finish ever! By finish, I don't mean crossing the finish line or my time. I mean the last couple of miles of any race I've done with significant distance. Over the last 2ish miles I only got passed once! I did most of the passing! In most of my previous marathons and longer tris I usually hit "the wall", be it from going out too fast, poor nutrition, poor training, take your pick. This time around I started slow, kept a nice even pace throughout, (properly trained heading into it!) and I was the one passing people at the end! The 1 guy who did pass me I recognized from a few miles back. He was running with his wife back then and I could tell he was holding back so I wasn't too disappointed he got me back. Over those final 2 miles I just kept telling myself to stay relaxed and just get that next person in front of me...and then the next person...and then the next. I just kept getting 'em, what a great feeling! I want to end every race like that!
The pendulum has swung to running as being my strong suit/favorite right now. Early in the season it was probably biking, then running creeped up there, then I had a breakthrough in swimming so I felt that was where I was gaining the most benefit, but now I feel like it's running again. Funny how it can change in just a matter of a couple of workouts. I had a good training run on Sunday and another one today. Sunday's ended up being shorter than what the training schedule called for, but I got started late and was meeting a training partner to go for a ride immediately after so I didn't want to keep her waiting just so I could finish my run. I headed out on an out-n-back route to make sure I'd be back in time (vs a route that's a loop, harder to gauge how long it might take). Once done with the run, I didn't immediately know how far I had gone until I got home later and mapped it out online, but was curious because it felt fast-ish. Granted, my HR was a little higher than what a training run calls for, but not too far out of bounds, maybe 5-7% higher than it should've been. It turned out I did a 7:45/mile pace for that run and it didn't feel like I was working all that hard! Woot woot!!
The ride immediately after that run was interesting, to say the least! It started sprinkling, but since we were both there we still headed out, thought it would be good to get some training done in adverse conditions. Never gonna know what race day weather will be like so get prepared for anything! Sprinkles turned into a drizzle (or is it the other way around?) which turned into a steady rain (but not a downpour).
We came to an intersection and had to cross some railroad tracks. Now, if there's 1 thing you want to do when on your bike and your faced with RR tracks in the road that is to cross them at as much of a 90 degree angle as possible. Unfortunately, these tracks cut through the road at an angle and throw on top of that being slippery from the rain and you guessed it, someone fell. No, it wasn't me, but my partner did. Her front tire slipped into the groove between the track and the road and down she went.
Granted, we weren't cruising along at 20 mph and it came out of nowhere, but she still fell and absorbed the bounce with the side of her body. Before you ask "well, why didn't she just put her foot down?" it's not that easy. When you're wearing bike shoes and clipped into your pedals, the hardest thing to do is get unclipped once you know you're heading down.
Bike crashes are kinda surreal and strange to see happen. I've witnessed 2 now - CC had a doozy of a crash 3 years ago careening out of control on a downhill, swearing the whole way and now this fall, I hesitate to call it a crash. I was riding behind Nic and had just got done crossing the tracks when I saw her bike basically stop and then she started tipping over to the right. I had to quick turn to avoid her, but remember thinking "Huh, she's gonna fall. Look at that. There she goes." And she never said a word. Fortunately, there wasn't any blood, we don't think she broke anything (although her wrist is still sore a couple of days later) and her bike is still functioning as it should. Just makes me hope that if I ever crash, it's into a lake or better yet, a big pile of down pillows!

So, About This Biking Thing...

2011-05-03T23:11:00.003-05:00

disclaimer: I really did start this the next day after my previous post! However, I'm just getting back to finishing it up now, on 5/8. In the future, I won't make any bold statements about when I'll be posting, I don't want to disappoint all you faithful readers. All 2 of you are still out there, right?

Biking is fickle. One can put in approx. 1,400 miles in 4 months, but not go anywhere. That's literally and figuratively how I've felt with my biking. Literally, because most of that has been done locked into my trainer. So while I'm getting saddle time and my ass is making a new BFF, I've been stuck in one spot looking at the same scenery (unless I've been prepared enough and stopped by a Redbox to pick up a new movie). Figuratively, because all that time in the basement spinning, spinning and more spinning I thought it would translate into Lance Armstrong-like comparisons once the rubber met the road this Spring. (not literally, but you know what I mean)

I was excited to finally get the bike outside and see/feel what all the trainer rides have done for me. I felt like I was getting stronger, was able to pedal harder for longer, used higher gears (or is it lower, i.e. harder?) and actually noticed more muscle mass in my legs. It didn't quite translate into all that once a real ride came about. My first ride I thought I'd just keep fairly simple, just get used to actually moving forward, clipping in and out of the pedals again and needing to actually pay attention to my surroundings. It was a fairly uneventful ride, but once I got done I could feel the difference in my legs between an indoor trainer ride and a real ride outside. I'm not sure I could've run a 5k at that point and here I am training to run a full marathon in the IM after just 112 miles on the bike?! This first ride was pretty flat, just getting outside miles, so it was a little disconcerting to have weak legs at the end.
Issue #2 came on ride #2. The hard thing, at least for me, with a trainer is it's hard to simulate hills. Maybe I'm not torquing enough tension onto the roller? I thought I had some pretty good workouts on the trainer, but once I got outside and actually rode up some hills I realized there's no substitution for the real thing! I went on this ride with Tim, another Ironman-wanna-be-in-training. He's younger, in better shape than I am, but still being a competitor on the inside, I thought we were fairly equivalent in our biking abilities. The route he choose had some moderate, at best, climbs. I don't know if I just attacked the hills wrong, was in the wrong gear starting out or just plain wasn't ready for my workout, but it felt like I was struggling with every single incline! Tim and I would be riding along side by side (when car traffic allowed), but as soon as a hill came along I quickly resumed my rear position, and not by choice. I realized after this ride that I need to work on hills, I need to focus on the quality of the ride (make sure hills are part of the route) and not just quantity (time). Anyone can ride on roads that are like pancakes as long as their ass can withstand it, but I'll need to be able to deal with non-pancakes.

So, that's a brief recap of my first couple of rides outdoors a couple of weeks back. I'm happy to report now that I'm not feeling quite so down about the biking thing. I've had a couple of decent rides since then, another one with Tim that had some moderate-to-hard climbs that I did better with (he still dropped me going up), and a couple of workouts that I just did hill repeats on (rode up and came right back down only to ride right back up again! Yes, on purpose). I think it'll come, just gotta give it more time.

Another #s update: I didn't blog about my weight in March because I didn't lose any. Didn't gain, but didn't lose either, a little disappointing. April saw things drop a little again so that's good - dropped 4 more lbs so I'm currently sitting around 176, down 17 after 4 months.

April (is for Fools)

2011-05-02T22:21:00.002-05:00

It's a new month so I guess that means it's time for my monthly post. Oops again.

April was a good training month. Felt like I had a breakthrough in the pool and became more efficient with my stroke; finally was able to get the bike outside a couple of times, but not nearly enough (thanks Ma Nature); and my running has gotten, dare I say it, speedy (for my standards anyway).

April #s: 497.6 miles
Swim: 30,750 yds, 17.5 miles
Bike: 395.5 miles, 22 hrs 40 minutes
Run: 84.6 miles, 13 hrs

Cumulative #s thru April: 1,757.7 miles (yikes!)
Swim: 109,175 yds, 62 miles
Bike: 1,397.5 miles, 78 hrs 20 minutes
Run: 298.2 miles, 45 hrs 25 minutes

Opened my "racing" season yesterday with the Lake Minnetonka 1/2 marathon. This was my first time doing this race, and despite it's main sponsor (Wells Fargo), it fit good into my schedule and a good chance to gauge how my training has been. After looking at the course profile I knew it wasn't going to be the flattest course, but it wasn't killer hilly either, just a lot of rolling type hills. I went into the race with somewhat high expectations. A lot of my training runs leading up to this event were feeling pretty good and at a pretty decent pace, 8:00-8:30/mile. My PR for this distance was 1:51 (8:30 pace) set 4 years ago and I was hoping to PR this time around. Race morning brought with it chilly temps in the 30s and 20+ mph headwinds so there was actually a windchill factor too (did I fail to mention this was MAY?!)!!

I started out with CC, who had already done 4 miles previously so she could get in her 17 total needed. The first mile was on the slower side @ 11:00, but most of that was due to normal race congestion and bottlenecks at many of the corners. After that it was my plan to speed up and race the event and shoot for a 1:45-1:50 finish so I started increase my SPMs (strides per minute) and weaved through the crowds. I settled into a comfortable pace and just ran my race.

At mile 5, after taking out that first mile anomaly, I figured out I was running 8 minute miles. Mile 8 came along and was still holding steady right at 8s, mile 10 same thing and I knew I was going to do it. If I had know the course a little better I may have kicked it in a little more, but I was pretty happy I was able to maintain a comfortable, consistent speed. The final 3 miles breezed by and I hit my time goal, crossing in 1:48, a new PR for 13.1 miles!!

This race, but more importantly the results, have proven the training is working. Who knows, maybe some more PRs will fall yet this year! Now, I just need to make sure I keep at it and don't stagnate. My running is getting there, swimming feels better, biking though...rethinking my first 4 months of this discipline. That'll be tomorrow night's subject (yes, I'll blog 2 days in a row!).

It's A Numbers Game

2011-04-08T14:19:00.005-05:00

March #s:

Swim = 22,275 yds or approx. 12.7 miles
Bike = 22 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 397.5 miles
Run = 13 hrs 55 minutes or approx. 94.4 miles

Cumulative:

Swim = 78,425 yds or approx. 44.6 miles
Bike = 60 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 1,002 miles
Run = 35 hrs 20 minutes or approx. 213.6 miles

Whew, that makes me tired just typing and thinking about those cumulative numbers! I guess that's why you need to break down the training into sizeable chunks and not look at it as 1 whole.

Now that it's past and I look back on March, I'll just say good riddance. It's not that it was a terrible month, but I was definitely good out of the gates in January and February, but lost some mojo somewhere along the way in the middle of March for a couple of weeks. I'm happy to say I was able to find it again and have been going strong again for the past couple of weeks. I haven't yet, but if you go back and reread an earlier post I think I alluded to thinking that this IM training wasn't going to be too bad and didn't know what all the whining (that's too strong of a word, but it fits to give you the picture) was about from some others when it came to getting through it mentally as much as physically. Well, I guess this is where I insert my apology to those who have come before me and warned me this might happen. There were a few days when I just didn't want to get in the pool and justified any excuse not to - "getting up at 5 a.m. is too early, I'll go during lunch", "gas prices are too high and the pool's too far away", "swimming is such a small part of the overall race I can afford to miss a workout or two", etc., you get the picture. This really did only seem to be affecting the swim portions, you can see that in the totals comparing month-to-month. I think the main reason behind that is because biking in my basement and running are easy enough to do and don't require commute time. That's a pretty lame excuse.

A lot of my March workouts were also done alone. This didn't help. As introverted and comfortable with just being with myself as I am, even I need social interaction. I got to thinking about this during one of my longer spin sessions on a Saturday morning. It started out with just thinking how hungry I was at the time and how nice it would be to have someone there who would have a nice, big, hot breakfast waiting for me once I got done (and no, before you go all "equal rights" on me, I don't think the only place for a woman is in the kitchen...they're also allowed in the bedroom). Kidding, I'm just kidding!! Anyhoo, back to my thought...it would be nice to have a meal waiting and actually wanting (needing?) to have a conversation. From there, I delved back into my "reasons" for not currently having a girlfriend - not enough time to pursue a relationship, not enough $$, I'm focusing on the kids, I'm putting myself first, etc. Once again, lame excuses. I want someone there I can talk to, I want someone there in Madison I can share this experience with (outside of family and platonic friends), I want someone there I can show off to/for.

I think part of my problem is that I'm not truly grown up and I'm still "stuck" in my younger years. Let me explain. I'm 42 years old. Because of this active, athletic (if I can be presumptuous enough to call it that) lifestyle, I feel younger than what I envision a 42 year old should feel like. Because I feel younger than what I think I should, I'm inadvertently attracted to women who are younger and not necessarily my peers. The problem is, the younger gals aren't attracted to the older guys, but I don't "see" myself as an older guy. When looking at online dating profiles of people in my age range, 38-45 yrs, almost all the time I would've guessed they were older. If I'm thinking my peers look older than what they are and I'm dismissing them because of that, then I've been fishing in the wrong lake. I asked a close friend for an honest opinion of how old I look and no, I wasn't expecting to hear something in the 20s (and didn't). She came back with maybe a year or two older than what I actually am. So, here I am, an older looking guy looking for a younger looking gal just because he feels younger on the inside. Am I really that shallow? I think I'll need another long bike ride to get to the bottom of that, good thing the workouts are getting longer (or is it?).

March Means Spring (I hope!)

2011-03-03T23:26:00.005-06:00

Who's ready to get outside and have this winter be over?! Lord knows I am! I'm a little excited to take the bike off the trainer and test out what the past 2 months have done for me on the open road. I've had what have felt like some pretty strong bike workouts lately so things continue to progress in the right direction. I'm getting tired of running indoors too. I try to avoid the dreadmill, but the short tracks aren't much better as once you get into a rhythm on the straightaway it's time to take another corner or dodge a bluehair. The workouts are getting longer and this is the first week where the training plan is throwing double workouts at me every day (except for the recovery day on Friday). I've made it through Thursday so it's just about buckling down and getting through the weekend now. Gotta earn that cookie!

Speaking of heading in the right direction, a new month means stepping on the scale. February was stellar in that regard and I dropped 11 lbs, down to 180.3! I haven't been that light in 3 years. That was a pretty big drop though and I don't necessarily want to keep up that pace. If I do, that would put me right around 114 lbs by the time the Ironman gets here and I just don't think I'd look healthy at that weight. Seriously though, I'd probably be good to drop just another 10 lbs total over the next few months as long as it's the right weight. I don't want to sacrifice muscle mass just to get to a golden # so I have to be smart about it. I've incorporated some good suggestions from 2 friends who are knowledgeable in the nutrition area so they've become my go-to resources in that realm. Thanks Alicia and Emily!

Here are my February training #s:

swim - 27,500 yds or 15.6 miles

bike - 19 hrs and 10 minutes or approx. 345 miles

run - 10 hrs and 20 minutes or approx. 68.3 miles

for a monthly total of 428.9 miles

Cumulative through Feb:

swim = 56,150 yds/31.9 miles

bike = 33:35/604.5 miles

run = 18:30/119.2 miles

total = 755.6 miles

On the parental front, not only did Conner draw this picture freehand (using the one on the right as a guide), but he told me tonight one of his art class drawings was chosen to be on the cover of his school's yearbook! The real honor is that the editor of the yearbook (the Art teacher) was going to just use something generic, but she was so impressed with his drawing (of the district mascot, a tiger) that she chose that instead! He's always been a craftsy, artsy kid, but with these latest accomplishments I hope he realizes how good he really could become. Stick with it Son (and get that college scholarship)!

Well, even though tomorrow's my off/recovery day it doesn't mean I can stay up all night. Sleep is part of training too. Off to bed.

I Cheated

2011-02-13T21:11:00.004-06:00

What a difference a week makes. Training this week was a total of 2 hours shorter than last week and I could tell. Last weekend involved a 3 hour Saturday followed up with a 2 hour Sunday. I got through it, but I was beat! After this weekend's workouts I'm feeling much more energized and attribute that to 2 different reasons - the main reason being because I didn't do quite as much, but also because I think all this training is paying off and I may actually be getting better/faster/stronger. Let's hope this way of thinking continues. This past week was a backdown, "recovery", week and now it's on to 3 more weeks of increasing mileage so at least I'm going into it with a healthy dose of confidence.

So, I've cheated a couple of times the past couple of weeks. First, I jumped on the scale mid-month. I know, criminal, right!?! After a couple of pretty intense workouts I was curious as to how I was doing considering what January's weight-loss results were and I succumbed to the temptation. I won't post results, but let's just say things are still moving in the right direction. The second cheat was just as dramatic, I had a Mountain Dew. This wasn't because I "needed" one, but again was just curious. I had gone 5+ weeks without and wanted to see if it still tasted the same or what I thought of it at this point. To be honest, it didn't taste as good and certainly didn't make me crave another one.

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

Yesterday the boys had their annual Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This is Conner's last year so he wanted to do well. Last year he went for Best Design (sacrificing speed) and ended up winning that award so this year he went for speed again to try to qualify for districts, something he did his first year. Last year Devon finished 5th in the pack and was able to advance to the next level. After an afternoon of racing, 72 heats w/ 3 cars per heat (thankfully, they never went head to head in the same heat), the results were in. With the top 5 going to Districts both boys knew they had a decent chance of that because they each dominated their heat races (results are based on each car's average time after 6 runs). Without further adieu, Conner ended up in 6th place and Devon got 5th. Devon gets to move on, but this might have been it for Conner. He has the slightest of chances of still getting to race though if someone in the top 5 can't make it as he'd be the first alternate. He took it well, wasn't too jealous of his younger brother. Here are their cars (the orange one is D's, the black is C's)-

I Need Jillian Michaels

2011-02-01T21:21:00.004-06:00

28,650+14:25+8:10=326.7. Seriously, it does.

Remember in my previous post how I said I was looking forward to Tuesday because it was weigh-in day? Well, let's just say I won't win any Biggest Loser contests. I dropped a whopping 2 lbs. 2!! I'm doing the workouts, honest I am! Actually, it's not that big of a deal. I was expecting to see a lower weight, but I'm feeling better and noticing physical changes. I'm chalking up the lack of weight loss to the belief I'm gaining a little muscle mass. I'll take that trade-off I guess. Muscle will make me faster, right?

So, the above equation. Figure out how that makes sense? Alright, here's how - those are my January totals for my workouts:
28,650 is how many yards I've swum. This equates to 16.3 miles. An argument could be made that this could be even longer since I've been doing a majority of my swims in a pool that's measured in meters instead of yards.
14:25 is the number of hours:minutes I've spent on my bike. In past races I usually average 20-21 mph. I don't have anything hooked up that tracks my actual trainer miles so I'm just using an average of 18 mph. At that rate it equates to 259.5 miles.
8:10 is the hr:min I've spent running. Between the treadmill and counting laps on the track this is pretty close to 50.9 miles.
So, 16.3 miles swimming, 259.5 miles biking and 50.9 miles running equals 326.7. Pretty obvious, huh?

Makes me wonder how many miles I'll have to do if I want to lose 5 lbs in 1 month. Yikes!!!

A Plastic Hiccup

2011-01-30T23:42:00.004-06:00

The first few weeks of training were going really well and smoothly. I was getting the workouts in, feeling pretty good while doing them and beginning to wonder that maybe this whole thing won't be as bad as some have said it could be. I still feel that way, but had my first little hiccup the other night. I do need to back up and say I was beginning to feel some shin splints starting to set in again. I've had this problem in the past and think it may have almost developed into a stress fracture last summer so I was a bit nervous this time around again. When I say stress fracture, that is completely self-diagnosed as I never went and had it professionally looked at. Why go to a doctor only to have them tell you bad news? I kid (sort of). So anyway, I took a week off from "running" and for those run workouts just did a brisk walk, as fast as I could before I would feel pain in my shins. I still wanted to do the workouts, just not at the point of doing more harm than good. It all worked out and my last 3 runs have been pain free. Well, back to my hiccup. My swim workouts are starting to get longer now and Friday's plan was for 3200 yards (not too huge, but longest yet) with the main set being 2x1000. Heading to the pool the doubt, undesire, feeling of just wanting to sit home on a Friday night, started creeping in. I got to the club, got in the pool and got through my warm up sets. At that point, just 900 into the 3200 I almost got out and went home. I was beat and tired after just 900! Granted, I didn't really do myself any favors pretty much all week and was going to bed later than I should've been so that played into being run down by the time it got around to being Friday (kind of like tonight and posting a blog at midnight!). I hadn't missed a workout yet though in the first 4 weeks and didn't think I would be bailing on one within the first month! I was a little disappointed in me for allowing myself to think along those lines. I quit wallowing and told myself to suck it up and headed down the lane for my first 1000. I got through it and actually felt somewhat good at the end, but I did end up cutting the workout short anyway. I didn't do the 2nd 1000 so I finished up with the 300 cooldown and called it an evening. I'm going to have to buckle down and make sure this doesn't become a habit! This coming Friday's workout calls for another 3200 so I'm making the vow right now I'll be in the damn pool until I complete all 64 laps! On the bright side though, I was able to follow up Friday night's disaster with good double workouts on both Saturday and Sunday - a long ride followed by a short run on Sat. and then a long run on tired legs followed by a short ride that still felt good on Sunday. Ended week #4 on a positive note!
I'm looking forward to Tuesday. On my first day of training I stepped on the scale to see what I was at. I'm curious to see what 9 months of solid training will do to me and how my body might change. On that first day I weighed in at 193.4. I don't think I necessarily "look" that heavy, but I am what I am, can't really deny that. I haven't been on the scale since and have told myself I'm only going to weigh myself on the 1st of each month, which is Tuesday, (and the morning of the IM and that night after I'm done, just out of curiosity to see how much 140.6 miles makes me lose). I used to step on the scale every time I was in the club, but I don't want that to be the main focus of my workouts. I know I've lost lbs., feel like I have, so that's the main thing I guess, not how much. In the end though, I think a good race weight for me will be in the low 170s so if I can eventually get down to that ballpark I can only think it would be a success. From an Actuary standpoint, more like 160s down to 150s is where I should be just based on my height. I don't think I've been that since high school so we'll just leave those numbers in the past! I'm realistic about any weight loss too though. I expect this first month to probably be the biggest drop and then it may not be quite as dramatic the following months. We'll see on Tuesday!
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Hold on, gonna switch gears and get off the training subject so prepare yourself! Set? Okay. I was in Cub Foods the other night picking up just a dozen or so items. I paid for them and as I was packing them in the my reusable canvas bag a mother and daughter were behind me getting their items rung up. Now, I don't consider myself the "greenest" person on the planet, but I do try to do my part despite driving around in a 10 year old SUV - I recycle, try to avoid using plastic bags, if I'm not in a room the light isn't on, I adjust my thermostat in the house, etc. Well, as I'm bagging my stuff, the girl (we'll call her in the 9-12 yr old range) starts bagging their items in a plastic bag. That's fine, if you want to use them, use them, I'm not going to scold you. The mother gets done paying, comes around the end and just mentions to her daughter that she normally likes to use paper bags because they can hold more. She takes the plastic bag that her daughter has 1/2 filled, places it still 1/2 filled in a paper bag and starts packing more groceries in. So, now she's wasted a plastic bag. Wait, it gets better. As she tries to pick up the paper bag and move it, she tears one of the handles off. So, what would you do at this point - A) take bagged items out and pack them in a new bag, B) take extra items out and go back to using the plastic bag you were in the beginning and pack that, C) just pick up and carry the paper bag (which still has the plastic bag in it) with a hand under the bottom? Well, she didn't do any of those 3. Instead, she picks up the paper bag, with said plastic still in it, and places that whole thing in another plastic bag, just so she could carry it with handles!! So, in the end, she used 3 bags where 1 would do. And that, my friends, is why no matter what those of us do to try to help out, it will never all get solved. There will always be someone counter-balancing your good deeds with their misguided ones (sometimes deliberately, sometimes just out of ignorance). This could be said for many things beyond just what happens in a grocery store. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm all "holier than thou", but c'mon Lady, use some common sense!

Okay, I'm done ranting. January ends tomorrow, February is a short month and Spring is right around the corner as soon as March gets here! Things are looking up! Good night.

Ugly Girlfriend Wanted, Inside and Out, Who Hates Me Too

2011-01-19T21:55:00.003-06:00

I did it to myself today and I'll be feeling it tomorrow too. I was supposed to get up this morning and get my swim in and then just bike tonight. Well, somehow I didn't crawl out of bed this morning and managed to turn off all 3 alarms (yup, 3!) and slept in without fully realizing what I was doing. Thankfully I pulled myself out of my slumber and made it to work though. So, what that meant for tonight was that I had to do a back-to-back workout to get them both in and now I'm off to bed just so I can get up and get to the pool in the morning. Tomorrow I don't have a choice but to do it in the a.m. because Devon has scouts in the evening. Nothing like swimming tonight knowing I'll be right back in the pool in just 10 hours after getting out of it! The one sure-fire way to make sure this doesn't happen again is to somehow get into a relationship with someone who's mean enough to kick me out of bed in the morning and who I'd rather leave to go workout at 5:00 a.m. than stay in a warm cozy bed with. Know anyone?

It's A Whole New Season!

2011-01-18T22:12:00.006-06:00

I'm no longer being orientated, woo hoo! I'm out of the 2 week "Orientation" phase of training and have now started the "Preseason". The workouts will start to get a bit longer and I'm assuming a little more intense and precise. The first 2 weeks went great! It was nice to get started on an organized plan and I was able to keep up. The week with the boys went well too. I ended up switching my a.m. and p.m. workouts around so I was home riding in the morning and then swam/ran in the evening. I think I'm starting to notice some positive changes. I've been doing a lot more biking in just these first 2 weeks and I'm starting to feel (and see?) it in my legs. They feel firmer and I think my quads are bigger. That's a good thing, I've always kind of had chicken legs compared to my upper body so maybe I'll become a little more symmetrical.

The boys have been great and on-board with the training thus far. I'm trying to keep them posted on what I'm doing, how long until the race, what it's going to be like, etc. I recently bought a 2nd pair of running shoes identical to the first pair I'm using and will rotate their use. In order to tell them apart and make sure I properly match pair 1 and pair 2 I put initials on each shoe. My first pair has Cs for Conner and the second pair has Ds for Devon. I told the boys it's like they're running with me now and I'll alternate wearing each pair for my run workouts. Devon got a kick out of it when I got home Sunday and said he had a good 6 mile workout. I think Conner was actually a little disappointed when I told him my next run workout was only going to be about 4ish miles. Nope, no competition syndrome going on between these brothers! I'll have to make sure the cumulative miles are somewhat close when it comes time to retire both these pairs. I'll need another pair by the time the race actually gets here so I'll just write everyones' name on that pair, you'll all get to come along on that day's run!

Another fun thing is my "training cookies". Capt Cartwheel gave me a huge baggie full of cookies for a Christmas present. As I was chowing down on them that December night during the car ride home I figured I could eat them all right then and there and really start off my training absolutely needing to workout just to get back to square 1 or I could ration them. My training program is a 36 week program. At that point, I had 40 cookies left (we'll just disregard how many I ate prior to that to get down to that 40). I made a pact with myself, that I'll have just 4 more and from that point on I only get 1 cookie at the end of each week of training, kind of my "reward" for getting through the week. I told this to the boys too (and told them not to eat them if they see them in the freezer!) and Conner came up with a great idea that each week I should eat the smallest one in the bag so I'm left with the biggest one at the end! Thanks Conner, great thinking! So, I'm eating 1 cookie every Sunday night. 2 cookies down, 34 to go. I can hardly wait to eat that last one because it's going to be Sunday, Sept. 11th, right after I cross the finish line!!

Fortunately, the boys' scout schedule is helping us do fun things besides marking shoes and counting cookies. This weekend we get to go to Polar Camp, an all day outside activity day at scout camp in Cannon Falls. Conner and I went 2 years ago and had a great time. This will be Devon's first time and he's really looking forward to it (he was sick last year). I just need to make sure to get my 1:30 bike ride in nice and early that morning because I know I won't want to do it once we get home.

I Haven't Quit Yet!

2011-01-05T20:56:00.003-06:00

Day 3 of training is in the books and all is right with the world. Well, maybe not all, but in my little vacuum of existence things are copacetic I guess. The workouts have been manageable and not too strenuous - 2 swims, 2 bikes and 1 run. The hardest thing right now is getting to bed at a decent hour because the alarm clock is going off at an uncommon early hour! I need to get a little better about that so I'm not yawning in the pool when I need to be inhaling. That could make for an interesting workout.
This beginning stretch is considered "orientation" by the schedule's definition, but it's a little more involved than that. There are 18 straight days of workouts before the first rest day, another 20 straight after that and then 1 rest day per week from there on out. I haven't worked out like that since organized high school sports I think and even then those seasons weren't 36 weeks long! But, I guess, those games I was prepping for weren't 14-17 hours long either.
It actually feels good to be starting this. Leading up to Monday I was still working out semi-regularly, but I felt kind of lost, just going through the motions and going to the gym just to get my insurance discount. Starting an organized, detailed regiment is what I needed. Whether or not I still like it 20, 30 weeks from now might be a different story, but I'm going to do my damnedest to follow it. I figure the author of the plan knows a hell of a lot more about this Ironman thing than I do so I better not tweak things too much.
Getting a bike trainer and being able to do my bike workouts at home has been awesome! It was nice waking up yesterday morning and not having to worry about getting bundled up to head to the gym to do my ride. I just slapped on some shorts, walked downstairs and started riding. I didn't have to bother brushing my teeth until I was done. Tonight I was able to come home, prep dinner, get it in the oven for an hour (stuffed bell peppers, they were delish!) and by the time I was done riding, dinner was ready. Perfect!
Occasionally I find myself thinking about what Sept. 11th will be like. Having been there the past 3 years spectating, I'll picture the course, but this time I'll superimpose myself onto it rather than being on the sidewalk. I get goosebumps and nervous. What will the swim be like - as brutal as it looks? How long will it take before I'm not climbing over people, or more than likely, having people climb over me? I envision making that final turn, heading into shore and being ecstatic the swim portion is over. With all the other triathlons I've done I've always told myself that after the swim there's really no reason why I shouldn't finish. With swimming, if something goes wrong and you need assistance, your race is done. There's just something about being on terra firma that if something goes wrong during the race you at least have the option to keep moving forward somehow, especially during the run portion. I wonder what kind of run/marathon I'll have. I've done 12 marathons and I've never been able to run the entire distance without needing to walk. Can I realistically expect to run this next marathon after swimming and biking? Will this type of training be better for me so I can have a good marathon? Wouldn't it be something if I PRed the run? I don't think I'd sleep for days I'd be so happy!
But, I'm only in Day 3 and these are premature thoughts. There's a long road to hoe before I can consider any time goals. The alarm clock is still set for an early morning buzz so I'm going to heed my own advice and bid adieu.

Recap and Resolute

2011-01-02T17:02:00.010-06:00

Where to begin? I do this to myself by not posting often enough. With that, I guess I'll begin with recapping last year's resolutions:
1. Blog more - failed this one. Just 3 posts in 2010, oops.
2. Lose weight - we'll call this one a semi-success. I dropped a few and transformed into a little bit of a healthier shape by starting to lift weights again near the end of the year (i.e. muscle weighs more than fat).
3. Attempt dating again - I gave it an honest effort I thought - asked someone out w/out knowing what was up, fired up an online dating profile again - so I'll put this in the success column. I went on a few dates, hoping to get something started before the new year rolled around, but nothing panned out. I'm not opposed to dating in 2011, but free time won't really be a comfort I'll have (more later on why) so I won't be actively pursuing any love interests. If something falls into my lap I'll act on it, but it'll more than likely be at someone else's doing.
4. Setting race results - call this one a wash. I didn't do enough races or have a great training year to get serious about setting a time result. I was able to cross 2 more states off my marathon list though and had an ABSOLUTE BLAST trying a new triathlon with CC - the Burrito Union 10 hour Tri. Team Cap'n and Mac was awesome!
5. Financial goal - slight failure in this one, but all things considered I won't beat myself up over it. It'll remain a resolution for 2011 as well.
6. Parental goal - success here I think. Had more fun with the boys this past year and I was able to "play" with them and "parent" them. They are great kids and I couldn't ask for anything better.
7. Family goal - I'm not sure what I had in mind when I set this one so we'll just disregard it for tally purposes.
So, in the end, 3 successful resolutions, 2 failures, 1 tie and 1 whatever. I guess that's why people set them. If you succeed at them all, then what fun is that? You may have set things too easy for yourself.

This brings me to what 2011 will be. My main focus, at least the first 9 months of the year, will be pretty tunnel-visioned and one of the main reasons why I want to fire up this blogging thing again. It stems from a decision I finally acted upon in 2010 that will come to fruition in 2011. I signed up for a little race called the Ironman Triathlon. On 9-11-11 in Madison, WI I'll hopefully swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles all in under 17 hours! When I first started doing this triathlon thing back in the '90s the seed was first planted about this IM thing. A couple of the friends I was doing local events with were IM caliber so it got me wondering if I could do one. A decade+ of years went by, but the thought never really left my mind. These past couple of years watching other friends go through the journey made me realize I should finally put up or shut up, even if it was only internally. Tomorrow, 1-3-11, starts the beginning of my Ironman journey and training - a 36 week program that will get me ready for my personal 140.6 mile quest. There are going to be many early mornings, long miles, and hours of contemplation. I'll use this blog as my release, escape and sanity check. If you notice the postings getting a little loopy don't be afraid to mention something. I just hope to document my feelings, revelations and findings about anything along the way, just something to look back on to relive the times so these next 9 months don't seem like a complete self-absorbed waste of time.

As I sit here today, beyond my immediate family there are only a handful of friends I've personally told that I'm attempting the IM. I know the word has gotten out to others, and I'm totally fine with that, but I don't want it to consume who I am this year. I've had many friends do this event the past couple of years and it seems every facebook post, every conversation, every "how are you doing?" begins with Ironman. I love my friends, but it seems like self-promotion and any bragging rights were the driving forces to why they did this event and not the personal gains, almost a martyr-type approach. To me anyway, this seems backwards and that's not me. Sure, I'll dress up in costume and run an event (thinking Ragnar), but I don't think I'm doing it to get noticed. It's fun and helps create the memories! 2 years from now I'm not going to remember how many people noticed me doing something, but I will remember we all dressed up like superheroes and had a hell of a good time! With the Ironman, the distance needs to be respected.

I think I have a healthy respect for what I'm getting myself into and to be honest, part of me is scared shitless! I don't know if I can do this, I've never tested by body with a 140.6 mile event before! When I look at my training schedule as a whole or think of it as a 12-17 hour event or think back to when I've hit the wall just running a marathon I wonder what the hell I'm doing even starting down this road. But on the flip side of that, the bigger part of me is excited and a "good" nervous to start the training and get this ball rolling! I've done plenty of triathlons, albeit shorter distances, so I've been prepping myself for this all those years!

As I sit here today and ponder what 2011 will bring me I only hope to be able to meld my worlds together for the next 9 months. I will not slack on my training because you either pay for it now daily or you pay for it exponentially on race day. I hope to remain the good parent I think I am and not become too self-focused. I've warned the boys about my training schedule, but their needs, and wants, just can't be ignored. The melding will come in hopefully teaching my boys some life lessons - healthy lifestyles and nutrition, setting goals, planning, time management, thinking and doing beyond what is comfortable... And maybe give them something to brag about regarding their dad to their friends. ;)

Happy New Year everyone! Bring it on 2011!!!

It Can Make A Grown Man Cry

2010-06-14T15:10:00.005-05:00

So, it's time to get back to this thing called blogging. I've thought of it often, just haven't done it. I got yelled at the other day for not being on here so I guess I needed that verbal abuse to get my ass in gear. Thanks CC.

Last weekend (June 6th) was the San Diego Marathon that I participated in with TNT again. It was an awesome weekend and fun season as a whole. I'm currently going through my post-season depression with it all being over and I won't see everyone again so I'll write more about that when I have those feelings under control. The race itself, well, lets just say it's one to forget.

Everything started out smoothly and as expected. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but more of a hope that it would go smoothly. For a majority of the training season I was battling shin issues so I wasn't able to get the proper amount of miles in. I did a couple of long runs - 17 and one 20 miler - so I at least knew I was going to be able to finish. Just how long exactly and in what condition were very much in the gray area. I started with a teammate I was hoping to pace to a 4:30-4:40 finish time. It was her first marathon and she was hoping for anything under 5 hours, but more towards 4:40. If everything went well I thought she would have a 4:30 in her. As mentioned, everything started fine and we were holding pretty close to 10 minute miles through the first half.

Then came the 2nd half. Why couldn't we just stop halfway through and say "Okay, just double that time and we'll call it good"? About mile 17 my stomach thought it would be a good idea to start revolting. Who knew running a marathon was more about using just your legs and lungs?! The more I ran, the more I thought I was going to hurl so I thought, "hey, now might be a good time to walk for a bit and get my stomach to settle down" so I started walking. Immediately upon slowing, my head thought that since my stomach didn't want to play along then it didn't have to either and got light-headed. Well that's a fine how-do-you-do! I can't run because I'm going to throw up, I can't walk because I get light-headed and I can't stop moving forward because that doesn't get me any closer to the finish line! Needless to say, at some point I told my running partner that I was struggling and for her to take off and do it without me. Sorry Mandy. I chose the lesser of the two evils and ended up walking the majority of those last 9 miles and ran sporadically when I felt up to it (which wasn't much). Long story short, I did end up finishing, but it's been my slowest time out of the 11 marathons I've done and the first one that's been over 5 hours, 5:12 to be exact. Not too happy with that. Sitting in the tent at the Finish area I'll admit to succumbing to my emotions a little and there may have been a tear or two. I'll blame it on the whole body being tired and not knowing what to do. I'm a guy and we're not supposed to cry, right? It took me awhile to come to grips with the whole run and I've accepted it (still not happy with it though). I'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll have at least 43 more attempts at this damn distance (42 more states and D.C.)!

To end on a positive note, Mandy did awesome and beat her 5 hour goal! And hers were tears of joy.

So Long, Farewell...

2010-03-18T23:02:00.003-05:00

This is it. My last post from Lonsdale. I'm sitting in my empty house with only my computer and some miscellaneous boxes of toys and crap for a garage sale. I moved out last weekend and am just finishing up cleaning and hauling out the last few remainders. Tomorrow I'm having the phones turned off so no sense in keeping the laptop here (yup, I was on dial-up while living down here in BFE!).

Moving has proved to be more emotional than I thought it would be. While packing a couple of weeks ago and looking at the bare walls it hit me that I was moving out of my "home" and into another "house". There is a difference. I got sad. I'm getting sad again now just typing it.

On the other hand though, this past week has been nice being in the cities (I moved to Richfield) and only 5 miles from work with an 11 minute commute. This past week I've already done a couple of things I haven't been able to do for the past 10 years down here in Lonsdale; small, insignificant things you don't normally think of if you get to do them all the time - I got to go home for lunch and I got to go home in-between leaving work in the evenings and my group training runs with TNT. I smiled when I did those things.

The boys don't know we've moved yet. They knew it was happening soon, but didn't know when. They've been on vacation with their mom the past 10 days so I took advantage of that time and got it done. I'm anticipating them not liking this fact, but I think they'll come around after a couple of days. We'll find out tomorrow anyway. That'll give them the weekend to adjust. Could be interesting so stay tuned.

There might be something in the works for #3, stay tuned for that as well. ;)

Adios from Lonsdale. It's been what it's been.

How Prophetic

2010-01-04T22:30:00.003-06:00

The day after I post my resolutions I get hit square in the face with needing to make sure I follow through on one, #2. I had a doctor's appointment and in their routine they make each patient jump on the scale on the way to the private room. I knew I wasn't going to like this number, but I wasn't ready for what it read. I can now officially say I weigh more than I ever have in my lifetime. Not a proud moment. I knew I was slacking off these past 4 months, but I guess I didn't realize to what extent until the last day of the year. These next couple of weeks are going to be crucial in getting back down to where I want and need to be. Want, because I feel like a slug right now and it's not a good feeling. Need, because I know it can't be healthy for me to be up this high. If I can get past the disappoint of where I've let myself get to and into the positive realm and start to see some result, it would make things easier from there on out! There are some family genetics working against me so I can't help the bad guys out by letting my shape get away from me. The more in shape I can maintain, the more at bay I can keep those genes.
It's all good though, this negative realization has helped me focus on another resolution as well, #4. I got a little more serious about picking out my spring marathon and now have it narrowed down to 2 options - Lawrence, KS and Lincoln, NE. They are 2 weeks apart so depending on how my training goes these first 2 months will probably determine which one I'll do. Hopefully it'll be KS though. That's the earlier one so it'll give me more time in-between events so I don't suffer from burn-out like I did last season by scheduling things too close together. I'm not going to worry about my results during this spring marathon though. I know I won't be at my peak physical best so I can't expect to set a PR or anything. I'll just go out there to enjoy it and cross another state off the list. Hopefully, if I can find my working out mojo again, my fall marathon (IA) will test that PR.
I was talking today with someone about another resolution. Mainly hers, but it got me thinking about mine too, #3, and what I want out of it. There are definitely some different views out there about dating and what it's all about. I think I need to do some inner searching on who I'm looking for and how to go about finding her. It's not too hard to draw the conclusion that I haven't done it right yet considering I'm 41 and single.

Out With The Old (way of thinking)

2009-12-30T22:28:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-04-15T23:45:00.003-05:00

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

2009-04-05T19:48:00.002-05:00

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?

2009-04-01T23:33:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-21T15:01:00.003-06:00

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

click here.

Hump Day Is History

2009-02-19T00:02:00.004-06:00

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

2009-02-15T21:49:00.003-06:00

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

2009-01-29T21:57:00.002-06:00

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?

2009-01-27T20:21:00.002-06:00

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

2009-01-13T22:45:00.006-06:00

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

2009-01-04T23:03:00.004-06:00

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.

'09 Race Schedule

2008-12-02T23:25:00.002-06:00

At least I don't feel (yet) or act like I'm getting old. You're going to have to tell me if I look it though. Here's my race schedule for next year. Looks like there won't be much downtime in '09.

05/03 Lake Minnetonka 1/2 marathon
05/09 New Prague 1/2 marathon
06/21 Mankato Sprint triathlon
06/27 Seattle marathon
07/18 Lifetime triathlon (not sure if I'll do the Sprint or Olympic distance yet, probably Sprint)
07/26 Chisago City 1/2 iron triathlon*
08/21-22 Ragnar Relay
10/18 Des Moines marathon

*this is the main focus race for the year - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.

I think total distance-wise, this is the most ambitious of a schedule I've put together for any given year. Let's hope I survive it all! I just might look my age after I get done with all this, if I don't already!

Strange Boys

2008-12-01T22:23:00.003-06:00

"Are you blind or something?"

"Oh, that's a bummer."

Just a couple of new quotes I've heard Devon (5 yrs old) mention the past couple of days. The first one took me by surprise and I couldn't believe what I heard, I just started laughing. I was packing to come home yesterday from up north and I asked him where his hat and mittens were so we wouldn't forget them. He gets off the couch, walks past me in the foyer, around the corner, points, blurts that out and then goes walking past me back to the couch! It was so funny at the time and he threw in the appropriate visuals with his palms up, arms outstretched and a look of disbelief on his face. Perfect use of the phrase at the time, but you probably had to be there to fully appreciate it. He's such a ham!

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

So I got my boys to bed tonight, normal time. Nothing unusually there, they're good about going to bed. About 2 hours later I heard a cough, some rustling going on downstairs. Didn't think anything of it. About 10 minutes after that I went to check on things. Get downstairs, notice Conner's bedroom light is on (can't see in the room yet because of the angle) so I head over. I look around the door and see Conner in the middle of the room getting dressed. It's 10 p.m.! He already has a shirt on and pants in hand.

Me: "What are you doing?"
Conner: "Getting ready for school."
M: "Why?"
C: "Because it's time to go to school."
M: "No, it's still night time, jump back in bed."

He looks at the clock, looks at me, looks at the clock again.

C: "Isn't it time for school?"
M: "Nope, not yet."
C: "Okay."

And he crawled back into bed. I'll ask him about it in the morning, but he won't rememer it. He sleep walks every now and then, but this is the first time he's started getting dressed or anything like that. Usually he just comes to find me and sits or lays down next to me. Hmmm, as he gets older I better make sure the car keys are hidden so he doesn't go driving off or something while in one of these trances!

The Diet Starts Friday

2008-11-26T08:02:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday of the year so don't expect me to hold back! I'm taking my "Joey pants" with me to my parents.

Happy Gobbler everyone!

A Posting Cornucopia

2008-11-18T21:39:00.006-06:00

Been awhile since I've done anything but read others' posts so I'll get you up to speed on some minor things the past couple of weeks and throw in a random thought here and there.

No new fraudulent transactions in my bank account so I think those problems are behind me, that's good. Haven't received my new card in the mail yet so it's starting to push the outer limits of the time frame on when it should've been here, that's not so good. My company relocated from Eagan to Bloomington which means crossing the river on my commute every day now, that's really not good!

Went deer hunting with my buddy, Wade, last week/weekend. It turned out to be the least successful hunt we've had in the 8 years we've been doing this together. I only saw 1 deer in the 4.5 days we hunted and got the only shot of the weekend between the 2 of us. He saw more though, but couldn't shoot for one reason or another. Unfortunately mine was more of a desperation shot and I didn't hit the deer (rejoice PETA, but know I'll be back out there next year). Regardless, it was still a nice weekend/vacation just getting away and spending time with him. I've kind of neglected those friendships this year. Neglected might be too strong of a word, but I haven't talked with Wade or some other buddies as much these past few months as I have in the past. It was nice though in that it didn't seem to be an issue and we hung out like we always have and picked things up like there's never been an absence. Nice to have friends you can do that with and not have to worry about hurt feelings or needing to get "caught up". We just picked it up like there was never anything missing. Is that just a guy thing to do though? If so, I'm glad I'm one of 'em!

I did get another shot though while hunting. Friday morning I was sitting in my stand minding my own business when a little red squirrel decided he wanted to climb up one of the trees my stand was built in/on. He'd come up about 5 feet, stop, stare at me, do a little dance on the side of the tree, squeal and then dart back down. This went on for about 10 minutes, each time getting just a little bit closer. I finally got bored with him and actually didn't want him coming all the way up. I didn't want him to get too brave and make it. The last thing I needed was to get attacked by a rabid squirrel with a loaded rifle right there! So, on what turned out to be his last ascent up my tree, I carefully reached for my weapon of choice...slowly got into position...took aim...and BLASTED him with my water bottle. Direct hit! He was soaked and retreated for the day! Of all the trees in the forest he had to pick mine to assault. He was cute to begin with, but he really interfered with my napping time after a minute or two so he had to go! Hey, I have to take my victories where I can get them, it was that kind of a hunting weekend.

The weekend before that, on the 8th, Captain Cartwheel and I had a joint birthday party thrown for us. We share the same bday, but were both out of town on the actual day so Dana put together a fun night out for a small group on the 8th. CC and I started the day/evening off together by both getting tattoos. No, not the same design. I'll post a picture of mine once I get one available. It's at the point now where it's healing (which means scabbing) so it may not be the prettiest thing to show off at the moment.

I treated myself to my first tattoo for a 30th bday present after running the NYC marathon on my actual bday. After finishing the Indy marathon on my 40th I figured I better do the same thing and get another tat. I guess if you're looking for present ideas for my 50th & 60th bdays a safe bet might be a gift certificate to a tattoo shop.

Got home from hunting and had an email waiting for me from the TNT staff. They picked their mentors for the 2009 teams and it turned out I conned them into picking me again for the triathlon team! I guess I fooled the right people into thinking I knew what I was doing last season. ;) I was pleased to see that as I did have fun with it this past summer. Next season will be a little busier for me though as I'll be on 2 teams simultaneously. I'm going to run the Seattle marathon in June so I'll be on that team while mentoring and being on the triathlon team for the July LTF triathlon. Here's your warning now, I'll be actively fundraising this next time around so stay tuned for how you can donate. You can pretty much be guaranteed you'll be hearing from me. If you don't know what TNT is or may possibly want to join in, check out their site here.

I'm In 2 Places At One Time

2008-11-06T23:08:00.003-06:00

So I stopped to get some gas last night for a $1.95/gallon. The pay at the pump machine didn't seem to be working so I just pressed the "pay inside" button instead of moving to another pump and filled up. I figured the machine was being overworked with the falling gas prices finally back below $2 so it was no big deal for me to walk a few feet to pay inside.

I finished filling up, went inside to pay with my debit/credit card and was denied there too. Great, I thought. The card is starting to look a little worn so I looked at the strip on the back to see if there were any scratches or worn spots. Visibly it looked alright so the clerk tried it again. Still no go, he was telling me the card was "unauthorized". Yeah, like I don't have authority to use my own card.

I tried it in the ATM quick and got the same message there. WTF?!?! I couldn't even get it to give me just my balance so I could prove to the clerk I had the $$.

Thankfully I was able pay the old fashioned way so I wrote a check and that was that. I thought later that what if he wouldn't have accepted a check? Would I have had to clean the bathrooms until I worked off $30 worth of gas or would I have had to siphon it out? Glad those little pieces of paper are still being accepted somewhere!

So when I got home last night I pulled up my account online. Turns out there were 5 debit card transactions on there from Houston, TX made yesterday. Someone, somehow, somewhere had gotten a hold of my card # and fraudulently made 4 separate purchases at Best Buy and 1 at BeBe's. I'm not sure, but I think BeBe's is a women's department store. I am sure that I wasn't in TX yesterday and if I was I wouldn't be shopping at Best Buy and BeBe's! Thankfully this little inbred didn't wrack up too much in purchases, $283 total, but still....

I went to my credit union this morning to straighten things out and they assured me that should be the last of those transactions. The Visa system, or someone, had noticed these unusually transactions and stopped all electronic payments on my account, hence why I wasn't able to use it at the gas station. It's nice to know that fraud alert system works!

When I was at the credit union and we were going through the transactions for the past couple of days the service rep was asking me about recent purchases in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin that were showing up too. Those were from my marathon weekend trip, but I bet I could've gotten away with telling her those were unauthorized too and I would've been reimbursed. Damn! I guess this is where I'm supposed to say thanks Mom and Dad for raising me to be an honest and forthright individual (yeah yeah, I know some of you are questioning that too).

I Got Faster Overnight

2008-11-02T08:49:00.002-06:00

4:13:03 was the gun time. My chip time was 4:10:55.

I like this Daylight Savings Time thing.

I'm Happy!

2008-11-01T13:58:00.002-05:00

The marathon is done, Woo Hoo! My birthday isn't so we're moving on to that celebration now. Sitting here sippin' on a Guinness as I write. Ah, doesn't get much better!!

Here's what I know about the marathon (I'll post some pix later):

We went to the "expo" yesterday to pick up my packet and drive part of the course. The "expo" consisted of 6 tables with the race packets and t-shirts - no vendors, no chance to buy race souvenirs. Not exactly comparable to the TCM, but oh well, it's the first year for this race so hopefully for their sake it'll grow.
Got up early this a.m. and made it down to the start line around 6:50ish (8:00 start). Just hung out with Becca (my travel partner from MN who's originally from Indy so she came home for the weekend) and her mom. This marathon was different from many that I've done in that there were just over 3,000 runners total for both the 1/2 marathon and full marathon. Usually I'm used to there being 10,000 at TCM or 20-30,000 at some of these Rock N Roll series races. It was quite nice having the elbow room I'll say!
The weather couldn't have been any better! 47 at the start climbing gradually into the mid 60s by the time I finished, calm and sunny all morning.
The gun went off so we did too. It was actually a pretty uneventful race. I held a decent pace initially, but not too fast. Felt good, relaxed and in control. The first couple of miles were in downtown Indianapolis and then we moved out to some of the residential neighborhoods. The course took us through some "iffy" parts of town, but a mile or two later the view did a 180 and we were looking at some posh houses. I hit the half way point (mile 13.1) at 1:57. There was little time to celebrate because even though that's on pace to finish sub-4 I knew the 2nd half would probably be slower. We wound through Butler Univ., the gardens at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and headed back to downtown. The main road leading us back to the finish area was a 4 mile straightaway covering miles 21 to 25. The unfortunate part of that was the downtown buildings never seemed to get any closer. The bigger they are, the further away you can see them and the longer it takes to get there. Could've been just me at that point too though.
The 2nd half did turn into more of a struggle around mile 18ish, but I tried to keep chugging along. The buildings eventually did get closer, I made a few more turns along the course and finished in 4:13. Although I only got 1 Tier of Happiness (see last previous post) I'm hanging my hat on that it's the fastest marathon I've run this year and my 2nd fastest ever. Not bad for a 40 year old, right? Holy crap, I'm 40 now!!!
This morning was kind of funny. I came down to make my breakfast and Becca wished me a happy birthday. I had to think for a sec because I actually forgot it was my bday, I guess I was too focused on the race.
Becca and her mom were awesome this morning. Not only were they at the start that early with me, but I saw them at 4 other spots along the course as well as at the finish line! And unbeknowst to me Becca made signs too! Thanks ladies!
Even though I didn't hit all my goal times I am content and happy with how things went. I think I need to reevaluate my race day nutrition though because there were some iffy moments along those lines. Physically I felt as good as you can trudging along for 26.2 miles so other than doing a little more strength training I think my training schedule is getting there.

Well, off to get another Guinness. That's my last race of the year so let the off-season and my decade of 40something begin!

Different Tiers of Happiness

2008-10-28T21:21:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure I'll have time between now and when I leave so I thought I better write these down and make them known so I hold myself accountable for this upcoming little jaunt I have this weekend. These times might not mean much to you, but pay attention and read along and you might figure out why they mean more to me. For my marathon on Saturday, my different levels of happiness will depend on the time I get. In order from slowest to fastest they are:

4:14 or better (happy): this was my time in Fargo this past May. It would be nice to be able to improve upon this time after a full spring, summer and fall of training and racing.
4:08 or better (happier): this is my current PR set exactly 10 years ago as of this Saturday, on 11/01/98 on my 30th bday.
3:59:59 or better (even happier): if I'm going to beat 4:08 I might as well try to get under 4 hours, right?
3:58 or better (happiest): yes, Wade, you and your PR are still a small reason why I'm running and one I hope to beat someday so I can have bragging rights (it's a guy thing).

This isn't to say that if I bomb on Saturday all hope is lost. It's my birthday so I have to make the most of it. If I don't have a good run let's just hope there's a "water" stop along the way that has some barley and hops in it. I might have to stop for a pint or two and say Happy Birthday!

Marathon recap to follow early next week. Check back to see if it's about my running success or birthday success.

Not My Study, But I Hope It's True!

2008-10-28T13:11:00.003-05:00

One of the many reasons why I run. Read this article and then get out there and postpone the need for a cane!

A White Halloween

2008-10-26T15:48:00.002-05:00

I didn't carve my pumpkin last night just so it could get covered by snow today! October 26th and it's snowing. Too early! One of the things I like about MN is the change in seasons and the variety they offer. It helps you to appreciate the season you're not currently in. For example, during the heat of July and August I think about winter and how refreshing the cold weather would feel at that moment in July. Now that it's here though, it's too early and will make for a looooooooong winter if it stays like this or gets worse.

Makes me wish I was in Ireland or Indiana.

Boys' Night

2008-10-25T22:08:00.003-05:00

Tonight was the night the kids and I look forward to a lot this time of year. We carved our pumpkins! We went to a farm outside of New Prague to pick out the perfect pumpkin for each of us. It's amazing how that farmer can grow my perfect orange sphere each following year after thinking I already had it the preceding year. Devon keeps saying his is the perfect one. Conner claims his is the perfect one. Boys, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. Mine's the perfect one! :) Of course I tell them theirs are each the perfect ones, but secretly I know better. Shh, don't tell them though.

We started out by Daddy-o cutting the top off of each and every intention was for each person to scoop out the innards in their own pumpkin. That worked for about 2.5 seconds after I got done telling them that was the plan. Devon actually did attempt to. He scooped awhile with the spoon and then did stick his hand in there and yank some out after some coaxing and seeing me do it. Conner...not so much. He just sat there with his spoon daintily taking one or two seeds out at a time, making sure his hand didn't touch the sides or any of the stringy, hairy, slimy innards. After awhile I caved and helped him out. Maybe next year he'll be brave enough to touch it and do it himself.

Conner did get to man the knife all by himself this year though and he did a great job cutting his (pumpkin) face out. No blood anywhere! Devon drew what he wanted on his and then I cut it. Before I cut his though, I confirmed he wanted it cut exactly how it was drawn. It's not the most symmetrical faced pumpkin on the block, but I dare you to look at it and not chuckle. You should have no problem picking out which is whose. We all like them all!

Of course this activity isn't complete until the seeds are roasted so we got that taken care of too. I didn't even burn those this year so the 2008 Pumpkin Season was a success!!

Happy Haunting.

P.S. I know I'm taking a great chance in jinxing things here, but the weather looks perfect so far for the marathon next weekend!

I Love The Taper!

2008-10-21T21:06:00.002-05:00

I had my last "long" training run last weekend and it went quite well I think. I had the help of Kimmi and Kris to keep my mind preoccupied and get me through the distance, so thank you very much ladies. I won't say which is which, but one of them ran the first 11 plus miles with me and then went home and partially died even though she's of Ironman caliber and I made the other one entertain me and talk more during the last hour and a half than she probably did the rest of the entire day. If I have a successful race I owe part of that to you two. Wanna come to Indy and do it 1 more time to get me through the race?! :)

Speaking of the race, tomorrow is the day I start to become neurotic about it. Tomorrow marks T -10 and anyone who's ever done any racing knows what that means, don't you? Yup, I get to start checking the weather forecasts multiple times throughout the day! Tomorrow it'll just be a couple of times, but by the time the day or two before the race comes around I'm usually looking at the updates hourly. I know it's so unproductive to do because I can't do anything about changing the weather, but hey, it's just part of the routine now. I'll be taking clothes for all scenarios anyway so why not just watch the weather the night before the race and leave it at that, right? That'd be too easy. I guess I want to know beforehand if the weather is going to be crappy so I can mentally prepare myself.

The Taper Period is weird. You train all season and always look forward to the 2 or 3 weeks before the marathon so you can rest up, but once it gets here you feel like you haven't done enough and want to get out there and do a couple of more training runs. At this point there isn't anything you can do to physically improve other than rest up, but that's the last thing you can make yourself believe. It's a matter of trusting what you did up to this point will help you succeed. So does that mean self-doubt is more prevalent than self-confidence? Ah, that's too deep for something that's just meant to be about running.

I better go find something else to do for the next 10 days.

Thursday Night Date

2008-10-17T00:04:00.003-05:00

Had a date tonight. Nope, not another one with my buddy Shawn. This one was with someone more important and a member of the female persuasion even!

I suppose I could try to string you along, but I won't. I took my daughter, Kayli, to the Guthrie to see the musical The Little House on the Prairie.

It was a good show. Beautiful voices, but the songs and a few of the characters didn't really jive. One of the cool things about this musical though (and you had to grow up watching the show 30ish years ago like I'm not too afraid I did to really appreciate this) is that Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the tv show back then, is in the performance for this production run. She plays Laura's mom this time around though. I don't think she could've pulled off still being Half Pint.

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I got Booed at work yesterday morning by a coworker. Can you believe it? Don't you wish you worked there? Actually, it's a good/fun thing. It's a secret "Boo" as in Halloween. It's loosely like the secret Santa, chain letter thing. I don't know who started it, but I got to my desk yesterday morning and there was a little decorated Halloween bowl filled with candy sitting on my desk with a Halloween poem and instructions and a Boo sign. I have to leave the sign hanging on my wall to show that I've been Booed and secretly do the same thing to 2 others - leave a little treat/trinket and the instructions and sign - within 24 hours and then each one of them does it 2 people and so on and so on. Eventually if everyone follows the instructions the whole office should have boo signs hanging by everyone's desk. I think I'll take mine down so people think I haven't gotten it yet and maybe that way I'll get more candy.

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Another good run today with a little bit of speed work thrown in. Confidence is gaining heading into these final 2 weeks.

I'm Back (I Hope)!!

2008-10-14T13:39:00.003-05:00

Just had to get this down while I'm still feeling 'high' from it - had a great 7 mile run over lunch today! Woo Hoo!! Hopefully Saturday's experience won't repeat itself anymore this training and racing season.

...But comparing Saturday's run to today's has made me wonder if I've become a warm weather training wuss.
Saturday - sunny, low 70s (slightly warm by a runner's standards)
Today - overcast, low to mid 50s (perfect running weather by my standards)
I used to think I did pretty well in the heat...maybe not.

It Was So Bad I Got Passed By A House

2008-10-12T23:17:00.002-05:00

Spent the weekend in Rochester with family. I was looking forward to this weekend for many family related reasons:
-I haven't seen my parents for awhile
-haven't seen my sister and her kids for awhile (you too Ken)
-it was my nephew's birthday
-was going to get to watch my nephew in his final football game of the year (in his first year of playing)
-and was going to get Kayli for the weekend and be with her for more than just 10 minutes.

Everything turned out great family-wise. All the kids played wonderfully together (no tears), Thomas liked all his presents (or maybe it was just all the cash) and the football game ended in a tie so there was no pouting by either team. Mom even made some of her awesome vegetable soup from a recipe that's at least 4 generations old now and some apple crisp from apples the kids picked Saturday afternoon. For the most part I ate healthy stuff, it's just the amount I ate that might be called into question.

The only downer to the weekend was my training run. After my nephew's football game Sat. morning I was going to run back to my sister's house. They live about 15 miles outside of the city so I mapped out a route to tack on a few more feet to come up with my 22 miler.

The game ended so I got set to run while the fam took off, planning to see them again in the 3-3:30 hrs it would take me. The first couple of miles started out innocently enough, but early on I could feel that I wasn't getting into "that rhythm" and it felt like more of a struggle than it should've. Then the hills started. I never realized Rochester was as hilly as it is, but then again I've only ever driven through it and never had to do a run like this one.

I knew I was in for a long afternoon when just before mile 9 I already had to stop at a Kwik Trip for a mental break more than anything and to top off my water bottle. Not a good sign. I struggled through the next couple of miles and came upon a semi that was pulled over to change a flat tire. It was an oversized load as they were hauling a pre-fab house addition. My new goal was to get to my next turn a few more miles down the road before they got that fixed and passed me back. That goal was shot down. I was running so slow I eventually got passed by a house. I just chuckled...it was just that type of run.

Long story short...Mom and Dad took all the kids to the apple orchard after they left the football game. On their way home from there they decided to check on me. They came across me at about mile 13 and with the way things were going I opted to end the run and jump in the van. I decided it was better to cut my losses rather than beat myself up over another 9 miles. I've already done one 20 miler and knew I had another coming up again this next weekend so I just chalked this one up to it being a bad day and I'll try it again.

It does put a little chink in the armor though and cause a few doubts to creep in. Hopefully this final long training run will go well and put those doubts to rest. My silver lining to the failed run is that I planned properly by putting in multiple 20s so if the first 1 or 2 do go bad I have another crack at it. I'm also trying to convince myself that I didn't want all these long runs to go well. I didn't want to peak too early and then bomb during the actually marathon. This way, my bad run is now behind me and shouldn't happen on race day.

Yeah...just like I planned it! ;)

GRRRR!!!!

2008-10-08T21:30:00.002-05:00

This day went south in a hurry. Can't salvage anything from it so I'm going to bed.

And They Paid To Do This?!

2008-10-06T22:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the Twin Cities Marathon. I've run this one 3 times and now that I'm on the "50 marathons in 50 different states" quest I doubt I'll run it again anytime soon. This year I opted to cheer on some TNT family members (i.e. teammates), a coworker and another friend. For a couple of them it was going to be their first marathon each. As with many things, your first time is a memorable one. I still remember #1 better than #2, 3 and 5 and just as well as #4, 6, 7 and 8.

This wasn't going to be just a casual spectating day. They were going to be out there for 26.2 miles. I wasn't going to take it easy and just cheer for them once at one spot and that be it. I made plans with Amy to spend Saturday night at her house as she lives in S. Mpls and close to the course (you may remember her from previous posts when I took over her house during my triathlon weekend. I might have to start paying her some rent. Her place has become Race Central for me.). Amy and I have done a couple of marathons together so we know what it's like to be the runners so we wanted to use that knowledge on the other side of the ropes and spectate.

We got up early to watch the early 10 mile race that was also being conducted with a start time an hour earlier than the full marathon. This race drew interest because it was the Women's National Championship for that distance so that meant the best runners in the nation at that distance were going to be racing. There was a lot of local buildup for this race because 2 of the potential winners had strong MN roots. Amy and I drove to the 2.5 mile spot on this course because it was close to her house and watched and cheered from there. When the leaders came by they were flying! Their race pace is probably not much slower than my 100 yard, 100% effort sprint and they seemed to be doing it with ease. We stayed for awhile and watched most of the other 5,000 people running the 10 miler and saw many familiar faces.

It soon became time to go though as we wanted to get into our first position along the marathon course at mile 7 before those runners came by. We initially were going to ride our bikes from Amy's house to this mark, but since we stayed and cheered longer than we thought for the 10ers we opted to drive to there instead. Turned out to be the best decision we made all day! We got there in plenty of time, but as soon as we did it started to rain. No worries though, we were prepared and had our umbrellas.

As we waited it started to rain harder...and then a little harder...and then a little harder. There were even a couple of lightning flashes and thunder claps. I've lucked out in my 8 marathons and have never had to run in the rain. The only thing I could think of while standing there was thank God I'm turning 40 in a few weeks and am training for another marathon on that day otherwise I might've been out there doing this one with my friends!

The runners started coming by, the leaders, then gradually bigger packs and then before we knew it the road was packed with the 11,000 runners who signed up for the race. I'm sure there were some who didn't even start when they saw what the weather was going to be like, but not our girls! They're sweet, but they don't melt when they get a little wet.

First came Dana and Kris right on cue at the pace they should be, smiling and actually looking like they were enjoying themselves! Luckily they saw me first and yelled out otherwise I may have been standing there all morning waiting to spot them. Shawna came by a few minutes later, gave her an extra ring of the cowbell and then looked for my final personal runner I was cheering for (all the while cheering for everyone else who was going by). This last one was Suni, my coworker. She was probably the one I was most nervous for so as more and more runners went by and I didn't see her I became more and more nervous and anxious. Did she already drop? Did she even start because of the rain? It came to the point when we couldn't wait around any longer if we wanted to get to our next spot and catch those who had already gone by so we left. Sorry I missed you Suni.

We drove back to Amy's house to get some cheer supplies and the rain was starting to let up. I opted to jump on my bike at this point, regardless of what the weather was going to do the rest of the day. I figured with my familiarity with the course and the way traffic would be right around the course, biking would be quickest and allow for multiple stopping points. I put on my rain pants, grabbed my Spiderman backpack I was using for the day (thanks Conner!) stocked full of baggies of fruit, pretzels, umbrellas, cowbell and homemade posters and was off!

I cruised down to Mile 14 and waited for my girls to come by (funny, for some reason my main focus was on a handful of female runners. Hmmm...:)). I figured I had some time so I whipped out the posters and held them up, one for each of my peeps. Being of obnoxious (but effective) neon colors with big block letters I hoped they would see them from a distance and get a charge out of them. The one I made for Kris just had her last name on it - MIELKE is Amazing! A few minutes before they came by some guy ran by and said "hey, thanks". Not thinking anything of it other than that was kinda weird I just replied "sure, you bet". After the race was over I looked up their results and saw that there were 2 other runners with the last name Mielke so apparently one of them thought the sign was for him too. Sir, if it helped you at all at that point, then yes, the sign was for you too!

Kris and Dana came by right on pace target, got a good smile out of both of them and they kept truckin' along! After they went by, I just flipped the signs over and had one ready for Shawna and Suni (hopefully I'd see her this time). Shawna came by next at about the same interval as back at mile 7 so she was right on target too. I threw her a bag of fruit without her breaking stride and she motored on. Now it was Suni's turn. Where are you Suni? Another minute or two went by and all of a sudden I see this blur come shooting over to me from the side. It was Suni! Yeah, she did make it and was doing great! I got a quick sweaty hug and she was back on her way.

My next spot was just before Mile 22, after the last major hill and right before Summit Ave, a long, seemingly-never-ending, 4 mile straightaway that has a slight incline to it that seems like you're trekking up Mt. Everest at that point in the race. D & K maintained their front-running status and were first upon me. They were both still looking strong! Kris was one of the rookies coming into this marathon so every step she took after the 20 mile mark was a personal record and new distance for her. She looked like she had done this before! Check out her blog and marathon recap here. She grabbed a bag of pretzels at this point to replenish some sodium and like the Energizer bunnies they just kept on going! Suni and Shawna came by separately so I was able to attend to each one individually and run with them for a few paces to assess their well-being. There was no quit in anyone and they knew the finish was getting nearer!

After having done this marathon 3 times I knew Summit Ave was more about the mental toughness than the physical aspect at that point. I cruised down a couple of miles and positioned myself for 1 last cheer spot to hopefully give my girls a little boost to help carry them through. I got out the posters one last time and knew this time if they were looking up and ahead at all and not down at their feet they'd see and recognize them from quite a ways away. They all gave me a smile and/or a thumbs up so there was no doubt they were going to finish.

The matter of finishing was never really an option or thought for any of them. The thing that amazed me though about each of them was that they were still right on target or faster despite running in the rain the first 10 miles! Earlier in the day I thought that was going to slow everyone down. Not these amazing runners though!

Unfortunately I didn't make it to the Finish Line to see any of them cross as the crowd got thicker the closer I got and I had to weave and eventually walk my bike through the pack and around. I was able to meet up with Dana and Kris though and their perma-grins. We had someone snap this picture of us. I laughed when I got it emailed to me from Kris today because of the rip in my rain pants. Yes, that's a rip, my fly isn't open. I had shorts on underneath. Getting on and off my bike all day and swinging my leg up and over I ripped 'em at some point and didn't even know it until Dana pointed it out after the picture was taken. Thanks for waiting to tell me! :)

Also, notice the blue sky after they're done racing! Murphy's Law.

The night ended appropriately with a group dinner with 9 of us, mostly runners from the day celebrating their accomplishment. Big meals, a couple of drinks and most definitely some dessert. The only thing missing was a little dancing to see how the legs felt at that point. After your Ironman, Dana and Kris, we're definitely going out dancing!

After watching these ladies, and everyone else, it has fired me up a little more for my marathon coming up. I wanted to be out there running with them! That's a good sign and hopefully I'll be able to do as well as they all did!

Pity Party - Get Over It!

2008-10-03T11:54:00.002-05:00

Spent last night in the doldrums of solitude. I guess it was about that time, I go through that on occasion. Not too often, but every now and then I do wish/want/need someone to come home to.

I’m a grown-up. I make my own decisions. I’ve made the decision lately to not be dating or at least to not actively pursue those options, but last night on the drive home I wanted to be going home to someone…not to an empty, quiet house. I tried to stay busy once I got home, but that didn’t last long. Cleaned one of my bikes, but spent most of the night sitting in front of my computer playing spades, hearts and backgammon online. Yup, that’s my exciting life down in Lonsdale.

Wasn’t even really looking forward to crawling into bed because I knew my body pillow just wouldn’t snuggle back the way I wanted it to.

I asked myself why I’m not dating. Others have asked why too. My answer to them has been I don’t have time. With all the running I’m doing lately and the demands of a marathon I feel like I don’t have the time or the little time I do have should be set aside for more training. I think that’s a cop-out answer. Truth be told, I think a more appropriate answer is that I’m a chicken (not too far removed from my turkey pals I’ve been meeting lately on my runs).

Dating back before my marriage was hard, stressful enough. Especially for someone who’s quiet and reserved. Throw onto that dating resume now the terms divorcee and single parent and that immediately minimizes the dating pool. Not knowing how someone feels about those 2 big issues I now carry with me makes me even more skittish to take the initiative, along with still being quiet and reserved. I’m the kind of person who usually likes to gather the facts before making a decision. I just can’t go up to a woman and say “hey, let’s go out” without knowing first if she’s interested in me and knows what baggage* I bring. That’s just the way I operate I guess, but it does make this part of my life harder.

I think people do need others in their life romantically, we shouldn’t go through life alone. Studies have shown that (I’m not going to take the time to quote or find ‘em though so you’ll just have to trust me). When I’m out in public or at social gatherings I notice other couples and their interaction and wish I was with someone too. I do want that romantic partner again, but am too chicken to do anything about it.

Oh well, that’s my sob story for tonight. Don’t feel sorry for me, that wasn’t the purpose of the post. I’ve made my own decisions and will continue to do so.

Maybe I’m PMSing.

*Baggage is just an easy term to use. It in no way should imply my kids are an encumbrance or anything negative.

3 Little Einsteins, 1 Big....

2008-09-30T22:51:00.004-05:00

The kids' conferences went well. Started out with Devon's yesterday and he's doing great in Kindergarten. Slightly ahead in pretty much every area of where they like to see their incoming students.

Kayli's was next today, but I missed that one as I couldn't find the school. Oops! I looked it up on mapquest yesterday and thought I knew where it was, but obviously didn't pay close enough attention to the details. Gonna have to go back and remap it before my next attempt to get there! Kayli had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she was bored in math class because what they were teaching was stuff she had already gone over last year in 5th grade in New Prague. They're beyond refreshing and reviewing what the students learned last year and dusting off the cobwebs from summer and it's still pretty familiar to her so she's going to get bumped up into the accelerated math group! She's excited for that as am I. It's actually kind of ironic. She says that math isn't (wasn't) her favorite class and I remember struggling with her the last couple of years to get her homework done because she didn't understand it, but she continually brought home good test scores. I'm glad she spoke up and wants to be challenged rather than just coasting through the subject.

Conner's was shortly after Kayli's and in a different part of town (they're in different school buildings) so I just headed over there once I knew I'd be too late to try to find Kayli's. Conner's went well as well. Found out his 1 main weakness we were informed of last year in 2nd grade has carried over to 3rd grade and the new school - he's chatty! I think it's pretty safe to say he gets that from his mother's side. It may be affecting his test scores somewhat because apparently he sometimes misses the instructions because he's gabbing and doesn't test as high as he probably should. He got a good math grade, but not as high as we think he's capable of. It's not a major concern though and I'm sure his teacher will keep things in check. His teacher doesn't see any issues or concerns with his social life and fitting in (he voiced he wasn't making any friends and missed his old school) so that was our main concern. He remains a positive in the classroom and he's reading a ton! Just keep him reading and he won't talk. Problem solved!

Lindsay went back to being Lindsay today. She sent me a doozy of an email today that just got my goat. It started out very harmlessly with her asking about some dates/weekends we're switching the kids around and then suddenly took a drastic left turn out to nowhere. I wanted to chuck my monitor across the office when I read it! Thankfully we have a workout room at the office so I went and lifted some weights for about 15 minutes and that seemed to settle me down. After I had time to think about it I think what got to me the most was that I let what she said get to me. I'm a little upset at myself for that. It's been awhile since we haven't seen eye to eye on something and I forgot how she thinks and processes info. Once I remembered those factors I was able to let it slide a little easier. That's not to say I agree with her, just that she's going to think what she thinks because that's the way she is. She's caused enough of my hairs to go gray (those that she didn't cause to fall out), no more though dagnabit!!

Let's All Do The Turkey Trot

2008-09-28T19:47:00.003-05:00

Training report: I ran today.

End of report.

Actually, it was a pretty good run. It was my first 20 miler this training cycle. I've scheduled myself to do 2 more - a backdown run next weekend (12-15 miles) and then the following weekends will be a 22, 20 and then a 2 week taper before my marathon. I actually wanted to do more training miles leading up to this marathon. I'm thinking that might be part of my problem in bonking when I have my last few marathons. Well, maybe just in Fargo this past Spring. The 2 prior to that there were extenuating circumstances that I'll chalk those runs up to (yes, I'm fully aware some of you will read "extenuating circumstances" as "excuses"). For Fargo's I was kind of banking (i.e. hoping/wishing) my triathlon training would carry me through that one. I found out the hard way that triathlon training does not substitute fully for marathon training unless you're training for an Ironman.

Knowing I wasn't going to be able to con someone into running the whole 20 miles with me I set out trying to find someone to do part of it with me. Even we introverts can get bored when it's just ourselves on a long run. Kris bit at the opportunity and we set the plans to meet this morning.

I got to the neighborhood where we were going to meet and found out there was a 10 mile race in progress so they had all the roads closed in the area which made getting to the meeting spot cumbersome. Needless to say, we didn't meet up through no fault of her's, just a matter of unforeseen circumstances. That meant I had to run alone...by myself...solo...party of 1...for 20 miles...105,600 feet. There was a nanosecond there when I just thought, "ah, skip the run, you don't want to run that far by yourself." Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at things) I was able to push that thought aside, sucked it up and told myself it'll be a good mental workout too getting through it - needing to rely on just myself to make it and not lean on someone else to pull me along.

I laced up the running clogs and was off.

I won't take you through every mile, but in conclusion the first 17 went well and I was feeling good physically. The last 3 were noticeably slower and there was some competition going on between my physical and mental beings. I had to resort to some tricks and play games between the two, they both got their fair share of wins, but in the end we all came out stronger after getting through it so this first 20 miler was a success in my book.

My route today was along the Mississippi River and the last 10 miles of the TCM marathon. I love this time of year with the leaves starting to change. The colors aren't there fully yet, but the river banks were still nice to look at and were a pleasant distraction. Next weekend is that marathon so I'm sure they'll be even more apparent. At that point in the route if you can take your mind off how you're feeling and look around hopefully you're able to appreciate the beauty of nature. You can sometimes forget that you're in a metropolitan area which is a nice reprieve.

So I went for a run with a bunch of turkeys on Thursday, literally. I was able to sneak out during lunch for a quick 5 miles. My route in Eagan takes me from my office, down along the pedestrian path along 494 and across the MN River. As I turned the corner to get on the path and head down to the river there were a bunch of wild turkeys standing there, some on the path, some eating in the brush off to the side. I'll admit they scared the crap out of me a little! What is a group of turkeys called - flock, gaggle, group, bunch? Anyway, I wasn't sure if they were going to move or what and thought I remembered hearing they can be somewhat aggressive. I kept running towards them hoping they would part and leave me alone. Some snuck back into the woods off to the left, some kept eating off to the right and some started sauntering down the path in front of me. Have you ever seen a turkey saunter? You should. Those in front picked up their pace a little and I kept with them stride for stride (only 2 or 3) before they darted off into the woods too. After getting past them I did look back a couple of times just to make sure none of them got brave and started chasing me. That would've made for a good speed workout I suppose. Thankfully they weren't there on my way back about 20 minutes later.

Well, that's it for my training report. Seriously this time.

We have conferences for the kids this week. Farmington is on the 4 quarters system, not trimesters like we're used to with New Prague, so it'll be nice to meet the teachers we haven't yet and get the synopsis from them on how the kids are doing and adjusting. There have been some minor transition pains, but I think all 3 of them are enjoying themselves by now and fitting in.

I think Kayli's used to her short hair by now, but I still do a double take when I see her. She says the biggest difference is just in washing her hair because it goes so quick now. It's strange not having her around here anymore. I have to cram our time together into the 5-10 minutes I see her when I pick up the boys. Kinda weird. I do have Guthrie tickets for her and me to see a show in a couple of weeks though so I'm looking forward to that.

Well, I think that's about it for tonight. You're all caught up so I'm gonna sign off.

There's a post-ironman party on Wednesday hosted by the 2 we went to watch. Hopefully they'll let loose a little now that everything is behind them so there may be a story or two to tell from that evening. Stay tuned.

This, That and The Other Things

2008-09-21T22:07:00.002-05:00

Just an odds 'n ends posting tonight.

Had a date last night. You're going to have to read this whole thing though to get the details (no skipping right to the end).

Training has (had) been progressing somewhat well for my next marathon. I had a couple of good runs (the jogging kind, not the sit down in the bathroom kind) early in the week, but on Thursday night's run I felt my right hip flexor(s) weren't fully cooperating. I was scheduled to do an 18 mile run on Saturday, but I scaled that down to just 10 so as to not overdo it and cause unnecessary damage. It felt about the same after Saturday's run as it did on Thursday so hopefully it was just feeling tired and not injured. I'll monitor it for a couple of more days and then hopefully get back on schedule. Maybe a 20 this coming weekend if everything feels fine (and I can finagle it into the family schedule).

After my run on Saturday I was scheduled to volunteer at the packet pick-up portion for a duathlon in Bloomington. That was a good time. Met a couple of other volunteers who are Iron(wo)men. One girl just completed IM WI that my friends were in and another gentleman is doing IM AZ in November (he's also done others). I also found out he's on the Leukemia Society's board of directors so we talked briefly about TNT. He also pulls some weight in the MN triathlon community (not quite sure to what extent, but apparently enough) and he says they're trying to get Ironman to have a race in MN. Possibly by 2010 or sometime soon thereafter. Stay tuned for further details. Quick disclaimer though, I highly doubt I would end up doing that one though. I've already run a marathon in MN so WI is looking like the more likely scenario once that race situation comes around.

The date included a movie.

Today was the actual duathlon race. During my volunteer shift yesterday I ran into a lot of friends who had signed up for the race. Some I knew were already doing it, others I didn't know until I saw them yesterday. They were all from past TNT teams, marathon and/or triathlon. It was fun to catch up with them and great to see that they're still being active.

Seeing as how I knew so many people participating I went to watch today as well. It's fun being on that side of the ropes on occasion - don't have to worry about dinner the night before, prerace jitters, getting up early, etc. I like to think I've become a borderline "expert" spectator. I try to think about what I would like spectators (and anyone there to specifically watch me) do and where I'd like them to be and then that's what I try to do. I purposely get away from the main crowds to offer the racers another cheerer at another spot along the route and so when I call out their name hopefully they'll hear that and get a little boost. They all did great! Way to go Amy, Angela, Anna, Caroline, Carrie, Dana, Elizabeth, Grace, Jen, Julie, Kris, Spring, Stephanie (I think (hope) that's everyone I knew, sorry if I missed listing you if not. Plus, it's alphabetically so as to not show any favoritism, I know how you women can get. ;) hehehe).

There will more than likely be more dates down the road, but nothing has been planned as of yet.

Oh, get this - yesterday when I was working handing out packets a racer came by to pick her's up. She also knew a couple of other volunteers working there so she was standing around talking to them for a few minutes. She looked at me a few times and finally asked if she knew me from somewhere. I didn't recognize her at all so said probably not, just one of those faces I guess. She couldn't place it either from where, if anywhere, so she finished her chat with her friends and left. Fast forward to today. I was standing alone along the run course cheering and she came walking by after she was done. She said, "you used to be a student manager at the Pub." Quickly putting the pieces together I asked, "are you talking about St. Mary's?" Turns out she was. St. Mary's was where we both went to college and the Pub was the on-campus student union - pizza/burger/pool/beer joint. I was a senior in '90/'91 and she was a sophomore and apparently I did such a great job of making an impression on her as a student manager that she remembers me from that role 18 years later! I still couldn't remember her though, but that was kind of funny to hear and be remembered for that. Funny to me anyway.

After this Indy marathon in Nov. I'm going to have to think about my race schedule for '09. I found out today that TNT is dropping the Alaska marathon from their lineup, but replacing it with the new Rock N Roll marathon in Seattle! Next year (June) will be the first year for that marathon so it would be fun to do the inaugural running of that, plus the Rock N Roll Series is very well organized and supported. Signing up for that team though could be an issue because I'd want to do the triathlon team again, but the scheduling could be an issue because they train at the same times, but separately. The LTF tri is 2 weeks after the Seattle marathon and then 2 weeks after that is the Chisago Lakes 1/2 iron triathlon I was toying with doing. That would be a lot of racing miles in a 4 week period! Hmmm, I'll have to put more thought into that.

Okay, it wasn't really a "date" date, but it was still an organized night out with only 1 other person. It just happened to be with my buddy Shawn. We talked about getting together for dinner and whatever. We ended up going to a movie (Burn After Reading. I'd give it a thumbs up) and dinner consisted of a bag of popcorn and licorice (pretty nutritious, huh?). He's single too so we joked about it being a date. I should've told him he asked me out so he would've had to pay. Damn, missed that opportunity. I can't remember if I've ever gone to a movie with just 1 other guy. Maybe back in high school.

Maybe I should pursue Dana's "Sara(h?) attempt" instead.

My Daughter Aged Overnight

2008-09-17T00:17:00.003-05:00

I guess technically we all do. We age with every passing second for that matter.

She called me last night to tell me she was getting her hair cut. She's 11. She's had it cut before, no big deal, right? This time she was getting it cut cut though!

She was with her mom at the time, but I was told the conversation went something like this-

Kayli (daughter): I want to get my hair cut.
Lindsay (her mom): Okay, how much?
K: Just trimmed. I want it to grow longer so I can donate it to Locks of Love.
L: Your hair is long enough to do that now.
K: Oh, okay, I want to get it cut short then.

I stopped over at Lindsay's tonight to see it and she went from my little girl to a little lady. Okay, there have been 2 other "bumpy" developments that have been taking shape the past few months that have also contributed to that metamorphosis, but this one change made her look 5 years older instantly!

She likes her new look and for that matter so do I.

That's her in my profile picture taken just 2 months ago. You can see how long her hair was. It's not even touching her shoulders now, she has a neck! I'm more proud of her than anything though. It was her thought and idea to donate her hair. Unprovoked she wanted to do that. It gives me a warm fuzzy knowing my kids think along those lines.

The funny thing is, we just got her school pictures back last week and now they're outdated. Maybe we should get retakes?

What A Difference A Week Makes

2008-09-15T00:17:00.002-05:00

I mentioned last post that I was a bit puzzled about how I felt about the ironman and I think I've been able to clear things up within my simple little mind finally.

First and foremost, I was going there to watch and support my friends. On a personal level though, I was also hoping it would help motivate me in my own athletic endeavors. It didn't. Nor should it have.

What did motivate me was having a good week of running capped off by a 17 miler yesterday that, dare I say, felt easy (knocking on wood right now). During that 17 miles there was plenty of time to ponder and I came up with a theory. I think I am, or maybe have become, the type of person that has to experience something or what it takes to get there in order for it to really sink in and mean something to me.

I do want to do an IM someday, but not now. With not having put myself through the rigors of training for one or financially signing up for it, I don't have the personal connection and can't get motivated by it. I was trying to use the IM and compare that with my personal long-term goal of running a marathon in all 50 states. It's apples and oranges. I have run multiple marathons and am in the meat and potatoes portion of training for another so I know the feelings associated with and am still motivated by that. I haven't done the IM so I can't draw on that non-experience.

Make sense? If so, sit down for this shocker - I'm going to apply this same line of thinking to something outside of my athletic life and to my personal life! Can I blog about something non-sports related?! Let's find out.

Just last week I had multiple people, all of who have never asked about my romantic life, ask if I was dating anyone or what I wanted in that regard. Dating and remarriage for me is a cross between doing the ironman and another marathon. I do want to get remarried someday, but like the ironman, not now. I've gone through the highs of marriage and lows of divorce so I've experienced the whole gamut, and like the marathons, I want to do it again. Unlike the marathons, I don't want to do it 2 or 3 times per year though or in all 50 states!

Having the divorce behind me and as hard as it was, I know it was the right thing to do. I've experienced it and it motivates me to make sure it doesn't happen again. The next Mrs. Jon McCarthy is going to be lucky based on the fact that I learned my lessons.

Yesterday's run was a little different for me because it was so active mentally. Usually I try to shut down the brain and zone out and just run. I guess I had a few things to think about. I wonder what my 20 milers coming up are going to be like?!

Incredible Athletes

2008-09-10T21:42:00.004-05:00

After watching the Ironman in person this past weekend I'm still trying to process what it all means on a personal level. I'm somewhat perplexed by my thoughts/views about it and what I'm doing, or trying to do, athletically. I'll post more on that later once I wrap my head around it all, but speaking strictly as a spectator though, it was frickin' awesome!

The 2 participants we were there to watch did fabulous! They both finished with nary a worry and ear to ear smiles every time we saw them on the course. I won't give you a play by play recap of the whole race (I'm sure you can get that from Kimmi and Rachel in the next day or so once they've recovered and have had time to post them), but just some thoughts from a spectator's point of view.

Our morning started out early at 5 a.m. in order to drive the 7 miles downtown, park and find the rest of our crew. We were able to see K and R and wish them good luck 1 final time. They both seemed calm and ready to go. Once we left them I headed down to the swim start with others. This start is unlike most in that it's one big mass wave start, but with the participants already in the water about 50 yards out, not starting on the beach with them running in.

Once the cannon went off at 7:00 a.m. signaling the start the calm, bluegray waters became an instant froth of seemingly chaos and flailing arms. Unless you were in the lead or purposely lagging behind I would think it'd be akin to a sock going through the heavy duty wash cycle.

There was a 2 hr 20 minute cutoff for this portion of the race meaning that if you weren't done swimming within 2:20 you were done, not allowed to continue. Watching these cutoffs get closer and closer knowing there are still racers out there is some of the most nerve-wracking minutes in this sport for a spectator. You want so bad for everyone to make it, but you know not everyone will and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. As 5 minutes became 4...and then 3...and then 2...and then 1...and then seconds, there were 2 swimmers that were about 30 yards out. By this time the announcer has the crowd fully into it cheering for these 2 to get in under the cutoff, the music blaring, everyone's screaming and cheering knowing it's going to be close. 10...9...8...the volunteers that are there to help people out of the water are standing out in the water, waist deep, waiting to get their hands on these 2...7...6...5...the first of the 2 takes his final stroke and the volunteers grab both arms and simultaneously drag him in further and stand him up, he made it! ...4...3...2...the other one does the same!! At the buzzer she finishes her swim and is allowed to continue on to the bike portion. The crowd is just in a tizzy, going wild. I'd be willing to bet these 2 got the loudest cheers of the day and their smiles told the whole story!!

On the flip side of this whole uplifting moment though, 30 seconds later the next swimmer comes in and he has to be stopped from running through the chute and told his day is done, he didn't make it under the cutoff. How much would that suck? You've trained for months and months and months and find out your Ironman dream has vanished because you were 30 seconds too slow. It's over before it gets started. This was tough to watch and I'll admit to getting a little teary-eyed. There were a few others out in the water yet who were in the same boat (no pun intended).

On to the bike portion. This part isn't quite as dramatic as watching the bike portion is harder and you only see any 1 racer for just a few blurry seconds. We took the shuttle out to the popular spectator spot on the course and waited for our 2 to come around. They had to do this loop of the route twice so we knew we'd see them both times at miles 56 and 97. Waiting for them to come through and noticing all the other bikers the majority looked fresh and energized. We were able to spot R and K in enough time to make plenty of noise and hopefully get them re-energized. Watching the riders come through the 2nd time, I was visibly able to notice a difference on quite a few faces that the physicality of everything was starting to take its toll. There were some more pained expressions, not grimacing in pain, but more like a worn down look. Not our girls though! They both came through with their cheshire cat grins and back to the transition they headed.

We jumped back on the shuttle buses to get back downtown to watch the run. We first positioned ourselves at about the 1/2 mile mark on the run so we could cheer for them right away on this final leg of the race. I'm still not sure what I think of the run route. It's an out-and-back that you have to do twice. The turn-around at the halfway point is 1 block from the finish line and every runner can see the finish line as they come to the halfway point knowing they can't yet head to the finish. I'm sure it makes the feeling that much better the 2nd time by, but what a big tease that 1st time! The layout is great for spectating though because it was easy for our group to get to multiple spots to cheer them on elsewhere after our runners passed.

For a majority of the run I watched near this 1/2 way turnaround for the 1st lappers and the finishing block for those who had done their 2 laps. Once again there was agony and ecstasy at this juncture. For those finishing and coming around that final corner, it was pure joy and belief that they were now ironmen. A few of them were crying as they headed in, a lot of them were happier than a kid at Christmas. The agony could be seen at the 1/2 way point turnaround though. There was also a cutoff for this portion of the race at 9:00 p.m. If you weren't at the 1/2 point on the run by 9, you weren't allowed to continue. A handful of people had made it to this point before 9 and had voluntarily elected to call it quits for whatever reason. As the deadline approached, those going through were warned that they were dangerously close to the cutoff and that they'd need to be cognizant of this on the 2nd half if they wanted to finish by midnight (the overall cutoff at 17 hours). The final guy I saw make it up to this point didn't make it in time. He had to be told by race officials that he was past the cutoff and wouldn't be allowed to continue. Not only would this suck for those not making it fast enough in the swim portion, but this guy had already swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 and ran 13.1. He was only 13.1 miles away from the total 140.6 he had to do, but he would have to try it again some other day!

After Rach (just under 14 hrs) and Kimmi (just over 15 hours) finished and midnight approached, I stuck around the finish line to see the last of the finishers come in. The announcers did a great job giving us updates on the remaining runners still out on the course as the minutes ticked off and got closer to midnight. At 11:53, with 7 minutes to go, he called out to the pacer/official who was with the very last person about 1/2 mile out and told them they had 7 minutes to go to get in. The person's response back was that they only needed 5! Awesome, everyone on the course was going to finish! As midnight approached that 5 minutes came and went. They were down to 2...and then 1...and then we saw them turn the last corner and head the last 1 1/2 blocks to the finish line. Once again, those who stuck around to cheer were just going wild, urging these final few to make it in under the wire. With a 17 hour cutoff, the last person to cross the line did it with 4 seconds to spare, 16:59:56!! Truly amazing! Despite having been up for the previous 19 hours I had a hard time falling asleep that night because I was so jazzed up by the whole finish line experience and atmosphere.

The next day, Dana, Kris, Becca and Sean, all TNT teammates, signed up to do this Ironman in '09. Looks like I get to go watch another one!

It's All Relative

2008-09-05T23:21:00.005-05:00

Q: Since when is running 15 miles no big deal?
A: Tomorrow morning.

My marathon training schedule calls for a 15 miler in the a.m. (I better make this a short post so I can get to bed), but it's going to feel slightly inferior and inadequate to the rest of the weekend. Dare I say I'll be embarrassed if I tell people this weekend that's all I did? Here's why - after my run with Dana and Kris we're heading down to Madison for the ultimate in athletic endurance. Kimmi and Rachel will be conquering the Ironman Triathlon on Sunday and we're going to cheer them on! Being around 2,000 Ironman-caliber triathletes will put my 15 miler to shame. It's going to be a great spectacle to watch and hopefully provide some more motivation to continue down this athletic path.

I don't think an Ironman is in my future within the next 3-5 years, but maybe someday. I'll either A. have to get married again so I have a spouse to take care of the kids while I'm training 4-6 hours per day on top of a full time job or B. wait until the kids are older and more independent so I can somewhat justify the 4-6 hours of training. B is a safer bet on the more likely scenario.

The last quarter of the marathon is what I'm most interested in watching. I hope K and R don't read the rest of this - Ladies, if you are reading this, log off now. Okay, now that we've gotten rid of them, have you ever seen the end of an endurance race where someone's body just starts to shut down, they start to weave and stumble and just get all zombie-ish? During Ragnar we were waiting for our 3rd runner to come in. It was the longest leg of the entire race, 9.5 miles, and it was starting to get pretty hot and humid, right around noon. A couple of times on this portion we saw a runner that was looking great - long, smooth, effortless strides, and fast - passing other runners one after the other - a few people were commenting on how good she looked. Near the end of this leg was a short, but steep hill. We were waiting at the exchange for Becky (our teammate) to come in when I saw this good runner crest the hill. Both the girl standing next to me and I commented on how impressed we were with her. Just then she faltered. She stopped running, arms were straight down (okay, maybe not zombie-ish since theirs are usually straight out), slouched over, started stumbling and almost fell. A couple of us ran out to grab her to help her in. She had pretty obviously ran too hard given the conditions and dehydrated and overheated. That was my first time witnessing that in person and it was kinda freaky. The weather will be cooler on Sunday for the triathlon, but with how far (140.3 miles) these triathletes will travel and how long (the pros will finish in just over 8 hours while some amatuers will be out there for 17) they'll be continuously pushing their bodies, there's bound to be some racers majorly hitting the wall. I'm certainly not wishing for it to happen, but it'll be interesting to watch.
Since I know you didn't heed my warning Kimmi and Rachel and still read this, I know it won't happen to you 2 though. You've done everything right to get here (not counting a certain bike crash early in the season) and are out there to enjoy the experience. The things some people will do for a little fun in their life!

Good luck girls, and everyone else doing any racing this weekend!

Now, off to bed so I can rest up for my lazy-ass 15 mile run. :)

Ragnar Recap

2008-08-26T20:33:00.010-05:00

Spidey died. More on that later.

The relay run was a lot of fun! If you're any sort of runner and get the opportunity to do this relay I'd highly recommend it. I won't take you through every mile, but the following is a recap of how our 205 fun run adventure went.

We drove down to La Crosse Thursday afternoon, the last half in the rain so thankfully we hadn't decorated the van yet. After dinner the rain had stopped so we decided to write some stuff on our van windows that night and finished decorating the next morning before heading to the Start line. Being that our team name was The Babes & The Boys we had previously decided to decorate with bras and boxers. See the connection? Here's what we came up with-

Friday started out perfect, overcast with a breeze from the south (we were running north), but eventually that changed to hot and humid. The first few runners did well and we got a feel for how this whole thing operated. We'd drop off our next runner at their exchange (where the previous runner ended and the next one started), drive down the road a couple of miles, cheer on our runner along with all the others, jump back in the van and drive another couple of miles and just leapfrog our way up to the next exchange.

By the time it got to me, being runner #6, it was around 3:00 in the afternoon and hot and humid, the car thermometer was in the 90s. I had a 6.8 mile first leg staring at me, but I knew we'd have a 5-6 hour rest after I got done so off I went. The run sucked because of the conditions, but I eventually made it. A few hundred yards from where I finished I had my vanmates meet me so I could throw on a different hat and coming running in hopefully to a few smiles/laughs. This is how I looked:

I found out after the fact that they had modified the course slightly and added an extra mile to that leg so in fact I ran 7.8. Glad I found out after rather than before!

After passing off the slap wrist bracelet to our Van #2 teammates we had some much deserved downtime. I brought a grill so we were able to picnic and have a nice, hot meal (chicken boob sandwiches, baked beans, veggies, fruit). We rested, tried to clean up a bit and aired out our shoes. Knowing we had to run 2 more times each we just "bathed" with some wet wipes so we wouldn't get too raunchy confined in the van.

After eating and resting a bit, we packed up and hit the road to find the 2nd half of our team, cheer them on for their remaining runs and get to our next exchange.

Along the way we threw in an attempt at some spy games. We had pulled into a gas station to get some ice for the coolers. Lo and behold there was another van there decorated in underwear too, Team U.N.D.Y. (Unfortunately Not Dead Yet). We said our's was better, they said their's was better. They got us on a technicality in that they had Spiderman underwear and we only had Curious George. Spidey could whoop George's ass if it came down to it.

Well, after about an hour or two and a few miles down the road after seeing them again we devised a plan. At the next exchange we secretly stole their Spidey underwear off their van and left them a ransom note, obviously not saying it was from us. We instructed them that if they wanted to see Spidey alive again when we both got to a designated exchange further up the route they were to leave 2 other pieces of undergarments under their tire, vacate the area and then the switch would take place. They were told not to hide in the hopes that they would catch us and that if anything was amiss Spidey would get it. We made it to that exchange before they did, saw them come driving down the road and were able to follow them on foot undetected to where they parked.

The sly bastards picked a deserted nook off the main street so I was unable to ascertain whether or not they were following the instructions. I saw they all left the van and followed them down the block. Being a man of my word, I went back to the van to get Spidey to make the exchange. I was about to head back up the block to where they parked when I noticed them walking back to their van. I followed and was within earshot when I heard them talking about it and heard one of them say they thought it was "that Babes and Boys team".

I camped out for a few minutes in the hopes they would leave their van again. Sure enough, they did so I did a casual walk-by, but there weren't any underwears to exchange with! Apparently they didn't love Spidey so ultimately he met his demise.

I wonder if they put the clothes out there when they first left, saw that they were there when they came back and then picked them up so that was our 1 chance? Oh well, we never saw them again during the race after that so we didn't get a chance to ask. We would've come clean at the end had we run into them again, just tryin' to have some fun with another team.

Okay, back to the race.

Our 2nd stint running for van #1 started about 10:00 Friday night. It had downpoured a couple of hours earlier and was still pretty humid so the air was thick. It stayed that way until about midnight and then got gorgeous for running. By the time my shift came around it was 3 a.m. and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was cool, probably had dropped into the 50s. Perfect!

Those with running shifts during the night had to wear reflective vests and headlamps for the obvious safety concerns. I had mine on of course for this 7.5 mile run. A couple of times out on this run though I just turned off my lamp and ran in the complete darkness of nature, only illuminated by the 1/2 moon and countless stars. It was the most fun I've had running since I can remember. I think that's because it isn't anything I've ever done before - run in the middle of the night. For the lack of putting it into better words, it was pretty cool.

I finished up this portion and our van got to rest again. This stopping point was Prescott High School. They opened up their building to the racers and had a pasta feed, hot showers and mats on the gym floor for sleeping - all this for only $10! The best ten bucks I spent all weekend!! The pasta tasted like school food, the wrestling mates on the gym floor didn't exactly promote deep slumber, but the hot shower was divine.

1 thing I did notice when trying to sleep for an hour in the gym was that I didn't notice anyone snoring! There must've been 300 people in that gym, but I didn't hear 1 human bodily nose - snoring nor farting (some people have a tendency to do that when sleeping). I thought that was pretty amazing. People were either really tired and passed out beyond the point of snoring or were just laying there pretending to be comfortable like I was. I could hear the cricket across the gym though.

After that pit stop we hit the road again at 7:00 a.m. to get in place for our final run. We met up with our teammates currently running just before the last exchange of their stint, cheered them on and then got ready ourselves.

Not a whole lot to report on this final segment. It was physically tough, legs felt a little rubbery, but thankfully it was my shortest segment at only 5 miles. This whole leg though I ran wearing my phone hat, got some more laughs and comments so it was fun. The last 1/2 mile I caught up to a girl in front of me and we finished up the segment together. I told her I'd give her my number, but my phone had been disconnected. She made my day and got a good laugh out of that. It was stupid, little things like that - the hats, costumes, stealing underwear - doing them and seeing others do them - that made this run so much fun, unlike any other races I've done.

After my van was done with our 3 runs we cracked open a beer, washed up and waited for our teammates in the other van to finish things up. We waited for them at the Finish Line in downtown Mpls and all 12 of us ran across the line together, a true team effort.

Doing it again next year, the date's already been set for 8/21-22/09. Now that I know what it's like, I can hardly wait to make it even crazier!! Who's in with me?

An Easy 205 Miler

2008-08-21T00:54:00.003-05:00

Off to La Crosse tomorrow for the Ragnar Relay which starts Friday morn. Things got off to a hectic start for the team this week. On Sunday, one of our runners opted to go water skiing 5 days before this event. Well, she wiped out, the ski smacked her in the knee, and now she's at home nursing a fractured kneecap for the next 3 to 6 weeks. I don't know if one truly tapers for an event like this, but I don't think water skiing should necessarily be on the agenda either.

After some scrambling we found a replacement runner so we're all good there. Thought I was going to have to pick up some extra miles, whew!!

Gonna keep this one short, gotta hit the hay. Dream of me running my 8 mile leg at 2:00 a.m. Saturday morn. while you're snoring away!

Race recap sometime next week once I wake up and have recovered.

I Still Feel Like I'm 4

2008-08-15T23:14:00.007-05:00

How did he do that?! How did he win when it looked like it was a lost cause with only 2 meters to go, hell, with only 2 inches to go?! Michael Phelps is unreal. Those have been some historic races leading to his first 7 golds. The kids were forced to sit through his first few races with me, but now even they know who he is, what he's trying to accomplish and get excited when he's about to race. It's one of those "once in a lifetime" athletes that comes through and we're able to watch it.

I'm sure that's what some spectators think when they see me getting ready to race. I mentioned to one of my tri teammates that with a few more workouts I could be at Phelps' caliber. The response back was something like change everything about me physically - height, wing span - and eliminate beer from my diet and within a few years I might be able to be his towel boy. I was all for it until I read that no beer part. You can take the swimmer out of Ireland, but you can't take the Irish out of the swimmer! Thanks for the words of encouragement though Kimmi, appreciate it. ;)

Speaking of the Irish, I haven't seen them win any golds yet, or any medals for that fact. Are we even represented in these games? If they have pubs or taverns in the Olympic Village there might be some no shows at their events. Hmmm....

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Life this week was somewhat on the downer side. The kids start school on the 25th so this was my last week to have them before they go back to the classroom. As you (should) know from previous posts they're transferring to a new district. With Kayli starting middle school now she starts an hour earlier than the boys. Because of the logistics with where Lindsay and I live in relation to each other (and thus the schools) Kayli will be living with Lindsay pretty much full time now during the school year. I agreed to this because it makes life a lot easier for Kayli time-wise, but I feel like I'm losing a child.

I know that's not the case, but it's going to feel weird not having her around here. I'll still get to see her when I pick up the boys during my weeks, but it won't be the same just having those brief conversations with her versus having her actually live here. It's going to take a more concerted effort to maintain my position in her life, but I'll make sure to do it. Just she and I went out to lunch yesterday to get some final summer bonding and talked about her "moving out". She'll come back to Lonsdale every so often on the weekends or when they have days off from school when it's my week. I got tickets for just her and me to see Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie so that'll be a nice daddy/daughter event. Shhh, she doesn't know about it though so make sure to keep it that way!

These next few years are going to be interesting as she becomes a teenager and more and more independent. Kayli has already shown she has her mother in her so there could be some head-buttin' going on in that house. It might not be such a bad thing for her to have these other roofs to live under if she needs a breather every now and then.

Conner is warming up to the idea of transferring schools so that's less of an issue. Lindsay took the boys to their school to walk around when Kayli and I were at lunch so now that he's seen it (and likes it) he's becoming more comfortable with the transition.

Devon's just excited to start kindergarten so he could be going to Iowa or Wisconsin and he'd still be alright with it and say "let's go". He had another Devonism today. We were outside and he asked when he could ride his bike on the street by himself. I told him when he turns 6 I'll think about it. His response - "I'm 5 now so on my next birfday (that's his "th" sound) I'll be 6, but I still feel like I'm 4 now." Maybe you had to be here to fully appreciate it, but it was just too cute!

With Kayli quasi-moving out, we're playing musical bedrooms here now. In order to keep the boys in separate bedrooms during the school year Devon is going to move downstairs. Conner doesn't like to sleep down there alone so Kayli is going to move up here, Conner chose to move into Kayli's room so that leaves Devon to move into Conner's room. I'm gonna have to paint Kayli's current room though because there's no way Conner wants a pink room! He's already picked out the shade of blue he wants so I'll have to try to get that done next week.

Next week...gonna be a fun one (something's wrong with my "b" key, doesn't always type when I hit it, so if you see it missing anywhere just mentally insert it. At least it isn't too popular of a letter. Poor b.) Sorry about that, got off track. Oh yeah, next week. Ragnar is next weekend! Festivities for that starts on Wednesday night with our van decorating and then 1/2 our team leaves for La Crosse on Thursday for the race start Friday morning. With the order our team is set up right now, being Runner #6 (out of 12) my 3 approximate run times are 2:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 a.m. Saturday and Noonish Saturday, or something like that. As crazy as it sounds I'm looking forward to that 2nd run, 2:00 in the morning, the most. I've never run in the middle of the night (at least during a race) before so it'll be interesting to see how that is (especially being tired). I just hope it isn't raining. If we could order another weekend of weather like the one we're currently having that would be perfect! The extended forecast does have some pictures of clouds and t-storms in it though so hopefully that'll change within the next 6 days.

Wednesday is my work department's group outing that afternoon. My boss is planning it and keeping it a secret so who knows what she'll come up with. 2 years ago we did the L. Minnetonka 4 hr cruise and last year it was the paddleboat on the Mississippi, both of which were nice, but I hope we're staying off the water this year just for something different. Regardless, it should be better this year because with some of the restructuring that's gone on we've dropped some staff that just weren't fun to socialize with (let alone work with). She was taking suggestions for ideas, but she didn't really like mine of having everyone come to Lonsdale to help me clean my house. I thought everyone could pick a room, clean for a couple of hours and then I'd supply the tap water and plastic lounge chairs. A great team bonding exercise, right?!

The biggest event next week though that I'm going to feel guilty missing is Wade's 40th! Holy crap, you're 40!! I know mine's right around the corner, but your's is in 1 week. Happy early birthday big guy!!

Feels Just Like Being At A Race

2008-08-08T14:28:00.002-05:00

I know you're all just captivated by this subject so I thought I'd give you today's update regarding the biffy situation here at Pearson:

Last night they were able to locate the clog 180' feet out into the sewer line. This morning they brought in a backhoe to dig up and replace that section. They've been at it all day. Because of that the bathrooms have remained closed and they had to shut off ALL the water to the building. 3 POPs were brought in last night and are available to use. This wasn't good enough for some folks and they cried enough and were allowed to go home early today. Apparently these people haven't done any triathlons or marathons and don't appreciate how clean these biffys are compared to those at race sites! Oh well, that's fine with me, shorter lines than what I'm used to when usually waiting to use one of these fine toilets.

What are the odds things will be back to normal around here by Monday? Taking bets now.

Other things to do here

2008-08-08T00:39:00.002-05:00

I know you could spend all day reading and re-reading my posts, but if by some strange reason you don't there are other things you can check out from this site. You'll see over on the left-hand side I have some links set up to some other friends' blogs that I read. Some good stuff. In fact, Kris just posted a good blog on why we "race" or don't, depending on your perspective and Kimmi has a great sense of humor come through on her writings, despite training for the Ironman.

There are also some links to other websites I frequent. Chainlove and SteepandCheap have some great deals, for the athlete and non-athlete.

Look for more as I add them along the way.

I'm Weed and Insect Free

2008-08-07T23:22:00.003-05:00

Had another good run tonight although there might be an issue a-brewin'. Gonna have to keep an eye on my shins, I think some splints are coming on. This happened earlier this year too around March when I was training for Fargo. I can't nail down what it's from though, the shoes or the training. I have right around 200 miles on my current pair of runners which is right around where I was with the previous pair when I got shin splints. BUT, in both cases I was ramping up my distances too. 200 miles is on the low end of how soon shoes wear down so I decided to run through the discomfort and get my money's worth out of the sneakers. The shin splints went away after a week or two and I ended up just under 500 miles with that pair before I bought my current pair. This time around I might buy another pair sooner and see how the shins react before drawing any conclusions. It would kinda suck if it's the shoes' fault because I really like these kind (Pearl Izumi), but it isn't reasonable to be forking out $100 every 200 miles.

Tonight's route was different than last night's. Wanted to keep it flatter to give the thighs some rest after last night and to do some speed work. I had a farmer unbeknownst to him help me out with the speed part. My first warmup mile was along the edge of town and then I turned left and headed out into the countryside. Nothing like long, straight, never-ending country roads to get you motivated to run (he said with a sarcastic tone)!

About a 1/2 mile down the road I came upon a soybean field and the farmer was out in his tractor spraying his crops. He timed it perfectly to end up as close to the road as he could get right as I was coming by. I'm sure it was planned, I'm sure he just sits and waits for runners to come by on August Thursday nights. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal since he would turn right around and weave his way back to the opposite end.

Nope, he didn't.

He took a 90 degree turn and headed in the same direction I was. Super, I thought, I get to suck pesticides for the length of the this field! Well, no better time to start my tempo runs so I picked it up a couple of notches and dusted that farmer while he dusted his crops! (I can talk like I'm fast when I'm running by myself)

I continued on my route out and only hoped he'd be done by the time I turned around and headed back. He was, but with it being such a gorgeous night there wasn't a breeze and the spray was still lingering in the air when I came by again! I would have to say it was worse coming through the 2nd time. I could taste and smell it with every inhale so I pulled my shirt up over my mouth and nose until I got beyond that field. I wonder if that's what it's like in Beijing? Well, at least I won't have weeds growing on me anytime soon.

Speaking of the Olympics, KARE 11 News (the Mpls NBC affiliate) sent Eric Perkins over there to cover them for the next 2 weeks. I love Perk, he's hilarious! Tonight's episode was about some of the food choices street vendors had. Kind of had a Fear Factor feel to it, not some things I would necessarily eat. I highly recommend tuning in to Perk's stories. On assignments like this he usually offers the not so obvious, off the hidden path type of stories that can help you get to know something/somewhere beyond the normal touristy things.

Speaking of NBC (don't you just love my segues?), is anyone watching America's Got Talent? Well, even if you're not, do this - one of the acts they put throught to the semi-finals had to drop out due to injury so they're letting the public vote for 1 act they previously cut to take their place. Vote for Victoria Jacobs (I think that's her name). She's a little, 12 yr old contortionist. The things those people can do to their bodies and the way they make them bend is next to unreal! I think it's the type of act that show needs, not some other dancers or singers. There are already other shows for those. Oh, and she's an adopted Chinese. Kinda ties all my stories together, doesn't it? :)

Speaking of other nationalities (I promise this is my last segue), the Irish Fair is this weekend in St. Paul. I'm embarrassed to say I've yet to go to it in all the previous years, but I have every intention of making it this year! I'm going to pick up my boys for the afternoon on Saturday and take them to it. I figure they just spent a week getting to know their Korean side, I better get them exposed to their other side before they want to move to Seoul. We'll go hang out with my brethren for a few hours, maybe the 3 of us will tip back a pint or two, do a jig, kiss the blarney. Should be fun.

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And on a final note, the bathrooms got closed again today after being open only a couple of hours late yesterday and this morning. Apparently Roto only partially unclogged things and they got backed up again. Might be time to call in a real plumber. Know of a good one Jack?

Roto Rooter To The Rescue!

2008-08-06T22:58:00.003-05:00

I think I'm back! I had a pretty good run tonight and it's boosted the running spirits again. The last couple of weeks I have been running, but it's more been a matter of just going through the motions and going out because I knew I needed to, not because I wanted to. I almost talked myself out of not making it tonight, but I'm glad that didn't happen!

Tonight was a hill workout, not one of my favorite things to do. I started out with a mile warmup that was probably a little faster than what it should be for a warmup (at my speed anyway, definitely not compared to Ryan Hall (if you don't know who Ryan is watch the Olympics on the 24th)), but I was thinking "let's just get this workout over with". After the warmup I started with my hill repeats.

It's a good and convenient hill to run, it's the road that leads up to my neighborhood, about a 1/4 mile long with a decent grade. I ripped off the first 2 repeats like I knew what I was doing and started thinking this aint so bad. On my 2 mile recovery jog in between sets I was in a much better mood than when I started. It helped that it was an absolute perfect night weather-wise to be out doing exactly that. I was able to enjoy and appreciate the countryside. It became less of a workout and more of a calming evening outside.

A couple of years ago when I got back into running I abandoned all technology and just wanted to run for running's sake - don't care about splits, pace, total time, etc. Save that for the races I enter and the results breakdown. It would've been interesting to know what my pace was tonight though because my recovery runs were over before I knew it. In my mind I was cruising! Got back to the hill, did a few more repeats and then had every intent of making my last mile a cool down mile, but instead it turned into a practice of my finishing kick. I was running on a high at that point and wasn't going to slow down!

Tonight's run was one of those that makes you actually look forward to the next one! Good timing too because with my marathon just over 12 weeks away the long runs are going to get exactly that, long. I have to finalize my schedule, but I'm thinking I want to try to do 3 20-milers, 2 minimum. A couple of recent articles I've read on workouts suggest this might be exactly what I need to do, especially compared with how my last couple of marathons have gone. I'll give it a shot, gotta mix things up a bit, try new things.

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Have you ever taken bathrooms for granted around your workplace? A lot of people in my building did up until today! At about 11:00 this morning all of our bathrooms were closed in the whole building due to a clog in a main sewer line somewhere. Apparently there were even a few geysers from some of the biffys. Could've been even funnier if the right people would've been standing by them at the time.

Well, this commode closure caused quite the disruption for some coworkers who were all in a tizzy about what to do. Some of them even seriously suggested #1, they should close the building and we should all go home and/or #2, they should immediately get some port-a-potties set up. Get real. There's a convenience store and 2 restaurants right across the street from our office, plus it's lunch time so go out for lunch. So you would have to travel a couple of extra minutes to get from your desk to the loo, deal with it and plan accordingly. Don't fret though, they had everything flushing again by 2:30.

Sorry about that, kind of a shitty story, huh? Sorry about that, an even worse pun!

Oh yeah, before I forget, the lobster and shrimp were delicious!

There's supposed to be how many?!

2008-08-01T23:01:00.002-05:00

I finally figured out what's been nagging at me this week. It's not that it really needed "figuring out", but more of a realization how it affects me. I miss my kids. It took talking to a coworker to fully realize this. Her only child is going off to college this weekend for the first time this weekend and she's having a hard time with that.

This week was (is) supposed to be my week to have my kids. This is also the week they're in Korean Culture Camp all week (their mom is 100% Korean for those that don't know, if any one of you are reading). It's a day camp, but met every day from Monday thru the closing ceremony tomorrow. With the logistics and start/end times of camp it just made it easier for the kids to stay with Lindsay this week too so, in essence, I forfeited my week.

I was able to see them a couple of times during the week and talked to them on the phone as well, but that no where near replaces bringing them home with me, listening to them play here, listening to them fight with each other, putting them to bed, waking them up, just being their parent. Is this what it's going to be like 13 years from now too when the last of them goes to college? Probably worse I'd imagine.

The closing ceremony should be fun tomorrow. Along with other things, the boys will put on a little tae kwan do demonstrataion and then Kayli will be part of a traditional dance number. Devon and Conner were cute the other day trying to show us what they were learning in t.k.d. telling us to hold some pillows out and they did their spin kicks and such. This has been Devon's first year being able to go and he's having a blast!

After the ceremony I get the kids for the weekend and we're heading up north to Mom and Dad's. Can't wait to get there! #1, most of the heavy projects should be done already by the group that's already up there (shucks, that's too bad) and #2, Mom and Dad are having a lobster and shrimp feast for everyone tomorrow night! My mouth's watering just thinking about it. Mom ordered fresh lobster from Maine that's flown in and delivered right to their door and the shrimp are as big as your palms. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm good! I better get in a couple of extra miles on my run tomorrow to make room in my belly.

So I made a batch of cookies tonight to take along for the car ride tomorrow (3.5 hrs up north). The recipe said it should make about 3 dozen. I ended up closer to 2 dozen. I'll admit unbaked cookie dough is a weakness of mine, but c'mon?! I don't think I ate a dozen's worth of cookies! In fact, I don't think I've ever been able to squeeze out the number of cookies the author of the recipe says it should. Apparently all the authors and I have differing opinions on how big the cookies should be. I'm not going to make something that you can just toss the whole thing in your mouth. Cookies should take 3 or 4 bites to finish. Am I way off base here? Has anyone else noticed this overapproximation? Yes, it's these types of things that keep me up at night.

Now that I think about it, I better do a couple of extra miles for all the dough and baked cookies I ate tonight too. I better get to bed so I can get up early enough to finish all these miles before the ceremony!

I'll give you a post-lobster recap on Sunday. Until then, happy eating!

Chomp chomp

2008-07-30T23:55:00.007-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that Lindsay has a valid point. Damn, I hate to admit that! She doesn't know it yet, but I'll agree with her that the kids should move from the school district they're in now (New Prague) to Farmington (her choice, the one she lives in). Taking everything into account it just makes sense and from everything I've heard and been able to find Farmington is a good district.

Conner was slated to be in an advanced program this year in 3rd grade. That was my biggest holdup regarding moving him, I didn't want him to miss out on that. It turns out Farmington uses the same assessment tests to evaluate their students so they'll accept his results without needing to re-evaluate him for themselves. Kayli's fine with moving and starting middle school and Devon's just starting Kindergarten so this is as good of time as any to move them I suppose.

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Got together with "the guys" last Saturday night for a few drinks - Wade, Souk, Mesch . Always fun. We did our best Siskel & Ebert analysis and talked about a few movies. I saw Wanted a couple of weeks ago, I'd recommend it. Still wanna see Hancock and The Dark Knight. Usually I can wait for movies to come out on DVD, but lately I have the itch to watch these in the theater. Maybe I can take out a loan to go to the theater and splurge on some popcorn and a drink too. $9 just for a movie ticket, unreal.

One movie that was highly recommended (insert sarcasm) from 1 of the other 3 is Teeth. Check it out, hehehe. After being told what it was about we got quite a few laughs out of the concept. We have the sequels all lined up, or at least the names for 'em. Where do screen writers come up with some of these ideas?! Real life experiences? I hope not, especially now that I'm back out in that dating world scene (kind of, available to be anyway).

Speaking of, no, I'm not dating anyone and no, there aren't any potentials on the horizon. Thank you all for asking though quite often.

I'm fine with that. In fact, I'm not even really looking. If "she" were to fall into my lap I'd probably act on the opportunity, but I don't think I really want to be proactive in that realm right now. Occasionally I do long for someone to snuggle with or wake up next to, but for the time being I enjoy being selfish with my time and doing only the things I want to do, when I want to do them. Dating someone wouldn't necessarily allow for that. Besides, I'm not sure I could afford a date now anyway, my money's being funneled elsewhere, what little extra there is of it.

One of those funneling places is going to be for my next run, the RAGNAR Relay (http://www.ragnarrelay.com/). I'm really looking forward to this on 8/22-8/23. I'm on a 12 person team (7 gals, 5 guys) and we take turns running over pre-set distances, 1 at a time and then hand off to the next person, from La Crosse, WI to Minneapolis. A total of 205 miles, 178 different teams! Our team starts at 8:00 on Friday morning and we'll run all day, through the night and following morning until we reach the finish line. It should take us approx. 30 hours, give or take 2-4 hours. It's gonna be a hoot! I'm one of the co-captains for our team and am helping organize things. This particular race is in its 4th year I think and there are other Ragnar events throughout the country at different times. I think it would be fun to do some of the other destinations some year too.

Our team name is The Babes And The Boys and we're going to decorate our 2 support vehicles with bras, boxers and jock straps. This race highly encourages you to have fun with it and gives out awards for best team name, best van decorations, best costume, etc. It's more about the fun than the run. They also mention not to plan on getting any sleep and if you do it's a bonus. It'll be interesting to run my 5 mile leg on day 2 with sleep deprivation. If I remember I'll have to keep track of my splits.

Well, I better hit the hay. Before I do though, I think I might as well call Lindsay and tell her now. I'm sure she'll appreciate the 1:00 a.m. call. Hey, she's getting her way! I should at least be able to call when I want to, right?!

Where'd it go?

2008-07-25T16:32:00.003-05:00

Lost my motivation to do anything today. I think that happened sometime this morning between rolling out of bed and walking across the hall to the bathroom. Not quite sure why.

It's not like this week has been stressful. Haven't had any major life moments. Work has only been work. Haven't worn down because of working out (can't if you don't work out). In fact, I need to get serious about running again if I'm to do another marathon in 14 weeks. Hopefully this is the lull before the training storm.

Lately I can't hold myself accountable to working out. I'm used to the group dynamic and having a schedule come from someone else. That needs to change since I'm doing this marathon alone. I know what needs to be done, I'm just not doing it.

Hopefully that'll change this weekend, as early as tonight. I told someone I'd be at a group bike ride tonight and it looks like the weather's going to cooperate (I'm not a rainy weather rider (say that 3 times fast!)) and then on Sunday I'm heading out to a tri to cheer a bunch of teammates on. Many of them are doing a 1/2 Ironman distance tri (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). For a couple of them this race is only a training day! They're doing a full Ironman tri in Sept. If watching them doesn't inspire me to take training seriously, uh oh.

I haven't been accountable to my housework either. It isn't fun coming home to dishes that need to be washed and laundry that needs to be folded, but I can't find the gumption to get those things done. I'd say getting a wife might be helpful, but the one I did have didn't do those things either. D'oh! Hey, that was kinda funny and made me feel a little better, put a smile on my face anyway.

Watch out, I'm in one of those vindictive, sarcastic moods. Maybe I should call up Lindsay and see if there's anything we need to "discuss". hehehe

So That's What E Coli Tastes Like

2008-07-23T00:53:00.003-05:00

Just found out today that the lake/beach that I did my latest triathlon in is now closed due to an e. coli outbreak. That doesn't leave the best images in one's mind about what we were swimming and breathing in. All's well though, the outbreak came after the race. Rumor is someone tipped over a porta-potty or 2 at that lake and that "stuff" made it into the water. The Parks Dept. does a pretty good job with the recreational areas in my mind. They check the water quality every couple of days for situations like this and maintain the overall cleanliness of the beaches.

After a few emails back and forth with some training partners we found a suitable option for our open water swim workout tonight. This lake was pretty clean too for a metro lake, despite the first few steps through the weeds. I didn't think they were that bad, others (who shall remain nameless) did. This new spot could easily become the lake of choice, but it would help if it were closer. Is it possible to relocate a lake? Do you think they'd do that for me?

Despite my newfound affection for said lake, I'm currently sitting here in the middle of sneeze attack. One thing I've found out this year is that my lake allergies are back, from the algae, something that hasn't affected me in about 2o years. Pretty annoying. A couple of more good sneezes and my screen should be pretty much covered. Can't stop typing just to cover a sneeze! :)

Okay, that's it for tonight. Time to take some non-drowsy sinus pills that make me tired anyway.

Until the next outbreak...

The Week That It Was

2008-07-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

I have a few things to catch up on during this post so we might be all over the board with some of this stuff. Buckle up and I hope you enjoy the ride!

My final post about my "hair experience". Here are some pictures of the end product:
This first one is the view from behind after the first successful coloring using temporary hair spray paint.
That coloring washed out the next morning in the shower so below is what they came up with for the final go-around and what I raced with. Yup, neon green with a pink star on the top.

I'm now bald by choice (as of shortly after the race) and I have to admit I kind of like it. I'll probably stay a cue ball for the summer and then let it grow back this fall/winter.

Last Wednesday was Nan's funeral. It was a nice service. Her grandsons were the pall bearers and I also had the honor of doing the readings for the service. Public speaking isn't my forte, but I didn't think twice when I was asked the night before.

The (my) kids were marvelous during the whole thing. I wasn't sure how they'd handle it, this being their first funeral they've been to. The boys went up to the casket with me, by choice, during the wake and were very respectful. I kept waiting for Devon to say something "honest", but he didn't. He usually says something only a kid would be allowed to get away with (go figure, he's a kid) in situations like that, but he passed on the opportunity. No nightmares since either so I think we're all clear. Most of the relatives haven't seen the kids lately either, so it was nice to catch up on that front as well.

This weekend was a pretty good one. 1 of my neighbors put together our 1st annual block party. I have to admit I'm kind of a hypocrite because I've always wished our neighborhood would do more together, but I've never taken the initiative. It was fun. Wandered right across the street about 2:00 and didn't come home until 11:00ish. Ate, drank, ate, played yard games, drank and ate a little more. Gonna have to do some double workouts for awhile to justify my intake from that night!

Today was a busy one outside (once we made it out there). The boys slept in!! Woo Hoo, that's always a weekend bonus. Devon did wake up about 8:00, but just came in to my room to ask if he could watch cartoons. Absolutely I said as I rolled over. He later came back to my room and crawled into bed with me and we both fell asleep until 10:30!

He's so cute and adorable. He sleeps with "Horsey", a stuffed animal horse (unique name, I know). A lot of the nights I kid him that I'm going to take it from him when I go to bed so I can sleep with it and he always so no, not to. Well, this morning (and this has happened before) when he crawled into bed with me he had 2 stuffed animals with him and gave me Horsey to sleep with. I just smiled at him and took it. Such a sharer!

Once we got outside for the day none of us went back in until dinner around 6:30! Gorgeous day. The boys wanted to play inside a couple of times, but I made them stay out. Get some fresh air and be active! Such a slave driver I am. They'd complain for 5 seconds after asking each time, but they kept finding things to do.

I finally got some landscaping done (1/2 done I guess, technically) - dug up some bushes in the front of my house that are/were dying. I didn't have any intention of doing that today, but after I mowed the yard I decided today was the day. It was something I've been putting off all season. It wasn't fun digging up the whole root ball, and I'm sure my back will be barking at me tomorrow, but it feels good to get that done. I say 1/2 done because now I have 3 holes in my yard that need to be filled with new plants or something. That might be tomorrow night's project.

And the final topic for tonight is one I've spent pondering since Tuesday at Nan's wake. 7 years ago my older sister opted to remove herself from our family, for reasons I won't go into here. I had seen and talked to her once, 4 years ago at Grandpa's funeral, until last week. I figured she'd probably come back for Nan's because Nan had always stayed in touch with Kristin as much as anyone could/did. It turns out Kristin came down Tuesday for the wake and stayed through Thursday with my parents. She made it known that she wants to reconcile things and started explaining herself and her actions these past years to them. I'm not too keen on the timing of it all and using this event to take those first steps back, but it is a first step.

I have to admit I'm hesitant about the whole thing. I had feelings of indifference when I first saw her. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. After 7 years of negative reasons for not seeing each other I wasn't sure what to think. Kayli vaguely remembers having an Aunt Kristin, Conner was too young to remember anything the last time he saw her and this is the first time she's seen Devon and he's 5 now!

We did part with a hug and her saying she'd like to get together to talk. I said I'd be willing so we'll see where it goes from here. I got a synopsis of the conversation Mom and Dad had with her. A couple of questions were answered, a few more raised. Hmm, I'll leave it at that. Only time will tell how this one's going to play out.

The Nickname Crash Is Already Taken

2008-07-14T22:55:00.000-05:00

How 'bout a race recap? Here it is regarding my LifeTime Fitness Triathlon this past weekend?

It all started extremely early, a little too early, but who am I to say? I wasn't in charge. We were instructed to get to the race site at 4:30 a.m. to check in and secure as good a site in Transition as possible. The transition area opened at 4:30 with the race not starting until the 1st wave at 7:00. I got there on time and did get the best spot on my rack, at the end, so at least the early morning alarm was justified.

I need to back up here for one note and acknowledge someone. Amy saved me A TON of hassle by agreeing to let me commandeer her house as my house for the weekend. She lives a mile and a half from the race start whereas I live 40 minutes away driving 75 mph. Can you say Lifesaver regarding the much needed sleep?! I moved into her house the night before and then just rode my bike to the race the morning of. Perfect! And, oh, she was out of town for the weekend and didn't think twice about letting me stay. Do it again next year Aim? :)

Back to the race. They had the race times staggered randomly by age and gender group after the Pros started. This race is a HUGE magnet for the professional triathletes and with this being an Olympic year it was a perfect warmup for them with the games only 4 weeks away. They are impressive to watch fly by in all disciplines!

My wave started about 36 minutes after the pros. Into the water we went, 1 at a time, 1 every 3 seconds for a 1.5k swim. I much prefer this time-trial start vs the group wave start so many other triathlons have. The first portion of the swim started out rather well. I got into my rhythm quickly and was feeling comfortable. Then we hit the first turn. It was somewhat calm when we started or at least I didn't notice the wind, but I knew it was going to pick up throughout the day. It wasn't exactly windy once we made that turn, but there was a noticeable breeze and we had to swim straight into it and its waves for the longest portion of the swim. Once I make it to the last turn on the swim course there's always a little celebration mentally because at that point every stroke I take I'm getting closer to shore rather than swimming away from or parallel to it. I usually try to swim that portion a little harder. I think I was able to during this race as well, but the wind/waves were still an issue as it was now a crosswind. This caused me to alter my breathing a little so as to not breathe as much on the up wind side. I thought of all my teammates going after me and how much worse it could be for them if/when the wind picked up even more. I empathized for them. A few strokes later and I was on the sandy beach. Swim down, bike and run to go.

I rocked through the transition, despite wanting to puke (I think I drank too much Lake Nokomis green water) and headed out on the 40k bike route. See my results below for this transition time, fastest time in my Male 40-44 category (gotta brag about something!)! Now, if I could only find a race that only has transitions w/o the swimming, biking and running. The bike portion was pretty uneventful, feeling pretty good, heard/saw the TNT cheering sections along the route (Thanks everyone for coming out! You really do help motivate us participants!!).

Uneventful that is until the final corner on the whole course. Coming up to that corner is a long straightaway. At this point in the race you're supposed to get in a low gear so you have a high cadence to help your legs transition from biking to running. I was focusing on this a little more than I should've been and went into the corner too fast. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal as the roads are usually wide enough to take a wide angle around the corners. The problem with that line on this corner though is that there were bikers coming from the opposite direction just starting their bike portion so we only had 1/2 the road to work with, with only some plastic cones separating the opposite going flows.

I was applying just enough brakes to keep from flipping ass over handle bars and just barely, somehow, avoided clipping someone's back wheel. We're talking hair-widths here people. I think it was more his maneuvering out of the way than mine! After missing him I somehow made it all the way across that wrong lane cutting in front of a group of 3 others without getting hit by them. It could've been a bruiser, but I ended up against the far curb, caught my composure and got back into the proper lane. Have I mentioned yet that this is a popular spectator area and the corner was pretty crowded? Almost gave them a good show. Wowser! What a way to end the bike portion!

The run was as expected. It hurt and sucked the first mile until I somewhat got my running legs under me. I think I still need to practice more bricks to get used to this sooner. The first lap went better than the 2nd, slowed down quite a bit.

Once again, the TNT cheer station on the run course was awesome, as were all the other individuals cheering for us specifically - Kimmi, Jenna, Coach Mike, Courtney, Coach Bob - I heard or saw you all so thanks! Another bonus to the run was this is where I saw my kids cheering for me. That was a nice boost! I was able to see them on the first lap and let them know I had 1 more so they were then able to make it closer to the Finish Line and see me come in.

All in all, it was a pretty decent race for me. I'm content with it. I didn't quite get the time goal I had in mind, but I improved on last year's time by a couple of minutes so it's a new PR. Next year I'll just have to shave a couple of more minutes off!

Here are the results:

Results For:
Jon McCarthy
Olympic Course Bib #: 746
Age:40
Gender:M
City, State: Lonsdale, MN
Race Category: Olympic Age Group - Men 40 to 44

Triathlon Results - Olympic Course

Finish Time: 2:45:28.9
Category Place: 47 out of 100 Men 40 to 44 finishers
Overall Place: 382 out of 1147 Olympic Course finishers
Gender Overall Plc: 325 out of 802 Male finishers

Triathlon Splits

Swim 1.5K
Time: 33:03.2
Pace: 2:12 /100m
Category Place: 52
Overall Place: 507
Gender Overall Plc: 388

Transition #1
Time: 1:42.9
Category Place: 1
Overall Place: 13
Gender Overall Plc: 12

Bike 40K
Time: 1:14:17.3
Pace: 20.6MPH
Category Place: 38
Overall Place: 278
Gender Overall Plc: 260

Transition #2
Time: 1:29.4
Category Place: 14
Overall Place: 113
Gender Overall Plc: 92

Run 10K
Time: 54:55.9
Pace: 8:51/M
Category Place: 66
Overall Place: 586
Gender Overall Plc: 468

Where Do We Go From Here?

2008-07-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

TNT is done for the year. I hate that it has to end. For the past 5 1/2 months I've spent 3 times per week with the same people, doing the same thing I'm doing, for the same purpose(s). You get to know people when you do that. And then, before you know it, the race you're all training for is here, you race, you're done, and you say goodbye to everyone not really knowing yet who has become a potentially new lifelong friend or who was just there for a brief time.

This is my 3rd go-around with TNT. My first experience I did everything on my own and only got to know a couple of people briefly during the event weekend. That's the way I was back then, '97. In '06 I signed up for my 2nd stint and decided I was going to train with the group both for the social outlet as well as for the coaching I'd receive. It worked, I'm hooked.

From that '06 marathon team I now know I have some lifelong friends. We talk, we've cried, we've drank and believe it or not we still run together. I hope this 3rd time's the charm as well and I become that way with some from the triathlon team. I've had a lot of fun getting to know my teammates, athletically and socially. It sucks that it all ends with some once you pack up your bag on race day and head home.

We say goodbye, God says Hello

2008-07-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

Nan passed away over the weekend. Thankfully she had been resting and mostly sleeping for the past week so she was as comfortable as could be these final days.

I was able to make it down to Owatonna last Wednesday to say my goodbyes. She was sleeping when I was there, but I had a few minutes alone with her. Just held her hand, talked briefly to her, told her my kids and I love (present tense, not past, never past) her. She briefly, barely opened her eyes, but it was hard to tell if she was even awake or if it was just an involuntary thing.

She lived a good life here and now is experiencing a better one with God and back with her husband.

Thank you to those who have expressed your care, even before the final day.

The deed is done

2008-07-11T10:34:00.000-05:00

Here's what they did to me. This picture is from Wednesday. They switched things up on Thursday so I have to get a picture posted of that one yet. They used the same colors, green and pink, but changed the design a little.

The race is tomorrow morn. C'mon out and cheer all 120 of my teammates (and me) on! If you can't make it, check out the results later in the day. The race's website is http://www.ltftriathlon.com/. I'm doing the Olympic distance.

Off to pick up my race packet. Later....

What's the over/under on nicknames?

2008-07-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

So how many nicknames can one person receive and who gets to choose what sticks or not? CC seems to think she can willy nilly just start using new ones. Do I have any say in the matter? If I don't like it, do I get veto power and get to say try again? I don't think a person should be allowed to come up with their own nickname, but they should be allowed some leverage in the discussion. Maybe not. More than likely, probably not in this situation. Oh well, call me what you want. If I can't laugh at myself I don't have any right to laugh at you and I do enjoy doing that on occasion.

Got my new haircut today. It's supposed to be a star. I guess it kind of looks like one from what I can tell, maybe better from above. The back of my head is the strangest, glad I can't see that. As long as I wear my hat backwards it pretty much covers everything up. They tried to dye it hot pink, but I think my hair's too short to hold the color, it rinsed right out. I'm not sure if they'll try something different yet this week. Got some pix, but they aren't digital so you'll have to wait until they get developed and then I'll get them posted.

Have I mentioned how much I like the triathlete body? Well, I do. There's something about an athletic build that does it for me, not just triathletes I suppose. This topic might sound a little (a lot) raunchy, but it's not meant that way. It's just what I like. The supermodel, rail thin, walking sticks have never done anything for me. Give me a woman with some muscle, some athletic endurance and I'll show you a happy Jon. Just as long as she doesn't have cankles! Nope, don't like those. My next relationship will possess the appropriate athletic/physical qualities. Cripes, I might even let her beat me in some races. The view might be just as good from behind! ;)

On that note...Starbright just doesn't seem to fit.

Toll Bridge

2008-07-07T17:26:00.000-05:00

I think this week is going to be a doozie. It already has more packed into it than any I can recently remember with the potential for some more that is as far from pleasant as you can get.

What's already on the docket:

-There are some work deadlines. I have to get some reports out by Friday a.m. because I'm taking that afternoon off. We're in the beginnings of integrating a company we just bought into our system and way of doing things. That alone is bringing extra requests on top of the normal workload.

-This Saturday is our big triathlon so there's a "travel" meeting tomorrow evening to discuss last minute details, a final team workout on Wednesday, a pasta/carbo-load dinner on Thursday, packet pick-up sometime on Friday and a walk-thru at the race site on Friday evening and then wanting to be at the race around 5:30ish Saturday morn. The week will end nice though with our Victory Party Saturday night, at an Irish pub no doubt!

-It was Conner's bday this past weekend (he's 8), but we're not having his party until this Friday afternoon. 1 piece of cake shouldn't be too bad the day before a race, right?

-The winners of my hair decorating fundraiser have to do that yet. They're planning on doing a little bit each day. I got a 1 day reprieve today as they didn't pick up the hair coloring over the weekend. It sounds like it's going to start tomorrow though.

All of the above might be thrown out the window though if things turn for the worse on another front. Over the weekend my grandma (Dad's side) had a major stroke. She's in the hospital, still hanging on and somewhat responsive, but she was given her last rites and they're giving her "comfort remedies" I think is how my mom put it. Basically meaning they won't do anything extraordinary to try to "fix the ailment" (is how I'll put it), but just make her as comfortable as possible for what inevitably seems like her short time left.

I was never really as close to her as much as I thought or wished I would be. That's not for any particular reason, just the way it is. It's obviously tough losing any family member, and even grandparents whose "time has come" (please don't take that as sounding cold), but from a selfish standpoint, she's my last grandparent. I haven't talked to Dad yet, but talking with Mom they seem to be pretty accepting of it all.

I just got this picture back last week. This shot was from Conner's 1st Communion 2 months ago. That's Conner, Nan and Devon (l to r).

Depending on when she passes I might be missing the triathlon. I have a fairly good idea what my parents would say, but it would take a pretty good argument from them to get me to change my mind. It was a fairly quick and easy decision to make. It just came down to thinking that if I were to go to the funeral I'd admit my head and thoughts might drift to the race occasionally, but my heart would be with my family. If I go to the race, both my head and my heart would be with my family. No brainer after drawing that conclusion. There are other triathlons this summer and this particular one is run every year so I can always do it next year. You only get 1 chance to attend a funeral to honor and celebrate someone's life.

I'm getting ahead of the situation though, let's cross that bridge when we get to it.

We love you Nan!

Out of the closet

2008-07-02T22:43:00.000-05:00

So I was finally able to run again tonight. Woo Hoo!! Big deal, you say? Well, for me it kind of was. Last week, Wednesday night, during my team's swim workout I got a major calf cramp 5 minutes into the workout. Worst one ever! I spent the next 45 minutes massaging and stretching it, but to no avail. I woke up the next morning - couldn't walk. Got a 15 minute "quickie" professional massage just on that calf during lunch - was able to walk, but could still feel it. Tried running on the treadmill that evening prior to the team run - no go. Friday brought walking normally (with slight discomfort not to be confused with pain), but still not able to run. The extra pounding running brings was aggravating this problem somehow. That following Saturday morning I was able to swim and bike, but not run. I was really hoping to this day because it was our final mock tri before the real deal. I decided to not even try running until I could no longer feel any discomfort. At this point, only 2 weeks before the triathlon, I figured I could really screw things up if I did too much too soon and then not have time to recover. I've been known to be stubborn and to try to workout through the pain (see Phoenix marathon training with a groin strain for example), not the best idea. So tonight I got up the gumption to try it again. The first few steps were a little hesitant and my calf was growling at me, but I ignored it like an Ex and kept going. I'm glad I did too, the longer I went, the more it loosened itself up and the better it felt. The calf felt better during the run, the rest of the body necessarily didn't. It had been 8 days since I ran last and I could tell, I still kept a decent pace tonight though (I hope). I'm sure my next run will feel better though, it's just that first one back that usually sucks. Only 10 days until the tri though, not much time to recoup lost workouts.
I'm a mentor on this season's TNT tri team. A couple of my mentees hadn't reached their fundraising minimum with the deadline fast approaching so I threw a quick event together to raise some money for them and now I'm beginning to get nervous about it. What I did was hold a drawing - buy some tickets to get to do something fun. The drawing was today and the winner wasn't necessarily who I was hoping for. Here's the deal, the winner gets to decorate my hair - cut/shave/dye/color/etc. - however they want to next week sometime and I have to keep it that way through the race. A group of coworkers who went in together won the drawing and now I'm leery about what they have in store for me. I could hear them plotting and laughing all afternoon. There are some guidelines they have to adhere to, but very few. I'll try to get a picture posted next week. This was actually a fun thing to throw together at the last minute, I only wish I had thought of it sooner and had more time to sell tickets. It's something I'll keep in mind for the next time I fundraise and will promote it at the beginning of the season and sell tix throughout. Maybe not cut my hair the whole time to give whoever more options and really get some crazy designs. I'll let you know.
I've been outed. It took all of 3 days for this blog to become known to others. It could've taken 2 had someone put the pieces together of all the clues they were given (pratically every letter spelled out for them!) That was of my own accord though. A few conclusions went into reversing my initial thought of waiting to tell. First, I guess I always knew this wasn't going to remain hidden forever and people would eventually read it anyway so I might as well tell them upfront. Second, after the first post or two, not that those posts go into anything deep and personal, putting my stuff "out there on the web" wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. Third, if I'm going to type something, someone else besides me might as well read it to make it worth the effort. Fourth, I read other people's blogs so I guess I thought it was only fair to return the favor and let them read mine. You're welcome! ;) One of these days I'll play around with my blog and get links set up to their's and other sites of interest. Don't hold your breath though. I guess I'll need to ask them what blogging etiquette there is - can I just go ahead and do that on my own or is it proper to get their permission first to link to them? What say ye Captain Cartwheel?

I40 is just down the road

2008-07-01T00:04:00.000-05:00

So I alluded to 40 being right around the corner. It's actually 4 months away. Holy crap, now that I write that that's only 4 months from now! I didn't realize it was that close until just now! I didn't think turning 40 would bother me. I don't think "bother" is the right word, but it's having more of an impact on me than I thought it would even 1 year ago. I guess jumping up into that next age bracket of 40somethings has a psychological effect to it. When I think of myself I don't think of me as a 40 year old. What is a 40 year old supposed to be anyway? Sure, I have some gray hairs, growing kids and a stack of bills, but does that mean I have to get old? I don't know if I've ever really wanted to give up on what it's like to be in my 20s. My mid to late 20s were probably the best handful of years of my life socially. The group I was hanging out with was a ton of fun day in and day out, active participating in marathons, triathlons (some Ironman caliber, not me (not yet)), softball leagues, happy hours, etc. Just single people being single people.

A couple of years ago in the valley of divorce I opted to start exercising again and train for another marathon (that would be #6). My training time became my therapy. It allowed me to escape the stress, the depression and all the negativity of what a divorce is about. I've seen some people turn to the bottle and a reckless lifestyle to "escape", but not only was that so not who I am, but I also had my kids to think about. Just because I was going through the big D didn't mean I could stop being a parent. I try to always set a good example for my kids so being able to clear my mind through running, getting in shape and all the subsequent positives that can come from that was the only option. Running worked - it saved me mentally, physically and emotionally. Another thing it also did though was take me back to my 20s when I was running and working out on a regular basis. That's when I did my first 4 marathons and dozens of triathlons. I got back into triathlons last year and am doing more this year along with 2 marathons this calendar year. It makes me wonder if I'm trying to avoid growing up, or in other words, getting older.

I'm currently part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT). I've done 2 marathons with TNT and am now on the triathlon team. A large majority of my teammates are younger, many still in their 20s. For whatever reason, I feel more comfortable with them than I do with those closer to my age. Why? Am I not growing up? Am I not letting go of my carefree days? Am I reverting back to those days now that I'm single again? Is this even a bad thing? I don't think it is. It's not like I'm shunning those closer in age, I'm just around the younger ones a lot more.

1 thing that was kind of a fun game for myself being on this team and with 40 knocking on the door was/is to try to guess people's ages. The young ones were younger than I thought (hoped), but the more interesting thing is the ones I thought were older are closer to my age than I ever would've guessed. There are some people a year or two younger than me that I would've guessed were 5 or 6 years older! It makes me wonder how old do I look. I'm not sure I want to know that answer. I think that's also a part of my unwillingness to feel my age. I guess there isn't much I can do facially, short of plastic surgery, to make me look younger, but I can try to keep the body in shape. At some of these triathlons I see guys in their 50s and 60s who are still in great shape and I never would've guessed they were that old. 20 years from now I want to confuse the 30somethings the same way.

Exactly to the day on my 30th birthday I ran a marathon (#4) and set a PR (4:08) that's still my best. This past May, 6 weeks ago, I ran my 8th marathon and recorded my 2nd fastest time (4:14). My 40th this year falls on a weekend and I was able to find another marathon on that day. Wouldn't it be sweet if I could set another PR, 10 years later? That would make a great bday present to myself and make turning 40 a little easier to swallow.

And so it begins...

2008-06-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

I've finally succumbed to the electronic world of blogging. I've never really kept a journal or diary before, but lately I've wondered if I should start. I'm not quite sure where this thought or feeling originated, but it could be any number of areas - some relationship changes the past few years (i.e. divorce with subsequent alone time), my kids and maybe giving them something to look back on, reading other people's blogs and what they're writing about (some humurous, some meaningful, some meaningless) - I don't quite know.
There are some ground rules I should lay out for myself as well as any potential readers. Some of these have probably been blogged about profusely by everyone else, but this is my spot and I haven't written about them yet so what the hell, why not now?! 1. I'm not going to even pretend that this is something I have to keep up with daily. I'm sure in the beginning I'll post more frequently just because of all the "newness" to it all, but I fully expect there to be a lull down the road. Long-term though, I do hope it is something I maintain. 2. I don't think in the beginning I'm going to advertise this to anyone. I want to get a feel for and comfort with the whole aspect of putting my thoughts out there for anyone to read before I start telling family and friends that they can go read what I'm thinking. I wonder how long that'll last? 3. I don't know if this will become a place for general postings on thoughts, feelings and experiences or something more personal. It could be interesting a few years from now looking back and seeing how (if) this blog has been shaped. 4. I'll apologize upfront to anyone who gets offended by anything I say in the future. This may be your only apology so deal with it now. I'll try not to use this site for any name-bashing or mud slinging, but every now and then I may need to vent.

A little about me, just to get the trivialities out of the way (for Jane/Joe Public who doesn't already know):
30something with 40 right around the corner, male, divorced after almost 7 years of marriage with 3 kids. My oldest child is my daughter, but with a twist. She came into my life via my marriage from a previous relationship her mom had. I was never able to adopt her because her biological father is still part of her life. While I was married I was her step-dad, but now that I'm divorced I'm not sure what my legal title is. I do know though that in my heart she is my daughter and thankfully I still get her when I have my kids (joint custody). My other two children are both my biological sons (products of the marriage).

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get into something more exciting and worth reading for you next time. At least I got some of the formalities out of the way and actually started this thing!

Happy reading and until next time...