We are nearly off, again, this time for our final tri of the season. To Vegas we go (USAT age group long course nationals!). The car is packed (save for the few items still in the fridge) and the bodies are tapered and ready.
We have done 3 140.6 races since our last 70.3, so this may be interesting, but I am ready to go fast and find a new definition of "hard" and "hurt," or is it just "discomfort?".
And to see a new place (neither E nor I have ever been to Las Vegas....).
And to celebrate 12 years of being together as the A & E show (though it will still be a few days until it has been 12 years since I realized that our first date was actually a date, even with flowers, and E picking up the tab on dinner, sometimes my social skills are a bit lacking). What better way to celebrate a milestone than to go race together? Yup, that is how my twisted mind works...... But Vegas festivities, post-race, should be a good way to celebrate where we are now and where we have been.
Next up: ski season. I must admit, after seeing pics of the snow in Bozeman, I almost hijacked our plans and turned our trip to a weekend in MT at Bohart Ranch.
-A
....
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Change
I gave my 2-week notice at work today. It was scary and uncomfortable, but the meeting went well, in the end. I will start with my new company in 2-3 weeks (pending results of a pre-employment physical) and am excited about the opportunity. Now to wrap up loose ends and hand off projects to the appropriate people at my current job.
Change.
Keeps life interesting!
-A
Change.
Keeps life interesting!
-A
Friday, October 10, 2008
I'm skiing, I'm skiing...
Well, we were skiing kinda like how Bob (Bill Murray) was sailing. A and I got out for our first roller ski of the year this morning. It is not the real thing by any means but will help get the cross-country nuerons and muscles a bit more ready for snow.
I did get a bit of equipment jeoulously as A has a nice set of skating roller skis, while I still only have the classic style. To 99.87% of the people out there, that doesn't mean much, so a good analogy would be: still riding your tricycle as your sibling upgrades to a two wheel bike. Will this lead me to getting a pair of Marwes (A's kind) too? We'll have to see.
-E
I did get a bit of equipment jeoulously as A has a nice set of skating roller skis, while I still only have the classic style. To 99.87% of the people out there, that doesn't mean much, so a good analogy would be: still riding your tricycle as your sibling upgrades to a two wheel bike. Will this lead me to getting a pair of Marwes (A's kind) too? We'll have to see.
-E
Thursday, October 9, 2008
perspective
I got thinking last night, just before leaving work, about what our friend Sunny has been mulling over about cars, bikes, and road rules. Afterall, we all need to coexist, yet if there is ever a car-bike collision, the car wins. Then I got an up-close-and-personal chance to mull this over as I rode the 15 min home in the dark.
First, heading down the hill here by work that is right across from the jail, I was almost clobbered by a mini van turning left that seemed to think they could turn way early, majorly cut the corner, and make their turn before I was trying to occupy the same space. I watched this unfold in disbelief, swerving, swearing loudly (very out of character), sitting up and shining my bright headlight right at the driver's head, and then pedaling on unscathed, but deeply shaken. I had to wait a short while at the next stop light and I was still jittery from the adrenaline rush that a near-death experience brings.
At the next stop light, I had to turn left and there was a car approaching from the opposite direction. I slowed in the intersection in case they were going straight, but when I saw that they were also turning (right) I accelerated to get out of their way quickly since I had the right-of-way but didn't want to hold up traffic. To my horror, they were not slowing down! At the last minute, they seemed to see me and slowed enough to give me plenty of room, but by now I was starting to wonder what was wrong with all these drivers tonight?
The next car I met that was heading towards me seemed to be proceeding business-as-usual until it was right in front of me, when it tuned on its highbeams right in my face. RIGHT in my face. What. Is. Going. On. Tonight????? These driver's, jeepers!
I was, after all, lit up like a Christmas tree with my fancy new red tail light and my even fancier new helmet-mounted headlight. I was riding in the soulder or to the right of the road as any good biker would do. I was dressed in reasonably visable clothing with white patches and reflective stripes in strategic places. What was going on?
And that's when I realized that my spiffy new helmet-mounted head light, that was new and unfamiliar, just might be pointed in the wrong place. It wasn't those drivers, it was me that was the problem. Those drivers couldn't see me as well as I supposed they could, and it was my fault. A quick adjustment of where my light was pointed and I could now 1) see where I was going much better as I was now properly illuminating the road in front of me, and 2) be seen much better by car traffic, too.
It was all a matter of perspective. I had no idea that they were having trouble seeing me because I was prepared with my lights and clothing choices, but they were, I think. Good to know! Safety first!
-Ride on,
A
P.S. For those of you who haven't seen this yet (mostly our family, I'm guessing) please take a minute (1:08, to be exact) to click the link and watch it. It is a good reminder of how you often only see what you are looking for, even if you are a cyclist, do you see other cyclists when you drive? And as a cyclist, do you just assume drivers see you? aeR
...
First, heading down the hill here by work that is right across from the jail, I was almost clobbered by a mini van turning left that seemed to think they could turn way early, majorly cut the corner, and make their turn before I was trying to occupy the same space. I watched this unfold in disbelief, swerving, swearing loudly (very out of character), sitting up and shining my bright headlight right at the driver's head, and then pedaling on unscathed, but deeply shaken. I had to wait a short while at the next stop light and I was still jittery from the adrenaline rush that a near-death experience brings.
At the next stop light, I had to turn left and there was a car approaching from the opposite direction. I slowed in the intersection in case they were going straight, but when I saw that they were also turning (right) I accelerated to get out of their way quickly since I had the right-of-way but didn't want to hold up traffic. To my horror, they were not slowing down! At the last minute, they seemed to see me and slowed enough to give me plenty of room, but by now I was starting to wonder what was wrong with all these drivers tonight?
The next car I met that was heading towards me seemed to be proceeding business-as-usual until it was right in front of me, when it tuned on its highbeams right in my face. RIGHT in my face. What. Is. Going. On. Tonight????? These driver's, jeepers!
I was, after all, lit up like a Christmas tree with my fancy new red tail light and my even fancier new helmet-mounted headlight. I was riding in the soulder or to the right of the road as any good biker would do. I was dressed in reasonably visable clothing with white patches and reflective stripes in strategic places. What was going on?
And that's when I realized that my spiffy new helmet-mounted head light, that was new and unfamiliar, just might be pointed in the wrong place. It wasn't those drivers, it was me that was the problem. Those drivers couldn't see me as well as I supposed they could, and it was my fault. A quick adjustment of where my light was pointed and I could now 1) see where I was going much better as I was now properly illuminating the road in front of me, and 2) be seen much better by car traffic, too.
It was all a matter of perspective. I had no idea that they were having trouble seeing me because I was prepared with my lights and clothing choices, but they were, I think. Good to know! Safety first!
-Ride on,
A
P.S. For those of you who haven't seen this yet (mostly our family, I'm guessing) please take a minute (1:08, to be exact) to click the link and watch it. It is a good reminder of how you often only see what you are looking for, even if you are a cyclist, do you see other cyclists when you drive? And as a cyclist, do you just assume drivers see you? aeR
...
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Here fishy, fishy, fishy....
My lane at Masters this morning had 6 swimmers in it! And for the first time that I can remember, I got a draft. It was great!
Wolfgang has great workouts at 6am, and Kurt has learned how to get more swim speed out of me these days than I often think is possible (though not lately, since haven't been swimming Thursdays this month), but I am usually alone, leading the lane, or being a good lanemate and keeping my 5 sec. spacing and then fall back and don't get the draft.
The 6 am Masters is a small group, where everyone pretty much knows everyone. Today there were 3 newcomers in my lane when I hopped in. It was dark and steamy so I even had to ask Wolfgang which lane I should start in.
We all commingled fine for the first 200 m on our own, then with the first set, one guy started to put on flippers, and I promptly moved myself to the back of the lane. Things started off well even with less than 5 sec between guy #2 and guy #3. Then Whitney and Tom (two speedy swimmers that are regulars in my lane, but often in front of me) joined us and I was in a swimmer sandwich since they just jumped in back. All I could think was..... ut oh....
But I soon found out how great a good draft is as I stuck on the feet of the folks in front of me and held my own with my lane placing. I was making splits I usually have to use a self pep-talk to achieve. It was fun! 5-6 people in my lane for a 6am swim was GREAT. I hope some of them come back again.
-A
...
Wolfgang has great workouts at 6am, and Kurt has learned how to get more swim speed out of me these days than I often think is possible (though not lately, since haven't been swimming Thursdays this month), but I am usually alone, leading the lane, or being a good lanemate and keeping my 5 sec. spacing and then fall back and don't get the draft.
The 6 am Masters is a small group, where everyone pretty much knows everyone. Today there were 3 newcomers in my lane when I hopped in. It was dark and steamy so I even had to ask Wolfgang which lane I should start in.
We all commingled fine for the first 200 m on our own, then with the first set, one guy started to put on flippers, and I promptly moved myself to the back of the lane. Things started off well even with less than 5 sec between guy #2 and guy #3. Then Whitney and Tom (two speedy swimmers that are regulars in my lane, but often in front of me) joined us and I was in a swimmer sandwich since they just jumped in back. All I could think was..... ut oh....
But I soon found out how great a good draft is as I stuck on the feet of the folks in front of me and held my own with my lane placing. I was making splits I usually have to use a self pep-talk to achieve. It was fun! 5-6 people in my lane for a 6am swim was GREAT. I hope some of them come back again.
-A
...
Monday, October 6, 2008
We are blest.......
E and I are blest to be homeowners. This is a gift and not something I take lightly. But with great privilege comes great responsibility. And the list of homeowner responsibilities is huge.
Yesterday, this became apparent as we tackled the project of adding insulation to our attic. This is a project we have talked about for at least 3 years, but just never got around to doing it. We decided to use the blown insulation and calculated a total required depth of ~13 inches, most spots were less than 4 inches with what the previous owners left us.
E figured a few hours of work on a Sunday afternoon and we should be set. We headed off to the store as soon as I got back from church and did some quick math: we would need 48 bales, each at 21.4 lb and a tad under $10. Uff da.
4 car trips later and we had all the bales retrieved from the store and loaded onto our side deck, along with the rental blower. It was now ~1pm.
We scarfed down lunch and took up our positions: E up in the attic distributing the fluff and me down on the deck breaking open the bags and chunking up the bales into the hopper of the blower. A long, 3" wide hose connected us. We had until 4 to get this done and return the blower to the store. Outfitted with work clothes, safety glasses, and dust masks, we began.
As the afternoon wore on, it became apparent that we wouldn't make the 4 pm cutoff. The store was OK with us returning it this morning, instead, so we pressed on (at this point we were maybe halfway through the bales, most were still stacked around me like a fort from my childhood). It sprinkled on me off and on, and I struggled to feed the hopper and keep the insulation dry. It looked to be a combination of torn up plastic bags, finely shredded newspaper and magazines, and cotton fibers. The packaging claimed it was "green fiber insulation, itch free" but it mostly looked like trash to me. $500 worth of trash. E wouldn't let me wait a week or two and just use all our leaves that will coat the yard to fill up the attic instead of the pricey shredded trash.
As the afternoon wore on, I became keenly aware that I had the better task over E. Yes it was getting cold, and a bit wet when the showers would whip up, but I was outside. The drone of the blower's motor was loud, and fluff was covering everything, but I was able to stand up straight.
My thoughts began to wander, and (my sisters may appreciate this) my work started to remind me of fall cider pressing time up at The Farm. Grandma and Grandpas trees always yield lots of naturally ripened apples that aren't much for eating but make the best juice. So a weekend would be picked and and afternoon spent washing, shredding, pressing, filling bottles, and freezing gallons and gallons of cider. Usually 17. Minimum.
And what would start as a fun task would eventually become the chore a hardy few who were sticky, cold, tired, achy in odd places, and ready to be done with the project at hand but determined to stick it out and see it through to the end. When you would get to do all the cleanup (at least the soapy wash water was always a warm relief to stiffened, freezing fingers). Yet you knew that this afternoon of work would be enjoyed all winter (or year!) long with the fruits of your labor.
It has been a few years since I last pressed cider with the family. That year we were home for cousin Darcy's wedding, and were able to fit the "chore" into our brief weekend trip. The smile of gratitude a wedding gift of juice made was priceless. As will the warmth we feel this year with lower heating bills when the weather gets chilly (and the added bonus of a cooler upstairs in the summer, too). A good project, complete. Now we just need to finish the cleanup (only the last bit of vacuuming and wall washing to go). Afterall, yesterday's beauty of a fall day with the trees all turning golden and the breeze and drizzel moving gently had turned to dark by the time we were loading the blower back into the car. It was dinner time and the rest of the cleanup would wait for today or later this week. a continuation and further reminder of the blessings we have.
-A
...
Yesterday, this became apparent as we tackled the project of adding insulation to our attic. This is a project we have talked about for at least 3 years, but just never got around to doing it. We decided to use the blown insulation and calculated a total required depth of ~13 inches, most spots were less than 4 inches with what the previous owners left us.
E figured a few hours of work on a Sunday afternoon and we should be set. We headed off to the store as soon as I got back from church and did some quick math: we would need 48 bales, each at 21.4 lb and a tad under $10. Uff da.
4 car trips later and we had all the bales retrieved from the store and loaded onto our side deck, along with the rental blower. It was now ~1pm.
We scarfed down lunch and took up our positions: E up in the attic distributing the fluff and me down on the deck breaking open the bags and chunking up the bales into the hopper of the blower. A long, 3" wide hose connected us. We had until 4 to get this done and return the blower to the store. Outfitted with work clothes, safety glasses, and dust masks, we began.
As the afternoon wore on, it became apparent that we wouldn't make the 4 pm cutoff. The store was OK with us returning it this morning, instead, so we pressed on (at this point we were maybe halfway through the bales, most were still stacked around me like a fort from my childhood). It sprinkled on me off and on, and I struggled to feed the hopper and keep the insulation dry. It looked to be a combination of torn up plastic bags, finely shredded newspaper and magazines, and cotton fibers. The packaging claimed it was "green fiber insulation, itch free" but it mostly looked like trash to me. $500 worth of trash. E wouldn't let me wait a week or two and just use all our leaves that will coat the yard to fill up the attic instead of the pricey shredded trash.
As the afternoon wore on, I became keenly aware that I had the better task over E. Yes it was getting cold, and a bit wet when the showers would whip up, but I was outside. The drone of the blower's motor was loud, and fluff was covering everything, but I was able to stand up straight.
My thoughts began to wander, and (my sisters may appreciate this) my work started to remind me of fall cider pressing time up at The Farm. Grandma and Grandpas trees always yield lots of naturally ripened apples that aren't much for eating but make the best juice. So a weekend would be picked and and afternoon spent washing, shredding, pressing, filling bottles, and freezing gallons and gallons of cider. Usually 17. Minimum.
And what would start as a fun task would eventually become the chore a hardy few who were sticky, cold, tired, achy in odd places, and ready to be done with the project at hand but determined to stick it out and see it through to the end. When you would get to do all the cleanup (at least the soapy wash water was always a warm relief to stiffened, freezing fingers). Yet you knew that this afternoon of work would be enjoyed all winter (or year!) long with the fruits of your labor.
It has been a few years since I last pressed cider with the family. That year we were home for cousin Darcy's wedding, and were able to fit the "chore" into our brief weekend trip. The smile of gratitude a wedding gift of juice made was priceless. As will the warmth we feel this year with lower heating bills when the weather gets chilly (and the added bonus of a cooler upstairs in the summer, too). A good project, complete. Now we just need to finish the cleanup (only the last bit of vacuuming and wall washing to go). Afterall, yesterday's beauty of a fall day with the trees all turning golden and the breeze and drizzel moving gently had turned to dark by the time we were loading the blower back into the car. It was dinner time and the rest of the cleanup would wait for today or later this week. a continuation and further reminder of the blessings we have.
-A
...
Sunday, October 5, 2008
30 minutes
It is 2:49 am, and I am blogging. I have been awake since 11:09. I hoped my mind would quiet and my body relax with E's gently breathing to sooth me, but it didn't work.
And so I blog.
Today was another solid day of training, and that was about all that was accomplished. Tomorrow we add insulation to the attic, but today we only swam, biked, and ran. It felt like we had raced, so much so that as we finished I told E he could have my timing chip, but the strap was mine.
The day started early with a trip to the pool and 15 fast 100 m swims to knock out. It went by fast and the pre and post sets were over quickly, too. Then a coffee stop at Joe's Espresso to fuel us up for changing into bike clothes and rolling north towards Carter Lake.
And that was the start to our 30 min segments for the day. We had 3 of them (at race tempo/effort) on the bike and another 2 on the run. I kept them strong and focused, but they sure did hurt today.
It did not help that I was stung by a bee at 15:24 into the first 30 min segment on the bike. I used to think I was allergic, but now I just think that I get really uncomfortable and swell up a lot, since I was able to execute the rest of the day without too much worry, just some major discomfort. I could have done without the drama of watching the bugger fly at my helmet, thud to a stop in my lower left vent, crawl around a bit, and then sting me as I was frantically trying to get my chin strap unbuckled and helmet remove to a safe shaking distance before bee-skin contact had been maintained. In the effort, I was not successful. I have the stinger (and large welt) to prove it. The stinger fell from my hair pre shower, which I found fascinating for some reason. It has been one of those days.
Anyways, I rebounded quickly and the remaining efforts were strong and hard. At the end of the last bike effort, which was a little longer than 30 min because coach J suggested we start near Lyons where highway 36 meets 66 and end at the top of the hill on Olde Stage, I realized that I had ridden a bit of hurt into my legs. It reminded me of a Lemond quote that I can only paraphrase at this time of the morning.... something like "it doesn't get any easier, you just get faster" with regards to athletic progression and training. Shucks, I was hoping today's ride and run could be done on autopilot and be both fast and feel good. At least it was fast!
As soon as we got home, I became completely and utterly useless. That is when I knew today's training goals had been accomplished. I was spent. A shower. Some food. Opening some important mail (more on that in a few days, but it came via FedEx next day delivery while we were out biking, and I waited until we were done with the day's training to open and review, that was tough!). Soon we were off to Efrains for an early, yummy dinner and a margarita that put me under the table.
Then home to watch some college football and read the local, monthly newspaper. Where they had a story about a local boy who wants to run for president in 2032. He is 13. This has been his goal since age 6. They had another story about a locally written rock-opera about Mary Magdalene. In my sorry state, both bits of "news" were highly entertaining.
And that, folks, was it. In bed by 9-something, only to awake at 11:09.
A rather boring day from an outsider's perspective, but another huge milestone in terms of my confidence at racing fast, with my current nutrition plan, and my current fitness levels. Now if I could just get the ^%$%*^#($#^%&*^ legs to let me sleep.
Off to bed...........
-A
And so I blog.
Today was another solid day of training, and that was about all that was accomplished. Tomorrow we add insulation to the attic, but today we only swam, biked, and ran. It felt like we had raced, so much so that as we finished I told E he could have my timing chip, but the strap was mine.
The day started early with a trip to the pool and 15 fast 100 m swims to knock out. It went by fast and the pre and post sets were over quickly, too. Then a coffee stop at Joe's Espresso to fuel us up for changing into bike clothes and rolling north towards Carter Lake.
And that was the start to our 30 min segments for the day. We had 3 of them (at race tempo/effort) on the bike and another 2 on the run. I kept them strong and focused, but they sure did hurt today.
It did not help that I was stung by a bee at 15:24 into the first 30 min segment on the bike. I used to think I was allergic, but now I just think that I get really uncomfortable and swell up a lot, since I was able to execute the rest of the day without too much worry, just some major discomfort. I could have done without the drama of watching the bugger fly at my helmet, thud to a stop in my lower left vent, crawl around a bit, and then sting me as I was frantically trying to get my chin strap unbuckled and helmet remove to a safe shaking distance before bee-skin contact had been maintained. In the effort, I was not successful. I have the stinger (and large welt) to prove it. The stinger fell from my hair pre shower, which I found fascinating for some reason. It has been one of those days.
Anyways, I rebounded quickly and the remaining efforts were strong and hard. At the end of the last bike effort, which was a little longer than 30 min because coach J suggested we start near Lyons where highway 36 meets 66 and end at the top of the hill on Olde Stage, I realized that I had ridden a bit of hurt into my legs. It reminded me of a Lemond quote that I can only paraphrase at this time of the morning.... something like "it doesn't get any easier, you just get faster" with regards to athletic progression and training. Shucks, I was hoping today's ride and run could be done on autopilot and be both fast and feel good. At least it was fast!
As soon as we got home, I became completely and utterly useless. That is when I knew today's training goals had been accomplished. I was spent. A shower. Some food. Opening some important mail (more on that in a few days, but it came via FedEx next day delivery while we were out biking, and I waited until we were done with the day's training to open and review, that was tough!). Soon we were off to Efrains for an early, yummy dinner and a margarita that put me under the table.
Then home to watch some college football and read the local, monthly newspaper. Where they had a story about a local boy who wants to run for president in 2032. He is 13. This has been his goal since age 6. They had another story about a locally written rock-opera about Mary Magdalene. In my sorry state, both bits of "news" were highly entertaining.
And that, folks, was it. In bed by 9-something, only to awake at 11:09.
A rather boring day from an outsider's perspective, but another huge milestone in terms of my confidence at racing fast, with my current nutrition plan, and my current fitness levels. Now if I could just get the ^%$%*^#($#^%&*^ legs to let me sleep.
Off to bed...........
-A
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