Four

4 - Four weeks into the new running program and now starting my first down week. I contemplated skipping it and continuing to build, but I quickly decided I'm running enough. Planning to run 6 days a week in the winter in Wisconsin has been a gamble, but to date it has paid off. The weather has been extremely cooperative. Knock on wood. I've run 16 of 19 days so far this month. Most recently I ran Saturday morning then yesterday (Monday) after work. Seemed like an eternity between runs. I'm almost kind of starting to feel like a runner.

3 - Three days of work left until Christmas Vacation, then 11 days off. Can't wait. No plans, maybe it'll snow, the kids want to go sledding.

2 - On week 2 of Jorge's winter cycling plan. Loving it, and the powertap. Being a numbers geek, and having meaningful numbers to target, equates to me actually liking the trainer so far this winter. Knock on wood, again. Next week is the first official round of testing. I may start to dislike the sessions a little more if I test significantly higher, but at least I'll know the program is working.

1 - Times I've been in the pool this month. Sigh. I want to swim, I really do. Schedules just have not been working out.

da Pool

Made it back to the pool with Mel this afternoon.  Swimming still sucks.  I'm thinking now this every other week swim program isn't going to cut it. 

I really like swimming with the kids.  My endurance isn't to the point where I need, want, or even can swim longer than their attention span or endurance, and I'm no faster than either of them.  Trouble is,  with their schedules, we'll be lucky to be able to do this more than once a week.  The thought of solo time in the pool is not appealing at all.

But today was fun.  Mel tried to teach me how to butterfly.  First was dolphin kick with a board, that was as far as we got.  It wasn't pretty.

The rest was also Mel's choice.  50's mostly.  Free, kick, breast, back, mostly relays (us taking turns doing 50's).  40ish minutes of this and I was done.  I thought running fitness may have carried over to the pool at least a little, not so much apparently.

Nov. Recap

November fell short in some areas, and excelled in others.  But overall, I feel pretty good about the month, and even better about where I am in relation to where I need to be.  To summarize the month....

Swim
I stated long ago that November would be the start of my swim training, and it was, in as much as I did make it into the pool.  Twice.  1,800 yards.  Total.  And it didn't completely suck, only because the kids were with me both times.  I don't think I'm ready to swim alone.

Funny story.  First time in, first time down the pool, we all grabbed kick boards and I started off.  Less than 10 yards down the lane both kids (10 and 7) go absolutely flying past me, big ass grins on their faces.  I felt like the slowest piece of crap in the world.  Absolutely destroyed whatever ego I had, crushed my hopes of picking up with swimming again fairly quickly.  Took me about 5 seconds in that deflated state to realize they both had flippers on, little shits.  Hope restored.

Bike
Wilson found his way to the trainer in the basement and I actually found my way down there to ride a handful of times.  Nothing strenuous or long.  Just enough to get used to the trainer again and prepare for the hell that will be the next 4 months.  I bought a Powertap, and combined with Jorge's winter cycling plan, the two should bring the trainer experience to a whole new level of hell.

The highlight of the month was a return trip to Ray's and a day after Thanksgiving mountain bike ride at Camrock, in shorts, in Wisconsin.  Ray's was a blast, no blood shed, no broken ribs.  Left very tired after over 8 hours there with Patrick.  The Camrock ride was just a beautiful fall day solo go.  Mid-50's, sun shining.  Sigh, winter is going to suck.

Run
This seems to be the only aspect of "training" that is actually on track.  Ran just shy of 80-miles in November including the two races.  This is 60 miles more than I've ever run in November, so I feel pretty good about the run going forward.

Mid-month I completely revamped my run training plan.  Where as previously I was trying to run at most every other day, I am now looking to run 6-days a week.  My weekly mileage is still low (20ish), so these are all fairly short efforts, but I have a plan laid out to take me all the way to IMMT if I choose to continue with it.

December
While IMMT training doesn't officially start until mid January, I intend on continuing to build my run base from here on out (please weather cooperate).  Will start Jorge's 16-week bike plan in mid-December, this will allow me to complete it about the same time spring comes around and I'll want to be riding outside.

That leaves swimming.  Seeing as I swam twice in November, maybe I'll shoot for four times in December, or twice a week, or something along those lines.  If I can get up to about 2,000 yards per session by mid January I'll be happy.

And there you have it.

Jimmy V

I was all set to post a November recap, but then ESPN replayed Jimmy Valvano's 1993 ESPY speech.  The text is below, it really doesn't do the speech justice, but the message is still there.  I don't have much to add.  Cancer sucks, but Jimmy V's words, and spirit, live on.
-----------------------------------

Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you. That's the lowest I've ever seen Dick Vitale since the owner of the Detroit Pistons called him in and told him he should go into broadcasting.

I can't tell you what an honor it is to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too.

But, I can't help it. Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and wonderful coach. People don't realize he's ten times a better person than he is a coach, and we know he's a great coach. He's meant a lot to me in these last five or six months with my battle. But when I look at Mike, I think, we competed against each other as players. I coached against him for fifteen years, and I always have to think about what's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started, where you are and where you're going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day. When I think about getting up and giving a speech, I can't help it. I have to remember the first speech I ever gave.

I was coaching at Rutgers University, that was my first job, oh that's wonderful (reaction to applause), and I was the freshman coach. That's when freshmen played on freshman teams, and I was so fired up about my first job. I see Lou Holtz here. Coach Holtz, who doesn't like the very first job you had? The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That's a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk. So my idol as a coach was Vince Lombardi, and I read this book called "Commitment To Excellence" by Vince Lombardi. And in the book, Lombardi talked about the fist time he spoke before his Green Bay Packers team in the locker room, and they were perennial losers. I'm reading this and Lombardi said he was thinking should it be a long talk, or a short talk? But he wanted it to be emotional, so it would be brief. So here's what I did. Normally you get in the locker room, I don't know, twenty-five minutes, a half hour before the team takes the field, you do your little x and o's, and then you give the great Knute Rockne talk. We all do. Speech number eight-four. You pull them right out, you get ready. You get your squad ready. Well, this is the first one I ever gave and I read this thing. Lombardi, what he said was he didn't go in, he waited. His team wondering, where is he? Where is this great coach? He's not there. Ten minutes he's still not there. Three minutes before they could take the field Lombardi comes in, bangs the door open, and I think you all remember what great presence he had, great presence. He walked in and he walked back and forth, like this, just walked, staring at the players. He said, "All eyes on me." I'm reading this in this book. I'm getting this picture of Lombardi before his first game and he said "Gentlemen, we will be successful this year, if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers." They knocked the walls down and the rest was history. I said, that's beautiful. I'm going to do that. Your family, your religion and Rutgers basketball. That's it. I had it. Listen, I'm twenty-one years old. The kids I'm coaching are nineteen, and I'm going to be the greatest coach in the world, the next Lombardi. I'm practicing outside of the locker room and the managers tell me you got to go in. Not yet, not yet, family, religion, Rutgers Basketball. All eyes on me. I got it, I got it. Then finally he said, three minutes, I said fine. True story. I go to knock the doors open just like Lombardi. Boom! They don't open. I almost broke my arm. Now I was down, the players were looking. Help the coach out, help him out. Now I did like Lombardi, I walked back and forth, and I was going like that with my arm getting the feeling back in it. Finally I said, "Gentlemen, all eyes on me." These kids wanted to play, they're nineteen. "Let's go," I said. "Gentlemen, we'll be successful this year if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers," I told them. I did that. I remember that. I remember where I came from.

It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.

I talked about my family, my family's so important. People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who's right here too. That screen is flashing up there thirty seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going thirty seconds? You got a lot, hey va fa a napoli, buddy. You got a lot...

I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm," to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.

Now I look at where I am now and I know what I want to do. What I would like to be able to do is spend whatever time I have left and to give, and maybe, some hope to others. Arthur Ashe Foundation is a wonderful thing, and AIDS, the amount of money pouring in for AIDS is not enough, but is significant. But if I told you it's ten times the amount that goes in for cancer research. I also told you that five hundred thousand people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back on the front table. We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children's lives. It may save someone you love. And ESPN has been so kind to support me in this endeavor and allow me to announce tonight, that with ESPN's support, which means what? Their money and their dollars and they're helping me-we are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And it's motto is "Don't give up, don't ever give up." That's what I'm going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. If you see me, smile and give me a hug. That's important to me too. But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can't thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I'm going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I'd like to think, I'm going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!

I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.

I thank you and God bless you all.

The Derby

The Berbee Derby that is.  With the family abandoning me for Thanksgiving and a 6-mile run on the schedule for the week, it only made sense to run the 10k at the aforementioned Derby.  I've known about this race for a number of years, and always assumed it was a pretty small local event.  Turns out almost 2,000 came out for the 10k, and another 3,500+ for the 5k.  Not so small.

As far as I'm concerned the weather was near perfect for a 10k.  Upper 30's and overcast.  I could have done without the wind, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared prerace.

I've spent more time in the last 5+ hours since I've finished analyzing this race than I likely have for any other "largely meaningless" race.  I still don't know what to make of it.

First off, I don't think I've ever finished a run race feeling like I didn't leave everything I had out there.  Today I did, and I still ran 3-4 minutes faster than I thought reasonably possible given my current fitness.

Given the above, I think I let my Garmin hold me back throughout the entire race. I only looked at it at the mile markers, but it kept telling me I was going faster than what I felt (at least prerace) was sustainable.

The splits:

Mile 1:  8:56 - Was very congested to start, ran at a comfortable pace.  Time was at the fast end of what I thought possible for the entire race.

Mile 2:  8:29 - "You're an idiot"  I said to myself, perhaps a bit too loudly, when I saw this split.  But I was still comfortable, and the wind was still at our back.

Mile 3:  8:27 - By this point it wasn't easy, but I was nowhere near hurting either.

Mile 4: 8:34 - Back into the wind now.  I did my best to find people to draft behind, but all the bigger dudes around me seemed to be slowing down.

Mile 5: 8:32 - Still into the wind, been on the Cap. City Trail now since about the 3-1/2 mile mark.  I don't remember this trail being this hilly.

Mile 6:  8:45 - Couple of substantial hills in this mile.  About half way through we met up with the 5k runners.  Seemingly all 3,500 of them.

The last .2 was all downhill, and with thoughts of coming in under 54 minutes I ran it pretty hard, 7:21 per mile pace.  Finishing at 53:19, 8:35/mile.

875/1891 overall
624/997 male
76/143 age group

So I ran a 10k. Went 3-4 minutes faster than I thought possible.  Broke a 2-1/2 year old 10k PB by exactly 2 minutes*.  Never really hurt throughout the race.  Makes me wonder what I could have done If I had pushed a little more.

I hadn't planned on running the Jingle Bell 10k in Madison in a couple of weeks, but I may have been bit by the racing bug so perhaps I will.  It's not exactly a PR type of course and time of year, but it was the site of my first ever endurance event, the 10k back in 2007.  1 hour and 14 minutes of frozen fun back then, hopefully quite a bit faster this time around.

*  a note on my 10k PR.   I just have not run a lot of them.  Even today's 8:35 effort is only two seconds ahead of my half marathon PR pace.  So big picture not that impressive, but I'm still happy with it.  We're on the right track.

TBR

Going to rehash the Tyranena Beer Run one last time.  I took the time to go back and rehash the numbers and as it turns out, I didn't slow down nearly as much as I thought. 

Mile 1 - 9:50 - Little congested to start, but not terrible.
Mile 2 - 9:33
Mile 3 - 9:30
Mile 4 - 9:38
Mile 5 - 9:26
Mile 6 - 10:05 - Second Aid Station, I skipped it, but stopped and waited for a potty while Kel hydrated.  Didn't get to use the potty.
Mile 7 - 9:36
Mile 8 - 9:45
Mile 9 - 10:16 - Third Aid Station, stopped for water and Gu
Mile 10 and 11 - 9:51/ - Not sure what happened to the watch, but no individual splits for these miles.
Mile 12 - 10:21 - Stopped at one point to walk briefly near the end of the mile.
Mile 13 - 9:47
0.1 - 8:51/mile

So not terrible.  Probably need to focus on nutrition and hydration a bit more than I do at this distance.

Recovery has gone well.  Sunday I was sore, yesterday much better.  Today I was ready to resume running, but it's been raining off and on all day, and I'm not quite that committed to training at this point. 

Next up, New Years Day Dash.  5 miles, hopefully not freeze your nuts off cold like it was last year.  Going to do a little speed work between now and then and continue with the every other day run plan.

Beer Run

Tyranena Beer Run today.  Totally under trained, almost completely unprepared.  Training was going really well....

October started off on the same note as September.  Then I spent a week in Wyoming.  No running.  It's been very much hit and miss since the return.  So be it.  On to today.

Tyranena Beer Run.  13.1 miles.  Low 40's at the start, probably up into the 50's by the end, and windy.  But overall a nice day.

Highlight of the day by far, running with my sister.  Her endurance career and mine have never overlapped, and we've never done anything close to this together.  Was very cool to get this opportunity, and to run the entire race with her.

The two of us prerace.

Not a whole lot to say about the actual race.  The first 5 or 6 miles were fairly hilly, and largely into the wind.  Spent a good mile or so running downwind of a nasty ass farm.  Not fun.  The remainder of the race was fairly flat, and my mental capabilities seemed to have left me about this time as well.  Somewhere in the middle of mile 7, I calculated we had less than 4 miles left. Not sure how I did that.  Wishful thinking perhaps.

Other than some mild tightness in my left leg I made it through the first 9-10 miles without much difficulty.  The last 3 miles sucked.  Plain and simple. 

Coming into the finish with the children.

Finished in 2:08:45.  Pretty happy with it considering.  Anything around 2:10 would have been a huge success.  Still the slowest half I've run (by almost 13 minutes) but I knew it would be going in, and I'm in better shape now, going into Ironman training, than I have been at any point going into any of my previous tri seasons.  So I got that going for me.

Chilling with the children post race.

On to the next segment of the pre-Ironman training warm up.  Going to continue to run.  Looking to race again in the next month or so to keep the motivation up to train.  Wilson has found a home on the trainer.  Going to do some easy spinning 2-4x per week in prep for my winter bike plan.  Also hoping to get out a few more times on Bel.  Lastly, I intend to spend some time in the pool, albeit begrudgingly.

Kelly, thanks again for running with me.  Let's do it again soon.

Swimming

While watching a rerun of The Big Bang Theory last night, Leonard and Sheldon had the following exchange:

Leonard: I'm just saying that you can't approach this intellectually.
Sheldon: However do you mean?
Leonard: Remember when you tried to learn how to swim from the internet?
Sheldon: I did learn how to swim.
Leonard: Yeah, on the floor.
Sheldon: The skills are transferable. I just have no desire to get in the water.
Leonard: Then why learn how to swim?
Sheldon: The ice caps are melting, Leonard. In the future, swimming won't be optional.

In the future, swimming won't be optional.  That's the line that stuck with me, and reminded me of my inevitable date with the pool.  Less than three weeks, and swimming will no longer be optional, at least according to my own, self imposed training plan.

On the Cheap

P has long since outgrown his 18" wheeled single speed kids bike.  It has served him well, but it was definitely time for something new.

After looking around at options, and experiencing some extreme sticker shock, I decided to shop around for something used, something that wouldn't break the bank, but something he could ride for a long time.

Below is what I came up with:

Found an older Trek frame with a Rockshox Judy shock on eBay.  The rest is either from the spare parts bin or dump donor bike, although there are a couple new parts thrown in the mix.  It's set up as a 1x8 for the sake of simplicity, that and I didn't have a 3-ring crank lying around.

We took it out for it's first ride last night.  Patrick looks a kind of funny on it, with the 26" wheels and all.  But it seems to ride pretty well and he loves it.  He's a little stretched out, but he should be able to grow into it for a lot of years.

Heat Wave

My love affair with running, wait, that is way to strong, I've never loved running. We've tolerated each other for the most part at best. But this thing, this fall fling I've had with running, it may be coming to an end.

You see, this heat wave came though. Yesterday I ran 4 miles, stopped 6 times. Four for traffic, once at the post office, yes, I actually ran to the post office. And once at the turn around, just cause. Every stop felt completely necessary. It must have been close to 70 degrees out there, and not a cloud in the sky. I know.

Today was more of the same. Five miles, but I only stopped once. Ridiculously hot again, might have actually hit 70, and absolutely no breeze to cool the engine.

I also broke my every other day running deal by running two days in a row. I was behind a day due to a Friday fishing trip with the kids (There is more to life than swim/bike/run), and wanted to get back on track. Mistake, as I have the slightest of shin pains in my right leg. I won't do that again.

This is the first fall where I've actually done any amount of running whatsoever, and I was really starting to enjoy it. Fall was already my favorite season, and running in the cool crisp weather was almost tolerable. Now indian summer has decided to rear it's ugly head and I don't like it. I'll take 45 degrees and sunny any day. Unless I'm on the bike, then 70 sounds about right. Hmmmmm.

Sept. Recap

As expected, September took on a drastically different tone training wise from the previous months.

Swim

(insert sound of crickets here)  No change.

Bike

Went from 325 miles in August, primarily on Wilson, to roughly 75 in August.  Wilson didn't make it out of the garage once.  Primary objective of the month for the bike was to keep the legs loose on non-run days.  Soooo, spent most of my time on Bel, some of it wandering the city with the kids, most of it out on the trails tackling shit like this:

Ok, attempting to tackle shit like this.

The above is a rock wall at the Emma Carlin Trail in the Southern Kettles.  You ride it from the background of the picture towards the page.  Funny thing is, first time around I cleared it without issue.  Second time through, I attempted it three times, didn't make it once.  Decided to quit while I was still in one piece.

And so it goes, going to continue having fun on the mountain bikes until the weather no longer allows it.  Then a short break before I put my legs in Jorge's hands for hell on the trainer come winter.  I was serious about becoming a stronger biker this winter.

Run

August - 0 miles.  September 65+ and I'm feeling pretty good about the progress.  The every other day run plan is working out well.  Only missed one planned run (of four miles) the day after Ironman.  Every other run has been done.  Longest run of the month was roughly 8.5 miles.  No intervals, no speed work, not even watching my pace during the runs.  Just trying to build up a good base and prepare for the Tyranena Beer Run.  Things are coming along nicely.

October

Much of the same.  Run in prep for the 1/2 marathon, bike for fun.  Have a hunting trip coming up in a couple of weeks that will likely put a serious halt to the training.  I'll bring my running gear, not sure how likely it'll be that I actually run, although I would like to see what it's like running at elevation.  Buffalo, Wyoming is at ~4,600 feet.

Ironman

We are now a two Ironman household.

G, shortly after finishing Ironman Wisconsin Sunday.

Love this picture.  So much joy, moments before it all went to hell and we practically carried her to the med. tent, then the hospital.  Dehydrated, 16 lbs down if I remember correctly (I've heard it now once or twice).  But that's her story, and I'm sure she'll tell it in due time. 

As for me, Ironman spectating from dawn to dusk is hard, physically and emotionally.  Swim and bike were the worst, as there is so much that can happen to an athlete beyond ones own control.  Was so relieved she got through them without major issue.  By the time the run came I was ready for a shower and a nap, but that would have to wait.   I'm super proud of G for her efforts out there on race day.  She is an Ironman.

Phase 1

It appears that Phase 1 of IMMT training is officially over. No, I'm not officially in training for IMMT yet. But all roads lead there, so it's hard not to feel that way.

So Phase 1, even though I didn't intend it to be that way, turned out to be a biking phase. 700 miles over the last three month, only one ride over 25 miles. Lots of back and forth to work. Not a ton of miles, but considering I wasn't in training mode, I'll take it. With school starting last week, my freedom to commute is largely gone, and with days getting shorter, the opportunities to ride will be getting fewer and farther between. Hence the end of Phase 1.

So we are on to Phase 2. Phase 2 is to be a running phase. Back in early summer I conned convinced my little sister into running a half marathon with me at the end of October. The proposed start of my training program coincided perfectly with a nasty little heat wave that seemed to last all summer. So I didn't run. At all. We're still on for our half marathon, first week of November. The Tyranena Beer Run in Lake Mills. I'm a little behind the eight ball.

But I drew up a plan, run every other day from now until November 5, building up my long run from 5-12 miles between now and then. I'll be ready to run it, but planning for anything other than a PW at this distance would be just plain foolish. Two hours seems like a dream, my two stand alone halfs were 1:55ish and 1:53ish. Doubtful.

So Friday I ran, 3 miles. Went ok. Sore as hell the next day. Sunday was Day 2, ran with the dog, 3 more miles, went well. Even sorer muscles the next day. Tuesday I went out for 5 at lunch. Had some side stitch issues at the end, but otherwise good. Best part, my legs were not, are not, sore at all post run. Maybe the running mojo is coming back.

Phase 2 will also include a fair amount of biking, primarily to keep the legs loose. I'm not flexible at all, and biking seems to really help loosen up tight running muscles. So the plan is to run every other day, bike on the off days. No hammer fests, probably a lot of mountain bikes rides, neighborhood jaunts with the kids, or lunch rides. Just trying to keep the legs loose, not trying to increase bike fitness at all. It's possible Wilson won't move during this period.

I think I'll end up with four more "phases" leading up to IMMT. Not quite ready to reveal the full schedule yet, but soon.

Every spring (since I've been back on a bike), I make a mental goal to go out and ride a couple of new mountain bike trails, areas I have not been to before. It's been pretty easy these first couple of years, seeing as everything is pretty much new to me. Other than Hartmann Creek State Park, where we've camped on a couple of occasions, everything I've ridden has been pretty local. Camrock is the closest and my most frequent destination. The Southern Kettles is the likely destination if I'm not going out to Camrock.

That is about it for my regular mountain bike haunts. Nice trails, but a list that needs to be greatly expanded. Saturday I did just that. Stopping at the Northern Kettles outside of Greenbush on the way to pick up the missing (not missed) children.

I grew up in the area and cross country skied at the Northern Kettles frequently during high school. I even biked there once in the mid/late 90's when all you could ride were the ski trails. Quite different now, and even more punishing than I remember. Nine miles of singletrack fun. Almost always up or down, and either smooth and flowing or rocky as hell. Killer climbs, rocky descents, but otherwise not terribly technical. Came out of the woods dripping with sweat, heart ready to explode. The last climb was brutal.

Bel at the Northern Kettles

I have not put much time in on the mountain bike this year and it's ridiculously obvious. Not necessarily by my riding ability, but in my confidence. I have none, I'm sure in large part due to my fall this spring. After the nine mile jaunt, the only real sore part of me were my hands. Must have had a pretty good white knuckle death grip on the bars for much of the ride.

Fortunately, the only way I know to gain confidence on the bike is to ride it.  And I intend to do more of it the remainder of the year.

W/O Child

We're fortunate to have two wonderful, healthy children. We're even more fortunate to have family willing and able to take them off of our hands for a week. This past week has been one of the most peaceful in years, and even though I'm not really training for anything at the moment, I am watching my wife peak out her own Ironman training, and I've come to realize something I've never really thought about before.
Training for endurance events is infinitely easier in the absence of young children. So much so, that I think some sort of race credit should be given to those who train while raising children. And I have a couple ideas on that, but first, let's discuss training.

This past week, I've been able to do basically whatever I want, whenever I want to do it. As mentioned, I'm not in full on training mode right now, but I still got on my bike four times since Monday, and I didn't once have to think about the ramifications of going out riding. It must be really nice, as a dependant free IM-wanna be, to be able to schedule your workouts at will. I can't even imagine. No soccer schedules, no little league, no having to feed them, watch them, bath them, get them to sleep. Nothing, just eat, sleep, work, train.

But I don't think that's even the most important part. Getting in the training, even with children and a little time management, is relatively easy. It's the recovery. With kids, coming home, showering, and promptly taking a nap is generally not an option. There are no naps, it just doesn't happen. Often. Without the kids this week, I've been free to sleep almost at will, or at least relax and put my feet up. Must be nice.

Which brings us to racing. How about giving those of us with pre-teen children a break? At the very least, our own age groups. How hard would that be? No dice? How about a time discount, 10% for the first kid, 5% for the second, 3% for the third? Seems fair to me. and again, easy enough to implement. I'd still be slow, but at least I'd have a chance.

Barring the miracle of anybody actually implementing one of my wonderful ideas, anyone want a couple of kids for about 30 weeks next year leading up to IMMT?

Anyone?

No. I guess it's for the best. I'm counting on Patrick to teach me how to swim anyway.

With Child

Nobody is pregnant, don’t be stupid.

Biking with child, or children, is the real matter at hand.  Last night a strange set of circumstances presented itself where I had the opportunity to ride home from work with Patrick, our son, who recently turned 10.  

In 2009 while training for Ironman I did probably 98% of my midweek riding to and from work.  The shortest route is about 16 miles, but it can easily be stretched to 20 or 30+ depending on route.  It worked out well for training, and I’ve been doing it quite a bit this summer as well.

Last night was either ride it again solo on Wilson, or change it up, take the opportunity at hand, and ride Blue, my single speed mountain bike, with Patrick.

And ride we did, and ride, and ride, and ride.  I’ve been riding with P for 3-4 years now, and over that period of time I’ve learned a couple of things.  Things I had much time to reflect on while riding last night.

Expectations

Have none.  I had no expectation that Patrick would make it the entire way last night, and had a sag wagon on call just in case.  I don’t go out riding with him (anymore) expecting to cover a certain distance, or a certain time, or at a certain pace.  This lesson didn’t come easy, and was often painful and frustrating.  Take whatever time you can get and just relax and enjoy it.

Water

If you’ve ever watched any of those wilderness survival shows or read anything at all regarding the matter, they’ll often tell you, when faced with having to spend the night in the wilderness, to stockpile as much firewood as you think you’ll need to get through the entire night, then double it.  This is how I feel about water, except you should maybe triple or quadruple what you think you’ll need.

I can easily go for an hour outing without drinking, my son can’t make it to the end of the driveway most days without complaining of thirst.  On our route home last night P probably drank close to 40 oz, and would have drank more if I would have had it.

Snacks

Like water, I bring a lot of it.  Most of it stuff I typically wouldn’t let him eat on a regular basis.  But I never let him know I have food, or what I have, or how much I have.  But if we stop for water, I’ll generally get something out.  Nothing seems to pick up the mood of  kid like an unexpected sugar bomb.

That’s about it, fairly simple really.  We did make it home last night without the need for the sag wagon.  Two hours and almost 19 miles later.  There were some low points where I could tell he was tired, but he pushed through and we made it with out any real drama.

P, about half way home, pounding his way up the Marsh Road "hill".

I can get on my Wilson and hammer my way home almost anytime.  This was relaxing and fun.  Probably more of what I need right now.

Hills

I think I found the hilliest, somewhat direct route to work this morning.  20 miles of up, down, repeat, with not a whole lot of flat.  Hopefully by the end of summer I won't be feeling like they bitch slapped me repeatedly and left me for dead.  Cause that's kind of how I feel now. 

But this image is constantly in the back of my mind.

And it's a bit worrisome.  12% is a big hill.  I'm not aware of many hills in Dane County that are that steep.  The two I am aware of aren't that long, but still scare the hell out of me when thought of in the middle of an IM course.  One I've only ridden down, the second is on the HHH course, which I described at the time like so:

Picture putting it in the granny gear, turning the pedals over at 40-50 rpm, while simultaneously seeming to try and push your feet through the bottom of your shoes and rip your handlebars from the bike. At times for miles at a crack. Expletives were flowing freely from all fronts.

So hills are on the menu, followed by hills, and supplemented by more hills.  I've changed the gearing on Wilson back to the 11-23 which it came with.  I intend to train with this cassette and the standard cranks and then switch the cranks/cassette (probably around taper time) to compact cranks and a 12-27 cassette.

Kill the legs in training, make the IMMT ride as easy as physically possible.  Get off the bike ready to run.  That's the plan.

IMMT Athletes

Athletes, that still gives me a chuckle, as I don't really see myself as an athlete.  Couple of years ago, I don't recall which triathlon it was, I was walking into triathlon with my gear getting ready to race, a volunteer at the entrance was repeating "Athletes only in transition".  I walked on in, feeling like I was getting away with something devious, sly smile on my face.

Anyway, the participant list for IMMT has been posted.  Link here.  I have been wanting to see this list since the moment I signed up.  First, to make sure my name was on it, and second, to see how many people from Wisconsin were signed up.  Eleven, including myself.  Not a whole lot, was hoping there might be somebody local I know, nodda.  Hoping maybe I could find someone local to train with also doing IMMT.  Verdict is still out on that, but with only 10 in the pool, the odds are not good.

The list as a whole isn't that surprising, some of the stats:

2550 athletes registered
33 countries represented
1,427 from Canada
903 from the US
102 from Mexico
41 US states represented
110 from NY
77 from CA

Not surprised at all at the numbers for the US and Canada, Mexico is kind of surprising.  After Mexico, only the UK and Germany had double digit quantities of participants.

52 weeks

I had the thought last night in bed that in 52 weeks, just one short year from now, I would be beginning my taper for Ironman Mont Tremblant.  Turns out I was likely wrong, I think it is 53 weeks from this coming Monday, assuming a three week taper, but that's not the point..........

I've forgotten how much Ironman can completely consume every thought you have.  Seems that every moment not completely consumed by something totally unrelated, Ironman thoughts creep in to fill the void.  I'm not nervous or anxious at this point by any stretch of the imagination, but I think about it, constantly.

Last weekend didn't help, spent it up in Door County watching triathlon, after triathlon, after triathlon.  I'm just about tri'd out.  Saturday morning it was the Door County sprint triathlon, Saturday afternoon both kids participated in a kid's tri at the local Y.  Sunday was the Door County half which G took a run at for the second year in a row.  Sunday was hot, stupid hot, and watching competitors struggle to deal with the heat and actually run only accelerated the thought processes on one critical topic, how do I get off the bike actually ready to run?

I don't have an answer yet, but I know on race day it has to do with the bike, pacing, and nutrition.  How exactly to train myself properly throughout the year to execute that on race day remains the big question.

a)  Bike more frequently?
b)  Bike longer (over distance)?
c)  Bike harder?
d)  Race more?
e)  All the above?

I'm leaning towards (e).  Thankfully I've got another 6 months or so to figure out a plan before training begins.  And if you're wondering why none of the options on how to improve my Ironman run have absolutely nothing to do with running , it stems from this simple belief of mine.  It doesn't matter how good of a runner you are, you could be an olympic medalist, but if you get off the bike physically unable to run, whether it's trashed legs or a digestive system in complete revolt, it just doesn't matter.

So my plan for IMMT, both for training and on race day, do everything possible to get off the bike as fresh as physically possible.  Simple as that.

WWTPD

What would the peloton do?   This thought passed through my head tonight on my ride home from work.  I was approaching the base of a smallish hill, completely gassed (I was over 10 miles into my ride) and trying to figure out how to best get up the hill as quick as possible with the least amount of damage.

What would the peloton do?

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have blinked and just kept on going.  It wasn't a big hill.  But those guys in the Tour de France, sorry le Tour de France,  Anyway, they are amazing, and frankly, I'm not sure how they do it.   During one of the first stages the announcers were going over a lot of the riders heights/weights.  Amazingly, not all that different from me.  Probably 5'-10" to 6' on average, 150-160 pounds.  Pretty much my height and weight, well, race weight anyway.

Except of course I lack the ability to accelerate from 30 mph to 40+ mph as necessary, hold speeds in the high 20's for hours on end, and climb like a billy goat.  Then do it again, day, after day, after day.  Ridiculous. 

Watching le tour makes me feel like I don't know how to ride a bike, at all.  Like I must be doing something wrong to be this slow. 

The Horse

Funny thing about blogging, once I take a break from it for a certain period of time,  I get a bit scared to go back and look at when I lasted posted.  It’s almost embarrassing.   Wow it has been a long time.  Just looked.

The ribs are back to normal.  I think it was early May before I no longer felt any twinges or discomfort from the fall.  No more excuses there.

So I’ve been back in the saddle, back on the horse so to speak.  No mind blowing volume or really interesting rides.  But I’m slowly getting back to active.  No running yet, but that will change, next week I believe.

Blue and I have made nice since he not so kindly ejected me at Rays.  He now sits in my office awaiting our once or twice a week lunch rides.  I’ve more or less kept both wheels on the ground, although I'm not able to avoid riding off curbs or down steps.  It's only a matter of time before we're airborne again.  Patrick has a baseball tournament in Middleton next weekend.  A trip to the bike park there might be in order.

Bel is finished, minus some tweaking to the shifting and bleeding the brakes (again).  She is a big girl, with big wheels, big brakes, but plenty of squish.  It’s nice to have a ride with some suspension again, although she still kind of scares me.  Have had her out to the Southern Kettles a couple of times, a trip to Cam-Rock, as well as some stints around the neighborhood.  I anticipate a long and wonderful relationship, until she too hits the eject button.  Will have to put up a follow-up post on Bel alone.

Wilson has even made it out of the garage rafters for a couple of commutes.  Now that school is out it’s much easier to go by bike.  Hope to make 3-4 one-way trips each week but it hasn’t happened yet.  It will, it has to.  Because last week I signed up for Ironman Mont Tremblont.  August 19, 2012. 

Yes, you read that right, Ironman Mont Tremblont.  August 19, 2012.  And no, I have not swam since Ironman Wisconsin 2009.  So be it.

It was almost an impulse decision.  But in reality I’ve been planning my return to Ironman since I got off the bike at IMWI and realized running wasn’t to be.  So when Kristin signed up, linked to a couple reviews of the race/area, the wheels started turning.  Many emails, a conversation or two with the wife, and a relatively lazy contemplative walk and bike ride later, the trigger was pulled. Gidde up.

Zer

Zer, Melzer, Mela, Mel. 

My little girl.  She went and turned 7 today.  For the last couple of weeks I tried to talk her out of it.  Tried to convince her to stay 6 for another year.  Even tried to convince her of all sorts of things she couldn't do once she turned 7, like go the park and play with dolls.  No dice, she saw right though it.

Mel really is the sweetest little girl one ever could hope for.  I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such a sweetheart.  Always wanting to help, even this weekend when I was replacing our water heater she was right there, in the way mostly, but just wanting to help.

Couple of weeks ago I told her I wasn't going to walk her down the aisle when she gets married.  I was only half joking.  I don't know how I could possibly keep it together.  I tear up just thinking about it. 

No matter how bad the day, Mel has always been there with a smile.  Always been there with a hug and a kiss.  Real sweetheart she is.

With a friends dog.

With Oz, he loves her too, even if it doesn't look like it here.

Happy Birthday Mel.  Try not to grow up to fast.

Gone Fishing

Have not been able to get back to being truly active yet, but I did get the kids out fishing again.  It was fun while we were out, but I paid for it, being extremely sore that night and the following day.  In the end it was well worth it.

Way too independent to let me help.

 First fish of the day.

Big fish of the day.  Patrick caught it by himself.

Another nice brown.

I think we ended up catching 15-16 fish, including a couple of rainbows and a little brook trout.  Very fun day, kids almost as worn down as me.

Patience

My parents divorced, I believe when I was 9.  And if I remember correctly I was either 11 or 12 when my mom remarried.  It's been a long time, how am I supposed to remember.

If I ever would have been asked, I never would have described my stepfather as a patient man, he didn't have a short temper by any means, I just wouldn't have described him as patient.

Something happened this weekend to make me rethink this.  I took my own two kids, 6 and 9 years old, fishing.  I don't know how that man did it.  There were often three of us in a boat plus my mom.  So really, in a fishing scenario, four kids plus him.  Swinging empty hooks and flopping fish in his face constantly, getting lines and hooks tangled in just about everything.  He may not have been a saint, but he certainly was patient.

So P and Mel and I went fishing Saturday.  Trout fishing to be more specific.  Along one of Southern Wisconsin's small, often tree lined, or weed entangled creeks. With two little, independent, let me do it, kids.  What was I thinking? 

Lures were sent onto bridges and railroad trusses, into trees, weeds, and rocks on both sides of the creek.  Rod tips were jammed into trees, weeds, rocks, brothers, and sisters.  Between all that and Mel's technique of jump casting, it's a wonder no rods were lost or broken.  It was at times a true test of patience.

In the end we fished for about 4 hours, caught one fish (I didn't have the heart to tell them it was a sucker and not a trout), and regardless of it all, I still had to be the one to tell them it was time to quit.  We ate dinner at a restaurant near the creek and later drove by it again on the way home.  They both asked if we could stop and fish some more.  Next time.

Debate

No, not that one. I just did an image search for the word debate and came up with this image, which I liked.   Although as long as we're here, I will say that the older I get, the more I wonder how otherwise seemingly intelligent people can believe in a higher power.  Enough said, I have little interest discussing this matter here.

Over the last 10ish days, I'm amazed at the shear quantity of internal debates that have gone on in my head.  Early in the week there was little debate about a lot of things.  If it was on the floor, it was staying there.  It may as well have been in the middle of New York City.  I wasn't getting it.  Now I'm recovered to the point where I can accomplish most simple tasks with only a minimum of additional pain.  I just need to decide if it is worth it.  Hence the debates.

Monday I returned to work.  My job entails me spending about half the time in the office and the remainder out and about the county.  Yesterday I found myself at one of our sites and having to either put the truck in 4wd or turn around.  Another debate, the shift lever is way down there, on the floor.  Maybe I don't need to drive through the site today.

But I'm feeling better. Today I took a long walk at the landfill.  Nice springish day, sun shining.  Refreshing.  Every step is still measured.  Every move still calculated.  I have a pretty good idea what I can and can't do, or maybe what I will or won't do.  Either way.  I think the end is in sight and I'll be active again soon.

Blue and I still haven't made nice, but it's supposed to hit 60 later this week.  I'm thinking a lazy lunch time ride might be in order to help mend that fence.

Progress

Two firsts today since my mishap:

1)  I sat up.  That's right, I is a big boy now.  I didn't actually do a sit up, but I sat up.  Previously, if I wanted to get out of bed, it involved rolling over and sort of pushing/pulling myself to the edge of the bed until my feet hit the floor, then pushing myself up. Quite a site I'm sure.

2)  With my new found abilities, I am now sitting on the couch.  I did make the mistake of sitting on the couch early Sunday morning, getting off of it then was an adventure to say the least.  I'm confident that today it will be easier.

Not sure if I'm getting any better or if this new found progress is due to the 4-gallon tub of industrial strength ibuprofen which is now sitting on my nightstand next to the percocet.  Between the two I sometimes feel pretty good, then I try and do something and get put in my place.  Driving is still an adventure, and putting a pizza in the oven tonight almost brought me to my knees.

I really look forward to the day when I'm not constantly looking at the clock wondering when I need to take the next pill.  More than anything, I really want a beer, well aside from being pain free of course.

ABC's

This is how bored I am.  The ABC's of me, stolen from Badgergirl's blog.

(A) Age: 39
(B) Bed Size: King, the only way to go
(C) Chore You Really Dislike: All of them
(D) Dogs:  This one:

Ozzie

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item:  I really need to brush my teeth before I feel awake.
(F) Favorite Color: Orange
(G) Gold or Silver? Gold
(H) Height: 5'10"
(I) Instruments You Play: None
(J) Job Title: Solid Waste Engineer
(K) Kids: Two:

Patrick

Melanie

(L) Live: Stoughton, WI
(M) Mom's Name: Anna
(N) Nicknames: Bert
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? I don't think so, maybe when I had my tonsils out as a kid.
(P) Pet Peeve: ??
(Q) Quote from a Movie: "There's no crying in baseball." ~A League of Their Own (watching it now)
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: A little sister, Kelly
(T) Time You Wake Up? 6:04 my alarm goes off, 6:36 I typically get out of bed
(U) Underwear: Almost always
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Peas, green beans, eggplant
(W) What Makes You Run Late: In the morning? Family
(X) X-Rays: Chest (saturday), dental
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Everything I make is yummy
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Probably the fish, or the polar bears

Man Down

Ironic, after my last post that I have to write this one. 

After almost 3-hours in the ER, x-rays, blood and urine tests, along with some heavy narcotics fed directly into my arm, I was told it was nothing but bruised ribs.

I say bullshit, bruised ribs couldn't possibly hurt this much, even with the Vicaden.  I've since switched to something stronger.  It doesn't seem to help.  This morning it took me over an hour to try and figure out how to get off the couch.  Then about 10 minutes to actually do it, with help.  I'm done with the couch for now, good thing our bed is comfortable, and about a foot higher than the couch.  I'm really glad I haven't had to take a dump yet.  I may end up stuck there.

It was Ray's again, a return trip with Patrick.  Not even sure how it happened, but I dismounted my bike over the bars, landing on the incline to the second jump in the beginner jump line.  Hard.  I wasn't riding very fast, but I must have hit pretty square.  

Rear right rib cage took the brunt of the impact, and my right hip and elbow also decided to get in on the action.  Had a really hard time breathing, couldn't get much in the way of words out.  All in all, it made the fresh blood running down my leg from earlier all but an afterthought. 

It's frustrating on so many levels.  I was just starting to figure out how to actually jump that line, more with technique rather than speed, a good thing.  And I've ridden it hundreds of times.  Yesterday, every second run I did was down that line.  That last one started out no different than any of the others. 

Going forward, I don't know what this is going to mean for marathon training.  I have to believe I'm going to be out for at least a week.  Doc told me three weeks for full recovery.  That would only leave me with 5 weeks to prepare.  Sigh.  Stupid monkey.

I do have to tip my hat to everyone at Ray's, they not only helped me get up and off the course, they stored our bikes and gear for us, gave us a ride to the hospital, waited there with us, gave us a lift back, and gave us two complimentary passes for a future visit.  They really went out there way to make sure we were taken care of, and for that, I truly am grateful.

Sadly, I don't even have any good pictures.  There is very little discoloration, nothing to show for all this discomfort.

Carnage

Right Calf

It almost looks like I had another run in with another dog.  But for something like this to happen I'd likely need to be out running in shorts and winter seems to have returned to Wisconsin.  Furthermore, I'd actually need to be out running, but more on that in the weekly recap.

In reality, this is pedal damage from several direct blows to the calf.  Must. Keep. Feet. On. Pedals.  The left calf looks similar, but not quite as bad.

Left Knee

Floor burn basically, in this case, wall burn.  Winding down another night at Ray's in Milwaukee, getting a little lazy, knee grazes wall.  Ouch.

So why do it, why ride a mountain bike, why shed blood virtually every time out, why risk taking a header into a tree or rock?  These are but a few of the questions I'm asked from friends who just don't get it.

Beyond the pure enjoyment of it, the challenge, very often the beauty of the natural environment, not to mention the lack of vehicular traffic, the distracted drivers, etc.  Beyond all that, last night, for almost 4 hours, I completely forgot about the state budget and our jackass governor.  I completely forgot about work and all the bullshit politics I get to deal with on a daily basis.  I completely forgot about the horrendous noise my truck was making the other day.

For almost 4 hours, I was a kid on a bike, riding over logs and rocks for no other reason then they were there, and I could.  Or I could at least try.  So I did.  Most of that park still gets the best of me, and I don't care.  After almost two months of trying, I can almost "jump" the beginner jump line, and that makes me happy.

Some will claim that running, or swimming, or road riding, will take them to the same place, but I disagree.  During most portions of these activities, it's all you can do not to think about daily life.  Endless laps in the pools, miles of path or road in front of you.  Nothing to truly distract you like the regular switchbacks, hills, and obstacles of good singletrack.

So I'll shed a little blood, break some bike parts, or bikes, and in the end come out smiling.  Because for whatever time I was able to get out there, I could remember what it was like to be a kid.

Week 11

Oh how I wish.  In reality, this post is a summary of weeks 5 and 6 together (5+6=11, for you mathematically challenged out there).

The good, I reconnected with my bestest running buddy Anna and cranked out two decent saturday morning long runs (12 and 13 miles).  Despite her need to begin these long runs at ungodly hours of the morning, it's worth it to have the company. Misery loves company so they say.

Also good, winter took a bit of a reprieve, much snow melted, and layers of running clothes went unused.  Spring seemed all but here.  Of course we got belted with snow and ice again yesterday, and the bitter cold winds have returned with a vengeance.  Much suckage for this weeks runs predicted.

Not so good, I've been on a regular ice, stretch, repeat routine just to manage the shin splints.  Not getting any better.  This past Saturday's long run almost got called because it.  Couldn't decide if I would be further ahead with rest or pushing through the run.  Verdict is still out.

I also spent a lot of time down at the capitol last week protesting the recent "budget repair bill" proposed by our wonderful governor here in Wisconsin (sarcasm is sometimes hard to convey in print).  Wednesday I ran down there from my office, milled about for an hour or so, then ran back.  Thursday and Friday I drove down.  Friday was the more interesting of the days, as I got there in time to listen to several people talk on the subject.

I'm not going to get into the issue, as a public union employee, I am against it, and could probably write volumes, but I won't.  From my personal point of view, the people watching is the most interesting aspect of being down there.  I wish I could have made it down Saturday when the Tea Party rally took place along with the kill the bill rally.  Perhaps tomorrow I will return.

But back to running and such.  Put in 48.4 miles during the last two weeks.  Pace is still just slightly faster then dead.  It did improve slightly over previous weeks, although the upturn in the temperature may be somewhat responsible.  As I look out my window now things don't look good.  Ice is covering everything and the 14 flags I can see are whipping like mad.  Not weather I want to run in.  Thursday and Friday I'm heading to Green Bay for work, I may try to sneak in a Ray's ride on the way back Friday. 

Ten weeks left to La Crosse, no pressure.

Week 4

Let's review:

Monday

Legs are sore from yesterday's "long" run.  Rest day.

Tuesday
Storm of the century coming tonight, legs still somewhat sore.  Let's just rest again.

Wednesday

Shovel snow for hours and hours on end.  I think I was out there around 5 hours.  From the marathon training perspective, this was another rest day.  Right.

Thursday
Never been so sore in my life.  Lower back is screaming.  No chance in hell I'm running today.  Rest day.

Friday

Let's see, three runs per week, three days left in the week, zero runs so far this week, looks like I need to run today.  So after a shitty morning at work I suit up and head out for a lunch run, three miles in and it's time to turn around and go back or do a loop of the arboretum first.  Arboretum wins, let's just turn this into my long run for the week.

Karma, as it turns out, would come back and bite me for this little decision.  No wait, it wasn't karma, it was a little dog.

On my way back I'm coming down a long section of sidewalk with no driveways in sight.  There is an older woman walking towards me with three dogs, each on it's own 8' leash.  Jack Russel type mutts.  Remember the storm of the century.  The sidewalk is 4' wide, with 3' walls of snow on each side, I have nowhere to go.

She does absolutely nothing to bring her dogs in while we close the distance between us.  I end up coming to a complete stop when one of these little things attempts to take a chunk out of my leg.  Now it is winter in Wisconsin, I'm dressed for it, the dog didn't come anywhere close to skin, but now I'm pissed.

The woman offers nothing in the way of an apology, does nothing to pull her dogs away.  Deep breath, I say nothing, and start running again.  Why?  I think Ron White says it best:

At this point in my life I'm realizing there is just no hope for some, you can't fix stupid, and I'm tired of wasting my breath on them.  The rest of the run was largely uneventful, although the wheels did come off at 9 miles and I ended up kind of run/walking back to the office.

Saturday

Back in Stoughton, running with my own dog, because I really do love dogs, it's the owners I can't stand.  Uneventful 6 miles.

Sunday

Stoughton again, this time dogless, for the time being.  I find myself running up Lincoln on the sidewalk, northbound.  When two little Taco Bell type dogs come out of nowhere in a ladies front yard and assault me.  Bit again, but again I'm dressed for Wisconsin winter and I'm not hurt.  But the woman at the house, looking annoyed because I interrupted her phone call, nonchalantly calling her dogs, offering no apologies, really pisses me off.  Don't waste your breath, just keep running, you can't fix stupid.

Recap

So despite a pretty major midweek storm I got all my runs done, outside, in Wisconsin, in February.  Three consecutive days, three runs, just shy of 22 miles.  And Monday it once again hurts to walk.  Shins mainly.  Apparently Ron is right, you can't fix stupid.

Skiing

Last week while downloading my empty plate picture I came across the following two pictures I took while cross county skiing at Lake Kegonsa State Park.  It was the first time I skied the White Oak Nature Trail this winter.  I knew there was a reason I had been avoiding it.

Random tree shot.

Another.

Looking at them now, they don't seem all that remarkable.  Which likely means I was completely gassed (from my 15 minutes of skiing) and needed an excuse to stop.  If I'm remembering correctly I tried to tackle a similar tree at the bottom of a hill just earlier.  When I went down I was pretty sure I had broken a ski (it's happened before).  But all seemed intact when I pulled it out of the snow bank and I continued on. 

It was also on this day that I wore my Garmin, purely out of curiosity.  Unfortunately it confirmed my suspicions, I can in fact run faster than I can ski.  So if I ever decide to actually do the Birkie, I'll be better off carrying my skis and running rather than skiing it. Sad I am.  Skiing is hard.

It was two days later when I returned to the state park that I noticed my ski was in fact broken.  About a foot from the tip, more or less in tact, but just sort of, well, limp.  It is still skiable for the most part, but it sucks all the same.