Got up and on the bike today for an hour. Had a really good ride!! Was thinking about the event this weekend up at Waskesiu and I was not too thrilled about doing it to be frank. But yesterday I got a call from a guy that is doing it for his first time on Sunday. He is SO excited and so pumped and had a million and one questions for me....what is the course like, what do I eat, when do I eat, where is the package pickup, where are you staying....etc. It was fun talking to him and we had some good laughs and now I am excited (again) to head up there. If Jenn decides to go, I think I may take her up on her offer to bunk in the RV....if she does not decide to go, I will stay at the cabin...by myself...which totally freaks me out...cause I watched the movie "Signs" last week when I was up there with my kids and oh...my...gosh...I don't think I will sleep a wink if I am there all alone!!! "Swing, Merrill...SWING!!" I can't get that line out of my head...
And I said I had no expectations, but me being me, of course I have some things I want to get done. The biggest one is that I want to knock my bike split from last year outta the park. I feel like I have not really biked as hard as I can pedal in any of my races this year. Spin in June was the day after my first 100 ride....Stony Plain was a conservative effort because I was scared to death about crashing on the run...so on Sunday, I want to see how fast I can ride 60km...if I have to walk and puke my way through the run... I don't care!! Let's see what these legs have learned over the year!!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Finally!! A really good run.
Running and I have made peace again. Had a really great run this morning. The sun was shining, it was a gorgeous day. Got up in lots of time, did some stretching, puttered around the house and off I went. I had had a really good talk with Jenn last night and she told me all about her Dad's accident. Holy moly...do you believe in miracles? Well have her tell you the story and you will. So I dedicated my run today to Dr. Gordon Sparks. When I thought it was getting hard, I would think about him at the hospital and everything he has been through the last few days and my legs would feel better. We were discussing the upcoming triathlon this weekend and I am just not into it and she has so much going on in her world but then we agreed "We are so LUCKY that we can even do a triathlon!!" And I thought about that all morning today. So, once again, I have zero expectations for this weekend...enjoy the day. That's it.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
OMG!! Went for a bike ride today!
That's right folks...I jumped on the bike and got a really good 2 hour ride in. Drove out to the drive in and started from there. Biked to Clavet and back. Dare I say it was...it was...f-f-fun...? Was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky, nobody out there, had the road to myself, was a good couple of hours. Interesting how just one year ago, that ride would have been unthinkable. Now I got it in before breakfast. And to totally make my day, I went to Broadway and one of the cool stores there was selling ALL of their kids sandals for half price. Picked up shoes for next summer for the munchkins.
One week till the Frank Dunn Tri up at Waskesiu. Had seriously considered just bailing as I have not been in a triathlon frame of mind for the last few weeks. Too much other stuff going on. Going to run tomorrow morning, have not had a good run for quite awhile. Have no idea what the problem is, no injuries, nothing sore, just don't feel like running. Next week will be interesting as my goals are to beat my bike split from last year (which seriously, should not be a problem) and run the entire 13km. Or most of it. We walked quite a bit of the run last year so if I can do those two things, i should be able to blow my time from last year outta the water!!
Friday, August 1, 2008
found this somewhere...FUNNY!!!
Mothers, Don't Let Your Children Grow Up To Be Triathletes
Lee Gruenfeld offers up yet another hilarious column ... parents, take note!
Ah, just kidding. Of course you should let your children grow up to be triathletes. It's just the kind of thing you want for the little tykes. The benefits are too numerous to count. Okay, not really...you can count them on one hand. But you know what I mean. For one thing, people at that level of fitness live longer lives. That means your kids can take care of you in your old age instead of becoming as lame and useless as you are. For another, triathlon will teach them discipline and self-control. That means a whole lot fewer evenings spent waiting by the phone wondering if you're going to have enough cash on hand to cover bail when "The Call" comes. A felony to a teenage triathlete is eating an ice cream cone during race season.Your children will be held up as shining examples for the rest of their peer group, which will also reflect well on you, since they will doubtless do better and accomplish more in the sport than you ever did, you not having had parents like you to provide encouragement and guidance. That such overtaking achievement often causes major stress in the parent-child relationship shouldn't daunt you in the slightest, because your kids will probably be able to thrash you with one hand so stress will be the least of your problems.
But bringing your children up as triathletes shouldn't be left to chance. There is much preparatory work to be done even before they enter their first sprint. If the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree, then T1 shouldn't be too far from the kitchen. Here with, some tips to help point the young 'uns in the right direction and get their minds squared away for the "transition to the transition," as it were.
Enroll your kids in a school that is exactly 6.55 miles away. Inform the school bus company that you will not be requiring their services, as your children will walk, just as God intended. Inform your children that you will not be fixing them PB&Js or bologna-on-a-shingle wrapped in wax paper, as they will be walking home for lunch. Thus will they understand the rigors of the marathon and yet no longer be cowed by it, as they will have done one a day, five days a week throughout the entire school year. (For more advanced training, tell your kids they have exactly an hour-and-a-half for lunch…including walking time.Speaking of walking time: Make your kids eat standing up. Feed them nothing but Gatorade and astronaut-type food that has to be squeezed from plastic packages. (Advanced training: Make sure the stuff tastes like lizard urine laced with cleaning fluid.)
As soon as you wake your kids for school each day, body mark them. Tell the school authorities that this is for ID purposes in the event of a kidnapping. If they protest that the other kids use GPS-enabled iPods, let them know that your kids are forbidden to us iPods, or cell phones, for that matter, because they should be keeping their attention on the freakin' road, thank you very much.
The kids access to home computers should be strictly limited to calculating splits and registering for classes. Rig the software so that if they fail to register within ninety seconds of a class becoming available, they get closed out until next year.Revise the standard practice of learning a lot of words in a single foreign language. Rather, have your children learn a few useful phrases in several dozen languages.Examples:Pressure your school board into changing the typical shop class. Nobody needs to know how to make a candlestick or book holder anymore. They should teach tire changing, chain repair, titanium tube arc welding and emergency wheel truing using only Allen wrenches, Quikfills and Pry Babies. Speed should be favored above neatness. Like, way favored. Also make shop class mandatory for girls as well as boys.
No reason why bath time shouldn't be learning time. Bathe all your kids at once. Encouraging them to beat the hell out of each other. If you sense a lack of enthusiasm, invite a few neighborhood bullies to dive in. After the bath, give your kids sixty seconds to change and be ready for bed. Whoever's last gets no dinner.
Potty training: See "sixty second rule," above.
When your kids get old enough to go out alone at night (i.e., at eight years of age), force them to. But insist they wear glow sticks.
How to make a living: Have your kids sit in a steam room tearing up hundred dollar bills while calling people to ask for money for wearing their clothes or riding their bicycles. Kind of hard to explain so just trust me on this.Obviously, the above techniques only apply up to about the sixth grade. After that, it's time to really get tough, but that's a whole new protocol we'll cover another time.
Lee Gruenfeld offers up yet another hilarious column ... parents, take note!
Ah, just kidding. Of course you should let your children grow up to be triathletes. It's just the kind of thing you want for the little tykes. The benefits are too numerous to count. Okay, not really...you can count them on one hand. But you know what I mean. For one thing, people at that level of fitness live longer lives. That means your kids can take care of you in your old age instead of becoming as lame and useless as you are. For another, triathlon will teach them discipline and self-control. That means a whole lot fewer evenings spent waiting by the phone wondering if you're going to have enough cash on hand to cover bail when "The Call" comes. A felony to a teenage triathlete is eating an ice cream cone during race season.Your children will be held up as shining examples for the rest of their peer group, which will also reflect well on you, since they will doubtless do better and accomplish more in the sport than you ever did, you not having had parents like you to provide encouragement and guidance. That such overtaking achievement often causes major stress in the parent-child relationship shouldn't daunt you in the slightest, because your kids will probably be able to thrash you with one hand so stress will be the least of your problems.
But bringing your children up as triathletes shouldn't be left to chance. There is much preparatory work to be done even before they enter their first sprint. If the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree, then T1 shouldn't be too far from the kitchen. Here with, some tips to help point the young 'uns in the right direction and get their minds squared away for the "transition to the transition," as it were.
Enroll your kids in a school that is exactly 6.55 miles away. Inform the school bus company that you will not be requiring their services, as your children will walk, just as God intended. Inform your children that you will not be fixing them PB&Js or bologna-on-a-shingle wrapped in wax paper, as they will be walking home for lunch. Thus will they understand the rigors of the marathon and yet no longer be cowed by it, as they will have done one a day, five days a week throughout the entire school year. (For more advanced training, tell your kids they have exactly an hour-and-a-half for lunch…including walking time.Speaking of walking time: Make your kids eat standing up. Feed them nothing but Gatorade and astronaut-type food that has to be squeezed from plastic packages. (Advanced training: Make sure the stuff tastes like lizard urine laced with cleaning fluid.)
As soon as you wake your kids for school each day, body mark them. Tell the school authorities that this is for ID purposes in the event of a kidnapping. If they protest that the other kids use GPS-enabled iPods, let them know that your kids are forbidden to us iPods, or cell phones, for that matter, because they should be keeping their attention on the freakin' road, thank you very much.
The kids access to home computers should be strictly limited to calculating splits and registering for classes. Rig the software so that if they fail to register within ninety seconds of a class becoming available, they get closed out until next year.Revise the standard practice of learning a lot of words in a single foreign language. Rather, have your children learn a few useful phrases in several dozen languages.Examples:Pressure your school board into changing the typical shop class. Nobody needs to know how to make a candlestick or book holder anymore. They should teach tire changing, chain repair, titanium tube arc welding and emergency wheel truing using only Allen wrenches, Quikfills and Pry Babies. Speed should be favored above neatness. Like, way favored. Also make shop class mandatory for girls as well as boys.
No reason why bath time shouldn't be learning time. Bathe all your kids at once. Encouraging them to beat the hell out of each other. If you sense a lack of enthusiasm, invite a few neighborhood bullies to dive in. After the bath, give your kids sixty seconds to change and be ready for bed. Whoever's last gets no dinner.
Potty training: See "sixty second rule," above.
When your kids get old enough to go out alone at night (i.e., at eight years of age), force them to. But insist they wear glow sticks.
How to make a living: Have your kids sit in a steam room tearing up hundred dollar bills while calling people to ask for money for wearing their clothes or riding their bicycles. Kind of hard to explain so just trust me on this.Obviously, the above techniques only apply up to about the sixth grade. After that, it's time to really get tough, but that's a whole new protocol we'll cover another time.
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