gadget envy

I have two new toys. Well, they are both new to me, but one is brand spanking new to the world.

I am listening to my 80 GB iPod Classic playing through my receiver and surround sound speakers, which has replaced the 300 CD jukebox. I think it sounds fine, despite most CD's being ripped at whatever the default is. The volume has to be cranked up quite a bit compared to the CD player and I don't have a remote to skip to the next track, but now I can make playlists and I was running out of room in the jukebox. And I have a fair amount of stuff in MP3 format only now.

I am also the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 405. Now I too can meticulously track my workouts and post the intimate details of my heart rate to the internets. I eschewed fancy gadgets for a long time. Why sometimes I don't even wear a watch when I go for a run! The horror!

I have a had a very simple HRM for a few years that I wore occasionally but it was basically limited to telling you what your HR was. And then I tried to change the battery myself several months ago and ended up with extra parts, though it still ran.

But no more! Now I can share with you this: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193432
This particular workout stirred up some kind of allergy that caused my eyelids to puff up and put my Friday night plans into temporary jeopardy. Weird. But I recovered.

I can't wait to chart a bike ride with it and I should probably get the bike mount so I don't have to wear it. Because I really sweat under that thing. While the 405 is considerably smaller than previous models, it's still large, especially on my scrawny little wrist. But it does resemble a regular watch.

I am a little sad that it did not even make a cursory effort at estimating my calorie expenditure for an indoor workout. OK, well not that sad because I don't care that much. And anyway, the machine claimed I burned nearly 500, which I think is dubious at best. I'm curious to see how it estimates that for cycling.

So I have finally joined the 21st century as far as working out and listening to music. What's next??

bike week 2008

the goal: ride to work at least twice during bike week 2008 since after all I won a bike last year and I never did ride it to work again last year. Though I rode it around town alot.

However the weather was just too nice NOT to ride a third time, which netted me a sweet 105 miles for the week. Granted I'd like to be able to do that in one day, but jeebus, not on that bike and that's a different kind of riding anyway.

So for your entertainment and my self-indulgence after swilling $2 coors lights for the last few hours, I have a photoessay of my ride home from work, May 16, 2008. And I haven't quite mastered the Blogger integration of photos. I don't get why every time I add a picture, it just plops it up at the top. Um, that's not where I want it, but don't worry, I'll cut and paste. Nor did I resize my pics, so they're big if you click 'em.

I never thought it would be possible to bike to my job, not so much the distance as the impracticality of finding a decent route through Johnson County. But I have a really excellent route. It only sucks for a very short time, right around I-35. There are some really good hills, but also long stretches of relatively flat road where you can really cruise.

Brookside - Lenexa

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

So my starting point, a totally boring, beige, corporate office park in Lenexa, Kansas. However, we have a bike rack. Granted it's not attached to anything ...



Yeah, nice rack, baby.






After a very short stretch on Lackman, I cut through a parking lot and into 'Sar-Ko-Par' Park, which has a little pond where people appear to fish. Last year I rode through some fishing line actually. I'm not sure why they have these bikes in the pond, but I think they are sorta cool.







Sadly you cannot imbibe in cereal malt beverages in any Johnson County park.











I emerge from the park on 87th Street and I do a bad thing there. I ride on the sidewalk. It's only for a few blocks but I feel very guilty about it. But 87th is ugly and it's only a couple blocks to a stoplight and then another block past the light to the entry point to some trails that go for several miles through the beige 'burbs of Lenexa and allow me to avoid riding on Lackman, which is very, very busy and very, very hilly. I don't shy away from hills but the traffic on Lackman is scary. But to get down the trail, we must ride down stairs .... Which I might do on my mountain bike and without 15 pounds of crap on my back end.

The trails are nice, full of strollers and dogs and kids, which really slow you down but it's a nice warm up on the way home and a nice rest on the way in.



You get to ride by what must be the biggest tree in Lenexa.









The trail runs along a stream (part of Mill Creek?) for at least 20 blocks.


















And you can see some 'Johnson County taupe.'








So there was a news conference this week about making KC a 'platinum' bike city by some point in the future. I would say we have a long ways to go. Apparently, Shawnee, KS, has achieved bronze status. I'm not sure what this means but they do have bike route signs along Midland and 67th. And the road is nice and wide and mostly free of potholes, tire-eating grates and other crapola.





The best I-35 crossing has to be 67th. It's a lot less busy than 75th or, god forbid, Shawnee Mission Parkway. However it can still be a little dicey depending on what time you hit it.









After this not so fun stretch under I-35 and a quick 4 block run on Antioch, we enter the 'home stretch' on 71st. At this point, the route flattens out and the street is wide and not very busy. Metcalf is the only crappy crossing, because they have put these goofy medians in the road that make it a little narrower, which can suck when you're leading a line of cars through the light.

And today, I witnessed the best laugh of bike week. There is a stop sign on 71st for Santa Fe. There are usually a few cars there, so you have to actually stop, instead of the slow-down-rolling-stop-i-don't-want-to-unclip on a bike that you can usually do. So tonight I see a car with a bike strapped to a rack on the trunk and I figure he'll let me roll through since he's a cyclist. Well, whatever, the dude stares at me like he's going to go through but does hold up finally. I make sure to stand up and pedal so he can see my totally hot spandex-ed ass. &&&.

So he turns onto 71st, acclerates his super-cool Toyota Camry stereo blasting "No parking on the dance floor...." Guess his wife doesn't let him listen to that when she's in the car. And nice aerobars doofus. Bet I can dust your ass up a hill ...


My route goes through my favorite 'burb, Prairie Village. If I absolutely, positively HAD to live in a suburb, it would be Prairie Village, hands down, no questions asked. It has mature trees, some interesting architectural styles (ranch, Cape Code, modern-esque) and character. I hear gay people even live there.





And I like this garden art.









Finally, after forever or an hour and 15 minutes, we are safely back in Missouri and our Brookside 'hood and have racked up nearly 35 miles for the day.










And, believe it or not, this is what I crave most after a long ride .....

@ the card store ....

I always like to go to the Hallmark store to look for cards - birthday, mother's day, father's day, etc. Sure I could get one at the grocery store but the selection is better and I must feel some kind of loyalty as a former Hallmarker. And I always care enough to send the very best.

So I was perusing the Mother's Day cards today. Wow, does Hallmark know how to capitalize on every little niche or what.

You've got your standard "to Mom" and "to Mother" cards. Then you've got all the permutations of whom the card is from: son, daughter, the two of us, all of us, the dog, the baby, etc.

But my favorites seemed to be targeting unique slices of motherhood.
- "To Mom - I know I was a difficult child" Is this the one you send from prison?
- To Birth Mother.
- To Aging Mother. I saw nothing on this card that really distinguished it for old ladies, by the way.
- For your first mother's day. See, it is best to be the oldest ...

On the power of not thinking

Honestly, where does it get you?

Unless it's about:
A - a particularly vexing problem at your place of employment whereupon your solution will bring you looks of awe and admiration
B - how best to teach consonant blends and other fun adventures in phonics
C - where on earth to look for shoes next (I'm told there's a Steve Madden store at Oak Park, though that involves a mall - gag)

observations for a tuesday morning ...

I have just discovered two of the most awesome covers of 70's-era songs:
Barry White doing Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are"
Feist's fab cover of the BeeGee's "Inside and Out"

I never liked the Billy Joel song, but how could you not love Barry White doing it.

I heard the BeeGee's version back in the day when I believe that I *won* the "Spirits Having Flown" LP from a radio station.

late-afternoon observations

I blog, and I use that term loosely, about beer a lot.

Well, not really about beer. Not a thoughtful review on how blue my mountain was or the suggestion by the Hooper's waitress Monday night to avoid the beer that tasted like a "hoppy Budweiser" and have their other seasonal which was quite tasty though I can't remember the name.

Not even commentary on how really PBR is quite acceptable. Particularly for $1.25.

Nor how I used to not dig the lemon in a Boulevard Wheat, because I've never liked to adulterate my beer with weird stuff like fruit. But it's really good that way and more importantly, everyone else does it.

Mostly I just make random statements on how I wish I had a beer.

No wonder I can't shake a couple pounds to get back to my fighting weight.

Bracketology and why Canada is nicer than the US

Somehow I have soared to third place in our office pool. If KU takes care of business with Davidson and the 'Horns knock off Memphis, I should be sitting pretty. Funny, because I was in a race for the bottom before the Sweet 16 games started.

I also did a bracket for the women's tournament and put myself in the "Fans of Colorado" and the ESPN women's basketball commentators groups. I'm holding my own with the commentators but I'm not even on the first page with the CU fans. Women's tournament has fewer upsets though, so you're pretty safe going with the seeds. No Davidson to trash your bracket here.

Finally, last night I watched my last DVRed episode of "Bathroom Divas." This Canadian show searched the country for six people to send to an opera 'boot camp' where they received intense training for several weeks. Each week, one was voted off. The winner performed with the Vancouver Symphony ( I think the first season winner got the Toronto Symphony).

I just happened across this little gem one night and sought out the series to record. So far, there have been two seasons. Granted, you might have to be more than a little interested in opera to really enjoy the show. I found a couple other blog entries about it. One compared it to "American Idol" but without the mean-spiritedness. I don't know because I've never watched Idol. But I'm sure it's true. It is also a lot smarter than anything on American TV. Of course, it showed on the Bravo channel in Canada and on Ovation here, which are not exactly for the lowest common denominator.

gray early spring day but silver bullets in plastic bottles

well.

My planned evening at the roller derby did not happen so I was temporarily adrift. I jacked around and did nothing until I went to the gym after noon, since I decided I was too big a pussy to ride in the cold wind. Even though other people are doing it. Tomorrow.

However, I saw that "Body of War" was showing at the Tivoli, weekends only. I was happy because I thought I'd missed it when it opened here. Great movie. Documentary by a KC man who enlisted after 9-11 and ended up in Iraq, where he was shot and paralyzed from the chest down. Much about penile dysfunctions, which elicited many gasps from the men in the audience. Among other things that will stick with me, he said when you see someone in a wheelchair, you think 'there's a guy in a wheelchair' and you don't think about what is going on inside. Like all the stuff inside that just doesn't work any more. Like you can't cough because your stomach muscles don't function well enough. It was interspersed with alot of idiocy from W and also a roll call of the Senate vote to authorize war, or whatever the hell they authorized.

I was pleased to see that 7-11 had CL in 16 oz. bottles. I don't think I've ever seen those in a store before. That means I can toss in the recycling bin which gets picked up and not the one I have to lug somewhere. Though I really have to wonder if any of it really gets recycled.

Fighting the last war

I will offer a short break from my usual inane comments concerning my workouts, meals and DUI field tests. There is a saying that generals are always fighting the last war. I'm sure my many readers are smart enough to figure out what that means.

However, I use it as a metaphor for relationships. It seems I often end up fighting the last war. Whatever deficiencies the previous partner had, I find them in abundance in the next one. Or I go looking for it. So am I destined to bounce back and forth between complete polar opposites? Remain celibate until 50?

OK, enough of that deep thought. Makes my pretty little head hurt.

It's Spring.

My bizarre upper-abdominal Naproxen-induced pain has mostly ceased.

I'm going to get my mountain bike tuned up, in case we have 7 days without rain.

I made salmon for the first time ever. And it was edible. This makes me happy.

new year's adam

Well 2007 is nearly over and it has been a good year.

I thought I might make chili today and watch my Buffs, who seem determined to embarrass themselves tonight in the Independence Bowl. But I went over to help E with her speaker situation. We made some progress, getting surround sound working through the receiver, TV and DVD downstairs AND getting receiver and TV in half the upstairs. A visio would have been helpful, though nothing was labeled. She showed her appreciation by buying brunch at Bell St. Mama's, where I had a #32 omelet that caused me to burp onions for several hours.

Finally finished ripping all the CD's in the jukebox. And I'm embarassed to say that I just yesterday realized that iTunes could do a big fat random shuffle of everything. I'm thinking about spending a little and going iPod in the living room. A big iPod classic and run it through the receiver. I'm about to fill up the 300 jukebox, though frankly, some of it is just crap that needs to be removed: Gretchen Wilson... I'm not responsible for that. CD's are just so 1990-something.

And, another embarrassing confession especially for a big-time IT geek, I've gone IE free on the laptop. Well, I'm not using it. Except to check work OWA. And I sure wish I could get complete remote access to work on Vista.

I may be one of about four people in the office tomorrow. Great day to clean the desk and have a McRib.

surya namaskar x one-oh-eight

This evening I will be celebrating the winter solstice (a few days early) with 108 Sun Salutations, a short meditation and a potluck. The yoga world is big on 108 sun salutations, especially on New Year's Day, but also on the solstices and maybe the equinoxes. My yoga studio has an annual celebration. But before anyone is too impressed by thinking of me doing 108 chaturanga dandasanas ... we modify this quite a bit ... Six sets of six lifting the arms and down to namaste, six forward bends and six full vinyasas. So really it's only 36 chaturangas.

Which might be challenging enough since I swam 1700 and lifted yesterday.

I would like to find someplace that does the full 108 sometime. Not sure I could really keep count by myself. I wonder how that would feel long about 50, let alone 80. Wonder how long it would take.

At any rate, 108 is a special number in Buddhism and Hinduism. The mala, or prayer beads, has 108 beads. There are some other references to 108 as well - http://www.lovearth.net/108.htm.

Watched the Cyclocross Championships today. Very cool. Very muddy. Very snowy. I think I might be too big a baby to do cyclocross. I like getting dirty but there is a lot of injury potential there flying around muddy corners with 40, 50 or 60 others.

Discovered that I should own long underwear and waterproof boots.

icy cold Saturday ...

- I wish we'd just get snow instead of freezing rain or drizzle. I don't understand how it can be 22 degrees and any kind of 'rain' happening. I guess we have a big moisture flow from the Gulf, so it's too warm up high or down low or something. At any rate, I'm really hoping the power doesn't go out. It's an inconvenience in the summer, but really sucky in the winter.

- Tried 'Power Yoga' for the second time last night and it was much better. I think the class was easier but I felt better as well. Sadly, it's moving to 4:30 pm in January and I'm pretty sure that won't work. The instructor, who sorta looks like a taller buffer Lucy Liu, teaches at other studios as well so maybe I can continue.

- Went out last night to Marty's Blues Cafe in lovely Merriam. A local band was playing and one of the women who played Janis Joplin at the KC Rep earlier this year was with them. She was awesome. Not sure if she was the Janis I saw, but nonetheless a good show. And they had some good Steak and Bean Chili ...mmmm.

- And driving home I got to meet Officer Friendly from the Mission PD ( I guess ) who pulled me over for going 5 or 10 miles above the speed limit on Johnson Drive. So really, what right do they have to ask where you've been. Obviously he's out looking for drunks.

OF: So where have you been?
Me: We've been out listening to some music (true).
OF: Did you have anything to drink?
Me (heart thumping away big time): I had a couple beers (so what's a couple really ... two three four?).

So he goes back to run my license or whatever they do back there. Meanwhile, my friend reminds me that I did have just three beers and we'd been there over three hours, so it was not likely that I was impaired in any way. After a couple minutes or six hours, OF comes back and asks me to step out of the car. We go behind my car, and it's a little damn cold outside, OF points to a spot on the ground for me to stand and says that due to me saying that I had a couple drinks and the fact that he could smell alcohol (don't know how over all that effin' smoke), he was going to give me a field sobriety test and was that OK?

Me ( thinking I had read that you should never take one but not knowing what the hell that would mean): Sure.
OF: I am going to have you follow the light on my pen with your eyes, without moving your head. Do you understand?
Me: Yes.
OF: Do you wear contacts?
Me: Yes.
OF: Hard or soft?
Me: Soft.
OF: Well if you need to blink, you just let me know.

So he moves this pen thing around. I follow it. Finally, I did have to blink and told him so. He moved it from side to side and then up and down. Then he says to go have a seat in the car.

After another few minutes or hours, OF comes back with my license and insurance card and said he was giving me a verbal warning and he saw no signs of impairment so he stopped the test and buckle up and drive home safely.

Whew.

I knew I wasn't hardly buzzed, let alone drunk. My god, I've driven home in far worse shape sad to say, but I sure was happy to not even get a speeding ticket. And thank goodness for the less than attentive service or I might have had another beer or two.

cranksgiving ....

This afternoon I participated in KC Bike Fed's Cranksgiving. Which apparently has been going on all over the country for awhile. Google it. Anyway, I thought it would be a nice, easy short ride around the Brookside Market, the Chopper, etc to pick up some food for donation to somewhere ...

So I rode down to the starting point on Troost and picked up the manifest. Well ... I had never ever been in any of those stores, even the tiny Wild Oats on Main. And it just got better from there. All over the east and northeast of KC. 20-plus miles by the time I got home from the afterparty at Grinders.

I thought maybe a couple people I knew would be there, but they weren't. A nice guy named Keith, who reminded me of my cousin Mike, started chatting with me and then asked if I wanted to ride with him. I was happy for the offer, because even though I probably could have found most of the stores, especially by following the pack, it was nice to have someone sorta watching out for me.

I felt bad that I probably slowed him and his sweet Kona road bike down, since I was on the silver bullet, which weighed even more after a couple of stops for canned goods. But he wasn't worried about 'winning' and we ended up being the 11th and 12th finishers anyway. Once again, this is not a cycling town for babies. My legs were already nearly tapped from yesterday's 37 miles to Longview and chugging up these hills really made them scream.

It was an interesting selection of stores. I wasn't sure if some of those places would have enough stuff, but it seemed to be OK. We east to Van Brunt, then up through the northeast, along St John and Independence Ave. I sure was glad to empty my bag of cans and the nice, puffy bag of organic stuffing mix from Wild Oats.

111607

I feel kinda bad. Somehow Ann has managed to find something to write about every day in November. I will aim for a new post each day I change out my disposable contact lenses (twice a month).

I actually had to work ALOT the last couple weeks. And mostly I liked it. We got our DS3 working on our WAN and it's really sweet to hear people say things work well, instead of the usual bitching that goes on. I did not like the 3:30 a.m. call from the Helpdesk that was NOT EVEN MY PROBLEM but it happens. That's why they pay me the big bucks, right?

Took off a little early today and rode some crunchy leaves at SMP. Those deer out there have zero fear of humans. I literally almost hit one while riding. As stupid as I think hunting is, they might need to have a bow and arrow hunt out there or something because it has to be very overpopulated and there will be starving deer this winter.

Every nice day must be savored now, as each one could be the last for months. Though, really, you could cycle through much of the KC winter if you weren't a big baby like I am about being cold on my bike.

It's hard to believe it is nearly Thanksgiving. Last year, I made a traditional dinner of chicken burritos in the Crock Pot. This year, I'm thinking enchiladas, but with green sauce, and in the oven, not slow cooker. I may go to the Plaza Lighting and there's a chance I may score a grandstand ticket for the festivities.

And I am taking the whole four days off. Many years, I like to go in on Friday, since no one is there and I can leave early anyway to catch the CU-Husker game. I will not enter any retail establishment for the entire weekend.

well now what ...

Maybe I blog about something other than working out. Because really I think about other things, quite a bit actually.

I have a running list in my head of what I would put in another online dating profile, if I ever bothered with such a thing. Here is something ....

I like ...
- natural light
- being offline
- NPR on the way to work
- flowy singletrack in the fall, with the leaves crunching under my tires and the light fading
- a beer or two after a good workout
- Friday Night Lights
- problem solving
- having a whole house to myself, in lonely times and not
- a cold afternoon spent bowling, drinking yellow beer and eating yellow food
- Kansas City, for better or worse
- burritos

the perfect race ....

The whole purpose of all this blogging was training for the KC Half Marathon, that happened almost two weeks ago. And yet I have failed to enter my race report ... well I've been busy.

And others really covered it pretty well in their recap of the weekend.

But really it was a perfect race, with the one exception that it wasn't run under my own name, so I can't claim it on athlinks.com or print out the results for proof when I'm old(er), fat(ter) and slow(er) that I once ran a very respectable half-mary. But that's not why I run ...

I was concerned about my head cold, the fact that I had done a long, albeit slow, run just over a week before the race and frankly had very little running base.

Sister Ann covered the pre-race meal and porta-potty snafu pretty well. My neighbor convinced me the night before the Sedalia Du that a full-bodied beer would be better carbo-loading. Since I went out and had a good race then I decided it would work well for the half as well. But mostly I hydrated alot the day before, on top of my generally well-hydrated self.

So the race starts and I'm in line to pee. But with chip timing it wasn't that much of a concern. And I'm really glad I did because I had NO g-i issues during the race and those can really suck, even though they had porta-potties along the way.

I took off at a fairly slow pace, I thought, and quickly caught several of the marathon pace groups - 5:30, 5:15, 5:00, etc. I decided if I caught 4:00, I would need to chill, but I never did. I was running faster than a 4-hour full marathon pace, but they must have had too much of a head start.

The race was pretty packed in through about 2 miles. I saw a girl from spin class chugging up the hill to the Liberty Memorial. She is running the NYC marathon this weekend and was going to do 20 miles of the marathon course. I had to expend alot of energy getting around people at this point. And the tight turn by the Memorial was a bit of a traffic jam.

But finally we started to unclog along 31st (?) and I saw Ann and Tim at about the 3 mile mark on Main. I still felt great at that point and was happy to know that my first couple miles were well under 9 minute pace and they felt slow!!

We chugged down Main to Westport, all of it pretty flat I think. One good thing about a porta-potty delay is that I passed people for almost the whole race, which believe me, is alot better than going out too fast and getting passed by everyone later.

There weren't huge crowds of people except along the Plaza and at the end, but there were people along the course the whole way. I love that in a race.

We turned down Roanoke and it was a slight downhill to 47th, where I knew my parents would be somewhere. I guess it was near mile 6 when I saw them. I still felt great, still holding back a little, because, hey, 13 miles is a long freakin' way.

My neighbor and her little dog were further east on 47th. I actually wasn't even looking up when she yelled to me.

All of this was pretty flat. We made the turn onto Troost and then Gillham. I took a little water around mile 8. Had to stop and walk of course because I cannot drink from a cup and run at the same time. Not sure I can drink from anything and run actually.

At that point I started looking for Ann, Tim, Lisa or Hazel. They were further up, as the race headed into Hyde Park, mile 9 maybe? I was starting to feel it a bit then and the little tiny incline up Harrison that seemed negligible in the car was a beyotch at that point. Fortunately, I'm still around alot of folks. Plenty of room but plenty of things to look at. My favorite was along Paseo when someone drove down the sidewalk to get to the sidestreet, because apparently waiting for an empty space in the race was too much.

The suckage point was there by the time we got to 18th and Vine, but somehow I managed to keep pushing the pace. I would love to know my splits in this race because I'm pretty sure I ran a negative split. Of course the stretch down Paseo was a slight decline, which helped, but wreaked havoc on my quads for two days afterwards.

After the loop-de-loop around there, we headed down 18th for the last mile. I pretty much know the order of the streets in my head, so I just counted them down ... Holmes, Cherry, Locust, Oak ....

Final little surge by the TWA building and then downhill into the Freighthouse. My family and Lisa were there along the finish line, which was pretty packed, or so it seemed. I was starting to get a big time cramp in my left calf, so I was trying to land on my heel to stretch it out and not crap out with 100 ft left. Seeing everyone there was a big boost and I charged across the finish line and checked my watch... WOOHOO ... 1:52:44!!!!!!

Back when this whole endeavor got started, and I doubted my ability to run enough to train for this, I wanted to do as well as I had done in the Hospital Hill and Humana half marathons that I had done in 2002-03, 2:02. I felt pretty good in those races until the 10 mile point, where I just nosedived and lost alot of time.

As my training went on and I did a few shorter races, I thought doing 9 mile pace - 1:58 - might be possible or maybe if I had a really awesome day, a 1:55. Somehow I am a little faster though I run much less than I did four or five years ago. And my overall conditioning is MUCH better due to cross-training. I have good muscle memory for running, due to 20 years of it, so I didn't have to build up to the pounding of running as much.

I think I managed to avoid the 10 mile crash because of some 30 mile hard rides with E and my duathlons, which took about 2 hours. And my previous half-marys were pre-yoga, which obviously has done much for my flexibility.

Or maybe it's 'cause I was only 31 ....

#101 - why you should BYO mat to yoga

I don't get why folks who do yoga on a regular basis don't spring for a $20 mat of their own. After my first class, I went out and got my own. Granted, I have a thing about feet and I don't want to be using some mat that a bunch of dirty, sweaty feet have been all over, but even without that phobia ...come on.

I have either a little head cold or allergies and I dripped on my mat several times tonight. Now some places charge $1 for mat rental and then claim to clean them. But really, why do you want to be swapping foot cooties, if not more, with strangers?

Yesterday was one of those beautiful fall days that you must take advantage of because you never know how many more you will get. I took off for a leisurely, albeit hilly, ride to downtown KC and then back on the West side.

Fugly.

CU game is fugly. Guess I didn't even need points, I'm still buying lunch.

It must have poured for at least six hours, starting at 3 am today. Several huge thunderclaps right overhead, with the best coming about 9:30 this morning that brought down the cable line, including internet and phone, and set off the alarm. My neighbors told me they thought lightning actually hit the house. If it did, it thankfully did not fry any electronics as far as I can tell.

I had no choice but to elliptical for 30 minutes, which was sorta fun since I never do it any more. Nice to rediscover the ipod.

Last night swam 1650. It mostly sucked. I feel like I just thrash around. Then had Sharp's garlicky veggie-chicken pasta, which I like, but it sure doesn't like me a few hours later. Especially with a huge storm going on above me.

Thursday night, the LONG run. I think I wanted to do 9 - 10 miles. But since I have no gadgets, I have to guess and assume that a slow training pace is about 9 minute miles. So I should have run not much more than 90 minutes. But I got it in my head that I needed to run 1:45. So I ended up doing the entire Trolley Trail, well Volker - 85th, round trip. It was about 1:41. Felt really great except for my back, which was tight for the last two-thirds at least. When I got home, it nearly spasmed for awhile. Finally, it mellowed with some ibuprofen and very gentle stretching. Weird. Running rarely bothers my back, especially when I do it late in the day.

I should have done that run last week as it's getting too close to the race. The big race that all were gunning for this year. Yet somehow it looks like it will be me and my lonesome for a couple hours on Saturday morning. Well and a few hundred of my closest friends.

random post #99

I had a fantastic week of pseudo-vacation. Five days of training on the BlueCoat web proxy/cache appliance, conveniently located in the Crossroads neighborhood of KC. Let's see what was so cool about it -

1 - NO DRIVING on 435. In fact, I drove one day out of five. I rode my bike three days and took the MAX once. And I only drove Friday because I had the course books and did not want to tote them around all over First Friday and Beer-a-rama.
2 - No beige cubicle land.
3 - Five days of lunches, from local places: Bulldog, JackStack, Cigar Box, Lidia's and the Hereford House. Can't beat that with a stick. No strip malls!
4 - A chance to remember that, really it's cool to work in IT. Now let's hope that will stick past tomorrow ...

So I got a nice, easy 12 mile ride three days. It was unseasonably warm most of last week, but still cool enough in the morning to not have to worry about a change of clothes or excessive sweating.

Other random thoughts:

I finished the next-to-last week of my 'swim a mile' program. By sometime the week after next, theoretically, I will be able to swim a mile (1650 yards, which actually is a metric mile 1500m, and not a true mile, which is 1760 yards) without 'stopping.'

Why is it that the minute I am done swimming and stand up, I have to pee like a racehorse?

A good 30 miler on the bike this morning. That may be it for the season, with the darkness in the early mornings and the questionable weather. I doubt I will ride much next weekend since I need to get in a 10 mile run, probably Thursday, which will leave my legs dead for a few days.

And two weeks from today is the half-mary. Which I may be running as if I'm 31 all over again. Hmmmm.... I do believe I'm faster now, what up with that? Nevertheless, I still hope to break two hours. If I can do nines the whole way, that's 1:55. My PR is 1:47 but really that doesn't much count, it was the Georgetown-Idaho Springs half, which loses 1000 ft in elevation over the course. Not happening on these hills here ....

I've run two KC half courses in 2:02-ish. The good thing about this year's course is the relatively long, flat stretch from 8 or 9 in. At Hospital Hill 2003, I wanted to cry as I hit mile 10 going up effin' JC Nichols Pkway from the Plaza. And as I recall, climbing out of River Market at the Humana 2002 Half towards the finish was equally painful.

no one's blogging ...

Ran tonight for the first time since Sunday. The knee bothered me quite a bit and then my hip. Weird, it hadn't hurt for days. I have not been icing because it did not hurt and that was probably a mistake ... Other than that, I had a nice 50 minute run on the trail.

Spinning Monday and Wednesday. Monday was tough I tried to take it easy but it was still hard after the race on Sunday.

Swim 1500 on Tuesday. It actually felt easier.

Race on Sunday. 5K-30K-5K. 1:54 time. Hit the first 5K at a blazing, for me, 23:46. I was second female off the run, the lead woman who would win the race, was a fast runner.

T1 was slow. Guess maybe I ought to work on those some.

The bike was hard, I thought, at least on the way out. It was gradually uphill and into the wind. The race was so small that there were few people around me for the most part. I tried to drink my powerbar drink and eat a couple clifshots but the drink was pretty sweet and eating was hard. I'm not sure I'm destined to be able to eat much while going that hard. Finished the bike in just over an hour, for an 18 mph average, which made me happy. I cranked out quite a bit of it in the big ring too.

T2 also very slow.

Second 5K was really hard, especially the last mile. My time was just over 27, slightly under 9 min pace, but I bet I was close to 8:30 for the first couple miles. It was heating up, I was wearing a bike jersey and I was tapped.

I finished third female - out of, ahem, four. The first three finished within a couple minutes of each other. I was happy with my times but saying I was third of four.. eh. The fourth was over 60 and she finished in a little over two hours. I sure I hope I can do that in 20 years!

This race was small but fun. I'd probably do it again, though I don't dig driving an hour and a half before a race. We also got a nice technical shirt, not the usual cotton. Unfortunately, the medium I got is pretty large.

I was 15/29 of all solo entries. It seems that the multi-sport in KC draws a hard-core group. The other du I did this year was also pretty hard-core. It makes me happy to know I can hang with the big kids.

So I was happy with my effort. Somehow I seem to crash at about 1:30. I thought swigging some electrolyte drink would help but I couldn't get enough down. I need to water that down. It didn't taste that sweet before the race!

Next up, 13.1 miles of fun! I hope to get in a 10-11 miler next week and a few short easy runs, but this will be interesting running a half on relatively little actually running.