The Adventures of Marvin

Its ON!!!!

2011-12-29T14:00:00.000-06:00

This morning I spoke with my new coach! Yes, thats right a coach!!! I have hired Jennifer Harrison from the Chicagoland area to help prep me for the upcoming season. I am not 100% sure what I have signed on for, but I am looking forward to the challenges and having a coach again. Now I need to get starting on planning some races. I have a few in mind and Kate is thinking of doing a number of road races this coming year. The biggest struggle that I will have to over come with the training schedule is being able to get the swimming and riding in as I travel for work. When the weather is nice, I can bring the bike with me and ride outside. However, when it is poor I will have to stash it in the car and ride a trainer in the hotel room.....not overly excited about this little tid bit, but again I am excited to have the challenges again.
Living in farmville USA, I am also in need of some new trainer/treadmill movies to help pass the time as I get back in shape. I have done a pre-coach weigh in, and let me tell you it is not a pretty number. I am certian I can shed a few of these unwanted pounds early on. Now if I can just stop the pizza and beer diet, I will be good.

Harvest Season

2011-12-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

Over the past few weeks I have traveled through the Midwest, yet again and seen the last of the farm equipment in the fields. It always amazes me the hours that America's farmers put in, the amount of land they tend and what it takes to feed this country. Living in IA I see my fair share of corn and ethonal plants. The trucks are lined up waiting to drop their crop and head back to get more. Its a never ending cycle of commerce.
This past weekend was Christmas and with it brings time spent with family and friends. However this season we were blessed with an unaccepted trip to Ames to take Lola to the ISU pet hosptial for a condition they are still not sure of. Poor Lola has dropped about 15 pounds in the last 4 weeks and looks very frale. When we arrived at ISU on Friday we were told that she would be ready to get the following Friday. The wonderful folks at ISU got her back to health much quicker and I was able to head back to Ames yesterday afternoon. She was super excited to see me when they got her out of "jail" and she looked a little healthier. She has/had a cone on her head creating a 50+ pound lampshade. While at the vet we were also informed that she will need to have eye surgery for an issue that is causing some pain in her left eye. On the bright side, Lola now has a contact lens to protect the surface of the eye until she is healthy enough to have the procedure.
At any rate, as I was traveling back home yesterday evening I couldn't help but notice the harvest was done, the fields were bare of crops and farmers were busy repairing machinery and prepping for the coming spring. It always amazes me the amount of time and effort it takes to get the crops from field to table and I enjoy being able to watch this process in action as I travel the Midwest.

Epic Weekend

2011-11-14T18:45:00.007-06:00

This past weekend was a balst! Kate and I loaded up the Mazda and headed to the wonderful world of Minneapolis. I've heard of this magical place in books and even seen photos of it, but didn't think in my wildest fantasies I would ever set eyes on this wonderlust!! After a short 3 hour drive northeast we had arrived at our final destination. It was all I dreamed of and more. They had sushi resturants on almost every corner; okay so that part is embolished but every corner Kate told me to head towards had a sushi establishment on it. Lucky me, I am a sushi fan and thankfully Kate allowed me to indulge. Make no mistake fellow followers, Kate is a HUGE sushi fan. Her favorite is still Norio's at the Fairmont Orchid on the big island. We stopped at this eatery twice in our 5 day stay, plus another stop to where Norio himself had been relocated to. After meeting Mike and Amy at Crave for dinner and drinks we went to get a solid nights sleep to prep for our morning of riding the 29ers at Lebanon Hills. We met a fellow triathlete friend and started out on the outer loop of the park. The trails and weather were fantastic. It was one of those days that I could have riden all day. The one downfall that was quickly brought to my attention, clearly a mountian biking newbie error, these folks all travel with beer and bloody marys!! When we finished the first loop and made out way back to the parking lot, a full fledged bar had developed in the parking lot. It was awesome to say the least. We set out for another loop and than off to, yep you guessed it, a sushi bar. After some fresh fish and a few beers we got cleaned up and went to watch the Badger/Gopher football and hockey games at The Golden Nugget. Sunday morning we packed up and headed to the river bottoms to get one last ride in prior to starting the drive south. The river bottoms is much less technical and a little less stressful for Kate. She is very new to mountain bike riding and still trying to get her wheels under her and feeling safe on her machine. The weekend was a total success and a much needed outdoor adventure as we've had many that have passed us by this summer.

Albeit sometimes a slow learner, not after Sunday's ride! Oh how I love a good Surly Furious

7 Months

2011-09-29T13:15:00.004-05:00

So its been roughly 7 months since my last update....thankfully not much has happened in that time. I've been traveling around the Midwest seeing accounts, working expos and events and seeing parts of the country during my travels that I normally wouldn't see. I am currently getting packed (or at least should be packing) for Hawaii as I leave tomorrow morning to work the Ironman World Championships for the next 2 weeks. This year, Kate will be joining me at the end off the event for so much needed R&R!! It will be her first time to the island and we have done a ton of looking into all of the classic tourist things to do. I am most looking forward to some down time with her.

In the past 6 weeks I've been to Louisville and Madison to work both of the Ironman events, Des Moines for the Hy-Vee (and I raced as well) as well as Las Vegas for Interbike. Racing in Des Moines was my 3rd race of the season; and to train/prep for it, I decided not to have any beer for a week. I figured that would be enough training. And as luck would have it, it was. I crossed the finish line just like every other race I've competed in. Kate and the kids were there to watch and cheer me on as well. The only disappointment that I had all day was that they were in the finishing chute and I TOTALLY missed them. Apparently they were standing by the Mini Coopers, which I happened to miss too! Clearly I was dead set on getting to the line and calling it a day. It was a great race and an awesome course. I've done this race 2 other times (each time it was a different course) and this year it was moved back downtown. So in the 3 times I've completed this event, its never been the same. I was happy to see it back downtown as it made for a much more spectator/racer friendly venue.

The first race of the season was Kansas 70.3 and 2 weeks later we went to Lubbock, TX for Buffalo Springs 70.3. I was marginally under trained for both of these events, but again got to the line for each of them. Kansas was a blast as there were a bunch of others that Kate and knew racing it. Kate and I finished and got our medals from Chrissie Wellington and she called us out on our matching race kits. Buffalo Springs, well this was more of a death march than an event. Texas has/had been in a drought for a number of months so it was pretty dry. The ranchers were being told to keep their live stock in the shade and well watered, meanwhile roughly 1800 racers were out in 112 degree temps pushing their bodies to certain death. When I crossed the line of this one, I grab an ice cold Miller Lite and sat in the lake enjoying what might be the last calories of my life. Thankfully they were not. It took a number of days to regain proper hydration and to recover, but I had no other races on tap so it worked out well. Hy-Vee was a late in the game decision to do as Hailey was doing the kids race and I thought it would be fun to do as long as we would be in town.

So that is basically the last 7ish months, nothing exciting but that happens. I am going to try to make regular updates (I know I always say that) but hopefully I can stick to it this time.

I am going to have to prep Benny for the next 2 weeks while I am gone, he gets a little depressed

Still alive and kickin'

2011-02-22T09:47:00.004-06:00

Good morning to the handful of folks that follow(ed) this blog. Its been more than a few months since my last post. Hell, its been so long long that Google changed all of my settings and I need to read the manual to figure out how to log in to it! And I am a poor reader, so you can only image how long it took. Apparently the log in email I was using is of "conflicting interests" now. I am not sure what that means, but I am assuming I am on the "poke, probe and prod" list with TSA now as well. I wished just once those people would let me pass with out having to talk to me. Come on guys....I am a good airline customer. Okay, so on my way to CA a few months back I had a knife in my bag. I am generally trying smuggle the left over water in my water bottle through and the latest was 3 new tubes of SBR Sports, Inc product through.....BUSTED! The life of an air traveler does have its advantages however. I enjoy to people watch when I am waiting for my plane and the odd balls that I see in the terminals are some times to much. Ask Kate, I will send Blackberry messages at Gatling Gun pace to help pass the time. I often find myself staring to long as to how people allow themselves to leave the house dressed in such a manner, or just simply laughing out loud. Now, those that know me, know I am not the flashiest of dressers, but I am not going to wear 2 different shoes, running shoes with khaki pants, a scarf, etc and head to the airport where you are under constant watch from the "eye in the sky"

Since my last post I have been around the country to some places that I have never thought I'd ever make it to; bonus of the job. I find myself thinking of how great a race would be in the areas I've been. Rolling hills, tree lined streets, flat smoothly paved roads, etc and wonder if they have any. Than as I get to the account to catch up with them, I find out that they usually do have a few races in the surrounding areas. This summer I will be putting the bike(s) on the roof of the car and riding, running and swimming whenever I get the chance in some of the these areas.

I do have a few vacations planned and am looking forward to them. Kate and I will be meeting the rest of the family in the Dells in a few weeks for our annual winter get together. This is a 3 day funfest at the indoor water parks, lots of laughs and usually an injury or 2 when my older brother thinks its funny to throw snowballs at me. I have a bit of a temper and it usually doesn't go over well, ha!! Than in April I will be heading to Austin for the MS150 ride with my Batteries Plus buddy and a friend that lives in the Austin area. I've never done a charity ride of this size and I am looking forward to it.

That's about it for now. I am planning on trying to keep this more up to date than I have been; perhaps even photos of where I am or have been. Plus, I have been granted access to my blog again....so that I got that going for me, which is nice!

Simple Joys

2010-09-07T19:51:00.003-05:00

As I sit in my office prepping for the balance of the week I have this humming noise of active feet around me. Asking questions. Wanting to know what this button does. "How do we turn up the volume?" "What does this cane do anyway?" "Is this really an antique bank?" Is it antique 'cause your old?"

As Christian sit on the floor behind my desk chair, he is scolding the Uncle Sam bank that was given to me by my Grandfather for Christmas. My Grandfather was a collector of banks and one year, he decided to give a bank to each of his grandkids. I knew the one I was going to ask for. Each bank needed his approval prior to leaving the room and the house for the rest of the banks life. I have never left this bank behind on my moves through life and its never stayed packed in a box.

As I work and Christian asks questions on how to the bank works, how old it is, where did I get it...I simply pick off the top shelf of my desk and show him. As he continues to put the 1 nickel and 3 pennies through the bank time and time again; he giggles every time on how the cane moves. How Washington's beard shifts with his arm dropping the coins in the satchel labeled US.

I know this isn't one of the random humorous posts that you've (the 3 followers) come to read and chuckle at..but its the simple joys in life that keep me going everyday. I knew long ago this bank was special and I remember the day I received it as a gift from my Grandfather.

Christian enjoying the bank

Quick Update

2010-07-21T09:11:00.002-05:00

For those that I have run into in the last few days, weeks and months....yes, I am alive and your all witnesses to that fact. To Ben and the others, I am sorry that you keep checking my posts only to read that I have still found my keys. It was quiet the find, so I wanted to keep it posted for a while, ha!! I have taken a new job with a mulitsports company and will be the Midwest sales rep and event specialist. Pretty excited about my new challenges and adventures that are set forth. I am also leaving the state of MN for IA. I know, some ask why would I leave MN. I am moving in with Kate and the kids and will set up my home office from there. I will still be in the Mpls area for my new job as well as Chicago. My 2 bigger markets. I will be covering ND, SD, IA, MN, WI, MI, IL and possibly IN and OH. I will try to give more up to date posts as my new journey will surely be enjoyable and give me blogging material.

Got 'em

2010-03-13T17:26:00.002-06:00

I am writing about a recent accomplishment that I've had. A few months back while wrestling with the kids in the snow (see older post) I lost my keys. I am happy to report that I have successfully found them!! As expected, they were in the area where I tackled Jack, even with hours and hours of archaeological type searching, Mother Nature has assisted me with warm weather and rain to return my keys. Now, being in IA with 2 sets of keys doesn't mean I will make it home with both sets, after all; it is me!!

2010-03-04T20:53:00.005-06:00

Whats worse....running next to someone with to much perfume/lotion on OR excessive B.O.?
Why do some guys choose to run in tights BUT wear running shorts over them?
As a cyclist, are you suppose to have a kit that matches or is it not an issue?
Can you wear navy pants with a black belt and black shoes?
Better question, why would you own navy pants to start with?
How big does a pothole need to get before MN Dot will fill it?
And yes, I do understand its that time of year...I am talking about mid-summer ones
I live across the street from a World's Strongman competitor, who makes up these lifting events they compete in? Hey you, pick up that car and carry it up that hill...I'll time ya!!!
How dirty must your vehicle get before it needs a wash?
Why do Buick's form long lines of traffic?
How far past the expiration date can you drink milk?
Or eat eggs for that matter?

"The Pacer"

2010-02-18T19:09:00.003-06:00

I just got home from the Y and have to post this. As I got out of the pool and headed to my locker, I had to bob and weave around a guy that seemed to be lost in the rectangular shaped locker room. So as I dance around him and head to change, he follows me. He has apparently now located his brain and found his locker as well. Lucky me, right across the aisle. This is where it gets rather interesting. He starts talking to himself, he is pacing and in a borderline rant. I do my best not to look in his direction fearing he might want to have some sort of conversation with me. He's grumbling about his towel, his deodorant, really just about anything he is able to see. I am just trying to get the hell out there as quickly as I can. As I grab my bag and head for the door, he's still walking around like he is in some sort of courtroom debate and clearly work like mad to win the case! For those keeping score, he was winning. And seemed to have whatever jury he was talking to rather convinced, I just haven't seen a lot of unda-pants lawyers. Maybe he's a trend setter

Gut Check = Hurt Locker

2010-02-16T11:04:00.003-06:00

Now I know that there is a movie out called "Hurt Locker" Hollywood clearly has stole this title from the buddy of mine. But at any rate, I loaded my gear bag and headed to the Y last night for a little run and swim session. Its been a few years since I've been a Y memember, but I need a place run and swim. With Lifetime being so expensive, and fake to me, I rejoined the Y. Plus, if I am in WI or IA, I can use the facilities there as well.
I get a treadmill in the back of the of the room, plug the iPod in and select Gut Check from the playlist, turn the channel to the Olympics and off I go. "Prayer" by Sevendust comes on and this sets the tone for what is going to be a great 40 minute run. It gets better from there and as Eminem's "Lose Yourself" comes on we are full speed ahead at a break neck offseason pace. Now, the treadmills I am running on are new to me. They have these goofy touch screens and hand controls, similar to an X-Wing Fighter. I was able to figure them out pretty quick when I first ran on them a few weeks ago, but the older lady next to me was lost. So with my HR about 223 she decides its a good time to start asking me how to use it. WRONG! I am a breathing like a clydsdale, stopping snakes with every stride and generating some of the best runners form seen in a long time. You know, the classic over striding, reaching every step....no really, I've heard its a very very efficient way to run. Knowing I am running so poorly, I try to shorten my stride, adjust my breathing and settle into a good rythm. By the way, I am singing "Lose Yourself" this entire time.....probably failing at that as well, ha!! I am able to keep my pace, assist the lady next to me, only to watch her walk for another 30 seconds and leave. That was time well spent to show her, maybe I was sweating or stunk to much?!?!
It was a good workout session and the pool set was so so. I was tired from the run, lack of food and some mild dehydration. Best part of the workout was finding out that "Slapshot" was playing on Versus (thanks for the text) and that the front desk attendant told me where the nearest Chipotle was located!!

Recent Accomplishments

2010-02-09T20:13:00.002-06:00

1) Shoveled the driveway, and I happen to think its the nicest on the block. I may be a little bias
2) Resigned up to become a YMCA member
3) Shoveled the driveway
4) Cooked a nice stay at home dinner
5) Shoveled the driveway
6) Went to a new eatery in Northeast called Victory 44, it was great. Kate and I had blast and the food was amazing
7) Still shoveling the driveway

So it could be worse, I could live in DC which is getting more snow than Houghton/Hancock is this year...or worse yet, in CA with all the headcase nut jobs out there!!

Its started

2010-02-03T19:53:00.005-06:00

Everyone has signs that indicate their training has started for whatever joy in life they pursue. This is one sign for me that I am getting back into it.

First would be the unopened beer

Second would be the jug of Hammer Gel

Cottage Cheese

Carrots

Broccoli

And the fact that the fridge was stocked full on Monday, its now Wednesday....good thing I live close to three grocery stores!!

Question?

2010-01-30T08:37:00.003-06:00

How much lint does one need to carry in the crack of their butt in order to leave a sample of it on the toilet seat? I am wondering if your plan was to knit a scarf or a sweater?

Heeeellllllllooooooo!!!!

2010-01-26T18:00:00.012-06:00

Now picture Jerry Seinfeld saying that in the episode with the Tweety Bird Peez dispenser....funny now, huh?!?!?

Just a quick update to let EnJ know that I am alive...heck, I talk to my family so they know I still breathing, but its EnJ that I am worried about.

Since my last post I have ran 42.4 miles in 3 days, the 5k on Friday was more than I'd ran in a month, so the pending half marathon and marathon were a little daunting. I have jumped back in the pool and slowly started to find some sort of swim stroke again. Maybe you don't know this, but swimming is hard. I am working everyday to find the motivation to train in some way as I am going at this season solo...no coaching for this guy. It will be a change, but I think it will be good. I used to stress about getting a workout in and often missed out on much funnier group rides, runs, swims, happy hours, etc. Last I checked I wasn't as close to that pro card as I once thought, ha!!

I have a new ride, it s Ford Edge. Well, just for the next few days, which might turn into spring.

Prior to this photo I actually had keys in my back pocket. Now Big Red is stranded in IA, thankfully Boo had the Edge ready to head north for me, otherwise I might still be in IA raking and shoveling snow looking for my danged keys. The kids and I had a blast that weekend and the weather was perfect.I have a co-worker with a metal detector, so hopefully I can find them when I am south this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

I was in WI for Christmas and had a great time. It was so much fun to hang out with the family and see everyone again. Even though everyone lives in WI, except me, we aren't always able to get together as much as we'd like to. Prior to Christmas, I was able to see my sister and her family for Octoberfest in LaCrosse. This is a must trip for every year going forward, Bryan's I hope your prepared!!

I mean, how can you not have fun with this group; at the end of the night they fry bacon over the fire!!

Saved, but by whom?!?!

2009-11-04T17:42:00.003-06:00

You ever have one of those surpirses that make you wonder? Wonder why its been done? Who done it? Well this evening when I rolled upon the homestead, via Ruby the Redline of course, the yard had been taken care of. I mean really taken care of. Kate and I spent a better part of Sunday morning raking the back yard and formed 4 HUGE piles. Lola was getting lost in the smallest piles and Benny in the bigger ones. I was struggling to see Kater if she was behind one of them....shes not so tall, ha!! Well, some kind folk took care of the front yard, the back yard, the flower beds and proceeded to give me the nicest yard on the block, now only if the house itself would transform for me tomorrow. It was a nice surprise to know that I don't have to worry about dealing with the yard anymore this year.

Its Always Something....

2009-11-03T17:26:00.005-06:00

....today's adventure started out with my morning commute via Menagerie with a brisky air temp of a balmy 27 degrees. Watching the weather prior to departing, it said a chance of rain this afternoon. The thought of grabbing the cross bike today was an option. An option that was probably better than taking Menagerie the road bike. So the morning goes on at the office as usual. Nothing exciting or out of the norm. I decide against the turkey and cheese sandwhich and apple for lunch and go with some co-workers to the food court at the EP mall. I start with chicken and brocolli with an egg roll. I wash that down with a medium Oero blizzard. Still hungry. Off to McDonalds for more food. A double quarter pounder, should have gotten the meal, but got just the sandwhich...damn tape worm. Back to the office and what appears to a pending rain storm.

As the day apporaches quieting time, its getting darker and clearly raining at this point. Not so bad, its a short 5 mile ride home. Its one of those rides thats almost not worth getting all of the spandex and riding gear on. But I am dork and dawn it anyway. Lots of wise cracks from the not so in shape co-workers and off I go. The weather isn't so bad, a little rain and what feels like sleet in the face, stings a touch...but I have no choice but to carry on. As I apply the brakes for my first big turn, the back tire fish tales and I am heading street side and in a hurry!!! I am some how able to keep the rubber on the road and am now taking a different way home. This way is a less traveled and newly paved road, so it actually worked out better. I keep on my way, now getting very wet, my shoe covers are no longer keeping my feet warm, or dry for that matter. About 2 or 3 miles from the house my back tire is getting really spongey, kind of like when you know your getting a flat. Sure enough, FLAT!! So off the bike and time to run it home. I keep my shoes clipped to the bike and start to hoof it homeward. Socks are completely soaked, feet are freezing and feel like cinder blocks. I make it home, almost biff it on the tile in the entry way, grab a beer and let the 8 of you that read this know about my day. Hope everyone else had just as much fun today!!

The bike I should have taken

Oh Crap!!! Hang on!!! Sonofa.....

2009-10-30T11:04:00.002-05:00

Well, big red isn't nearly as tough as I thought it to be. If you "bump" a Chrysler Aspen on 494 while taking your brother and sister in-law to the airport, it will wrinkle, dent, lose pieces, etc. I've always tried to convince myself that I am a really good driver, had this been true, I would have missed this guys bumper and not cracked up the truck....PISS!!!
Yes, it does seem to always be an adventure with me. I got the truck off of 494 and beat on the bumper to try and successfully get my riders to the plane on time. Hell, I even went to Walgreens for a hammer and Jiffy Lube for a pry bar to try and bend the bumper away from the front tire so it wouldn't pop. Alas, no luck. A cab was called for the travelers as well as a co-worker for me so I could attend work. No injuries other than bruised pride, so that's a plus. I will be a biking everywhere until I get big red back though, no worries, much like my running, I just need a reason to get back on the bike.
The worst part of the whole deal, I spilt my coffee on myself and needed to stop home to change!!!

What the?!?!?

2009-10-28T18:41:00.003-05:00

Another long day at work. Another night I come home and want to kick my feet up and hold the couch down as some tv show lulls my into a daze. Another night I am not looking forward to cooking, cleaning, doing laundry; you know all of the standard life and household crap that one has to deal with.

So tonight, other than just having the thought of running, I actually put my gear on and out the door I went. What a great night for a run. Cool, a slight breeze, colorful trees and just me and my thoughts.

The first thought: as I am running past a small road construction project (I should stop and wish a fellow buddy happy birthday, his house was on my route tonight)...than what exactly are they doing to the road? The boulevard looks the same as it did earlier this summer...dug up with pipes resting near holes and cables/wires shooting out of the ground. Clearly something is happening to the area, I wonder what it is.

Second thought: why am I running? What am I running from? What am I training for? Why can't I go home and hold the couch down? I am running to relax, I know it sounds odd. I am running to prep myself for the coming Goofy Challenge, this weekend's Monster Half and the 2010 Mpls Marathon.

3rd thought: When will I turn around and head home? I wondered around the local park and paved trail system and even did a section of cross country running....my favorite by the way.

4th thought (by far the best of the run): when did the church behind my house put a concrete buck statue in the parking lot. Wait? What the?!?!? I stop running and watch an 8 point buck stand perfectly still in the parking lot. I must have watched this deer for 10 minutes, thankfully I was almost home. As the cars zoomed by and went along with their busy lives answering cell phones and text message or the mother yelling at the kids...I stood and watched this gentle looking animal. He didn't seem scared, worried or even concerned with the cars passing by us. As I walked around in the grass getting closer, he simply watched me. I told a fellow walker about what I had been watching, he grumbled some comment on how this animal is impeding his space; that guy was an ass. I ran the rest of the way home and entered through the back door thinking I might see the deer one last time. I walked to the back of the property to the church parking lot; sure enough there he stood on the hill looking back at me. It was a great way to end the run!!

5th thought: during my training this year, I have probably seen more deer than my dad will all year hunting them, ha!!

Michael and I stopping for a photo opt along the run course of IMOO '09

Hell's Kitchen or Iron Chef??

2009-10-21T17:19:00.002-05:00

EnJ, I am making tator tot hotdish again!!! I have bought all of the "correct" ingredients, I learned my lesson last year, ha!! At any rate, Casa de Veggie smells great. As long as this turns out better than the chili debacle from a week ago or so. Anyone ever burn chili? Ever second guess how hot a gas stove will get when you return to the office during lunch to let your supper simmer? Anyone ever get a little pissy because you no longer own a crock pot, and kick yourself for walking by them at Target and thinking "humm...I should get one, BUT when would I ever use it" Needless to say, I think I will be getting a crock pot for Christmas, I have recently lost my microwave as well....hint hint. The microwave disappearance of 2009 has actually been a GREAT for me. It has caused me to cook meals and not just warm up left overs all the time. I regress back to the "Great Chili Cook-off" As my elder brother would do, I laid out all of the "stuff" to make sure I didn't get half way through and need to run to the store, remember I am doing this during my lunch hour, AND its interrupting my nap time. I get everything going and it smells good. I know walking into the house after work to the smell of chili on a what was a cold wet crumby day out, was going to be exactly what I needed. Alas, I walked into a stench, much like foot...but with a burnt odor, as I entered the house. Now, for those that have never burnt any tomato based soups, sauces, etc I would recommend against it. Not only did I damn near ruin a stock pot, I had to toss my supper in the garbage. Thankfully I had frozen pizza and beer to fall back on. Now I like to cook. Its relaxing, calming, peaceful and I love all of the smells that I can generate from a pinch of this and a dash of that. But I am suddenly second guessing my ability to cook. Perhaps it was all of the Ironman training this past summer that got me out of my groove to cook.,,,,Qdoba called the other day and wondered if I was still breathing. I hadn't been in for a few weeks to get my usual 2 chicken burritos and chips/cheese order. I was apparently the result of their economic downturn.
I have yet to remake chili...I have eaten 3/4's of a pot of Kater's...which is fantastic. Perhaps I am gun shy and not sure if I can cook. Perhaps I should return to Qdoba? Maybe go to Lets Dish and do the frozen meals? Maybe I'll just start eating McDonald's and muster up that great McMusk smell you get from eating it. Now these are random thoughts, maybe I'll go through with them, more than likely not. Why you ask? Because I am neither Hells Kitchen nor the Iron Chef, but I can cook, and I love to do it!!!

Done and Inked

2009-10-03T10:12:00.002-05:00

I will work on getting more info to the masses that follow this blog.....but for the time being, as you can see, I have successfully finished IMOO 2009 and had a BLAST!!!

Recap

2009-06-24T16:28:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the long delay with regards to the last few days. I know I had great intentions of updating on a daily basis and that didn't happen. My sincere apologies for the 4 or 5 people that were eagerly waiting on the edge of their seats for updates.

I already told you about Thursday night when Kate arrived and how we started running non-stop. I filled you in about the house guest and hopefully roughly what we had planned for the weekend

Saturday morning, we were awaken by the famous Blackberry alarm at 4:15 as we prep for the Liberty Half. We arrive to the race course and the weather is looking perfect for a great day. Now for those that race, everyone has encountered the "Bucket Guy" For those that don't, this is the "racer" that shows up to transition with everything he owns, everything his neighbor owns and a bucket just in case he is isn't sure if he has a enough shit in transition. And everyone dread this "racer" racking next to them.....guess who the lucky winner was today. Not only does this moron rack next to me and take up about 6 spots, he sits down and starts reading a book with his fake iPod in. He is racing the Olympic race, which I wasn't aware of ahead of time, so upon my return from the bike...I find my run shoes covered by his bucket, towels (yes towels) and whatever else his neighbor leant him. So, in typically Marcus fashion, I politely get my run stuff, keep my comments to myself and head out on the run. Even dealing with this guy's crap, I still managed the 2nd fastest T2 of the day!! I ended up with a PR by about 12 minutes and am super happy with my race.

Saturday night was a hoot. Kate and I sat in the back yard sipping beers and enjoying a great evening. The crazy old lady next door even summonsed me for a beer. That's a whole different Oprah episode for another time.

Sunday morning wake was the same as Saturday as we were headed out to Manitou to volunteer. We were not 100% sure what to expect, other than help with the swim. This was the first year the race was under the supervision of SCS, and I must say these 3 guys did a great job. It was another picture perfect day and F-A-S-T as D Palmer was able to prove. We left the race site about about 11:45, totally spent, in need of food and a nap. We got both. Sunday night was followed by a few more beers at Old Chicago and an early night.

Monday, back to work, well for me anyway....Kate held the home office down again, Rome of the North some might call it....okay so maybe no one calls it that. But she has a pretty sweet set-up to work from. Her favorite part is the unlimited number of times she is able to watch 40 Year Old Virgin and Step Brothers!! Monday night we got a couples massage from Scott at Quantum Massage Works. This was the first couples massage I have ever gotten. It was a blast. For fear of missing out on conversation, I was in the room for Kates and vice versa when it was mine turn. I think Scott was a little uneasy at first, but it was a blast and we laughed and chatted for the whole time. What a great way to get your body worked on. Following the massages we meet S Nelson for beer and to hear all about her race 70.3 race in KS.

Tuesday, work during the day and than a race to Hudson to meet the parents for supper. My mom was super excited to meet us and try Chipotle for the first time. This might seem silly for those that have eaten at this establishment in the past, but she never has and was looking for something different. Given the look on her face when she walked in, it was different and not what she was expecting at all. Like my dad, "long freakin' way to eat at a McDonalds" We had a great time and were happy they were able to meet us.

Wednesday, FINALLY DATE NIGHT for us. This entire week was suppose to be one long date night and as you can see by the stuff we had going on, not a whole lot alone time. We ended up at Champps for live music and found a new artist that we both really enjoyed, Shane Martin. Marginal food, cold beer, good music and Kate....really what else can I ask for.

Thursday was the end of our time together......not really, but under the same roof for a while, okay only 1 night. We had coffee and brekkie together and both headed to work. Kate had a short 3ish hour commute first though.

All and all we had a BLAST together and are already trying to figure out when we can do it again

Have you seen my bucket?

2009-06-19T22:06:00.003-05:00

Kate and I made it last week just fine for all the worriers, or is warriors, either way we are still alive and kicking. Been going a zillion miles an hour if 12.3852 directions. I will do a full Team WE recap in the next day or so. Stay tuned, sorry the generic tweeter thing sucked.....I know it would even when I typed it, ha!!!

Day 1

2009-06-12T19:54:00.002-05:00

Thus far 1 full day with Kate and the fun we've had. A quick recap:
She arrives last night about 6ish to find me on the bike just finishing up and getting ready to change for a quick transition run. For those that care about me, I felt good and feeling ready for tomorrow.
After the training is done, a quick shower to rinse off and than the "rat race" is on. We head to Start Line for packet pick-up. Off to Gear West for new replacement pedals for Kate's road bike.....long story for this trip. The first 2 stops are north and west of for us. Now comes the true test of driver skill, which for me is speeding without having the po-po catch me....knock on wood I've succeeded so far. Any rate, we are headed to Chaska and Brickyard Bikes to visit our buddy and get some bike "love". We discuss possible new toys and than need food. By this point in the day Kater has been in the car for about 5ish hours and in need of fuel for the body.......who am I kidding, I am starving as well. We stop and get a burrito at Qdoba, only 1 for me tonight, i had 2 from Chipotle last night. I've been told thats about 2000 calories or so, but who's counting, ha!!! We arrive back to Casa de' Norde and call it a day. In goes one of the Seinfeld DVD's and we are both fast asleep.
Today brings another day of fun....the alarms squawks at 5:15 telling us to get to the pool. We show up and are met in the parking lot by our weekend roomie; Matt Wilson. We all change and hop in the warm pool for a short set and off to brekkie at the Original Pancake House. This is a Monster favorite hands down. They have the best bacon I've ever had...the good thick kind. Plus, I've never drank a cup of coffee during breakfast; they are johnny on the spot to refill your cup. I worked at the office today as did Kate, the only difference she works from the comfort of the living room while watching Step Brothers or 40 Year Old Virgin. When I got home from work we got the bikes all set for "the big race" had supper and now we are resting watching game 7 of the Cup.
To be continued.......

T-Minus 1 Night

2009-06-10T20:56:00.004-05:00

So its been a really really long time again since I have updated this for the 6 people that occasionally check out whats going on in my life. Since my last post, not much has changed. I am still working, which is always a plus in today's economy. Still training. Still commuting to and from IA to see a little cutie that makes me smile.

Common questions that I am asked that I will answer and then continue with this little post.

Whats new?

Not much. Pretty much the same as always.

Hows training and racing going?

So far its going good. I feel I am swimming faster than I ever have before. My bike feels solid and my run, well, its my run. Lets just say I am glad that I am not "just" a runner

How are things with you and Kate?

Good. We are able to spend a ton of time together regardless of the distance and we make the most of our time. Seldom are we just sitting around. We are constantly on the go

Okay, with those answered, lets continue.

I have Liberty half coming up this Saturday. It will be a good start to the season and a great fitness check for me. I have raced a few times already and have felt pretty good. I did a 10k in IA last Saturday and was going to work on race pace stuff. Clearly I am a moron and have Z-E-R-O concept of pacing. I was out of the gates way to HOT. Tried to settle down and get in a groove, no luck. Tried again at the still no luck. But, like I said I felt good. So I just kept my pace for that race. Not really the goal I had set in my coco-noodle when I woke that morning. So, I feel ready for what is looming ahead for me on Saturday. Sunday morning we (Kate and I) will be up at the butt crack of stupid and heading to the Manitou Sprint race as volunteers. Afterwards we have plans on going to Stillwater to watch the last stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix cycling race. I've seen stages of this race in the past and its an amazing thing to see. The riders are so impressive and the crashes rival those that Bob Roll shows on his crash compilation DVDs.

More importantly than all of the that is what is arriving tomorrow evening. Kate is coming to stay for the next week!!! I am going to work on doing a generic version of Twitter and give daily updates as to what Team WE is doing....so stay tuned, I promise to entertain.

So for those 3 faithful followers, thats what I have been up to as of late. Exciting huh? Makes you happy that you decided to stop by and take a look, ha!!!

A Weekend of 1st!!!

2009-05-05T20:19:00.002-05:00

1st tri of the year
1st tri ever for Boo's dad and oldest sister
1st tri of the year for Team WE
1st in the pool
1st out of the pool
1st in on the bike
1st to cross the finish line
5th overall
Not so bad for the 1st official race of the year.

Grocery Shopping

2009-04-21T18:22:00.002-05:00

So its been a few days sine my last post, sorry. Since my last post, I've turned 30, I traveled to Fl and had a wonderful weekend with Kate and her parents in the Villages...which happens to be the most active retirement community I've been to. Okay, so its the only retirement community I've been to, but I had a blast. Kate and I brought the bikes down and got in 2 great rides with Mike. I encountered my 1st flat of the year; only to be followed up by my 2nd flat of the year on Wed during a ride to the bike shop to get more spare tubes. I got to do the walk of shame back to the house to switch bikes. Nothing more depressing than being all dressed to ride and have to push your bike back to the stable because you are out of the proper equipment to repair it on the road. Needless to say, I got more tubes and have had many a good rolls since.
So as the title of the post might or might not lead you to think, I need to go to the grocery store and restock. I tend to forget the amount of food that I consume during training and racing season. I find myself eating 2 sub sandwiches, cookies, soup and sometimes a pop for lunch. I start the day with oats, yogurt, fruit and coffee. Have a mid morning snack, either the listed lunch or leftover pasta, tacos, really anything I can get my hands on. Supper, well my friends, this is usually some sort of Thanksgiving fest. If I have pasta, I always add more noodles than the pot can hold and get the burger and sauce going. I will usually consume all of it in one sitting. Only to find myself hungry 30-45 minutes later. I have a co-worker that thinks I have a tape worm, I am starting to think he might be right.
So tonight, after eating just about everything in the house and not having anything left to make a meal, I am off to the store. This will start with a plan. I will walk into Cub (I {heart} my Cub) dead set on what I need to get. What aisles I need to go to and have meal plans all drawn up in my head. Only to walk into the store and have my mind go totally blank. I will look at items that I can't pronounce, only to see if I can add it to a dish and make a some sort of new meal. The kicker is, because I go into the store sans a list, I will undoubtedly forget something. For instance, I am looking to make baked chicken and rice with beans; I will forget chicken. I don't know what happens to men when we walk into a grocery store; but the next time you see a guy in the store, take a look, he is utterly clueless on what he needs. You will see him when your leaving, more than likely in the same spot you first saw him, still lost. So when you see me, please help. Than just to be extra nice, can you show me to my vehicle as well.

How much is TOO much

2009-03-05T10:47:00.006-06:00

With training in full swing, swimming a few times a week, biking what seems like every 6 hours and running whenever I am awake; I have noticed something. I own a lot of spandex and Lycra based clothing. I have it hanging over doors to dry for the next session, loaded in the laundry baskets to be washed, my wetsuit hanging in the shower to dry after a recent pool workout. My house is starting to smell like a hockey locker room with just a hint of neoprene. Its an odd aroma, but one that has quickly grown on me. Is it odd that I find myself doing more loads of training clothes laundry than work clothes? At what point do I get rid of some of it? Than do I have to buy more? I have about 1500 technical t-shirts from races; what am I keeping them all for? I have 3 large Rubbermaid stack able bins just full of "stuff" My cold weather gear; hats, gloves, etc don't even have their own bin. They just get tossed in the training room until I need them again. I have done athletics for pretty much my whole life and if I got all of that gear in one room...my tri stuff would still out number all of the it!

Movies. This is another thing. I have increased my movie collection 10 fold in recent months so I have entertainment while on the trainer or dreadmill. Yet I find myself watching the same few over and over again. I mean, Dumb and Dumber, Elf, Christmas Vacation, Wedding Crashers, 40 Year Old Virgin, Fletch; these are great and make the time fly by.

I have 3 helmets, 3 pairs of cycling shoes, about 8 pair of running/racing shoes, 3 wetsuits, 4 bikes....why? Am I trying to compete with Gear West; I feel like I am running a small tri shop evrytime I enter the house.

So I ask a simple question....how much is TOO much? I might be over my limit.

Sleep, eat, train, work....REPEAT

2009-02-18T20:13:00.008-06:00

Movies to pass the time while running or on the trainer

The "South"

The past few weeks have been busy with work, training and travel to see Kate. I pretty much wake up and head to the pool, try to be there by 6, usually late though. Than head to work. Maybe another training session during lunch (if not I head home to nap...the joys of living only a few miles from the office), back to the office for the rest of the day and than a some sort of training at night. I would love to keep a calorie log, but not sure I can count that high. So, if you've been wondering what I've been up to...thats pretty much it. If you are trying to find me...I'll be the one in the pool, or on the treadmill, or the trainer...sometimes I can even be spotted lifting or better yet, attempting yoga.

Livin' on a Prayer

2009-01-13T19:26:00.015-06:00

Race 1 for the season is in the books. Okay, so it was a little more like a long fun run for me. Going into it (Disney Marathon) I had averaged about 15 miles a week, thats probably a stretch, and my longest long run was about 10-11 miles. But i had 2 little cuties to keep me company for the 26.2 mile jaunt through Disney. Its the place where dreams come true, maybe you hadn't heard that.

Sup bitches!?!?! My running partners.....oh the fun we had

Not sure if I had joined a basketball team, or was going for a run

The trip started Thursday afternoon with what was so to be a very very common occurrence; Giggle-fest 2009. Only problem, I didn't remember buying my ticket for this event, but i am glad I was able to sneak in. "Well, go ahead a do it smart-ass" We never did figure out if this was the correct line from "A Christmas Story" 0r not, but it didn't much matter....Bratzy was laughing so hard as she was trying to say it, it didn't matter if it was right or not. As we headed out the door to airport I remember asking Kate if we left from the big terminal or the little one. Her response was something along the lines of, "we leave from the big, I always leave from the big one." Note to self, Kate doesn't always leave from the big one; noted, dually noted. We eventually made it to the Humphrey Terminal, boarded and headed to sunny Orlando

We got the rental car, another little adventure on this the first day of the trip and head to meet Mike and Bonnie for supper. This is when the real fun started. Seafood and a few drinks, off to the rental house to unpack and set plans for the next day. We needed to get out race packets, walk the expo and HK and Bonnie needed to set plans for a day at Magic Kingdom. After a fun day of travel and excitement, we were all off to bed.

Friday was filled from start to finish with pre-race day prep for Mike, he was running his first half marathon, only a few months after knee surgery. We hit the expo, put food in our bodies and was even told that "what, this car doesn't go to Walgreen's?" One of the more memorable lines form the weekend.

Saturday we were up early to make sure Mike was ready to run....little did I know he was an early riser, REALLY early riser. He was up, dressed, had eaten and ready to walk out the door before I was even out of bed. He was ready to go, had the pre-race excitement in his eyes, yet the calm that comes over some racers prior to an event. Me, I am not like that at all. I talk and ramble on like a babbling idiot. We left Mike to head to the start line as we made our way around Disney property to watch. I was shocked by the sheer number of runners on Saturday, little did I know that Sunday would be more than double the runners. We were able to see this first timer 3 or 4 times, each time looking stronger than the last. Nice job Mike, I had a blast following you around the course.

Saturday came to a close and for one of the marathoners, reality was starting to set in. Not a lot, but just the thought of 26.2 miles, its a daunting task, even if your a veteran at that distance.

We were up and out of the house a little before 5 on Sunday morning. Weather was humid and warm, but very nice compared to what I am used to dealing with this time of year. As we slowly started making our way to the start, the number of runners was unreal. The entire day of running, we were surrounded by people. As the count down from Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy began, so did the fireworks. I am struggling for words to describe this scene. But it was 6 in the morning and with the amount of fire works going off, it could have been noon. It was really cool to be a part of. We looped Epcot, head to Magic Kingdom and than to Animal Kingdom. Finally to return to Epcot and finish. Heading to Magic Kingdom was the highlight of the run for me. We turned a corner and were meet by a mass of spectators and a great view of the castle. Characters were all over the place and the guys playing the trumpets on the balcony of the castle were a great addition. We saw The Country Bears, Winnie the Pooh and his friends, Capt Jack and his pirate buddies, etc. It was a blast to run through the all of the parks. The costumes that the other runners had on were great as well. My favorite was the guy with the Yoda back pack and light saber. We must have saw him 10 times during the run. About mile 17, Kate and I had a quick chat with Kelley and told her we'd meet here at mile 21. I had fun encouraging Kate to keep running and hold a pace that she didn't seem to be happy about, but when we were able to stop at mile 21 and chat as we waited for Bratzy, I think she was okay with it. This was a "fun run" after all; and that is exactly what the 3 of us had.

Monday brought reality. We got on the plane, it was about 75 or so in Fl, we landed in Mpls and it was about 5 or 7...with blowing snow and a wind advisory. Today when we woke up; yep all 3 of my little Iowans were stuck with Marcus for an extra night, it was -20 outside. Thats about a 110 degree swing from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning that we had just been part of. But such is life and I am happy to be back home. Race 1 for the '09 season will be a tough one to beat, if thats even possible.

HK and I on the wrong escalator in the wrong terminal. She was a rock-star kid all weekend long!!

Boo and I doing our best squishy faces

Oh, I'm sorry I thought you were looking in a mirror!

End of an era

2009-01-03T20:48:00.010-06:00

Okay, so its not really the end of an era, but as I sit here setting the coming season's races....I am drinking a Black -n-Tan and eating Cool Ranch Doritos with a little hottie....realizing that come Monday Jan 5th, my ass is going to be handed to me. That day my friends, is the day that the '09 season begins. I finished '08 on a less than stellar note, had a train wreck of a personal life and worked on drinking and eating frozen pizza (clearly my 2 biggest vices).

I am planning a big year for the coming race season, maybe not performance-wise, but I will be attempting my first full iron distance race. If successful, hopefully than I will be looked at as a real triathlete, ha! I will also be under taking a few additional halfs...I will be going back to DCT to see my buddy in Egg Harbor. When he found out I was from MN the first time I stayed at his hotel, we got a discount. He said its a discount he likes to pass onto his fellow statesmen.

As the dates fill up to meet team obligations, its quickly becoming reality that trying to get to Mad-town to train will be a tough task. I am currently looking at another 9-10 race season, maybe 11 or 12 if I am not careful or smart about it.....hell, if Potts and Crowie can do it, why can't I, right? Oh, that's right, they're good!!!
So for those that are also setting schedules and getting back at it again.....best of luck to you this season and I'll see you at the start line...I'll be the nervous talker

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-24T22:46:00.003-06:00

Traditions....what a great thing. For me, my Christmas Eve tradition has always been and will always be frozen pizza and shrimp. For as long as I can remember, we would attend the 5pm service, head back to the house for frozen pizza, pop and gifts prior to heading to my grandparents. My dad would get the fireplace going to burn the wrapping paper and we would sit in the backroom of the house as a family and have our own Christmas, prior to running from house to house to visit relatives.
This year is a little different, but not much. I still got my frozen pizza, no worries mom, and had a beer or 2. As I loaded the truck to head back to WI for the holidays, this is how the year is different. This year I have a multitude of different types of sporting gear to bring home.
Sport 1: Running. I have a marathon that I am "participating" in, not racing, in about 2 weeks. I have done approximately 15 miles a week on average for the last 3 weeks...I should be ready, right??? But I will have a cute little running partner to keep me company as I partake in her 2 hour run on Saturday. Oh how she'll love the roadways of EC and the snow covered trails from my high school cross country days.
Sport 2: Hockey. Evan, my nephew, called the other day and asked if I'd bring my hockey stuff back so him and I, along with his dad, my brother and niece can skate sometime during our stay in WI. Of course, not ever passing up the opportunity to put the ole skates on, plus I really want see how much him and Sophia have improved, I agreed to load those in the truck as well.
Sport 3: Cycling. I have my bike on the trainer in the living room, still in the corner from when it was "adjusted" due to the surprise Christmas tree. As I was planning my return trip home I needed to make sure that I had all of the proper training gear to join Kate with her sessions for the weekend. So, the bike will be dusted off, taken off of the trainer, loaded into Big Red along with her bike and trainer as well.
For those that are keeping score....thats 2 pair of running shoes, a pair of hockey skates, hockey gloves, helmet, stick, 1 adult bike, 1 "kiddie" bike and 2 trainers. I think I have my count correct.
Sport D: Tree Cutting. Perhaps one of my most enjoyable past times, for those that didn't know that, is tree falling. I bought a saw a few years ago to help a buddy clear ATV trails on a gentleman's property a little northwest of Eau Claire. When I bought my home it also came in handy for clearing some pines on my lot as well as helping my sister and brother in-law stock pile oak for the winter months to heat their home. Now that I rent, I have little to no use for the saw, unless my dad needs something tipped over on his lot, which to my luck he does. So, my saw has been placed in the back of the truck too.
As traditions go, a lot has changed for this holiday season for me, but some much has remained the same. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!

I could us a little wind here....

2008-12-21T09:17:00.007-06:00

Bear with me folks, but this is the second post in a row regarding weather.....I really do see myself to be slightly more exciting than this, but I am snowed in, wishing I could fly a kite or at the very least go sailing!
After a rather long week of work, a few marathon days, I headed south for the weekend. I knew of this "Blizzard Warning" that was pending for Saturday.......just Saturday. As I crossed the border, the snow started. It was like someone drew a line and the snow machine AND wind started. It wasn't all bad though.....I only had about 40 miles left. No worries my friends, I made it to my end destination.
So its now Sunday, still trapped by the wind and snow. The wind is blowing a gentle 30-50mph...so its not that bad, right? I tried mightily to "scoop" us out on Saturday morning. I got the tractor stuck not once, but 4 times. Not overly happy about my success rate to clear a path out of said driveway to venture out into this wonderful winter weekend. My biggest accomplishment however, was getting out of the driveway with "Big Red" This in itself was an adventure; and all I want was treats from the store.
So today, starts another day of being "trapped" Its not nearly as bad as it sounds though....I have pretty good company to help me pass the time.
To steal a line from George Castanza with regards to wind...."the sea (wind) was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli"

A little reminder for those that don't get to see a nice breeze in the Midwest

So, as I sit at the counter contemplating what do for the balance of the day, I keep coming up with the following options:

1) Drink coffee all day

2) Run twice, similar to yesterday (the treadmill is starting to suck though)

3) Switch to beer shortly after 12 noon and watch football

4) Go back to bed and hibernate like a bear

Oh the options I have!!!!

Mother Nature's Ugly Face

2008-12-14T21:14:00.006-06:00

For the mid-westerner's that stop by this page, today was a great MN day for weather. The standing joke seems to be that the mid-west has only 2 seasons, Road Construction and Winter. But with the past few winters being rather mild, the Road Construction season has been extended to cover pretty much the entire calendar year. So with the rain that we awoke to this morning, it was a day to remain inside. As the morning started with watching the infamous white van head south, I returned to the couch to take stake for the day. Oh the naps were plenty....and needed. The past few weeks (maybe months) I feel like I've been going 100mph in about a thousand directions. So the couch was happy to have me hold it down all day. I did wait however for the worst part of the day to go Christmas shopping. By this time the rain had stopped long enough to glaze the roads with ice; the added bonus was the snow that started....with wind gal force winds. I might be exaggerating slightly here, but for those that got to feel the brunt of this beauty, it sucked

I sat on the bike today.....first time in about 3 weeks. Not sure why I picked today to get that going again....perhaps the Christmas tree that appeared in my living room that moved the bike and trainer to a different spot peaked my curiosity to see if I still enjoyed indoor riding. Lucky me, I do.

Its a little tree that fits perfect in the small room, I couldn't be happier to have a tree in the house

However, as bad as this morning started out, yesterday morning was great. Nice sunny skies, a great breakfast at Our Kitchen, a cute little diner in the Uptown area, and as always, way way to much food to consume. Judging by the photo below you can understand the amount of food this place serves.....but its so good.

The pancake that you sub for toast, yep, bigger than my face!!

Race mode and mood is starting to show its smug face again as well. We had a team meeting a few weeks ago to discuss the up coming season and that always gets me wanting to train and race. I have a marathon coming up in a few weeks, my average run volume a week is about 15 miles, and most of those come on during the Saturday morning group run...its going to be the best "fun run" ever. It might even beat the Sioux City half that I trained even less for....but I will have my same running partners and this time I promise to finish with her, not take off with a mile left.

Half Ass Attempt

2008-11-14T16:57:00.004-06:00

So the other night I was all jacked up and ready top have a huge pan of tater tot hot dish.....yep, that's my exciting life, ha! At any rate I got cooking all of the components together. I noticed that both cans of soup that I had purchased were the wrong ones. One of them was that low sodium crap and the other was some sort of healthy cooking something or another. It was a disaster from the start. The next mistake, I made a poor choice, very poor choice with the quality of tater tots. I know, its just chopped up potatoes formed into some little tot looking thingy, they gotta all be the same right....let me tell you, clearly not the case. So now everything is cooked and ready to be mixed together in a cake pan to go into the oven. So off it goes. I start cleaning the house while this disaster permeates the aroma of a great meal that I have grown to love over the years. So I am thinking that the meal is not all lost, once its all cooked it will be as good as always. Well folks, it wasn't. I did manage to choked down about half of the pan for supper and saved the rest for the following days lunch. Surprisingly enough, the reheated leftovers were better the freshly cook mess that I had eaten the night before. I like to cook, it is a great stress release for me, I am not good at it, as this post can attest to; but now worries folks....it has not made me stay out of the kitchen. Here hoping your next meal was better than the half ass attempt that I put together the other night.

Free Rabbit

2008-11-03T14:22:00.004-06:00

So I had kind of a weak moment on Sunday, actually 2 of them. I would like to think that I a pretty healthy eater, concerned about weight, exercise, etc. Well, not yesterday. I made not 1 but 2 trips to McDonald's. This is a restaurant that I seldom frequent. The last time I was there I was not even sure if they still carried one of my favorite meals (if we can call them meals) from a past life. This was the #4 Value Meal. For those that do not frequent such an establishment, this is a double quarter pounder with cheese (I get it without onions), french fries and a drink of your choice. The 1st go round I had it with a Light Lemonade, yeah, like thats helping anything. The second time I got the same meal, bare in mind it was about 2 hours after the first stop, but had a chocolate shake to wash everything down. I am happy to say I could not nor wanted to finish the second purchase. I felt sick, I mean really sick. I had a headache, I stunk and everyone knows how I can tolerate a lot of smells and scents (see Smells Like Foot in Here for reference). My skin was oily, I was tired and just felt horrible. Its hard to believe that I used to eat there a few times a week and even harder to understand, at least for me, that people can eat there everyday and think its a healthy meal.

Needless to say, I am off of the fast food wagon again and back to some sense of normal eating. My body is not happy with me, if it could kick my ass, it so would.

To end this post on a good note, I got a new pet over the weekend. During a run I found a helpless little pet rabbit that was looking for a good home. It seemed to be "free" and its owners clearly wanted nothing to do with it anymore. So, below is my new pet, I just need help naming it.

He's just so cute and cuddly, how could not want to take him home with you?

He looks super fast to me, might be a new training partner!!!

Its been a long time....

2008-10-21T11:05:00.010-05:00

Hello web world, where have you been? Wait, its me that's been MIA for the past few weeks. I have gotten numerous requests to post, okay only 3 but that seems like a lot to me...I only know about 6 or 7 people.For those that are wondering if the "foot smell" has left big red, I am happy to announce it has, but moved to a van, a much larger area to fester and grown into a whole new scent of its own. Again, not a pleasant scent, but I am told it is better than armpit!!This past weekend I was in IA for the Louis and Clark Half Marathon. Kate, Kelly and I ran it; and Kayla was playing Souix City tour guide; she just didn't know it. The morning meet the 4 us of with a brisk 38 degree chill and a lot of fog. I had been told earlier in the week that I was not allowed to wear pants during this "fun run" The photos will attest to the warmth in the air and how "normal" people would dress for such an event. I had a blast, I was able to run with Bratzy for the first mile or so and Sully until about mile 12 when she informed me that she was no longer talking. For those that are unaware, I like to talk, sometimes a lot and usually about nothing of any importance; which is why I like to blog....just random crap about nothing I think NBC had a sitcom on a few years ago, something to do with a show about nothing, if I think of the of the name I'll let you know. The colors though the park area of the run were great. It was the mile or so climb that sucked. I had ran a total of about 12 miles since my last race, the longest run being probably about 6 miles, so when asked about partaking in such an event, hell, why not. My IT bands are killing me, I can't hardly walk. Now I ask myself, "What was I thinking"

In classic Marv fashion, the post race meal was coffee, a french toast muffin, beer and food at Chilis. Perhaps one of the best post race recovery meals I've had in quite some time.

The stitches were taken out of my hand yesterday, so it is back to the pool tomorrow morning for me, and than to slowly work on easing back into the swing of things, just as most of the training folk I know are starting to really enjoy the off season and few that aren't done for another couple of weeks. So I will make a deal with you, if you need a beer, a buddy to eat fried cheese with, milk and Oreos or a whole mess of ice cream....call I'll be your guy.

My first Weaver sandwich, I feel like a freakin' giant

I still had someone to talk to at this point of the run, THAT made much easier

Where's Walldo? Can you spot the moron?

Smells Like Foot in Here.....

2008-09-23T06:42:00.007-05:00

So, its been a little while since I posted anything; sorry for the delay. A lot has changed for me in the past few weeks and my mind has been in other places than the blog. I am working on moving forward and restarting my life, all of this is a good thing for all parties involved.

For the past week or so, I have left some of my training stuff in "Big Red." Now for those that have seen the truck, its not big, very utilitarian, so it should come to no surprise that it might pick up and hold onto odors for a while. Well, foot is not an odor I overly enjoy. Warm apple pie, lilacs, oranges, etc; these are scents that I enjoy. Foot, not one of them!! But do I do anything to change this new aroma/love affair that I have began? The answer my friends is, Nope! So again, this morning, I will jump into the truck and head to the office. I have a pair of old training shoes, this past season's racing shoes, cycling shoes and some clothing. The clothing shouldn't be the problem, but I found out this year that I am one of those stinky sweaters. Not sure when this happened to me, and I offer a heart felt apology to those that have been surround by my stench; I didn't know! I mean, come on, its me; how could I stink, ha! A little rambling, moving on. I seldom wear socks when I run, causing some great foot scents to develop in my shoes. Growing up I never wore socks in my skates either, ruined a brand new pair in about 2-3 weeks from sweaty feet and odor. I think the best way to describe my new car freshener smell, smell a good cheese or even milk that is about 6 months past the expiration date. You know the milk has curdled and the cheese has turned green and grown hair. You always smell it, its like a bad car wreck hard to not stop and look. So you smell these oddities and think that it smells terrible. Often so bad its hard to describe, not anymore my friends, not anymore. You now have the ability to say "Holy...that smells terrible, phew, just like foot."

Rolled pants, letting air flow to not have a pungent foot smell, very very classic

A Real Soaker...

2008-09-13T21:28:00.003-05:00

So, I have come across some free time as of late, feeling out of shape and in need to get back at it after watching IMOO last weekend. So I put the beer and frozen pizza on the back burner for a while and started to do some lite training again. I have yet to get in the pool, but that will come on Monday (so Dennis and Jim, you best be ready) I'll be the guy in Lane 1 that looks like a fish out of water. If I splash too much, I am probably in need of help, so please through me a line, ha! Got home from work last night, an absolutely perfect night and set off on a run. I did run in Madison, but for whatever reason last night I decide to increase the pace and see what I had left for fitness. I was surprised! I was out for a little over an 75 minutes and had a few good pick-ups and some big hill climbs. The hills that I found will work great for repeats once I am in full training again. My legs were a little tight this morning, but I thought it was because I had just gotten up and wasn't moving real quick yet. Nope. So mid-afternoon I put on the classic Marv Stevenson mismatch cycling gear and out the door I went. For those that live in the area, you know that it rained off and on all day. Well, because I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I decided to ride anyway. I did a good loop that lead me out past Fort Snelling, through the park, past the airport, around Hyland Park and back home. The rain came, than went, than came back, like I had some how pissed it off after the first shower by not turning around and going back home. I was caught in Hurricane Ike like weather, but pushed on! I feel I had a good run and ride the past 2 days, now I can just sit around, relax and wait for the excessive training bug to hit again; and out the door I go!

Mad-Town

2008-09-11T11:16:00.004-05:00

Not sure how to begin this little blog post. Last week Friday, I packed and loaded all of my stuff and headed to Madison for IMOO '08. First Ironman for me to witness and I was caught way way off guard about the emotions that would come over me. I had no idea what to expect, the look of the racers out working to achieve the end goal. But first a quick weekend recap:

Friday: Dan, Jason, Nick and Casey met at my house to load and start the caravan to Mad-town. As always Dan started busting my ass for the amount of stuff I had packed, apparently I pack like a female. I had all of my swim, bike and run stuff. Plan was to get up Saturday morning and get some fun easy training in; so I felt it was all justified. We arrive to town about 2ish, get checked in and head to State Street, which became pretty much the general meeting spot all weekend. Stopped at a great little bar and sat outside to watch people and get our drink on, which we did!! It got pretty drunk out early on Friday and the stories that followed Saturday morning from people that I didn't even know where town, yet knew about my evening were very very entertaining.

Saturday: My mom and I had previously talked about the Farmers Market around the capital and how cool it was. So that is where I started Saturday. I was more than likely still not so sober as I walked around the market. Figuring a cup of java would do the trick I made my first of many trips to Starbucks, no luck, but good coffee. Went back to the room, took a little nap and than went for a run with Dan and Monster. Dan was in rough shape after Friday night and was looking just to do about an hour of easy running. It ended up slightly longer than that, but we were on a mission for him and Monster to find an ink shop for new body markings. With Magellan in the lead we were bound to get lost, which happened. Why do I follow the one guy that gets lost going around the block? We went out again Saturday night and met up with the girls (Jen, Jmac, CY and Merilee) for another night of fun. Went back to my favorite new Madison bar for more Black-n-Tans. Must of had myself about 1500 Black-n-Tans over the weekend, they were oooooh so good.

Sunday (Race Day): Got up, jumped on the bikes and headed to the swim started. I wasn't moving overly fast yet (see # of Black-n-Tans consumed to answer any questions) so I missed the swim start, but was able to watch a majority of the swim and the lead guys run into T1, they were moving. They run faster out of the water than I run the 3rd leg of the race! Back to Starbucks for coffee and a muffin! Sunday afternoon was spent walking the bike course after we were giving poor info as where to met everyone for the BBQ. No worries though, it was a great day and I was able to see everyone on the bike and they looked awesome. Went back to the room, had a few more cocktails in the free bar, jumped on the bikes and went to watch everyone running. This is where the emotions started. Seeing the sheer determination, grit and up coming pride that each athlete was heading towards was simply amazing. I've seen the races on TV, but to be there is a whole different feeling.

Monday ('09 Sign-up): John, Kate and I got up, packed the vehicles and headed down to registration for next year. I had been on the fence all weekend about getting my spot for '09, but after watching people finish I knew this was a race I must do next year. I got my spot and am now just waiting for an email to sign up and pay, that its the real deal!! I am just smiling thinking about crossing the finish line next year.

The weekend was a total success for me. I took responsibility, self concern and caution and tossed it out the window when I hit town. And for those that were there with me, well, they saw it. To all of the finishers, GREAT JOB!!!

Saturday night crew at the Irish Pub for Black-n-Tans

2008-09-04T20:43:00.008-05:00

The long awaited photos of my past. If you are unsure of why these are being posted, read post from a few days ago and hopefully it all makes sense at time

Sunday afternoon at Ma Weekes, following the third place game at McQuad's in Bismarck, ND. This is a group of beat up, beat down guys that just played 4 or 5 games in about 100 degree heat, after drinking all night on Saturday and getting minimal sleep. Oh the days of softball. (I am the guy in the middle with my head down, making sure my feet are still on my body)

A photo from 2005, me getting ready for my first race; Door County Sprint. The race that started it all for me. I had no idea what I was getting into, laughed and pointed at the funny helmets, spandex suits, shaved legs on guys and odd looking bikes. WOW, have the times changed for this guy.

Capt Jack's Prior Lake 2 Miler. What a day this turned out to be. Had a great late season swim with 2 great current friends and met 2 new ones as well. Notice "Super Stud Jim" sans wetsuit. Hes kind of a big deal!!!

21st b-day. I was living on the U of M Campus for an internship to finish school. A very interesting 9 months of my life. Take some small city kid, that thinks he has every thing figured out, and put him in the city. At least I survived.

And than there is this little fatty. Ive been told that they had to tape the refrigerator shut, otherwise I would eat until i was sick. I am 3 in this photo. Again, I apparently just finished eating an entire chocolate cake, and my parents felt it more important to get a photo than a wash cloth to clean me. Come on, I'm 3, help a brother out. I noticed this at work today, for those that really know me, I always have 2 shirts on.....I guess that started early in life.

2008-09-02T21:56:00.002-05:00

After a pretty sweet guilt trip from a fellow training partner for standing them up on Sunday, this morning i got my butt out of bed and did my first run in a few weeks. I found out real REAL soon as to why I hadn't been running. Its a lot of damn work to run. Man did I forget how tough it is...I would much rather bike or swim. But nonetheless I got a short 4 miles in this morning in the nice humid weather, I didn't stop sweating for about 2 hours. I think I might be in that full off season weight/shape mode.
This coming weekend I am heading to Mad-town for my first ever Ironman spectating event. I am going with a great group of people, so its going to be a blast. I am bringing my wetsuit to swim Saturday morning with the Hirschman's and anyone else that is looking to swim the course. I will also have my bike and running stuff for some very very lite exercise. I am not sure what the weather is suppose to be like nor do I care; I am going down to support and cheer for a number of people that I know racing and to hang out and relax. I should hopefully have some great photos from the weekend that I'll post next week.

Me and My Machine

2008-08-30T10:01:00.004-05:00

After yet another night of poor poor sleep I was up and on my bike by 7 this morning. As I rolled out the door the cool crisp air, clear blue sky and a gorgeous sun rise was waiting for me. Just me, my machine, iPod and thoughts. I decided that to head towards Wayzata, maybe do the TNT loop and most importantly stop for coffee and a French Toast muffin at Caribou. For those that have not ever tried this muffin; its a must. Anyone that has ridden from Mntka to Wayzata on McGinty, knows this road sucks. Its full of cracks, potholes, and wash board areas. Some areas are so poor the shoulder is gone. But nonetheless I was headed in that direction, again. As soon as I got to McGinty I was suddenly reminded that it has been repaved all the way to Hwy 101. Sweet!!! I switched play list to "Gut Check" put my head down and did my only little TT to downtown Wayzata. Legs and lungs burning; heart rate at ~ 315; that might be a little high!!! Rolled into Caribou, got my coffee and muffin, walked across the street and watched the boat traffic on the lake; which was plenty already. What a great way to start such a beautiful day.

This how I felt on the bike today, just happy to be out and having a great ride!!!!

2008-08-29T23:51:00.002-05:00

Ever start cleaning, come across random photos from the past that never made it into the album? So you stop what you are doing, sit on the floor, couch, chair and thumb through them again. Forgotten times suddenly come flooding back in, you catch yourself smiling, chuckling, perhaps tearing up over the images that are before you. In the age of digital media, not a lot of printed out photos anymore, at least not at this house hold.
So this scenario happened to me this evening as I was cleaning the office. We have been in this house for almost a year, and yes still have packed boxes. Well with the extra time I have now that training has stopped and Rachel in NC; what better time than the present to get things cleaned up. Clearly there was no thought when packing the last few boxes prior to the last move. Just about every box I opened had more random pictures in it. So as I was looking them over I laughed out loud more than once. I laughed because of clothing style, my hair, trying to look "cool" for the camera, college parties, softball games, etc. So as I am currently living in the past I think how far I've come since those photos were taken.
Photo #1, pre-race at Door County Tri in 2005. This was my 1st race. I figured I was playing a lot of bar league softball, was pretty thin and was active; so this should be no problem. I know those were my thoughts going into it. Again, clearly I was wrong. But without that race I would have never picked up the sport that has given me so much happiness.
Photo #2, McQuads Softball Tournament. Most everyone is aware i used to play a lot of ball. So, of the two teams I ran, we picked a group of us and headed to Bismarck for a weekend of fun. The photo I am speaking of, Sunday afternoon, we just won the 3rd place game; had to play 5 that day to even get to that game. We are all sitting on a wall in a driveway, completely beat down, hot, dirty and looking like we just came from a serious battle. That was the also the 1st of what would be 3 years of us gong to that tourney. The guys I played with, still make the yearly trip and have continued to do well. But I will not forget the faces of the other teams when we showed up.
Photo #3, my 21st b-day. I was also living in Mpls at that time, fulfilling my internship for school. I was living with a high school buddy in Stadium Village on the U of M campus. That was one were I burst into laughter when I came across it.
Photo #4, Prior Lake swim 2007. Master's Jim, Sally and 2 others swam across Prior Lake last summer, ~2 miles to Capt Jacks for a beer.
Photo#5, this is my all time favorite picture of me. I look to be about 3 years of age, dirt or food in a few spots on my face, my fat little arms and gut shooting out of a yellow shirt that says "My parents created a Monster" Ziggy and his buddy are the cartoon characters on the shirt as well. I have this dazed look on my face, nothing out of the norm right, just staring back at the camera. I come across this picture every now and again and just think of what that little boy had and still has in front of him.

I am going to try and take these 5 pictures to work and have them scanned and posted in the next few days so people know what I am talking about. Here's hoping that every now and than you stop cleaning, and sit down to relive the past when you come across something you've not seen in long time.

60 minutes including ice cream

2008-08-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

So, as of 2+ weeks ago my season was done. I think that I've pretty much made that clear. So last weekend I said how I had a nice ~10 mile ride with my dad. So again virtually no training since the week prior to Turtleman. I contacted a fellow training partner Friday to see if they were interested in an easy coffee ride on Sunday. Nothing serious, maybe an hour stop for coffee and call it a day. Well, this partner, lets call them "S Nelson" for the sake of the post, had a big run Fri/Sat and was more than happy to do an easy ride and get some ice cream, but only if it was from McDonald's. So I meet up with S Nelson at the trail head in St Louis Park and headed east toward Mpls. We continued east until we got to Hiawatha and than meet up with West River Rd. From there we went by the Falls, past Fort Snelling, around the airport, over the 494 bridge, into Eagan and Mendota Heights. Continued into Lilydale and finally St. Paul. Now St. Paul was mentioned at the beginning of the ride to see the Xcel and if they had done anything for the upcoming Republican National Convention. They haven't done much as of yet, in case you were wondering yourself. So follow some roads in downtown St. Paul and wind over to Grand Ave to Bread & Chocolate. A great little treat store that I found earlier this year after my vO2 max test. I had 1-1/2 coffees, we each refilled our lone water bottles, again we planned for 60 minutes and ice cream or coffee, and headed back west. By now, S Nelson, was wanting the fastest way back to the Park and Edina. So we headed back towards Minnehaha Park and took the trails to Nokomis. Followed the parkway to Harriet and Calhoun. Making our way back to the commuter trail and straight west towards the end. We split ways at the trail head were we met up and I rode the ~6 miles back home. All in all it was a great ride, awesome weather and I had not chatted with this riding partner in a few days so it was nice to get caught up. I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the great Midwest weather that we had last weekend.

By the way, about 60 miles total for me; and NO ice cream. Last time I do an easy 60 minute ride with S Nelson.

10 years, like we never lost contact

2008-08-17T21:49:00.002-05:00

I loaded up the truck and headed back to EC for the 2nd time in 3 weekends. Jack and I left town Friday evening on what promised to be a great time. I was heading home to see an old high school buddy that I had not seen in roughly 6-8 years. He is back at his parents for a few months, in a transition stage, moving from out east back to CO. He was hired by his parents to re-landscape the walk way and steps from the yard to the river. Like I said, the weekend promised to be a good one. We had spoke about water skiing, hanging out on the pontoon and just generally getting caught up with each other. For those that don't know, I played hockey until I was a senior in high school. Politely told the coach he was an ass and left the team mid-season. Dan, the old friend and another fellow senior walked off of the team with me that same night. I had to talk Dan into skating both his junior and senior years, I think the deal maker was I would drive to school and practice.
Jack and I got into town Friday about 7:30ish and I went straight to see Dan. I had a few cocktails with him and his parents down by the river and than went out to watch some buddy's play softball a few miles from my parents house. I ended up at a bonfire and got to bed about 3:30ish. Jack was a real trooper Friday night. He was very well behaved and stayed by my side all night. My old softball team mates had informed me of games they were playing during the weekend and it was another great way to see more folks while I was home. Showing up to the field, I had to laugh. All of the matching uniforms, pants, shoes, batting gloves, etc; its pretty comically. When I played roughly 250-300 games a year, it all seemed normal. Now, they look like morons, but they're all having fun.
Saturday morning I woke up after about 4 hours of sleep, Jack's revenge for not letting him lay around Friday night was to wake me up about 7:15 so he could go out and pee. I was pretty "head achy" and very very dehydrated. Gotta love Wisconsin, I cross the border at Hudson and almost instantly get drunk. I hung out at my parents house for the little while, went back to the ball field for some of the morning's games before going back to the water and helping with the landscape work.
I hauled rock and helped where and when I could with the redesign of the walk way. Had a great time and than, FINALLY we got out on the water later in the afternoon. Meet up with my parents that were already out, my aunt and uncles and even my Grandpa was out, in rare form as always. He is real character!!! Had a few cocktails on the boat, worked on beating Dan in "Splash Dives" and entertained his parents for about 30 minutes as we acted like 12-14 year old's jumping off of the dock again.
The weekend was exactly what I had hoped for. I even got bike ride in with my dad this morning. I had blast checking up with friends and reminiscing about old times.

Terrible at Turtleman

2008-08-10T21:56:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning started out great. A light rain in the early early morning; nothing to ruin race day. Nice cool temps and little to no wind. Gonna be a good race, right? Wrong. Since Rachel has moved to NC it is has been a little lonely coming home to an empty house. For the last 7 or 8 years we have lived together, married for almost 5 of those. Now the one person that, at least seems to care about my racing is gone. I know that we talk on the phone at least daily, but its not the same as having her here. So motivation is more than likely at an all time low. Mentally drained from a long season, a great season and the effects of training pretty hard since last November. I crashed the end of last year and my off season started in July so the Nov start was a good time to get back on the horse.
Water temp at the 25th running of the Turtleman Triathlon was 77.999 degrees. Now if it were 78 or warmer, no wetsuits. So for the mile swim, I was immediately in a place that I didn't like; over heating. Having a full wetsuit, than adding a swim cap, not much exposed skin to try and let the heat out of the body. At the turn I was starting to feel myself fade, was told by a fellow racer that is the point that he lost his "free" ride from my draft as he was dropped, but I felt like I was slowing so I pushed on. Apparently way to hard. I've never gotten sick during a race and actually puked, until Saturday. T1 was seemed to take for ever, I was puking. The first 3 miles of the bike, again took forever, more puking. Now these were not full on flu pukes, more of the heart burn vurps (vomit burps). About 1/2 way into the bike I was able to keep my Heed drink from wanting to come back up, didn't even think of taking my gel for fear of a major disaster. I thought a few different times of calling it quits when I out for my bike ride. But than I remembered they got a sweet finishing pin last year, "what am I going to get for the 25th year?" I know, but I do all of these races for the free shirts, bags, hats, etc that we get (yes I know that is all covered in the entry fees) So I came into T2, racked the machine that had zero umph and started off of the run. The opening mile went so so. Walked some of mile 2, damn aid stations and trying to take in too much water and Heed. So I walked to relax my stomach, started running again and enjoyed the rest of the day. I have referred to "the Hurt Locker" before in posts, this was not a trip there, this was a good ol' slug fest of wits. After the race "Swimmer Jim" asked how it went, he said he knew something was up when he saw my stellar T1. I told him about the day and he was said he was glad that I fought through it. I too am very happy for continuing on. By the way, we got a pretty nice wind breaker jacket for racing.
So, being total spent mentally, my '08 season is DONE!!!!!! Yes, that means I am not driving to Palo, IA this coming weekend to do the Pigman Half Ironman race. I can not complain about any of my races, including this latest one. I busted my ass this year, off season and race season and made some huge strides. I have Dan at SCS Multiport to thank for getting me there. This was the 2nd year that I used him as a coach and am very very happy with the results I got from his guidance.
Now that the off season is here for me, you probably ask; "What are you going to do with all of your free time?" Today I bike for 6 hours and covered just under 100 miles. I ate 2 Chipotle burritos when I was done and watched the Olympics. Tomorrow I will probably start my off season frozen pizza and beer diet. I might try to sneak one late season "fun" race in, plus I have the Beer-n-Brat 5k and Capt Jack's 2 mile swim to get in before the snow flies. I know that all of my posts are race related, but I will try to keep posting. For those that are still racing this season, good luck and we can toe the line together next spring.

Splash-n-Dash Fun

2008-08-05T21:03:00.005-05:00

As I rolled out of bed, okay off the couch this morning and looked at the clock; 5 AM. Thats pretty early. Only a few weeks ago it the sun would have been coming up, shinning in the big picture window as Jack warmed his lazy butt on the back of the couch. Now, its dark, cool and almost the end of summer. But alas, off to Cedar Lake I go.

I pack my shoes, goggles and even remember a towel this time. I am meeting the crew for our workout. When I get to the beach, Dennis is already there. YES, someone else crazy enough to get up and do this with me. Than Sara, Nick, Shelley (riding her bike) and John all show up. As we stand around getting warmed up, only John and Dennis are doing the splash-n-dash with me. So I load their shoes into a bag, steal Shelley's bike, its clearly built for the vertically challenged folks in the world, and I pedal off to the opposing beach. Now this is a lake I have swam in about 100 times, maybe not, but a bunch of times. I have ran and rode the trails that surround the lake as well. This morning I managed to get lost trying to find the beach. You'd think that for a public park they would put up a sign. After a few wrong truns I get to the water again, set up the 6 pairs of shoes (2 pair per person) and back to the starting beach. The water was warm, really warm so no wettie for me!! Actually no one was in a wetsuit this morning.

Both of the swims went well, as did the runs. The 2nd set I drafted off of Dennis, yes he slowed down so I could draft and John followed me. We made good time to the other side and did the last run in a pack and chatted as we covered the roughly mile trip back to the starting point. This is probably one of my more enjoyable workouts. I think because I seldom do it, its way different than the normal style bricks I do and it forces me to get my legs going right out of the water, which I struggle with.

I was able to get the Lake Minnetonka 5 mile swim photos to upload tonight too, hope you enjoy

Jim smiling for us during his swim

Jen, me and Jim having a coffee after the race (Jim finished 8th overall, nice job buddy!!)

Jen taking a photo of her an I paddling; I think Jim was swimming nearby

Just Me and Jack....

2008-08-04T21:21:00.003-05:00

Well, its been about 2 weeks now since Rach has been in NC, man have Jack and I had a ball. Okay, so we haven't. I am training for the last 2 races of the season and he sleeps on the back of the couch. We get to talk to Rach, yes we. When she calls I put her on speaker and Jack barks at her. She is having fun so far in the south. Went to visit her new job last Monday and meet the folks she will be working with. Her hand is healing nicely she tells me and that she thinks she will be able to start working the middle of next week. Scabs have come and gone on a few of the wounds, so thats good. The big one in the meaty part of the hand is taking a little longer than she wants.

Training is going well, not very motivated right now, but still getting the workouts in. After Pigman I am done for the '08 and will start the off season; frozen pizza, beer, wings, etc. Man I love the off season!!!

On Saturday mornings training ride in WI, I was back home for my brother in laws high school grad party, I got to flag down a sheriff and tell him about an injuried cyclist. I was in the middle of one of my efforts when up the road I was 2 riders. I assumed they were just kids, they were in the middle of the road, than back on the right side, than they would veer out into the center again. Well, when I got up to them, one of them had crashed. He wasn't bleeding or broken at all. Just full of gravel and looked really dazed; they weren't kids either. They were a married couple that looked to be about 50-55. The gentlemen had went down and the wife was trying to steady him. I stopped, becasue I am a nice guy, and offered assistance, water, my cell phone, really anything that they might need me to do. They said they were fine, I double checked with them and went on with my ride. I got back into the effort, head down and spinning well. Up over a rise I see a sheriff coming towards me. I flag him down explain the situation with the married couple and where I saw them. He wants my name and number, I guess he thought I was pretty good looking and maybe wanted to grab dinner and drinks, ha. They called me about 45 minutes later and said they found the riders and that everything was okay. It was a little wierd to come up on an incident like that. I was in no mans land again, not hardly even seeing cars let a lone other riders. The rest of the ride was pretty normal, I rode around the Eau Claire/Chippewa County roads and even went to "play" in the hills by the apple orchards. There are a set of 3 that make he wonder how the guys in the Tour are able to climb hills like they do.

Getting up at the but crack of stupid tomorrow morning to meet the normal open water crew at Cedar and hopefully do a Splash-n-Dash workout. Swim about 700-750 yards, get out, run roughly a mile at a good clip, jump back in the lake and swim back to the second pair of shoes. Should be a good workout if the usual number of folks show up for it. I did it once or twice last year and its fun.

Last weekend I canoed for a swim buddy while he did the Lake Minnetonka 5 Mile Challenge. The swim was unfortunatly shortened to 4 miles, e coli was invading the finishing beach. That didnt stop some folks from doing all 5 miles. I paddled last year for him as well, its a good time and quite the distance to swim. I am not sure if I would be smiling like he was while doing it. I can't get the photos to upload of the event, I'll try again later this week

Dog Bite

2008-07-24T22:01:00.005-05:00

Okay, 2 posts in 1 day...yep I need a life. As promised here are 2 photos of Rachel's battle wounds. Also I have included a photo of the dog that bite her. I am sorry to know that it is going to be put down, but it is the right thing to do after this attack and the other 2 that it has been involved in. These photos are 6 days old and the healing is well under way. I am happy to inform you that there are no broken bones, ligament damage and as of now no nerve damage. The swelling has went down drastically and she is only complaining about tenderness in the index finger. But you will notice that is the main "chomp" area. Lutsen is a 7 year old German Shepard that I used to play fetch with all year long and run with from time to time. Not sure why he snapped a few months back and again I am saddened by this attack and the results.

Race Recap

2008-07-24T17:22:00.005-05:00

What?!?! How bad?!?! These are the words that came out of my mouth Saturday afternoon during a phone call from Rach. She first told me to be calm, don't get mad or yell...but that she is at the ER for a dog bite. Now if Jack, our fat 7 lb Yorkie bite her that's fine...nope a 65-75 lb German Shepard pulled her off of a couch by her right hand while she was attempting to paint her toenails. I will try to post a few photos of the puncture wounds that she suffered. The worst part is that she can not start her externship in North Carolina on time now and will be there into November. Needless to say, I did not stay calm; I yelled, swore and was more than likely not real comforting for her. Sorry dear....I'll try better next time.

This past weekend I again carpooled to a race. Not with the Bates' family though, this time it was a long lost racer, C Millner. We meet at the butt crack of stupid (sorry Kate, I love that line) in Eden Prairie and started the drive to Annadale for the 23rd running of the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon. The weather was little goofy, AGAIN. Can't we just show up race day and have clear blue skies with a temp of about 70?? The fog was so bad during the swim warm-up you could not see the long course turn buoys in the water. The short course were bearly visible and we had to swim past those. I started in the elite wave again, making this swim a non-wetsuit one. The water temp was said to be at 72 and that means no wetties folks. So at least everyone was on the same playing field in my wave, no worries. I was told earlier in the morning that my stellar swim in Waconia would not happen again because I was not able to wear a wet suit for this one. Again no worries, the assface that informed me of my luck in Waconia, I was able to draft him in the water and come out on his feet; I didn't beat him to the finish but it was a huge mental victory for me. I jumped on the bike and took off down the road for the 21 or 22 mile loop. The roads in the past for this course have been terrible. Not anymore, they repaved them and they are great. I held a good pace and was able to pick off a few of the better swimmers. About half way into the bike I take my usually Hammer Gel feed break, get what I think is all of it out of the package and stuff it into the leg of my suit. Wrong, I didn't get all of it. You know when you see a little kid with sticky hands ans you want to stay away from them as they do the "sticky hand claws" move. Pretty much what the back side of my knee and calf felt like. So the last 8-10 miles of the bike I had Raspberry Hammer Gel running down my leg, not overly pleasant; note to self for future races. I dismounted and racked the bike, it felt like a fast T2 and that was confirmed by results as it looked to be 4th fastest. Really happy about that. I heard someone yell "Go Mark, your looking good, run hard" while racking my bike. Voice didn't sound real familiar around a race venue and I was in a hurry, you know its a race, so I didn't look in the direction of the voice. Kind of a mistake. A big one. Yeah, it was Rach. She had left EC early in the morning to come and see the only race she was able to make this year and I didn't even see her, not just in T2, but the entire race. She was cheering in about 4 different spots. I'm a jerk, I know...okay now lets all say it together...Mark's a jerk. Anywho, on the run I knew that I was going to push myself and make it hurt the entire time. Enough of this running 6:45-6:55's miles to finish a race. These times are killing me at the finish. So I put my head down and went for it. I was past by 2 younger people, they are runners so I was not feeling bad. I was able to keep them in contact for about 2 miles before they went a round a corner and than another and I lost them. I had a gentlemen pass me with about 1/2 mile left, I felt like hell and didn't even contest the pass. As we entered the finishing area I heard a few people yell "he's right behind you and coming quick." So I increased my pace and started to recatch the guy that had just passed me. I ended up repassing him and out sprinting him to the line by 1 second. The guy behind me, no, I was the guy that was coming fast on the gentlemen that had passed me already. Anyway I got the spot back and had an awesome race. I am super happy with a 20th place finish and how everything went. Now a few weeks off and than Turtleman. Again, another one to leave everything on the course.

Back to Rachel's hand; its healing nicely. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and got the packing pulled out of the teeth marks. 3 of the 4 holes are starting to scab over and the 4th one, which is a big deep sucker, is looking good. Today when I was home for lunch she showed it to me again and flexed her hand, it looks like a hand puppet's mouth. A little disgusting but for her medical lifestyle she was able to laugh and chuckle about it.

Real Quick....

2008-07-17T19:02:00.009-05:00

Okay for those that have a few seconds and want see perhaps my favorite new race photo. Click on the link for a photo from Timberman; you will need to go to http://www.minnefotamoments.com/ and in the search box, enter IMG_9187; hopefully you can spot me. If not, I am the good loooking one in the blue SCS suit. I just showed Rach as she was walking in from school and she was very very impressed; as was Jules. I might have found my new calling in life!

Up North

2008-07-14T18:04:00.004-05:00

Another fun filled weekend of racing. Again Mother Nature decided to throw us a curve ball in the shape of wind, choppy water and cool cool temperatures for the middle of July. This past weekend took myself and 14 fellow racers to Grand Rapids, MN for the 24th running of the Timberman Triathlon. The group had rented 2 condos about 500 yards from the race site, making it very very convenient for getting ready on Saturday morning. Being at the race venue for the weekend, it took me a little while to get my game face on Saturday. We woke up, took our gear to transition and then went back to eat and get ready for the race. Now its at this point were I felt like I was waiting around for that last person to show up at an early morning group ride. But nonetheless I got back to transition a little before 7 and started to warm up, get marked and pick up my timing chip. Slowly but surely the game face was coming out; well the best game face I have.
The swim, like I said was little choppy. The water temp was said to be about 62, I think it was much warmer than that however. Upon exiting the water I heard a few people yelling that I was 6th out of the water. Sweet!! I got through T1 a little slower than I would have liked, but I was told I was still in 6th position leaving the resort grounds to go and battle the hills and wind that were waiting for me. About 1 mile into the ride I saw 2 racers up a head and set my sights on them. I over took the first one rather quickly, happy to now be 5th. Just as quick as I had that thought I remembered a few of other racers that typically beat me, they are old and had to start 3 minutes after me; I started in the 40 and under wave. Regardless of that thought I was gunning for a top 10 and a top 3 in the 25-29 age group. I continued to bear down on the rider in front of me and overtook him just before the first big climb. This was a new bike course, 2 loops. Each loop having many a hill to climb and again plenty of wind. I was now in 4th spot for the random spectators along the road. About 3/4's of the way into the first loop, WHHHOOOOOSSSSSH!!!!! Holy crap, it would have been less embarrassing if I was anchored to the road when I was passed by this 41 and over wave starter. I was very supportive and yelled "Go get Rhett they can't be far ahead!!" Okay, so I was passed by Rhett Bonner. He's good if your wondering. I held my spot for the next 10-15 miles before in about the same spot on the climb Brooks got me. WTF!!! I was hoping I was a better rider/climber than this. Not today. Again, no hard feelings...if Brooks wouldn't have gotten me on he bike I can guarantee you he was going to crush me on the run. Basically it was inevitable that he was coming as well. I was passed by one more rider and than beat him out of T2, Steve something or another. Nice guy, you know the kind that's able to carry on a conversation during the run as you are pretty much red lined. My run was my normal run....foot issues AGAIN for the first mile and half and than it loosened up and got better. I ran one of my better 10k times and finished 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. Not the top 10 I was gunning for, but with the 3 pros in the field finishing all in the top 5, that makes it a little tough. I am super happy with my race and got a sweet minnow bucket as an age group award. This is a great race and I can't wait to do the Silver Anniversary next year.
For the most part this blog is about me and racing and training. But now as I sit and ponder what is coming up in the next 2 weeks, it sucks. Rach is heading to NC for 3 months on the 25th. I didn't really think that it was going to be that big of deal, 12 weeks right. Well, now that its 11 days away, I'm pretty bummed. I wish her well, she is doing great in school and will do great in NC as well. She has a ton of work experience and is super knowledgeable in her field. The one nice thing is that she will being staying with her aunt and uncle in Charlotte. Being surrounded by family will help here out and with phone/email we are really never that far apart. So sweet-heart, I will miss you dearly and wish you the very best in finishing your schooling!!!! Knock 'em dead Racecar! (okay, maybe not the best line, seeing how she will be dealing surgical patients)

What a Weekend

2008-07-07T18:09:00.011-05:00

I was back in Wiskee (WI) for the weekend with my entire family. Unfortunately Rach was unable to join in the fun, she was stuck working her last holiday and weekend shift prior to shipping out to NC. I got to town on Thursday mid-morning, took Jackster to the vet to have his stitches removed and than promptly to the ER to have stitches put into my Grandma.She slammed her finger in the service door of the garage and needed to be sewn up. If its my blood or injury I am fine, anyone else, that's a different story. My mom sat in the ER room with Grandma whilst the Dr did his thing.

Nolan playing on an empty pool

After Thursday afternoon the rest of the weekend was pretty enjoyable. I got a great 3+ hour ride in on Friday morning. It was nice to get out of the concrete/asphalt jungle that I live in now. I took a bunch of country roads where the trees formed a nice canopy over the road and just spun at a good pace. Its always fun to have animals running around in the ditches and deer crossing in front of you. I really really miss those kinds of rides and was in my own little world while I rolled around the country-side.

My brother and his 2 kids, as well as my sister and her 3 kids got into town during the mid afternoon on Friday. We had a great time sitting around and getting caught up with everyone. am trying to remember, but I am pretty sure the last time I saw everyone was during our Christmas trip in January. We are close family so that's a really long time a part.

Merrick just hanging out

Saturday morning came, I got up, had some water and Tylenol; and went back to bed. I was little foggy in the head, but it was my own fault for continuing to drink on Friday when i should have stopped. But I was in Wisconsin, that's what us Wisconsinites do; we also like cheese. I play into the stereo-type so well.

I finished my weekend chatting with my in-laws. I, unfortunately took up most of their Saturday and ruined their plans. But it was nice to see them again and just relax and get caught up. I had a great weekend with family and friends. The weather couldn't have been better as well.

I got back to town on Saturday night to spend Sunday with Rach. We decided to ride the bikes to breakfast; but first I had to swap seats and seat post to her bike. Funny thing about that, she asked me why I was on my tri bike during our ride. This is another mystery to me about women, you can bitch at us about doing something, in this case using her saddle post for my bike, yet totally forget about it 10 minutes later. I wasn't going to get upset though, she was out riding with me and we were having a great time.

1st Ride

2008-07-01T18:41:00.004-05:00

So last night I took the new red machine out for its first little spin; I have yet to name it. This is a bike that I build with some help from Jeremy and Jason. The only down fall is not having a bike stand. So Rachel, my lovely lovely wife, would come home and the living room would look like a bomb was just set off. I had bike parts, tools, cables, etc all over the room. Poor Jack just sat on the top of the couch out of the way wondering "....what is he was doing, why is he yelling at himself and where did that blood on the back of his hand come from." Damn chain rings!! For those that have built up a bike before, you know it takes a little patience; something that I am pretty sure I was not blessed with. But nonetheless, it got built, tweaked, tweaked again and finally ready to roll. I had to steal the seat post off of my wife's bike in order to ride my new machine; she is busy with school and work so she wouldn't notice anyway. WRONG...the saddle had not been on my bike 4 hours. She comes home from class and wonders why her seat is missing off of her bike, one she has not ridden since last fall. Guys, I am not sure how women can pick something like that out, but that is a gift. She can't find her shoes most days, but a seat missing off of a bike that has been stowed away in a corner, whamO!!

Last night I was lucky enough to have a great ride with Shelley; although I am pretty sure she will never ride with me again. I am still pretty new to this whole cycling/tri community, so some of the unwritten rules are lost on me. I guess wearing shorts that are blue/red/white/yellow do not go with a red/black top. Strike one for the evening. Strike two came when we started to run into people that we knew, not that bad, they know that I am a a bit odd, but when we ran into a few people that just Shelley knew, she was not impressed with my fashion show. Don't feel bad S Nelson, Rachel agreed with you, I looked like a dork.

Ocean like Conditions.....

2008-06-30T21:38:00.007-05:00

So, for those that follow this blog, which is few, because most of you have other things to do; we had Waconia this weekend. I am not sure how to describe the thoughts and emotions going through my head prior to the swim. For those that were there, it was a little choppy on the water front. Katie, if your reading this post, I hope you can find photos and see the ocean like conditions that we were able to swim in. As Dan said, "Jezzzz, Alcatraz wasn't even this bad" I was happy to have survived my first fresh water ocean swim, although a boogie board and fins would have made it more enjoyable. Plus the additional length of the board shorts could have hidden the sweet bike short tan lines I am getting again.

So exiting the water I was in my usual spot, near the end. But I knew going into this season stepping up to the elite level I would have a year of chasing the faster folks and hope to see improvements; which I have so I am totally fine with my season so far. Get into T1, winds still just gusting from the north off of the lake. Take of on the bike at a 45 degree angle into the wind to stay upright and off we go for 24 miles of fun. My bike was considerable faster than I had figured it would be based on the wind. We were able to head south for a section of road; sweeeet tail wind!!! It was a little odd, when we made the turn it became silent. Just you, the bike and the hum of the race wheels. For those with Zipps you know the sound I am attempting to describe. I covered the bike course in a little over an hour. My left foot, remember the last post, was little bit of a bother on the bike so I was unsure how the run was going to go. I took off like molasses in January on the 4 mile pancake flat course. Okay thats a lie, the 1st mile is a death march; no lie. At the top of the hill is a cemetery!!! My foot loosened up after the 1st quarter to half mile, but I was a little nervous to push it and risk ending my season early again due to injury again. So I settled into what I thought was a rather easy pace and had fun. I was thanking the many wonderful volunteers for helping out and allowing all of us to partake in another morning of racing. I even thanked a group of high school aged kids for coming out and cheering just for me; that was so nice of them. I finished 25th overall and got beat by a few age groupers, but I think if I would have raced the run I might have cracked the top 20. All in all it was a good race for me, exactly what I needed after last weekends debacle in Des Monies.

Speaking of Des Monies, my newest fan base made the drive to MN to spend time with their real son and cheer on their new adopted son, ME. Thanks for coming and cheering us on Bill and Annette, you guys ROCK!!!

I have to give credit to everyone that made it through the swim. From the people I talked to pre/post race, the last one they can think of that was even close to being that bad was the BOUS when it was at Lake Minnetonka 2 years ago. Ooooh how we all learned to love white caps on Sunday.

What a Week....

2008-06-25T19:10:00.002-05:00

Well, mid last week I was turned up sided down at work. It was totally unexpected and untrue...but I am not going to dive into it on an Internet site and be like the lady that bitched about her husband on You Tube as they were going through a divorce. So, the unneeded and unwanted stress didn't really set the stage well for the Hy Vee triathlon in Des Moines.

I traveled to IA with Dennis and his wife Shannon; had a great house stay at Casa del Dane in Urbandale and was treated like family. The home stay and Dennis' parents couldn't have made the trip any better. Thanks a million Bill and Annette, see you '09!!!

This highly anticipated race was changed from a triathlon to a duathlon and back to a triathlon on Wednesday of last week. Here's a race director, their staff and hundreds of volunteers that put together not only a tri in 4 days, but a world class and last Team USA Olympic qualifier just 104 short hours from race day. World Class all the way!!!

My race was less than stellar. The swim start; me and 158 of my closest friends charged into the murky muddy waters of what was a normally small lake, but with the rain and rather large body of water. I was able to cover the 0.9mi swim in under 23 minutes, very happy with my time. I was thinking the entire swim how bad I was swimming and was not looking forward to seeing the clock when I got out of the water. But I was happy to see that my time, for me, was not bad. Now, with the change of venue, came some other changes as well. Like the garbage bags every racer was handed to put there T1 stuff into in order to get it to the finish. That's right, all of the stuff you wore race morning, your wet suit and the rest of you swim stuff needed to be placed into a Hefty sack for transport by the volunteers to the finish area.

Off on the bike I went. I left good the first mile and a half. Yep, the rest was a really struggle. Both physically and mentally. I didn't have any legs to push the gear I needed to on the bike. I stayed the course and continued at a rather slow pace. A pace that was slower than some races last year. I know that I have done much much more training and I should have been faster than what I did. More than once I thought about stopping my race after I finished the bike; totally foregoing the 10km run. I climbed one of the last big hills and rounded a corner to a sea of people. Spectators were lined on both sides of the street 3 and 4 deep cheering, yelling and ringing the cow bell....that's right "I gotta fever, and the only cure is more cow bell!!!" At that point I knew there was no way I wasn't finishing this race. Not only had I been talking all off season and up to this race about being able to finish on the blue carpet, Dennis had told me the finish line chute was awesome; so bring on T2 and the run

Now, similar to T1, we had to set up T2 on Saturday as well, only in different part of town, 2.6 miles away from T1. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so finding my shoes was a little tough. After standing around for about 10 seconds with my thumb in my butt I found my stuff, changed out of the bike stuff and into my run gear and headed out. I felt slow, again legs didn't seem to have much. But I was able to run sub 7 minute miles and finish the race in 2:18 and change. I am pleased that I stuck it out and finished. I would have been really upset with myself for not finishing just because I didn't bring my A game to this race. Can't race 'em all well can we?

I would like to congratulate Dennis for a strong 11th place finish overall and 2nd in the tough 25-29 age group. I would also like to congratulate Cathy for besting the entire female amateur field by 5 minutes, nice job!!!

Next up is Waconia this weekend. I have been side lined for the last few days with a left foot injury. The x-ray shows that at some point in my short life time I broke the foot, but didn't know it, damn drunken bar league softball days! It feels much better today and I am going to rest it for Sunday and hopefully have a much better showing than I did last week.

Epic Battle (while, at least in my mind)

2008-06-11T19:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was suppose to have the day off of training, sleep in and just relax. Sleeping in didn't happen, Rach got back from a "trip" at 5 am and need a ride home from the airport, so alas I was on the road with Jackster about 4:45 to get her. My day off of training consisted of an 11 mile bike time trial in Medina followed by a 15 minute run with Jmac. As the title of post would suggest, something big happens. Okay its not that big. A buddy, lets call him Dennis had mentioned that he was doing the TNT (Tuesday Night Time Trial) in Medina. The weather looked good when I was leaving work, sunny and little to no wind. So I decided to loaded up the bike and go "ride" the course, but take it easy. By the time I got started on my 11 mile journey, the clouds had rolled in and the humidity had increased; but still no wind. I took almost a minute off of my time from 2 weeks ago and added almost 1 mph to my average. I am seeing some great improvements in my riding and am really happy about it. Dennis, remember him, he beat me 2 weeks ago by 8 seconds; this week 9. What!!!! Here I am feeling good about myself for improving and I am losing ground when I need to be gaining it. Such is racing.
I got word today that my race in Des Moines next weekend has turned from an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5K swim, 40 k bike and 10k run) to a duathlon (10k run, 40k bike and 5k run) I am not overly excited about that changed format, but with the flooding and weather related issues that part of the country is dealing with right now, I am happy that Hy Vee is still able to put on a race. The pros that are trying to qualify for the last remaining Team USA spot will be fun to watch; and from what I hear this run/bike/run format will be much better to spectate.
So far I have had a good week of training, feel good coming off of a great race last Sunday and looking forward to Hy Vee. I need to stay focused on improving my run and continue to improve in the water. From the last post I had, if it wasn't real clear, the elites in this area are really good in the water; all over actually. But I need to be able to keep them in sight coming out of the water to feel like I have a chance. Kind of that out of sight out of mind mentality.

Holy ....!!

2008-06-08T19:58:00.002-05:00

This morning, again we woke to an early morning (4:30 am) rain. I am starting to see a pattern develop for race weekends. As always I loaded the truck, went to pick up a buddy and head to J Bates' casa to load the VW and head to the Manitou Sprint in White Bear Lake. Last night I was a little unsure of what to expect at the race this season. After last year's disappointing run, a ton of side cramping, I was hoping to perform much better. Also this was my first Elite wave start. In the past racing age group some competitors are a little more serious so it pushes you to be better. Well the elite wave, whole new game of competitiveness. When the gun went off it was chaos for the next 12mins and 25 secs. The swim was the common U shape,keep buoys on your right side. We decided to swim down the center of the course and at the last moment head left to make a right hand turn and head back to the beach. At one point I am pretty sure that I had someone swim perpendicular across my back; that's some great sighting!! I was able to find a set of feet and hang onto them. Swam without a doubt my fastest 1/2 mile time thus far. Mounted the bike and started off on rain soaked roads and a nice head wind to greet us. The bike went well. I played cat and mouse with Mike Waataja, which made me happy. Last year I struggled to stay with him on a few training rides we were both at. Dismounted the bike and I was off on the 5k run course. Now this is the point that I blew up last year. I had to stop a number of different times and try to work the cramping out of my sides and mentally keep going. The entire GW team was there for moral support as well. No it really wasn't as embarrassing as you'd think. Alas, the run went much better this year. I was able to run 6:20's and finish in a time of 1:07.14. That's about 5 minutes faster than last season. I am very happy with my results and am now looking forward to Hy-Vee in 2 weeks with my Iowan buddy Dennis.
Other than my highlights for the day....84 year old Bob Powers won the Zipp 808 wheel set. This guy is great. He shows up to just about every race I'm at and has a smile on his face every time he crosses the finish line. If my health is half is good as his at that age I will consider myself lucky, let alone still be healthy enough to race. And fellow SCS team member Jen "Psycho Sally" Lenarz, won a brand spanking new QR Lucero carbon frame!!!! I would blog more tonight, but Ice Road Truckers new season is starting on the History Channel...gotta run.

2nd at Buffalo Tri

2008-06-02T18:47:00.003-05:00

Well, we gave it our best...literally. Team 2 Tri's and a Guy had big days in Buffalo, but came up a little short. The day s was picture perfect, couldn't have been a better day for my first relay triathlon. Jim Drew, I swim with him at masters, started the relay with, you guessed it the swim. He had the 4th fastest overall swim time; fastest relay swim, covering the 1.5km distance in a blazing 18:59. I had him run a short distance through transition to meet me near the bike out, avoiding the rest of the relay teams and transition congestion. I was off on what was my 1st 40km time trial. Now I've raced Olympic distance events in the past but, usual have to run once I am done biking. Not today. I took of as hard as I could, and in the words of fellow tri friend Jason Bates, met the Hurt Locker. I opened the door, let myself in and turned out the lights. The next 1:00.54 was going to be a snot-fest for the record books. I had the fastest bike time for the relays and looking at the overall times, I think 11th. I am super happy with that. I've worked my butt off this off season to improve on my swim and bike. With my FL bike and swim times I am super happy with my improvements thus far. I came into T2 at what felt like 100mph; hopped of the bike, past the chip to Jen Lenarz, aka Psycho Sally, and she was off like a bullet. I felt good at this point. I had been passed by no one on the bike route and I knew Jim smoked the swim. Jen ran like the wind; however the winning team's runner ran 5:33's, are you kidding me!?!? I'm not even sure if I bikes miles that fast. Needless to say, the winning team, all men, us, co-ed. Jen PR'd her 10km time and was super happy with her results. I had a blast with this new team of mine and am looking forward to a late season relay as well. I am waiting for photos from Jen and will have them posted as soon as I get them.

I would like to congratulate Dennis Dane on yet another great race at the Pigman Sprint in Iowa. Dennis, continuing his stellar season finished 4th. Looking forward to racing Hy-Vee with you in a few weeks buddy!!

Another Grey Day in MN

2008-05-29T18:08:00.002-05:00

Today started out with a 30-40 min oen water swim with (Dan, Jason & Dennis) at Cedar Lake's south beach. Air temp was a little warmer than it was on Tuesday for Lake Ann (~40 degrees), I was actually very happy to get into the water on Tuesday. This morning meet me at the door with overcast rain looking skies and not much motivation. After last night's short track workout under clear blue sunny skies, I was more than dissappointed to wake to the Seattle like weather again. I gathered all of my open water swim stuff and headed off to meet the rest of the boys. The swim went well, we worked on starts after the over and back roughly 1650 yard swim. The guys gave me some good pointers about starting and what to do. A sport of constient learning. I stuggle to follow feet at the start and usually find myself in either no mans land or busting my butt to get on someone's feet after being lost at the start. If I want to continue to improve I will certianly need to work on this area of swimming.

This weekend I have the Buffalo relay with Jim and Jen. This should be the makings of a great relay team. Jim is a former U of M swimmer and Jen is solid runner. Hopeefully I'll have some good photos to post of the race. I was able to prove to myself that I am capable of biking on Tuesday night at TNT. So for the bike portion I will bury my head and go for broke. Tuesday night in Medina I was able to average just under 25 mph on a fairly hilly challenging course. I finished 11th out of 52 entries. Dennis, same one from swim this morning, beat me by only 8 seconds. I say "only", but thats a pretty good gap. My quads and lungs were burning. I had a blast at my first bike tt and am looking forward to the next one in a few weeks.

Not much else is exciting, Rach started her 2nd to last class on Tuesday. She will finish up all class work the end of July and than its off to externship, lord only knows where. More than likely I'll be a "single" guy for 3-4 months; just me and Jack hanging out protecting the house. She is waiting to her back from a counselor at school if Madison is still a possibility. She might be able to get a spot at HCMC in downtown Mpls. We would be able to stay together for those 3-4 months and she would get great work experience. She is a little hesitant about HCMC, being a Level 1 trama center, but she knows her stuff and would be able to hold her own. I mean, where else can you get the everyday gun shot victim, stabbing victim and over dose?? Sounds like a real treat, huh? Sure beats pushing papers and filing charts

First Time for Everything

2008-05-25T14:05:00.000-05:00

Well, as modern technology continues to grow and human interaction is less and less these days; I figured I should jump on the band wagon and create a blog. I thinks its a little goofy to have something posted on the Internet that is more or less shameless self promotion. But after talking to buddy of mine on the way back from a race this weekend...he informed me that its a great way to keep is parents and family members up to date on his happenings. So I thought that I would give it a shot and see what happens, plus Rachel just took off to meet her mom in Woodbury for some shopping and I don't want to mow the back yard. So here goes nothing......

This morning I got up and went out for the first of many open water swims at Lake Ann. The water temp was not bad, face was a little cold the first minute or 2 but not bad. I tried out a new wettie (wet suit, stealing the Aussie term, thanks Ry) from Jason. I have a full body sleeveless suit, and this borrowed one has sleeves. I was thinking that the shoulders might feel a little tight once I got going, but its not that bad. Plus I now have a new wettie for the season and zero cost to me. Thanks J for the use of the suit!!!

For those that don't know me and just stumbled upon this blog, I race triathlons all summer long. This is a pretty expensive sport for the none money winning athletes like me...so any little help goes a long way.

This coming Tuesday I have my very first cycling time trial in Medina. This is an out and back 11 mile suffer fest ride. Just put your head down and go as hard as you can. Really the pain cant be that bad, can it?

I will do my best to keep this up to date as times moves forward. I hope you will like what you find and read here. If not sorry, I am new to all of this.