tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-204590552024-03-23T11:24:06.075-07:00The Silent FuryThe fire that burns in each of us that can never be subdued!walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-72884527834137991532007-11-05T14:38:00.000-08:002007-11-05T14:39:09.413-08:00Ironman Wisconsin 2007 – Part 3The Bike<br />As I rolled down the helix I tried to steady myself in prep for the next several hours that I would spend in the saddle. It felt good to finally be on my bike and rolling towards the hills of Verona. I reminded myself that I was in no hurry and concentrated on finding my rhythm. I figured I might as well find one before I hit the hills where it would be nonexistent til I made the return trip to Madison.<br /><br />At a steady pace I made my way through the rolling hills to the start of the lollipop. (the double loop of the course) I quickly realized that I had not put enough tape over the top of my aero bottle. This of course caused a splash of water to come flying out of the bottle every time I hit a bump. Not exactly what you want going on with 112 miles to bike. Besides the splash from my aero bottle things were going pretty well. The weather was nice and I was doing my best to just enjoy the ride. Knowing that I still had several hours left on the bike I used the first part to just take in the ride. I took in the scenery and encouraged the other rides that I came across. The point was to enjoy everything before the hills came.<br /><br />Soon enough I was at the bottom of the hills which the Wisconsin course in known for. I remembered riding them in July, but you never quite remember how steep and long they are. The next hours were all about the grind. Grinding up hill after hill and recovering on the way down. This pattern was on repeat as I covered the miles. The only good part about the hills was the “Tour de France” hill. On the last major hill of the loop the crowd lines the street on both sides in the fashion of the Tour de France. The people screamed, yelled, and ran along with you the entire length of the hill. It was awesome and a great boost heading into the 2nd loop.<br /><br />The only real reprieve during the ride was passing through Verona. On the first loop the IronCrew was there and waiting. I really needed to see some familiar faces and it again provided a huge boost at the half way point. Soon after I was at the special needs station. I used the time to stop and stretch. I think my body actually cheered when I came off the seat. I refilled my nutrition supplies before heading back out. By this point I was starting to struggle physically. The muscles and tendons under my left knee were starting to give me problems and tightening up. My left side has to compensate for a weaker right knee. The weak knee is the result of old soccer injuries and the long ride was starting to rear its ugly head. At the next aid station I had to stop again and stretch my legs. I figured I’d better do it sooner rather then later if I was going to make it through the hills again.<br /><br />The ware and tear of the hills were really starting to show on the 2nd loop. There is no rhythm while riding those hills and they just slowly eat away at you. Towards the end it was all just about getting up the next hill and keeping the legs turning. On the second to last big hill on lady was trudging up the hill at about the same pace. Her expression and breathing showed all to well the signs of such a long course. Finally we reached the top and I said something like only one more big one left. She tried to smile as we were all trying to smile. Trying to do something or think of anything that would take our minds off our task. Finally I was back to the Tour de France hill, but my slow pace left a much smaller crowd there the second time through. I was still grateful for the support that was there, but I really could have used the full feature that was there earlier.<br /><br />After managing the second pass through the hills the course made its way back to Verona. There waiting was my family who cheered as rode by. I was really hoping to see the IronCrew and Ms. R, but they were already on their way back to Madison. I was a bid saddened by this, but I figured if I wanted to see them I best get back to Madison myself. Finally leaving Verona it was back through some rolling hills to get back to Madtown. Finally after hours without having any rhythm my legs found one again. Smooth circle after smooth circle as I tried to relax a bit and note on what I had just accomplished. I had just finished the hardest ride of my life and I was still moving. It may not have been my best ride, but I had done it and soon I would be finished with my bike and a seat that felt like it had made its way up to my throat.<br /><br />As a saw the city approach I smiled and the feeling that I was actually going to make it through the day started to blossom. I pushed it back as I knew I still had hours of work left to do, but the knowledge sped me forward towards T2 with the thought of “let’s finish this thing.”walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-2335357255357538512007-11-05T14:33:00.000-08:002007-11-05T14:38:05.222-08:00Worst Blogger EverI might be the worst blogger that ever took up blogging in the history of blogland. For some reason I just haven't been able to get the posts out. I hope that is going to change. I have all but one last post about Iroman Wisconsin ready to go. Hopefully I can get that all out this week and get back to the present. So if by chance you are still checking this blog I apologize for being the worst blogger ever. I guess someone has to be, but I'd rather pass on that torch to someone else.<br /><br />Later...walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-71603771998773957632007-10-11T14:22:00.001-07:002007-10-11T14:22:58.918-07:00Ironman Wisconsin 2007 – Part 2The Swim<br />…or should I say the Splash. What do you get when you throw 2,200 people into the water all at once? Lots of water splashing all over the place. Chaos is the best way to try to describe the swim during an Ironman. Both Bob and I tried to avoid the majority of the action by staying towards the back. The good thing is that you avoided some of the people swimming over you and things like that, but no one is totally immune. At the start I took a very easy pace and actually swam behind Bob for the firsts ¼ or so. I was in no rush and just wanted to get through the swim. I got kicked a few times, but nothing major. My two issues with the swim were just related to the environment. The first was that it seemed everyone was zig-zagging all over the place. It seemed that whenever I started to get into a groove someone would come cross right in front of me. The other issue I had was that the majority of the people had white swim caps. Now this doesn’t help you when you are trying to sight and all you see is water splashing around because the white caps just blend in. Now this could easily be changed with different colored caps. An added bonus would be to make the course buoys a LOT bigger so that if you are a ways from the markers you could actually see them.<br /><br />Anyway the swim ended up being pretty uneventful. I saw Bob a few times during the first lap when we would both stop to get our bearings. We’d yell HEY and then it was back to “just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” About ¾ through the swim the boredom factor started to come into play. I wasn’t feeling tired or anything which was good, but I was a ready to be done. I tried to stay focused and pushed toward the end. Finally after 8 straight-aways and 7 turns covering 2.4 miles I reached the swim exit. I climbed out of to a roaring crowd and smiled. It felt great to get out of the water and I was happy to have finished the swim without any major events. I spotted the strippers and within 7 millie-seconds my wetsuit was off and I was jogging toward the helix. With the crowd cheering as I went, I slowly made it up the helix to transition.<br /><br />T1<br />I made my way into the Terrace and easily found my swim to bike bag. Maybe it was because the majority of the bags were already gone, but it probably was just the fact that the volunteer was there right away. At least that’s a better story. hehe My transition wasn’t fast by any means, but I needed to slow things down to make sure that I had everything and that my body was settled enough after the long swim. Again the volunteers were great and a quick rest stop I was running towards my bike. Half way there I heard the IronCrew cheer which was great to hear. I was at the far end of the Terrance so it was only a hop, skip, and a jump to the helix. Right at the top was my family who screamed, a little too loud, and I tried to get on my bike. Now it’s one thing to be enthusiastic and cheering, but I don’t they understood the concept of getting onto a bike and then trying to ride down a circular parking ramp. Or at least that they person need to be concentrating on that task and it’s better if you are not screaming from three feet away like you some teeny-bopper at a Justin Timberlake concert. I love that my family came to support me, but they almost caused a bike crash before I even got on the course. :)walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-66519537533695695582007-10-05T06:12:00.000-07:002007-10-05T06:14:11.619-07:00Back In The U.S.S.AI’ve been back for over a week, but so much has happened since then. First Ms. R and I had a great week in Mazatlan. For the majority of week we did nothing and it was great. Well I suppose sitting on the beach, reading, ordering drinks, and splashing around in the water is a little more then nothing, but you get the idea. Ms. R noticed that this was the first time she’s seen me relaxed and I mean totally relaxed. I’m a bit of a busy but I slapped my ass in those lounge chairs for hours on end without a care in the world. Other highlights included a city tour and a sailing trip on our last full day in Mazatlan.<br /><br />It was the trip that we both needed after a long triathlon season and all the craziness surrounding Ironman. We just needed to get away and not have to care about real life for awhile. I think the trip suited us both well and accomplished the goal of getting some real R&R.<br /><br />Upon our return we had to dive headfirst into an all out pack fest. Back in July I took the big plunge into lifelong dept and bought my first house. Totally crazy and nerve racking experience to say the least. I don’t want to buy another house for a long time. In the end we ended up with a great place, knock on wood, and last week we finally closed. This meant that we spent every free minute packing to get ready for the move. On Sunday a great group of friends and family came over to help us move our stuff, which was at three different locations, into our new home. Even with the rainy weather we managed to get almost all our stuff to the house in about six hours. The key..food and beer!. If you offer people plenty of food and beverages they are fairly happy to help with such a big task. The move went really well and at the end of the day all our stuff was in the house in some box in some room. The task of unpacking everything has started. It’s kind of strange to all of a sudden have tons of room, but you are not sure where to put things. It will take some time, but I’m sure that we’ll figure it out eventually. In the meantime there will be many trips to places like target and home depot for the tons of stuff a new homeowner needs. Everyday the lists keep growing and I think the trend will continue for awhile.<br /><br />A couple of other happens currently going on. The word is that <a href="http://trisaratopsimadventure.blogspot.com/">TriSaraTops</a> is now a mother for the first time. There has been no official post yet, but major congrats to the new family.<br /><br />Last night I did my first workout since Madison. I’ve joined a swim class to get some extra pool time this fall. It never hurts to get some extra instruction. Plus it’s a little cheaper then seeing my regular swim coach. It’s actually kind of nice not to be the one coaching, but I did have to remind myself that I was there to swim and learn and I’m not the coach during that time. hehe<br /><br />Finally another person has given into the draw of blogland. Drum roll please…….The newest blogger is <a href="http://triventuresofmsr.blogspot.com/">Ms. R</a> herself. You can find her at <a href="http://triventuresofmsr.blogspot.com/">http://triventuresofmsr.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />Now back to your regularly scheduled and very late Ironman Race Report…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-11017707882733285822007-09-14T22:28:00.000-07:002007-09-14T22:33:29.407-07:00Ironman Wisconsin 2007 - Part 1There is a lot to say about the all that happen over Ironman weekend. At times I think I blinked and then it was over. Other times it seem like I was in Madison for a month. So here’s my best attempt to tell my Ironman tale.<br /><br />Pre-Race<br />Details, details details. It seems like all I was doing was running through the details of getting ready for the race. There were the lines to stand in and the tons of prep work to do. I think the nature of the Ironam really having to be completely ready on Saturday really started to get to me. This is the only race where you have to get your gear to the race the day before. I’m use to having everything with me in my transition bag that I need for a race. I’m use to setting up my transition area the morning of the race and this whole routine was not an option. This really threw me out of sync as the race drew closer.<br /><br />On Saturday Bob and I went through our last checks before it was time to take everything down to the race site. Once again we checked our gear and took our bikes out for a little spin. On our ride we stopped at the final blogger meet-up. It was great to finally meet a lot of people that I’ve read about for months. I only with I could have spent more time with the blogger crew. To soon the nervous itch to make sure everything was ready was pulling me away from Bolder, AJ, TaconiteBoy, Stu, and many others. Finally with our bags and bikes in tow we headed down to the race site to drop off the huge weight that had been growing for the past few days. (sigh) The weight was off. Now all I could do was enjoy a nice dinner with everyone who had gathered to support Bob and I during the race.<br /><br />Race Morning<br />The alarm and cell phone went off way to early. I had managed a couple of hours of sleep, but I wasn’t going to get any more. I’d be lying if I didn’t ask Ms. R if we could just stay in bed all day. The answer was no and it was time to get up. Soon after spreading some peanut butter on a bagel I got a call from Bob making sure that I was up. He too had the thought of staying in bed as well. hehe Soon I was grabbing my special needs bags and heading out the door. With in ipod in my ears I walked down the dark blocks to the bright lights of the race site. With my bags dropped off I headed to my bike to set up my bottles and get marked. I stopped to talk to Bob at his bike and we both seemed to be in a pretty calm state. After a last check of everything I headed to meet Ms. R.<br /><br />I was doing fine until I saw her face and I almost lost it. The emotions swelled and the fear of the unknown clutched us both. We both held the tears back, but the emotions rolled through us both. I decided I need to walk and headed toward the restrooms to catch my breath. After the trip and hearing DMB pumping over the speakers my mood flipped flopped and I walked back to Ms. R with a smile on my face. After applying the body glide and sunscreen the others showed up. (Kimmi, Jaime, Bridget, and Waima) They wished me well and it was finally time to part with my friends. Again for a fleeting few seconds the emotions and fears swelled and I kissed Ms. R goodbye. We both knew it would be ok, but the fears were still there.<br /><br />Finally it was time as I made my way towards the helix. I stopped at the top to pull my wetsuit half on. I slowly continued down and stopped half way down to take in the site of water I would be swimming in within minutes. The water was clam and the red of the sunrise was on the horizon. I finally made it to the bottom of the helix to drop off my last bag. At the bottom was a fellow TNTer and good friend Steve who was volunteering. His voice was booming as he shook my hand wising me luck. The luck I would need as I settled into the moving mass towards the water. I chatted with a lady who was as nervous as me from New York. We were five minutes from the start when we finally reached the water. I headed to left to take my spot in the back. I wanted nothing to do with the mess at the front of the swim pack. Within seconds I heard Bob scream as he knew where I would head once I was in the water. It was a nervous smile, but he was smiling big and yelling to get pumped up. He told me to turn around and he wife was behind us taking a picture, though I never saw where she was. After that I quickly started swimming to get my muscles moving a bit before the cannon sounded. The warm-up was minimal to say the least and I moved back towards Bob for the start of the race. Soon they called for the kayaks to move and within seconds the cannon sounded and Ironman Wisconsin 2007 had started.<br /><br />(I will post the next parts as soon as possible. I will be south of the border next week so it will depend on how available the Internet is. If I can't post I will drink many margaritas in your honor of being so patient. Well I was going to drink them anyway, but this will make them more meaningful. hehe )<br /><br />Till next time...walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-72684066501184818622007-09-12T12:50:00.000-07:002007-09-12T12:52:09.690-07:00Ironman FinisherIt feels really really sweet to be able to type the above title. After nearly 15 hours (14:56:15 officially) of continuous effort I finally crossed the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin. I have a lot of say, but you’ll have to wait another day or two until it’s finished. There’s a lot to recall and write about such an amazing day. Til then I want to thank you all for your support. The live comments that you posted were great. A special thanks to everyone who ventured to Madison. Seeing familiar faces and hearing familiar voices made all the different in the world. Thank You!walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-52952955109640823982007-09-08T19:48:00.000-07:002007-09-08T19:49:07.371-07:00Hours…That’s all that remain until Ironman Wisconsin 2007 starts. I’ll be carrying number 457 for those who want to follow my status online tomorrow at ironmanlive.com. Tomorrow will bring a rollercoaster of greatness, lows, aches, emotions, and joy. To tell you the trust it’s all a bit scary, but with any amount of luck I will hopefully be blogging next time as an Ironman Finisher. There are no guarantees and I will have to each every inch of it tomorrow, but I’m hopeful and have faith that tomorrow will be a great day.<br /><br />There is plenty more that I want to say right now, but the words are not there. Maybe it is because I should be sleeping. hehe I just wanted to thank you all for your support. I couldn’t have made it this far without it. Now there is just one last thing to do and that’s to race. So on that note…I’ll catch you on the flip side of Ironman Wisconsin….walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-43535205943390942932007-09-06T19:47:00.000-07:002007-09-06T19:48:01.147-07:003 Days…We have arrived! After checking my endless lists and doing way too many things last minute SafetyBob and I finally arrived here in Madison a little after dinner time. We took our time getting here from the Twin Cities. Making a few stops to eat and get gas. Most importantly the stops allowed us to get out and stretch. It felt good to just move around a bit after being in the car for a couple of hours. It really felt good for me since I spent part of the morning being beaten up by my massage therapist. I must have missed my calling. I mean what other job gives you the chance to inflict pain on people and they pay for it? Where was that pamphlet at the high school career office? Anyway after a long day of packing and driving we are finally set up for where we will spend the next couple of days doing the final preps for Sunday.<br /><br />Tomorrow will be filled by getting registered and doing some final gear checks. If the rain holds off we might even get a ride in. There are also the blog meet-ups which will be fun. It’s always great to meet other bloggers at these events. I’d say it makes it even better at such a big event.<br /><br />Well I guess that is all I have for now. I’m going to wrap things up for the night and put my nerves to rest. They have been coming on strong the last we days so we’ll see what a tour of the race site does. Hopefully it will just put them to rest, but it never works that way. Darn…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-83197619166240135452007-09-04T14:51:00.000-07:002007-09-04T14:53:15.246-07:005 Days…Again I apologize for the lack of posts. This whole Ironman thing has really thrown me off lately. I guess that’s somewhat to be expected given that this is the hardest thing that I’ve ever attempted. The long taper really started to rear its ugly head last week. I wasn’t in a good mood and there was always more things to get done that I had no desire to do. (the last still hasn’t changed) Ms. R was quick to pick up on my moods and was always ready to help or just listen. She’s great! Though there is only so much that can be done until things have concluded sometime before midnight on Sunday. She also told me to <a href="http://trisaratopsimadventure.blogspot.com/2007/08/spectating.html">read this post</a> by <a href="http://trisaratopsimadventure.blogspot.com/">TriSaraTops</a>. Again blogland came through with a much needed lift.<br /><br />With all the prep for the race starting to eat away at me I figured it would be good to spend the holiday weekend not thinking or training at all. Ms. R and I headed up to her parent’s new cabin to help her family get the place ready for the move. For two days straight we basically stripped wallpaper off and painted almost every room. These people wallpapered everything including a closet or two. So we worked through layers of wallpaper and glue to get down to the wood paneling that covered all the walls. Yeah, no sheet rock in the entire place just lovely paneling. After the walls had been stripped, de-glued, and cleaned it was time to paint. The place was looking a million times better as we left after two days of hard work. Of course there is still plenty more to do, but that will have to wait.<br /><br />In the end it was a great way to spend the weekend. It was great to get out of the cities doing work that took me completely out of my element and anything related to Ironman. I needed that break if I’m going to manage the tasks that will be required on Sunday. Now it’s time to check and recheck all the lists as I prep to depart in two days. Hmmm….It’s really happening…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-6059144415282576892007-08-21T14:33:00.000-07:002007-08-21T14:35:21.951-07:0019 Days…The countdown continues and the weather is not making this better. It’s been pretty much a washout since Friday evening. The rain comes and goes and it hasn’t exactly been a warm rain either. No it’s been the more if you go out there is a good chance you might get sick rain. Something I’m not exactly willing to test this late in the game.<br /><br />With nothing really new to talk about because of good old Mother Nature I thought I’d share some of what has been happening during my post draughts.<br /><br />July 29th – Chisago Half Ironman<br />At the end of July I finally got my first chance to do an actual race. After coaching for so many months it was time to get back to the race course. This was a big day on many fronts. For one it was going to be an indication of if I could pull of the full Ironman even with my minimal training. The second and even bigger part was this was going to be Ms. R’s first ½ Iron.<br /><br />Race morning was full of people buzzing around as usual. This race also featured a sprint course which many TNT folks were doing. It was fun to be there amongst everyone instead of on the sidelines helping people get ready. Ms. R seemed to be pretty relaxed as she readied herself for the race. I was in my usual race mode with the music in my ears going over my mental checklists. I was probably more nervous then she was as she’d been training and racing more then I had. <a href="http://captaincartwheel.blogspot.com/">Kimmi</a> was on site to cheer everyone on which was a big help. She stationed herself outside of transition and watched gear as people came and went. She also became the official photographer for the day.<br /><br />Ms. R started in the wave before me along with SafetyBob. Up until the start she was very calm and collective. Standing a wave back I was able to watch her final preparation and see her go fully into race mode. All I wanted for her was a good race and a great experience at the new distance. As I saw her wave start I knew she was going to do well.<br /><br />After Ms. R started her race it was quick back into go mode for me as I prepared for my own race to start. With <a href="http://captaincartwheel.blogspot.com/">Kimmi</a> screaming to my right I tried to fight the nerves and focus. The gun went off and my wave jumped into the water. Within 4 strokes I got kicked in the face. It was a medium strength kick, but it sure woke me up and welcomed me back to racing. The out and back course was interesting as you had to dodge the people swimming in every direction and then make sure you were out of the way of those hugging the line on the way back in. Plus with the out and back it was hard to sight as it was just a somewhat straight line out and back. It didn’t make things easier with the swim caps and buoys being the same color. Overall I had a good swim. Things felt good, but as always I was glad to be done. My race always starts when I hit solid ground.<br /><br />Transition went by without any big snags as I headed out for the bike. I heard Kimmi as I came up to my bike. The report was that Ms. R had a good swim and was a few minutes a head of me. It was great to get out on the bike. The only issue is that nature was calling. This has never happened on the bike before. I put it off as I passed some of the TNTer doing the sprint. Finally I had to pull over after about 15 miles. I didn’t like having to stop but I reminded myself that this really was just training and stopping for a minute or two was not a bid deal. The first part of the course was really nice with good roads. After descending down into the valley and finding the old bumpy road I caught up to Ms. R around mile 25. We played leap frog for awhile and checked on each other. It was fun and I could tell that she was feeling good. Once we started the climbs I moved on pass her a bit. The climbs were not steep, but they were long slow grinders. The kind that just beat you up and it didn’t help just getting off a really bad road that you were on for over 5 miles. Finally there was a long straight drag on the backside of the course. At this point you just wanted to be done as the physical and mental fatigue set in. Finally after the long hot stretch the roads curved around for the last 10 miles before the finish. Coming back into transition all the TNTers who had done the sprint had finished and were cheering. It was a great boost to her all the familiar voices.<br /><br />As I came into transition I was stunned to realize that I didn’t know exactly where my race was. What! What the heck! Somehow I had forgotten to walk the route from the bike in to my rack. Eventually I found it, a little embarrassed. Ms. R’s parents were right there cheering and asking how she was going. I quickly told them as I slipped on my shoes and grab my visor and number. With the TNTers still cheering I headed out of transition and on to the hot run course. My legs were tight after the ride and I was just waiting for them to get into the rhythm they would eventually find.<br /><br />Unfortunately the rhythm that they found was short lived. Within a few miles I knew things were not right. The course was wide open with no shade. I was starting to over heat and goose-bumps were starting to form. I decided I’d better walk and allow my body to cool down. I ran and walked another mile before Ms. R came up behind me. She could tell that I wasn’t doing well and decided to stay with me. She’s so amazing! Next the cramps set in. Both my calves were solid knots. For the next 9 miles we jogged until they ceased up, stopped to stretch, and then walked to the next water stop. Luckily they were every mile. If they hadn’t been there would have been a lot of people in really bad shape with the excessive heat. I wanted noting more then to quit. I’d never had a run go so badly. My legs would not loosen up not mater what I tried. I had taken plenty of water and salt throughout the day, but they would not relent. Finally with the help of Ms. R we neared the finish and jogged toward the end. We heard the TNTer scream as we came into view and ran up the chute. Finally hands clasped together we crossed the finish line. Finally it was over.<br /><br />Besides being in really bad shape physically I was beaming for Ms. R and how well she had done. She had moved up in the world on triathlon and taken on a long course and done amazingly well. It just goes to show what type of person and athlete she is as she basically carried me on her shoulder the entire run. I will forever be grateful…<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=byhdynz.3hqw6q7z&x=0&y=t7awot">Chisago pictures</a>walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-76520725975306126742007-08-15T14:12:00.000-07:002007-08-15T14:14:13.208-07:0025 Days...5 work weeks, approximately 600 hours. Anyway you look at it I’ve got less then a month before the big day. A day that seemed so far in the future only a short time ago is knocking at my door. There will always be the desire to change how some things turned out over the last six months as far as training is concerned, but that’s really not an option. The only option I have is to use the little time I have left to the best of my abilities.<br /><br />Without the ability to stop or go back in time, I can only strive to put my best in every minute and hour of training I can muster before the race. Though it is limited I must take the time to rest and mentally prepare for the longest day I may ever know. In that preparation I must fully come to terms with being ok with what I couldn’t accomplish. I must be able to let go of the “what ifs” and “if I onlys” If I am to succeed in Madison there can be no room for these debilitating negative thoughts/attitudes.<br /><br />I have 25 days to put the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together…<br /><br /><breathe>walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-23468171134122833492007-07-25T13:28:00.000-07:002007-07-25T13:30:21.396-07:00DetourOn Saturday the alarm went off way too early for my liking. It certainly would be nice to sleep in one of these days. Anyway it was another early morning to go ride the course for the <a href="http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/events.php?EventID=4">Chisago Half Ironman</a> this weekend. Kimmi and I met a couple others from the team to ride. Ms. R was feeling under the weather so she had to stay home and get health. She wasn’t happy about this because this will be her first Half Iron and her big race for the year. So getting sick hasn’t been the greatest for the nerves.<br /><br />The course is actually a really nice course with some scenic roads down by the river. The only problem was that we took a little detour early in the ride. One wrong turn and we were 7 miles off course. After asking a friendly runner where we were, we back tracked the right way to finish off the ride. Not that the extra mileage is bad for me or anything, but when you have in your head that you are riding 56 and end up going 70, you want nothing more then to be done. After getting though the bumpy road down by the river and finally climbing back up the valley we finally arrived back at our starting point. It felt really good to be done. Yes it was good to do the extra miles, but at the time I was having none of it.<br /><br />We spent the rest of the weekend outside of my hometown for a family reunion. Nothing like seeing aunt, uncles, and cousins who you haven’t seen in probably a year or so and who all of a sudden have kids of there own. There were at least a dozen little ones running around or being held by various family members. There was a good showing overall with about 60 people making it to the main meal on Sunday. After spending some quality time with the fam is was time to head back to the cities to end the long weekend.walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-70232151153295169802007-07-19T14:28:00.000-07:002007-07-19T14:30:58.222-07:00P.A.T.SIt may be self diagnosed by I feel that I have the symptoms of a possibly chronic disorder know as P.A.T.S which stand for premature alarm termination syndrome. Symptoms of this disorder are noticed when one is scheduled for an early morning workout yet turns off the alarm in a semiconscious state after it has sounded not knowing that this action is taking place. This debilitating condition has massive repercussions when trying to train for any major endurance event say an Ironman. The workout lost is rarely made up since little time is available for training in the first place. Scientists are working around the clock to find a cure for this condition. Endurance athletes who are very heavy sleepers or are functioning on inadequate sleep are very prone to this disorder. Progress was thought to being made with the alarm across the room and bucket of water on the head treatments, but no fool proof cure has yet to be discovered. Public opinions are always desired to aid scientists is solving this crippling condition. So please blogland, submit your suggestions and help prevent early morning workout loss. The endurance athlete community thanks you…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-71969227623350831392007-07-18T14:17:00.000-07:002007-07-18T14:19:01.091-07:00What a weekend!The big day for the team has come and gone but they certainly went out with a bang. The alarm went off at 3:00 AM on Saturday morning has the team started to gather at 4:30 AM when transition opened. (earliest start for a non Ironman race that I’ve heard off) Come race morning our team was a sight to see as 132 Team in Training triathletes gathered before the race. This was the biggest team MN has had and they raised a record 328,000 dollars for the society. It was pretty special to be apart of the largest team from MN in both numbers and dollars raised. Race morning was full of nerves and last minute hiccups that were all settled before the race started. I even had to shoo out the more relaxed ones to start their warm-up. For the next few hours I watch team kick some major butt as they came and went through transition. For many including myself it was an emotional day. The team did so well and we have all but three people finish the race. I was so frickin pumped and proud of each and every one of them. It was absolutely amazing seeing this great group of people finally race.<br /><br />After the last team member finished it was finally time to clean up and pack up. When we arrived home it was time for food and a shower before a quick nap. I only got about an hour and I could have used about three more. The reason for the short nap was that we had to go to the victory party. So we headed towards downtown Minneapolis where we ate, drank, and celebrated with a majority of the team. At about midnight we headed out for some more food to calm our hungry stomachs. The night finally ended when we arrived home at about 2:30. So it pretty much was a 24 hour session, but it was an amazing one.<br /><br />Go TEAM!<br /><br />Pictures coming soon…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-35268072987664493802007-07-11T13:35:00.000-07:002007-07-11T13:43:54.629-07:00Where is WaldoWalchka?You may not believe it but I am in fact still around, though I know I haven’t made much of a showing in blogland lately. It would have been nice to chronicle all that has been going on, but there just hasn’t been any time. I’ve been spread pretty thin the last few months between all my responsibilities. At the top of the list has been work and coaching for TNT. Other items, including my own training, have had to take a back seat. Not exactly what I how I planned going into my first Ironman, but the team came first and that’s a choice I’d make again. The TNT season is almost complete as the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon that they are racing is this weekend. It will be great to get that time back for my own training, but I will miss coaching and helping others meet all the challenges that I triathlon brings. We have our final team workout last night and the pasta party is on Thursday before the big race on Saturday.<br /><br />With the weekend off from coaching I was actually able to turn my attention to my own big race by heading to Madison to train with the <a href="http://www.throughth3wall.com/2007/07/wiba-finalized-itinerary.html">WIBA</a> crew. Overall it was a great weekend and I met a lot of nice people. There are more details to share, but this weekend told me how much work I have yet to do before September 9th. Not a lot of time, but I know have a better idea of what it is really going to take to finish an Ironaman.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.throughth3wall.com/">Ironwil</a>, <a href="http://simplystu.org/">Simply Stu</a>, and everyone else who helped to put WIBA on did an amazing job. I can’t thank them enough for all the opportunities that they provided in a jammed-packed weekend.<br /><br />Weekend Recap:<br />Friday - SafetyBob picked me up early in the morning and we were on the road to Madison by 7:00 am. About 4.5 hours later we arrived in Madison and checked in to our hotel. After a trip to the bike shop and some food it was time for the activities to start. First up was a 2 hour session on the Cycle Ops bikes working on max power. I don’t think I was quite ready for an all out 2 hour session. The Cycle Ops bikes are pretty sweet, but I was drained afterwards. Lucky for us it was just the beginning as the bike was followed up by a 30 minute swim and a 20 run. So nothing like being in a car all morning and then doing a triple workout. Bob and I were beat afterwards, but rebounded a bit in time for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We talked with others from the group including MN’s own <a href="http://theadventuresoftaconiteboy.blogspot.com/">TaconiteBoy</a>. The food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.<br /><br />Saturday – After the long day on Friday we skipped the swim to get a bit of extra sleep before the big ride. It was the right choice considering the ride we were about to have. Basically the 75 miles on the course was the hardest ride I’ve ever done. The 100+ heat index didn’t help while riding the very hilly and challenging course. I’ve never had to change my gears so many times in one ride. The only bit of joy was arriving at the three stops to refill our water bottles before heading out again. I think I went through 7 or 8 water bottles in the 4.5 hours that we were out. I rode ¾ of the ride with <a href="http://theadventuresoftaconiteboy.blogspot.com/">TaconiteBoy</a> which was fun. We had a small group that suffered together. Getting lost once and adding an extra hill didn’t make the day go by any faster.<br /><br />Sunday – We were schedule to do half the marathon course with the group. Saturday’s bike had some lingering effects and I woke up with a nasty headache. Bob’s legs were suffering as well so we decided to play it smart and skip the run. It would have been nice to run the course, but the body just wasn’t ready for that. After a good breakfast we packed up the Jeep and headed home.<br /><br />Overall it was a great weekend and I’m really glad we went. Again a big thank you to everyone who played a part in making WIBA happen. The weekend provided me with the list of things I need to work on before the race. Some parts need a lot of work, but I’d rather know now then be surprised on Sept. 9th.<br /><br />Hopefully after this weekend I’ll be back full steam in my training and blogging. Until then it’s back to coaching and to all those last minute things before the team races on Saturday.<br /><br />Take care…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-55245606882936700922007-06-01T13:17:00.000-07:002007-06-01T13:18:20.310-07:00A MixMother Nature has been having her fun in the upper Midwest the last few weeks. Like any spring in MN we’ve had our hot, dry, cold, wet spells which vary day to day. The problem has been that the cold and wet has always come when we’ve tried to get our team in the open water. The latest chance on Tuesday was met with a rain storm that varied from very light to downpours. We had the team in the water during a light spell but had to pull them out when lightning was spotted. We were hoping the storm was moving on so we tried to wait 20 minutes to give the all clear. Just about as the 20 minutes period was about to be up there was another spotting and we had to cancel the swim.<br /><br />The complete opposite could be said for yesterday. The weather was great with the sun out and shining. Ms. R wanted to go get a swim in, but I couldn’t pass up the nice weather to just go out and run. My running had been somewhat limited as of late so it was nice to go out and get a medium distance run in.<br /><br />The weekend of course is suppose to be a mix of sun and rain which always has a chance to disrupt the load of training I’d like to get in as well as the team brick scheduled for Saturday morning. As usual we’ll have to wait and see what the weather has in store for us.<br /><br />Have a great weekend!walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-58868916038787358152007-05-29T12:37:00.001-07:002007-05-29T12:38:09.015-07:00Unofficial StartThe old unofficial start of the summer came and went over the weekend. Like many I left the big city to get some R&R out among the lakes, trees, and country side. Ms. R and I headed a few hours west and north of the cities after the team workout on Saturday morning. It was good to get out of the city for a few days. We spent a good amount of our time cleaning and getting the cabin ready for another summer for the families to visit. Ms. R’s parents never seemed to slow down the entire weekend. Always finding something else to clean or work on. Of course that was after the major items like mowing the lawn and putting the dock/lift into the water. It was a good thing that we had our wetsuits along because that water was still a little chilly. Warm enough to do a little open water swimming if we would have had time. Ms. R used some of the weekend to catch up on sleep with a couple long afternoon naps. I had a couple short ones, but nothing like hers. <br /><br />It’s funny how time wasn’t measured by hours while we were there, but time was tracked by meals. You’d get up and do some work, eat, do some more work, eat, and then most activities. For a couple of days eating dinner at 9:00 pm was fine as we used all the daylight to the best of our advantage. Time of day, governed by our stomach…I guess that’s the way it really should be anyway.<br /><br />In the end it was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. It was great to get away from the city and the busy life that we live if only just for a few days.walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-16570390085629481762007-05-18T13:01:00.000-07:002007-05-18T13:02:35.150-07:00SleepIt was a hard commodity to come by this week. TNT occupied the first three night of my week and it kind of set the stage for long days and short nights. The problem really isn’t the time spent at these activates, but the lack of time at home afterwards. For me it’s been really hard to get back between 9-10 pm and then go right to bed. I’m the type of person who needs that down time before I can even think about falling asleep. I need a couple hours at home doing stuff or chilling out before my body and mind is ready for sleep. Anyway the low sleep count led to a low workout count this week. Hopefully this weekend will offer some recovery and I can get back into the groove next week. I suppose it doesn’t help that Ms. R and I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. Maybe in September we’ll actually have some time to relax every once in a while. This being busy 24/7 is getting a little old. :)<br /><br />Hope you all have a great weekend!walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-69160984066190630892007-05-16T14:24:00.000-07:002007-05-16T14:29:48.190-07:00James…Michael JamesI am a big enough dork that I did use the above phrase a couple of times at the James Bond Adult Prom on Saturday night. Hopefully I can shorten up a few groans by stating that I only said it 3 or 4 times and most of those were to Ms. R. Overall it was a really fun event and hopefully it raised a lot money for the LLS. People really got dressed up for the event and SafetyBob even pulled off the white jacket tux as the best James Bond look of the night. There was also the orange tux from Dumb & Dumber that was quite entertaining. They even had a photo guy to take your picture as if it was a real prom and a live band to top things off. Two honored patients were crowned the Prom King and Queen. There was a little height difference since the queen was maybe four years old, but even she was decked out in a gold dress with matching shoes.<br /><br />Toward the end of the night they announced the silence auction winners which earlier caused a scramble as bidders tried to out bid each other. After which they called off the winning raffle ticket for the raffle and guess who won? Woohoo! my number was called. I was lucky because no one claimed the first number. After Steve introduced me I heard from the crowd, “I read his blog.” A few minutes later I got to meet the awesome <a href="http://ironmomjenny.blogspot.com/">IronJenny</a>. We talked for a bit and it was a great way to end the event.<br /><br />After the event our crew went on to a local bar to listen to more live music before calling it a night. All in all it was a great night and a highlight of the weekend.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6aQrOPSOIUXFXrXnPq662sn6Q4q407OlArUtf2ete-LutgcwU2IoMY0afCIAE6kwR8RYWSjfPNZ3G2mivLYvHJlfnftTFuXAw4BDCzd9PtCxxk5LP5E5CcMWa2b5xRni5hfc/s1600-h/00000001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6aQrOPSOIUXFXrXnPq662sn6Q4q407OlArUtf2ete-LutgcwU2IoMY0afCIAE6kwR8RYWSjfPNZ3G2mivLYvHJlfnftTFuXAw4BDCzd9PtCxxk5LP5E5CcMWa2b5xRni5hfc/s320/00000001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065272851544854194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Rocking the cummerbund James Bond style</span><br /></div>walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-48790053237963000952007-05-04T14:41:00.000-07:002007-05-04T14:43:38.377-07:00Wild TimesBig happenings are taking place out in Cali this weekend at the event known as Wildflower. There are several people from the Tri-Geek clan traveling in a big RV to take in all that the weekend has in store. Both that <a href="http://www.trigeekdreams.com/">Kahuna</a> and <a href="http://theadventuresoftaconiteboy.blogspot.com/">TaconiteBoy</a> have already made posts with pictures of the crew. (Robo, Ironjenny, Tac, Trimama, and many others) Good luck to all the racers, but I wanted to do a special shout out to TaconiteBoy who will be doing his first half-iron and <a href="http://phasefive.blogspot.com/">Nic</a> who will be doing her first triathlon. Hopefully this will be the first of many tris for Nic. Woohoo!<br /><br />In Twin Cities news TNT alumni and fellow triathlon guru Steve G. is in the running for the <a href="http://www.active.com/donate/mnmwoy07/mnsgunthe">LLS Man & Women of the Year</a> for the MN chapter. Next weekend he is hosting an adult prom as one of his big fundraisers. (May 12th) If you are in the TC area you really should think about coming. It’s going to be a great time. The theme of the event is “The Spy Who Loved Me Adult Prom.” <a href="http://active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1440303">There is a link to register for the event.</a> Over half the cost is tax deductible so let’s help Steve raise funds for the LLS.<br /><br />Have a great weekend everyone!walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-4707285090516236462007-05-02T14:42:00.000-07:002007-05-02T14:45:25.864-07:00The ZoneoutFor those who find themselves with a busy schedule, say you are training for the Ironman or something along those lines. Maybe you are just a busy person in general and never seem to have any down time. Either case there is a fundamental skill that is necessary for survival. This skill is known as the Zoneout. There are a few required items to perform the zoneout properly. See the image below for said required items…<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYwTbHY4hcQk4FlH61bNSAEPpq_z914alBfWEO0tEdsouUd9Kk5xu5qtI-rKGe58BnnKlHnVdbl0Sz-e57mvS5iUWMc2qn-QvjjuO8FqvIu1m0GKAxdwO0IMmB4gIbUlnd_Pm/s1600-h/zoneout.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYwTbHY4hcQk4FlH61bNSAEPpq_z914alBfWEO0tEdsouUd9Kk5xu5qtI-rKGe58BnnKlHnVdbl0Sz-e57mvS5iUWMc2qn-QvjjuO8FqvIu1m0GKAxdwO0IMmB4gIbUlnd_Pm/s320/zoneout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060082347729160594" border="0" /></a>Once you have obtained those items it is recommended to remove all other humans from your immediate presence. If necessary place all required items in a basement or garage. Now the idea behind the zoneout is that you are conscious at all times, yet diminish the use of ones brain power. This activity or actually inactivity should be done for 2-3 hours biweekly, but weekly is even better. For best results perform the 2-3 hour zoneout in one sitting. Personally the best zoneouts are when the viewing includes such shows as Man vs. Wild and The Deadliest Catch.<br /><br />Blogland…What’s your idea zoneout?walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-87326184476355802912007-04-30T11:30:00.000-07:002007-04-30T11:48:25.527-07:003rd is a 100On Sunday I finally got out for my 3rd ride this season. Schedule and weather have limited my outdoor riding time so far this season. Besides the wind, the weather Sunday was very nice. This was a big relief, again except for the wind, when you are about to spend several hours on a bike. Why several hours? Well Sunday was the annual <a href="http://www.ironmanbikeride.org/">MN Ironman Bicycle ride</a>. So for me, my third ride of the season was going to be my first century ride. Not exactly how I would prefer things to go, but in the end it worked out.<br /><br />SafetyBob and I set out about 7:30 to start the long ride. The first few stages went really well. We found some good groups to ride with. This helped out a ton with the wind factor. The wind was 15-20 mph most of the day with gusts up to 30 mph in some spots. Which was not rider friendly by any means, but you couldn’t argue too much with it being in the low 80’s and mostly sunny. Back to the ride…The first 50 miles ticked off pretty smoothly despite the wind and hills. The stops were great with a lot of food and fluids for the riders. The next 30 miles or so were pretty challenging with a lot more rolling hills and the wind to boot. By the time we reached the final rest stop we were more then ready for a break. Finally we arrived at the last stop where people like Ms. R and <a href="http://captaincartwheel.blogspot.com/">Kimmi</a> were waiting. The two of them, along with other from the team were doing the 62 miles route and it was nice to see another familiar face. It was short lived as they had to leave shortly after we arrived. (Since there were nice enough to wait for us in the first place) We took a few extra minutes to rest before tackling the final stage. Even though we were tired and sore the first 80+ miles had gone pretty well. The last stage proved to be the hardest, which I guess it should. The wind had picked up even more and there were more hills. You would have thought that we were use to them by now, but at that point we just wanted to be done. The last leg was our slowest, but we finally managed to make our way to the end. After 6:05 of ride time we coasted down the little hill into the high school parking lot were the event was being staged. Boy was I glad to be done.<br /><br />After a quick shower, to rinse off the 100 miles of grime, we all headed to Old Chicago to fill up our empty stomachs with food and fluids. There may or may not have been a few alcoholic beverages consumed. All I can say is that my initial order amounted to three different beverages being placed in front of me. Which totally rocked!<br /><br />In the end it was a great day even though I’m quite sore and tired today. You couldn’t have asked for a much better day, except for the stupid wind. We had a lot of fun, got in a huge workout, and made some great strides towards September. It just would have been nicer to get a couple more rides in beforehand. I’ll have to work on that next year.<br /><br />Hope you all had a great weekend…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-66451181645457669132007-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:002007-04-23T14:41:03.710-07:00Wear and TearThe last few weeks have been ridiculously busy. So busy that they days and weeks have all just started to blend in. This is really not a good thing. In that span there have been a number of roller coasters to ride the highs and lows of my multiple facet life. This of course leads to the typical too much to do in too little time syndrome that many of us are famous for. All of it was starting to wear me down a bit. The true indication of this was the napping that occurred this weekend. Both days this weekend included naps which is basically a world record for me. I have mentioned before my inability to nap but the body and mind were having none of that this weekend. They blew the whistle and signaled T, T..for a couple hours each day. If only I could fall asleep on demand. Hmmm…maybe all this extra stuff going on will have a positive change on my napping abilities. Total scoreage...<br /><br />So maybe, just maybe I haven’t been getting the rest that I need as of late. That’s going to be a major goal this week. Which should hopefully help right the ship a bit. Besides the ups and downs thing are progressing which is good. Unfortunately things like blogs and emails have fallen by the waste side a bit, but hopefully that can be rectified as well.<br /><br />In other news Ms. R picked up a hot new ride a few weekends past. What a sweet looking ride, check it out.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMS2TaEdOTm-5NG9V54h1qykP2rTq6oAJC7-ku2lmuXA68D5CfCgf42vNh9ZCtxxHYBeGyh724BhnKRQmT9_b-JGb94mQESSOxLV1gtAQd110OELn2yRENpjL5PDevzmKVsPcf/s1600-h/07kilo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMS2TaEdOTm-5NG9V54h1qykP2rTq6oAJC7-ku2lmuXA68D5CfCgf42vNh9ZCtxxHYBeGyh724BhnKRQmT9_b-JGb94mQESSOxLV1gtAQd110OELn2yRENpjL5PDevzmKVsPcf/s320/07kilo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056741478180733970" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">When do I get a new bike? (Insert: temper tantrum of 28 year old male, supposedly all grown up)<br /></div><br />Hope all is well! Later…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-47033436744412101182007-04-04T11:41:00.000-07:002007-04-04T11:43:09.388-07:00Some Hits and MissesAt the midway point in the week things have gone pretty well on the training side of things. A couple trips to the pool and spinning with the team last night have all been workouts. The one miss was this morning when I was suppose to get up and do some running and lifting. Last night was another late night due to coaching. We didn’t get home til 10:30 or so and it was midnight by the time we crawled into bed. I did set the alarm for 5:30, but I just couldn’t manage it after another night of little sleep. I figured my rest was more important. So it was go go gadget sleep for an extra hour or so. I’m still a little worn out today, but I’m sure it would have been much worse if I had went to the gym as planned.<br /><br />It’s pretty typical to get a least a little bit of snow in MN during the month of April. Usually it’s a quick shower and its gone is a day or so. This time around the temps have dropped as well. It’s been in the 30’s for the last two days and it’s not supposed to get back into the 40’s til the end of the weekend. Blah…It kind of kills my plans for using my day off on Friday to get a nice long ride in outside. Yes some may call me a weakling when it comes to riding outdoors, but I’m just not one for wanting to have to worry about frostbite or be completely covered to ride outside. hehe Anyway it looks like more time on the trainer this week to get some saddle time in.<br /><br />Finally I have to say congrats to <a href="http://runwithelizabeth.blogspot.com/index.html">E-Speed</a> who had the number one ranking for the RBF Final Four bracket. I dropped to 10th overall after not picking either of the final two teams. I did end up tied for second in the correct picks category. So I’ll take that as a small victory.<br /><br />Happy hump day folks…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20459055.post-58759418138436060642007-04-03T10:15:00.000-07:002007-04-03T10:19:20.839-07:00TwilightOut of a dark dreamless sleep the unbearable sound of the alarm clock calls me to wake up. I hit the snooze almost praying that I fall back asleep and unconsciously turn off the alarm. Something from inside kicks me and I know I should just get up. I argue for a bit about only getting five hours of sleep, but I lose and I make my way up to a seated position to start the wakeup process. I look outside and notice that like myself the day is having a hard time starting as well. It’s still dark, but a few birds are chirping calling for the start the day.<br /><br />I quietly gather my things trying not to wake Ms. R as I wasn’t smart enough to prepare all my stuff the night before. On this morning I wasn’t quiet enough as she wakes as I’m putting the last few pieces together. At least this allows me to say goodbye which I normally don’t get to do. A part of me is sorry for waking her, but I know that she will be asleep again in a matter of seconds. She is one of the lucky ones who can fall asleep very quickly anytime and anywhere. I quickly leave before the thought of crawling into the warm comfortable bed has a chance to take hold.<br /><br />With gear, clothes, computer, water bottles, and food in hand I make my way out the door. The street is fairly quiet until a taxi drives by blasting its music. As its passes I listen and swear that the driver is listening to techno and smile at the notion. I drive in silence not even caring for the radio on this dark morning. Cars pass by and the drive is made up of white headlights, red taillights, and green road signs against the dark sky. I happen to look up at one point and see some dark blue muffled by the clouds. So that’s why it is still so dark. The huge cloud mass that has been around for the last few days is still there and fighting to hold back the light of a new day.<br /><br />Like the clouds I have moments that I want to hold back the start of my day. The sore neck that plagued me the day before is still there. The idea of spending the next hour in the cold water is less then appealing. Unfortunately I don’t really have a choice. Goals and expectations have been set. The journey has begun and like many my day starts in the twilight of the morning…walchkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00038720159628782485noreply@blogger.com2