"You can quit, and no one will care if you do. But you will know."

2008-08-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

Gait analysis is scheduled for Thursday morning. It should be interesting.

I am...

2008-08-15T00:19:00.002-04:00

-eager to start my research.
-not quite ready for school to start again even though I really want to met my new students.
-proud of my children.
-quite proud to be Finnish.
-always surprised when people like me.
-still rather shy.
-pretty comfortable in front of a crowd, however.
-really a BIG fan of iTunes.
-missing physical activity.
-fat.
-neglecting my homework.
-wondering if I'll ever run more than a 10k ever again.
-realizing my mortality.
-craving carrot cake.
-thinking about buying a uke.
-sick of having my house on the market.
- a book slut.
-writing something every evening and then deleting it.
-drawing daily (almost).
-really good at make a short story long.

2008-07-26T12:49:00.001-04:00

Anybody want to buy my house?

Now we're getting somewhere

2008-07-21T23:45:00.001-04:00

The Podiatrist was a really nice guy. He started putting pieces together for me. Apparently I have flexible flat feet and something called equinus. In the end, this means orthotics. BUT, he's not just gonna slap some orthotics on my feet and call it good. He's going to wait until I have my video gait analysis done in August and use the pinpoint measurements that they come up with. I also have an unusual body tilt. My right shoulder is higher than my left and it comes forward farther than my left one does. Huh? I always knew I was defective...

Anyway, it's really good to be getting down to the bottom of this things. One other thing, he mentioned that I have really tight ankles, knees, and hips. Why was a Podiatrist checking out my hips? That probably explains the soft music, wine, and the flowers in the examining room...

One other thing. He looked at my shoes. He said they were perfect for me I just need beefed up support from some orthotics

I'm not a SMALL runner...

2008-07-19T22:05:00.001-04:00

See that leg? The one holding my entire body weight? Yeah, um, about an inch up from my sock is where my latest stress fracture is.

2008-07-17T16:20:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah...they're gonna do a bone density scan too.

The Doctor says...

2008-07-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

I saw the bone doctor yesterday. Actually, I saw the bone doctor's PA. I have an appointment with a podiatrist on Monday and am scheduled for some blood work too. When I'm allowed to, these guys are gonna get me up in front of a video camera and do a gait analysis as well. Then we'll see what's going on with me bio-mechanically. I asked about doing the marathon if I keep my fitness up. He said he couldn't stop me but it might make more sense to get to the bottom of the stress fracture(s) issue before I start running long distances again. He encouraged me to continue riding and to get back in the pool as much as I wanted to.
______________

I often wonder what the value of a blog is if nobody reads it.

Today's Picture

2008-07-15T11:26:00.000-04:00

At the park

2008-07-15T00:34:00.002-04:00

Today exercise was play. I took my youngest two critters (children) to a local park. We tossed our bikes in the back of the van with the idea that we would ride part of the Kent Trail. I threw some juice and water in a cooler along with our helmets in the back just beneath the tires of the bikes. We could not have had a better time. My son loved the hills. It was fun to watch him work to climb them and listen to him whoop with delight as he zoomed down them. My four year old giggled over every bump in the trail as she rode along behind me. The kids wanted to take a play break so I sipped a water and read my book while they took turns climbing, jumping, and sliding on the play equipment at the park. After a while they coaxed my book out of hands and I pushed them on the swings. We hopped on our bikes again for about 15 minutes before calling it an afternoon. My son wants to go back again tomorrow...
_____________________

My two oldest girls are at Girl Scout Camp until Friday and I miss them.

They'll probably fight with each other all the way home.

They're sisters. That's what they do.

I took a few photos...

2008-07-14T01:10:00.002-04:00

It's still not as interesting as writing about running...

Pretending to Wrench

2008-07-11T21:59:00.004-04:00

I "wrenched" the family bikes today. Nothing big. I fixed flats, cleaned chains, lubed stuff. My son thought it was cool. I'm not the best when it comes to "fixing" stuff. I also took a short spin on my hybrid. My four year old was on the back so I didn't even leave the neighborhood. She had a blast anyway. As for me, it felt really good just to be moving and it didn't bother my leg in the least.
_______________________

I heard my son sneak out of his room this morning. Noises in the kitchen had me suspecting that he was fixing his own breakfast cereal. It wasn't long before he came into the bedroom with a tray full of food and a big smile on his face. He had decided to make my wife and me breakfast in bed. What did he bring us? Two bowls of Rice Krispies, two slices of apple pie, and two ice cold bottles of beer.

BEER?

Yes, beer.

I don't think I have ever had beer for breakfast.

He was so proud of himself. I'm not sure but I suspect the breakfast was his way of saying, "Thanks" for taking him and his sisters to a minor league baseball game the night before.

BTW - I ate everything but I put the beer back in the fridge.

2008-07-08T21:04:00.003-04:00

The big news of the day is that I get to visit an orthopedic surgeon next week. Who said summer isn't fun?
_______________________

I was watching triathlon and swimming videos on YouTube last night. I'd like to turn myself into that kind of athlete. (Actually, the uninjured kind of athlete would suit me just fine too...)
_______________________

This is an opportunity. Yes it is. It's not the opportunity I asked for but it is the opportunity I have been given.Now, how do I make the most of it?
_______________________

My growing birthday wish list:
- new bike
- pool membership
- health club membership
- new bike helmet
- SISU coffee mug

I'm selfish. I know. Very materialistic. I just like getting stuff.
______________________

I just finished reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Very disturbing. I know it's a social commentary on the materialism of the 1980's. I get that. It was a horribly violent, bloody, and sadistic read. I cannot recommend this book with confidence that you won't think I'm a sicko for suggesting that you read it...so don't.

2008-07-05T11:57:00.003-04:00

I wonder what I'm going to make for dinner. I could grill some steaks...
_________________

Anybody want to donate to the "GET TODD A BIKE FOR HIS BIRTHDAY" fund?

Anyone?

Hello?

(confidence is low.)
--------------

Just so you know, writing about qualitative research is not a fun way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning in July.

--------------

Should I try to paint the bathroom today? Once I start I can't stop until I'm done. I'm either all in or all out.

__________________

Wouldn't be more interesting to read about running, biking or swimming? I think so too. It would be interesting to write about that stuff too.

---------------

I had the opportunity to go to my brother-in-law's bachelor party/golf outing today. I begged off because (exact words here), "I have to be a dad." What do you think? Do I get "points" for that?

2008-07-02T21:36:00.002-04:00

I need a goal. I need motivation. I need something to shoot for. I need a mountain to climb. I need a reason to sweat and strain and breathe and gasp and hunger and thirst. I cannot imagine giving up competing against myself. I cannot imagine quitting my endeavors to become more than I am today. I cannot comprehend abandoning my quest to find my limits. I need a goal.

2008-07-01T21:46:00.001-04:00

So. You know what this means, right. The death of a dream? A dream deferred? Whatever you call it, it adds up to one thing: no Chicago Marathon for me.

Trying bikes

2008-06-30T21:50:00.002-04:00

I looked at some bikes today. I tested the Giant OCR2 and OCR3 as well as the Specialized Sequoia. I kinda liked the Specialized a little bit better. It's hard to tell though with the limited time I spent on the bikes. In the next day or two I'm going to test the Trek 1000. The Trek gets fantastic reviews all over the internet so I'm hoping that I like that one the best. Then it's the waiting game. Both for the bone scan results and for the birthday fairy to show up (if she does at all).

I wanna know now.

2008-06-28T21:51:00.000-04:00

So, baseball season is over. In the end the boys improved from the beginning until the end. The season was summed up by the infectious grin of an 8 year old playing third base today who happened to stab a line drive out of mid air. It was a great play. It was an OK season. Even though I said I wouldn't, I'm gonna coach again next year. How could I not?
_________________

Waiting...waiting...waiting....

My bone scan is scheduled for Tuesday. I hope I have the results by Friday. I hope.

In the meantime, I have asked for a new bike for my birthday. I doubt I'll get one. Even low-end road bikes run about $700, or so, and I don't think we have that in the birthday budget this year.

Dang it.

Another one in the books

2008-06-21T23:57:00.000-04:00

I put in 7 miles at LSD pace this evening. I never run at night. It was...odd. It was also much more difficult than I had expected. And now I am sore on the left (shin), on the right (knee), and right down the middle (groin). I have no idea what's going on.

I thought about what I would write as I ran (the simple beauty of a farmers field laying fallow for the season, purple tinged clouds racing me to my doorway, maples dancing in the breeze as stoic evergreens stood at attention, the utter size of the sky) but I can't seem to remember any pearls of wisdom that I might have gleaned from this late night run. Maybe next time.

Miles toward Chicago - 25.

A simple request...

2008-06-21T18:23:00.002-04:00

Dearest Friend(s) and Family -

I really want you to know that I welcome all comments. You do NOT have to sign up or buy anything. I don't even have anything for sale. I will accept donations, of course. For what? For me. But, I digress. Please leave a friendly note or comment just to let me know that you stopped by, or want to correct my grammar, or think I'm crazy to want to run a marathon, or even to tell me that I shouldn't talk abut "such things" (what things? just wait!) on the internet. Um, it would just be really nice to know that somebody is popping in from time to time.

Warmest regards -

todd

Sweet Misery

2008-06-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

The plan called for a three mile pace run today. Easy, right? I thought so too. I cannot tell you how many three mile runs I have completed over the years. Three miles easy. Three miles fast. Three miles sore. Three miles on the ice and in the snow. Three miles.

My first steps out of the driveway were stiff and awkward. Halfway up the hill, and halfway to my first turn, I passed some grounds keepers for the golf course that I live near. They watched me with what I perceived to be sympathetic eyes chosen to hide derision.

"What the hell is he doing," I imagined one of them saying as I lumbered past them.

The seemingly endless first mile...ended. I was 26 seconds off my pace. Not too shabby. I didn't feel good yet, however. I usually start to feel good at about this point in a run. Not today.

My friend Schuey told me before the race in Traverse City that every race, and sometimes in a training run, there comes a time when a runner has to defeat his mind and let his body take over (or something like that...he swore a lot too.) That point happened today at the 1.46 mile point of this three mile run. I neared the halfway point and I was struggling. I told myself I couldn't do it. Not today. I was just gonna run easy and call it good. Almost immediately, I told myself to shut up and run and simply concentrated on getting to the top of the gentle slope I was climbing at the time. I got angry with myself. I ran.

During the last three quarters of a mile the grounds crew I had passed earlier was riding toward me on golf carts. I passed each cart with a wave and glanced, pleased, at my Garmin which suggested that I was running at an 8:30 pace, if just for the moment. This time I didn't give a rat's behind what they thought of me.

I knew that I had to finish in under 30 minutes to hit my pace goal for the day. I chugged down the homestretch, hit stop on the Garmin, and was pleased to see that I had completed 3.08 miles in 30:35 (9:56 per mile). Honestly, I wish had finished closer to 9:30 than I did, still I was right where I needed to be.

Running slowly...

2008-06-17T10:52:00.002-04:00

is difficult.

I have been struggling to hit my easy day paces. I get warmed up and I want to GO. Ya know?

Today: 3.07 miles in 36:23

Mile 1 - 11:51
Mile 2 - 11:59
Mile 3 - 11:41

My 6 mile LSD on Saturday was run at a pace of 10:40. BOTH todays run and Saturdays run were faster than McMillan suggests. Oh well. I'm gonna stick with trying to hit the suggested paces and hopefully get to the race happier and healthier than if I try to push too hard too soon and end up calling myself "Mr. Injury" again. I'm not sure, but I think there will be marathons next year too. I can step it up next time. Before you start chastising me for not meeting my potential, I'm still likely to PR at these current paces. OK?
_________________

Wife has not been running. She has brand new running shoes, unopened, sitting under the bed. I'm gonna guess that she will run before summer ends and she'll be joining me on the course at Bayshore next spring.

-----
Total miles toward Chicago - 15

In the beginning...

2008-06-10T09:00:00.001-04:00

So, here we go. Marathon training again. I was afraid to get out of bed this morning. Not lazy. Not tired. Afraid.

"What we have is based upon moment-to-moment choices of what we do. In each of those moments, we choose."

I stayed in bed I wouldn't run. If I didn't run then I couldn't be crushed by disappointment if injury rears its ugly head again. If I chose to sleep for another hour I could always run later...but when?

"We either take a risk and move toward what we want, or we play it safe and choose comfort."

I could hear rain drumming off the bedroom window. The streets would be wet. It would be more difficult for traffic to see me even though I wear a reflective vest. I wondered about the temperature. Being wet is bad. Being cold and wet is worse.

"Most of the people, most of the time, choose comfort."

I reached for my glasses and rolled out of bed. I thought, "I could stay in bed, and nobody would care. But, I would still know." That was all it took. I dressed for my run.

"In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or brilliance."

I walked to the end of my driveway, hit start on my Garmin, and began an awkwardly slow shuffle toward the country road beyond my neighborhood drive. The rain had turned mostly to mist but dark clouds were piling ominously on the western horizon. Marathon training had begun.

"They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

I had no foot pain. There was no knee pain. There were only footfalls, puddle splashes, and bird songs. I ran easy. I ran comfortably. I felt my body wake to the morning, happy to be moving. The air smelled more of spring than the nascency of summer. Dark skies had turned to heavily overcast gray by the time I returned to my green roofed house at the end of a cul-de-sac and this morning I had what I wanted. I was marathon training again.
__________

Mile 1 - 12:31
Mile 2 - 10:08
Mile 3 - 9:56

McMillan suggest that an easy run for me should be between 12:01 and 12:31 per mile. Ugh. That's really slow for me. Is there really value to that? I don't want to take that much time running 3-5 miles. My long run pace is sane (11:01-11:31). I get that. My suggested tempo pace is 9:34-9:59. Remember Bayshore? Most of miles were right there. I comfortable with that too.

2008-06-09T16:51:00.001-04:00

My daughter runs too. I am so darn proud of her. And the boy plays hockey. I'll have to dig up some pics of the other two.

I'm back

2008-06-09T12:24:00.002-04:00

Training for the Chicago Marathon begins this week. Since I last posted to this blog I have:
-resumed running
-completed a 25k (15.5 miles)
-set a PR at a 1/2 marathon

Not bad.

I want to run Chicago because:
-it's hard
-I want to do better than last time
-I want to prove to myself that the first time wasn't a fluke
-I won;t run without a goal and I like BIG goals

I've been thinking about sandbags lately. I'll write more about this later.

2007-10-30T20:47:00.002-04:00

I haven't been in the water since July. I haven't gone for a ride since July. I haven't gone for a run for over two weeks.

2007-09-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

2007-09-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

um...

Be careful what you ask for

2007-08-25T00:23:00.000-04:00

It's official. I'm in. I have been admitted to the doctoral program to which I applied.

Crap.

Now what?

Well, to begin with, when I start something I finish it. But, I suspect this is going to be a great deal more than I had bargained.

Fine.

So be it.

Bring it on.

I'm ready to leave my mark.

You have to read this

2007-08-20T09:48:00.000-04:00

My favorite triathlete just totally kicked some major triathlon butt this weekend. She rocked. She rolled. She swam, biked, and ran to TWO awesome PR's!

Check out her race reports here.

Confessions

2007-08-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks Marsha. You flatter me.
_______________________________

I’ve been running. I like how it’s going. Each run is a little bit different. Noticeably different. That’s good. I like how sometimes I’m faster and sometimes I just cruise and can’t stop watching the clouds. Sometimes I get lost in the music I listen to while I run.

Then there’s my bike.

I haven’t gone for a real ride since my tri back in July. I don’t feel inspired to either. The bike just sits there, rusting. The tires need air.

The book looks at me and then turns it’s shoulder to me as if to say, “Not today. I’m tired.”

Maybe it’s me though.

I haven’t gone for a swim since my tri. I am least proud of my swim during that triathlon than anything I’ve ever done athletically. If I go back to that pool the regulars are gonna want to know how I did.

They’ll think I’m just being humble.

I need to cross train. Running three days a week is NOT getting it done for me. I feel my body wanting to do more.

I did it.

2007-08-15T14:27:00.000-04:00

I have officially completed and submitted my application to begin my EdD in Education with an emphasis in Teacher Leadership.

Holy cow!

I thought you had to be smart to get a doctorate thingy...

2007-08-14T23:34:00.000-04:00

He sat in front of the computer monitor tapping earnestly away at the keyboard. He stopped to sip his drink and to survey what he had written already. He notice a split infinitive and a couple of passive sentences that would need to be rewritten but decided to push on and get his thoughts on the virtual paper his screen offered him.

The television kept him company in the background as his children dreamed, comfortable in their air-conditioned bedrooms. An itch on his forearm distracted him from his thoughts. Scratching without really paying attention he wondered if the words he put down would have the necessary effect. He wondered if the words, like most of his sketches scattered on the floor behind him, would find the recycle bin before anyone could appraise them.

“Probably, “ he mumbled to himself.

Continuing to type, he tried his very best to ignore the rumble in his belly. Noticing his drink was empty, he considered a break to refill and refresh and remembered that his wife had baked chocolate chip cookies that afternoon. Temptation was strong and his willpower was weak when he worked at his computer. Bad habits are the hardest to break.

He rose stiffly from his workstation and wished that he had taken the time stretch after his early evening bike ride. Though he rarely took the time to stretch, he always wished that he did. Promising himself that he would remember after his morning three mile run he climbed the stairs from his basement office and entered the kitchen to find a cookie and refill his drink.

The guitar in the corner of his office beckoned him as he returned and he abandoned the thought continuing to write for awhile. He strummed a few chords to awaken his fingers to the joy of caressing the strings. Choosing a simple three-chord ditty, he sang a bit. He always sang the song when guests would ask him to play something and although he had played it more times than he could remember he never tired of it.

“Three chords and the truth, “ he thought, “That’s all it takes to write a great song.”

He flipped open the plain manila folder that held the music and chord charts to the songs he was trying to memorize. He glanced at a few, and played the opening bars to a few others but didn’t feel particularly inspired to continue any of them. Placing the folder on his guitar case, he pulled out a folder with a torn edge and an Aerosmith sticker on the front. This folder was special; it held the songs he had written himself.

The song was on top. Written years ago, the song was a gift he had never summoned the courage to give. Now it was just a sad memory in a beat up folder. He sang the song. As he sang he could almost smell the stale beer in the college apartment where he wrote it. Thinking back on those carefree summer days, he marvelled at what had become of the last 20 years.

Letting the final strains of the song fade into the summer night, he put his guitar away. After saving his work still glowing on the monitor on his desk, he climbed the stairs again. Finding the lights all turned off he gazed out and up through the kitchen window. Stars blanketed the night sky. The clear night sky always made him feel small.

He turned away from the window and made his way to the bedroom. It was time for sleep. He had to run in the morning.

A very nice weekend

2007-08-13T11:51:00.000-04:00

It was a very nice and relaxing weekend. My wife was very surprised and suitably impressed with the bed and breakfast. After we dropped off the kids we stopped at a winery in New Buffalo. Cranberry wine? It will be perfect for Thanksgiving...if it lasts long enough! We checked in on Friday and then we hunted down an Italian restaurant and enjoyed some of the best calamari we've had in a long time. The roasted pepper soup was outstanding as well. Saturday found us lazily wandering south to Valparaiso and some antique shopping. My wife found a dress in a boutique for her brother's October wedding and we stumbled on a Spanish bistro and enjoyed a large plate of tapas for lunch along with a bowl of pinto bean soup. After visiting another winery and discovering a Rhubarb wine we both enjoyed we head back to the inn for a nap before dinner. We decided upon Thai food and Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. We stopped in Michigan City so my wife could buy some shoes to go with her new dress as we headed north to rescue my parents from their grand kids.

Running....

Saturday morning before a breakfast of praline/pecan french toast with sauteed peaches I ran four one mile laps around lake Palomara. Three quarters of the run was along a shaded path along the western and southern shore of the lake. Deer and raccoon tracks were everywhere. Gold finches and a female cardinal tracked my progress. Though not one of the fastest, it was one of the most enjoyable runs I've ever had.

This morning found me running my home three mile route again. It was a dry and cool 65 degrees when I hit the road. Nice. I picked up the pace a bit today...just because I felt like it. I think I may never do anything other than a novice training plan. I really like "just running" and not having to shoot for any pace if I don't want to.

Anyway.

After all of that it's very good to be back even though the beginning of the school year is staring me right in the face.

Half Marathon Training

2007-08-07T08:21:00.000-04:00

I've decided not to do the September 1st sprint tri. I'm really not feeling very excited about that race. It will be there next year. So, instead, I'm going to focus my efforts on the half marathon that was going to be a marathon for me before I got the stress fracture back in March. I love running more than swimming or biking anyway. I'm not sure I'll ever love swimming.

________________________________________

I woke up to hear rain driving against the bedroom window as thunder rumbled low and angry in the distance...sigh. No swim today. The pool always closes when there's thunder and lightening. I hope I can sneak in a bike ride later today. If I've learned anything from my stress fractures it's that running on consecutive days is BAD for me. BAD.

Crisis of Confidence

2007-08-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

I'm working on my application to begin my doctorate. That's not true. I'm procrastinating working on my application for my doctorate. I've gone as far as requesting a couple of references, updating my resume, perusing the requirements for my statement of purpose, reading 400 pages of Harry Potter, downloading a couple of songs on iTunes, reading a few blogs....

Get the idea?

The degree will be an EdD(Doctor of Education)rather than a research based PhD I think it will have more practical application for me. It definitely will if I become any more deeply involved in the Association work that I've done for the past couple of years.

What's the problem?

I remember being a high school sophomore sitting in class listening to a presentation about study skills and college success and knowing, believing actually, that I would never graduate from college. I knew that college degrees were for smart people and I was an average to below average high school student. Truly... I was bored. I never really tried very hard. Why would I need to? I wasn't going to go to college.

I went to college.

I passed classes. I failed classes. I retook those classes. Somehow I graduated. I had a Bachelors degree in public relations.

Years passed. I decided to go back to school and concurrently pursue my teacher certification and a Masters degree. I was scared to death that somebody would find out that I wasn't smart enough to earn a Masters degree so I worked my butt off and got a 4.0 in every class. I think everybody gets a 4.0 in their grad classes though, right?

Now I'm staring at this application. I see the official looking crest and the letterhead. I scan the proposed sequence of course work and the suggestion of hours per week to be successful. There's no way I'll be accepted.

What if that happens?

Will I be so disappointed that I give up the goal? Will I accept that as proof of what I suspected all along? Will I find another way? Maybe I'll just get another Masters degree.

What if I'm accepted?

That could be worse couldn't it? Just think of all of the writing and the reading and the quantitative and qualitative research. When will I grade papers? When will I play with my kids? When will I take my wife out to dinner? What if they find out I'm not good enough. What if I find out I'm not good enough?

Will making the effort have been enough?

I an't done nothin'

2007-08-02T20:36:00.000-04:00

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

That how much exercise I've had since last Monday. Monday July 23.

I think it was Monday.

It might have Tuesday.

Yes. I've been traveling/vacationing/conferencing.

I dreamed I was doing another triathlon last night. I was so far behind on the swim that I just gave up. I quit.

Is this what happens after two weeks of nothing?
______________________

I returned from the conference I've been at these past few days. I have SO MUCH work to do now. The STATE of MICHIGAN has decided what my curricullum will be. I think that's great. Now I get to completely change everything so that in couple of years when they revamp the state standards I can change everything again. I'm so glad we have a government. Now I don't have to think. I only have to do what I'm told.

The Pictures

2007-07-25T20:15:00.000-04:00

I have debated for quite some time whether I want to post these links. I'm not particulary proud of these images. They do no represent how I see myself. Race pics alway SUCK. Still, some may have a sick sort of fascination with what the heck the rest of me looks like.

So...

The bike pic.

The run pic.

Enjoy?

2007-07-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

I finally found some trails!

Last night I rode my bike a mile to the trail head, parked it, and set off on a two mile run through a former farmers field. A wooden bridge over a rocky stream, gold finches playing tag, early crickets singing their encouragement, and marvelously unpaved ground were the highlights of a nice and easy 24 minute run. I rode my bike home feeling refreshed and very pleased to have this little haven so close to my house.

This morning the alarm went off to send me to the pool. I turned it off. I rolled over and went back to sleep. And so goes my training for triathlon number two!

Great Lakes Triathlon

2007-07-21T19:53:00.000-04:00

What’s the difference between the person who finishes first and the athlete who crosses the finish line last?

The Night Before

I loaded up the family in the car, dropped off my oldest children at a birthday party, and drove with my wife and youngest two children to pick up my packet.

“Have fun at the expo, “ my oldest called after us.

Expo? This was not an expo. All they had were the volunteers setting up the transition area and the volunteers handing out jerseys, t-shirts, and race packets. There was one retailer there with a table set up manned by two employees who looked like they had drawn the short straw and got stuck working at the, um, “expo”.

I got my packet and asked my wife if it would be OK to go look around. She was Ok with that so we wandered down to the water to scope out the swimming area. Actually seeing the lake where I was going to swim had a bit of a calming affect on me. The water was warm and clear. I dipped my toes in and tried to imagine what it would be like in the morning.

After we got home I realized that my wife had forgotten to buy my pre-race bananas and bagels. I helped get the kids all tucked into bed and I skipped off to the market to buy my breakfast. I had some trouble assuring my five-year-old son that I wasn’t going to sink and never come back. Still, he made my wife promise him that if I didn’t make she wouldn’t make him have another dad. (Yes! I love that kid. In reality, my wife is probably so sick of me that she has three or four likely candidates waiting to take over the moment I slip up and ….oh forget it.) Returning home I packed my backpack and sat down to watch a little television before I went to bed.

Then…I went to bed.

Race Morning

The alarm woke me up at 4:45. I rolled out of bed. I ate my bagel and banana, got dressed, and went to the bathroom TWICE before leaving the house. I brought my bag out to the car and decided that it was cold enough (55 degrees) that I should be wearing pants and a jacket so I went back in and grabbed that stuff and began the half hour drive to the YMCA camp where the event was being held.

I arrived early enough that there wear only about 20 other cars there. Friendly volunteers waved me into a really good parking spot. I grabbed my water bottle and jumped out of the car and into the cool morning to get my stuff to the transition area. I pumped up my tires, made some small talk with my neighbors in the lot, and then headed off to the transition area.

The transition was set up so that race number assigned each rack. So because my number was 68 and I was there early I got a great spot to rack my bike. Now, I’m a little bit slow when it comes to doing new things and had NO IDEA how to get my bike on that rack thingy. So, forgetting that I’m shy, I walked over and asked someone who looked like they knew what they were doing. He was more than happy to help and wished me good luck on my first race. I headed off to body marking.

All I had left to do was wait…

That’s when I saw one of the guys from the pool so I walked over to talk to him. I asked him why he wasn’t getting set up and told me that he had cut his big toe pretty badly the week before. Then another guy from the pool walked by and after talking for about 30 seconds we discovered that we al live within a tenth of a mile of each other. So we made tentative plans to start doing some runs and rides together. How cool is that?

We all walked down to the water together. Mark, the injured guy, gave Todd (no…not me. The other guy.) and I some pointers since he had done this event a few times. On the walk back to transition I ran into my wife and kids. The kissed me all good luck and went to find a spot to watch the start while I went to my transition area to strip down to the bare essentials.

The Swim

You know I’m slow right? Good. Remember that.

I watched the first few waves start. I felt confident enough and not nearly as nervous as I expected I would be. I shivered a bit in the cool morning air.

They called our wave to the starting area and I waded into the water. The horn went off and I walked forward while all of the real triathletes dove into the water and began swimming furiously. I got to about waist deep and I eased my way into the water and began swimming.

This was my first open water swim ever. I did not freak out. The water felt great as I slipped forward through the water stroking easily and confidently. I looked up to sight and I had no idea where I was. It only took a second to get myself oriented and head in the right direction. I decided to switch to the breaststroke so I would at know where I was going.

I got bumped into as faster swimmers caught up to me. No big deal. One person tried to swim right up my back as I was rounding the third buoy and heading back to shore. I still didn’t freak out. I just stopped kicking and relaxed and he shifted to the side.

As I got about three-quarters of the way done I realized that I hadn’t seen any other swimmers for a while. I began to realize that I might just be the last swimmer in the water. I was pretty embarrassed. I know someone has to be last. I just didn’t want it to be me.

I finally got to the beach. I looked behind me and saw three other swimmers behind me yet. I looked at the beach volunteers and said, “Did I win?”

They got a chuckle out of that.

The Bike

My kids were waiting for me along the fence as I made my way to transition. They blew me kisses and yelled, “Go Dad!”

The transition went smoothly and I was soon on the bike and heading out for what I expected to be a lonely 18-mile ride. Within a quarter mile of starting the ride the leader came flying down the road past me. This didn’t make me feel to good.

I yelled some encouragement to other cyclists as they passed me on the way in hoping that they would do the same for me. Nobody did. I got passed twice. This made me realize that I was now second to last. I began to wonder if the effort was worth it.

I eventually caught up to a man and pulled along side of hoping for some company and conversation. He told me that it was his first triathlon and it was his 75th birthday. I swear he looked 20 years younger. I told him what an inspiration I thought he was. He said thanks and then pulled away as we were riding up the biggest hill of the ride. Another blow to my ego. Then I saw a guy on a recumbent bike that was coming the other way. Are you kidding me!! Those things are incredibly slow and even he was ahead of me.

On my way in on the bike I yelled encouragement to the runners coming from the other direction. Again…nobody yelled back.
The hills on the ride weren’t anything terrible. The ride felt better than the swim. I felt like I was just getting warmed up.

The Run

Again, my kids were waiting sheer for me near the transition area. They even ran along side of me for awhile as I walked for the first couple of minutes. Then the best part of the race happened.

I stopped to go to the bathroom.

As I trotted out of the woods another runner was coming along. We ended up running the entire 4.5 miles together. We talked and just enjoyed a really nice run along a very pretty run course around the lake. I actually felt myself getting stronger with each mile. I could have easily left him behind and finished a couple of minutes faster but I was enjoying myself too much.

We passed the 75-year old and wished him a happy birthday. We passed a couple of others who were obviously struggling with the run. We asked if they were OK and if they needed anything. They sent us on ahead. Before I knew it we were running down the chute and the announcer was calling my name while a volunteer was handing me a deliciously cold towel.

I finished with a smile on my face.

As far as first triathlons go, I could have done much better. I clearly need to become a better swimmer. But I felt so good on the run that I’m confident that next time I’ll do even better. Yes, I said next time.

Easy

2007-07-19T07:46:00.001-04:00

Yeah...um, I don't know what I was thinking. Olympic in September? Forgive my momentary hubris.

Today was just an easy, really easy, 600 yard swim. Boy, I remember when 600 seemed like a tough day. Not today. As far as the swim goes I'm as ready as I'm gonna be. Full speed ahead!

(There I go again...)

I plan on mowing the lawn today and going out for about a half hour ride if the thunderstorms clear today. If not, I hope doing laundry and taking kids to the pediatrician counts as cross training. (No. They're not sick. Just well child check ups.)

Flat Practice.

2007-07-18T18:59:00.000-04:00

Today's training involved a trip to the bike shop for some CO2 cartridges for my hand held bike pump. AND...because I have been significantly blessed with never having had to change a tire on my bike I decided to practice. I didn't want to be in the middle of my race and have to fix a flat for the first time.

I decided to practice on the rear wheel because I figured that would be the more difficult one to change during a race. Remember, I'm not the most mechanically inclined guy in the world. Anyway...I took my time. I got the tire off. I let all of the air out. I figured out how to get the tire off the rim without scratching my head, or anything else, too many times. I took the tube out of the tire. I put the tube back in the tire. I put the tire back on. I inflated it.

Its not that hard.

One things for certain though. I've probably jinxed myself with a flat tire now.
_________________________________

I'm doing another tri on September 1st. I have my choice between the sprint and tthe olympic. What do you think? Should I try the oly? It's not that much further than the sprint I'm doing on Saturday. Hmmm.....

Uh oh...

2007-07-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

Thanks triturtl and johnnytri for visiting. I really appreciate your comments.
_______________________

I was going to take an easy run today. It's not gonna happen. My left leg (stress fracture leg) is uniquely sore in a very familiar and localized spot. I didn't have any trouble during my last run. In fact, I felt great. Yesterday, though, my family dragged me to the mall and there was a moment when it was REALLY bothering me. I tried to sit as often as I could. I'd hate to think I've re injured myself just as running is becoming fun again and right before my impending triathlon. So, as much as I want to test it, I'm going to rest instead. A run today won't make the difference between whether I finish the tri or not.
_______________________

Triathlon invaded my dreams last night. I'm not able to recall anything specific right now. All I can remember was that, SURPRISE!, I arrived to find out I had registered for a half iron man instead of a longish sprint. Maybe that's why my leg is sore today. I ran a half marathon in my sleep...

Monday

2007-07-16T08:18:00.001-04:00

Today I swam 1000 yards. I did 500 front stroke, 300 breast, and 200 kick. The front and breast stroke I did in sets of 50 with a 15-20 seconds of rest in between. Everything was nice and easy and relaxed.

This weekend I read my blog from the beginning. My first swim was laughably difficult. I can't believe how much I have progressed since April. I mentioned this to one of the lifeguards this morning and he daid the at he and Dana, the other lifeguard, were talking about the same thing after my swim last week. How cool! Somebody noticed.

I've read the race reports of both Jim and Kateri and think they did such and absolutely awesome job on their first triathlons that I'm going to be embarrased to even post my times. They did so well and think that there times are slow?! I think I'll just write a short missive to let you know whether I finished or not.

Senseless rambling

2007-07-14T11:50:00.000-04:00

I have one week until my tri. This time next week I'll probably be done. I'll be tired. Hopefully I'll be excited about what I accomplished and looking forward to another race.

I'm still worried.

I'm not the best swimmer. I'll be using a combination of strokes to get through the 1/2 mile. I don't want to get kicked in the face.

On the bike I'm worried that I haven't put in enough time. I'm afraid I'll get a flat and freak out and not be able to change it. I'm nearly positive that everyone else will be able to tell that I'm riding a free 15 year old 12 speed and think that I'm not serious about doing my best.

As far as running goes...I'm probably seriously under trained. I know that I'm coming off this stress fracture and I have done the best I can to get my running legs back. Still, it's a concern for me.

I'm really not crazy about other people seeing me in my tri shorts with my shirt off.

Here's what I know. I was tough enough to run a marathon. I gutted that out. I can gut this out too. I'm not a quitter. I never have been. I never will be. I would rather crawl across the finish than be pulled off the course.

I feel like this tri is becoming bigger than it really is. It's not an IM. It's not even a half. It's a long sprint. But, it's my first. So, I guess I'm afraid of what I don't know.

Well, there's only one way to conquer that fear. I'll just jump in with both feet and figure it out.

Does any of this even make sense?

54 touches and 9 days to go

2007-07-12T08:17:00.001-04:00

I swam 1,350 yards this morning. Nonstop. It feels good. I passed the half mile point in my swim and checked in with myself to see if, come race day, I'll still have gas in the tank at that point.

The answer? Yes.

Race day will be different though. Much different.

I can feel myself starting to go through the mental exercise of becoming prepared to do whatever it takes to finish this thing. Today's long swim will go quite a way to help prepare me mentally.

One other thing...

When I was done. I pulled off my goggles and the life guard walked up to me and said, "Wow, you didn't stop at all. How far did you swim?"

I told her.

She asked me how the long the swim is in my tri. I told her it's a half mile.

"You're gonna do great," she said.

I sure hope so.

Monster Hill

2007-07-11T21:00:00.001-04:00

I had a fantastically super awesome great bike ride this afternoon. It wasn't because I was fast. It wasn't because I rode a super long distance. Nope.

Today I conquered Monster Hill.

My kids call it Monster Hill because I showed it to them once when were driving up it and I was telling them that I ran up it sometimes and my oldest daughter exclaimed, "You run up this monster hill?"

Yeah, I do.

Sometimes.

But, until today I have never attempted to ride up Monster Hill. I was afraid. Afraid I wouldn't make it. Afraid passing drivers would see me and wonder what the heck I thought I was doing and who was I fooling anyway? Afraid.

You see, there are not many hills where I live. The hills around here are mostly bumps in farmers fields. Rolling hills. Monster hill is steep (26%) and high compared to all the rest.

Today I decided it was time to meet my fear. It was hard. It was lung busting, quad shiveringly difficult. But...I won. I conquered my fear and I climbed the hill.

Now I realize as I write this that it's pretty metaphoric. I have overcome another stress fracture. I have beaten down a great deal of frustration in the pool. Now I've conquered Monster Hill and next week I'll become a triathlete in addition to being a marathoner.

What's left to fear?

I'm sure I'll find something.

Counting down

2007-07-11T08:35:00.001-04:00

10 days to go.

Today I swam 1000 yards worth of 100 yard repeats (breast stroke). Later today I have an hour long ride planned. We'll see how that goes. The weather has changed to wonderfully cool and just a bit breezy. I'm really looking forward to getting out there today. Within the next day or two I'll load the kids in the car and go drive the bike course to give myself an idea of what I'm up against.

2007-07-10T10:55:00.000-04:00

Nobody has talked me out of it yet. Maybe this first tri will take care of that itch.

11 days until my first tri.

Today was a swim/run day. I love swim/run days. I wish the tri went swim/run/bike. That would be perfect. Anyway, the swim was 800 yards worth of 50 yard repeats and the run was 3 nonstop miles. My running pace isn't where I would like it but I can cover the distances nonstop now. I'm happy about that. It was a good workout.

I visited the tri website and took a peek at the bike jersey I'll get at registration. I think it's cool.

2007-07-09T10:33:00.000-04:00

Talk me out of this...

I did something similar to this shortly before the Chicago Marathon. I started planning future marathons before I had even run my first. Still...I can't help but think that with a year of training under my belt I can accomplish an olympic and a half ironman next summer. Why not? I won't know unless I try.

My kids say go for it. My wife asks when am I going to spend time with the family. She has reasonable concerns. I also want to continue my education. I want to run more marathons. But, I have an itch. It's a tiny itch and it goes away after I ride my bike for 20 miles or so or I do a brick workout. The itch comes back though. The itch keeps coming back.

2007-07-06T22:31:00.000-04:00

Very quickly...

I did a 9 mile ride today followed by a two mile run. It was hot. Running immediately after biking is not the easiest thing to do. I only averaged 15.3 miles per hour on the bike and 11:53 per mile on the run. I am now predicting that I will finish last in my triathlon.

Tomorrow is a swim/bike day. I would prefer not to have done them on back to back days , but, that's what fits into the family schedule.

Trying tri shorts

2007-07-05T14:17:00.001-04:00

For the record: I bought a pair of tri shorts today. They were ridiculously expensive to the point that I, who rarely has a problem spending money on my hobbies, felt guilty paying for them. I got a pair of TYR brand shorts with little pockets on the side that I can easily slip a gel or some sports beans into if I need to. This tri thing better be worth it...

$65

ouch!

Easy miles

2007-07-02T23:19:00.000-04:00

Tonight I ran 2.5 easy miles. I took a couple of walk break during the first half but I got into such a groove and I was running at such an easy pace that I just ran the whole 1.25 miles back home. I felt 1000% better after I ran than I did before. I love running.

_________

I got that auto lap thingy figured out on my Garmin now (thanks Scott). Boy, that's a nice feature isn't it? I'm really liking this Garmin thingy.

_________

You know, there was one thing I really didn't like about running the 5k last weekend. Unlike a longer run, I never really had a chance to "settle in" and become comfortable. I don't really remember much about the course because of this. I could write a book about the LBCM course, however. Anybody else feel this way?

Thinking ahead.

2007-07-02T17:43:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know I'm coming off an injury...

So, I promised my oldest daughters that we'd run a 5k this year. I've got one on the calendar for August 25. BUT...I just found out about a cool 8k the week before AND I have a sprint tri scheduled the week after.

Please tell me that's not too much.

I'll only be stronger by then and the 5k with my daughters will be nice and slow and easy, right?
________________________

I hijacked the family and snuck them across the border this morning. The Indiana border. We did a little bit of flea market shopping and had an awesome Amish family style lunch. Now we're home and my wife is off to dinner with some of her scrapbooking friends.

Where has my motivation gone?

I suspect it went down the hatch with the pie...

Caledonia Kilt Classic

2007-06-30T18:17:00.000-04:00

The Goal

Since this is my first race since being cleared to run after my stress fracture a few weeks ago I chose a very pedestrian goal of 33 minutes for this 5k. Since this was my fist 5k ever I knew I was guaranteed to have a PR…for whatever it’s worth.

The Race

I had positioned myself about three fourths of the way back since I figured this is about where I would finish. I crossed the starting line and hit start on my Garmin (I had to bring my new toy!) as I began running. My plan for the race was to practice my run strategy for my upcoming triathlon so I ran for five minutes before taking a one-minute walk break. I didn’t see anybody near me doing anything like that but I ended up passing a lot of them toward the end. Maybe they should have followed my example?

I came upon the first mile marker and hit the stop button instead of the lap button. Oops! I quickly realized my mistake but my splits are just a little bit off because of that. Oh well. I felt good at the end of that first mile and was pleasantly surprised to hear the times the volunteer was calling off as I ran past him. I crossed my fingers and hoped I could hold that pace for the entire run.

The halfway point and mile two came and went before I knew it. My run walk strategy seemed to be working because I both felt strong and had no pain my leg. With a half mile to go I picked out somebody to pass and moved forward. Accomplishing that I selected my next victim and ended up reeling in a half dozen others before I got to that last tenth of a mile. I surged forward even though my lungs were burning. With about 30 yards to go I spotted my family and I tried to make it look like I knew what I was doing as I crossed the finish line and a volunteer handed me a lukewarm bottle of water.

Here’s the splits.

Mile 1 – 10:18

Mile 2 – 9:53

Mile 3 – 9:46

Last Gasp – 0:53

Total Time – 30:52

So, I guess I beat my goal, practiced my race strategy for my tri, and have a very beatable time for my next 5k. Oh yeah…I had fun too.

50 touches

2007-06-29T09:04:00.000-04:00

I swam 1250 today by alternating lengths between front, breast, and back stroke. I would have done another 50 to make an even 1300 but my calves were starting to cramp a bit. I wonder why?

I have nothing other than mowing my lawn planned today. I want to go into my 5k fresh and rested tomorrow. I really hope I can break 33 minutes. If not...then not.
____________________

There's a real breast stroke kick? I don't know which one I'm doing...

It's getting there

2007-06-28T22:32:00.000-04:00

The Run

I ran 2.52 miles this morning. I did the first half in 14:38 or 11:43 per mile. The second half was completed in 13:25 or 10:33 per mile. Negative splits baby! No pain. No worries. (Don't you love my new Garmin inspired data?)

The Ride

I did 9.05 miles tonight on my bike. I averaged 15.1 miles per hour. I hit a top speed of 25.9 miles per hour (That was kinda fun and of course it was down hill.)Perfect. That's all I want to do for my tri.

After the ride I walked a tenth of a mile and jogged back. My legs felt great. Between the running, biking swimming, everything is starting to come together for the completion of my first tri.

T Ball

My son had a t ball game tonight. We don't keep score other than to note that each team's at bat is over after either three outs or 5 runs scored. BUT - If we get three outs more often than the other team it's kinda easy to figure out that we scored more than the other kids, right? Over the past 6 out of 10 innings (2 games) my kids have reached three outs before the other team could score. I'm so darn proud of them for improving so much over the course of the year.

Softball

It was the top of the last inning. There were two outs. The game was tied. The bases were loaded and my daughter was on third.

The was hit directly to the pitcher and my daughter ran full tilt toward homeplate. The pitcher scooped the ball into her glove and charged toward the plate.

"Slide, Hannah, slide!" the girls on her team screamed as she sprinted past them.

She slid and the pitcher lunged.

Everyone looked to the teenaged umpire to make the call.

"Safe!" she yelled as she held her arms out ramrod straight.

Her teammates rushed the field, hugged Hannah and each other, then lined up to shake hands.

As the dad of the little girl who scored that winning run I gotta tell you how proud I am of how hard she has worked to learn how to play softball this year. She comes home after every game and talks about how much she loves it. She never complains. She just trys her best and has fun. I wish my running and swimming could be like that. She has become an excellent role model for this 37 year old kid.

Breast Stroke

2007-06-27T22:25:00.000-04:00

Ok. Don't laugh. Promise me you won't laugh. Promise?

OK.

I learned how to do the breast stroke today and I absolutley love it! It's so darn easy to get into a rhythm and swim lap after lap. Why didn't I learn this easy stroke sooner? I feel like a water bug skimming along the surface of the pool.

Fun, fun, fun!

_________________

Major thunderstorms all afternoon. No bike ride. There's just not enough time in the week to get everything. How do those ironman athletes do it?

_________________

I bought some new inserts for my running shoes upon the recommendation of my sports doc. I wore them around the house. I'll go for a short run tomorrow. (I know all of my runs are short...Don't you think I wish I was running 8, 9, 10 miles and beyond like everyone else?)

__________________

The new album by The National is awesome. I can't stop listening to it.

2007-06-20T21:28:00.000-04:00

I teflon taped (thanks Wrench!). I plumber's puttied. I siliconed. I tightened the tail piece to the bottom of the bowl. I stopped the leak.

To celebrate I bought myself my very first Garmin forerunner.

_______________________

Now I'm staining the deck. I'm MUCH better at painting than I am at fixing. I even like it.

_______________________

I ran a whole 2.5 miles today at an 11:44 pace. Really slow. That's OK. I get to be slow coming off illness and a stress fracture. I know I'll improve.

AND...

I registered for a local 5k for the weekend before the 4th of July. It should be fun. My kids are in the parade right after the race and they'll be dancing in the celebration in the park following the parade. It should be fun for everyone.

AAARGH!

2007-06-19T16:32:00.000-04:00

The new sink is in. And, of course, there is a leak that I can neither stop nor identify the source. Perfect.

Go ahead, ask the obvious questions.

Did I tighten the water lines? Yes.

Did I use plumbers putty? Yes.

Did I tighten the heck out of everything? Yes.

The leak is the most infuriating type. While the sink is holding water there is no leak. While water is running down the drain there is no leak. The only drip, drip, drip that occurs is when the bowl is empty. Then the insidious leak reappears.

My next plan of action is to let the stupid thing dry overnight and silicone the heck out of where I suspect the leak is coming from. If that doesn't work I cannot be held accountable for what I might say to the plumber when he shows up and fixes the damn thing in five minutes for $150.

Fixing Stuff

2007-06-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

I have to replace one of our two bathroom sinks today. Wish me luck. When it comes to me and tools I am hoplessly useless. If you want me to read a book about fixing things and then tell you all about I'm OK with that. Actually fix the thing? Pray for me.

One good thing about this experience is that I'll get to go to the home improvement store to buy supplies. The store always has the loveliest lasses working at the check out. Why is that?

_______________________________

I was so, so, so sick over Father's Day. My kids had made so many plans for me and I felt terible that we couldn't do any of them. They are taking me out to dinner tonight.

Before Hannah's softball game last night I told her that if she got two hits she could pick the dessert for the family tonight. She got three hits. She was so proud of herself. She's getting better and better every game.

_______________________________

Because I have been sick I'm not planning any workouts today. I'll have an easy week with a couple of runs, a longish swim, and a bike ride for the rest of the week.

Sorry...

2007-06-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

No. I have not abandoned this blog. I’ve just been really busy.

I’ve been swimming.

I’ve been running.

I’ve been riding my bike.

I’ve been painting, and mowing, and weeding, and watering, and fixing.

I’ve been laundering, and folding, and cooking, and washing dishes.

Sleeping in?

I’ll do that when I retire.
________________________

I took my tball team to the West Michigan Whitecaps on Monday evening. The ‘Caps are a single A affiliate of the Tigers. Our team was selected to be the Baseball Buddies for the game. Each kid got to run onto the field with a player during the introductions and stand with that player during the National Anthem. Then we got reserved seats for the game. They all had a great time. I even caught a T-shirt that they threw into the stands AND I caught a foul ball and impressed the heck out of my son and the rest of the kids and parents.

I'm the big ugly guy in the middle. My son is the irresistably cute little boy to my immediate left.

The Last Day of School

2007-06-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

180 days

That's not a lot of time to teach someone everything you want them to know.

We lose about 10 of those days to various things throughout the year.

That leaves us with 170 days to teach everything we want them to know.

We fill those days up very quickly.

Reading. Writing. Discussions. Projects. Tests. Tests. Tests.

Exhorting. Cajoling. Wheedling. Motivating? Inspiring?

Then they leave.

And, on this last day of school for the year, this teacher gets moist at the corners of his eyes as he scans the room with pride and affection at the children who have become his...not just students...but his legacy. He has dedicated each day to giving these students himself. They take it and move on. They don't say thank you because it doesn't occur to them to thank him for what seems natural. But, they they do say thank you as they live the gifts he's given them.

New students will come in the fall.

But these, these will always be his students.

_________________________

I swam 1100 yards today. 40 touches plus a warmup. I used my method of freestyle for one length and elementary backstroke for the other. I could have kept going. I could swim forever like that. Today, it feels like I accomplished something.

Walls

2007-06-05T14:03:00.000-04:00

Here’s how it feels…

During the first 25 yards I feel fine. My stroke feels smooth. I’m relaxed. I reach the wall, take a deep breath, and push off. About one third of the way there I begin to feel tightness in my chest. It’s as though large rubber bands are constricting my rib cage. I continue to swim. Rolling onto my left side, I breath deeply but it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any air. I can tell the wall is getting closer because I can see the water becoming shallower but it seems like it’s still a full length away. I see the “t” thingy and I reach for the wall and pop my head out of the water, gasping for breath.

That’s what swimming 50 yards feels like to me.

I repeated that ten times today.

Because I was the only one in the pool I asked the lifeguard to watch me swim a lap and tell me what she thought.

She said it looks like a normal swimming stroke. It seems as though I have a good rhythm going for breathing. She noticed how I seem to be swimming on my side and gliding across the top of the water. It looks pretty good, she says.

Huh?

Why is it so freakin’ hard!

Why!!!

Tomorrow I intend to try to push the envelope a bit. I want to swim 75 yard nonstop. If it’s a mental wall I can eventually break through it, right? If it's a physical wall I can work through it, right?

Right.

right?

I was running

2007-06-04T07:38:00.000-04:00

I stepped onto my porch and breathed the morning air deeply into my lungs. The world was waking up and I was outside. I looked down at my leg and asked it if it was ready to run.

“Ready sir!” was the enthusiastic response.

So I set off on a walk.

Two minutes of walking brought me to the end of the street and I broke into a run. It was more of a jog. A shuffle? No. A jog. A run.

I was running.

I WAS RUNNING!!!

I covered two miles at the breathtaking rate of 13:12 per mile.

The highlights:

- I was running.
- The early morning smell of wet grass after a day of rain.
- The red winged blackbird calling out my splits as I turned the corner toward home.
- Canon in D minor playing on my ipod as my footfalls kept time on the gravel shoulder of the road.

Because of the swimming, and my methodical pace, I felt no cardiovascular distress whatsoever. I was never out of breath. It only felt good to be on the road again.

I raised my arms in victory as I crossed the finish line that is my driveway. I knew I had just just completed a two month journey that has awarded no medal and provided no t-shirt but has gifted me with insight and wisdom. And, as I crossed this finish line, I realized I was just entering the starting gate of my next great adventure.

I was running. I was running. I was running.

Fear of Soap

2007-06-02T08:46:00.000-04:00

My Friday morning swim was ruined by soap.

I walked into the pool office and signed in. The lifeguard gave me a friendly wave. I waved back and turned to enter the locker room. I set my gym bag down and opened it to grab my swim suit and put my clothes for the day in the locker. I pulled out a soapy mess. My Addidas Active body wash had opened somehow (gremlins?) and had leaked all over my swim suit and my clothes. After uttering a few a my favorite profanities I threw my stuff back in the bag and went home.

Darn it.
____________

It's going to be a busy weekend. I hope I can get away for a bike ride or two.
____________

Fear.

I've been thinking about fear.

No, not the stupid hack and slash horror movie kind of fear. Not the, "What am I doing on this roller coaster?" kind of fear either. I'm talking about the kind of fear that keeps us from trying our best or giving our all in those endeavors we undertake.

I think many (most?) of us purposely don't give our all because of fear. It's not the fear of physical pain that comes from maximum effort. We accept physical pain as part of the game we're playing. I think we fear the pain that comes from giving our very best effort and not achieving our goal. That psychic trauma would be harder to bear than any sore muscle or lactic acid induced burn. If we really give our all and fail what excuse do we have left for not achieving our goal?

That's scary.

That's fear.

2007-05-31T21:48:00.000-04:00

This is a little old lady.

THIS is not.

____________

I haven't been given the official green light from the doc yet. BUT - after spending four hours on my feet making my lawn beautiful yesterday with no aches or pains I can tell that it's coming. I'll be very surprised if I get anything but a clean bill of health.

_______________________

My swim today consisted of ten 50 yard repeats and I hit the weight room again after school. I love what this tri training is doing for my fitness already. I can' wait to start putting all of it together.

Happy Sore

2007-05-30T21:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I lifted weights for the first time in quite a while. I had forgotten how much I love the push and pull of lifting heavy things. I told my wife how much fun I had.

I’m a little bit sore today but I’m going back for more tomorrow.

_________________________

I swam a half-mile today.

I got a very nice compliment from a little old lady.

I did four hours of yard work.

And...I had my follow up bone scan to confirm that my stress fracture has healed.

Zipper de do BLAH

2007-05-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

I warmed up with the swim fins in today. I did a couple hundred yards of drills to remind myself how to swim this new fangled way. Then, I took the fins off and tried to swim the new and improved TI way.

I suck. (That's not a typo for I sunk...)

I didn’t move forward in the water without the swim fins. I couldn’t find a rhythm for breathing. It was MORE work swimming a length, A LENGTH!, than it was before I started this TI stuff.

I didn’t have any trouble balancing. I was skimming right along the surface, my hand was down in front of my head, I could roll and breath in my sweet spot, I just didn’t go anywhere.

I have gone backwards as a swimmer.

So…just out of spite I said a naughty word and swam a length without caring how balanced I was or that other stuff. Here’s what I noticed:

-I rolled naturally and easily to breath.
-I had rhythm (but I still can’t dance…)
-I didn’t exactly have the balance that I would have liked.
-I got from one end of the pool to the other with less effort and much more quickly than before.

So…what’s the point of TI?
____________________________

I did 9 miles on my bike last night. My butt is sore.
____________________________
I had a very nice weekend in Traverse City with my family. My kids had blast swimming in the hotel pool. I, however, could barely stand being in that pool. That water felt absolutely disgusting to me. Yuck. It felt slimy. It was so nice to get back to the high school pool this morning.
____________________________
We toured a vineyard this weekend and had the opportunity to taste a few of the local wines. I tried a Cherry Port. The wine taster guy handed me a piece of dark chocolate with the glass. Hallelujah! I have seen the light. It was absolutely incredible. What a fantastic treat for the taste buds. And….a glass of red wine and a little bit if dark chocolate once in while is good for you too!
____________________________

There’s nothing better in this world than coming home to your own bathroom.
____________________________
It was really hard to watch people run and finish the marathon I was supposed to run this weekend. I remember getting all bundled up and running in subzero temps this past January. I ran 7 miles that day. Why? To earn another stress fracture?

I was really jealous of the people I saw wearing their medals around town the rest of the day. I wanted that medal. I would have earned that medal.
____________________________
Now that the weather is warming up my oldest daughter, Emma, keeps reminding me that I promised to run a 5k with her sometime this summer. My seven year old wants to run with us. I guess we get to go shoe shopping!

Zipper de doo dah

2007-05-25T11:19:00.000-04:00

Where were these zipperskate and zipperswitch drills when I was trying find balance last week? OR…maybe it’s just so much easier for me to balance now. It really does feel like I’m floating along on my lungs. It really does feel like I’m moving down hill. It really does. I’m very surprised that the info in this books works. I have to admit that I didn’t think it would really work for me. How about that?

I’m still a little bit concerned about still using swim fins. I took them off and did the zipperswitch drill at the end of my swim today just to see if would move forward.

Did I?

I DID!

It wasn’t as fast as with the fins on (duh!) but I was moving forward. Now, do I have enough time to build the endurance to finish a half-mile swim with enough energy left to bike for 18 and finish with a run of 4.5 miles?

Now I need a training plan…

Actually, I have one. I read a book about triathlon training for beginners a month or so ago. I’ll just dig that out and review the beginner plan and get to work. Official training begins Monday. (No, I’m not going to forget about the TI stuff I’ve learned so far. I’m still going to keep working my through the book.)

Speaking of Monday….

I’m taking the family to Traverse City to cheer on some people running the marathon I was going to run this weekend. Oh well.

Enjoy the holiday weekend! (Did you know that Memorial Day dates back to the Civil War? It does. Look it up.)

It's Official

2007-05-23T10:40:00.001-04:00

I registered for my first triathlon today. I'm eight weeks out from race day. I think I'm excited.

Underswitch

2007-05-23T08:47:00.000-04:00

I did more underswitch drills today. I was having a little trouble maintaining balance on my right side after I would switch and roll to that side. So, I took my time and did length after length after length of underswitch. I’m really beginning to see how all of these things come together. I found myself wishing that the pool were 100 yards long so that I could just keep going. It just seems like I don’t get tired or out of breathe while I do these drills. I should be swimming by next week and I’m to realize that even though I haven’t been swimming laps I have actually gained more than I have lost by taking the time to make this change in how I swim. I’m becoming a TI convert.
________________________

I’ve never really liked the Rolling Stones. I just don’t understand what people like about them.
________________________

10.5 days until my students escape for the summer. What am I doing to do with myself?

The List
1. read
2. swim
3. run
4. bike
5. play my guitar
6. coach t-ball
7. read some more
8. finally make up my mind about whether I want to pursue a Phd or a second MA

Flipper Addiction

2007-05-22T08:10:00.000-04:00

It’s easier to breathe while doing the underswitch drill.

It’s kind of a fun drill to do.

Relaxing.

Rolling from side to side.

Reaching forward and letting my arm drift back to my side.

Taking a breath.

I took off my flippers to see how it would go without swim fins.

Not so good.

I suspect that I have become addicted to the swim fins because I do not move forward with out them. Even though I thought I had found balance I sink like a fricken rock while not wearing them. So I put the fins back one.

Do you think I can wear them during the triathlon?

Nobody is likely to notice the fat guy with big yellow flippers lurching toward the water at the beginning of the race. Are they? I mean, the way I swim, they will hardly be an advantage.

I gotta breathe too?

2007-05-21T08:59:00.000-04:00

Drills, drills, drills, drills, drills, drills…

Not wanting to get too far ahead of myself I sort of started over today. I began with the balancing on your back drill for a couple of lengths. I moved on to the finding my “sweet spot” drill. I eased forward into the “sneaking my hand in front of me drill”. I finished with laps of the “now turn your head and put your face in the water drill” and realized immediately that, while I really do feel like I’m gliding down hill, I have no idea when to breath. So I struggled with figuring that out for a couple of lengths. See, I couldn’t just turn my head and take a breath. I was underwater. I reminded myself to roll back to my “sweet spot” and take a breath. That worked. I don’t know if it’s right. There was nothing about remembering to breathe in the book. Silly huh?
_____________________________

Busy weekend

Friday night my oldest daughter, Emma, had the first of her three dance recitals this weekend. She and my wife went to that while I stayed home and watched a movie with our other three kids. It was almost 10 o’clock when they got home.

Saturday morning began with a parade for my son (Jacob), my seven year old (Hannah), and me. The youth baseball league in which they play has some opening day ceremonies and they always kick it off with a parade of all of the kids playing in the league that year. It was our first parade since it’s Hannah’s first year playing softball and I’m coaching Jacob’s t-ball team. Even though there were a few drops of rain at the beginning the parade turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Even though I had to wrangle my team together during Hannah’s game later in the day, I got to see a good portion of it. She played pitcher (it’s at the coach pitch level), second base and left field. She made a few plays from the pitchers mound and second AND she got a hit during her last at bat. I could tell she had a lot fun and she was really excited about getting a “real” hit rather than having to hit off the tee. I couldn’t have been more proud.

Running to dance recitals swallowed up the rest of the day. Emma (10), Hannah (7), and Rebecca (3) all had to dance in the afternoon recital. Rebecca was so cute. She even remembered to dance a little bit. Hannah always looks stronger than the other dancers to this very partial observer and Emma floated across the stage during her ballet number and shined during her jazz dance. At the end we were pleasantly surprised to hear the announcement that Emma had been awarded the “Runner- Up” scholarship award for her hard work, dedication, and example to others! Again, I couldn’t have been more proud.

It was a pretty good day for the Olson family.

Floating

2007-05-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

I woke up too early yesterday. I stayed up too late last night. I lay in bed this morning staring at the alarm clo...Oh to heck with it!

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I did everything right today. Every drill was effortless. I skimmed along the top of the water with ease. I completed length after length after length quicker than I thought I could. I wasn’t ACTUALLY swimming but I was kicking my way across the top of the water. It literally felt, at times, like I was only half submersed. It was so much fun that I was even laughing OUT LOUD at the end of each length.

I can’t swim again until Monday. Now that I know how this feels I can start from the beginning each time and “find” it and continue to improve.

WOW!

Sinking

2007-05-17T12:44:00.001-04:00

Today I began my drills with the floating on my back thingy. I did that for a few lengths and figured I had the hang of it. So, still on my back, I tried swimming on my side. It’s trickier than it sounds, at least for me. I really tried to rotate my body while keeping my head in the same place. It took some practice. I noticed that when I rolled onto my right side I would scoot along pretty well. While I was on my left side my feet would slowly start to sink so I would roll onto my back, my feet would come back up, and I would try again.

I checked the clock. It was time to hit the shower BUT I wanted to just swim a lap. One lap. Fifty yards. Down and back.

I kicked off the end of the pool. I sank like a rock. I couldn’t keep my head above water. I didn’t even make it halfway across the pool before I stopped, turned around, and DOG PADDLED back. I left the pool disappointed and deflated. After two days of drills I am now worse than I was before.

I’m getting anti-results. Awesome.

Still, I am undeterred. I will move forward. I reread the book and it mentions that individuals that slightly more dense (muscular) will have difficulty until drill four. I think I fit that category so I’m gonna push forward until I get to drill four and see what happens.

One thing that concerns me: these last two days have not felt like I’m doing anything in the pool. From my perspective I really need to be able to swim a half-mile by the end of July. I don’t really feel like I can take much time away from “putting in my time” at the pool and continuing to build my endurance.

Total Immersion

2007-05-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

I bought the book Total Immersion this weekend and I’ve decided to put those words into action. As if I wasn’t self conscious enough I, ever fearless, entered the pool this morning with the intention to do something different. I’m breaking the “rules” before I even learn all of them. I really hope it works.

This morning I spent a half hour floating on my back, arms, at my sides, flippers on my feet, goggles over my eyes, water up my nose, hiding my head and “pressing” my buoy into the water all with the intention of trying find balance in the water. Did I find it? I found something. I’m not sure it was balance. This may sound really simple but if I kept my face parallel to the surface of the water and pressed my air filled lung back into the water my hips would naturally pop up out of the water and I didn’t have to work at all to stay a float.

This sounds easy. It was made difficult by two things. First, the pool was busy. Everybody was sharing a lane today so I kinda tucked myself next a lane marker and skidded my way along the marker to make sure I didn’t get in the way of the real swimmers. And, because the pool was busy, there was a lot more wake and splashing today and that sent water up my nose more than a couple of times.

Tomorrow I’ll spend more time on balance and try to find my “sweet spot”. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) { Alright, I thought of it too…}

I wasn't kidding

2007-05-15T12:29:00.000-04:00

“Leaving so soon?” the lifeguard asked.

“Yeah, I figured it was time to stop embarrassing myself,” I answered. She laughed because she thought I was kidding.

What’s the point of continuing bad practice? So I shivered my way to the shower and called it a day.
_______________________________
Yesterday I swam 800 yards. It still feels like cheating to me. You know, the 25-yard front stroke followed by the 25-yard elementary backstroke thing. Repeat as needed. It feels like cheating. I won’t feel like a real swimmer until I can swim the entire distance with my face in the water, still, 800 yards is almost a half-mile and that kind of sounds like something…finally.

I also went for a short bike ride last night. I rode six miles. I rode six miles in 26 minutes. Is that good? Is that slow? I don’t know.

I’ll say one thing, during that first mile the only thing I could think of was that there is NO WAY that I’ll be able to complete a triathlon. I thought that the bike ride was supposed to be the easy part. The ride got better. By the time I was done I was sorry that it was ending so soon. After I climbed off my bike I walked to the end of my street and back (about .2 miles) just so I could try to imagine what it would be like during a race to finish the bike and head off on the run.
_____________________________

I just want to say one thing about my son’s t-ball team. That thing is this: Thank God I don’t teach kindergarten.

Every single player has made a noticeable improvement since the first practice. I’m so proud of them already and we don’t even start games until next week. The games should be a special adventure. I can’t wait.

500 "faster"

2007-05-11T12:07:00.000-04:00

I swam 500 today. I did it in 50 yard bits. I really focused on breathing and effort. That means that I tried to swim faster than I normally do while not swallowing mouthfuls of water. I also did this using only the front stroke. I would swim a lap and rest about 20 seconds. By the end I was really breathing very hard and I had to fight with myself to finish each lap without rolling onto my back. Even though I didn’t swim as far today when I climbed out of the pool I felt like I had an even better workout than the one I had yesterday.
_____________________________

No bike ride last night.

I got home and noticed that my wife had set a basket of dirty laundry at the top of the stairs. So, after hanging my wet clothes in the bathroom, I started that load and emptied the drier and lugged those clothes upstairs and threw them on the bed. Then I filled the kitchen sink with hot, soapy water and did the dishes that were waiting for me. My wife and kids came home from dropping my oldest daughter off at dance class so I dried my hands and hugged and kissed them all. I offered to help with dinner. After dinner, I did the dishes and pulled out my beer bottling stuff. Once I got the beer into bottles, caps on the bottles, and did the dishes again I gave my son a bath and helped my wife put the kids in bed. Having accomplished all of this I looked outside and noticed, with sever disappointment, that the sun would be setting within the half hour.

Rats!

Maybe tonight?
___________________________

Great Presidential Wit (...I wish I was in this book.) by Bob Dole

Read this book only if you enjoy stale anecdotes and lackluster glimpses into that which makes our list of presidents laugh. For some reason the book concludes with Al Gore. There's some debate so to who REALLY won the 2000 election. I just don't understand why Bob Dole (Republican) would put him into a book about presidential wit. Anyway, read at your risk.

Mango Peach Wheat

2007-05-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

Today I did a 100 kick warm up and a 150 kick cool down. In between I swam a full 750 yards nonstop for the first time ever. I did my usual front stroke for a length and elementary backstroke for a length. I think I could swim like that forever. I think I will continue to use this method as a way to “rest” until I’m completely comfortable swimming with my face in the water the entire time.

I think I felt so much better about my swim today because I reminded myself that I have only been swimming for six weeks. Since I have 10 more weeks (72 days) until my first tri I shouldn’t be all that worked up over it yet. Right?

It’s an absolutely beautiful day. I can here a robin sing outside my window as I type this. I’m really hoping to go for a short bike ride this afternoon. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
____________________

I get to bottle my latest batch of homebrew later on too. It’s a mango-peach wheat. I’m hoping that it will be perfect for taking the edge off of those lazy summer afternoons that I’m so desperately longing for right now.
___________________

My seven year old daughter is in her first season of softball. She has a ton of athletic ability but she lacks confidence. You know? I watch her run and play and she just has an effortless stride. She picks up things very quickly too. Anyway…she came home from practice last night just beaming with pride because she was picked as the MVP of practice.

How cool is that?!

It’s so much fun watching her turn into an athlete. Hopefully this gives her that little boost of confidence that she needs.

No swim today

2007-05-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

I was awakened by the low rumble of thunder in the distance. I rolled over and peeked at my alarm clock. It read 4:30 am. I reset my alarm so that I could sleep until 5:40. My pool closes every time there is a thunderstorm. I guess it's a safety precaution.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to fall back to sleep. I did. But, just like every other day for the past month, within an of hour of waking I feel completely wiped out and exhausted. My wife wants me to go to the doctor. I think it's just the culmination of a tough school year.

So, no swim today.

Thank a teacher

2007-05-08T10:01:00.000-04:00

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation day I thought I would take the time to tell you about a few of my favorite teachers…

Mr. Adams – I had Mr., Adams for German 1 and 2 my freshman and sophomore years of high school. Not only did Mr. Adams help me get gum out of my pants but he also taught me that it’s OK to take school seriously even when I don’t take myself so seriously.

Mr. Greendonner – He was my high school US and World History teacher. I’m a history teacher today because of him. Mr. Greendonner was what my students would call a ‘Tootsie Pop”. He was hard on the outside but soft on the inside.

Ms. Gephardt – My 4th grade teacher. She welcomed me as the new kid part way through the school year. She helped me find my place and feel special when I thought I was sticking out like a sore thumb.

Mr. Bernier – My 2nd grade teacher. He taught me how to use my imagination and showed me how to put it to good use.

Mrs. Dorato – My 7th grade Language Arts teacher. She’s not a favorite of mine. She did everything she could to make a short, chubby, prepubescent, and shy little boy feel smaller than he already thought he was. I am a teacher today because of her as well. Nobody should treat children the way she treated me and I hope that I never have and never will.

Most of my teachers made a special effort to push me beyond what I thought I could do, to make me consider others, wheedle and cajole me into looking beyond my present and fully consider my future. I didn’t thank them then. I feel kind of guilty about it now.
_________________________

Insight

With only 22 school days left on the calendar this is how I feel…

-I feel 10 years older than I am.
-I seem to have lost my ability to problem solve and think creatively.
-My sense of humor went out with last week’s trash. The trashman returned it though and now it smells like moldy banana peels and week old coffee grounds.
-I have no attention span.
-I have no attention span.
-A weekend does not refresh me.
-An eight-hour span of sleep does rejuvenate me.
-The smallest things annoy me

You may say that teachers are over paid and under worked. I will happily trade places with you for a year. Then we'll talk.
__________________________

I swam this morning. It sucked. No rhythm. No flow. No fun.

50 Bucks

2007-05-07T12:09:00.000-04:00

I handed the check I had just written to renew my pool membership to the guy at the desk. As he looked at it a slightly quizzical expression flashed across his face. He handed the check back to me.

"You wrote this for $180," he said.

"Yeah," I replied ready to argue that I had the proper amount. I was confident that's what the membership schedule had read.

"You only need to pay $50 to renew," he informed me.

"Oh! Can I bring a new check tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure. Have a good swim," he said.

Fifty dollars for an entire year is a steal. That's only four bucks and change per month. It's only ninety six cents per week. That works out to fewer than twenty cents per swim this week. Wow. It's my lucky day.

100 yards

2007-05-07T11:03:00.000-04:00

After two days away from the pool I arrived this morning with the intention of testing myself. I wanted to see how far I could swim without stopping. Now, when I say swim, I mean front stroke. I wanted to know how long I could do the front stroke. I was secretly hoping to do about 500 yards.

I consider my test to be a complete and utter failure. I only completed 100 yards.

Two stinkin’ laps!!!!

BUT…I then swam 650 yards nonstop by doing the front stroke for a length and an elementary backstroke for a length. Nonstop. What’s the difference? It’s gotta be mental. It has to be.

Progress. I know. I’ve made tons of progress since the last week of March, I want more progress faster.

Patience. I know. I have a lot of time until July 21. The latent perfectionist in me tends to come out of hiding when I’m not happy with my progress.

I know. I know. I know.
_______________________________

You have me to thank for the world not coming to an end yesterday. I mowed the lawn. Without my wife’s friendly encouragement I might not have accomplished that and something catastrophic would have happened. So, I guess, you really have my wife to thank. Though, as I write this, I just realized I may not have picked my socks off of the floor so…I’d watch out for a super volcanic eruption or a cataclysmic asteroid or something.

You may as well know

2007-05-05T18:24:00.000-04:00

I love hockey. I follow the Detroit Red Wings religiously. I live and die with the Red Wings success and failure this time of year. I hope you will find a way to forgive this obvious character flaw.

What a great game today. Wow. I sure hope they can close out the Sharks on Monday. If not...I feel sorry for my students. I'll be a little bit grouchy.

__________

My workout today consists of four sets of driving kids around, one set of coaching t-ball (80% of max), one set of making dinner and doing the dishes, and a single set to failure of getting the kids bathed and ready for bed. How's that for a multisport event?

Finally Friday

2007-05-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

I meet some friends from work for breakfast every Friday morning. That means that today’s workout was light and brief. I chose to only do the kickboard thingy for about 25 minutes. And that is all I have to say about that.
______________________

Clarification

The new suit I bought is a Speedo brand jammer. It’s still not pretty. I imagine that the women will hide their eyes, the men will form a Committee for Decency, and management will revoke my membership the first time I wear that thing to the pool.
_______________________

Little Miss Runner Pants makes a very good point about celebrating our accomplishments and bragging about our selves a little bit. So, in the spirit of celebrating accomplishment, here’s a brief list of things that I have accomplished:

-I ran my first marathon last October.
-I can swim more than a length of the pool without gasping for breath.
-I have a Master’s degree in Education
-I won a Young Authors and Illustrators contest in 3rd grade.
-I taught myself to play the guitar.
-I make really good fried chicken.
-I brew my own beer.
-I was told recently that the writing assignment my students completed illustrated a “profound level of engagement”.
-I have taught a group of five and six year old children how to field ground balls.
-The last year I coached varsity football my team won a share of the conference championship. (I was the offensive and defensive line coach.)

Of which accomplishments are you most proud?

Speedo, part 2

2007-05-03T10:12:00.000-04:00

Speedo Update

I tried on my new suit for my wife last night. I asked her what she thought. She said it didn’t look that bad. (For those of you who don’t understand “woman speak”…when a woman says something doesn’t look “that bad” they mean that it looks horrible but since they aren’t stupid enough to wear something like that it doesn’t look “that bad” to them.)

I was so filled with the confidence that I didn’t look “that bad” that I wore my old suit for my swim today.
____________________________

My swim

I have no organized training schedule. This is what I came up with today.

100 kick – This was just an easy warm up.
250 easy swim – All of this was front stroke. This is a minor accomplishment for me.
450 hard/easy return – I would swim 25 hard, slightly less than maximum effort and do an easy backstroke on my return length. I gotta tell you that I thought this was really fun.
200 kick – Just a cool down really.

For some strange reason I find it easier to find a breathing rhythm when I’m trying to swim faster. I have no idea why this is.

Speedo

2007-05-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

I want to thank everybody who has been stopping by and visiting my little corner of the WWW. I'm extremely flattered that you take the time to read and comment. I’ve been a little bit busy and just haven’t been able to steal time away to author an update. Until now...
_______________________________

Yesterday I arrived at the pool to find the doors firmly locked. You know, when I make the effort to wrench my behind out of my delightfully comfortable bed at 5am just so I can splash around like I know what I’m doing (I don’t), I think that the people who are getting paid to be there ought to give me the courtesy of being there too. That’s not a too much to ask. Needless to say, I wasn’t in the best mood yesterday.

I did get a swim in today. I swam 700 and kicked 300. One thousand yards. That’s a nice round number, 1000. Look at all of those zeros. Nice. Round. Number.

I did something else swimming related today. I bought a new suit. I felt SO stupid. See, I bought a Speedo. Only a real swimmer wears a Speedo. I’m not a real swimmer...yet.

When I asked the sales clerk where I could find them she looked at me with what I interpreted to be shock and horror. It was probably boredom. (Why did it have to be a she? Why couldn’t it have been some sort of uber-tri guy that I could have asked some of my annoying newbie questions to? ) Anyway, after she helped me find my likely size (double extra whale) I got the pleasure of trying it on.

People, and when I say people I mean me, should not go out in public dressed like that.

I bought it anyway.

Now, how long will it be until I can get in good enough shape to wear the darn thing in front of other people?

(If you are astonished by the irony of a MAN obsessing about trying on and wearing a new swimsuit, thank you, I’m glad I could be your first.)

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I have realized that I haven't mentioned which tri I'm training for. It the Great Lakes Triathlon/Duathlon on July 21st. I hear it's a very well run event.

I would also like to do another on September 8. That one has me a little bit worried because there's a time limit for the swim and another time limit for the swim/bike. Is this common? I've heard that you have to be injured to not make the cutoffs. Still, I'm not experienced enough to know if I can make that cutoff.

I want to finish my racing season with a local half marathon at the end of October. I plan on running a few 5ks as well, but I don't which ones they will be yet.
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I'm SOOOOOOO ready to run. I feel like I'm just wasting all of this beautiful weather. Stupid stress fracture.

oops

2007-04-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

I just want to say that the calamari tacos I had for dinner seemed like a good idea. Now...not so much.

Bumper Swimming

2007-04-30T10:04:00.000-04:00

The Bike

The good news is that I finally got to introduce my self to my bike on Sunday afternoon. How well did it go? Let me put it this way… If I were to rate my ride on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “It was quite obvious that I was born to ride” and 1 being “Daddy please put training wheels back on this thing” I was a solid 5. Maybe a 5.1.

As it was, I didn’t really expect much.

I don’t even have the OK from my sports doc to do anything outside of the pool yet. I just couldn’t waste such a gloriously beautiful spring day. The ride really wasn’t intended to be anything other than a, “Hi, I’m your owner. I’m gonna ride you a lot this summer.” I only took it around the block.

Four miles. 20 minutes. Not long enough to do anything other than remember how to balance and shift a few gears. My two youngest children thought it was pretty cool though. They cheered as I spun around the cul-de-sac. Heck, my three year old has never even seen me ride a bike before. That should tell you everything you need to know.

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The Swim

Is there any sort of protocol or etiquette or swimming out of your lane and bashing into the guy in the lane next to you? Is that something that you just ignore? I only ask because the “gentleman” in the lane next to me was either a) drunk b) dizzy c) drunk AND dizzy d) Lord of the pool and not obligated to stick to a lane. I suspect it was C. I have no doubt he would have answered D.

Here’s what happened: I had just made the turn and was on my way back when this guy slammed into/swam over the top of me. I know I’ll have to expect contact during an actual race. It was completely unexpected this morning. I waited at the end of the pool and when he swam up I thought he would stop and say something. He made his turn and just kept swimming. I watched him zigzag between lanes 6.5 and 7.5 as he swam another length. I just shook my head and continued my workout.

I saw him in the locker room. My exact words to him were, “What was up with that?”

“With what?” he asked.

“The contact during our swim,” I replied.

“Oh,” he said, “That happens sometimes.”

IT DOES?!

I wanted to say, “Dude, it’s not bumper cars out there. Please be careful because I’m not that great of a swimmer and it’s hard enough for me to get from one of the pool and back without having to watch out for you.”

I didn’t though.

In all I swam 700 today. I warmed up with 100 kick and cooled down with 200 more kick with fins. Not good. Not great. But, it’s a huge improvement from where I started. Next week I plan to test myself to see how much I’ve improved.

Running NOT Running

2007-04-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

I accomplished negative fitness today. It was that bad. This was a very busy Saturday. My wife, Amy, worked last night. That means that I played taxi cab all bleepin' day...sigh.

Two dance classes in the morning.

One t-ball practice right after lunch.

Another dance class in the afternoon. (What the heck is blocking?)

A birthday party.

I know, it could have been worse. It was a beautiful day. But, I didn't even get to mow the lawn, pull weeds, or whack weeds (weed whack?) I just drove kids around in the family van. (It's hard to look cool with four kids in the van.) [OK. You're right. It's hard to look cool in a van.]

Mother Nature is supposed to deliver another gorgeous day tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can get out on the bike for a short ride and try out my new pull-ups...er, shorts. Cross your fingers for me.

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How about the Red Wings! How about those Pistons!

Pull-ups or Cycling shorts?

2007-04-27T20:30:00.000-04:00

Is this OK? Can I post more than once in a single day? I can? Are you sure? Well, if you say so. I don't want to look over eager...

This evening I bought my very first pair of cycling shorts and cycling gloves. Much like an excited little boy freshly arrived from the mall with goodies purchased using birthday money I scampered up to my bedroom to try on my new shorts. Then I paraded around the house in them.

My three year old daughter is very good at providing me with doses of reality. She looked at my new cycling shorts and immediately asked me why I'm wearing pull-ups. She knows all about pull-ups. Pull-ups, for the uninitiated, are those wonderfully absorbent pseudo-underpants that potty training children wear. As a relatively recent wearer of pull-ups it's safe to call her an expert on pull-ups. So when she asked her innocent question my wife and oldest daughter immediately burst into laughter. That quickly ended my masculine parade.

I'll show them. I'm gonna wear them to bed.

Hey. Anybody know anything about bike helmets?

Wings 0 - Sharks 2

2007-04-27T10:55:00.000-04:00

I didn’t count my laps today. I only had a limited amount of time so I just filled that time with kicking a couple of laps, swimming a few nice and easy laps, and (Are you Sitting down?) a couple of sprints. That’s right. I said sprints.

SPRINTS

You know what?

It’s fun to go fast.
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Stupid Red Wings. It’s only the first game. Still, I have the feeling that their season ends in San Jose.
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There’s a man that I see in the pool at least four days a week. He only does the backstroke. I’ve often wondered why his stroke seemed so awkward. Today I found out.
I watched him get out of the pool. He used the handicapped lift because both of his legs are missing below his knees.

Have I complained lately that swimming is hard? Please point me back to this post if I ever try to say that I cannot do something. We humans are completely unaware of things we are capable of if we’re just willing to put in the time and effort.

God bless that man.
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A long way gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah

This is a beautifully written book. The author narrates his experiences before, during, and after his rescue and escape from the civil war in Sierra Leone with haunting and gut wrenching detail. Beah recounts the abject horror of civil war and assaults the reader with stark accounts of the reality we North Americans are spared. You won’t find any of this on the nightly news. I highly recommend that you read this book.

Moving On

2007-04-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another...

The absolute worst part of my daily swim is the frigid walk from the shower, across the pool deck to where the fins and kickboards are stored, then back again to find an open lane. I hate being cold and wet like that. It's the worst.

Today, as I shivered past, the lifeguard looked away from the pool and said good morning. As I was padding my way back again, I noticed that the pool was evenly divided with about half the swimmers on one end being obviously good swimmers and the other end contained a single guy who was splashing and floundering his way back and forth. I decided to join the flounderer since I consider myself to be one. I mentioned this to the lifeguard and she laughed. I also thanked her for not laughing at me yesterday. She laughed again. (That's the thing with us fat guys. When we have our shirts off in public - we better be funny.)

A friend of mine swims quite well and she suggested I actually warm up before beginning my actual workout. Taking her advice I set off on a "quick" 50 with the kickboard. I swear I was moving so slowly that it seemed like I was actually motionless in the water. Once I began my swim I was able to get in the groove a bit faster than usual. Huh? Who would have guessed!

I swam 650 and finished with 350 of kick with fins. It was not a bad workout today. I'm finding that I can actually relax more and more in the water now. I can "talk" myself into relaxing when I start to tense up. I can tell when I'm moving through the water with more or less effort. I think that's improvement.

After I climbed out of the pool and was heading toward the locker room the lifeguard piped up with, "I expect to see you on the other side of the pool tomorrow." We both laughed as I walked past. Later it occured to me that she was either trying to be funny, give me a compliment, give me a funny compliment, or she was trying to entice me into running away with her.

(For the record, I'm desperately in love with my wife and the lifeguard is half my age. In this situation my wife would ask me, "What would you do with a 19 year old if you caught one?" She has a point. I didn't know what to do with a 19 year old when I was 19.)

Anyway, it was a pretty good day in the pool. Onward and upward.

11 Things

2007-04-25T18:57:00.000-04:00

1. I’m the oldest of five children. My youngest sibling is 16 years younger than me.
2. During my senior football season I scored three touchdowns on interception returns…in the same game.
3. I’ve never really cared for my first name.
4. My favorite flavor of ice cream is “Chubby Hubby” by Ben & Jerry.
5. I’m a very shy person.
6. I spent most of 5th grade with tape on my glasses because I kept breaking them.
7. I played “King Not So Charming Anymore” in the 6th grade spring musical. It was the lead role.
8. I always root for the underdog.
9. Menial and repetitive tasks bore me very quickly.
10. If I could get paid to read books and write/talk about them I would.
11. I get accused of not smiling very often.
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My swim today was pretty OK. I swam 650 yards and did 350 with fins and a kickboard. It was uneventful. There's really not too much to say about my swim today. The line is still at the bottom of the pool.
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I mowed my lawn yesterday. This is a big deal BECAUSE...I felt no pain in my leg. NONE. ZERO. ZIP. ZILCH. I haven't had even the slightest twinge this morning either. I'm taking that as a huge sign that my leg is just about ready to hit the road again. And, since I always wait for medical clearance and follow doctor's orders, I'll wait with anticipation to get the green light after my next bone scan.
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Quote
"What we have is based upon moment to moment choices of what we do. In each of those moments, we choose. We either take risk and move toward what we want, or we play it safe and choose comfort. Most of the people, most of the time, choose comfort. In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."- Anonymous