Keeping up the post count...

Bill did it. Veeg started it.. For fun I'm going to go through it.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (down)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer (Are there people who DON'T do this?)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight (though we didn't know what we were doing)
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”.. No but I was SOOOOO close when someone hacked the UWM email system back in college.. Feet from the camera, didn't get asked.
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in progress)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (yes, but not all at one time)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane (assuming MS Flight Sim doesn't count).
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language (I can't find the floppy it was on for my C64 though) :)
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident (I'd guess I didn't actually cause it... I waved at them. 3 minutes later they crashed)
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Finished a marathon

Short and Sweet

Back from whatever horrid germs were holding me back. Cutting out frozen dairy treat products thus far has been successful. And I'm back on the training plan to the tune of about 1 hour per day. Slow but sure. The ice cream cravings are nowhere near gone. Currently will power is up 7-zilch though.

Happy Turkey Day! Hug your family.

GO time!

I hereby annouce to those within readership of this post, I will consume no frozen diary treats for a trial period of not less than 18 days. If I get that far, I'll splurge for my birthday.

Ironman Wisconsin or bust.

Thank you for your support**. How'd that link get in there?

** Anyone catching JWM in an act of indescretion related to the subject matter of this post before the end of the aforementioned 18 days is hearby granted the right to shame me into tossing the creamy frozen diary product into the garbage. Worse yet, take a bite.. I'll toss it for sure. If you do so after the 18 days is up... Well, just don't.

Winter Biking in Wisconsin (and other northern spots)

I might not be the fastest tri-head on the pavement, but I can tell you how to have a good time over the winter. If you don't grab your bike on any or every given Saturday throughout the winter and regardless of weather, you're missing out. You can ride your trainer or rollers every other day of the week if you wish. Once in a while you need to unhook and get some fresh (even if freezing) air. Here's how I do it.
First, no excuses. "But it's too cold". I don't want to hear it. All sorts of folks ski, snowboard, run, climb mountains, and the like in weather way worse than you're already not going out in. We'll make a clothing list below. I consider it imperative that you keep at least 4 things warm. Head(ears), hands, feet, and what's under your shorts.
Second, winter riding is about being prepared. If you're not organized, it will take you three times as long to suit up as it will to actually ride. Prepare, and you'll be more likely to repeat the process next weekend.
Third, it's nice to keep your legs in shape with your bike stapled to the trainer, but there's no substitute for outdoors.

Let's make a shopping list. For your head:

• Balaclava - If you're riding in the cold, I consider this a lightweight must have. It fits under your helmet just fine. Keeps those ears warm.
• Shades. Something to protect your eyes when it's sleeting. Note, you probably want clear lenses too, because it's often dark in the winter months.
• If you're hardcore and go out when there are negative numbers on the temp scales, try ski goggles.
• I recommend a helmet in all months. Frozen pavement is hard.
  

For your feet:

• Smart wool or your favorite warmest socks (maybe even 2 pair).
• Is it wet/snowy/rainy ? Dry equals warm. Get some of those high zoot $50 boots to cover your shoes. Short on the extra fifty? Sandwich bags over your socks will do in a pinch.
• Mountain bike shoes. If it's slippery or icky out, you don't want to be walking around in shoes that feel like ice skates in dry weather. Exception to this rule, I went out yesterday in 40 and rain/sleet. It wasn't slippery out, and my mountain bike shoes happen to hold significantly more water than the road shoes.

For your hands: I have three different glove configurations, depending on how cold it is.

• Regular fingerless cycling gloves.
• Add those one-size fits all, 99 cent, Walgreen's gloves under the cycling gloves.
• If it's really, really cold I have some winter cycling gloves that don't look much different than those big puffy winter gloves that you wore as a kid. Only difference, the ones I had as a kid were neon green.
• I have also been told good cross country ski gloves work great, but I found the cycling gloves cheaper than the ski gloves. I'm hear that's abnormal. Your mileage may vary.
  

For your nether regions:

• Caveats, I'm not sure I have this one totally nailed down (based on experience). I have no clue if it's much different for women, I'm guessing not.
• Layers is good. I often hear (in summer) you don't want to wear underwear or 2 pair of shorts, etc.. In winter, you want at least one cycling short layer and some good tights. I say "good tights", because I have a good pair and a cruddy pair. It's worth the extra 20-30 dollars to get some that don't ride down and have a draw string in them. The "goodness" factor may be more about material than anything. Let's just say the "not-good" ones can ride down your legs and get caught on your seat during an otherwise decent cyclo-cross dismount.
• These two layers may not suffice. Think extra underwear (thermal). And/or windscreen type shorts that could go between the tights and the bike shorts.

The rest:

• Once you have the four key parts covered, you just need a decent base layer and something to cover. Here are a few notes.
• You can buy cycling specific winter gear. It's great, but you will pay for it.
• As it gets colder, here's the order I add to my upper body. Bike jersey, athletic thermal underwear (long sleeve), jacket or vest. And on really cold or wet days, I'll toss a sweatshirt under the jacket.
• I used to wear just bike shorts in anything pretty much over 50F (for sure over 60F). I have heard from folks smarter than I, that you need to keep your knees warm in weather like that to avoid injury. Those folks said, "something on your knee" for anything under 70F. Something would be either bike tights, or knee warmers.
  
• As usual, watch for anything baggy that might catch on your bike (or a race spectator with a big fingered #1 glove).
• Don't forget to stay hydrated, this might mean putting a camel back on your list so your water doesn't freeze.
• Check the weather before you leave... If you leave covered for 20F and the temps drop significantly, it's more than annoying. It's dangerous.
• Put any pager/cell/lifeline you might have in a sandwich bag. Dry cell is a happy cell.

End notes. Winter riding is one of those things some people never do and don't know what they are missing. I'm not saying you should go out riding 20mph on an inch of ice for your first winter ride. Just consider, folks have done much crazier things than ride in 20 degree weather. Some of my most memorable rides, are in a pile of snow. I may have only covered 4-6 miles on my mountain bike in a hour, but it counted tenfold toward my general bike-ed-ness. Just get out there, even if it's only long enough to shake that "stuck on the trainer" feeling.

Good luck. See you in the spring. For more reference, from way crazier folks than I, see Icebike.org

Nice Job Lance!

Lance Armstrong's first marathon came in under 3 hours. And he managned to beat Brenn Jones while doing it. I don't have a 3 hour marathon in me. I know this, because I see 21 minute 5k split after 21 minute 5k split in the results.

My new plan would have to include something like :

1. Run a single 25 minute 5k
2. Run a single 24 minute 5k
3. Run a single 23 minute 5k
4. Run a single 22 minute 5k
5. Run a single 21 minute 5k
6. Run a single 20 minute 5k
7. Run 2 21 minute 5k's back to back.
8. etc.
9. Contemplate new steps to get to 3 hour marathon.
   

Point being, 3 hours might be easy for someone. But it's no joke.

Mind you, let's not be to quick and miss mentioning the winners of the NYC Marathon:

Top Women 2006 (Finish)
1. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:25:05
2. Tatiana Hladyr (UKR) 2:26:05
3. Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 2:26:58

Top Men 2006 (Finish)
1. M. Gomes dos Santos (BRA) 2:09:58
2. Stephen Kiogora (KEN) 2:10:06
3. Paul Tergat (KEN) 2:10:10

And while you sit and attempt to fathom 26.2 miles in 2:10, like I can't. Remember the first 5k was in 15:40, and the 10k mark was at 31 minutes.. And, they keep going. Incredible.

Nice job to all who started, suffered, and finished the NYC Marathon!

Vows (a fall update)

Oh how quickly I rescind my recent vow. Let's recap from my last blog entry.

"But dang it, as sure as I type this blog I vow to race a minimum of ONE of these and show my face and get lapped, shelled, dropped, spit out the back at the 2nd turn.. Laughing all the way."

Here I am after two weeks of no working out whatsoever, 2/3 of my "possible" CX races are past. And I'm still hacking up 2/3rds of my lung. For the squeemish, I decided not to provide the "proof" photo of my green oozing eye. Suffice to say, Doc loaded me up with sufficient drugs to kill all bacteria known to man, and maybe a few extra. Sorry folks, no Cyclocross race report this year.

I will have to plan for 2007, take a month off after Ironman Wisconsin. Then utilize my wicked year long base building to leg up and "nearly keep up" with the beginner CX racers. Place your bets now!

Cyclocross

It's cold. It's rainy. It's fast. It's drooling, white spot seeing, wheezing craziness.. Laughing all the way. It's what a triathlete needs post-season. Especially one stuck in the neverending quest of going longer.

A few rules...

1. Try to keep up.
2. Watch your tights on the dismount.
3. Remount, best I can figure, is a jump in the air while your feet race your butt to the bike. Pray your feet win.
4. 30, 40, or 50 minutes max queue, the X number of laps. If you still aren't getting asked if you're racing or not, you're doing pretty good.
5. If you wear your HRM, it will think it was stolen.
   
6. Head for beer/reward.

I did this cyclocross thing last year.. Much to my amusement. And have/had high hopes of hitting it again.. All the regular excuses pop up.. Birthday's, anniversary's, work, etc etc.. But dang it, as sure as I type this blog I vow to race a minimum of ONE of these and show my face and get lapped, shelled, dropped, spit out the back at the 2nd turn.. Laughing all the way.

If you too are a triathlete and haven't been exposed to the wreckless sillyness of CX.. Drag your bike out there.. or at least go watch (take a camera).. but beware my experience. One year I watched, I said "NO WAY!". The following year I was out there getting lapped like a dog, laughing all the way.

Marathons are for fast runners.

Marathons are only for fast people.. Everyone else should just donate their entry fee to a good cause and call it a day. http://www.slate.com/id/2149867/?GT1=8592 And real bikers must ride bikes that have more than one gear, and the ability to coast. http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1734#cmt
I grow weary of the hate speech in articles like these. They only exist to get hits (and here I am providing links). I'm here to say, "If you want to run a slow marathon. Go for it!" If you want to ride a bike, or a fixed gear bike, DO IT! Whatever turns your crank, gets your attention and gets you movin. GO! Buy a dog and walk it. Run your first 5k. Do a hand stand. Claw you way to your first 16 hour 59 minute Ironman finish time. Let the nay-sayers be left behind, content in their misery.

Sigh of Relief

It was a tough day out there at Ironman Wisconsin yesterday. Windy, low 60's temperature, and raining. That didn't stop me from fretting about signup this morning. The past five years, I've watched, read about, and followed countless triathletes who've found themselves toeing the line at Ironman Wisconsin. Now, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
The Iroman journey has started a bit stressfully though.. First, find out when signup is. Be home. From there, it's much like trying to get tickets to a U2 concert online.. Only there are only 2000 tickets, and they are much more non-transferrable. Rumor is "the show" sold out in 75 minutes. In between the kids first day of pre-K and a doctor's appointment for my wife, I managed to throw down almost 500 dollaros on the opportunity to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a marathon on the same day.
Once registration was confirmed, I sighed in relief. Now all I have to do is kick back and relax... Sometime between now and then, I'll put in the training miles which will hopefully bring me across the finish line. See ya there!

This Is It.

After a pause in blogging.. Here I am. Sorry to the vast sea of fans that religiously read my blog.

The goal was to finish Racine my way, whatever that meant. This year I did that. I had a "good" race. While my swim was not fast, I managed to get out of the water feeling well and ready to go on the bike. I cut 10+ minutes off the bike. And for the second time in 4 tries, I "ran" the entire run (minus aid stations).
Fast forward to September.... This coming weekend is the 5th Ironman Wisconsin . Since 2002 (when I volunteered), I have had this race "on my radar". I wanted to go in with some idea what I'm in for. So, I decided to do the Racine 1/2 until "I got it right". That did not mean "fast" or "winning" or anything.. But, I think I have some idea what time I have to train and what I can put into Ironman training. See paragraph one. Send me a link to this post in one year! That said, I'll be on active.com come Monday morning clicking the submit button. The start of one wild ride.

Taper time...

Get some sleep. Don't train too much. Stay focused on race day. Got all your stuff? Where's your checklist? Bike ready? Why am I so jittery? Salt tablets or no? What are my goals? What's the weather going to be like? Last year was a record high. Just relax, and race!

All loaded up..

This is it.. Tomorrow is my pre-race checkup. I've got the car all loaded and I head to Racine to do one final long bike / run. And this time it's on the course. I had planned this much earlier in the year, but life is life. And racin' is racin'. Anywho, I'm hoping this goes off well so I can sit back on race day and soak up the "au jus" that is competition. After tomorrow, it's a few decent swims (hopefully), and slowly backing down to taper.. Last week I managed 11:36 in training time. That is not much for many, but I'm certain it's my all time long week. So, what's written is written and now the waiting begins.

See you in the papers.

Birds...

40 minutes into my two hour run this morning, a bird attacked me. Attacked is loosely used to mean, it was attempting to land on my head. Then it proceeded to freak out when I wasn't it's nest. The remaining 80 minutes of my run were uneasy when other birds were in sight. Next time my foul friend, I'll be ready for you. I needed a Hitchcock music theme in my mp3 player.

Be careful out there.

Making Virtual More Like Reality Everyday

I'm not sure I want my computer virtual desktop to look more like my real desktop. Could be it would digitally reveal too much about me. That can't be good. That said, I was bumping around and found this BumpTop desktop prototype. Go check out the video. Neato stuff. That is all.

The Price of Freedom

Mini bike pump $18. Two extra Cartridges $7. One spare tube $5. Old patch kit and tire levers, written off already. Fixing a flat 20 miles out, and continuing away from home... Priceless.
Today, I picked up a messenger bag which is too cool for me. But it will be more than capable as a vessel to carry my work supplies to and from work. Next up, more commuting on the bike. Less gas, starting in the morning. More on this later.

Out for a movie...

After a rather extensive effort to take the kids to see "Cars", we came home empty handed. We showed up 15 minutes prior to 1:00 PM showtime only to be next in line when they found out it was sold out. So, off to the Fox Bay Cinema Grill for the 1:45 show. We arrive there in time to learn they had a power outage in the theater, next show 4:15 PM.. All that driving and nothing to show for it.
Home for the kids nap time, will try again a different day. My system might go into shock if I saw a real live movie in a theater anyway.

A wonderful carry-out dinner from Buca's. Sure, I over indulged slightly, but Father's days are finite.

About 7:40 PM I lament over my lack of movie viewing for the day. Seconds to spare, my wife mentions "Inconvenient Truth" plays at 8:00 PM local and says "Off you go!" Sure, it's a lecture. Yes, many will not want to hear it. But, please go see it and make up your own mind. If nothing else, I get to bike to work more.

MACC Fund Trek 100 Ride

Saturday was the MACC Fund Trek 100. What a beautiful day. 100 kilometers (63 miles) on the fixed gear went great. Only in the last 5-8 miles did my legs get a bit heavy.. (100 miles would have been bit of a stretch). Downhills are much worse than up. There was one "not so cool" uphill near the end, but really it was hardly worth mentioning (just the worst one of the day). I passed droves of riders that were taking it easy on early uphills (rollers). I was suprised that I saw no other fixed wheels, but I heard rumors of a few fixed gears on the 37 miler.. Could be I just didn't notice.. In that same vein, I got tons of stares/kudos/props/whatnot from folks noting the fixed gear bike (little did they know, it's not much harder than a "normal" bike). Fun was had by me and all.
Of course, I made the most of each and every aid station. Tons of great food. Of note was the Culver's frozen custard, Famous Dave's bread pudding w/ praline/pecan sauce, and Starbuck's.
The weather could not have been much better. Perhaps if it had been hotter, then I maybe wouldn't have forgotten sunscreen. Doh!
Volunteers on this ride were second to none. It is tough stuff hearing some of the kids stories. They are amazing. Greg Lemond was there, reportedly Tim Deboom and Bob Roll too, but I didn't see Tim or Bob. All around I give this ride and charity a huge thumbs up.

And a grand "Thank You!" to all those who sponsored me on the ride. 

Pool closed..

For me it's nothing like an outbreak of something at the pool. It's just standard "end of sememster" closing. Let's gve the folks who run the place a chance to catch their breath. For that matter, it's very affordable compared to any gym membership I've seen. I'll take my week off. Maybe I can ride and run some extra. Swimming as of today is in a good spot. I hope a week off can do me some good on it.
It's time to start ramping up the training for Racine. I hope those close to me can bear with me here.

Can I Please Just Ride My Bicycle?

According to this article , there is a $56 dollar fine for "operating a bicycle without a license" in Milwaukee. Now then, let's travel to the City of Milwaukee Bicycle License Application Page , " If you live in the City of Milwaukee and you want to register your bicycle, please go to your nearest library or police station and ask for a Bicycle License tag." That, to me, reads as if a bicycle license is a nice thing you can get if you so desire. I dug a bit further to the FAQ section.. There we find Section 102 2 of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances which states:

"102 2. License Required. It shall be unlawful for any resident of the city to operate or use a bicycle, operated alone or in part by muscular power, upon any of the streets, alleys or public highways of the city without first obtaining from the city a license therefor, and unless said bicycle is properly registered and a license sticker is affixed to the frame of such bicycle."

Now I'm clear as mud here. It appears one only needs to have a license IF one lives in the City of Milwaukee. To add to that, if you try to actually activate your license you will get a message "Note: This bicycle license registration is only for City of Milwaukee residents. If you are not a City of Milwaukee resident, please do not fill this form out." Very clear, non-milwaukee residents just don't need one. Right?

It does appear that there's a history here. Please tell me the Milwaukee Police are better than drumming up "bicycle license" tickets to make quotas and scare cyclists from riding their bikes in a bike friendly city.

Critical mass groups do seem to have their share of these kinds of stories surrounding their non-events. I have not been to one of these rides. But is it their legend or their actions that are getting them in trouble?

I would like to see cyclists and motorists get along. That means both groups knowing the rules and abiding by them. Is that all that much to ask for?

No one needs to save me....

See Friday's post. Here's to better days after 2.3 hours on the bike and no pages from work, I'm off and running again. Phew. Hope it keeps up.