Conversation with This Dude

4:25 PM Jeffrey: Whats up dickwad?
HELLO!?!??
4:26 PM me: yes mr impatient
4:27 PM Jeffrey: just talk to me about forest vegitation simulators
me: ?????LOL?????
Jeffrey: funny...I'm not
4:28 PM me: well then, let me tell you about forest vegitation simulators.....
the best thing is that when you take a dump on the simulated vegetation while backpacking
the cellular lifeforms eat the pooh almost instantaneously, you never have to pack it out
4:29 PM and it results in zero carbon emissions
Jeffrey: Amazing!
me: truely
Jeffrey: what are you doing to night?
me: fixing a dudes bike and drinking beers

The End is Here...Or is it the Beginning

So my racing season is pretty much over. I mean there are a few races that I am contemplating but it’s unlikely that I’ll actually sign up and race. I had some pretty mean mid-season burn out, but finished strong at the Castaway Triathlon. I ended up taking 11 minutes off my time from last year. I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours and ended up coming in at 1:52 and change. I felt great and the weather was awesome, a solid way to end the season.

So during the season, and the base building leading up to it, I always asked myself what I would do with all of my spare time if I didn’t workout. I really thought I would go crazy and have nothing to do. Well over the last week and a half I figured out what I’d do with all of that “free” time…..all of the shit that I’ve been putting off for the last 9 months. Man it is amazing how much stuff you have to do that can easily be forgotten. So now that I am taking leisurely runs and rides I have been busy with more important things like having nice sit down dinners at home with G, taking Louie for walks at night, reading books, and a few home owner type things. I think so many of us get so wrapped up in our training and racing during the season that we are really far removed from the other parts of our lives. Seriously, last night we got done with dinner and taking Louie for a walk and it was only 8:45. During the season I don’t end up eating till 8 or later. It was really, really nice. I’m looking forward to the off season. I’ll get the rest of the house in order, hang with Louie, and spend some quality time with G. It’ll be nice to slow the pace down for a while, though I’m sure after a month or so I’ll be itching to get back to some pretty structured training.

Oh yeah, did I mention that football season is starting….looks like I’ll have plenty to do on Saturdays and Sundays for the next few months.

Racing, Camping, Amsterdam and Buckeyes

We’re heading to Detroit Lakes later this afternoon. The weather says that it is supposed to rain Friday night, finally clearing by 9:00 am on Saturday. Good thing the race starts at 8:00. So it looks like it will be a chilly wet race, man doesn’t that sound like fun? Maybe a lot of people will bag it and I can move up in the overall standings. The race is just shy of an Olympic distance, 2/3 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 5 mile run. I hope to finish under 2 hours (Last year came in at 2:03 or something close to that).

The low for Saturday night is supposed to be 50, so it should be cozy in the tent as long as the rain holds off. It’ll be Louie’s first night camping. I set up the tent in the basement last night to air it out and let him sniff around it and get inside. He seemed to like it, but then again he has been deemed the most optimistic dog ever. Two nights ago we got him a backpack to carry his food and other miscellaneous items (tent, sleeping bags, stove…). We took a few walks around the neighborhood with it loaded up to see how he liked it. It was great, he walked around all proud like. He was really calm and seemed to be enjoying it. We’ll see how it goes once we are in the woods.

I just got done talking to a friend about running a marathon together in Europe. His wife suggested to him that we should all go to Amsterdam to run the marathon there. Do you think we would actually make it to the starting line? BTW, this is the same guy who had his bachelor party there, and then he and his wife went back for a couple of days. Don’t get me wrong the city is absolutely beautiful and would be an awesome running route. However, if the two of us are there together again, regardless if our significant others are there, the atmosphere doesn’t scream, lets run 26.2 miles today.

Effing A Man, cant wait.....

Times are Changing

Last night on my run I had the first hints/feeling that fall was on the way. The shadows were a little longer than usual after work, there was a strong breeze, the temps. had cooled and the number of people around the lakes had dropped significantly. I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I am really starting to dig this place. As I was running I thought that if you are at all into outdoors, Minneapolis/St. Paul is a kick ass place to be. This place is so lush with trees, lakes, trails, parks etc. The winters aren’t as bad as everyone from far away thinks (thank god so many people insist on driving SUV’s) and even when it does get cold, people are still out there getting after it.

Saturday we are heading north for the Castaway Triathlon. Sunday will be the one year anniversary of the adoption of Louie. We are staying in Detroit Lakes on Friday, and then hope to camp on Saturday night in Itasca State Park. For those of you not from here, this is where the headwaters for the Mississippi are. There are some backpacking sites that are only a few miles in so it would be pretty low hassle. The only problem is that someone here at work told me that the mosquitoes at those sites can be terrible since they are in a really marshy area. I’m scouting out alternatives

.....All the Go Inbetweens

This weekend was pretty relaxed. We stayed in on Friday because I had planned to run a half marathon on Saturday morning. When I got up and look at my training schedule though I saw no long run, so I bailed on the race. G and I took Louie to the dog park, then rode our bikes to Barnes and Noble for coffee. I had a fun brick workout in the afternoon. I had to do an hour of 5 minutes easy riding, 5 minutes building to an all out effort, then run ¼ mile fast, and then repeat immediately. I managed to make it though the rotation 5 times. I rode on my trainer on the back deck, then would take off for a few minutes, then get back on the trainer. My neighbors had to be like WTF. It was fun, but hot. Later that night we went to a cook out with some of G’s work friends.

The highlight of the night though was the concert at 7th St. Entry. We went to see the Silversun Pickups. They totally rocked my face off. They played every song from their new album and the Pikul EP. It was our first time to the entry. I was really pleased. Its super small, the sound was decent and we weren’t packed in like sardines. I was totally pissed that we forgot the camera again. I’m so glad I didn’t let another concert pass though the city and not go because I lacked motivation. We were total rock stars and went out after the show and managed to stay out till 3:30. Sunday of course was a total bust because of Saturday. I parked it on the couch and watched movies. The Grudge by was a pretty decent movie for a rainy Sunday. I was fairly entertained by it but the end was ridiculous. We went to Kihndo for dinner. It was fun to be back in the old hood. For some reason though the whole time I was there I felt like it was winter. Maybe it’s because we ate there like every other day last winter.

Did I mention that the Silversun Pickups totally fucking rock?