As the Wheel Turns

President - Elect Barack Obama - Change is Now.

2008-11-04T22:30:00.002-06:00

In college, I used to love politics. I even majored in political science, but in the last 8 years I've been very disenfranchised with the American political system. Most frustrating to me is the fact that an individual can win the popular vote in the country but still lose the election.

And, the waters are muddier. The differences between the candidates are harder to see. The lines are drawn on the issues by party and not by the character and ideals of the people who seek election. As much as we claim to be a multiple party system, we are not. If you are not part of the democratic or republican party, you don't stand a chance in the race for the oval office. I really think we should have no parties at all - just people and their ideas. And we, as Americans, vote for the person with strong ideas, an ability to execute on those ideas and a strong moral character.

Times in this country are tougher than they have been in a very long time. Whoever is elected will have a tough road ahead of them and many, many challenges to tackle and overcome. I did not believe for awhile that any of the candidates who were vying for the presidency had what it would take to really lead this country in a way that it so desparately needs.

In recent weeks though, Barack Obama has emerged to be a man of strong character and leadership potential. I believe he can unite the country and make strides in improving the state of our great nation. As I wait for Barack Obama to speak after being announced President-Elect, I find that I am again excited and hopeful for the future of our country. And, to give credit where credit is due, John McCain is also quite the respectable man. He has served our country for such a long time and will continue to do so until he is unable. He gave a wonderful concession speech asking the country to stand behind Obama. He is also a man of strong character and a passion for our great nation.

Change is now. It's time to get our economy back on track. It's time to bring our troops home. It's time to focus on preserving this great country and world in which we live. It's time to improve health care so all Americans have access to health care. It's time for Americans to come together and rebuild the nation in which we live. And, it's time for Barack Obama.

**Of course, this is also historic in the fact that Obama will be our first African American president. Though it's a positive step for our country in terms of equality, I don't think Obama's color has anything to do with why he was elected or how he will perform as president. He won this election based on his character, not his color.

Look out Micheal Phelps....here I come.

2008-10-08T09:48:00.004-05:00

I don't like to 'brag', but I am proud of the things I accomplish especially when I know how hard it was for me personally to get there. Swimming has not been easy for me. 3 years ago, I started swimming in a beginner's master swim class. I literally could not swim 25 yards without gasping for breath and really did not enjoy putting my face in the water. 4 months later I moved up to a Masters' swim class. I still swallowed a lot of water and the thought of ever doing flip turns regularly was something I believed to be unachievable. Another 1.5 years and I did the Ironman (a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) with confidence. No matter what the end result of the race, I am always proud of how far I've come in the water.

For the last year, I've coasted through swim. No major improvements, aside from finally nailing those flip turns. Now they are so automatic, it would be weird not to do them. I recently signed up for Ironman 2009 and decided it's time to try and take my swimming to the next level. That means, I need to swim 3+ days per week to push my fitness up a notch in the pool. The last several weeks in the pool have been great. I've been pushing myself to new levels, focusing on technique and form and just really enjoying the water.

We have always done 'benchmarking' in swim to see how we are progressing. One event we do is a 400yard swim. The first time I did it, it took me 7:08. Then I dropped about 40 seconds and went down to a 6:25. Then I hovered around 6:05 for awhile, until I broke the 6 minute barrier. I have been at the level ever since....until today. I had my first 400TT in about 8 months and knew that I had gotten a little quicker in the water. I just had to hope it came together in the pool. Now, I realize that in the grand scheme of life, this little 400 timed swim in class means NOTHING. Yet, I still get nervous and have these stupid expectations for myself. I wish sometimes I could not care, but I do. It's just part of who I am.

I'm happy to say I knocked 10 seconds off my personal best and swam a 5:45! It was hard and it hurt, but I knew that I was swimming well.

I'm going to keep swimming 3+ days per week through the New Year to improve my swimming even further. I'm going to keep focused on technique and breathing. I can't wait for my next day in the pool.

Naughty, Naughty!

2008-09-26T14:38:00.015-05:00

It's been nearly 2 months since I last posted and so much has happened! Here's the Top 10 events of the last 2 months, in no particular order.

1) Kassidy turned 1 year old!

2) I moved into a real house with Joe :)

3) First Aquathon ever!

4) Surprise 30th Birthday Party - courtesy of my parents and Joe

5) Visiting the Giant Sequoias in Kings Canyon National Park

6) Spending quality time with family!

7) Conquering some pretty tough climbs in the High Sierras (and sleeping with the Bears)

8) Long Runs and Bike Rides with David and Ally - IM 2009 here we come!

9) Celebrating 30 while climbing mountains with my wonderful boyfriend!

10) Celebrating love, family and friends!

Role Reversal....

2008-07-30T11:08:00.006-05:00

It's official - Joe can now keep up with me on my road bike AND he can beat me...or should I say WHOOP me up the hills. Not sure I'm liking this role reversal.

I know I haven't posted in forever, but stayed tuned for:

High Cliff and Door County Race Reports
First Mountain Biking Experience
Hooray! New Camera :)

I've attached a few pictures.

Door County Half Ironman Finish with Ed

Annual Ping Pong Tournament at Cranberry Lake

Winner of the 2008 Cranberry Lake Ping Pong Tournament

Race Report: Lake Mills Triathlon 2008

2008-06-11T15:29:00.002-05:00

This one is a tradition. It was my first triathlon EVER in 2006 and has become an annual event for me. It's pretty much the first triathlon of the season and everyone is there. That is what makes Lake Mills a really fun tri. You get to see many of your friends whether they are competing or just hanging out.

Last year, I learned that I am a long course person. I like racing for longer distances and can typically stay strong for long periods of time before I get tired. Short stuff just isn't my thing. I never get in a groove really and well, it hurts. Lake Mills is a sprint tri, so I knew it was going to hurt.

The weather was perfect as usual. It was sunny, mild and light winds. A perfect day for any early summer triathlon. I found a good spot in transition and headed to registration. I waited to check in and saw many friends. It was really fun and reminded me why I LOVE doing this stuff.

Pre-Race
After getting my transition area organized, I put on my wetsuit, slapped on some body glide and headed to the Lake. I wanted to swim on the course and get used to the chilly water before the race kicked off. I'm very, VERY, VERY glad I did that. The water was icy cold on your face, hands and feet. I was actually shocked at how cold it was. I wondered if I would even get used it and I actually got nervous about my swim. I was in the 10th of 12 waves this year, so I had plenty of time to hang out in the water waiting to start. I saw quite a few friends, took a few pictures and mentally prepared myself for the race.

Swim - 1/4 mile
I positioned myself in the center this year, since our wave appeared larger then normal and most people were choosing the outside or inside to line up. The gun went off and it was on - 2008 tri season! I started swimming easy and relaxed, but was getting bumped, kicked, swam over. It was frustrating and annoying, but since I don't start aggressively it's something I have to deal with. By the time we hit the first buoy, I was ahead of the majority of my wave and swimming along smoothly. I eventually started to dodge people from the wave ahead of me. This was a little frustrating since a number of these people were doing a stroke other than freestyle. I managed to find another girl who was my speed in the water and she was carving us a nice swim lane towards shore. We stayed together until the shore and headed for T1.

T1
I tried to get through it as smoothly as possible, but luck wasn't on my side. My wetsuit was a struggle to get off, I broke something on my helmet and had trouble getting my bike off the rack. Shake it off and move along....

Bike- 15 miles
I really wanted to do well on the bike this year. I wanted to take a minute off of last year. I started out kinda easy and then 'dropped' the hammer so to speak. I tried to ride at 170 watts as best I could, avoid getting passed and be careful not to draft. I didn't feel horrible on the bike, but I didn't feel great either. I seemed to be doing a decent job of riding strong, since no one was passing me and I was passing most of the people I came upon. I ballparked the time on my watch since I didn't remember to hit the split button and thought I came in around 45 minutes. Not a minute faster than last year, but not too shabby either.

T2
T2 felt slow. I struggled getting my shoes on and just felt like it was forever before I set out on the run. I crossed the timing mat onto the run course, grabbed a cup of water and I was off

Run - 3.1 miles
My goal on the run was just to gut it out. I had just run the MadCity half a week before and didn't know if I was recovered or not. My legs felt like they were turning over fast and I tried to slow them down, but they just kept on moving. I was passing one person after another and knew I was running quickly. Only one person passed me on the run, which was a great feeling. Even though it was only 3 miles, I couldn't wait to get it over with. That's the bad part about doing a race 3 years in a row - when it hurts, you know exactly how far you have left to go.

I finished in 1:18:44. I was 1 minute, 14 seconds slower than last year. Kinda disappointing, but still a respectable time. Afterall, this isn't my distance and I'm ok with that. I was very happy to see a 12 second improvement in my swim and a personal best at the 5K distance for me! I knocked 40 seconds off of last year's 5K time. The bike was a disappointment. I was 2 minutes slower than last year. Oh well - it was still a really good day.

I was disappointed though. Joe was going to try and make it. He was working the night before and he wasn't sure if he'd get there or not. I never saw him on the course, so I assumed he hadn't made it.

I ran into some friends, exchanged race thoughts, grabbed a coke and went to pack my gear. I checked my phone. No call from Joe. I thought he would have at least called. While packing my bag, I got a text message. Maybe that was Joe - asking how my race was. I figured I'd check it when I was done packing my bag up. Then the phone rang and it was Joe.

Turns out - he did make it to the triathlon and had been waiting for me at the finish for 20 minutes! What a great surprise! He had missed me finish, but still was there to support me anyways. THAT was the best part of my entire day. I'm so thrilled that he was there - even if he never got to see me race.

Final Stats:

Swim: 7:32
T1: 1:42
Bike: 46:32
T2: 1:10
Run: 21:50

Total Time: 1:18:44

Gender Place: 19/269
AG Place: 6/38

Next BIG Race of the season is Saturday June 14th: Liberty Half Ironman in Maple Plain, MN.

Race Report: MadCity Half Marathon, May 25, 2008

2008-06-11T14:48:00.005-05:00

Several weeks before the Madison Half Marathon, I was actually excited to run it. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but the 2008 race season was under way and I wanted to see how my training was progressing.

In the days preceding the race, I wasn't feeling very well. I actually thought I was coming down with something, so I had really lowered my expectations. Along with lower expectations, came lower excitement. I hit the point where I had no desire to run the race, but I paid for it and I had some friends doing it. Might as well give it shot. The worst that can happen is I don't feel well and run slower or god forbid, DNF.

Race morning arrived and I headed downtown for the race bright and early. The weather was looking good and I felt somewhat better than I had previously. I scored on parking and managed to find a port-o-potty right next to my car. It was pretty gross actually and sort of tipped when you sat down. I headed up to the square expecting to run into the many friends I had running the race, but I wasn't finding anyone for awhile. Finally, I started bumping into people. Once you find one person, you'll likely meet up with everyone else you know as well.

I ran into my training partner and friend Mary as were doing a final bathroom stop (this time MUCH cleaner and no tipping). We dropped off our gear bags and started to head to the starting line when I ran into David and Allison. David and I finished both High Cliff and Ironman together last year and have since become friends. We had dinner the night before and I was happy to see us all end up starting the race together as well.

The gun went off and we had a downhill start. Within a minute or two of starting some woman fell and hit the ground pretty hard. There was a lot of crowding and people not lining up by their pace, not watching where they were going, etc...I looked back as she fell and kept on running. I felt bad, but there were several people helping her out. I doubt she wanted 10 people huddled over her.

Almost immediately, I knew I was going to need another bathroom stop. I couldn't believe it. This usually doesn't happen to me during a running race, but I had to suck it up and find the first port-o-potty I could on the course. It came just under 8 minutes and 1 mile into the race. I made a dash for it and 1 minute later I was back on the course. By stopping, I had lost Mary and Allison. And David had taken off like a bat outta hell, so he was long gone. I just tried to run as consistently as I possibly could and only hoped to make up that minute on Mary/Allison at some point.

At Mile 2, I found Mary. We pushed ahead and weaved through the crowd. Eventually I split off from Mary and just tried to settle in. I knew I was really close to running an 8 minute pace. I hoped to run under 1:45, if I was feeling well. I took this as a good sign and just tried to hold that pace as long as I could. The miles ticked by....Mile 3, Mile 4....I found my friend Petra (who was looking strong!), we exchanged greetings and I kept moving forward. Mile 5....Mile 6.....

I didn't remember the course being so hilly, but I was pleased to see that I was maintaining my pace despite the hills and despite how I felt earlier in the week. I went back and forth for awhile with a girl in bright pink shorts. She'd power up the hills and relax on the flats. I'd relax on the hills and power through the flats. Eventually she got ahead of me and stayed there. But, I didn't care. I just wanted to hold my pace and finish the race.

Mile 7 and Mile 8 included a long uphill run on Monroe street. It was cruel, but the end was in sight. Then, another uphill....and then a downhill. This downhill was steep and so it wasn't really good to my quads. Still, I thought about how I'd be making the final turn back towards the finish line. Nope, just kidding. Instead, we had to turn right, run 1/4 mile down a trail, turn around and come back. Lame...and mentally it sucked. Fortunately I had my friend Ed to bring a smile to my face, offer some words of encouragement and even run with me for a few steps. I needed the encouragement then, because I was getting tired and really, really, really wanted to slow down.

Mile 9....anytime now I was expecting to see Joe on his mountain bike. Mile 10 and it was time to go over the pedestrian bridge. It's like the race directors felt as though we hadn't had a hill in awhile. As I crested the bridge, I saw Joe on the other side waiting for me. It was a relief to see him. He pedaled alongside me for a bit talking to me about my race. I was dead tired, but still moving at my slightly sub 8 minute pace. Joe biked on up ahead to wait for me just past Mile 11.

I caught up with my friend Becky and we ran a few steps together. I knew Joe wasn't far away and he had company. His friend Joe and son Zen were also there to see me run. Zen is the most adorable little boy and it was a blast running by him. Joe snapped a picture as I cruised on by. Right after seeing the guys, I passed the Fleet Feet tent and saw many friends. It felt great and I was only 1.5 miles from the finish. Then, it felt like I hit a wall. I looked at my watch, did the math and knew I had to run at an 8:20 pace to break 1:45. Somehow, I had built myself a buffer of time. At this point in the run, it was nice to know I had it. The final mile just ticked on by. Before I knew it, I was in the last 1/4 mile of the race. Joe was there again to cheer me on and I was going to have an even better race than I expected.

As I headed for the finish line, I saw David about 30 feet in front of me. Knowing how competitive David is, I made my way up to him. I considered being sneaky and blowing by him at the last second. But, I couldn't do that. I made him aware of my presence by yelling at him. David looked completely surprised and sprinted like mad for the finish. My calves cramped up and I cranked out the last 20 yards as best I could. Final time: 1:44:06....I was only 36 seconds off a personal best. Just to think - if I hadn't been in the port-o-potty at Mile 1 for a minute...

Each time I race, I learn something new about myself and my training. This time I learned that having a few bad days doesn't mean you are going to have a bad race. I learned that mentally I can hang on, even when I want to slow down and ease the pain. I got closer to perfecting the skill of talking myself into accepting more pain for end glory. Not only do we learn new lessons, but old ones are reinforced. The best part of any race day is the people - your friends, family, spectators, other athletes, etc...

This run was a great gauge of my run fitness for the start of my summer races. Check out my Lake Mills Triathlon Race Report - 2008.

Busy, Busy...and kinda lazy too!

2008-06-03T09:26:00.002-05:00

I haven't written in nearly 6 weeks and I know it's completely unacceptable since there are SO many people following my every move. I'm gonna run through the highlights and then commit to writing a few race reports.

1) NEW JOB! In a very unexpected turn of events, I managed to find a brand new job that I'm pretty excited about. I finished my full time work at Saris yesterday and will start my new job with TeamSoft next Monday. I'll be back in the world of consulting, which will be a major change of pace for me, but overall a very good change for my career and my life.

2) RACES! I've competed in 3 races in the last 6 weeks. The first was the CrazyLegs Classic - a Madison tradition. It's an 8K (5 mile) run that goes through beautiful downtown Madison and finishes on the 50 yard line of Camp Randall. I had an awesome time running it with my friend Steve Donovan. We kinda cruised through it with no real plan or no urge to race. In the last mile though, we kicked it up a notch and with some help from a tailwind we cranked out a 7:10 mile to finish the run in under 40 minutes. Of course, we celebrated with a beer afterwards. But alas the weather was nasty - windy and cold, so we headed out and went on with our days.

I'll write up race reports (see, here's the commitment to write more!) for the Madison Half Marathon and the Lake Mills Triathlon.

3) BOWLING! Joe, Jason and I have started a bowling league in Madison. Yes, we are officially dorks. Each week we head to Dream Lanes to bowl on league night. As part of the league deal, we get to bowl for free all summer long so typically we end up at the bowling alley more than once week. And, if that doesn't sound dorky enough...Joe and I have had some bowling lessons from our bowling coach. Oh yeah, we are COOL.

Other fun things coming up: a weekend in Door County with Joe, Liberty Half Ironman, Father's Day, Cranberry Lake Weekend.....

Stay Tuned for those race reports!

Isn't she cute?!

2008-05-05T15:31:00.003-05:00

Enjoy these photos of my nearly 9 month old niece. I'll write more about our visit soon!

5 hours, 10 lanes and 1 corkscrew

2008-04-22T14:20:00.002-05:00

Finally - Spring/Summer is HERE! No more snow, ice and biting winds. We have finally been blessed with warm days, gentle breezes, sunshine and some spring showers. I have never been so thankful for spring/summer as I am this year. 100+ inches of snow and over 180 days without hitting the 70 degree mark...that's enough to drive anyone crazy!

I am officially 'OFF THE TRAINER'. I have changed my bike tires and am riding outside now, rain or shine. I'm looking at getting a new saddle, cleaning up my handlebar tape, washing the bike and getting the Diva looking fabulous for her summer in the sun. (My Diva is my bike, in case you were wondering :) )

5 Hours

Since Saturday I have spent a total of 5 hours on my bike and rode over 82 miles. Saturday was my first official group ride of the season. I headed out with the FF group and planned on riding the 35 mile route option. I had a few folks trying to talk me into 50 miles, but knew I wasn't in for 50 quite yet. (Even if they were 50 flat miles). Chuck, Peter, Pete and I split off for the 35 mile hilly route about 10 miles into the ride. The morning started out cool but warmed up quite quickly. The hills were punishing and I had forgotten how much different riding on the road was from the trainer. The final 30 minutes of the ride included a visit to the Ironman course. Last time I rode that section of the course was past cheering spectators. This time around was not quite as lively, especially as I watched the guys pedal up the hills easily (or that's how they made it look anyways).

On Sunday, Peter and I went out for a training ride. It was a gorgeous 70 degree day where the appropriate attire was shorts and short-sleeve jersey. No toe covers, gloves tights or jackets required! Overall, the ride was really nice. I did have 30 minutes of hard tempo riding in the middle of the ride. After my Saturday butt-kicking on the bike, my legs weren't real happy with me. It felt great just to be outside though and as a bonus my biker tan is making a comeback.

Last night, Joe and I rode together for the first time out in Janesville and it was awesome. We had a headwind for the first 35 minutes of the ride which made it a bit challenging to talk and enjoy the ride. Once we headed back in though, we had a nice tail wind and really enjoyed a beautiful summer-like evening. Joe has a really high cadence and pedals like a champ. He looked awesome in his new Pearl Izumi bike shorts although if you ask him, he'll say he looked like a dork. :)

10 Lanes

Speaking of Joe, we spent last Saturday together doing one of our favorite activities - bowling! This time we chose to go to Doubledays, a bowling alley in Cottage Grove. We chose it only because we had a coupon for Buy one game, get one game free. Sounds like a good deal.

As we got closer to the bowling alley, we were out in the middle of nowhere and it didn't seem likely that a bowling alley would exist way out in the country. Sure enough though, it did. And it was tiny....there were only 10 lanes. It was TINY! To make it even more interesting, they turned the regular lights off and the black light on. There was a kid's party and it was cosmic bowling or something like that. We had a lot of trouble hooking our balls as well. The lane seemed pretty oily in general. Ah well...I still bowled my highest game ever - a 189!!!

1 Corkscrew

On Friday night, I got together with my friend Dana just to hang out and spend some girl time together. I had purchased a bottle of wine and after some window shopping, we were ready to open the bottle. I was screwing the cork in and once it was all the way in, the corkscrew fell apart in my hand and there was no hope of getting it back together. We first used a pliers to pull out the cork.

Now what? Dana had no other corkscrew. We had three options: Go out in the rain and buy one, borrow one from the neighbors or skip the wine. There is NO WAY that option 3 was happening and we were feeling lazy, so we started with the neighbors :) Fortunately one of Dana's neighbors had a corkscrew and we were all set!

Well, it's getting late and I think I've done a good job of summing up the last 7 days. G'night!

Ride Like the Wind

2008-04-16T16:29:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked my 3rd outdoor ride of the 2008 season. It was a windy day, but the first warm day we had in awhile. Winds were blowing out of the SSW at 18mph and gusting to 26 mph. But, today was going to be worse (and it certainly is!) so I opted to ride yesterday. I'm not going to get into the particulars of this ride and tell you about every turn or pile of gravel that I dodged. I'm just going to pass on this little piece of advice:

Always ride into the headwind when you start and come home with the tail wind.

I won't kid you. The first 40 minutes of the ride were a constant battle to either move forward (into the wind) or avoid being blown across the road (by a cross wind). I think I used quite a few choice words in the first part of the ride.

The ride home though, was AWESOME. I was riding strong and fast with little to no effort as the wind pushed me back home. On the straight sections I was closing in on 30mph and on the downhills, I was pushing 35mph. I did have moments where I thought 'This could hurt if I crash', but mostly I had moments of sheer joy. What a pleasure to be back on the road again....and coming home with the tail wind.

Race Report: MadCity 100K Relay

2008-04-14T11:06:00.004-05:00

My first 'official' race since Ironman took place last Saturday in Madison, WI. I was part of a 100K relay team in the MadCity 100K. I ran the third lap of the relay - a 10K. You would think that the 2nd Saturday in April would bring pleasant temperatures, sunshine and green grass. Then again, this is Wisconsin and in the year of the Never-ending winter we raced in true Wisconsin style.

Race morning brought temperatures in the low 30's, a wet and constant snow, with some pretty brutal winds. I got in the morning prepared to run, but definitely not looking forward to it. I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to run well since my calves were tight and my stomach was rumbling from the previous night's meal of nachos and ice cream. Not kidding - that was indeed my dinner.

I arrived at the race site and was greeted by many familiar faces. It was truly a pleasure to be back in the 'racing' scene since my post-Ironman hiatus. I arrived just in time to see Peter cruise through on his first lap. He was making great time and looked fresh and focused. I ran out, cheered like an idiot and then went back in the Fleet Feet tent to stay out of the wind. There were some fairly nasty gusts on that side of the lake. Brrrrr!

I got my number and somehow managed to forget my race belt. A few bathroom trips later and utterly convinced I was going to run terribly, I needed to start warming up. I planned to warm-up for 20 minutes before I would start my loop. I pleaded with several others to join me in a warm-up and finally my friend Gus agreed. We ran out for about 4 minutes when we saw Gus's teammate and the person he was taking the hand-off from, we had to hustle back to beat her in. Moments later Gus took off successfully and I scrambled back into the tent.

One of my friends brought her adorable 7 month old son to hang out with us in the tent while we waited to run. He was sooooo cute in his blue bear snow suit. And, he was an additional source of heat. He kept me nice and warm while I waited for my runner to come in. While holding Cooper, my runner was coming. I quickly handed off Cooper to his mom, ran to meet my runner, put the chip on and I was off.

Mile 1 - I started out even on the first mile. I was trying not to go too hard, but to find a pace I could do without pain or feeling like I was going to lose my nachos. I sensed that I was running strongly, but wouldn't know it until I passed the first mile marker. Peter was several minutes ahead of me and I had no hope of catching him. Also, this is a long/relay style race. I had no one to run with or pace against, so I was pretty much going by feel until the first mile marker. My time read 8:31. Really? That was 8:31! It felt a lot harder than that....I was going to be in trouble, if I couldn't at least hold that pace.

Mile 2 - Trying not to get too disappointed by my first mile, I just kept running as steady and strong as possible. Maybe I'd at least finish around 52.5 minutes. That would be good for me given the circumstances. It's worth noting too that once you turned away from the lake in Mile 1, the wind was no longer a factor. Running conditions were far more comfortable. Mile 2 is pretty flat and seemed to go by fairly quickly. I arrived at the Mile 2 marker at 16:15. This means my 2nd mile was 7:44! I don't think I picked up that much speed, so I just assumed Mile 1 may have been a little bit long.

Mile 3 - At this point one of the solo runners had passed me and was about 20 yards in front of me. Finally I had someone to pace against. It was interesting to pace behind this solo runner. He always picked the shortest distance between every corner, turn, etc...I was so used to running on the left on this course that I never thought about running the shortest distance between points during a race. I employed the solo runner's strategy for the rest of the race. Mile 3 includes a long, steady hill. I slowed down a bit to try and not exhaust my legs on the hills. I hit the Mile 3 marker at 24:20. 8:05 for Mile 3....good considering the fun hill I just ran.

Mile 4 - More rolling hills and still following my solo runner until the aid station about 3/4 of the way through the mile. My solo runner made his way to a port-o-potty and I kept right on trucking. I hit Mile 4 at 32:05. Another 7:45 mile....At this point it was decision time. I only had 2 more miles to go. If I could hang on to this pace, I would break 50 minutes. This was something I had not thought I could do today and was surprised by my steady running. I decided to go for it. What's another 16-18 minutes of running?

Mile 5 - Overall, a pretty uneventful mile. It included a few small hills, but mostly flats. The worst part was coming out of the tree cover and into the open. You could see up ahead that the wind was just whipping across the lake and that you were going to get hammered as you came out of the trees and turned towards the lake. Sure enough, the wind was strong and cold. It felt like you were running into a wall. I feared I would slow down, but just tried to fight the wind as best I could. I hit the mile 5 marker at 39:51. 7:46 for that mile and right on target.

Mile 6 - I was tired at this point and sick of fighting the wind, but I forced myself to hang on. I knew that once I exited the Arb and turned towards the finish line that I had roughly 4 minutes of running left. That final 4 minutes feels pretty long though. You can see the finish line and it looks so close, but really is fairly far yet. I cruised on in and finished in 48:58! It was awesome to hear all the cheers from my fellow runners and friends.

I am absolutely thrilled with how I did and my overall contribution to the relay. I wasn't feeling the best that morning, I didn't eat well the night before, my running has been less than stellar since the beginning of the year and somehow I still managed to run a solid race. Sometimes I wonder what I could if I did everything 'right'? :)

Peter - What happened to Peter you ask? After 50K, Peter handed in his chip. He ran strong and steady for half the race, but ultimately decided it was in his best interests to hand in his chip. I'm guessing he'll write his own race re-cap on his blog. Check it out at: http://lostcobber.blogspot.com

The racing juices have been renewed and I am now ready to get back into the game. Next race - Crazy Legs Classic, Saturday April 26th

62 miles, Snow, Wind - Crazy? You be the judge!

2008-04-11T10:06:00.002-05:00

My training partner and friend Peter is about to embark on the stupidest thing I have seen him do yet. He is going to run a 62 mile race tomorrow. That's right folks, 62 mind-numbing, pain-filled miles. What makes this so crazy, aside from the obvious? Peter has never run more than 26 miles in his life. Yes, Peter has rocked 2 Ironmans and that is quite a feat in itself. Despite this fact though, I think Peter has what it takes to enter, do well and enjoy this race. He has just the right mixture of stamina, determination and stupidity.

So maybe I'm being a little hard on Peter. I do have a tremendous amount of faith in him, but I also don't want to see him hurt himself and affect the rest of his season for a decision that was based on nothing resembling a training plan or long time dream. Fortunately, I'll be out there cheering Peter on in the early morning hours and then hopefully running his 3rd loop alongside him.

And because it wouldn't be running without it, tomorrow's race will be accompanied by Snow, Wind and chilly temperatures. That has been the story of the 2007-08 Winter. Even though it's officially spring, the trend continues.

Best of Luck Peter! I know you will do awesome and make good decisions out there, right? :) And hey, if you happen to place and win some dough, remember who paced you through the most critical lap of the race (that'd be lap #3) :)

Bad Treadmill

2008-04-10T09:25:00.003-05:00

For the record, I don't like treadmills. They are boring and I don't feel that they accurately represent pacing, distance and speed. Sometimes though, when the weather is total crap or its dark out and I don't want to run alone, they become a necessary evil.

This morning I needed to run and bike for 45 minutes each. First, I opted to hop on the treadmill and beat any other early morning runners. At 515am, I hopped on and began my run. The first 10-15 minutes were mind numbing, but eventually I got into a rhythm and the minutes started ticking by. 29 minutes in and just when I was going to hit my fastest pace of the run, the lights on the treadmill went out and it stopped.

I turned it off and on again. Nothing. I unplugged and hit the reset button. Nothing. I unplugged, reset it and turned it off and on. Still nothing. There I was - just in the high point of my run, hot and sweaty, not finished with my prescribed run and a dead treadmill. I had 3 options. 1) Bag the rest of the run, 2) Get dressed and run outside or 3) Run the stairs in my building.

Option 1 - no way. I cut my run short Tuesday because I didn't feel well, but this time I was determined to finish it. Option 2 - Would have worked as it was getting lighter out, but I still had to bike after the run. Plus all the clothes changing would have been annoying. So, Option 3 it is. Run the stairs. Fortunately, all the windows were open on the stairwell. This made it cool and well ventilated. 16 minutes of running 4 floors of stairs and it was time to hop on my bike.

I had to ride easy for 45 minutes now. I kept the pace steady and constant. I really enjoyed riding easy. It was really quite pleasant, even though it was fairly boring. I listened to music the whole time on my nano. Last time I rode early in the morning and had my TV on, the speakers caused the neighbors to bang on the walls (even though it wasn't loud). Stupid Subwoofer. So headphones it was this time around.

I suppose I should call the new management company about the treadmill. Maybe they can get it fixed soon. It is nice to have that backup, although hopefully the weather will be nicer in the coming weeks and ALL runs will be outside. Besides, Treadmills are evil.

My work is done for the day, which is a great feeling. Now it's just up to me to enjoy my day :)

It's official, I suck....

2008-04-08T09:37:00.003-05:00

....at blogging regularly. It was easy when I had Ironman to blog weekly. There was always some new training milestone or adventure to write about. Now, it's just daily life which still includes training, work and plenty of other fun stuff. I just don't feel the motivation to write. I tried last week and was actually successful at writing an entry. Somehow, it disappeared from blogger....something with their servers perhaps? Who knows?! Anyways, here goes...

My first 'race' of the season is this Saturday. I am part of a relay, so I'm not sure I can call it a race, but I guess I am still running against the clock. My crazy friend Peter decided to run the MadCity 100K. That's right, 62 miles of fun and excitement this Saturday. I told Peter I'd run the first 2 10K loops with him to help keep his brain occupied. Peter checked the rules and it said he couldn't have someone 'pace' him unless they were in the race. So, somehow I ended up on the FF MadCity 100K relay team and am running 3rd. Now I don't even know if I will see Peter during the run or not. Oh well! I guess it will be a good test of my run fitness. I'm not sure I really need to test it though. I know where I'm at and it ain't pretty. After a winter of less than ideal running conditions, I let my running fall to the wayside as I worked on my bike, my swim and spending time with Joe.

Speaking of Joe, he just returned from Jackson Hole. Lucky guy! I got the chance to see his pictures and it looked spectacular. I can't wait to go on our hiking trip in August-September with him (and 3 of his buddies). It will be my first experience backpacking and it sounds like it's going to be an intense, yet beautiful first hike. We are venturing deep into the backcountry of Kings Canyon in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I've always wanted to do something like this. I've just never had the people to go with me. I recently got my backpack and shoes. I'm about to purchase the clothing I need and then just a few more purchases before I am ready to go!

One of Joe and my favorite new activities is bowling! I always enjoyed it, but since dating Joe I've really gotten into it. I even learned to throw a hook ball recently, which has helped me focus my efforts rather than just trying to aim for the pins. Most of the time, we have a lot of fun doing it. Look out though, when we are bowling bad it becomes very frustrating. Last week we bowled 10 games on one day! I look forward to doing that again this Sunday! I'd really like to join a league too. Maybe not over the summer, but definitely in the fall.

My first big triathlon of the summer is on the horizon - only 2 months away. That sounds like a long time, but as we all know - time flies! I'm a bit nervous at this point, but know that I can do well 2 months from now. It'll be pretty cool to do my first big race in Minnesota this season. My coach and many other Digit athletes will be there. Plus, Joe will be there! I hope I kick some major butt. I don't have many races on my schedule this year, so I want to do well in the ones that I do race in. I opted to maintain a more flexible schedule this year so that I can have fun doing other things as well - like camping, hiking, relaxing, traveling, etc...

Today looks to be a gloomy day in Madison. Heavy rain is supposed to fall this afternoon/evening. I am supposed to go out and run at lunch. Part of me hopes it pours so I don't have to. But another part of me knows I need to get my butt out there and do it. I think I used up all my self-motivation last year during Ironman. I need time to replenish the supply!

Here we are again (Part 2)

2008-03-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

I started this post last week, intent on getting it done while at work in San Diego. Here I am though, one week later and no further than I was a week ago. Let's see where I left off.....

Wisconsin Rapids
Joe invited me to join him in Wisconsin Rapids for a weekend of fun in the snow and sun with some of his firefighter buddies. The weather was perfect, the food was awesome and the drinks were flowing. All in all, it was a really fun weekend.

Joe showed off his snowboarding skills as he was pulled around the lake by Chris and his 4-wheeler. Then we took a turn at tubing behind the 4 wheeler together. It didn't last long though because the snow was blowing up into our faces and was pretty chilly. The rest of our time there was spent eating an awesome dinner and playing a board game called Apples to Apples.

On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Mirror Lake to go XC-skiing. The weather was nice and the snow conditions were perfect. After about an hour though, we were both tired.

Bowling with the Firefighters

The following weekend involved more fun times with the Janesville FD. This time we spent our time indoors bowling and drinking our brains out. The night before the big tournament I became the proud owner of a new bowling ball, shoes and a bag. Of course we had to try it out and bowled 5 games the night before the tournament. Needless to say, I was a little sore going into Saturday.

I was expecting to bowl only 3 games in the 9-pin Tap tournament that was intended for spouses/significant others. 2 of Joe's teammates didn't show up so I got to bowl in the regular tournament as well. 6 more games of bowling. It was lots of fun. My bowling was so-so, but that's ok, I'm still learning. There was plenty of drinking going on which added an element of fun to the day.

So, you are pretty much caught up now, short of talking about my work trip to San Diego last week. All I can about that is that the weather was amazing. It was great to be in t-shirt weather for 5 days, especially after the winter we've had. Now I'm back and trying to get back into the swing of things - training, time with Joe, work, etc...

I promise to get into the blogging a little more often. I know, I've been a slacker.

Here we are again....

2008-03-06T19:47:00.000-06:00

So, here we are again. As I attempt to get back into more regular blogging, I am sitting in a hotel in sunny(not snowy, cloudy or cold) San Diego. This is the third time in 4 months that I have been to San Diego, but this time it's for work and not pleasure. I'll admit, I'm not at all thrilled to be traveling for work this week. But, after a day of sunshine, comfortable temps and not a drop of snow or ice in sight, it may be worth it. Before I go on and on about that though, it's catch-up time. Here's the highlights of the last 3 weeks.

Valentine's Day
This was a special Valentine's Day this year. I am in a new relationship and couldn't be happier. Joe is absolutely wonderful. I have a ton of fun with him and as he puts it 'he's a good boy'. He's definitely holding up to the things he says. (I think I'll keep him around awhile longer ;))

It was a Thursday this year and both Joe/I agreed to keep it low key. We didn't want to deal with reservations or getting dressed up. We just decided to cook together and relax. Sounds perfect to me! It's always tricky when deciding what to get someone in a new relationship for Valentine's Day. I settled on the 'Planet Earth' DVD set for Joe and a cute card.

Unfortunately for Joe he was pretty sick on Valentine's Day. But he was a trooper. He still came over to my house to spend the evening with me. When I arrived home, a dozen beautiful red roses were waiting for me along with a bag full of dark chocolates and my favorite body lotions. The gift was incredibly thoughtful, sweet and romantic. Joe knocked this one outta the park. The best part was the card - very funny and sweet :) If you want to know what it says, you'll have to come over and take a look at it.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Joe was asleep by 8pm. Poor guy was sick for several more days before he turned the corner. Fortunately, I never ended up catching whatever he had.

Skiing in Kettle Morraine
Several days later, Joe and I made a trek out to Kettle Morraine to work on our skate skiing. We've had a very snowy winter and conditions were perfect the day we went. We had some fresh new snow, temps were in the high 20's and the sun was shining. Joe was still recovering from his illness, but we made it for just over an hour of skiing.

It was a beautiful day, the trees were gorgeous and covered with snow. Some of the trails were pretty hilly, but overall not too bad. Joe and I took turns leading. Joe would lead on the downhills and I'd take over on the uphills. I had a couple of good spills which led to a few good laughs for Joe.

After we finished up, we went to a small sandwich shop in La Grange. It was delicious and filled with skiers. We picked out a bottle of wine and headed home. Since skiing wasn't enough, we decided to shovel several feet of snow off of Joe's deck. It was a great day - lots of fun, lots of activity, great company.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 'Here we are again'.....More to come!

Training Slump

2008-03-05T20:18:00.002-06:00

Before I get back to catching you all up on my life, I thought I'd ramble a bit about training. I'm in a slump. I'm still pretty diligent about getting in 2-3 swims a week and 3 bikes...but my runs....well let's just say it's been a fight to get me out doing those.

First I have to say 'It's not all my fault'. I know, it sounds like an excuse, but it is so difficult to feel motivated to run when it's snowy, icy, freezing, pouring rain with huge puddles, etc...This winter has been tough for runners in WI. The weather has made it challenging and a bit unsafe at times. Yes, I could certainly head for a treadmill, but that is so boring I can't even begin to describe the monotony of running in one place for 45 minutes or longer. I've been lucky to run 10 miles in one week lately.

Second, everyone around me has been sick lately. I've been trying to avoid getting sick and every time I have a single symptom I take time off and rest. This has worked for me so far, but has also gotten me into a position where I don't feel like running much. It's frustrating and makes me anxious about what will happen with my running once the weather turns the corner. I definitely feel slow and probably am slower than I was a few months ago since my running has cut back a bit.

Swimming is going well. I did have my Time Trial last week and I knew during the warm-up that I was going to have a less than ideal TT. I swam a 5:55 for 400 yards. That's an official personal best for me, but I know I'm capable of much more than that. Just a few days ago at practice I was swimming my 200's in 2:48 or 2:50. The nice part about those was they didn't feel like Time Trial pace, but were quite a bit faster than my TT pace last Friday. That's the way it goes though, some days you have it and some days you don't. It's just the nature of training. You accept the bad days because you can't always have good days. It doesn't work like that.

Biking is also going well. I'm really anxious to get my bike out on the road this spring and see how my training over the winter has affected my road riding. I've worked hard on the bike and am hoping that translates into some good bike splits this summer.

I need to get back to days of long bike rides and runs...blue skies, warm temperatures, carrying water or gatorade on a hot summer day. I'll just say it, I'm sick of winter. Spring and Summer can't come soon enough....

A mouse in my house

2008-02-15T13:36:00.003-06:00

Well, it's not quite my house, but I spend more time at my office (which happens to be an old farm house from the Civil War days)than anywhere else. Recently, the product management group moved into a new office space in the building. It's quaint, modern and probably the best spot in the whole building. We even have a great stereo system in the room complete with large audio cabinets. Great storage space, right? It depends what you are storing.

One fine morning I decided to grab some of my instant oatmeal out of the cabinet. What I found was a completely eaten granola bar and holes in the bags of pretzels, oatmeal,and hot cocoa. We had a visitor! It's not a secret that this old farmhouse had mice. It just never occurred to us that they would find their way into the audio cabinet.

The next day we set a trap with peanut butter to catch the little rodent. We set the trap at 830am and went about our days. By 330pm we had completely forgotten that a trap had been set. One of my co-workers and I were having a meeting and suddenly we heard a loud 'CRACK!'. We both realized that the mouse had been caught. Too scared to look we tracked down our IT guy and made him check it out. He confirmed that a mouse was dead and closed the cabinet. We emailed maintenance to take care of the guy and went about our meeting.

A few moments later we were startled by 2 new noises. We heard 'Eeeeek!' and then another loud 'CRACK'. The mouse was not dead! At this point we kind of squealed in fright (yep, two chicks and a mouse) and a few co-workers came running in. One of our co-workers was kind enough to put on some Safety Goggles and grab some giant kitchen tongs to dispose of the little guy. He even put the mouse out of it's misery and sent it to an icy grave. The bonus = He cleaned the blood out of the audio cabinet! Our hero!

We haven't seen a visitor in awhile now. I'm guessing the little mouse grapevine sent word of what happens when you sneak into the audio cabinet. The food has been moved to a more secure location that the mice can't get to also.

This is not the only animal story at Saris that I have. Last summer, we had a bat fly through our area. One of the engineers captured him in a plastic bin. What a creepy little thing. But that's another story for another day....

Swimtastic!

2008-02-12T14:59:00.000-06:00

Last week I returned from San Diego ready to get back into my routine. Thanks to a massive snowstorm on Wednesday that would have to wait until Thursday.

I headed back to the pool after 11 days of being out of the water. I hate going that long without swimming. The first day back is usually terrible and I was fully expecting to have an awful morning in the pool.

When I arrived at swim, there were three lanes and 4 ability levels. I debated between jumping into the Fast lane or the 'about my speed' lane. Since this was my first day back, I thought the 'about my speed' lane would be the more sensible choice. There were already 3 people in that lane though and to avoid overcrowding in a lane, I decided to jump in with the speed demons. I just told myself I'd do what I could and get through it as best I can. If I get lapped (which I always do), I'd adjust my workout as necessary. The workout had 4900 yards on it and the closest I'd ever come to that before is 4300 yards. And that was only with a LOT of continuous swimming and very little kicking.

To my surprise and delight, I didn't feel too bad in the water. I never got lapped and somehow managed to do my flip turns in a lane with 4 people. I made it through 4700 yards along with the rest of the lane. I couldn't believe it! (And I still can't!) What a great day in the water! I am working on my next breakthrough in swim. I can feel it coming. :)

I haven't done a Time Trial in awhile, but I'm looking forward to the next time we have one. I will be ready and considerably faster than the last time. My last 400 yard TT: 5:59 (with all flip turns!).

Snow, Snow and more snow....

2008-02-12T14:28:00.000-06:00

Today, Madison officially has broken the record for snowiest winter ever. Last week, we had a storm that dumped over 13 inches on Madison and 18 inches in Janesville. It crippled roads, shut down schools and businesses and led to a 12 hour back-up on the Interstate. Even my travel back from San Diego was affected. I flew into Minneapolis and all flights to Madison were canceled. I think I snagged the last one-way rental car available and drove nearly 4 hours to get home. Fun stuff.

Over the weekend, we had some nasty wind chills along with blowing snow. Today, we have gotten 3 inches of new snow and it's still coming. And, if that's not enough snow for you, there is another 4-7 on tap for Thursday. Ugh.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE snow! I like to be outside in it. It makes winter 'pretty' rather than brown and grim. But, I am so sick of driving in it! Roads are terrible and driving has become quite dangerous. Lots of ice under the snow and no sign of a warm-up to help rid us of some of it.

Fortunately, I get to run with Peter tonight. We are resuming our regular Tuesday evening run after a few weeks off. And we are doing it like only we can - in 4 inches of new snow, ice and some chilly temps.

Stay tuned for a full run report!

Rainy Day

2008-02-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

I'm in San Diego right now and it's anything but sunny. In fact, today resembled a rainy day in Seattle. The rain came down in sheets, the wind was blowing and the clouds were hovering below the tops of the surrounding mountains. It looked pretty cool, but kept us inside for the day.

I'm here visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece right now. My brother is leaving for Iraq in a few days and we are helping my sister-in-law move back to Michigan with her family. It will be nice to have my niece within driving distance, but I wish my brother didn't have to go.

Here's the recap of the trip so far:

Friday
Wonderful 'new boy' (also known as Joe) dropped me off at the Madison airport around 815am. I have to give the personal shout out to him as he drove through rush-hour traffic and snowy roads to get me there. Thanks Joe!

I barely cruised through security and am greeted by the 'boarding' process at the Madison airport. We were all set to go on the plane when the de-icing process began. This took 30 minutes and delayed our take-off by 40 minutes. That cut my layover down to about 35 minutes. Lucky for me, Joe had given me a book to read called 'Into Thin Air'. (True story, excellent read, check it out!) I read all the way to Minneapolis.

Once in Minneapolis, I walked straight to my San Diego flight and boarded. Again, I settled in quickly and got right back into the book. I had nearly 4 hours of flying ahead of me and it was time to get cracking. I did manage to finish the book just in time for landing. I hurried off the plane to get to baggage claim. We were already 25 minutes late and my parents were waiting. Unfortunately for them my bags took an additional 35 minutes to get off the plane.

We ate lunch on the pier and then checked into our condo in Escondido. The weather was cooler than last time, but still better than back home. A cool 59 degrees and cloudy - I'll take that over snowy and cold. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and cold, but I'm ready for spring. Anyways....

The rest of the evening went as follows:
1) Help Brother move out of apartment
2) Play with my cute little niece
3) Try to calm my cute little niece down in the parking lot at the grocery store
4) Return and have dinner with the family

Saturday
Saturday kicked off early. I was up at 530am! Darn time change....I gave Joe a call and spoke with him for about 20 minutes. Then I laid down again for a bit and tried to fall back asleep. I just couldn't get to sleep. So, I logged onto the internet, checked emailed, surfed, shopped, etc...

Finally, the rest of the family got up and go moving. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon playing with my niece. She is sitting up (or trying to anyways) and making lots of funny noises. Very, very cute. Check out the pictures below!

I did go for a run yesterday as well. It was great to get outside and run in shorts and a T-shirt and be comfortable. This area is very hilly and I ended up running 'uphill' for about 30 minutes before turning around and coming back down. It was nice to get out of the condo, as that was my only time outside all day.

The rest of the day was spent with family - eating, relaxing, talking and watching movies. It was great, but I still wish I had more outside time.

Sunday
And today....today is the rainy day. Today is the day the New York Giants won the Superbowl against all the odds! Today is another day spent at the condo the whole day.

I love my family and I'm really happy I got to see my brother before he leaves. But I'm ready to go home and get back to the rest of my life - training, friends, work, Joe....all of it. I'm looking forward to making the most of each of those things.

I'm not really sure what tomorrow will bring yet. I know we will get out a bit more tomorrow and I will get a run in there somewhere. I'm sure there will be more play time with my niece as well :)

A brief follow-up

2008-01-31T08:45:00.000-06:00

After all that talk about what a weather wimp I am, Peter tells me he didn't even run on Tuesday evening. Come on Peter - it was only 4 degrees with 20mph winds and snow.

More snow is on the way, but I'll be in sunny San Diego for the next 5 days visiting my adorable little niece. Hooray for me!

Weather Warrior

2008-01-29T15:26:00.000-06:00

There is no other way to sum up today's weather than: CRAZY! The day started out a nice balmy 46 degrees. It was lovely - almost spring-like. I didn't even need a jacket. As the day has progressed though the temperature has dropped and the precipitation has changed from rain to ice to snow. The winds are suppose to whip up to a wicked 40mph with 50mph gusts. One to three inches of snow should be hitting the ground as well. All this while the temps fall to a brisk -9 degrees. If you are doing the math and factoring in the wind chill, it's gonna feel like -30 degrees by tomorrow morning. And wouldn't you know it - Peter is gonna go out and run on this lovely January day.

As Peter so nicely pointed out in his blog, I've been missing some of our regularly scheduled Tuesday runs. I did indeed bail last week due to what I perceived as cold. 10 degrees with 15 mph winds feels like -5. I'd say it's ok to hunker down and run on the treadmill for the evening. This week, I was busy. The 'new boy' and I had a variety of errands to run and there was simply no other time to do them together this week. In my defense, I have every right to miss a run or duck inside from time to time. It is after all - January. I have no big races coming up and as I have gotten older and wiser, I have learned when to say 'when'. This is a skill Peter hasn't quite learned yet as he is only a fresh, young 26 years old. I may be older, but am far wiser and in the prime of life.

Would you jump off a bridge just because you can? I don't think so.

As Peter run through the wintry mess yesterday, I relaxed and ran errands with my 'new boy'. I couldn't be happier with him and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Tuesday evening. For the record, next Tuesday I will be returning from sunny San Diego and will miss another Tuesday evening run.

You call that an update?

2008-01-28T16:58:00.000-06:00

This one's for you Peter....

I checked your blog today and frankly, I'm disappointed. You added one picture to a pre-existing post and you call that an update? Please. Is that the best you can do? Where's the creativity and the classic Peter Nelson wit that we all know and love? Can I even take this blogging competition seriously anymore? 3-2? Well, after this little ditty make it 4-2. And yes, this is a post. It has thought, humor and it mentions Peter.

I'd continue this, but Happy Hour calls. Be there or Be Square Peter.

When all else fails, Blog!

2008-01-23T14:11:00.000-06:00

I'll be the first to admit I should be working right now and not writing in my blog. But, I can't get my brain wrapped around what I am supposed to be doing. Hopefully a 10 minute distraction can help get my brain back on track. Lately though, I've been told that I'm getting old and this sort of stuff just gets worse as you get older. I'm going to assume this person is correct since he is older and wiser(?) than I am.

Since my last post life has been humming along nicely. I'm training regularly and seeing some nice gains on the bike and in the pool. The running is coming along too, but no improvements that I can see at this time. I'm blaming that on all the cold, snowy weather we have been having here in Madison. With the ground being covered in snow, traction has been an issue. And in the last few days, I have opted to run indoors. I will be the first to say that I hate the treadmill. I despise running in one place, staring at a wall or TV and chugging along. My runs with Peter in the great outdoors are always far more entertaining. With negative temps and some nasty wind chills though, I can suffer through a treadmill run or two (or three or four....).

Speaking of Peter, he got himself a new trainer for his birthday. Kathryn, Petra and I went in on it. Peter was surprised and I don't think he actually realized it was for him until the next day when it was sitting in his house. Maybe Peter will blog about how great his CycleOps Fluid2 Trainer is....and how wonderful the 3 women who bought it are. Then again, maybe not. I'm winning the blogging contest thus far.

Andrea 3, Peter 1.9 (# of posts since Jan 1 2008)

In some non-training related news, I was lucky enough to attend the Packers-Seahawks game on January 12th. It was a magical night at Lambeau field - Brett Favre, falling snow, defeating Mike Holmgren where he once held his own.....Surprisingly the road to the SuperBowl would head back through Lambeau the following week. This time wasn't as magical as I watched from the comfort and warmth of Joe's home in Janesville, WI. Fortunately we had some amazing food and vodka tonics to get us through that game. I hate to say it, but I'll say it anyway - the Packers sucked that night and lacked the magic they brought to the field all season long. Do I think the Giants are a superior team? Not a chance. At least they will get to contribute to the Patriot's perfect season. I'm not sure I'll be watching this game....maybe the commercials though.

I'm off to San Diego in about 1 week. I can't wait to see my cute little niece. She will be almost 6 months old when I see her this time. Stayed tuned for more great photos of the little darling! Another bonus for this trip is that I will be picked up and dropped off by my boyfriend! That's right - I have one of those now. He's absolutely wonderful and I will definitely be looking forward to seeing him after my trip. So, if you've been following along the guest star has become a series regular :)

Now that I have sufficiently wasted 10 minutes, time to move on. There's always another day to blog. And plenty of more work to be done.

My parting thought for the day: Tune in on January 31st! LOST is BACK!!!!

Kicking off 2008 the 'tri' way

2008-01-08T14:07:00.001-06:00

Well folks, that's it. The days of blowing off workouts and making it up as I go along are over. It's back to structure, plans and goals - just what my Type A personality ordered. With the much needed guidance of my trusty coach Jason, I am going to rock the 2008 Triathlon season.

Post-Ironman I resolved to do more of the things I had neglected all year long - travel, more time with friends and family, projects on the home front, sleeping in.....I worked hard at the 'go with the flow' type approach to my training and fitness. Of course, I tried to maintain some structure. I've never been a student of chaos. At the very least I needed something to work off of. So I swam 2-3 days a week and ran 2-3 days a week and biked 2-3 days a week. Ok - so I didn't cut back as much as many people did. But, I got to decide when, for how long and how hard I would go on any given day. The mandatory 6 hour training days were over, the tri-top/bike short tan lines were fading and the glory of the Ironman became one of those experiences you can't believe you had. Just as all those other parts of my life have settled back in, the time for training has once again begun.

2008 is the year of the half Ironman for me. I plan to race as often as my coach and pocketbook allow me with a few key races in there. The top 2 races of the summer include Ironman Kansas 70.3 and Steelhead 70.3. I'll also do the Door County Half Ironman in July. There will be other races mixed in here and there. Stay tuned for the full schedule. So why the half this year and why not another Ironman?

I really thought hard about doing another Ironman this year. My first experience was amazing - why not do another one right away?

1) It's a year-in-advance commitment - of my time and money. I wasn't willing to lay down the money up front or lock down the next year of my life. Training for an Ironman is demanding and there are other things I want to do with my life in the coming year.

2) It's only been 2 years since I started doing Tris. There is a ton of room for improvement yet. I want to focus on improved technique, building endurance, increasing my speed and becoming stronger mentally as well. An Ironman is so emotional that I needed to line up a series of shorter goals that would not demand as much emotional energy as an Ironman.

3) The first experience was damn near perfect. I'm not ready for a less than perfect Ironman experience and I know the longer I keep doing these races, the more likely it is that I will have the less than perfect days.

The first month of the new season is going to be spent on building up training volume, working on technique and just getting back into the groove. The ultimate goal for the season is to see some pretty large improvements on the bike. I'd be very happy to just maintain my swim and run from last year, although I'll take any speed improvements I can manage.

This is also the year where USAT ages me up an age group. Yes folks, the big 30 is approaching later this year. In fact, I won't actually be 30 until after my big races. Unfortunately USAT puts you in the age group you would be in as of Dec, 31 2008. So, 30 it is. Look out ladies :)

Stay tuned for more updates no the 2008 training season and my racing schedule. 2008 is gonna be a good year, I can feel it.

It's been awhile. . .

2008-01-04T15:50:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I last wrote. I've been neglecting my 5 blog fans. I know you have all been checking my blog at least twice a day hoping for an account of my latest adventure run with Peter, but I've failed you. Sorry.

New Year's Resolution #1: Blog at least once
week

The last 3 weeks have been filled with numerous activities - a 3 day bout with the flu, holiday dinners, more snow 'fun' runs with Peter, goodbye to some dear friends and even some exciting new beginnings.

The week before Christmas I was struck with a round of the flu. I missed 3 days of work, swim practice, indoor cycling class, a holiday party and dinner with friends. Of course, I had to call my parents for sympathy and the first words out of my mom's mouth are 'Are you taking a multi-vitamin?' I wasn't and it's not because I'm lazy. Honestly, I hate having to swallow those big vitamin horse pills. Why can't they make Flinstones' vitamins for adults? Is that so hard? Turns out, Centrum makes some orange-flavored chewable multi-vitamins.

New Year's Resolution #2: Take a Multi-Vitamin on a daily basis

I was so anxious for Christmas this year. As our family has gotten older, we have started a Christmas Eve tradition that I've grown to love. Our immediate family gathers at my parent's house around 3pm on Xmas eve. My dad has a fire going in the fireplace and my mom lights a bunch of candles. We have every kind of holiday food imaginable and we just spend time together. This year was something else, let me tell you. I didn't know my parents owned as much wine as they did! I think our family of 5 plus a few others managed to polish off close to 14 bottles of wine. That's a lot of vino. Nothing like being slightly hammered with your parents, siblings, aunt and uncle. I think I passed out on the couch around midnight while the rest of the family was still celebrating the holiday.

The following morning was particularly hard on my brother. It's a good thing we do presents on Xmas Eve, because my brother couldn't manage to drag himself out of bed until 11am on Xmas Day. I won't say I wasn't feeling it and vowing that next year I would drink far less wine on Xmas Eve.

Christmas Day festivities took place at my grandparent's home. There was the usual dinner and gift opening. Typically we do family pictures prior to food and gifts, but this year my grandma waited until the bitter end. I was cranky and just wanted to go home. It wasn't pretty, but I managed to get out of there at reasonable hour and head home.

Once I got home, I had a great surprise in store for me. Let's just say the best presents are the ones that don't come in packages and cost just $34.99.

New Year's Resolution #3: Graduate from the 'Kid' picture by next Christmas.

Training has been tough. It's been crazy busy around here in December between work, holiday parties, getting sick, hanging out with friends and family, teaching indoor cycling....Somewhere in that chaos, I have to try to fit training in. I haven't gotten in as much as I wanted, but it's been enough to ward off all the holiday food I've ingested. I did decide to take this week off of swim altogether. We are between sessions and I really needed a good solid week where I didn't have to get up at 515am on a daily basis. Its been awesome and I'm even looking forward to getting back to working hard in the pool again.

Peter and I have been doing our usual runs, but I can honestly say we haven't had too many of our usual antics during the runs. The snow/ice have hung around and have made the runs somewhat treacherous, but we are getting used to it. On a somewhat related note, I have done a MUCH better job at doing my gait exercises regularly. Turns out, my inner thigh muscle and butt muscles are kinda weak, which causes me to run funny and have arch pain. I'm gonna try and fix that.

New Year's Resolution #4: Ride and Run faster with stronger butt muscles. (In other words, do my damn exercises!)

On December 13th, Jess finally came back to Madison. After being away in Santa Cruz for 4 months it was great to have her smiling face back in this part of the country. The visit would be short though. Both she and Sean were moving to Santa Cruz permanently around December 29th. It is truly the end of an era for one of my circles of friends here in Madison. I've known Sean since 1999 when we took economics classes together at UW Madison. Jess, the love of Sean's life, came into the picture in 2003. They have been amazing friends through it all. We shared some good times while they were here this last month: Celebrating Jess' Graduation, watching the Packers lose, enjoying wine and chex mix and gathering for one last meal at the Pancake Cafe. It was sad to drive away from them, but now I have one more place to visit. Santa Cruz here I come!

New Year's Resolution #5: Stay in better touch with those who are near and dear.
New Year's Resolution #6: Travel More.

I typically don't like to write in this blog regarding my 'love' life and I'm not going to announce many details...but I've been lucky enough to meet a very sweet guy that I enjoy spending time with. Currently, he's a guest star that is auditioning for a leading role. If he makes the cut and enjoys the show, I'm sure you'll see more of him on here.

New Year's Resolution #7: Don't overanalyze life so much. You may miss out on something.

I don't really believe in the idea of New Year's Resolutions. I believe you can change your life on any given day. The New Year just happened to coincide with some changes I want to make in my life. So I guess those changes become New Year's Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

Snow Run - The Sequel

2007-12-18T16:28:00.000-06:00

Exactly one week after the snowstorm, we got hit with another round of snow from mother nature. Another 5-7 inches of fresh snow on the ground and another Tuesday night run with Peter.

This week we were gonna be smarter (or so we thought). We were only going to run for 45 minutes and we were going to run in a primarily residential area where we had hoped more people would be doing some shoveling.

We got rolling a few minutes earlier than usual, which was great. We started out uphill, but were pleasantly surprised by all the shoveling that had gone on that day. I'm guessing the fact that the whole city shut down early that day had something to do with it. The roads themselves were still a bit treacherous and as we crossed each road we had piles of snow to hurdle over. It started to feel more like a steeplechase and not a run.

The first 20 minutes of the run were great. We had mostly clear sidewalks and were enjoying the winter wonderland that our city had become. At one point Peter commented that we'd have to remember this route was good the next time it snowed. Famous last words Peter...

We came upon Tokay and Odana and from there back to Peter's was pretty much awful. The local businesses of Mobil, Westgate Mall and Research Park had not plowed or shoveled. The snow was fairly deep and solid footing was non-existent. We trudged along hoping for a clearing, but found no refuge. We turned onto Mineral Point road and started to hit the residential neighborhoods again. At least some of the sidewalks were cleared in this section.

At one point Peter noticed a box of food in the snow, then another and then another. We looked up ahead and saw a woman walking. We thought she must have dropped her groceries. So, we proceeded to pick up boxes of couscous, cans of nacho cheese, cat food, frozen asparagus, etc... and chased after the woman. When we reached her, we discovered these weren't her groceries and there was no one else in sight. I looked at Peter and was like 'What are we going to do with these? I don't want to carry them.' He said 'This is like $15 worth of groceries. We aren't leaving them here'.

Peter and I ran the rest of the way back to his house, arms loaded with groceries. I said 'This would only happen to us'. Somehow we always manage to have these interesting experiences when we run together. Like any normal person would do, we placed all the groceries in a snow-covered bush and took a picture to show off our find. We divided up the groceries and continued on with our evenings.

So here it is, a week later and I am home sick with the flu. No fun run with Peter tonight....or probably the next two weeks with the holidays and all.

Stay tuned for more adventures in running with Peter Nelson. We will be sure to make something up in case nothing interesting happens.

Snow Run with Peter Nelson

2007-12-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

So far, we've had a snowy winter. I'm guessing we've had over 2 feet in total since the snow started several weeks back. One would think that some outdoor activities would cease in the midst of snow storm. Not the case when you run with Peter Nelson.

Every Tuesday, Peter and I get together to run and catch up on life. Usually we meet at Peter's house and run between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours. It just depends on the day and how we both felt for the day. It seems that Peter and I always have some sort of adventure on most of our runs. The past few weeks have been no exception.

Two weeks ago we got our second major snow storm of the year. I think we got about 6-8 inches during that storm. The snow was coming down, traffic was a mess...it was a perfect opportunity to go out for a run.

At first the run was pretty fun....the snow was coming down, it was beautiful out and a nice change of pace from the norm. We couldn't be fast in these conditions, so we just focused on trying not to fall down or get hit by a sliding car. We quickly discovered that our terrain was going to vary quite a bit. Many people were very diligent about clearing their sidewalks and then there were those who still hadn't shoveled from the storm 3 days prior.

It was such a refreshing change of pace running in the snow.....until about 35-40 minutes into the run when we started to get tired from the extra resistance that the snow and ice were providing. The bad part is we still had another 35 minutes until we got back to Peter's. Midway we stopped at McDonald's for a break. I worked on a makeshift solution to a brand new blister while Peter used the restroom. We continued our way back to Peter's, moving faster than the traffic on the street which isn't saying much as we were moving pretty slow ourselves. The majority of the way back was uphill and at one point we hit a stretch that was absolutely miserable. Every step we took, equaled two steps back. Some shoveling had been done in the first storm, but I think between the new snow and the plows we had our work cut out for us. I had one miss step that almost sent me to the ground in a busy intersection. Luckily I caught my footing and saved myself from being covered in snow. Eventually, we resigned ourselves to walking the sections that hadn't been shoveled at all. It was either that or end up with a twisted ankle.

8.3 miles and 1 snow storm later we were back at Peter's and vowing not to run that far in a snow storm again. I'm pleased to say my makeshift blister solution worked. If you are ever in a pinch and have access to a bathroom, a little soap and toilet paper go a long way!

Stay Tuned for the sequel to the Snow Run...

Running for Turkey....and Pumpkin Pie!

2007-11-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving Day - it's a day of food, family and football. And, if you are an athlete, it's a day to race. Even if you aren't an athlete and you just want to put yourself in a bit of a calorie deficit for the day, the Berbee Derby is a great way to do it.

About 1/4 mile from my apartment is the starting line of the Berbee Derby. The Berbee Derby is a 5 and 10K running race. It's become quite the popular event in the Madison area in recent years. I think registration hit nearly 5000 this year.

Race Day in 2007 greeted us with chilly temperatures, wind and icy roads. I still hadn't registered for the race, but knew I wanted to run on Thursday. So, I dialed up my trusty running buddy Peter and we decided to head over to the starting line. I still hadn't decided if I was going to register or just run the race bandit, but once we hit the icy sidewalks on the way over the decision was made. There was no way I was paying to run in these conditions. Peter seconded that decision and we headed to the Fleet Feet tent.

Everyone was there and huddled in the tents with two portable heaters. It was so nice and toasty in there. You even started to sweat a bit and then going out into the cold was even chillier. Brrrr! At first Peter and I were going to do the 5K, but at the last minute I made the call and we were running the 10K. If we were going to get all warmed up running, it might as well be longer than 20 minutes.

I hadn't properly tapered for this race at all, so my legs were quite tired. We started out slowly and gradually built into a sub 8 minute pace. In mile 2 we caught up with my friend Ed and decided to hang with him. Afterall, my legs were tired and we didn't register so it didn't really matter how hard or easy we ran that day. Besides, Ed was running a nice strong pace.

It was a pretty typical 10K run and on a course that I run regularly. There was some ice on the trails and the wind was pretty nasty after the turn around. Mile 4-5 was really tough for me, but somehow I rebounded just in time for the final hill. Peter and I ducked off the course once we hit the 6 mile mark. We didn't feel it was appropriate to run through finish having not registered. Instead we walked it in while cheering other runners on. Most people looked like we were nuts, because we had passed quite a few of them along the way and here we were walking the last .2 miles and cheering.

We would have come in just under 50 minutes had we finished the race. I'd say that's pretty darn good for a day where I wasn't at 100% and conditions were less than ideal.

The race was over and the turkey and pumpkin pie eating could begin!

Saying goodbye to the Oz

2007-11-16T14:00:00.000-06:00

Saying goodbye is never easy. Whether it comes as a shock or is something that is expected, it is still a difficult set of emotions to go through. It becomes increasingly difficult when you make the choice to say goodbye, even when it's the right decision.

On Friday November 16th, I got a call from my parents. Ozzie, our family dog of 14 years, was in bad shape. He had been in bad shape for awhile and most recently his paws started bleeding. His quality of life had truly diminished and it was really hard for my parents to take care of him. My parents had decided to have him put to sleep on Saturday November 17th. I knew it was the right decision and it was most certainly sad, but I was not ready for just how difficult it was going to be. I canceled all my plans and headed to Milwaukee on Saturday morning.

I really didn't want to go. I didn't want to see Ozzie and be upset and go through the whole experience. I wanted to remember him as the fun, hopeful and wonderful dog that he was. But, when times are tough, you need to be there for your family. And so I showed up Saturday morning at my parent's place.

I came in and Ozzie was just laying in the dining room. He used to be at the door jumping all over you when you walked through it. I went in and petted him for a bit and he lifted up his head to greet me. He was looking pretty sad until my dad came downstairs. In an instant, Ozzie was on his feet and at my dad's side. Dogs really are man's best friend.

My aunt Carol came over and spent some time with Ozzie as well. My dad made him pancakes and Ozzie practically inhaled them. It was hard to believe that he needed to be put to sleep. But then, he'd have his moments where he would fall down or have trouble standing and walking. And there were the bloody paw prints on the garage floor. It was clear that Ozzie's body was definitely giving in, even if his spirit was still kicking.

We took some final pictures with Oz and packed him up in the car to head to the vet. My aunt Carol said goodbye and it was a pretty emotional moment. The car ride to the vet was normal. We talked about normal things, I think to avoid discussing the inevitable. We arrived at the vet around 1130am. Ozzie didn't want to get out of the car, nor did he want to go inside. I don't think he realized what was happening, but his last experience at the vet wasn't too pleasant.

The vet was really nice and it was a small local clinic. We took Ozzie into the exam room and my dad put him up on the table. I turned around and left. I just couldn't take it. I couldn't watch. It only took a few minutes and my parents called me into the room. I didn't really want to see Oz like that and felt bad that I couldn't stay in there with my family. I broke down the instant I saw my parents and apologized for not being there for them. I got to pet Ozzie one last time. He just looked like he was sleeping. I imagined he'd be all stiff or cold, but he wasn't. He was still warm and soft.

We left the vet soon after and I called my brothers. It was really hard to tell them about it, because it was really sad. Ozzie had been a big part of our lives for so many years. It was the same as losing a family member. We all knew it was the right thing given the condition he was in, but that didn't make it any less sad. And it certainly didn't make it easier to deal with.

Ozzie was the best. He was always hopeful that you'd give him food off your plate. He always sat and looked at you with those big brown eyes saying 'Please, please drop something on the floor'. Whenever he got off his leash, he'd make a break for it. And he was always hard to catch. In later years though, he didn't run as far or as fast. He always wanted someone to pet him. If you were on the computer or at the kitchen table, he'd come and take his nose, tuck it under your arm and bump your arm up. That was his way of saying 'Pay attention to me!'.

He knew the difference between the front door, back door and garage door and what each one meant. The front door usually meant he was going for a W-A-L-K. The back door meant his usual bathroom trip and the garage door meant a ride in the C-A-R. He loved car rides and going on vacation with my parents in the truck. He was truly my dad's best buddy. He loved hanging out with my dad and going wherever he went. Ozzie even came to see me at my 3rd marathon. My parents brought him to Chicago wearing his 'mountain dog' bandanna (courtesy of my father). He was very well-behaved, even in the big crowds.

Sure, the Oz man had his moments, but he was a great addition to our family. He'll always be in our hearts and memories. He was simply the best.

My Favorite Things

2007-11-12T19:01:00.000-06:00

So, it's been well over a week and I haven't written anything. I've been thinking a lot about what to write about. Nothing earth shattering or exciting has happened in the last 11 days, but I've been thinking a lot about all those little things that make my world go 'round. Those random things that make you smile, take you back to your childhood, comfort you when nothing else seems to do the trick and makes you realize how lucky and blessed you really are. This is not an original idea - plenty of us think about this kinda stuff on a daily basis and some of us even share it with the world. So here it goes - these are a few of my favorite things:

1) My Bright Orange Adidas Fleece: It's cozy, has a 3/4 zip and little thumb holes for my thumbs. It always looks good and you can't find them anywhere anymore.

2) Going where everyone knows my name - Barriques: Each day I stop at Barriques and order my earl grey tea. Every barista and cook knows my name AND my order before I am at the front of the line.

3) 'Tis the Season for Snowmen: I love snowmen! All kinds, shapes, sizes and colors. This time of year you can find me at any one of the many stores in the area stocking up on Snowmen.

4) Sunday morning Jazz: My love affair with jazz started back in 2001 when I moved to Washington DC and was exposed to jazz. There's nothing like a relaxing, cool fall morning with some jazz on the stereo: Bill Evans Trio, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald....

5)Kitchen and Bathroom CLR: I hate, hate, hate cleaning the bathtub because no matter how long or how hard I scrub I can never get that sparkling clean feeling. I am thrilled to say THAT has changed. Kitchen & Bathroom CLR is the BOMB! I have never seen my tub so sparkling white and with such little scrubbing time. It's a cleaning product I know, but it the little things in life that make all the difference.

6) Mary Jane Crocs: I never used to like the look of crocs. Big, clunky and full of holes. I heard they were comfortable, but they were so ugly I didn't care. Then I saw the Mary Jane Crocs - basically, crocs for chicks. They are comfortable and I've even grown to love how they look. I now own two pairs - black and military green. Pink might be next on my list.

7) Black Fleece Winter Hat: This hat made it's debut at the 2004/2005 Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park (NYC). Everyone in the race got a hat. It's probably made of some cheap fleece material, but I love it. It covers my whole head/ears and looks adorable. I wear it all the time. I dropped it last night at a restaurant and am just about to go and pick it up.

8) Super HOT, long showers: These are especially awesome after a cold run or bike ride in the winter-time. I typically crank up the temperature of the water, do my washing up and then just stay in there until the hot water runs out. It usually takes about 25 minutes. So, this isn't a very green thing to do....but I contribute in other ways to the environment.

9) Cloth Shopping Bags: So, yeah it's kinda hippy-ish, but I love my cloth grocery bags from Trader Joes. I try to use them as much as possible - they are a lot more sturdy than paper or plastic and I feel good about the fact that I didn't just waste a few bags.

10) Quality time with my couch: The cushions are starting to sink in the middle of the couch and the color is fading, but my navy blue couch from Sears Home Life is still the best place for a nap or relaxing in my apartment. I've had that couch for 7 years now and I always appreciate curling up on it with a glass of wine or tea and my super soft Barefoot dreams blanket.

11) Favorite Holiday Drink: Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks - they are back!!! Just had my first of the season and it was oh so yummy! I get it tall, non-fat, ez whip...It kinda depresses me that I speak Starbucks, but hey - you pay for consistency and convenience.

12) Fall/Winter Running: It's my favorite time of year to run. You always start with a bit of a chill, but once warmed up you can run comfortably. No humidity or extreme heat to sap your energy. At the beginning of fall, you start out with cool, crisp runs and watch the sun go down. As the fall progresses and daylight savings hits, runs turn dark and you can see the stars.

13) Thanksgiving Day: What a perfect day....in Madison, we get to kick the day off right with race and then follow it up with football, food and relaxation. To top it all off, most of us get the next 3 days off of work/school.

As I sit here typing, I realize I could easily keep rattling on and on about all the wonderful things I have in my life. The most important pieces of my life though are friends and family. I'm very lucky to have such a great core to surround myself with.

My Very Own Office Space

2007-11-01T08:29:00.000-05:00

Ever seen Office Space? Remember that scene where they take the copy/fax/printer machine out into a field and destroy it with a baseball bat? That's how I feel about my PC at work. In general, my PC worked just fine for over a year. Every now and then it would make some funny noises, but it never seemed to affect it's performance.

In recent months though, it was become the object of my destructive fantasies. Back in August, the PC decided to just stop working. I couldn't get it to run programs, boot up reliably, etc...It took Dell nearly a week to come out and fix it. Apparently, a new fan was necessary. (Now the clicking noise is gone, so that's good). I would like to note that all of this has happened AFTER we replaced the hard drive.

The next bit of excitement involved some wonderful Windows Updates. You know - that annoying automatic pop-up that tells you to update your computer so it runs faster and more efficiently. Yeah, well, those Updates proceeded to crash the whole computer altogether. We then had to remove Vista Professional and replace it with XP. Another day lost to getting my computer reset so I could work on it again.

Finally, there is the day-to-day slowness that occurs each time I reboot the damn machine. Even as I type this, my typing is on delay. I type the words and they don't show up right away. It's frustrating and really cuts down on productivity at work.

Lucky for me, there is one year left on the warranty. The odds of getting a new machine - not real great. So, I've started thinking about how I could 'rid' myself of this awful machine.

1)Leave it in my Las Vegas hotel room and hope the cleaning staff takes it home. (I even left a huge note saying 'TAKE ME' with the username/password on it.)
2)'Accidentally' spill tea/coke/water on it during the workday.
3)Drop it off in the middle of Verona Road and watch as it gets smashed to bits!
4)Stage a 'robbery' of the PC while walking down State Street.
5)Try to infect with a computer virus so that the hard drive is destroyed.

There is a glimmer of hope that I may get a new PC. After enough complaining and lost productivity, management comes around. We are making a few last ditch efforts to save this PC. So far, there's no improvement in how it's working.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy 50th Birthday Ellen - Halloween Style!

2007-10-29T17:04:00.000-05:00

This is a big year for my parents. They all celebrated their 50th birthdays this year. Back in March, my mom and I threw my dad a surprise party that was a huge success. My dad and I knew we had our work cut out for us when planning my mom's surprise party. She is clever and would smell this coming a mile away. We knew right away that we needed to have it either before or after her birthday. How to disguise it though, without tipping her off. That was the tough part.

My dad enlisted the help of family friends Bob and Cindy Kurziak. He had Cindy call my mom and tell her that she was having a Halloween party and needed help decorating. It was 2 weeks after my mom's b-day, so it seemed like a good cover. In the coming weeks, I realized that the plan was genius. My mom had no idea and was excited to attend the costume party.

A week before the actual party we threw my mom a dinner with 11 of our family members. This was the 'fake' and it worked perfectly. We were all set for the coming Saturday - the room was secured, the food order was in, guests were confirmed. It was going to be perfect.

As the week went on, several surprises developed due to circumstances. There were 3 surprises that my mom would be faced with on Saturday.

Surprise 1: The party, of course!
Surprise 2: My brother Mike was being flown in from Tulsa
Surprise 3: My sister-in-law and niece were coming to town and neither my mom, myself or the rest of the family had seen Kassidy yet.

I finally settled on a costume - Smurfette! Thanks to my friend Dana, I had the greatest Smurf hat EVER! Only my brother and aunt knew about my costume, so it was going to be fun for all. We did ask that everyone attending show up in costume since Ellen would be dressed up. I wasn't sure how seriously everyone would take that, but as you'll see from the photos it was a smashing success. I feel so lucky to have such a fun, crazy and loving family.

I arrived at the hall on Saturday and began to get all the decorations set and the room together. Aunt Janet and Mike showed up shortly after that to help. Then the guests began arriving. I still had to get into costume and be ready for when my mom would arrive.

Since pictures speak a thousand words, I thought I would add a bunch of photos to the post and let you see for yourselves what a great party it was. My mom was completely surprised and everything went off without a hitch. The food was great, the music was fun, the costumes were GREAT and meeting Kassidy was the icing on the cake. It couldn't have been more perfect.

California on Fire

2007-10-24T10:35:00.001-05:00

Usually I write with the intention of entertaining. Today, I write to pass on information. As many of us who pay attention to the news in some form or another know, southern California is on fire and it's not good. Unusually strong Santa Ana winds and extremely dry conditions have caused these fires to spread rapidly and without regard for what's in the way. Over 1 million people have been evacuated, homes and businesses have been lost and firefighters are working 'round the clock to attempt to get things under control.

My brother and his family live in San Diego near Camp Pendleton. On Monday my sister-in-law and niece were evacuated from their home. Fortunately they were able to get far away from the fires quickly. I am very comforted knowing that they are safe. My brother is on a training mission in Arizona (he's a marine) and has been unable to be with his family during this difficult time. We still don't know what has happened to their apartment, but given the gravity of the situation and how close the fires are to Fallbrook we are assuming the worst. In one month, our whole family is headed out to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving together. It looks as though we may be spending the holiday helping them rebuild their lives. That holiday will never mean as much as it's going to mean this year.

I also have several cousins and friends living in Southern California. Everyone is safe and following directions from law enforcement when it comes to evacuation. It's reassuring to know that so many of my friends and family have been able to escape danger.

Please keep all those in southern California in your thoughts. A lot of support is going to be necessary in the coming months.

An evening with Sean Michael Dargan

2007-10-23T06:27:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of enjoying an evening with Sean Michael Dargan. SMD is a well known Madison musician. I can't quite explain his style of music. It's a little bit rock, a little bit folk, a little bit alternative....I'd sum it up as 'Feel Good' music. No matter what SMD plays - whether it's his own music, a cover of an Elvis Costello tune or a little Richard Thompson - he leaves you with an amazing feeling. Saturday at Fyfe's was no exception.

I've been watching SMD for the last 2 years. I first discovered him with BJK at the Kimia Lounge in Madison. Who was this guy with crazy hair, a bow tie, suit and big shoes rocking out on guitar? It took us a few weeks to really get into his music, but once we really listened to it we were hooked. Since then we've seen him at Brocach, the High Noon Saloon and the Crystal Corner. Each venue brings something a little different. A new side to SMD emerges each time.

Sometimes he brings his 5 piece band, sometimes it's the guitar trio and others it's just SMD and his acoustic guitar. No matter which version of SMD shows up that evening, the core of his music and what he brings to the table comes shining through. I wish I could bottle up the feeling that I get while watching his show and live off of that every moment of every day. SMD in a bottle...now that's something I could sell.

Throughout the last 2 years, BJK and I have also gotten to know a bit about SMD personally. He is a very engaging and down to earth guy. The same energy that he brings to his music is evident in how he talks to and listens to his fans. I get the feeling he considers his fans more than fans. He considers them friends. Knowing SMD beyond his music also makes his original music more meaningful. You start to learn the stories and the inspiration behind the songs. It's not just music anymore - it's life.

Fyfe's is a local restaurant with some dynamite food. Unfortunately it will be closing for good in just about one week. The lease is up and it's time to move on. SMD showed up to play one last show. He did not disappoint. The bar area was packed and buzzed with conversation the entire evening. As you looked around the room, you could see people engaged in the music, tapping their feet, bobbing their heads...it was another great evening with SMD.

I introduced my friend Wes to his music this last Saturday and by the end of the evening, I think he understood why I acted like a giddy school girl before SMD took the stage. I knew what was in store for us. I knew how great the show was going to be and as usual, it lived up to and surpassed my expectations.

After the show, we stopped by to say farewell and get the scoop on his next show. The SMD trio will be playing in Stoughton on December 14th at Stella's and SMD will be joining the Kissers on December 7th at the High Noon Saloon. How lucky - 2 weeks of SMD back to back?! If I could just bottle it up and take it home...at least I have a little SMD on my iPod. I can get that 'feel good' feeling anytime!

For more information and the latest tour information, check out: www.seanmichaeldargan.com

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

2007-10-16T20:39:00.000-05:00

It's always something when you run with Peter Nelson. Even though Ironman training has subsided and I'm in a 'do whatever' phase, Peter and I still get together once a week for a run. Usually, it's a torture session for me. You see, Peter, he's fast. And me, well, not so fast. Usually I'm complaining about something on our runs. My 'insert body part here' hurts or the weather 'insert expletive word here'! You get the picture.

We originally were going to run on Wednesday evening, but Peter is heading to Montana on Thursday for a wedding and had some errands to take care of on Wednesday. Like the good running buddy and friend that I am, I rearranged my life to accommodate Peter and moved the run to this evening. With all my complaining on our runs lately, I owed Peter one.

We decided to meet at 630pm, which meant our entire run would be in the dark. We also opted to run from Peter's house to the arb, through the arb and back. This meant we'd be running in the dark, creepy arb - complete with tall, scary trees and all sorts of random creatures. Sounds like fun to me. Let's do it!

We set out from Peter's house heading up Mineral Point road towards campus. Right away, we were greeted by a nice long hill. Nothing like a hill early on to upset your rhythm. My legs felt great, but I just couldn't get my lungs to catch up. About 1.5 miles later we entered the arb. The arb is covered in trees and has an abundance of wildlife. I've never run through it in the dark before. This would be an interesting experience.

You might be thinking - running in the dark? Are they crazy, stupid or both? I'll let you have 'crazy', but stupid, not quite. We were using the buddy system for safety, as well as sporting a head lamp and a crazy red blinking light with reflective clothing. I would NEVER run through the arb at night without a running buddy. I'd be spooked and have nightmares for months.

Running in the dark is a unique experience. Your eyes are constantly adjusting to the changes in light and any small movement in the surrounding area seems to catch your eye. Immediately upon entering the arb, I picked out a person walking a few hundred feet ahead of us. It looked as though that individual were walking a dog as well. As Peter and I passed this person, we realized there was no dog. I had just hallucinated an animal. No doubt this would be an interesting run.

There were a remarkable amount of cars driving through the arb at that time of night. I'm not sure where people were going or coming from or why they were back there. I mean, it's dark. You can't see anything. It's not a through street and there's no place to stop off for an ice cream or gas. Peter and I were both a bit surprised at this.

We also saw a few bikers along the way. So far though, no animals and only one other runner (in full reflective gear). We were about to get out from under the tree cover when I noticed some movement a few hundred feet ahead of us on the other side of the road. I knew something was running, but I couldn't tell what it was until it was about 50 feet away. It was another runner, dressed in black, with no reflective gear and an ipod. I think it startled Peter a bit...

I think we were both secretly happy we hadn't run into a deer, a turkey or a car full of teenagers. Smooth sailing so far. We got out of the arb and headed through Vilas park. We made the turn behind Edgewood and were very happy to see that they had just repaved this section of the arb. It's a known to be a pretty rough section of the route where you really have to watch your step. Fortunately, we didn't have to worry too much about our footing. What we did have to worry about was the two bright, beady eyes staring at us about 50 feet ahead. Do we stop? Do we go? And what is it? Even though we were both thinking these things, neither of us spoke up. We just kept running, hoping whatever it was wouldn't go for our ankles as we passed.

Raccoon! He (or she) saw us and bolted for a tree. Peter and I talked about wondering how the raccoon would react to us. Peter said 'I don't have to be faster than the raccoon. I just have to be faster than you.'. Remind me not to run in bear country with Peter.

We finally turned past Edgewood and hooked left onto Monroe Street. We were able to turn off our lights as this area was well lit. Our run had been fast so far. I'm not sure if it was the darkness that heightened our senses and made us run faster or we just felt good. Either way, we had been hauling butt for a good 7-8 miles at that point. I slowed it down and it felt good. A nice 2 mile cool down back to Peter's....

That's how it went in our heads anyways. We still had to climb Glenway. Glenway is quite possibly the longest, stupid hill in Madison. It's steep at first, but then levels off to a more gradual grade. On the way up the hill, we saw two wolves and a man wearing a Badger jacket. Ok, so they weren't wolves (siberian huskies), but it makes the story more fun, doesn't it?

We made it up the hill, I took a quick breather and we continued going uphill on Mineral Point. This is where we started talking food. We were both hungry and dreaming of dinner. You'll do anything to entertain yourself when things are hurting and you are tired. We crested the hill, flew down the other side of it and reached Mecca...or Peter's house. Again, Mecca sounded more exotic and increased your enjoyment of this recap, I'm sure.

Some stretching, a few glasses of water and recapping the run for Kathryn and I was out the door, surviving yet another epic run with Peter.

So maybe we didn't see Lions, Tigers and Bears (as the post title may suggest)....but I hallucinated a dog, we played chicken with at least 10 cars and a raccoon, Peter lost his wallet twice, we stealthily ran past a couple of wolves and dodged a few crab apples in the homestretch. At the end of it all, we lived to tell the tale. And, we were fast.

Another reason to love Apple and the iPod

2007-10-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

Recently, I decided to turn my iPod on to the 'Shuffle All Songs' mode. I thought it would add some spice to my daily listening habits. I typically get sucked into a certain genre or artist and play those songs to death before switching to something else. I figured this new approach would keep it fresh and help me remember why I have over 3000 songs on my iPod to begin with.

I started this little experiment last night and have to say it was quite enjoyable. Some songs I passed through and others I listened to thinking 'Wow, haven't heard this song in a while'. Then there are the songs that make you laugh. You don't laugh because the song itself is funny, but because you wonder how or why that song ever ended up on your iPod.

This morning was a perfect example. As I was leaving Barriques after ordering my usual Earl Grey tea, a 'classic' came on the iPod. Nothing like a little 'Ain't nothing but a G thang' by Dr Dre and Snoop Dog to get your head bobbing like a gangsta at 8 in the morning. I think I laughed the entire way to work.

Gotta love the 'Shuffle All Songs' mode on iPod - it's like a little window into what makes you who you are. Still trying to figure out what the Snoop Dog song says about me. Any theories?

Satisfied in Seattle

2007-10-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

My latest trip to Seattle had been a long time coming. It'd been 4 years since I last visited this gorgeous Pacific Northwest city. College friends, Fred and Pranali, have called this city home for at least the last 7 years. For the first few years they lived in Seattle, I came and visited every Memorial Day. My last trip out was in 2003.

Since then, Fred bought a house, Pranali started her PhD and I got a new job. Life happened! One of the things I'd committed to after completing Ironman was to travel more. So, less than 1 month after the big event, I headed for Seattle to spend time with dear friends and enjoy this great city.

Friday
Friday was my travel day. I wanted to avoid having to take two days off of work, so I arranged to fly out at 6:30pm on Friday. My friend Cory picked me up around 4pm. We went and enjoyed a few margaritas and some nachos prior to heading to the airport. The bartender made our drinks pretty strong and I was already buzzed when I boarded my flight to Minneapolis.

I arrived in Minneapolis with a little over 2 hours to kill. All I wanted was to sit down, have some dinner and a glass of wine. The margaritas had worn off already, what can I say?! I dragged myself throughout the terminal trying to find somewhere that wasn't insanely busy to have dinner. I finally settled on Axel's Bonfire where I had a delicious veggie pizza and a few glasses of wine. I also met an interesting character at the bar. I'm guessing he was about my age. His name was Nick and he's a sculptor. I'd never talked to a sculptor before. He sculpts extremists doing everyday things and then has them photographed - quite interesting. If I can dig anything up on him, I'll post it on my blog.

My flight to Seattle took off and landed without incident. We did have a bit of turbulence on the way out to Seattle, but nothing that left me rattled. My luggage made it one piece and Freddie was right on time to pick me up. I stepped outside the airport and was immediately happy to be greeted by COOL weather. Fall - FINALLY! I had to travel nearly 2000 miles to get it, but Fall had finally arrived!

We headed back to Freddie's new house in Kirkland, chatted for a bit and went to bed. It was late and there was lots of fun to be had in the next two days.

Saturday

Everything was just as beautiful as I remembered in the daylight. HUGE fir and pine trees, lots of green, but also lots of vibrant color. I didn't realize that the Northwest had such a beautiful fall. I was thrilled to be wearing multiple layers and one of my favorite puffy vests. Fall has truly arrived when I can break out one of my many puffy vests. (I think I own about 5 of them!)

Freddie and I headed to Bellevue Square to meet Pranali for lunch. Bellevue Square is a slightly upscale pedestrian mall complete with Nordstroms, Crate and Barrel and a myriad of delicious restaurants. We selected PF Changs for our first meal together in 4 years. Lunch was quite tasty - we shared a bottle of wine, the infamous lettuce wraps and a warm meal.

After lunch, we parted ways. Pranali had to go to lab - something about killing worms and isolating some genes or something. She's smart, in case you couldn't tell. Freddie and I headed for downtown Seattle at this point to hit two Seattle landmarks. I am sure you are all thinking that the Space Needle was one of those landmarks....well it wasn't. In fact, in the 4 times I've been to Seattle, I've never been up the Space Needle. I'm sure it's cool and all, but I like to enjoy and immerse myself in the city. The touristy stuff doesn't do it for me.

Anyways, those two landmarks - REI and Pike's Place Market. Why REI? Because I'm an outdoor retail geek and this is one cool REI. It has two huge floors and a climbing wall that can be seen from the highway. It is always packed in there with people and since it's so large there are usually many brands that I've never been introduced to. I've got to hand it to Freddie - he was awesome about holding my vest while I tried things on and was helpful in finding cute, yet functional items. Honestly though,I think he enjoyed it because after a short trip through the women's section, we hit the men's section and the roles reversed. I think he even called a man's sweater 'Cute'. One of the many reasons I love spending time with Freddie - you never what is going to come out of his mouth.

Following our REI Adventure, we headed to Pike's Place Market. I've been here many times before, but we've always raced through it. This time we really enjoyed it. We were greeted immediately by a group of 'artists' that were doing a project. They would have a person stand at the bottom of a steep hill while someone else pushed them up it and videotaped it. Not sure what that was all about, but we were hoping for a ride back up the hill when we were done at the market. We passed by the Original Starbucks where a quartet of acapella singers was entertaining the masses. We hit up a shop and bought some delicious oils, flowers for Fred's place and a cookie as big as my head! There is also tons of seafood at this market.

The salmon, crabs, lobster tails - all of them were huge and very fresh! It was a really fun afternoon.

That evening we met Pranali in the U District for dinner. We had sushi that was not as good as I was expecting given the west coast location. However, it was a really unique place. The chefs were in the middle of the room and a conveyor belt of sushi went all around them. When the item you want comes by your table, you just remove it from the belt and eat! At the end of the evening, the waitress calculates your bill by the number and color of the plates on your table.

Very cool concept, but I had better sushi in Vegas than I did in Seattle. Our dessert location more than made up for it though. We went to this place called 'Delietante's'. They had all sorts of wonderful cakes, coffees, drinks, etc...We each ordered a very large piece of sugary goodness and stuffed ourselves. What a delightful end to a wonderful evening!

Although we had every intention of 'partying' in Seattle, some of us were tired and cold and ready for bed. Sorry Freddie!

Sunday
I woke up Sunday morning and decided I better go for a run to counteract all of the gluttony from Saturday. To my surprise and delight it was nice and balmy outside, which made for a very pleasant run. I went for about an hour and really enjoyed all the hills, fall colors and tall fir tress.

Fred and I met Pranali at an awesome little breakfast place called 'The Brown Bag Cafe'. It was in a small little house where the portions were enormous. I had the French Toast with fruit on top. Yum!

Our mission for the afternoon was to hit the local wineries. Our first stop was Chateau St. Michelle. We tasted 4 different wines here - a Merlot, a Cab, a Riesling and a Sauvignon Blanc. It was a very relaxing way to spend a rainy Sunday in Seattle. I bought a bottle of the Merlot, which was surprising since I'm not a 'Merlot' person typically. Pranali purchased a bottle for her parents as well. We made our way to Columbia Winery next, which was just across the street. Columbia was our favorite. The environment was warm, social and inviting. We got to taste 5 different wines here. We really took our time and savored the afternoon.

After 9 pours of wine, we were all a bit tipsy. We toyed with hitting a 3rd winery, but we really needed food and to get home for the Packer-Bears game that evening. We headed for Kirkland and went to the WingDome. Mmmmm! It was this 'hole in the wall' type place with killer food. We shared some Jalapeno Poppers, Waffle Fries (with buffalo sauce and blue cheese!) and wings. It was way too much food, but it helped counter the 9 pours of wine we just had. All was right with the world!

We headed back to Fred's place where we watched a very disappointing Packer loss to the Bears. At least we watched it in HD. That's something, right? Pranali and I packed up the car and headed for her place. I was flying out early in the morning and Pranali was taking me to the airport.

Pranali lives in a great little house that she shares with her roomate. She made me some of her infamous tea and we stayed up and talked for a few hours before calling it a night.

Monday
We woke up early and headed for the airport. It was smooth sailing right up until it was time to board. We were going to be delayed 45 minutes due to weather in Minneapolis and runway construction. Given that my next flight was less than an hour from the original flight, I knew things were going to get interesting.

I called my mom and she checked on the Madison flights for me. Luckily, mine was delayed. This would buy me some time. If I miss my flight, I'll have another 3 hours to sit around Minneapolis airport before heading home. Not a bad airport to be stuck in, but I really wanted to get home.

We finally landed in Minneapolis at 1:15pm. I called my mom again from the plane as we were taxiing. She said my flight had been delayed until 1:45pm. Sweet! If I ran I could make it. I was looking forward to a workout that day, although I hadn't planned on it being a dead sprint through the MSP airport.

I was off the plane at 1:25pm. I had to go clear across the airport to make my connection. Time to put those Ironman skills to work and get a move on. I booked across the airport and managed to arrive at my gate around 1:32pm. It was kind of fun and exciting to run across the airport. But, it was also pretty exhausting as well.

I arrived in Madison and my friend Wes was there to greet me. As expected, my luggage didn't make the flight and I knew we would have to drive back and pick it up a few hours later. In the meantime, we enjoyed a meal and good conversation at Brocach. We headed back to the airport and my luggage was there. What a relief! I was happy it wouldn't get any more complicated than that.

I can't wait to make my next trip back. It's such a beautiful area and I have great friends who are always there for me. I do think I could live in Seattle - it's a cultured, beautiful, active city. I have a nice base of close friendships there and I could pretty much ride and run there all year long and STILL have the benefits of fall. Plus, if I want snow, there are plenty of mountains within miles of there.

Thanks Fred and Pranali for a wonderful weekend! I miss you guys already!

The Stinking Strip

2007-09-29T01:18:00.001-05:00

Since Ironman I have been thinking about the direction I would take with my new blog. I thought I would blog about my life experiences over the next year and my transformation into a happier form of me. Sure, this blog will incorporate some of that, but I decided to just write from the heart and see what comes up.

Vegas - The city of lights...it dazzles us with the dizzying array of hotels, the jingle of slot machines, the bright lights, the food and the entertainment with sex appeal lurking around every corner. I spent the better part of the last week in Vegas attending our annual trade show for work. Though there was some self-reflection (that I'll get to later) on this little excursion, I walked away thinking two main things about Vegas - There is nowhere else on earth like it and man, does it stink!

Interbike is the annual trade show for the cycling industry. Anyone who can afford it sets up a booth or attends the trade show. Vendors come from far and wide to display their latest product line-up and hopefully score some sales in the process. Dealers come in the hopes of finding some great deals at the show, networking with other industry professionals and let's face it (it's Vegas afterall), living it up in Sin City.

I was dreading this event going into the week. I was counting the hours until I would get to go home before I had even left Madison. But, my expectations were far surpassed this year. Inevitably it was exhausting, but also tons of fun and a great opportunity to network with other folks in the industry.

Tuesday
I arrived in Vegas around 1215pm. I immediately grabbed my luggage and got picked up by Ryan - our SW Regional Manager. We went to the hotel to pick-up more of the crew and head for the convention center. At this point, the clock was ticking for me. It was nearing 1pm and I had less than 2 hours to install the software, review my presentation, check-in to the hotel and make it to the board meeting on time and feeling somewhat fresh. Oh, and did I mention lunch?

I cruised into the Venetian, grabbed a fast to-go lunch and headed for our booth. The trade show floor was a mess. Aisles were filled with crates and boxes, the carpets weren't down yet and it was like navigating a mine field to get to our booth. Upon arrival, I frantically got the software loaded while inhaling my lunch at the same time. I was expecting more of my crew to be there, but I was the only one in the booth. By 230pm, I was headed back to the hotel to prep for the board meeting. I picked up my key, headed to my room, changed within 5 minutes and was out the door. At this point, I was cranky and flustered. I had done nothing but literally run from place to place since I left my house that morning and I was needing a break. No rest for the weary however...

The board meeting was 3 hours of discussion on the direction of the company. By the time I discussed software, eyes were glassing over and commentary was at a minimum. The meeting wrapped up and we all headed out to a Japanese steak house. The food was awesome. I ordered steak and scallop hibachi dinner, but our company president ordered a significant portion of sushi for us all to share prior to the meal. Wow - talk about melt in your mouth goodness! Mmmmm!

After a short night of sleep and running around all day I was exhausted. I headed back to the Tuscany (which was a VAST improvement over the Stardust) and crashed. It would be a big couple of days ahead!

Wednesday
I woke up early to get in a run prior to the show. There are few opportunities during this week to exercise and early morning is practically the only available window. I was heading towards the strip at 530am. I planned to run from Mandalay Bay to the Frontier and back.

The air was cool and the sky was pitch black when I started. The streets were already buzzing with traffic and the strip was dazzling with lights. The 530am crowd on the strip is interesting. It consists of late-night revelers, hookers, construction workers and a few other runners. It's a very bizarre time to be out on the strip. I found myself navigating around construction barriers, glass, fliers with naked women, street cleaners, sidewalks over the strip and water hoses.

As my run continued, the face of the strip changed before my eyes. The lights went down as the sun came up. The construction on the strip was in full force as more monstrous hotels and casinos were being built. The people that were out transformed into construction workers, runners and those heading off to work. The second half of my run felt like a completely different day.

I got ready for work quickly and rushed out the door. Rachel and I picked up some packages at the front desk, met a few of the sales guys out front and hopped a taxi to the convention center.

When we arrived at the Sans, the hall was coming to life. The carpets were down, aisles were clear and the industry was ready for Interbike 2007. We arrived in the booth, unloaded our things and prepared for the day. I finished loading the software onto the PCs and began preparing maps for our board members. The folks from Sinclair came over and dropped off some VIP passes to an industry party that evening.

We opened the packages that we picked up at the hotel only to discover that the contents inside weren't for 'Andrea Paradowski'. They were for 'Andrew Paradowski'. What are the odds that another Paradowski was staying at the same hotel, attending the same conference and worked in the same industry?! Robb found the packages rightful owner and all was right with the world.

Wednesday was a busy day in the booth. I was able to talk with a number of people about our software as well as get some of our sales guys set up for a sale. The day flew by. We didn't even get to eat lunch given how busy we were. I did manage to sneak over to the Orbea booth though. I met Tony, who assisted me with my bike purchase this last year. I also got to check out the NEW and IMPROVED Orbea Ora. The seat post issue is fixed and they added another color to the line.

The show ended at 6pm and we headed back to the hotel to have a daily wrap-up meeting and a much needed beverage! We shared information on the day - sales numbers, changes we want to make in the booth, what was done well or poorly. I sipped my vodka tonic and enjoyed the feeling of teamwork that we all had after a long, busy day.

We had a team dinner on Wednesday night at the Gordon Biersch Brewery. Rachel and I got dressed up, which was really fun! The dinner was tasty and filled with speeches. Nearly every slightly-buzzed individual at the company got up and spoke about their time at Saris, what a feeling of family it was, etc...Even I got a chance to pronounce my undying love for the company.

Following dinner, we piled into a couple cabs and headed for the Sinclair Party. The party was being held at JET, a nightclub at the Mirage. Everyone was there - Wyatt, Ryan, Jon, Levi, Rachel, Allen, Jesse, Tom etc....

Once inside the club, it was exactly what I would picture on TV. It was big, loud and packed with people. The music was fun and changed constantly. The drinks were pricey - $10/drink. Ouch! We all started out together but got separated as the night went on. Rachel, Jesse, Allen, Levi and I headed into the 'Big' room. It was packed with people and was complete with pole dancers. Even Allen and Jonathon took their turn on the pole. You learn a lot of interesting things about those you work with in an environment like this. 'Nuff said ;)

We moved around in the room and saw our company president there. We also ran into our director of marketing and his sweetheart there. I managed to find Jon and a few of his dealers. I spent the rest of the evening drinking at the bar and hanging out with them while watching the crowds of people and dancing along. Around 1230am we called it a night. Jon and I went and hopped a cab. I crawled into bed and was out within moments. Tomorrow's gonna hurt...

Thursday
I started off the day with a minor headache and feeling pretty wiped out from the night before. I knew I'd be tired for part of the day but things should improve by midday.

The show was filled with some majorly fun things:

1) I met Mark-Paul Gosslear (Zac Morris from Saved by the Bell)!!!! I didn't even realize it was him until after our conversation on PowerAgent 7. Wyatt clued me in as to who it was and when he doubled back past our booth I could clearly see that it was him.

2) I met Normann Stadler - winner of the 2006 Hawaii Ironman World Championships. He isn't as tall as I thought, but man is he tan and all muscle. He has zero body fat.

3) I bumped into friends Brian and Steve from my Masters Swim class. I wasn't expecting to run into either of them at the show, but since they work for Pacific Cycles, I should have known.

4) I met the owner of the Fleet Feet in Sacramento, CA. Not only is Pat an excellent triathlete, but he also knows my friends Matt and Jessica who own the Fleet Feet in Madison.

5) I was able to get out into the Venetian and get lunch! Hallelujah.

Thursday was a bit slower for us in the booth, but still had a steady flow of traffic throughout the day. We had a quick wrap-up meeting and headed back to the Tuscany. I joined Wyatt, Jeff, Jon, Levi and Tom for dinner at Gordon Biersch. After dinner, I walked Jon back to the hotel and bid him farewell. He was heading back to NY for a wedding that evening. I then went to my room, enjoyed accessing email for the first time in days and watching some TV. I was asleep by 11pm.

Friday
Again I woke up early to run and experienced much of the same thing as I did on Wednesday out on the strip. I thought a lot about where exactly I was at. There is nowhere else in the world like Las Vegas. It's miles and miles of enormous hotels, casinos, restaurants, lights, entertainment, attractions....It is a 24 hour a day tease of all your senses and it's filled with temptation. The amount of money that flows into Vegas each day must be unimaginable. And the people - all different nationalities and economic statuses. No wonder people come from far and wide to visit this city. But, I also had a sense of relief that I'd be leaving this world and headed back to a more quiet and fulfilling life back in Madison.

The other thing that stood out during this run - the strip stinks, literally. Some of the smells I encountered during the run were awful at times and more mild at others. It was like running past a landfill except without a trash pile in sight.

This was my final day in Vegas and I was dreading it. Fridays typically slow down and I thought the day would feel like a week. Fortunately I was wrong. Rachel and I spent the morning walking the show. We scored some industry deals and found out which booths to hit at the end of the day for the sales (Ryder, Dakine, Craft, etc..). We came back to the booth and spent some time there. My industry friend, JJ, stopped by and we talked software for a bit. I also closed 2 sales! I was very excited about that as it meant a little extra cash in my pocket:)

Rachel and I had lunch in the Venetian in the afternoon. It was nice to sit down and not have to inhale my food in the booth. The rest of the day was spent talking to people, purchasing some goodies out on the show floor and preparing for the end of Interbike. At 6pm, they announced that the show was over and everyone from the show let out a loud cheer. Everyone was relieved that a long week had come and gone.

Now it was time for tear down. We took down as much stuff as we could and I sat and waited for the computers to be picked up. BJ stayed back and waited with me which was really nice. I just wanted to get out of there and eat some dinner. Fortunately the computer tech showed up within 30 minutes of everyone else leaving. We packed it in and headed back to the Tuscany.

We met up with the sales guys and Rachel and went to dinner at Cozymel's. The food was delicious! I ate way too many chips and salsa. Mmmmm! We headed back to the hotel after dinner. I had a flight out at 12am and needed to head out by 10pm. I had about 30 minutes to kill before hopping a cab and heading for the airport. We sat out on the patio at the hotel and enjoyed a drink. It was fun and there was part of me that wanted to stay and actually enjoy Vegas some more. But then there was a part of me that just wanted to be home.

I got in a cab around 10pm and was waiting in the terminal by 1045pm for my flight. I was of course delayed until 1am. I was lucky though to meet a variety of industry people in the airport. I do love the cycling industry - that is one major takeaway from this whole experience. I want to stay in this industry some way or another. It's just a matter of finding my niche.

So, now I'm home and it's back to my life. I'm not quite sure where I go from here or what's next, but I know a few things.

1) I have a GREAT life! Family, Friends, Job, Athletics, Health, Money, etc...I'm very blessed.

2) I have no clue what life is going to hold for me (no one does really), but I know it's time to really carve out my own path.

3) I'm ready for the next steps in life - love and a family. I don't know when it'll happen, but I know I'm ready for it.

Next week, it's off to Seattle to visit Fred and Pranali - dear college friends whom I haven't seen in years. I can't wait!

-AP