Squeaky Rattlesnake Cactus Butt

Yesterday, for the first time in about two years I dusted off the ole Schwinn Homegrown and took her for a spin. The four words in the title pretty much sum up the whole ride, not necessarily in that order. Also, when I mountain bike...I tend to fall a fair amount.

Squeaky - Of course, she hasn't seen grease in over a light year Captain (Irish Scotty accent).

Cactus butt - fall #1. Left cheek meets cactus. Many barbed thorns. For those of you who have never sat on a cactus, removing the quills takes tweezers, patience and a teence bit of work. Thank you Kristina for the surgical assist.

Rattlesnake - around fall 4 or 5...I heard this weird noise somewhere around my rear derailleur, sort of like a coil unwinding. My first thought,...figures, that's what I get for NOT APPLYING GREASE...Then it happened again...and a third time...as I looked around, a little to to my right, there it was...a real life rattler. EEKS! He seemed about as scared as me, and took took off! and so did I.

I am going to have to make a point to ride that baby a bit more often. You never have that kind of fun on the road...

Just to get a base...

If I recall correctly, last week I hit a milestone in my running base. 48 miles in 7 days...with strep no less. Here's what it looked like:

Sunday - Boulder Backroads Half Marathon - 13.1 mile
Wednesday - 8 miles
Thursday - 6.4 miles
Saturday - 20.5 miles

One more big week, then taper! Denver Marathon is right around the bend.

As promised...

So as promised, here is my IM MOO Spectator Report - Abridged. I decided to sum it up with 6 of my favorite pictures, but first I will let you know that spectating is, too, an endurance event. Having mulled it over for the better part of a month, I simply have not changed my mind...its sheer exhausting. I say this in jest of course. OK, no I don't...by the end of the day I was pretty tired and thoroughly hydrated.

"Kid in a Candy Store" - I love this picture, because the smile of the subject says it all...Ironman is infectious, as an athlete and as a spectator. If you think she's smiling here, you should have seen me as I was documenting all of the pre-race festivities. Between going thru all of the formalities of getting signed in and shopping the expo, where one could easily drop far too much money on branded IM schwag, who could help but smile? Thankfully, we got outta there with our bank account still in check.

Oh the sights....I call this one "Water Sucks" - thank you, Henry Winkler. Where else can anyone see an 80-foot Gatorade Bottle? A 40-ft?...No? Oh OK, a 22-foot tall Gatorade bottle...I'll tell you where...another Ironman event, like Gatorade Hill in CDA...der!! Just looking at that baby makes me thirsty. Plus all of the thoughts that go thru your head when you see the specticle...it's like how much Gatorade could fit in there?...and could I drink it all? and if it fell, what a mess it would make. Ya, I know, probably only me thinking that.

They don't call this the washing machine for nothin'...therefore I aptly call this baby - "show me, DO LAUNDRY (Miagi-shan)". Let me tell you, the tension out of the water is not even close to what it is in the water. This was a piece of cake for me. But good grief it is so cool, and if you've never seen it before it could almost make you poop.

This photo was taken at what was probably one of the toughest parts of my day. It was at about mile 55 on the bike for K and about mile 155 for me riding my bony ass on the curb waiting for what seemed like an eternity for her to show up...(kidding). I really needed to get a good spot...I even yelled at some other spectators telling them to "get the hell of the way" - I owned that curb. Notice the subject's cheery demeanor and wave...giving this snapshot the name "howdy". No matter what Kristina, has an uncanny ability to always smile, even when in pain. Me on the other hand...not so much.

I call this masterpiece portrait, "Peace and Duct Tape". I'll start by saying Bobby and Lorraine can drink, a lot. We saw this chap about 6 or so beers in for us and somewhere around T2 for Kristina, sometime between 3 and 4 pm if my memory serves me. The fine establishment that we were at, smack dab in the middle of Madison, served up 40's of MGD in brown paper bags to its patrons...this guy ended up getting both of his hands duct taped to his beverage by his pals. He had to go to work in a few hours too....those were the days....

And my final selection, though taken early in the day..."Ironman up and do it" pretty much sums it all up...If you haven't seen one, do it but you might end up doing it...If you haven't done one, do it and once you have...you'll be back...Can't wait until IM MOO 2009.

Better days ahead.

I know...finally a post right...what's wrong with me? MIA for 3+ weeks.

The funk is over, finally. There were some long, hard days in there where I had absolutely no motivation to do much of anything and even less motivation to write about it. Between an ankle rolling issue turned chronic, an apparent sinus infection and lastly, a bout with streptococcus A, I wondered if I'd make it thru.

I am happy to report that I did...and set a PR (with strep) at the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon...Actually, I was my first race carrying the bacterial strain, so I an not completely sure it counts as a PR...but I live to tell about it, though I wouldn't recommend it.

The Denver marathon is creeping up really quickly and I long for the days where structure goes out the window, though I am already half way there.

Maybe this weekend I'll pull together my IM Wisconsin Spectators Report, as I know that its perspective will provide a valuable insight for those on the fence, deciding if they should take on the challenge of becoming an IM spectator in 2009 - after my 20 mile run....

Off to the land of cheese...

Today's the day...we are off to Wisconsin for Ironman. The culmination of months of hard work for Kristina to kick it...big fun, good times...Thanks to everyone who got her (and me) here in one piece...physically, mentally, emotionally...you know who you are!

Dark Helmet?

Understandably, for those of you who thought you may have witnessed a Dark Helmet (Spaceballs) sighting,...please don't be alarmed, it was just me in aero helmet with really, really big bed head... "May the Schwartz be with you!"