Here's to 2009

A new year is upon us. The best thing about New Years Day is the knowledge that it is the one day each year in which the largest amount of humanity unites with the hope that "today will be better than yesterday". For many it is world peace (less war would be more realistic), 5 less pounds or saving money. For me I have done away with the personal resolutions this year in exchange for pure Hope (Capitalized because I think our President-elect has turned this into a religion). My hope is for family members to be in the hospital a lot less, for business ethics to return to our culture, for greed to take a backseat to humility and honesty. I emerge from 2008 more aware. I appreciate my time with my kids that much more for 2008 reminded me that our children can be taken from us at a moments notice. I appreciate time with my parents and my wives parents as I learned how fragile life can be for them as well. I became aware that true friends care so very little about your professional success or failure. They are just always there for you when you need a friend, a good joke, or a bike ride. I learned our justice system actually has a way to keep the sickest of humanity behind bars for a very long time; yet, it allows for the rehabilitated to go free. I learned that in the very event you achieve your greatest athletic achievement, another might lose his life. Most of all, I was reminded every step of the way that my wife will always be there to help me through it all. For all of this I am much more aware of how charmed life is to be filled with challenges.



I have spent the week wondering what my athletic goal should be for the year and I have decided to concentrate on something small - the mile. I am going to concentrate on improving my mile time while still training to compete in the Alcatraz Triathlon in the Fall. I hope to document my process using this medium as a source of motivation.



A quick tip of the hat to Matt for his awesome time in the Resolution Run and making me his Bear Bait once again. I was however able to find that perfect place where pain - pride - and pleasure all come together - the pure runners high, the zone; whatever you want to call it, it is beautiful. I ran as hard as I could all the way to the finish with the last mile being a 6:39, a true negative split as the other miles were all 7:15 or slower. Fitting for my theme of being thankful for friends - as I came onto the track for one final 330 I was beat, I figured I was spent. To my delight I could hear Matt cheering for me at the top of his lungs to "bring it home". As always, a true friend is there for you if you are paying attention. I finished the race in record time for me and very proud of the run. Success is individual, and this race was a success.


So for my toast to 2009 I have stolen a line from my sons favorite GH band - Dragonforce - "Through the fire and the flames we carry on!".

Running Fail! Soccer Win!

Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...

That is my new excuse for the epic fail that is my plan to run every day in November and December. It turns out that my body has alternative ideas - currently, its a bad knee. Its new and painful and is only now fading 5 days after my first consecutive run days in months.

I believe the pain and the running are connected - it is the knee after all (and a 43 year old knee at that). For those keeping track, it is the right knee and it hurts to hinge, unhinge or put too much weight on it. I don't miss the irony that I need to run to lose weight and, well the point is there for the getting...

On the brighter side, the Pink Panthers have run off quite a streak since the break and the B-division of U8 Girls in the South Bay Youth Soccer league (Campbell area) is now ours for the taking :) .

One of the dad's on the team (the voice you hear in the background) has taped most of our games and has edited out the scoring clips, so I am able to post Kate's two goals. In watching all of them (yes, I have that kind of time), I also noted another 3-4 assists and even more plays where she was within a touch or two of one our goals. Bigggg change for the girl that last year watched ball after ball go right past her as she critiqued the other team's uniforms or considered what the snack would be at the end of the game.

Enjoy!

Kate's 1st Goal



Kate's 2nd Goal

Finishing Strong!

So, in the 2 months since running Alcatraz I have gotten in maybe 3-4 workouts - a couple runs, a bike ride, no swimming -- sad, sad, sad.

My solution to this slackery is, as usual, to go waaay overboard. Rather than try to ease back in, I am choosing to jump in with both feet, literally. From November 1 to January 1, I will be running every day.

The reason to make it an every day thing is to leave no room for saying "I'll get to it tomorrow..." - which is the phrase/attitude that keeps me on the sidelines day after day. Committing to every day means not putting off 'till tomorrow what must be done today AND tomorrow.

The Fine Print
Initially, this post was going to be written on November 1 - announcing the great undertaking. But I ran in the rain that day and picked up quite the chest cold and skipped the next 6 days. Poor start, no question, but not an ending to this deal.

Back on it as of yesterday - back to back two mile warm-up runs and stretches out at the Campbell Community Center track (CCC). Both under 21 minutes (pretty sad, I realize, but need to begin somewhere).

Goals:

• 62 straight days of running (already missed some of them). I figure 80% of the goal is a winner
• Drop the mile time back down into the 9's, possibly down into the 8's
• Run the Resolution Run in 44 minutes
• Pick up the belt loop I've lost over the last couple of months since Alcatraz
• Write often and poorly about the attempt
  

Progress:

• 3 days in (2 in a row)
• No movement on the belt loops
• Back and hammie stretching underway
• Blogging underway as well
  

I'll be reporting back and using this as a reason to blog about more than running and biking and swimming. Oddly enough running and writing have a very strong common bond in my mind - I hate writing/running, but love having written/run. We'll just have to see if forcing both of these for a couple months makes at least one of them come easier.

My 40 – 40 – 40

For some unknown reason I decided to celebrate by trip over the hill by torturing myself. My wife offered to take me to Vegas or any other weekend destination that I wanted, but no, staying home and competing in a triathlon with a field of 1 sounded like a plan. I decided I would celebrate my 40^th birthday by swimming 40 laps (2000 yards), biking 40 miles, and running 40 laps (10 miles). I had not been working out much for the past 3 months but I really was not going to let that discourage me away from my plan. Besides not even working out much I can not remember a time that I have gone for a 40 mile ride. Plus, the only triathlons I have completed to date have been Sprint Tri’s. The only thing that changed my plans was the weather forecast for my actual birthday was rain so I elected to hold my triathlon a few days early.

The Swim

The day of my triathlon I woke up at 5:30 eager to start the challenge. The weather was cold, about 33 degrees, so I elected to swim indoors at the local Y. Thanks to the local Southwest Y for the free swim! The swim went great, I felt like I had not taken any time off from being in the water. I finished just under my goal of 40 minutes and I was quite pleased with myself.

The Bike

After breakfast, coffee, and getting the kids off to school it was time to hit the road. It was still pretty cold out, sub 40 degrees, but I did not have the luxury of waiting for it to warm up. Off I rode towards what was soon to be the hardest ride of my life. When I planned out my day I did not want the ride to something plain, I wanted something that would make the challenge something to remember. I decided to climb Big Basin to Skyline, a 7.5 mile climb of 2,500 feet, not my everyday ride. Matter of fact, I have only completed this climb once before, a little over a year ago. (That is another story, my seat post broke 1/3 of the way up but I was behind my friends so I really could not stop). The good news is the climb starts about 4 miles from home so I had time to warm up. I eventually made it to the top after climbing for 67 minutes, which was tough. Once to the top I thought it was going to be a nice easy ride, boy was I wrong. I headed toward Palo Alto and enjoyed rolling hills with a drop in elevation of 400 feet or so until I hit the 20 mile mark on my odometer. Not wanting to test myself any further, I turned around immediately. On the way back up I stopped at a view point and enjoyed a morning snack of 4 energy bars and took in the amazing view of the valley. Eventually, I got back on the bike and my legs were heavy. The next 8 miles ended up being harder then the main climb. My toes were basically frozen; it was only after this ride that I learned about shoe covers. I can not believe how hard it was to gain the 400 feet back. I was very pleased once I got to Skyline and Highway 9; I knew I was in for an enjoyable 7.5 mile descent without the need to exert much more energy. The descent was great; I just wish the wind didn’t make my feet that much colder. In all, the ride took just under 4 hours, for me a great accomplishment.

The Run

After another shower and lunch, it was time to go for my run. My initial goal for the day was to complete the triathlon in less than 400 minutes of exercise time. I was looking at needing to complete the 10 mile run in 120 minutes. Normally I would be embarrassed if a 10 mile run took me 2 hours but today, I knew I could not phone it in. I started off at 10 minute pace but that only lasted halfway through Vasona Park. At about the 4 mile mark, 5 hours and 20 minutes in, I hit the wall. I started to walk. It was at this point that I decided to never judge another runner in a negative fashion by their speed. You just never know what they have done to get to the point where you see them that day. My walk turned into a walk jog for the next three miles. I just could not bring myself to charge the hills between Vasona and Highway 9. Once I got to Quito I knew I was going to have to start running again if I was going to accomplish my goal of 400 minutes. I was about 4 miles out and only 40 minutes to spare. The good news is it was all downhill from there to home. I started to run again and before I knew it I was able to maintain a 9 minute pace. As I made the turn to the last long straight away my wife called me to check in and give me a little encouragement! It was just what I needed to kick it home. I made it in 1:59.58; I could not believe it! I was done.

The END!

This was by the greatest single sporting accomplishment I have ever competed. In my time I have competed in a great deal of races and games which were important to me. This event overshadows them all. This victory was the sweetest. My kids, wife, family and friends were all very supportive of this effort. Everyone wished me the best and gave me nothing but support. A good friend, Jon, told me to look on the brightside, at least I was not turning 50!

Today's Bait: The course

BZST BEE

Riding with Ron the other day, we saw a faded lemon yellow Caddy boat drive past. It was possible, considering the age of the car, that at one time the yellow matched the blue in the driver's hair a little better than it does today, but another conclusion is that she didn't care. Or more to the point she didn't have time to care, because you see, Ron and I were witness to one of the rarest things in the world.

We got to see a person at the top of their game. How many times do you get to see, in person mind you, the best or most or first or greatest. Sure, we are all familiar with the nearly great, the second place, the much better than almost everybody else. But to see a person at the apex, Beethoven at the piano, Ruth or Aaron with a bat, Pele with a soccer ball, this is a once in a lifetime thrill.

This lady, fluttering along Quito at a pretty rapid pace, qualified in that category. Because you see she was no regular valley denizen, she was busy. But not the way you or I or anybody else on the planet is busy. No, she is Uber busy, busy to the tenth power; she is not just busier than you or me or anybody we know, she is the buziEST bee. We know this because she took time out, in what had to be a monumental scheduling nightmare, to select a personalized license plate to commemorate her achievement - BZST BEE.

Not BZY BEE, or even BZYR BEE (which might imply she was busier than most, but not quite ready to take Steve Jobs off the throne), but BZST BEE. Thereby proclaiming to every lazy soul she passes, that while they may have stresses and pressures and just generally lots of shit to get done, she wishes she had their slacker lifestyle and all the wonderful free time that goes with it.

So, today's post is dedicated to the BZST BEE and all the amazing things she must be getting done when not tooling down Quito at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday in her Caddy-boat.

Workout Date: 1/2/08
Workout Type: Bike
Workout Details: Approximately 10 miles (Old School) in a little under 45 minutes.
Workout Summary: Ron and I took a light, post NY Day ride, kind of a shakeout cruise. Getting back into it as it were. Good ride, lots of whining and more than a little gasping, but all-in-all a good start. Just got to follow it up.
Bait: Ron (but only if you count it as being last home, and only by a couple seconds. He crushed me on the hills)

Bait

The road can be a lonely mistress sometimes... More often it can be a neurotic, hell-bent bitch goddess from hell (yeah, I know I said hell twice, it fits).

You see this side when you are out with buddies, busting up that hill. Head down, legs burning, sweat dripping in past the sunglasses, (did I mention legs burning?), cursing the bike the hill your buddies and trying like hell to remember why you thought this route was a good idea all those torturous minutes/hour ago.

This is, of course, compounded by the chase - when you do make the effort to look up, there is robobiker, the Armstrong acolyte with seeming endless supplies of ATP and no give-up. He churns up the hill as if he made a different deal with gravity then you did. Catching him was the goal this time out, but he didn't get the memo or maybe he did and he never liked you as much as he said he did and seeing you hurt makes him warm and fuzzy inside.

To recap - legs burning, eyes bleary, heart pounding, lungs squealing, head reeling, robobiker pulling away. Now is the time that the bitch goddess throws in more hill; you've ridden this route every Sunday for a year and yet this part is always a surprise - dumbass!

Then, decision time: push up the hill straight ahead, blow it all right here, leave it on the hill like you left your garanimals behind when you went to college. Or, give in just a bit, let robobiker win (AGAIN!) and save a bit for the finish. You can traverse to the top from here, but what's to be gained by traversing? where's the last scrap of dignity? where's that bit you need to hold onto, the bit that brings you back out here next Sunday. Hell, as one last question - where is the workout and reward for traversing?

Traverse and live to fight on the flats or shoot the moon, put up a hill win and maybe take a small chunk out of the robobiker edifice; this is what it has come down to and all the while you are banging it out up the steepest hill in existence that doesn't a French name or team of Sherpas at the bottom and a base camp in the middle.

But here, in your darkest moment, the light flickers anew, there is a way out, a hope, a chance to traverse and keep your manhood intact. Cause all those hours ago, before the ride you made one great decision (obviously not the one to ride l'Alpe D'Huez west) but the other one - you brought Bait. Bait will bring up the rear, Bait will save the day (AGAIN!). While you won't win this one, you sure as hell won't lose it, and that, for today anyway, will be enough. Thank God Bait showed up.

"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker."
- Mike McDermott - Rounders

Look at your group of riding, running, swimming, tennis, golf, poker, canasta, full contact chess, buddies - if you can't spot the Bait, you are the Bait. They may like you, find you endlessly fascinating, or ceaselessly funny, but think about it, when was that ever the case? Nope, you are the Bait, it is your sole contribution to the collective. You are there to make the others feel better about their own efforts.

Now, you have two choices: get better or get some new Bait. Honestly, you ain't catching robobiker in this lifetime, but you do have a work buddy, neighbor or brother-in-law you can drag into the fray. The choice is obvious - last one in feeds the bear, and everybody not last is close enough to first that the difference doesn't seem worth the effort.

Got Bait?