Mission Accomplished

It was a hard road, almost painful at times, but today I did it, I finished off the last of the christmas cookies. Time will only tell if all my hard work will actually pay off.

Resolutions

I don't make them, but if you want an excellent post on them and living in the present, head over to IM Able's and read her post on the subject. What I have done is adjusted and revised my tentative race schedule for 2008. The links to the right have been updated. Hopefully the schedule will motivate me some.

Point Bock Run - Five mile run, beer, and a good excuse to visit the Rewey's. What more needs to be said.

Shamrock Shuffle - 10k, it's local, I'm at least part Irish, and it fit's into the schedule.

Crazy Legs - 8k, really it's the only local April event that looked the least bit interesting. I'm open to suggestions for others.

Syttende Mai - 20 mile, and the culmination of my running efforts for 2008. I considered a marathon as well, but Madison is only a week later this year, and I don't feel like traveling to torture myself for 4+ hours.

Race for the Cure - Ok, one last run for the year, but really, is there an easier cause to get behind. If breast cancer hasn't directly impacted your family or friends it will, unfortunately.

Bigfoot Oly. Tri - First try at tri's. Still need to learn to swim, buy a bike, and probably a bunch of other stuff.

Pigman 1/2 iron Tri - Heading into fall, and ultimately training for Ironman in 2009, I feel as if I'm going to need some reassurance that I can do the distance, so a half ironman it is. But even on top of that, I want to cross the finish line and here the announcer say, "Congratulations, you are, Pigman".

Cheq. Fat Tire - Finally some mountain bike stuff, and an event I'm really looking forward to. After all of the above, I should make it.

12 Hours at John Muir - Another mountain bike event, but for me, it'll be the 3-hour or maybe the 6-hour, definitely not the 12-hour.

That's it, training officially starts in 4-weeks. At least the run and swim portions, I won't be doing any biking until it's warmer.

Shaken, not stirred

My confidence that is.  I attempted to swim this afternoon.  I realize it's been probably six weeks, but I honestly wondered what made me think I could do this.  Totally uncomfortable in the water.  Like a fish out of water, in the water, so to speak.

In my head I understand that I need pool time to get comfortable and gain some confidence in the water.  Swimming isn't normally something I enjoy, even if it's ninety and sunny outside.  Swimming in the middle of winter absolutely doesn't feel right.  Staying motivated to actually get there on a regular basis is going to be tough.

It doesn't help when the old woman (60 going on 80) next to me is swimming circles around me and laughing.  Alright, she wasn't laughing, out loud anyway.

That's it, I'm over it, just needed to rant a bit.  I think the bunny helped.

Pancakes are funny

Or maybe it's the bunny, not sure. I have no particular reason for posting this here at this point. But it's funny, and every once in a while I need to send it to someone at work when I get an email and I have absolutely no idea what it is about. I'm sure you you know what I mean. Today was one of those days, so I had to find it anyway.

Don't just buy stuff. Do stuff.

Get a drink, a snack maybe, and get comfortable. This turned into a fairly long post.

I hate Christmas. That may be a little harsh, but it's pretty much right on track. It hasn't always been that way, and I'm not exactly sure when it started, but I just can't stand what this holiday has become. The true christmas purists will tell you it's all about getting together with family and loved ones and spending quality time together. Seems to me it's just a front to exchange useless crap we'd never buy ourselves and will likely never use. And the time and effort we all put in to find and buy this useless crap is incredible. Not that there is any thought going into it, we're given a list to pick from or we select from the wide selection of gift cards available. How thoughtful.

I do enjoy watching our kids open gifts, it is fun, especially with a glass of "christmas cheer" in hand. But it's disappointing when you ask your kids what the meaning of christmas is and all they can answer is "presents". Worse still when one of them is actually in a catholic school. I don't know how to change things, seems too big to overcome.

Which brings us back to the title of this post and Radio Shack's tag line, "Don't just buy stuff. Do Stuff". It's not going to make me start shopping at Radio Shack, but it really hits home for me. I don't remember many, if any, of the gifts I received as a kid. But I do recall a lot of the trips we took and the things we did. Fishing at Pelican Lake and up in Minnesota for a week every summer. Crying at the end of the week because I didn't want to go home. Skiing in the Kettle Moraine, up in Michigan, and out in Colorado. Golfing with Grandpa Slimmer on summer weekends at Crystal Lake. I still remember clearing the water from the tee on #5 for the first time, and what is still the only eagle I've ever shot (on #8, and no, they don't taste like chicken). Hunting brings up a whole host of other memories, and probably could be a post all it's own, thanks Larry.

Don't get me wrong, these trips weren't always the happiest of times. We had our issues just like any family, but I remember them fondly, and they've helped shape me into who I am today, much more so than any toy I got at Christmas.

Recently we asked our kids if they would rather have a bunch of toys for Christmas or go on vacation. Reactions were mixed, leaning towards toys, but eventually they got on board with vacation. We haven't told them yet, but we booked a trip to Florida. It'll be our first time flying with the kids, should be interesting. Hopefully they'll remember the trip longer than the extra toys they would have received. We'll see.

There is a triathlon related side to this post, it's not just me on my soap box. This morning I signed G and I up for the Bigfoot Olympic Distance Triathlon. She has no idea, but I know she can swim and run those distances in her sleep. We've had a long standing argument over who would win in a triathlon between us. I've recently done the math, and over this distance I'm not sure I can pull it off. Anything longer and I'm certain I'll be waiting for her at the finish line. Merry Christmas G, and good luck to you. I'm looking forward (perhaps backwards is more appropriate) to spending the day out on the course with you. Hopefully this will give me the motivation I need to get back into some sort of routine. Game on!!

Do stuff. I know it's late in the Christmas season, but think about it going forward.

Happy holidays and Merry @$!*&#$ Christmas.

Jingle Bells 10k

G and I ran the Jingle Bell 10k yesterday in Madison. It was cold, really, really, cold. I went to bed just after 8:00 last night because I was still cold.

We stayed together, and for the first 1/2 hour or so we were right up with the leaders. Then the gun went off and the race started. We arrived at the start line just as they were starting to get everyone together, so we were basically in the very front of the very large field. Which ulitmately meant that damn near everyone passed us. I didn't find official race results online, so I'm sure if we were actually last, but it felt like it.

Surprisingly, I ran the entire first mile and a good portion of the second, finishing the first two miles in about 22 minutes. The third mile had a couple of long hills, and we walked a good portion of it. The remainder of the race was a mix of run/walk, and we crossed the finish at 1:13 or 1:14. Prerace goal was 1:15, so I'm happy with how I did, especially considering my lack of activity lately. I'm finding my motivation and ambition levels are directly proportional to the temperature. I'm going to try and find another event in the near future to force some amount of training.

Legs hurt today, especially my calves. There was a pretty good knot in my left calf through most of the race. That's about it, wasn't all bad