Busy weekend...with no riding!

The weather pretty much put a halt to any plans to ride this weekend. Not that it mattered a whole heck of a lot. My Saturday was full and being on the bike had no place in the day. The husband of a workmate of Jonnene's has been working on cabinets and a table for the laundry room for us, along with a component cabinet for the TV stuff, and he came over with the completed table to install. We did a bit of trimming and it fit like a glove next to the washer/dryer stack. Then the two of us worked to get the flat-screen TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace and after a couple of hours to make sure the wall was secure enough to hold the TV and the heavy-duty wall mount, we got it mounted! It really looks strange kinda floating above the fireplace like it does. The picture shows how we reinforced the wall with a 1x12 board to spread the weight across the weaker part of the wall since there weren't enough studs for us to work with behind the paneling. I also had to snake all the cables through the wall. Didn't really enjoy that either!

So we got that all done and then I took off to pick up the chair that went with the couch we bought about two weeks earlier. Since I picked up the furniture in my truck, I also had to put on the "feet" below them. This was not an easy task...the instructions say all you need is a Phillips-head screwdriver and it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. Make that an hour or so, with a blister in the palm of my hand and a couple of new screwdrivers I had to buy to replace the ones that were torn up by the screws! I've never had to work so hard to do a simple job like this in my life! Well, maybe I have but I've removed those memories from my mind, I guess.


This was all done because Jonnene was hosting a bridal shower, our first "event" at the new house. I finally cleaned up and left the household while the party was going on...too much estrogen in the place. I got a pizza and cruised the outdoor and tool sections at Sears, getting a garden hose and nozzle in the process.

Today, it rained....no riding. Just as well since I'm feeling pretty lazy.

Just more stuff

I started taking this supplement called "SportLegs" which is supposed to slow down the lactic acid buildup in your legs during hard exercise (that is, cycling) and lower the pain level of "the burn". I think the stuff works. I've used it four times starting with the duathlon nine days ago and in the last three hard bike rides I've done, including tonight, and my legs feel great. They're tired and hurt to some extent but there hasn't been that aching/burning that I'm used to feeling after hard effort. If my remaining sample packets keep this up, I'm ordering a big bottle of the stuff. I'm becoming a believer.

I knocked out 65 miles last Saturday and around 33 tonight. Still a long way off from being in the shape I'd like to be but you have to build up to it. I think my first race will be the stage race in Alexandria at the end of May. I may be ready by then. However, there's the Arkansas state duathlon in Hot Springs the same weekend and I'm tempted to go do that instead. It's a long way off and there's lots going on in between so we'll see what happens.

Jonnene has done her share of hard workouts: a couple of good rides, a run, and the morning swim in the last handful of days. I can't get up that early on a regular basis (4:40 AM! Totally inhuman!!) so if she does that 2-3 times a week, I'm impressed. I can only get away with that if there's something important going on early in the morning, such as getting up at 4:30 so I can make it to the duathlon in Opelousas...that I can do. Then it's a couple of weeks or longer before I dare try that again!

A few pics to browse through...

Just some random recent photos for your enjoyment.

We got REAL snow about two weeks ago at our new house. It didn't stick because the ground was too wet and warm, but my niece in Ruston told me they had about 4" before the day was over!


So far the only real change we've made on the new place is adding this gate and wall extension to keep the dogs in the back yard. You can see Sophie and Farley on the other side of the gate. I designed the ironwork and used the curves to contrast against the straight lines of the house. What do you think?


Here's the cat, Taz, relaxing on the back patio. He seems to like it.


And Jonnene's dog, Sophie...a world traveler in her own right...checks out the plant life in the back yard. She likes to go out there to protect us from the vicious squirrels! So far she's done a good job...we're safe and secure from the bushy-tailed creatures!

RIP: Arthur C. Clarke

One of my favorite and respected authors, Arthur C. Clarke, passed away at age 90 last night in Sri Lanka, his adopted country of residence. Wow, first Assimov and now ACC. Those two guys shaped (and continue to do so) the lives of so many people with their stories of science fiction and predictions of the future.

Clarke proposed the idea of communication satellites in 1945 and predicted that man would land on the moon by 1970 (turned out to be July, 1969). He was knighted by Prince Charles in 1998. He wrote the short story "The Sentinel" which became "2001: A Space Odessey" one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever written...Assimov's "I Sing the Body Electric" is a close second for me with Clarke's "Rama" in third. I wish someone would do a movie on "Rama" but I think it would be too difficult and probably too long. The story is just too detailed for a movie to do it justice.

I, like many people in this world, die a little bit when those who shaped our lives in some form or fashion passes away. However, we also celebrate their influence. I liked this little bit in a story on Sir Arthur: "Marking his '90th orbit of the Sun' in December, the author said that he did not feel 'a day over 89' and made three birthday wishes: for ET to call, for man to kick his oil habit, and for peace in Sri Lanka.

Opelousas Du is Done

I just realized I hadn't posted anything about the duathlon down in Opelousas last Sunday, so I guess I better get on with it. This was the state championship for Louisiana and consisted of a 2-mile run, 16-mile bike, and 2-mile run...actually kinda short for a championship but you take want you can get. I felt it would work for me.

This was the first time I can recall that I went to a race expecting to do well, instead of hoping to do well. In the past I would be pleasantly surprised if I had good results in a race and not too disappointed if things didn't work out. But I really wanted to do well in this race and I made it a point not to make a big deal of it beforehand to prevent putting a jinx on the whole thing. I didn't do anything special in the final week, treating everything as normal, and deciding to wait until race day to register (and that's another story right there).

My first and second runs averaged 6:54 and 7:12 per mile respectively, which is way faster than the 7:45-8:00 average I usually train at. I guess that shows that fast training is a bunch of bunk, hey? Rightttt. My second run went really well, much better than I thought it would. When I did the Dustbuster Duathlon back in January, my second run averaged 7:54 per mile and I was suffering. Not this time. I just kept pushing it and worked to take as large a stride as I could. My bike didn't appear too good when you look at the numbers, but it was actually a pretty good ride. The course was challenging, had some rough spots, a couple of good hills, and a wind we all had to deal with. The top contenders only had average speeds about 3 mph faster than me, so I wasn't disappointed at all. I was 47th coming out of the first run, and moved up to 33rd at the end of the bike so I definitely made progress during my ride. Only one racer passed me after the turnaround of the bike and I dropped him like a bad habit on the second run. Only two guys passed me on the second run...that's okay, they were much faster than me. They were just slow on the bike leg, probably two of the 14 people I passed during the ride.

In the end, I finished in 1:15:25 and got second place in the men's 50-54 age group. I lost out to first place by only SEVEN seconds! I remember seeing the guy in front of me during the run and I was closing the gap on him the whole time. But, from the back, he looked too young to be in my age group so my only interest in him was to catch him to move up one more spot in the overall. I was 27 seconds behind him when the second run started but only took 20 seconds out of him. If I had known who he was, I would have done everything I could to chase him down but the race organizers didn't provide age group markings.

I finished 32nd overall out of 141 finishers. I was happy with my result and effort although winning my age group would have been really sweet. I expected to do well and I did. Boy, wouldn't it be great to be that confident ALL the time!?

The Word for the Day is Sore

It's really something when you've got a tailwind, tucked in behind a decent number of riders, and going 30 miles per hour (50 kph, for my family/friends in Oz)...AND YOU STILL GET DROPPED!! Of course, it also gave me a fairly good idea where my fitness is compared to everyone else. Patrick told me last weekend that there are the years when everyone's not quite in shape for the season, but then there are those special years when everyone is in great shape. "And this is one of those years", he said.

Except for me, since I didn't do all that much over the winter. I had no desire to do a single spin class or trainer class, and I went outside on the bike when the weather was decent enough (not enough times though). At least I ran a lot! I had "only" 129 miles of running for all of 2007. So here we are at March 13th and I already have 97 miles so far in 2008! I'll have over a hundred for sure after the duathlon in Opelousas this Sunday.

My record for mileage in a calendar year was 269 miles in 2004. Not bad considering I don't run all that much and only train up for certain runs, so it's definitely not a habit for me! However, this year I'm going to try to do at least a couple of runs each week, somewhere in the 3-mile range each time, and that'll increase for those certain runs during the year. At that rate I'll beat my 2004 record easily.

My old house will be occupied this weekend with our first renters! Wheee! We've done a lot to fix up the place lately and I keep spying things that should be done. But I'm at the point now where I'll fix up things later now that renters will be living there. The place is looking good, new carpet was put in earlier this week, the bug-guy is visiting on Friday, and I'll get some electrical stuff done next week.

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. It's been busy but I'll try to do better. It's has been active around here but both Jonnene and I are having to deal with the new time change plus the soreness from our increasingly active lifestyles. Age might have something to do with it but I'm not buying that excuse...yet.

Across the Universe

We watched this film a few nights ago and the more I think about it, the more it amazes me. The new arrangements of classic Beatles songs are close to perfect (of course nothing beats the original arrangements) and certainly provide a new take on any previous notions of what you may have thought the songs were about. The cinematography was equally impressive. Nominated Best Picture in the Golden Globes, nominated Best Costuming in the Academy Awards, probably deserved more.

I mean, look at the names of the characters: Jude, Lucy, Prudence, Sadie, JoJo, Max...all from various Beatles' songs. The songs become part of the story and weave around the characters. "Hey, Jude" becomes the love song it was most likely intended to be. "Girl" becomes the haunting serenade to a lost love that it was most likely supposed to be. "Dear Prudence" is so well done and the visuals are so simple yet overwhelming.

Links to a few of the videos are here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_oviETn4J50&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSBbsyOjYO0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMk8GIOQHvY&feature=related

Joe Cocker singing "Come Together" is the best cover of a Beatles song there is! Selma Hyack plays five nurses in the same scene (a nurse is a reference in a couple of Beatles songs) during "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Bono performs as Doctor Robert in "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "I Am the Walrus".

Just a great flick with plenty of visuals and beautiful music. It helps if you liked/appreciated the Beatles and understand the era the movie is based in.

ITB's

Well, it's not ALL about ITB's, in fact, very little will be said of them until the end of this entry.

I think I'm almost decided on doing the Louisiana state duathlon championships in Opelousas in two weeks. It's a 2-mile run, 16-mile bike, 2-mile run kind of thing and, after looking at the past two years of results in the men's 50-54 age group, I think I could finish as high as third (maybe second?). Of course, it would make sense that all the old fast guys will probably show up this year! Plus it's a second duathlon for me...if I do at least three this year I will be included in the rankings process. I haven't been ranked in a multi-sport event in years...I rarely did more than two triathlons in a single year. And now that I don't care to swim anymore, the only place I've got left is the duathlon and with all the running I've been doing, well, why not?

Ran this morning, a mere 2.5 miles, before the rain and cold weather hit. On Saturday I cranked out another 100k or 62 miles on the bike. Did it about 20 minutes faster than the Saturday before, all solo. Jonnene did a training ride with a friend for 25 miles Saturday and swam about 2300 meters this morning (while I kept sleeping!). The rest of the week is supposed to be cold and I was definitley spoiled by the warm weather over the past weekend.

Both of us spent a lot of time working on the old house during the weekend and I was there most of today putting up window blinds, painting, installing the remaining trim in the kitchen, and packing up more of my stuff to take the new house. The place is looking pretty good if I do say so myself...and I just did!

Going to bed early tonight. J's going to work on the I.T.-bands in my legs tonight so that should be quite painful in a "good-for-me-I-think" kind of way.