Friday, August 29, 2008

At Least It Wasn't That AFLAC Duck!

Wednesday night, we had a fright.
A silly fright, on Wednesday night.
Just got in the tub and was feeling alright.
Lolly then shrieked, "what a horrible sight!'
Try as I might to ignore her plight...
She soon was in sight demanding I fight.
What should I fight on this peaceful night?
A 2 inch gecko? That just ain't right.
Back story on Lolly for a sec if I might.
She's chased me with frogs that she catches at night.
Now, I don't like reptiles of any ilk, stripe, or type.
But, Lolly - come'on geckos don't bite.
A cottonmouth in the house? Now that is a plight.
But the bath is so warm, you can handle it right?
Cover it with a tupperware and it'll be allright.
Then I'll take it outside to enjoy the warm night.
Something then happened - you could feel it ignite
A renewed sense of urgency, tensions were spiked.
Up and out of the tub, to the rescue I hiked
And saved the young ladies from a dragon that night.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Why I Like Carrots

Not the 'eh - what's up doc?' variety - although thems ain't too shabby - but the dangling in front of you, give you something to chase, metaphorical variety. Do they have Vitamin A?

We all needs carrots. Long term carrots, short term carrots, and orange crunchy ones. I, today, am focusing on very short term carrots.

The carrots that might be in front of me in my next race...

Racing psychology is a very convoluted and difficult aspect of the deal. MTB tends to reward the guys and gals who go off the front in the beginning. There is no 'pack mentality' like in road racing. No draft to benefit those who are patient and choose to conserve energy in the early stages. Lolly and I were watching the women's Olympic MTB race last weekend on-line and within the first 1/2 lap (of 6) I said, "Oh well, the Americans are out of it." Lolly said there was plenty of time left - but MTB just doesn't work that way...the start is 95% of the race. The whole shot is VITAL!
Conserving energy in an MTB race will get your doors blown off! Can you say last place?

The U.S. gals did place a very respectable 7th and 8th but were never in it. Although, losing to Sabine Spitz of Germany is not so hard to take...she's is amazingly talented!

In the lead pack there are carrots and rabbits. The natural tendency is to be a carrot...the guy leading the race, but psychologically it can be very demoralizing to look around and see x number of racers riding your wheel. Especially if you can't ride them off your wheel.

So, in these next few races I want to be a rabbit...a rabbit that can keep up with the carrot, mark him, and pass him near the end of the race when he is psychologically and physically drained and I am only the latter.

Mmmm, carrots!

***********************************************
Hit the road early this morning on the SS (Voodoo Dambala 29er geared at 32x18).



Not an especially good gear for road work but I wanted to simulate some race starts - vital for that whole shot - and what better way to do that than to do it on the bike you will be racing. Rode for just under an hour, mostly in recovery mode (HR Zones 1-2) but added in 5x90 second AT (anaerobic threshold) efforts to simulate race starts. I rolled up to the 'starting' line, unclipped and put my left foot down, counted 3-2-1 and launched into it! Felt pretty good for the first 3 - the last 2 kinda hurt...but fortunately each race only has one start! And I am putting the finishing touches on a pretty intense 4 week Build phase of my training. I should be sore!
Pretty much have just one 'effort' ride left over the next 10 days as I begin to taper off the intensity before the race. I'll be doing a good bit of 'speed' work (high cadence stuff) and form drills with little bursts thrown in to keep the pistons lubed and ready.
YEE-HAW! Come on Oxford!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Babiah is Growing Up So Fast!

KR had her 4 month checkup today...and the doctor told us what we already knew. "She's perfect!" Duh! She's only like the best baby ever doc!

Highlights of the visit included 2 shots...



She cried but only for ~20 seconds. I, as always, vomited (just a touch) of my breakfast into my mouth - needles and knives do it to me every time!

And, the big news...



But does she like it?



SUCCESS!!



Enough with the flashy thing already dude! Trying to eat my cereal here OK?!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Tempo Work aka Come'On Fay Give Us A Break...

The day dawned looking like this...



Tropical Storm Fay was forecasted to throw 4-6" of rain our way over the next 48 hrs. Perfect!
True to her billing, I woke up to rain, began laundry and other various chores to rain, ate breakfast with Fay, and greeted Lolly and KR with more rain at ten AM.

Realizing that the nice 3 hour endurance ride I had planned was a...wash (nyuk-nyuk), I suggested that we go for a drive to look at some of the newer subdivisions in Madison. Guess who joined us? Fay.

We drove around for a couple of hours, got some grubbage, then some Joe (smoothie for me) and took it to the house. Gnash and Brooke are not minding Fay so much as they get to be lazy house dogs for the duration...

I however was left with no options...I was going to have to get my workout in on...THE TRAINER! YUCK! A more fitting description of the term 'necessary evil' is unknown in the world of competitive cycling. But I gotta do what I gotta do...

3 hours was out of the question - the trainer is just too mundane...with the fall races only 2 weeks away I know that getting that high end fitness tapped is of the utmost import. So, I settled on 1.5 hours with 2x30 minute tempo sessions: the 1st in Zone 3 HR (~155bpm) and the 2nd in Zone 4 (~165bpm). Not nearly as brutal as I expected it to be...especially after a pretty vigorous MTB ride yesterday morning at about 2 hours time and just below race pace.

Does this bode well for my upcoming race? Man, that would be a fantastic payoff for my structure and self-discipline over the last 3 months.

Well, back to KR!

KR is Like Sooo Over the Papparazzi








Friday, August 22, 2008

Not One to Talk Politics but...

The article below was written by syndicated columnist, Thomas Sowell. Some of it is a bit vitriolic for my taste but we are playing for the same team:





Senator John McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama can cause me to vote for McCain.After long and serious thought, I have decided to endorse Senator John McCain for President.I have always voted for the person and have not voted for anyone because some political party was telling me who I should vote for.We all know the choices by now and, that said, I do believe that the process of selecting a chief executive is deeply flawed. The words "money" and "special interests" come to mind, among many others.

Here's the way I see it:Barack Obama, you are a fine public speaker. You are also an extremely liberal Senator from the State of Illinois , which has a long and rich history of political corruption of the first magnitude. You are indeed a child of that system.You have finally insulted my intelligence far beyond my capacity to tolerate your insults. It has nothing at all to do with your skin color. As a matter of fact, it would be so COOL to finally have an African-American for President. What a great statement that would be to the entire world that we are indeed the greatest country on earth!

But, unfortunately, General Colin Powell is not running, and YOU are NOT the man for this job !Barack baby, you want me to believe that you have never heard the sermons of your own pastor, the Right Reverend "God Damn America" Jeremiah Wright. It is a matter of record that this has been your church for over 20 years. It is a matter of record that you were married there by this very pastor, and that your children were baptized there.The good Reverend saw fit to visit Khadafy in Libya with you and to give a lifetime achievement award to Louis Farrakhan, of all people.We have all now seen excerpts of his sermons all over the airwaves by now. And you have publicly stated that this man IS your "spiritual mentor."BUT, your pastor is NOT the reason I am NOT voting for you. His words were disturbing enough, but it is your own HUGE church congregation, seen jumping, hooting and howling to his words in the background that disturb me the most. And please don't tell me you attended church there and never once heard a "discouraging word" in the 20 years you attended there. Don't tell me, that in addition to the good reverend, that you are now not having anything to do with all those other people seen hooting and howling out in the audience in the background of his fiery tirades. Even Oprah Winfrey got disgusted and walked out on your campaign. I am no Oprah fan, but still she did the right thing.Now you look me in the eye and ask me to believe that you never heard such language in all the years you attended there! This is like me telling you that I attended dozens of Klan rallies and never once heard the "N" word. Yep. And Bill Clinton "did not inhale".Yes, Mr. Obama, we all have friends who have said stupid things that embarrassed us, but NOW you have asked me to believe something that is so incredibly stupid that you are telling me that I am just stupid e nough to believe you. THAT is the main reason that I will never vote for you.I am deeply sorry, that in a country teeming with enormously talented African Americans who would make a good President, that the political system has chosen YOU. You are a pathetic and plastic excuse for an American, who will not even salute the Flag during the Pledge of Allegiance.God forbid you ever get near the Oval Office.Which leaves us with Senator John McCain.John, you are a flawed man. You are a bit old, a bit looney, and you have a notoriously bad temper. This perfectly qualifies you, in my humble opinion, to lead us for the next eight years. I WANT your trembling hand on the nuclear buttonThink about it.We have Kim Jong IL, Chavez and Ahmadenijad all running around like lunatics, threatening America and threatening to plunge the world into nuclear Armageddon. We have Putin and the Chinese blustering and rattling their sabers at us. I want John McCain in the Oval Office and I want him to be really ticked off at all these other nut jobs around the planet.John, once you are elected, I want you to go into the Oval Office and throw one of your perfect FITS. Jump up and down and throw something through a plate glass window. Rip the drapes down and foam at the mouth a bit. And I want the whole thing on camera so that Ahmadinejad can see it I want ALL of these "world leaders" to lay awake at night and to break out in a cold sweat every time they think of messing with the United States of America .I want the nuclear button sitting right next to the alarm clock on your night stand. I want pictures of this to be sent to Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, and those other dopes in the sheets, the Saudis.On the domestic front, poor John did try and reach across the aisle to the opposition in a desperate effort to compromise and to get the Congress to do something. You may not agree with his efforts, but at least he TRIED. For all his efforts, all he got handed to him was his head in a basket. The liberals are ticked at him and the conservatives are ticked at him. Just my kinda guy.I predict that John will select Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Good choice. I want a Jew whose memory of the Holocaust is still fresh in his mind and who is royally ticked off at all of these towel-headed morons in the Middle East t o be the next in line if something should happen to John. Shalom, Vice President Joe. One heartbeat from the Oval Office.Finally. John McCain knows on a most personal level what it is to suffer horrible torture for years and to see others die, right in front of you, for their love of America When you ask him about it, he will tell you that what he did was "nothing special. " Even more incredibly, he states that ANY American who truly loves his country would do exactly the same as he did in that situation. You and I will have a hard time believing that, but the real point is that John McCain believes that about the "average American," and that, dear friends and neighbors, is why I will cast my one poor ballot for on election day forJohn McCain -- warts and all!

Thursday, August 21, 2008