Who wants an endoscopy? ME! ME! ME!

What am I, like 70? So, I made an appointment with the GI doc after 3 weeks of nausea and late day fatigue that I just couldn't lick. His plan? Run a series of blood tests (results pending) ranging from thyroid studies to an ANA. Also, this coming Monday morning I will have an ultrasound of my insides and then have a lighted tube stuck down my throat. Yeah! Could be worse...a tube up my other end. Anyway, hopefully this will get to the bottom (er, top) of things. We'll stay away from the bottom for now!

The training has been going very well (the nausea and fatigue have been coming on slowly following lunch each day) and...HEY! THAT'S IT! NOT ONLY IS THE CAFETERIA FOOD NOT GOOD IT'S MAKING ME SICK!! Doubtful...it's just so bad. So, the training, thanks to the onset of my daily symptoms is rolling right along. Sleep is good, appetite is good, mental is good.

Guess who else is good? KR! and she is sporting some new headgear (same old beanie for me)!



"Seriously, get this thing OFF of my head!!"



KR was terrified of this ball pit the first time she entered it.



Now? Not so much.



"Ya did good Mimi. Me likey ball pit."

Dancing in the Pedals / Fun with KR

Sometimes you have days where everything goes right. I was blessed with one today.

Had to take to Fo-Runner in for an inspection sticker, oil change, and new tyres this morning.
Other than the amount of moolah I had to fork over, all went well. Sweet!

Lolly, KR, and I ran some errands while we waited that included an awesome breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs at Primo's. Our favorite weekend breakfast spot (an everyone else's in the tri-county area!). Then a quick trip to Babies-R-Us for some food. KR is starting on solid foods. We got her some of the puff treats. We gave her one tonight to see what she would do. And...she choked and then threw up. Yeah, Lolly got it on video. Bribery material in her teen years for sure!

Met up with B-Rad and Buck (among others) at the trails today for what I was considering a 'C' level training race/ride. I hung with B-Rad for all but about the last 3.5 of 24 miles (3 laps) and was able to average 10mph (quite a feat on these trails). Rode at about 90-95% of my race pace and felt pretty good until a mild bonk about 20.5 miles in. If it had been a real race I would have had some Hammer Gel on hand. As it was, the granola bar was a bit hard to get to. I'll be back tomorrow for a couple hours of MTB recovery. 1st race is 8 weeks away and I am feeling great. B-Rad said I am riding better than he's ever seen. The hard work is paying off.

I earned this!



A couple of KR pics - our best friend!



Can't tell in this pic but she was bobbing her head back and forth to some silly song I was singing.



9 months old and already asking for the car keys. Jeesh!

Friday Funny

The sexes when asked: Wanna go out for a drink?

Tough Climb / Rockin' the Argyle

Came across some (as yet) undiscovered pics from the 2008 Lungbuster SCRCS finale at the home trails.



This first one is after the initial run into the woods and climb up the fire road - about 45 seconds in and 2 good matches burned due to the rookie mistake of slipping on the attempt to clip in. Nice - but hey, if Adam Craig can do it in the Olympics, a punk like me is definitely not immune! That's Steve from the coast behind me. Nice guy.



This is at the top of the 1st (of 4) big climbs during the 2nd lap. This is the infamous switchback climb. The first 7 switchbacks are basically smooth (some roots) with the new rock gardens between # 5 and 6 and get progressively steeper. The 8th through 10th are mostly rock (especially the 8th one) and work your technical skills at a time when your blown from the first 7 SBs. AWESOME! You'll notice all the rocks in this pic (a lot for MS)...well, this hill is full of them and these were used to correct some drainage issues/make 2 sweet rock gradens halfway up. Awjeah!



And, lastly, one from the Saturday TT and, although I'm not sure if you can tell, I decided to rock the old school argyles. Socks I used to wear in high school circa 1990 resurfaced in the sock drawer and I couldn't resist.

Yeehaw - it's Friday suckas!

Blast From The Past / Time to Get Limber

Me and the missus late 2005? Ah...just babies.

So I decided to forgo my usual Thursday interval session to do a nice 75min. yoga session this AM. Normally I do my yoga on Friday as a semi-rest day leading into a weekend block of riding but it's time to ramp up the intensity a bit. Intervals tomorrow followed by a two day block of MTB with what is shaping up to be a pretty good crew of local and out of town fast guys on both days.

Race season is coming up FAST!

Funny Oldie

J. Chizzle thought this was funny 13 mos. ago. Little does he know that the training program KR is on will having her snacking on the compo in the coming years!!

Think...gonna...vo...mit

Brutal interval sessions at 5:30AM are my least favorite part of being a father but there is no other time to do it. The system is just not built for that type of early morning overload: 20min warm up with 90sec @ 70%, 90sec @ 80% and 90sec @ 90% - then 6x1min with 1min recovery done @ ~ 65% on the first and up to 95% on the last - then 10x20sec with 10sec rest max effort Tabata protocol intervals. The article will say that 6-8 tabata intervals are the most that should be done but, yeah, I'm hardcore like that. After that workout I would normally do a little 15-20min yoga session but with my knee still a bit iffy I called it a day after a 10min high cadence cool down to flush the lactic acid from my legs.

I have to say that I am feeling much better now than I did at this time last year. Nice!

Last night was pretty routine for the McWeSSons: cook (chili), eat, play with KR, watch some TV (Dora, House, The Batchelor - equal opportunity TV for all in our crib), and hit the sackola.

KR has her 9 month checkup today. We expect no surprises.

Tonight I'm thinking Portabello & Gouda burgers with some fresh green beans and a salad. Guess who's hungry?!