Long time, no posts

It's been a little hectic the last couple of weeks. I've been to several interviews and had considerable amounts of school work along with lots of training. And because of this I've been unable to write an entry. I can't even write a decent one tonight because I need to be up at 5 for a 6 mile hill run.

Sooo, on July 4th weekend I went camping with family and friends. Also brought Kristi along for the fun. And while friday evening was very nice it rained most of the day on saturday. Which meant, lots of drinking, early, like starting around 3pm. We had bought some beer and the cheapest bottle of wine we could find. Within about a half hour the wine was gone! And then we moved on to the beer. After dinner (you just can't beat our camping food!) we watched some movie. And then went to bed. We didn't get our run in the next morning because it was still raining so we did it once we got back home. A nice 7 miles that was uphill for a good 2 or 3 at least!

That monday was a rest day and we resumed training on tuesday with an easy 4 miler. And then did the time trial that night and finished with a new PR of 27:55 or 21.92mph average. Wensday we did a 6 mile out and back hill run on Cliff rd in Cleves. Kristi yelled at me the entire fucking run! But she was ok once it was over. Just a VERY difficult run and she was hurting big time. Of course my legs were still toast from the previous days activities as well.

Thursday I went to the BMX track for about 45 minutes just to loosen up a little and have some fun doing something different. I think it's helping with my pain threshold because it's a sprint the whole way and I'm starting to tolerate the burn better than I was.

Friday I did an easy 5 miles with Kristi. And then did homework most of the day. After I cut the grass of course. And by homework I mean reading "Hound of the Baskervilles". That afternoon I met Kristi and we went to Jungle Jims. It was my 1st time there. The best score we made there was the chocolate peanut butter! Stuff is the shit! Fo real! We also stopped by the pet store just for the hell of it and got to play with a chocolate lab. He was a cool dog. Of course he better have been because they wanted $1299 for him.

For dinner we made a salad with SwissChar (sp?), tomato, onion and fresh mozzarela and topped with oil and vinegar. Then for the main course we had tuna steaks and sweet potatoes (my 1st time with tuna steak). Desert was homeade popcicles consisting of greek yogurt, blueberries and strawberries. Everything was excellent! Then we passed out on the couch.

Saturday morning came way too soon! But, as luck would have it I actually had someone to ride with this week. Bill is a year or two younger than I and like me got into cycling this year to lose weight. So far I think he's down 30lbs. He wanted something different and challenging. So I delivered with a nice scenic ride out past Miami Whitewater. Turned out to be about 43 miles with some pretty serious climbs. I could have made it a lot worse but I didn't want to scare him too soon. Even so he called me a masakist when we got back to the shop. All in fun of course, but, it is true. It started raining just as we pooled into the shop. So I ditched my 5 mile run that I was supposed to do and helped out at the shop since Wanda was busy.

Sunday me and Kristi did a 9 or so mile run from her place in Norwood to Ault Park and back. We didn't keep a crazy fast pace or anything and I let her lead the majority of the run so I wouldn't leave her. But, she isn't used to those long, sustained efforts yet. As a consequence she isn't very pleasant to be around during or shortly after. To attest to this we had our 1st fight immediately following the run. I thought it was a completely ridiculous argument. Unfortunately she didn't feel the same way. I was debating whether I should go home or stay (original plan) while she went to the stadium to fill out some paperwork. I decided to stay. And when she got home she was in a much better mood and we calmly talked it out. All is good once again.

Monday was an off day. And today (tuesday) I did a 3 mile run early this afternoon in 23:27. I know I can go faster but I don't know how much. Probably shave another 15 to 30 seconds off if I went balls out. It still hurt though. And tonight I journeyed back to Cleves for yet another TT. Left from the house and met Judy and Amanda and the tomb. We rode the course backwards for warm-up. Some of the guys from the MS ride were there as well. I wasn't really sure how I was going to fair since my legs felt a little heavy. But once I got going I felt really good and attacked all the hills. Then I caught Judy with a couple miles too go. She gave me the finger as I passed! Of course, considering I started a 1:30 behind her, I'd be a little pissed too. She didn't have her best race but it wasn't bad either. I finished with a 27:24 (22.3mph) a new all time PR! And they had prizes tonight for PR's so I walked with a new T-shirt and waterbottle!

In other news I finally found a job. Not that I'm happy with the position. It's Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4pm to 1am. Driving a shuttle bus at the casino formerly known as Argosy. I start this weekend and I'm NOT looking forward to it.

It's been a crazy week and a half! Not even sure if I can go into detail on the whole thing. Training wise I did about 2 hours at the bmx track last tuesday instead of going to the time trial. Mainly because my bike pump was broke and I was stuggling getting clothes washed without electricity. Overall I'm feeling pretty good on the bmx bike. Although it's still a little sketchy in the air. I went back thursday for about an hour. It was 90 something degrees and 90% humidity and miserable. So I didn't stick around long.

I spent the majority of thursday doing a thourough cleaning of my room. And packing for New York. Kristi's cousin was having her graduation party and Kristi invited me. Sooo, she picked me up thursday night and we went to her parents house to stay the night. This way we could get an early start. Early, is, of course, a relative term. Because we left at 7:30 which although early, isn't THAT early. Kristi's parents, her sister and brother in-law and their two kids (Abby and Evelyn). Her dad drove up with Lori (sister), Joe (brother in-law) and Evy (their 12 day old daughter). I had the pleasure to ride with Kristi, her mom, and Abby (Lori's 2 yr old daughter).

Abby and Evy

After a 9 hour drive we arrived at her Uncle Ed and Aunt Judy's house. Ed is a doctor and is pretty loaded. They have a huge house and live at a country club. Friday night we just hung out and ate dinner. On saturday Kristi and I had planned to go running. But Ed (her uncle) wanted to go play golf. So I went with him, Ritchie (her dad) and Joe. I sucked it up pretty bad but I don't play enough to be any good and it was a tough course.

The course

Nina's party that night was nice. I got to meet all the relatives that matter and they all seemed to like me. Even uncle Steve who tried to give me some shit but I was able to give it back which I think earned me bonus points. They also had some college band that was ok but nothing special.

Sunday we just sat around and watched tv for most of the day as Kristi's family had to go to Nina's graduation ceremony and it wound up raining. But I managed to get a 6 mile run in before the rain and Kristi got 4.2. It was just an out and back but the out was mostly downhill so coming backed sucked ass!

We drove back home on Monday. And Kristi got this pic of Abby sleeping in the car.

Tuesday officially started Columbus Marathon training. I did a moderately hilly 4 mile run and maintained a 9 min/mile avg. Not blistering but considering the weather and being tired I'll take it. Then after doing some chores and what not I went to the TT. I wasn't feeling all that great but I figured why not. Amanda and Judi both went as well. Both Amanda and I were off our pace from the previous week. I clocked a 28:57. Once I get some clip-on aero bars I should lose about a minute. The big surprise was Judi. She actually beat my sorry ass by a couple of seconds. And it went straight to her head. She just started in on this uncontrollable laughter and I was NOT a happy camper (as can be seen in the pic below of me showing Judi my appreciation).

Wensday morning me and Kristi went to Colerain Highschool to get in our 6 mile hill run. It was a 3 mile loop she used to run when she was on the track team. We ran it forward and then backward. Overall it was a good route. The hills weren't anything too crazy and I finished in about 54 minutes. She finished around 57. Considering it was her 1st 6 mile run since doing the half pig she did really good. Afterwards we did 4 sprints and then some stretches. She's unnaturally flexible! If you notice her hands are flat on the ground. I can't even get 6 inches to the ground!

Today I just finished a 20 miler or so with Judi. I wanted to do a serious hill ride but she pussied out on me. So we did the hill loop once and then the tt course. Even so it was about 700ft in the 1st 12 miles. My kind of ride. Now I need to pack for camping this weekend!