Friday, October 16, 2009

Quick Catch Up

Wednesday opened pretty routine: Jake's AM practice, Deb off to work, and Ian and I hitting a donut/chocolate milk stop on the way to get his flu shot prior to 'late-start' school. Ian was pretty stoked about his big brother's race the night before; it's pretty funny as my 8yr old always asks who was at the meet and systematically names off the top 3 or 4 SWMO runners (most high school XC'ers don't even know who they are - Thater, Chapman, Hoover, Crowder...).
Jumped out at lunch with Ira and knocked out our 'Wednesday Intervals' and this week we kept it on the asphalt as all our local courses were deep mud fests from the rain and I wanted to focus on some short/steep climbing work. It was pretty chilly out which gave me a chance to try out my new fleece-lined skinsuit (awesome). Toward the end of our session we passed a guy out riding a mtb w/clip-on aero bars, a air-pistol in a water cage, and dressed from head to toe in black (to include full face mask). It was only 41 or 42, but this guy had the Arctic gear going and I wasn't about to ask questions with his pistol (pellet all be it) within reach.

Jake capped his day with a 16mile run at PM practice; that is the last 'big' run for the XC season and I think he is glad.

The rest of the evening was pretty low-key and relaxing with the exception of the 200 loads of laundry done and the never ending folding...

Thursday had me taking in an AM run (with sets of stadium climbs). Just to keep me humble Jake was getting home from his workout as I was leaving at 6:20am; that is kind of weird for me. Dale and I got in a good 1:30hr ride at lunch (no ninja pistolla sighting). Deb and I delivered dinner to the family of one of Jake's teammates (Ken) who recently lost his grandfather (Ken lived with grandparents). The XC team scheduled meal support for this family for the next four or five days. Coach Bandy truly takes his teams outside the 'competition' realm and makes them as much as a family as possible. After an 8 mile run and a quick post-practice ice cream with a 'friend' Jake spent some time with Ken. I know I go on about this, but Jake is an incredibly quality kid with a heart beyond my understanding (obviously Deb's qualities trickling down). Routine evening once everyone got home.

The boys don't have school today so you would think it would be a 'sleep in and relax day', but Jake had AM practice (warm up run then 8 x 800m on the track at 5:15am) followed with he and Ian getting their h1n1 shots this morning (both on prioritized list since they have respiratory issues). I might hop in a little basketball at lunch then roll around 30 minutes or so after work just to loosen the legs. Deb and I are heading to SPR with some friends tonight for dinner (not sure where).

Looks like some road trip'n this weekend as Dale and I are hitting the Capital Cup 'Cross race in Topeka on Saturday then Ira and I are doing the Blvd Cup in KC on Sunday. Supposed to be chilly both days; what else did you expect it's 'cross season

Got Jake and I signed up for the 25k Swamp Stomper Trail Run in Memphis in mid-January. We did this race last year with a fun group of runners from the SPR area and it was Jake's first trail race. This will be my third time at the SS (first year I did the 50k race and last year did the 25k) and it is pretty low-key and more of a fun group run than a race (at least it was last year). I suspect Jake will turn it loose and see how it goes for the overall. He'll take a good break after the SS to prepare for track. ***pics from last years event***

1 comment:

  1. So I notice in the first pic that Jake is behind you, I bet we don't see that this year.

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