On Vacation...

If It's Tuesday Then... (Updated to Include Wednesday)

...it means a couple things for me: 1) usually intervals of some type and 2) Ian's double-headers at SGF. After getting my efforts knocked out in the AM our day turned to the below...

***The below is a little pre-game interview***

Ian's crew played the Willard Tigers in both kid and coach pitch games and the boys won both (11-1 and 10-0). They now have a 12-0 record with the toughest team coming up next week; Ian is bummed as he will miss the game while gone on vacation. Ian pitched one inning (first time ever) and he walked one, gave up one hit (a single) and struck out three; not to shabby.

Tuesday nights are fun and Deb and I look forward to them every week. Jake had a track state qualifier party so we missed him this week, but he is always good to text during the games to check up on his little bro.

Ended up hitting my local Wal-Mart yesterday and trading in my Blackberry for a iPhone 3gS. My BB had gave me fits as of late and with the price reduction for the iPhone I made the switch. I know Apple is getting ready to release 'The Mother of All Phones', but I just can't justify spending a small fortune for the latest tech when the 3gS is right in my price range and it is a huge step up from the BB. No longer need to carry the Bean as the iPhone handles my video and picture needs. Next couple of days will be spent figuring out gadgets and downloading aps. ***All the above was shot with my new device***

Wednesday I ended up playing some noon basketball at SBU. After work Ian and I teamed up on the tandem while Deb rode solo (1:20hrs). Deb has really impressed my lately with her riding; I took her over a course lined with some good rollers and a couple decent climbs and she knocked them all out. Eball (guess I should rename him Ebike) refused to take any breaks from pedaling and plugged away as a solid stoker (well, as much as a 9yr old can). His greatest strength on the bike appears to being able to drain all water bottles in record time...

Spent a little time in the shop last night mounting the replacement SRAM shifter. Can't believe how fast it was replaced (dropped off at LBS on Friday and arrived Wednesday). Point of interest is the new shifter is the '10 model and the old one was a '09 (same geometry/holds) but a new look/graphics which makes for mismatched levers; not significantly noticeable, but enough is tweaks me a bit. Long and short of it - I am back up running... er, pedaling, and that is the main thing.

The garden is progressing as the tomato plants are growing nicely, the spinach is providing salad toppings, blackberries are getting really close, but the STRAWBERRIES are knocking it out of the park! Every morning I pull in 30+ nice berries; great for cereal and ice cream.

***This morning's pull***

Warming Up...

My favorite quote regarding the weather change comes via Crusty (paraphrasing it) "Thanks mother nature for turning on the oven, but you can turn off the hair dryer now" For me it's not that it is THAT hot, but just the sudden change from the lower/mid 60s to high 80s WITH humidity. It will take a week for my body to adapt and everything will be fine.

Let's pick up from last Friday...

Friday evening Deb and I hooked up with Wes and Marla and took in The Back Up Plan. Deb enjoyed it and we'll just leave it at that as it is 100% chick flick.

Saturday Jake went with his track squad to Sectionals in Marshfield. He was looking forward to the 4x800 crew running, but was super bummed to not be part of it (he still has a light hack and cough). We opted not to go and get some stuff done around the house. Got the report from the track that the boy's relay ran their butts off and qualified for state (next weekend); Jake was stoked for his teammates. He will be heading out as an alternate this coming weekend in Jeff City to the state championships.

After watching some Giro Saturday morning I headed out for a 3:10hr ride of the Polk County backroads on the mtb. Picked out a super hilly route and when you throw in the sudden change in temps I came back home FRIED (legs, lungs, heart, and sun burn)! One of the harder steady tempo rides I have done in some time. I love the dirt/gravel roads we have and forget how much fun (and demanding) they are.

Sunday morning up and early to grab a 2.5hr ride while it was still cool temps. Mtb with semi-slicks worked out well for road ride north of Bodunklivar. Kept it pretty simple and a light spin. Early mornings are my favorite as it starts the day off with a sense of renewed freshness.

Off to church with the crew then we all headed to SGF to knock out some shopping for summer/cruise clothing. Introduced the boys to Chipotle Grill with Ian ready to come back for more and with jury is still out for Jake. Got a ton accomplished.

Returned home and hung out inside for the afternoon until we emerged early evening for a ride with Deb and Ian. Picked up a new seat post in SGF earlier in the day which allowed a low enough setting on the tandem for Ian to ride. This was (and is going to be) alot of fun with Ian on the back as he was having a ball. That sucker is a wiggly guy (much more than Deb) so it was like a core workout balancing and countering his movement (Pilate's has nothing on this). Deb rode her rig with us and we ended up knocking our a solid 1:15hrs. Played a little ball with Ian before the sun dropped for the day.

Took Monday as an 'off day' so I played an hour of light basketball at noon. Hooked out of work early, picked up Ian, and we spent the afternoon at ball practice. Pretty warm out, but it appeared to not phase the boys as boys will be boys (no matter the temps). Ian got some pitching practice in and looked pretty decent (nothing too fast, but over the plate). He might see some 'mound' time in the upcoming games.

Spent a little time in the garden and we are starting to rake in the strawberries and the blackberries are super close to picking.

Tuesday morning I scooted out at 6am and snagged a 2hr ride on the Frisco. Threw in 2 x 20min efforts in the coolness of the morning. I consider AM rides on the FT as doing community service as I cleared out every spider web between Bolivar and nearly Walnut Grove.

Ian has a double-header ball games in SGF this evening so that's where we'll be (and every Tuesday evening for the next couple of months.

Cover Your Ears Mom...

...cause I am getting ready to let fly some words of which you would not approve! %&$Q#$% $% $#%#$ #$%$Q 34%#$!!!!! That pretty much sums up yesterday's ride and my spring thus far.

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Over the winter I had to replace my Blue and ended up without it for over a month and a half, broke my arm a month and a half ago and missed several targeted races, finally arm recovered and the body/rig is working good, Jake misses most important part of track season and...

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So yesterday the rain decided to recede so I hopped out in search of a 20min x 2 interval set during a 2hr ride. On the way north of town my Garmin died a horrible death so my HR was not available. Not too big of a deal as I knew the Gman was near the end as duct tape was the only thing keeping it alive for the past couple months. I have been really hard on the ForeRunner 305 over the past four years and it has served me well. Back to the ride... with no HR I was going to stick with perceived efforts as my gauge, but two minutes before the first effort my right Sram Force shifter lever (one behind the brake lever) came off in my hand (literally) while I shifted. You hear all the time the ole 'I was just riding along and...', but no joke that is exactly what I was doing; no hard shift under pressure or climbing, it was a simple shift. ***What is missing from the first picture? Check out pic #2 and you'll see***

There I am 5 or so miles north of Bolivar and figured I would limp in, but to my surprise the 'single speed' I was left with (rear cog 15 or 14, not sure) was just about right to let knock out my efforts; all I needed to do was find a relatively flattish loop. Ran thought my memorised catalog of roads in the area and before I knew it I was lung deep in my first effort (2 x 20min). After the first one I headed south of town to a better loop and knocked out my second effort. Used my frustration and focused toward the efforts and came away totally cooked, but rewarded for my suffering. Was able to salvage a bad situation and still squeeze some lemonade (figuratively).

So, to add a kick to the crotch, on the ride back home a massive rain and lightening storm came out of nowhere and I had to take cover at a local car dealership (the place was closed so I huddled against the building shielded from the driving rain, but still getting soaked. Stayed there for 15min until the deluge lightened and I did an unexpected interval back to the casa. *** Hard to tell the intensity of the storm (and the amount of rain it dumped) from the below picture, but trust me it was intense***

Some folks drown their frustrations with booze, but tonight's mind-numbing tool was whipped cream... Actually Ian had never done cheese whiz or WC straight from the can so I was passing on one of those dad/son moments; he did me proud.

Traded my scheduled ride time to hit my LBS (in SGF) and found Sram will warranty my shifter and a new one will be in next week; hopefully I can get back on the road a couple days before we leave on our cruise. Until then it's back to the mtb and tandem on the trainer.

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This has been a frustrating spring so far and every time I get ready to absolutely throw a fit I realize that these are smaller issues in the big picture and if this is as bad as it has gotten then it is really NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL as I have way too many positive aspects of my life to whine.

Giro Flipped Upside Down

Was able to slide out early Tuesday afternoon and get in some intervals on the road; 5 x 3min, 5 x 1min, and 1 x 10min. I was dragging on the cruise home. Nice to do a ride in the SUN (and not in rain) as it's been on vacation as of late.


After work we loaded up the ball gear and headed to SGF for Ian's double-header. The first game was a 'kid pitch' and the later was a 'coach pitch'; both are in the top competitive league. First and second game chalked up a 'W' and now the boys are 10-0 in 2010. Ian played a solid fielding game, but grounded out three times (and was walked once) to go 0 for 3 (he was bummed and I had to remind him even A. Pujols has a slump from time to time). Braums ice cream made the frustration disappear... amazing. Got unpacked and Ian in bed a little after 10pm (kept trying to slow his approach to bed to watch the Magic .vs. Celtics game); not a big deal as tomorrow is his (and Jake's) last day of school.

Can someone explain to me what happened at Wednesday's Giro?!?!?! How do you give a 'break' (of 50+ riders to include Sastre) a gap of 17minutes and expect to close it down. Astana, BMC, and Liquigas = fail!!!!!! I still think Cadel and Vino will battle to the end for the overall GC, but that's too much to give up(can you say Oscar Pereiro TdF). Liguigas pointing at Astana and Astana saying it wasn't up to them to defend when Basso and Nibali are the 'main contenders' for the GC (cop out for saying your team isn't strong enough to control it).
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Yesterday it rained pretty much non-stop from 8am on. I had low-to-no motivation to ride on the trainer so I kept the bike on the hook in the shop. Thursday is supposed to be clear (still cloudy, but light rain) so I plan to get in 3hrs after work.
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The boys both came home Wednesday with a sense of relief knowing Summer Vacation had began. We celebrated a solid year of good grades with a call to the Wong number (Master Wong's that is - best cashew chicken in SWMO). Ian was stoked as he got to stay up for the entire beating the Suns took (Lakers up 2-0) while Jake, his buddy Stephen, Deb, and I played a couple games of Settlers.
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This morning (Thursday) Deb and I were not surprised to see Ian up early and catching Sports Center; it's hard to turn off your body's clock when summer sleep-in time hits. He'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Academics and The End of the Season

Monday morning started off with a high tempo stroll on the rollers as it looked like it could storm at any moment. Lunch found me at SBU playing some basketball (opted for this as a couple friends were in town and I hadn't seen them in over a year).

Monday afternoon was Ian's BIS Academic Awards and he ended up with straight A's for the entire year. He was less than interested in the letter grade, but focused on getting the 'gold medal' that came with the achievement; he turns everything into competition. Deb and I are very proud of his efforts. Also nice to see his basketball (and most baseball) teammates earning high marks.

Got home and took advantage of clear skies and mowed the lawn. Afterwards Deb, Ian, and I played some 500 (baseball game) in the backyard. Deb surprised us with her hitting abilities; she had no idea she would be a tomboy at her age.

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Jake got home from practice and the pain in his

lungs continued to hamper his running. Coach requested we send him in for a chest x-ray to check the pain and plans to hold him off running until we hear the results. Appointment at CMH completed this morning (Tuesday) and xrays show no pneumonia, but doc thinks he has pleurisy (inflammation of the lung lining that prevents deep breathing without severe pain) and has called his season DONE. He worked so hard to overcome his leg injury and now gets hit with this; I feel bad for him as this is the second year in a row that track beat him up. Oh well, a good month of rest and XC (his senior year) summer workouts start. ***The picture to the right is prior to last Friday's Athletic Celebration***

After dinner last night I hopped on the roller again for another solid hour ride. I like the rollers from time to time as they keep your stroke honest (smooth circles).

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Heading to SGF this evening for Ian's double-header baseball game. For the rest of the summer he plays two games pretty much every Tuesday night at Ewing Park.

The below clip is from Ian and I's Eco field trip a couple Friday's ago.

The below was snagged from Velo Lex (SGF rider) and it is absolutely hilarious what he is doing to these interviewers

Survive and Move On...

... was the message repeated to Jake all week long was he continued to battle with his bronchitis all week long leading up to Saturday's Class 3 District track meet at Union (STL area). He had managed only a couple workouts and was unable to finish many of the them without suffering breathing issues; frustration and worry weighed heavy as Saturday approached. More on that in a minute.

Friday was another soggy day so I opted to move indoors for a little basketball at SBU. It was my first play since breaking my arm and needless to say I was slightly nervous about taking a fall, but the guys were all aware and kept the banging and bumping to a minimum (for one day at least). Felt good to get back on the court and after an hour I was feeling the 'interval'. Noonball has always served as an interval effort (especially for cross) for me as the tempo is high (minimal rest from start to finish) and the HR stays up there.

Friday after work Ian had indoor baseball practice at 'the cages' here is Bolivar, which is a nice option when it rains outside. There are three 'netted' lanes (two for batting practice w/machines and one for kid pitching and an open area for fielding work) and plenty of practice is accomplished during the two hours.

Jake took Andie to the BHS Athletic Celebration (suit and tie affair) in the evening and had a good time. He was in bed at a decent hour as the bus left at 5:30am the next morning for the 3.5 hr drive to Union.

Saturday morning everyone was up bright and early heading up I-44 to the district meet. It rained solid the entire drive (and light rain most of the day). To kill the drive time Ian brought a book about Missouri Oak and Hickory trees he recently got at his Eco field trip. Deb and Ian took turns reading aloud and knocked out the whole thing. Never thought I would know as much about trees as I do now.

Got to the meet and set up our 'fortress'; sat on big blue tarp and draped it over us to provide complete closure on three sides and perfect viewing out the front. Ian was a great trooper and we all enjoyed/endured the rain/drizzle/winds for the LONGGGGGG meet.

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So there we are watching the boys warming up and Jake was not looking good (already); just survive and move on... Gun goes off and after the first three legs the boys have the lead by about 10 meters and Jake takes off. His first quarter is solid, but as he is coming by he is already gasping for a breathe (obvious in the progress of the pictures below). Buffalo goes by and then Osage; Jake is keeping it together as the top four move on and in the closing meters he keeps the pace high and passes the Osage runner to finish 2nd (only 2 seconds behind first). His leg was the slowest of the team's and one of his slowest all year, but it doesn't matter as they advanced and he has another week to recover and that was the main focus... survive and move on.

Jake mentally beat himself up for the rest of the day as he felt he let his team down by not winning. I had to remind him there was no difference in 1st and 4th at districts and sectionals as they all move on and his job this week was simply run and qualify, which he did. He heard what I said, but couldn't let go of letting his team down. Coach decided not to run him in the open 800 (good choice) as it was obvious he couldn't perform at a level to advance to sectionals. He spent most of the day cheering on teammates and hacking and coughing; he has one week to get back to decent running form.

Next week at sectionals Bolivar is going to surprise a few teams as it will be a different group running the 4 x 800 for the first time all season. Districts was the first time Jake had ran the relay and our second fastest kid (Sterling Roberts) didn't run it Saturday (as they saved him for the open 800 knowing the relay would advance without him). With Jake halfway healthy this weekend he will easily drop 5+ seconds from his leg and putting Sterling on will drop a 2:11 time to 2:06 or better; that is a 10 second advance that should get them comfortably through districts and into the State meet. That being said now they actually have to go out and do it as they are currently ranked 6th (top 4 advance), but only 2 seconds behind 4th and 5th and 5 seconds behind 3rd. 12:30pm this Saturday it is on like Donkey Kong at Marshfield!

After the meet Jake decided to hop in with us for the drive home (which is always nice). With a dinner stop at Steak-n-Shake the drive home seemed to last forever as it continued to drizzle the whole way back. A quick catch of SNL and lights out for everyone; we were all beat.

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I decided Saturday evening not to race Hellbender as the forecast was for a ton of rain and I still hadn't kicked my cold (turns out it rained plenty). I am still in the hunt for my first race of '10.

Sunday we all slept in and skipped church services. It was needed for both the boys as Ian slept past 9am (super late for him) and Jake close to 12pm (regular for him - HA!). I got up in time to watch the Giro finish (and the last 10k from the day before - EPIC is a deserving description).

Speaking of the Giro the first below photo (from Graham Watson) is one of my favorite of all time (is that the Giro or CX?). Cadel was a monster and after last years WC and most all of this year he is no longer boring to watch. It took me a while to figure out if the Giro riders were in Holland, Italy, or Missouri in the second picture...

I initially planned to get in a ride in the afternoon (when the rain stopped), but Ian and I ended up playing the whole afternoon and I just couldn't give that up for a spin. Sunday evening included hanging out with the crew and playing a bunch of games of Settlers.