Happy Halloween

I swam before work, 6am laps. The lifeguard was dressed up as a witch and she had a bunch of snacks set out.

1x250 warm up
3x500 (intervals, 25e, 25f, 50e, 50f, 75e, 75f, 100e, 100f and then did this sequence backwards)
1x100 breast
4x100 for time (best 1:35)
1x250 cool down

The 500's went by so freaking fast again, I was able to squeeze in 20 extra laps.

Total 2500y

I am getting stronger in the water for sure. I am a hell of a lot faster than last year this time. I didn't even know what a 100 was last year. Now I am just loving the pool and being in the water more than ever. I am meeting with Coach Alan again next week. I can't wait.

After my swim I went home and got my dogs and took them over to this golfcourse by my house. When it closes for the winter, my dogs can run loose over there.

I am sick of the house being such a huge disaster area! My kitchen is being remodeled by Dominic. He works really fast though. In just two days, he painted the walls, the cabinets, and put in half of the new floor. Today he is supposed to finish the floors, put up new shelves, and pick out tile for the counters. I am excited, but I cannot stand living like this! The fridge is in the livingroom and I can't seem to find anything else!

I am off tomorrow. It's the 1st Saturday I have had totally off in about a year. I have 5 days off and I am happy! We're going to King's Island for their Haunted Fest tomorrow night. It'll be fun.

Happy Halloween! Don't eat too much candy!

Before I forget....

My swim today was awesome. I like to record my swim sets here because this is the way I keep track of my times.

1x400 warm up
1x100 kickboard
20x50 best time was 42 and averaged 44
1x200 breast
1x200 side
1x200 back
1x200 breast
1x200 back
1x500 for time 9:38
1x200 cool down

3200y total

A note to the pussyass "anonymous" commenter's:
Be nice, or don't say anything at all. I am very close to making it so anon comments aren't allowed. If you have an issue with me, email me. Don't leave ignorant, nasty comments on my fucking blog, ok?

Think good thoughts for Fatty and his family. His wife is in the last stages of breast cancer. Very sad. And now the link to his blog is down. I wonder what's up with that?

New kitchen
This is one of the new colors in my kitchen. I am excited. Dominic is putting in new floors, painting the walls, and cabinets. I forgot to take before pictures though.



...

I like speedwork

It's cold outside. We had a sudden drop in temps to mid-40's. It's a shock, since we just had mid-60's like 2 days ago. I went downstairs and found my gloves and all that crap. I am just so not ready for this shit.


Yesterday I got up early and went to Hot yoga. It's not really Birkram because the room is only 100-110. It's the closest thing to Bikram yoga I have in Cincinnati. My ITB is fine, but I am still babying it. I am foam rolling everyday and my ITB stretches, and this yoga class is good for it. The teacher called me a mesomorph - I'm not sure I agree but I'll take it!


When I got home, Dominic and I went to the Y and lifted for an hour. I just did upper-body and he did his own thing.


INTERUPTION - this post was just interupted by a call from Dominic. He was out on his bike and he crashed. He was trying to corner at 28mph!!! IDIOT! And he went down - at an intesection downtown, in front of a huge crowd. Bike skidded 20 feet. He got back on his bike and continued to ride for 30 more miles. Finally he started to feel the pain, so he stopped to called me to come and get him. Now he's home and his shoulder is messed up. The bike is fine though.


Ok, so back to yesterday.

After weights, I came home, ate, and then ran my dogs for 6 miles. We all ran faster, I guess because of the cold weather. I forgot how good it feels to run in the cold. When I got home, Dominic had Bruno here, so I ran Bruno for a mile. The 7 road miles felt good, but my sciatica hurts! If it's not one fucking thing, it's another.

Today I met Sandi for speedwork at the track. She is doing IMAZ in about 4-5 weeks so she is trying to cram a ton of training in, these last few weeks. She is a faster runner than me (who isn't?) so I knew I'd get in a good run. We ran the 2 miles to the track and then did a total of 4 800's with a recovery lap in between each 800. My times for my 800 were not-too-bad!

4:00
3:58
3:54
3:58

According to the Yasso 800 theory, that means I should be able to run a 4 hour marathon.

After the 800's, we ran the 2 miles back to the cars. It was a great run! I love track work! We are going to try and keep this up once a week, and keep adding 800's.

Me and Dominic are on our way out to dinner and bowling w/ my best friend Emily and her husband, Gino. I am so tired and all I want to wear are sweats and a hoodie, but I can't. I have to go get ready. See ya.

Fixed gear ride #1

Fixed gear riding is fun!

I love my steel bike. Really, it's so sweet. Fuck carbon, right? I wonder if I could do a triathlon on this sucker. Like a sprint distance. Do they even let you ride fixed in a tri?

Me, our friend Kelon, and Dominic all went to Miami Whitewater park to ride on the bike trail. I have ridden a track bike, on the velodrome, one time, but that's the extent of my experience riding fixed.

For those of you that don't know what "riding fixed" means, from Sheldon Brown's website:

"The oldest and simplest type of bicycle is the "fixed-gear" bicycle. This is a single-speed bike without a freewheel; that is, whenever the bike is in motion, the pedals will go around. You cannot coast on a fixed-gear machine."

The simplicity of the bike is what totally sold me.

Dominic, and Kelon behind him


It was chilly, 60's, but had strong winds. The trail always has a headwind - always. But I had no problems in the wind today, riding 40x15. It wasn't too spinny at all. I just have to get used to not being able to stop pedaling at all. I didn't use my brake at all. I just push backwards and the bike slows down.

That red jersey looked like shit and was so uncomfortable


Usually I do not wear jerseys. I always have Dominic hold stuff for me, and I have a lame-o Bento Box (don't make fun) that I shove tons of stuff in. But my fixed gear bike has none of that. It's bare. No saddle bag, no water bottle holders either. So I have to wear a jersey to hold my water bottle. I hate it. And Dominic refuses to carry anything of mine anymore.

Kelon and Dominic behind him


The trail has a few slight hills. I am fine climbing, but downhill will take some getting used to. I brake and push back on my pedals so I descend slowly. I am totally in control of the bike though, I like that part.

We rode 31 miles. It was a good ride. I am ready to do it again tomorrow. New bikes are fun!




P.S. Jackson, the Dempsey, died this morning. Dominic is devastated. He is so upset. We had no idea anything was wrong. Vito, the Green Terror, has been hiding behind a rock for 2 weeks, and hasn't ate in the last week. So we took some of the water to be tested, and it turns out the filters weren't getting rid of the ammonia and the tanks had too much ammonia. So Dominic feels even worse. He changed all the water out and put some stuff in the water to get rid of the ammonia. I hope nothing happens to any of the other fish.

Shout outs

-I want to give a shout out to Tom and Amanda who are racing in the Great Floridian (Ironman distance) triathlon today! Right now they are probably on their bikes riding fast and hard! Enjoy the pain and finish strong!

-If you are in Louisville watching cyclocross this weekend, give a HOLLA to Ben Popper racing elite! That's my girl Julie's new husband! Also racing is Zanne (not ZAINE) and her cute husband whose name I forgot. HOLLA loudly for them! Wish I was there too.

In other news.........

I tested my IT band this morning and took the dogs for a 4 mile run before work. Seems to be fine! I will keep foam rolling it but at least I can run now! That's a very good thing.

I saw my eye doctor yesterday and my eye seems much better. I hope to be back in the pool within a few more days. I miss my swims.

Tomorrow I start riding fixed, I am excited!

So that's it for now. Have a good weekend.

And watch this - Best. Youtube. Eva.



**** UPDATE - Ryan just got a text that Amanda finished in 12:11 - 7th female! AWESOME!!

Thursday update

That's my new baby! I switched the grips so they aren't interchangeable (thanks BGW). I may wrap them in black tape, not sure yet. I like the chrome though. I kind of want the chrome to show. I hope I fall in love with fixed gear riding like Dominic has. He never wants to ride his road bike anymore.

My workouts have consisted of not much this week, except for Bikram Yoga and my swim lesson with Coach Alan. Yesterday I lifted weights pretty hard for an hour and 15 minutes. I even did 2 sets of squats. I might ride on the trainer before work tomorrow, we'll see. I am dreading the cold winter riding for sure.

The scleritis is back in my eye, and it's back in a bad way. It hurts so bad from the inflammation and I have to put a heat pack on it at night. Swimming makes it worse so I have to avoid the pool. I am going to skip my 6am swim tomorrow unless it's better. I have an appt with the eye doctor on Friday.

My IT band is better but I am not running on it for 7 days. I am foam rolling every morning, and doing my stretches and stuff. I am not having any pain, but I just gotta baby it for a few more days.

No running, no swimming, I am gonna gain weight for sure.

Have a good weekend, thanks for reading.

Recovery is ok

Recovery from this 50k bullshit hasn't been bad. My 1st marathon was far worse than this. Sunday after the run I came home and took an ice bath, then a hot shower, and then out to eat with Dominic. We totally pigged out - which is the best part of doing this insane endurance stuff. I was stiff. I tried to keep moving around to keep from getting too stiff. That night it hurt to straighten my knee. I knew my IT band was fucked.

Yesterday I took it easy. I got a massage. Went to the Y with Dominic and sat around in the steam rooms and sauna while he lifted weights. I wanted to lift but he said not to. So I relaxed.

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday - she is 72. We took her out to dinner and had a good time. We had a lot of sugar though. My Mom had desert at the restaurant and then we had ice cream too. She had a good time.

It looks like I had a huge gut from eating so much crap

The best boyfriend EVER

Today was day 2 and I woke up feeling, pretty much, back to normal. So I went to Bikram Yoga! YES! I finally found a place in Cincinnati that does it! The 110 degrees felt good. With the heat, you can get so deep into the stretch, it's perfect for my IT band issues and sciatica.

After yoga I went to meet a swim coach at UC. He is going to help me be a faster swimmer. His name is Alan and he also coaches the masters team. My friend Sandi recommended him.

He started me out with a 200 warm up just to see me swim. I swam a lap underwater and then 7 more free. He was impressed! He said he's been trying to get half the UC swimming team to be able to go underwater for 25y and some can't! I am shocked! He also noticed that I swim with my hand wide open. That's a hard habit to break. I have to wear rubber bands on my hands next time I swim. So then he had me do some 100's and the big news is.......

I swam a 100 in 1:28! HOLLA!!!

He had me do some drills too. Some were ok, some were awkward. I think he can help me get faster. I like working with someone one on one like that. Some of the changes I am going to have to make to my form are going to be hard to adjust to.

After he was done, he gave me a quick workout to do on my own:

3x100

1x50

2x100

1x50

1x100

Dominic cooked dinner tonight. Sort of for a late Sweetest Day. He cooked stuffed peppers, with a goat cheese bur blanc (he's telling me what to type) ,and chimichurry (sp?) sauce. And fresh baked bread (from his bread oven!) Can you believe that menu?

He also made chocolate covered strawberries. With a white chocolate drip. Can it get any better?

Desert!

And......she's just about ready to ride. SOOOO excited.

50k Stone Steps (not really a race report cuz I didn't race)

Ok, so I finished a 50k trail run. I am not gonna make a big deal out of this. I didn't even really start talking about it till 3 weeks ago. I have had this race on the calender for 8 months but I never really thought I would do it. I did a total of 2 training runs for it. A 21 miler and a 24 miler, both within the last 3 weeks. That's it. I hardly prepared.

There was an early option to start at 7am and have an extra hour to finish. The cut off was 4pm. The race actually started at 8am. I started at 7am. This trail race was not going to be easy and I didn't want to DNF.

Something to think about: My friend Sandi is a 4 hour marathoner. She finished this 50k in 6:42 last year. The fastest female finisher this year was 4:54 and she was a 3:20 marathoner. She hit a course record. Fastest female to EVER finish.

The race consisted of 7 loops.
4 loops 5.3 mile trail
3 loops 3.3 mile trail.

After every loop you had to go to these picnic tables, that were set up between the loops, and check in. Give your race number to a woman who was recording splits. I had all my nutrition there so I could refuel after every loop, just like I did during my training runs. It was social time during this check in too. I'd chat with whoever was standing around. Take off a layer. Eat. Then head back into the trail for another loop. I didn't really TRY to go fast. After a few hours, Dominic and our friend Kelon showed up. They rode bikes for a while while I was running. I chatted with them in between loops too. So my finish in 8:15 or something, is to be expected. I am totally fine with it.

I am happy to be able to say "I finished an ultra marathon". But NEVER AGAIN! And someone PLEASE tell me how the 100 mile people do it. I do not get it.

Right before the race


My left eye is inflamed. In fact, my left eye looks like shit.

I started in the pitch black with 3 other guys. I did not train, even one time, in the dark. I wasn't prepared. The sun would come up in 30 minutes so I only had to stumble around for a while. It sucked running in the dark. I passed one of those older guys and that was like, the only person I think I passed, during the whole race.




This was in between loops. I was running to the check in, and my race number had ripped off somewhere in the woods.

The 1st couple loops I was fine. Sandi was at the end of the 5.3 mile trail giving out gummy bears. The last hill climb in that loop is called Gummy Hill. The 2 biggest hill climbs are the Stone Steps and Gummy hill. The Stone Steps takes me 5 minutes to climb from start to finish. I had to do those hills 4x's each.

This is Kelon's bike.

Sandi ran 2 of the loops with me. Loops 5 and 6. Mikah, her Lab ran with us.

Entering the 5.3 mile trail

Once I finished loops 5 and 6 I was so happy. Sandi had to take off, so I flipped my MP3 back on for the last loop, and ran my fastest loop of the day. My IT band was killing me on the downhills, but I finished that fucker. My time was 8:15 or so. The results aren't up yet though.

All the food was gone by the time I finished.

I had a 10 minute ice bath when I got home. My IT band is one fire, I hope it doesn't keep me down for too long. Last year I had to take 25 days off and I was a mess!

50k thoughts

My eye is all fucked up again. The scleritis is back. That probably means I'll be on prednisone soon, and that shit makes me fucking crazy.

Weather is going to be good. Mid-30's to start and 60's during the day. Trails are dry. No rain in the forecast. I am starting at 7am and will have to wear a headlamp. Creepy. All I want to do is finish. I don't even know why I decided to do this. It's just a test to myself, I guess. Trail running has been a nice change and I really love it, but I am no ultra runner! I just like to run!

Alaina and Alisha's note to Dominic


Our fridge is gonna be covered in love notes. I even got one - they spelled my name "Jiti". They write I LOVE YOU to Dominic and it's just so sweet.

OK, this is the last post. I'll twitter when/if I finish this thing.

Swim intervals

I swam this morning. I IM'ed with Claire yesterday and she gave me a rockin' workout. I did the intervals she instructed me to do (but I had to skip the 50's cuz of time):

1x200 warm up (included 25y underwater)
3x500 intervals (25easy, 25fast, 50easy, 50fast, 75easy, 75fast, 100easy, 100fast, rest 1 minute, and then start all over again)
1x100 breast stroke
1x100 cool down

Total 1900y.

This workout went by SOOOO fucking fast! I couldn't believe it! When I was done, I kept checking my watch to make sure the time was right. Thanks for the workout Claire! I loved it!

The Y has some freaky people around at 6am. Especially in the pool. This one guy, he's like 5 feet tall, 300lbs. He walks with a cane and he might have had a stroke, not sure. He is always in the pool area, and when he's in the pool, he's just kind of floating around. Not really swimming. I usually swim from 6am-7am cuz at 7am, the pool is taken over by about 10 old women who just kind of bob around in the water. If my swim happens to go over 7am, they look at me like "why are you still here in MY lane" even though I was there first. And it's MY lane, OK??

Does anyone have a cure for these disgusting looking goggle marks? And does anyone have a good swim conditioner they love? I am using some ok stuff now, can't remember what it's called. It's pretty decent but I could use something a little better.


I look cross eyed


When I got home, I drank a protein shake and then took the dogs to the woods for a 40 minute walk. They ran off leash. The colder it gets, the more they run. When I got home, Dominic was up and cooking us breakfast. Yum. He made is egg white omelette's with green peppers and onions, fat free cheese, and toast. I love having him around.

My fixie gets 2 more coats of gloss, wet sanded again, and then it'll be ready to be built. The 2nd coat of gloss went on this morning.

Have a good weekend everyone! Think good thoughts for me on Sunday when I am attempting a 50k trail run!

Random Thursday

Just in case you didn't watch this in my last post.....



Wednesday workouts:

1) Got up for a 6am swim - 2x1500y (1st one 31 minutes, 2nd one, 32 minutes). I wasn't very happy with those times. My 1500m PR is 23 minutes but that was in an HFP race, and their swim distances are always WAY OFF! I guess I'll just keep on trucking. I am meeting with a swim coach next week. We'll see what happens.

2) Run - 4 miles with Nancy's dogs.

Cars are a necessary evil
On Saturday my car broke down and on Monday my car mechanic put in a new starter. The car made horrible noises on Tues when I started it. I had to take it back yesterday so they could put in another new starter. Fucking pain in my ass! I did get to work from home both Saturday and Wednesday night, which was a nice change. No lame co-workers to deal with.

Paint Process
The emblam is done on the Motobecane, this week it gets a glossy coat, and then it'll be ready to be built. I should be riding fixed within 7 days. I am super excited.

Bike crazy
My homeowners insurance is sending me a check for the shingles missing off the roof, the fence damage, and the tree. Dominic is going to take care of the tree and the fence, so there may be some extra money leftover for a......CX BIKE!!! We're checking to see if our shop can get Redline's. I don't need a fancy bike, just one to fuck around on. Dominic is definitely NOT for this idea at all because a) I am getting this fixie built in the next week and b) this winter we're buying me a carbon frame (on closeout) for my Ironman. That's 2 new bikes. Can I justify a 3rd?

Taper sucks/Orange lugs

With 5 days to go until my 50K, I am trying to relax and taper. So far the mileage this week has been slow. I am bored. And hungry.

Sunday - 4 mile trail run, 22 mile ride
Monday - weights 45 minutes
Tuesday - 5 mile trail run

I feel crappy, like taper usually feels. Slow, sluggish, sleepy. I fell asleep at 10pm last night and slept until 8am. Dominic had made tilapia and it was so good, I ate too much.

This is my Motobecane. The lugs are orange, tubes an ugly army green. It is going to be so freaking bad ass. Imagine orange Velocity's, FMF carbon BMX cranks (he's starting me at 40x15), bullhorns with orange grips....I am getting excited to ride fixed.




Dominic can paint frames. It's a lot of work. After the bike is all finished, I am going to post a series of pictures of the entire painting process. It's a long one!

These are Dominic's new girlfriends. They are constantly hanging around when Dominic is home. I took this picture when we got back from our ride Sunday. They totally started screaming 'Dominic! Dominic!" when he rode down the street. They ring the doorbell about 5x's a day, bringing him flowers and candy. They want to come in and pet "the doggies". It is hilarious. And of course he fixes their bikes. He even built a nice mountain bike for their older brother. He's 12 and told us his Dad left him. These kids have nothing. It's so sad.




ASK YOURSELF!!

CX Race and Bloggers

Yesterday was so fun. Me and Dominic went to the big UCI Cyclocross event at Harbin Park yesterday. My blogger friend Julie was in town for the weekend cuz her husband Ben races in the elite cat. She wrenches for him in the pit, which I think is way cool. The two of them are adorable. They are newlyweds too and that just makes them twice as adorable.

Julie and Ben Popper


Before the bike races, the Cincinnati Trail Runners had a 4 mile run scheduled, part on the cx course and part in the woods, on a singletrack trail. Me and Julie met up to run.

We acted like old friends

The run was very kick back, a social run, Julie kept calling it. We talked the whole time.

Fun run

After the run we hung around and hooked up with even more bloggers! I was freaking out when this guy walks up and says "Hi, I am Fat Marc." It was Faticus! Which, he is not fat at all. He was very nice. I didn't meet his wife but I watched them both race.

Me and Marc

I think that's the back of Marc's wife, he calls her Monkey

Marc racing

I also met blogger friend Zanne, real name Suzanne, and Zanne isn't pronounced Zaine, like I was calling her. Big DUH! This is her and I before she raced. She was calm, cool, and collected.

Here she is racing. I kept watching for her, and some guys are yelling SUZANNE and Dominic's like, "I think that's her" and I am like "NO, her name is ZAINE". LOL. She was sweet as can be and finished 7th! She was in the same cat as Marc's wife, I think.



After Zanne raced

Zanne, her husband, and Dominic

We stayed all day, but didn't watch the elite's. We were jonsin' to go ride too. We saw some crashes in the sand pit.





And we saw some really cool bikes.

And now I want a cx bike. Like NOW. I know I will cx race someday. I hope Dominic will too. He seemed very interested. I need to stay on him to build us some cx bikes this winter.

6am Swim Sets

This morning I got up at 5:40am and went to the gym for swim sets. I am really going to get focused and try to speed up my swims this winter. Swimming is my strongest sport of the three disciplines of triathlon and I should be faster.

I have been in the pool since I was a baby. I grew up at the pool, swimming and diving. I even took a lifeguard class when I was 16. We had to swim a mile with a heavy sweatsuit on. I also had to tread water, for a 1/2 hour, with that sweatsuit on! I passed all the physical tests, but never studied for the written tests, so that summer I ended up helping with swim lessons instead of lifeguarding.

I picked up swimming again about 8 years ago, about a year after I started running. I was still smoking at the time but I could blow through a mile in about 40 minutes. I could even swim 25m underwater without thinking about it.

Now I can swim for long periods at a time without a problem, but speed is a factor - just like with my running and biking. So I am going to get faster, at least with my swimming! I am determined.

I emailed with Claire and Mary yesterday - who are both fast as shit -about swim sets. Claire does something crazy like 50x50 while Mary told me to do 10x50's. I have time for about 2000y so this is what I did:

1x400 warm up
1x100 kickboard
10x50 (best time 42 seconds but averaged 45)
5x100 (best time was 1:43 but averaged 1:46)
1x500 cool down

Total 2000y

I really felt good swimming those 50's. I was giving it my all, and breathing really hard after each set. I felt strong. The guy in the lane next to me stopped swimming and said "you're really rockin' those laps!"

But my times are sucking! I know I can get those 50's under 40 seconds. That's a good goal, isn't it? And why are my 100's not 1:30's? If my 50's are averaging to be 45 seconds, shouldn't my 100's be just double? I can also set a goal to get my 100's down to 1:30 - that should be very doable.

After my swim I felt like a million bucks. I went home, had some oatmeal, and then took the dogs to the woods for a 30 minute walk off leash. When I came home, Dominic cooked me an egg sandwich. Now I am at work until 10pm. Early swims are an awesome way to start the day, except for having to go to work with goggle marks on your eyes.

911 Dobie Emergency!

Hannah needs some help. She's a homeless Doberman that's currently in the care of a foster home with Northcoast Doberman Rescue. Her leg is a mess and she has accumulated 1100.00 in vet bills at OSU's vet hospital.


Poor Hannah!



The rescue does not have the funds to pay this bill off, so we're asking for some donations. People please. I know this is a bad time for everyone financially, but please have the heart to just donate a few bucks. It all adds up. Five bucks, ten bucks, come on!


Click here to donate!


Thanks!


***** UPDATED - Donate link now works - thanks to B for calling that out!

Mud and a movie

Last night I had "date night" with Dominic. We went to dinner and a movie. We had never been to a movie together since we have been together. I don't really watch movies. I can count the ones I have seen, in the last 5 years, on one hand. That includes DVD's. I guess I have a hard time sitting still for that long??

So we went to an Indian buffet for dinner and pigged out. Then we saw Burn After Reading. Have any of you seen it? It is hilarious - Brad Pitt is really funny as a gym trainer and cyclist. That woman who played Linda, who was she? What the hell have I seen her in? Anyways, we had a good time. I ate way too much candy and crap, but it's all good.

This morning I took the dogs to the 5 mile loop for a trail run. It rained last night and was raining when we left, but what the fuck, right? I needed to see for myself how shitty the trail would be all wet and muddy, just in case, you know?

Muddy


The trail itself is already hard to run when it's dry. Some parts are very rocky and you have to really watch where you are running. With the leaves falling, they cover the rocks and you can't see the rocks sticking up. Then add rain and you have slippery, hidden rocks, which really suck to try and run on. I had to walk many parts of the trail. I really hope the trail is dry for the 50k. I am going to be in big trouble if it rains.

The dogs ran wild, off leash. They had a great time.


Tired and happy

Lots of miles

Sunday - 48 mile ride
Monday - 24 mile trail run


Fall is here. I have been in denial. I don't want summer to end, but it's over, I know. The weather has been so nice though! We are having a gorgeous fall.

Yesterday me and Dominic rode from my house to Blue Ash, to my Mom's house. The ride there was uneventful, about 27 miles to get there. She needed some stuff done around her condo, and then we watched the hilarious SNL skit of the VP debate. When we left, we rode to the Bagel Shop for food.

Kosher eats


We rode back through Maderia, Madisonville, Hyde Park and then Walnut Hills. I hate construction. There is a TON of construction all over and I hate it.


I don't think he put his foot down at all.


My chain popped out a couple times when I was changing into my big ring. Dominic had to stop and adjust something the front derailleur. It was frustrating.





We rode through Clifton and down across the viaduct to Queen City ave. This is a one way street and it was busy at the time we were riding down it. This guy had some road rage going on at Dominic. He pulls up next to him and tells him to pull over and all this bullshit. So Dominic spits on the guys car. Smart, right? The guy veered his car about 3 inches from Dominic. I am behind the car the whole time, and I started screaming out this guy's licence plate number. Then the guy spits back and a little got on D's arm warmer. It was gross. Then we turned left and rode up the hill to my house. 48 miles total.

We got bombarded when we got home. A bunch of the kids needed their bikes fixed. Dominic has been fixing their bikes all summer now. They love him. I hand out popsicles.

They call him Bike Man


P.S. Look at the bike hanging up in the garage. That's my Motobecane. It's been primed and being wet sanded this very second. Soon to be painted and built. Fixed. For me.

Today I met Sandi for a long trail run. We did the 50K loops again. I did the 3.3 miler once and the 5.3 miler 4x's. Sandi did about 10 miles with me. I ended up with 24 miles total, I skipped the last big hill, which took a half mile from me. And I climbed those fucking Stone Steps 4'x. I stopped after every loop to get fluids and swig from my bottle of Hammer Gel. I got my nutrition down really well. Carbo Pro is working out well for me too. It tastes good mixed with G2. Thanks Steve!

The only real bad part of the run was at about mile 18. I was so hungry, and the music was just blaring in my ears and my legs were numb. Otherwise, my legs held out well. I stopped to stretch when I needed to and I felt pretty good overall. These long runs are so nice. I missed them, and the trails are so pretty in the fall.

It was hot out there


The trails are very dry. I hope they stay that way. I don't want rain and mud for this 50k. I can't imagine how hard that would make things.

Dirt

1989-90 San Francisco

This picture was taken on the corner of Eddy and Mason streets, in the Tenderloin, in San Francisco. Brendan was visiting from Cincinnati. It was spring of 1990, maybe? This was during my days of tweaking around SF on crystal methamphetamine. We would stay up for days at a time (the longest I stayed awake was 8 days). At night we would run around the city spray painting stencils and stealing money from the parking lot meters. I was living at the Bristol Hotel on Mason which was right across the street from where this picture was taken. I shared a room with a guy we called The Tweakin' Moheekin'. His real name was Steve and I totally liked this guy but he wanted to quit using meth and I didn't. We parted ways after a while.

Note the bottom half of my hair was pink

Thursday Thoughts

*I love it when I pull on a pair of pants from last year and they are loose.

*Co-workers who talk shit about you, suck.

*Chilly weather and darkness make it hard for me to achieve an early AM workout.

*My tan from LA is fading quickly.

*Dominic is pretty much moved in.

*Twin Six is having a sale.

*Ari is way more hyped now that the weather has cooled down.

*I haven't been very good about attending AA meetings recently.

*I am running a 50k trail race in less than 3 weeks.

*I hope the VP debates are as comical as the Palin/Couric interview.

*I am getting and giving the silent treatment at work and it really sucks.

*I need my hair cut and highlighted in a bad way.

*I still have a huge tree branch down in my backyard.

*Why do bad things always happen to good people?

*I swam 2500m in a different pool on Tuesday and swam my slowest sets ever.

*I need some new tunes in my MP3!

*I am nervous about the upcoming election.

*I need a xanax re-fill.

Meet Vito!

This is Vito (thanks Vito, for letting me use your name!). He's a Green Terror. He's mean as shit and lives in a tank by himself. He tried to eat Dominic's hand when he moved him into my house. He is pretty fun to watch when he's pissed.