Rolling with the Punches

I've been getting a lot of crap for being myself recently and it's been getting me down: graduation petition denied so I get to come back for Fall Quarter, financial aid is maxed out so I won't get anymore, got pushed by a Grad Committee member and told her off so now I get to meet with the Dean for a "Non-Academic Misconduct" wrist slap (roll eyes) and my disability claim got denied (State Employees don't pay into Disability Insurance). Stop the World; I want OFF!

At least I got to see "Best Friend" Alex who came down for Graduation. We've been friends since we were 11.

Baller pose... I had an athlete racing the 12-Hours of Rim Nordic this past weekend and I needed to get away for a while, so Holly and I packed up her Matrix and headed for the mountains. A little camping always makes me feel better.The crappy part was the 200 Off-Roaders occupying the majority of the parking lot. Between their RV's, generators and exhaust from their Jeeps, I wonder how many TONS fo CO2 they pumped into the air that weekend. Yay pollution!
Our fantastic campsite on the pavement. We had a lttle fire in the 'que to roast marshmallows and for warmth (got cold!) and the next morning one of the OHV'ers hassled me for it: "That's an illegal fire", "Nothing's allowed up here but propane", "I'm just telling you because Forest Service will cite you for it". Tool...

I was in the middle of breakfast and didnt want to argue with him, or mention tthat he 2003 Clear Fire that decimated the area was started by a hot catalytic converter on an OFF ROAD vehicle. Holly's comment as he walked away was priceless: "That's great...go destroy some nature." Love that girl...

My athlete (Mykyta) killed it for his first 12-Hour solo: 5th in Beginner with very little rest and just starting his training up after his mid-season break. He should do really well at the November race. Results here.

No race pics, but the clouds looked cool as they rolled in over the mountains Saturday night. Snow Valley usd to be the site for an Xterra Race; not this year because the race director ran into some "financial difficulties" as he called it. Hope it comes back for 2010.Woke up Sunday morning with the sun. Drove down to OC for Father's Day lunch with my family since brother Steve was in town to celebrate his birthday at Disneyland the following Monday (free admission on your b-day!). The marine layer looked cool on the way down.

The hand is getting better, slowly. Another 2 weeks before I can swim or ride a bike. Trying to find some office work at the Bike Shop or State Parks to pay the bills.

Keep on keepin' on...

E.

Edit: I've been following the Tour Divide pretty closely since I'm sitting at home so much. Self-supported, 2700 miles from Banff, Alberta Canada to Antelope Wells, NM on the Mexican Border. Incredible stuff!

"When Life Gives You Lemons..."

"...find someone who's life has given them Vodka; and have party"
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-Ron White
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Seriously...
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I went to a club meeting where Brad Kearns was speaking and he related a story about a transcendental moment during his racing career. The gist of it was that he pre-rode the course the day before the race with a competitor who crushed him and the course wound up being very hilly. Race morning, the start was delayed due to fog causing poor visibility during the swim and he simply sat on the shore and shrugged it off while his competitors grumbled about the conditions and the delay; Brad figured his race was shot given his pre-rde the day before. The swim wound up being very cold and he spent a large portion of the bike course simply trying to get warm; halfway through the bike leg he looks up and sees the lead motorcycle in front of him. He'd ridden through the field and didn't know it because he'd been so focused on how cold he was. He'd go on to win that race.
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The point?
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You cannot control the circumstances given to you, only how you react to them.
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I was bummed about breaking my hand, but it's given me the opportunity to focus on my coaching and I've gotten a lot of interest recently. Cool.
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Friday, I went to my first Physical Therapy appointment and the PT said I could run and ride the trainer, but no swimming and I should avoid "weight bearing" activities.
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How do you ride the trainer without putting weight on your hands?

Yeah. I blew the dust off the aero bars and slapped 'em on. Yes, they're old and WAY ghetto, but they'll let me ride. Ignore the bar tape...
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It's officially Summer by the way. The grilled Sweet Potato idea came from James a while back. Friggin' tasty. As for the hand, the stitches are already out and the cast is off. Yay Steri Strips!Removable plastic splint lets me have some mobility and I'm doing exercises a couple times a day. I can still hold a beer. Can't be all bad, right? :D

E.

Gettin' Screwed

Friday morning I went in to the Ortho's office plunked down a $2k co-pay (yikes!) courtsey of Dad and got my hand fixed.

It hurt like I broke it all over again and I spent most of Friday in a narcotic induced haze. I'm feeling a little better today, but coming off anesthesia is like a bad hangover that food or water have no effect on. Nasty stuff.

I go back in next week to check my progress and, hopefully, get rid of this splint (my third so far) and get my hand moving...

...and maybe ride the trainer :D

E

Crash Happens...

On the roadbike too! Doc says spiral fracture and it needs a pin. I go to see the Ortho on Tuesday. Bye bye fitness...

Reader's digest version: descending, blind corner, water on the road and concrete drainage with huge channels cut into it for water flow and slippery algae growing in it. Rear tire slides on concrete from braking, front tire washes out, gravity, fingers slip into channel and stop my slide, taking the brunt of the impact.

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Luke: "You ok?"

Me: "...that's a broken hand..."
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Luke hauls ass back and gets my truck, I drive home and g/f and I spend a few hours in the ER. Woo...

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Swollen. Note the bloody finger; not the one I broke. Odd.Note how the broken finger is pushed over and crowding the rest. Thumb is just a bruise."Soft splint". Thing's hard as a rock and heavy to boot.

:(

Scratching the Itch

Tri Club San Diego is a huge club and it's difficult for it to exude that "welcome" feeling to prospective or new members, but they do put on some cool events and their support of local races acheives near-legendary status.

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Wednesday night I bombed their monthly summer Aquathlon series to get my race on.

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The good:

TONS of fast people come out of the woodwork for these things and it's easy to dial up the intensity racing them.

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The bad:

Chip timing only if you pre-reg. No chip = no time. Womp womp.

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The ugly:

Awesome food spread, I feel guilty eating club food when I'm not an official member so I stand there...starving.

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Some pics:

The group heading off to the start. I was already down by the start location body-surfing at this point. Hey, the surf was good...Coming out of the water. Probably 800 meters or so. Still a PR for me at 12:50; over a minute faster than my split at Xterra REAL, which is billed as 1/2 mile. Stoked!
Heading out of "transition" for the 5k beach run. T1 took too long as I fought to get my wetsuit off around my feet. Time to shorten the legs on the suit.
Finishing up. Ran the 5k in around 20:47.
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Not my best by far, but a good result considering the month lay-off for illness and that I'm back to putting in base miles.

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Got "chicked" by Jessi Stensland who won the women's side and probably Amanda Felder, but I'm OK with that since they're short-course stud-ettes anyway. Nice to see Jessi back racing.

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All told, a quality mid-week workout and some good validation that the work I'm doing in the pool is paying off...finally!

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Off to work.

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E.

By the Numbers

I've been going back and forth between Xterra, MTB and even road triathlon's of all things. I still can't decide which type of racing I'll wind up doing for the remainder of the season.

When I look at the travel required for chasing Xterra points, however, it's clear that series is beyond my financial capabilities. Some examples.

Distances are all one way!
Xterra Del Valle: 455 miles
Xterra Deuces Wild: 539 miles
Xterra MTN Champs: 968 miles
Xterra Tahoe City: 608 miles
Xterra Incline Village: 541 miles
Xterra USA Champs: 783 miles

Good lord...

I might be able to make Tahoe City and Incline Village since my brother lives in Auburn, CA (NE of Sacramento) and I can stay with him or use his house as a staging point. The problem is he's about 3 hours from Tahoe, where the two races are. That's a rough drive race morning, but I might just have to suck it up and deal with it if I want to compete in any more Xterra races.

Honestly, I don't think I can stick to "just MTB"; I'm a lifeguard by trade and I need to keep swimming and running so I can make rescues. I'd be seriously bummed if someone drowned because I was out of "swim shape".

So I'm kinda training just to train. With no races on my calendar, finding the motivation for training is getting progressively more difficult.

In the meantime, TCSD has some Club races coming up that I'll crash for my racing fix and I'm sure to bomb some of the Rim Nordic or Racers and Chasers races, but chasing Xterra World or National qualifications is out the window this season. Bummer.

E.

Clownin'!

Holly and I went to the grocery store and saw this.

Think if I eat some I'll be fast like Hunter? Lol!

Props to him for getting the box cover, though.

E.