Oh Boy -- and Book Review

What a wild weekend! Today's also nuts at work, so I've only got a sec. I'll have to wait and insult Glaven later. It was great not having the kids for the weekend. Bigun cried when we picked them up on sunday, she really wanted to stay at Grandma's house. I remember the feeling. Then she fell asleep on the car ride home. nuts, but they all had a good weekend too.

Friday was uneventful. After dropping off the kids, we went out to a restaurant we thought was too nice to bring the kids too. of course, they sat us between two tables with screaming kids. great. It was still a fun evening.

Saturday Kelley headed up the mountain to meet up with her cousin. This left me with no car, which is normally not a problem. I finally got the berry bed cleared, and planted all 9 Ison's plants. All 7 blueberry bushes already have blooms on them, so I hope I got them in the ground in time for a spring crop. The grapevines I got were huge! Two of them also had flower buds already formed, so they are going to love their new home, I think. I also planted the peas, but I might have waited too late in the year. Peas have to be planted really early in order for them to bear pods. We'll have to wait and see I guess.

I finished all that gardening, which was wonderful. Then it came time to get my 11 mile run in. And I couldn't get a ride anywhere, gym or Furman. But after 6 hours hard working the garden I didn't really feel like running 11 miles anyway. So I ordered pizza and cracked a beer.

Sunday was awesome. I did actually remember to change the clocks up. Then had a lazy morning, Kelley came back down the mountain early so she could get some house stuff done. I took off on the bike late for my group ride. I mapped a route through the neighborhoods (no traffic) to get to the starting point, it was about 7 miles. Then I met up with 11 other riders from the Greenville Spinners to climb Paris Mountain. It's not the most difficult climb, but it certainly has it's challenges. Especially when you already start out 7 miles ahead of the group. It was 80 degrees and sunny outside. Boy you really felt the heat during the climb. That's the most I think I have ever sweat on the bike. Check out the garmin log:

You can at least see the elevation changes without clicking to see the larger view. and don't make fun of my log on the left, I don't always use the garmin to log my runs. The cool stats: 24.99 miles total distance. 2450 ft of elevation change climbing, and 2471 downhill elevation change. Max speed 38.1 mph. Wow, that is fast. Since we had the snow last week, they put sand on the roads to keep cars from sliding off the mountain. Of course, that also means that the bike tires would just slide right out from under you if you weren't careful. Loose dry sand on a paved road does not really "agree" with bike tires. So we had to be really careful. Otherwise that 38.1 mph might have been higher.

I broke away from the group after we were down the mountain. The route came just a couple of roads from my house, so I took off. The groups are great, but they maintain a constant (and fairly slow) pace on the flatlands. So when I broke away and got onto a flat 4 lane road with very little traffic, I really let it open up. Got into the big chainring and a fairly high gear, and stayed around 27 mph for the last 4 miles or so. ah, that was a blast. but this is the killer part. I had to cut through a couple of parking lots to get into my neighborhood. Right before turning into the parking lot, my chain came off. Freakin 2 hours 45 mins into the ride, I'm 2 blocks from the house and I throw the freakin chain. unbelievable. I got it back on and finished the ride home.

Once I got home, there was a severe lack of nutrition. I should have taken some recoverite, but I didn't. I don't think I properly hydrated during the ride either, so I was already under the gun. Just couldn't seem to eat enough to feel good again for the rest of the night.

Today started out going back in the pool. I got in a good 1800 meters, and really wore myself down. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, I had a really good, balanced swim. Again today, I can't seem to get enough to eat. it's crazy. But that's the fun part about tri training. My legs are shredded, my chest and arms are shredded, and my ass hurts like I was somebody's bitch.

It's great to be back in tri season, though. The sun is out, we're back on daylight savings time, the trees are starting to bloom. ah yea.

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Book Review - Forces Of Nature by Laird Hamilton

Laird Hamilton is a self serving meathead. Sure, his wife is smoking hot (Gabby Reece) and he's widely regarded as the fittest man (and family) on the planet. Yea, he's a world renowned big wave surfer. And this book does have it's good points. But there is at least one picture of Laird on every page. Sometimes there were actually 6 pics of Laird on one page. Seriously, every single page has a pic of Laird. It's hilarious, and it makes it read like a book for a second grader. But he does have some good information in there, particularly the excercise and nutrition sections. His circuit is a bear. and he's all about organic, natural eating with some great info on nutritional supplements. that's something I can really get behind. But the rest of it was just Laird saying how great Laird is. Check it out if you're really into surfing or Laird Hamilton, because Laird Hamilton sure is.