Pictures Worth Their Own Post

"Ehhmm, do you mind? We're taking pictures here..."

OMG!! Did you see what that Bizarre Foods guy just ate???"

State of the Summer

So a party is brewing for tomorrow night, and I'm pretty excited because our friends are awesome. WIBA: 2009 is a hit on the books, the pool is up in the back yard, I'm not dying from allergies like I thought I would be with three little kitties who insist the comfiest spot in the house at 2 a.m. is directly on my face, and yep, I gotta say life is good.

I'm totally amped for training after WIBA this past weekend too, plus with the onset of Le Tour featuring Lance Armstrong again, we're talking some serious mojo infusion. Spired on by it, I went through and changed up my race schedule a little bit, as it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make it to the Evergreen Lakes tri later this month. The logistics just didn't work out this time unfortunately, but I do hope to make it out there at some point since it's run by the Tri Shark rock stars over in Bloomington.

Since I can't make it though, I've added a few local-ish 10Ks for good causes and a late season Oly that my tri-team puts on. That race was actually my first ever experience with triathlon; the course is beautiful and the people are fantastic. I can't imagine a better cap off to summer.

Anyway I'm typing a mile a minute here because I have to get fixings for patriotic Rice Krispie Treats for the bash tomorrow night, but suffice it to say I'm feeling good about the state of the summer. The kinks are working themselves out of training slowly but surely, and I'm starting to feel like an athlete again, mainly thanks to a new workout philosophy courtesy of Sister Sara - thanks Sis!!

Also, I'm really feeling good about just concentrating on this one big race in October instead of how I've tried to multi stack myself in the past. I think I've just realized there are only so many hours in the day, and so, can now better balance training alongside other "important to me" things in life like BBQs, holiday parties, movie nights, Ren Faire and Comic Con trips, and general chill time with family and friends. One spring half marathon, WIBA and one or two short course late summer tris, a few late summer/early fall 10Ks and a fall marathon or half Ironman is PLENTY, and certainly sounds like a plan to me.

Have a great 4th everybody :)

"Over It"

I'm all about compassion, trust me. I, of all people, completely understand trauma and issues and baggage and ALLLL that. What I don't understand is how some people choose to wallow in self-loathing and/or pity instead of pursuing solutions to known problems. What I don't understand is how anyone over 18 and not still living at home can act like complete nut-whacks and blame said nut-whackiness on their parents' *insert sucky parenting infraction here.*

I mean, there comes a point in life when we have to come to terms with the fact that regardless of how we grew up, what happened to us in 10th grade, what lack of opportunity we've had, or what particular statistic we happen to unfortunately represent, all that is over now and we can live our lives any way we want.

And hell that said, you know what? I'm not one to complain and not propose solutions, so here's my completely unsolicited advice for anyone wishing to "get over it" once and for all already and finally have a "normal" life.

#1: Appreciate who you are TODAY - however you stumbled upon yourself:

Understand that whatever happened in the past is yep, you got it, in the past. Did it suck righteously at the time? No doubt. But did you survive it and live to let it become the source of your stamina, wit, artistic brilliance and foundation of your utterly profound soul? Survey says, "YES," so realize and accept - nay, embrace - the fact that without all the crap of yesterday you wouldn't be nearly as fabulous as you are today. In effect, everything you have that's good in your life now, you have because your drama made you worthy of it.

#2: Stop trying so hard. You are cool enough just as you are - yes really, I promise, seriously already.

There are some things in life that require a bunch of hoopla, and there are some that really aren't that big of a deal. Chances are you will be called on your reaction if you screw up the difference between the two, and if that's the case, sweet. Treat it as a learning experience and do a better job of going with the flow next time. Do not, I repeat DO NOT turn into a martyr, fish for compliments or get defensive or pissy. This doesn't help your cause at all, and in fact, makes it worse for both you and anyone else involved. You will never get over your baggage if you refuse to acknowledge you indeed have baggage, and thus, fail to entertain the possibility you could be overreacting or overcompensating as a result.

#3: Profess the following mantra over and over again until it becomes default: "Life is too short. Don't worry about it."

Probably at least half of the people you meet will annoy you in some way or another at certain times, though guess what - not to train wreck you're already fragile self-confidence or anything, but you're just as annoying from time to time, and likely to the people who don't even annoy you at all. Holy crap, I hear you, but you know what else? To "normal" people this is just one of those roll with it kinds of things. It's only a big deal to you because you're hyper aware thanks to years and years of never knowing what to expect. You're always on guard and waiting for someone to throw the next punch because hell, if you're ready maybe you won't get hit this time right? Right, except people without baggage don't do this because they never had to, so you just look like a douche for freaking out over something that's not really a big deal otherwise. They just blow off the eye-roll or the 5 bucks someone didn't pay them back right away. There is no ulterior motive, no Machiavellian plot, and if you want to get over yourself then you're going to have to learn to see things from this perspective too. Fight for your point when it really matters, but know for the most part it probably doesn't warrant all the energy you're spending and it would be better to just let it go.

#4: No one knows you as well as you know yourself - be objective and honest, and you'll find your path.

You will spend a lot of time and money on someone's couch trying to dissect your problems in search of the solutions you already possess. Chances are it's not that you don't know what to do about your issues, it's that you can't seem to muster the courage and confidence to actually do whatever "it" is. Want to face your fears? Confront your demons? Then first you're going to need courage, and the definition of that is doing something even though you're afraid. So, what scares you? Needles? Go donate plasma for a month. Public ridicule and a fear of being judged? Start a blog under the pseudonym of someone you want to become when you've finally dropped your baggage, and then fake it until you make it baby. Once you have the courage to position yourself for change, you can start working on the confidence you'll need to take down the walls you've built and face whatever monsters you've let wander free on the other side. Confidence comes from overcoming adversity, so if you want it, you're going to have to manufacture some adversity and conquer it. Start and finish a college degree. Run a marathon. Paint your house. Fix your broken whatever, it doesn't matter just go out and accomplish something in order to prove to yourself you can do it. Once you have the courage to begin and the confidence of having continued on, man the only thing left is standing your ground until you finish!


#5: Your life didn't get jacked up overnight; it will take some time to reroute and repair.

Everything big starts with something small - everything from the beginning of life to the spread of the most deadly disease. You can't possibly expect to wake up tomorrow and not make the same old mistakes, so don't beat yourself up when you do. Know that at first the only thing you may be able to do is recognize when you're repeating the behaviors you want to change. You're a smart cookie in there, and once you can recognize what you're doing you'll naturally take steps to self-correct. Does this mean you don't have to actively pursue solutions otherwise? No, but you have to understand that if you can't be objective in recognizing your shortcomings, you'll never be objective enough to give yourself the credit you deserve for shoring them up. You HAVE to start somewhere, whether that''s painting the lower left corner of your house or waiting 24 hours before reacting to a snarky coworker.

Anyway there you go. I'm sure there are plenty more, but there are your first five steps to get you well on your way to "over it."

And I don't know about you, but I certainly feel much better now.

Moxie

Kittens are like Lays potato chips. You can't have just one...or apparently, two.

Meet Moxie, the lilac lynx-point Siamese mutt kitty, and newest little brother of our new additions, Spanky and Darla. I am now *officially* buying stock in allergy medicine.

Cell phone pic from when Moxie was at the adoption center yesterday. "Mr. Wil" pics, e.g., not sucky like my cell phone pics, to come soon!

The Golden Ticket

Well, back to the real world then yes?

WIBA was, as always, a blast. I met tons of cool people and caught up with a bunch of old friends - one in particularly in fact: Sister Sara. She and I spent about 12 hours commuting to and from Madison together, and when my driving wasn't threatening to make her irrevocably carsick, we had some pretty good conversations. One such conversation involved how to get faster on the run without having to get pregnant first (I assume you're all familiar by now with her pregnancy doping theory?).

Our 2008 seasons were opposite in that she was on a comeback year track after having a baby, and I was on a recovery year track after Ironman in 2006 and 2007. Her whole goal was to get faster all around, and mine was to just maintain decent enough fitness while trying to have some semblance of a life again. Suffice it to say we both accomplished our missions for the most part, though admittedly I could have stayed in a lot better shape than I did!

All the same, my swim and bike fitness are pretty much in the ballpark of where they used to be, but my run fitness has tanked and I have a lot of work to do if I want to hit the time goals I have for this year's races. The first order of business then was to pick my Iron sis's mind for some of her secrets.

She told me her coach last year nixed all her junk miles and pushed interval training, so in effect, she was doing less overall mileage, but was training harder. Instantly I was intrigued because with coaching high school soccer this fall (oh yeah by the way, I got a high school soccer coaching gig for this fall!) in addition to all the other busyness of that time of year, time will be a hot commodity to say the least. I was all ears.

"It hurts, but only for a few minutes at a time, and then the next time it doesn't hurt as much to do the same thing. You just keep ramping it up until what used to seem like it would kill you is actually just default."

Ah-ha. So that's the golden ticket then eh? Well all righty then.

Today I started interval training, and yes, it was a sufferfest. I cussed a lot in my head only because I lacked the breath to actually form audible words, and as I lumbered along with the sun just starting to color the sky, I felt some things I haven't felt for a really long time: Burning quads, burning lungs, temporary, but powerful doubt in my ability to actually pull this off... and the knowledge that if I could just get through this part, I may very well be in for one crazy, amazing adventure!

WIBA: 2009 Is on the Books!

Well folks, as a good friend of mine used to say, no pictures = it didn't happen, so let me direct your attention below to the the ever epic Wisconsin Brick Adventure slideshow from this past weekend:

Click here to view the full-screen slideshow.

We came. We saw. We conquered yet again, and a good time was had by all. I made some especially great new friends this year (shout out to Shelly and Jeremy!) and of course enjoyed the time I got to spend with so many old friends.

I'd like to thank my partner in crime, RobbyB, for all his help in pulling off yet another successful training camp, and of course the members of my my team for their incredible help as well. We couldn't have done this without your generosity, both with your time and direct assistance guys. You are just THE BEST, and I love you all!

Also a special thanks to long time friend Steve Stenzel, whom I've affectionately dubbed, "Naked Lad" (as digitally corroborated above), for all his grillmaster nakedness. Let's just say we all know where the beef is now. Thanks again Steve, next year we'll talk chest hair billboards, yes?

I'd also like to thank Jamie and the great folks at Endurance House of Madison who went above and beyond for us this year. Not only did open up early, they offered us two free clinics on running form and bike emergencies, one-on-one foot strike analysis and form critique, AND they gave a generous discount for ALL the camp participants (check out my sweet new trainers!). Each year they somehow manage to outdo themselves, and we very much appreciate their support. Thanks again, guys!! A very special thanks as well to highlighted team sponsors CycleOps and Zipp Speed Weaponry.

And finally, I'd like to thank all the 80+ participants who made the trek to Madison to join us this weekend. You guys are the reason we do this every year, and I'm amazed that no matter how big this thing seems to get each summer the grassroots camaraderie is still just as strong as when it was just the handful of us back in the day. Know that we have some super fun ideas for next year, so if you had a good time be sure to come back, and definitely bring some friends.

Once again, thanks again to everyone for making WIBA: 2009 such a total blast, and be sure to save the date for next year's Wisconsin Brick Adventure camp: July 9-11. Registration opens in April, 2010, and we hope to see you there!

WIBA: 2009 Run Crew

It's Sunday morning and we're back from our jaunt around town. Many folks are still out there running 13.1 miles, but Sister Sara and I are done with our 3-4ish and are showering up to head down to Endurance House for the awesome clinics and shopping discounts! My turn for the shower now, so here are a few pics of this morning's endeavors:

Most of the run crew lining up in front of Lake Monona on top of the Monona Terrace - the site of the transition entrance for Ironman Wisconsin.

Charge!!!!!

A Taste of WIBA: 2009!

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood boys and girls, despite the algae blooms. People emerged from the lake resembling swamp things (pics to come), but other than that the morning was off to a rockin start. Here are just a few pics and notes with a more detailed report to come after we get back from hitting State Street for some ice cream!

Some of the post-swim group getting ready to head to Fireman's Park for the ride.

Buddy Alan ripping up a Verona hill.

Just a few of the BBQ crew!

WIBA: 2009!

Welcome dinner crew - photo courtesy of Steve Stenzel.

It's here! And after much ado in Chicago, so are we. Everyone is getting ready for the big swim, followed soon thereafter by the big ride. More soon from the Ironman Wisconsin couse for the epic Wisconsin Brick Adventure: 2009!

Barefoot Running

OK, so after just finishing this book, Born to Run, I'm now completely obsessed with a couple things:

1. Finding a decent "barefoot" shoe that's NOT "Nike Free," as everything I've read about them so far basically translates to shaaa, right, not to mention they look like ass.

2. And foot strengthening exercises.

I was totally sold on the idea of going barefoot, which, you know, was quite the FEAT if you know me at all, when I was walking home from a neighborhood jaunt with my friend this morning and noticed my lower back started hurting. I remembered something from the book about a guy who had chronic injury issues, then started running barefoot and almost instantly stopped getting hurt. So, I figured what the hell, and took off my shoes and socks and walked the rest of the way home in the grass. After about 60 seconds guess what... my back totally stopped hurting!

Hard to argue with that you know? Now, I'm not saying you're going to be seeing me running in these anytime soon, but I have decided to strip things down as much as I can. The shoes I have now are Nike Pegasus and Mizuno Waverunners - definitely on the short list of non-invasive shoes - but anyone have ideas on shoes that are even less cushiony and arch-supporty than those?

Only 2.5 Hours Left!

Well, we're up to just about 80 riders for WIBA weekend, 2009 - that's officially a new record! We've extended registration until midnight tonight if you're interested in three days of clinics, hills, camaraderie, and a full course preview of Ironman Wisconsin alongside some of the best people the Midwest has to offer.

The itinerary for the weekend can be found here, so head over and get signed up now for the best WIBA weekend yet - we'll see you in Madison!

Running Song Potluck - Part Deux

Thanks for the running song awesomeness thus far guys, keep them coming! I was going to wait until next week to post this one, but an old friend of mine inspired its early debut:

* Song/Artist: Human by The Killers

* Genre: Alternative (possibly rock)

* Tri-Life Lesson Category: Transcending, and the feelings that may sometimes accompany it.

15!

Wow... hard to believe time goes by so fast, but I've been married 15 years today; the house smells like a million roses (exhibit A above), and bonus, the new kitties were big enough to come home this afternoon! No new pictures of them yet though because they're hiding under the couch for what appears to be... yeah the foreseeable future.

Running Song Potluck

Preface:

It's June, the weather is prime for running, and all is right with the world except for one thing - I possess a sore lack of good music.

You see, it all began last fall when school started back. Before I knew it I'd been assigned to work on committees, teach after school classes, serve on curriculum writing teams, and all manner of other time devouring stuff. Suffice it to say I've stayed up late, gotten up early and worked through lunch for the better part of the last 184 days straight.

Now there were many things wrong with this, but for the purposes of this post I'm only going to concentrate on one in particular. There was no time to read, save of course the 10 stolen minutes in the bathroom before the kids started pounding on the door in various stages of killing themselves and/or each other - which incidentally was quite the fantasy world interruption I must say.

Anyway, I had to get creative because things as a whole don't go well if I don't read regularly, e.g. if you think I'm nuts when I'm just normally juggling life-plates, you don't even want to see what my OCD does when I'm stressed out. There are sometimes bodies.

So, what to do but visit Audible.com and buy some audiobooks, right? Right! My iPod is only so many gigs though, and I really like to read. I really like to read lots of different books at the same time depending on what story I'm in the mood for. Sometimes you feel like a pop-cult novel... sometimes you don't, you know? That all said, at any given time there are likely anywhere from 5-10 audiobooks on my iPod, so you can imagine the fate of my music collection. Uncheck... uncheck... unchecking through iTunes all the live long day.

Now before you ask, yes, technically the music is still there, and most of it I still like, but lots of it I don't, especially not for running. And thus, I present the whole reason for this post.


Whole Reason for this Post:

When you're running, especially if you need to get motivated to either start running or continue running, you know how important the right song can be. It's not enough sometimes that it has a good beat. For example I LOVE the song Black Betty, but the aesthetic effect of the lyrics doesn't exactly inspire any life-metaphors for me if you know what I mean. In order to channel such things, which is kind of the whole reason I started running in the first place, it helps to have certain songs with certain beats and certain lyrics. The Tri-Life Lesson producing trifecta, if you will.

Now, as I've noted I'm running sorely low on these kinds of songs, and while out on the fledgling miles of marathon training this afternoon it occurred to me just how urgent a situation this in fact was. So with that, I propose to you good people a running song potluck each week. I'll post the title, artist and genre of a song that fulfills the aforementioned trifecta for me (and I'll categorize why), and I'll ask you to do the same in the comment window below each of these posts. My theory is by the time the big dog miles start heaping on I'll have replenished my musical Mecca of Tri-Life Lesson making goodness.

So are you game? Fantastic. Try to be creative, try to steer clear of super popular music if possible unless you absolutely just cannot it pass up, and I do believe we'll have our playlist in no time.

OK then?

My contribution this week is:

* Song/Artist: We'll Never Know by Lifehouse.

* Genre: Blues (according to iTunes; I venture to say however it's pop/rock).

* Tri-Life Lesson Category: Starting something new/ Breaking out of one's comfort zone.

And there you have it. Check it out. Listen carefully to the words. Get swept up in the music. And most definitely, run.

WIBA RUSH!

So I'm clicking along my feeds, something I haven't done for a week or so now, and what do I happen to find but a report of LOTS more names added to the upcoming WIBA 2009 road trip! Dudes, we're up to 72 riders already and holy crap we still have three weeks until go time - this very well may be the biggest WIBA yet!

Anyway, all this to say if you haven't registered yet get over there and sign up because we're going to have to shut down online booking this Friday, June 12th so we can make reservations for restaurants and whatnot. If you're worried about having enough experience to come, don't, because Tri-virgins to Kona vets will be there, as well as many who have finished IM Wisconsin multiple times and who can give you all the ins and out of race day. No worries on getting dropped either, we'll have groups going out for different distances and different paces, so everyone will enjoy the day.

Finally, in addition to the organized swim, bike and run on the Ironman course over the three days, we'll also a have free CycleOps and Zipp bike clinic (very casual Q&A set-up this year), not to mention the best post-ride cookout featuring some surprise chefs!

Questions about the weekend, email wibainfo at gmail dot com, or post in the comments below!

Rocky Start

OK, so the return to running was a bit of an event this past week. Three miles the other day resulted in some fantastic knee pain a la back when I first started running (yeah remember that, old-schoolers? The 15K from Hell?), which actually makes perfect sense since I haven't done much of anything for the past year-and-a-half. I mean, I've done some runs here and there, but nothing I would really call training per se, save my stint with kettlebells. I've just felt spent I guess, and I think that has a lot to do with being overly taxed in other areas of my life. Needless to say I'm going to revisit my schedule and make some edits because this state of being can't be at all productive in the long run - literally.

Anyway, that aside, I've found the old knee pain cure still works: Tylenol, and just sucking it up. I ran again today, and although I still felt like a giant mushball of mushiness, my knee was significantly better. I also recruited a few of my local friends (read: bribed and coerced) to run the Grand Rapids marathon (read: any part of the race therein) with me this fall, and with any luck they won't flake out on me. Either way I'm running the thing though, and I'm pretty excited about it. Tell you what too, it's nice to feel that way again about training for a race...it's been a while.

And I do believe that's it folks. School is out, there's time in the day again, and I guess we'll see if I can pull it all back together one more time.

Happy weekend :)

We're Expecting!

Yep, our family is growing...meet Spanky and Darla. They're brother and sister, and will be old enough to come home from the Pet Refuge in about two weeks.

Personally, I'm more of a dog person, but we're not really home enough during the day to get a dog. Not to mention, these guys were just too adorable with jumping all over each other and romping around to not adopt them. They were so cute in fact, I'm not even going to mind taking allergy medicine everyday for the next 15-20 years!

Darla, posing pretty for the camera.

Spanky, on the left, stalking the dust ball that's floating in the corner.

Spanky still stalking said dust ball, now landed.

And then, suddenly... there were TWO dust balls!

Both cats are silver tabbies.