I've been here for over a week now and it's not so bad if you don't like customer service. Basically, the second day I was here I got this weird shortness of breath thing. It's probably some weird virus or something but it makes it almost impossible to workout. I just can't breathe deep. I feel like an 80 year old with asthma. I'm out of breath just jayrunning across a street.
I've been hoping it would just get better on its own but it hasn't. I can't swim really for fear of drowning even though I started a membership at the local LA Fitness. It has a 4 lane pool but no heat. At least that's how it feels as it's probably a whopping 70 degree pool. I've tried to swim with this thing and I can barely do 50 yards without having to stop in order to gasp for air. My heart rate isn't even high I just can't breath.
Running is worse as my whole chest feels like its got a 50 lb weight sitting on it. I ran about 4 miles the other night by forcing myself to go real slow and still it was miserable.
Cycling on the trainer is doable if I just spin. I went out on my first group ride with a local club and everything was fine until we went up with hill. It was probably about a mile long at about 4% so nothing too difficult but I thought was going to die. I was wheezing up the whole thing. I actually got a sideache from breathing so short and fast. This is my first ever sideache on the bike.
I decided to attempt to see a doctor to get the standard, "We can't do anything, it's a virus". I just want it to be gone as I haven't really been able to do any real workout and I feel like I'm getting fat and slow.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The Trip (Final Day)
So I woke up to fogged up windows inside my Escape. Luckily, my co-workers had gotten me a cool ice scraper which had a squeege on one side. It was a couple of swipes and I could see it was a cloudy day but not too cold. As before, I had gas already and just made a quick bathroom break and I was off on the last day. I was practically there.
I was moving through Indiana when all of sudden there would be construction signs with a speed of 45 posted and all these signs about going to jail if you got a reckless driving ticket. The thing was there was no construction at all just signs. It was the equivalent of neighborhood speed bumps as the traffic would slow down and then get back up to 75.
I finally got out of Indiana and was going through Ohio. This state had some hills again but nothing too bad. I stopped at this little gas station and the people in the store were actually quite pleasant and nice. It was a surprise. I got some gas and a sandwich. I washed the windows and I was off. I had calculated that I would only need to stop one more time before I got to DC.
It's amazing when I thought about how really close I was. I went through Buckeye country, Columbus and traffic wasn't too bad. I made it into Pennsylvania which was just weird. Everything was a township instead of county. I was only Pennsylvania for like 50 miles before I was in West Virginia.
I drove right through Morgantown where I was listening to a local radio station. They played an Alansis Morisette "You oughta know" parody about how the head football coach abandoned the team. It was hilarious. Good stuff. I started heading up some mountains agian basically the Appalachians. I was driving through some really raining/cloudy conditions which made visibility tough. Especially going up hills with super slow semis.
I was nearing my gas tank fillup and the town wasn't coming any sooner. I was getting a little worried because it was really countryside out in the middle of nowhere. Very little cell service if any. Just as we were entering the town on the freeway there was a classic speed trap. Basically you start heading down this hill into town and the speed limit goes from 65 to 45 and smack around this bend was a cop just sitting in his car waiting for a speeder.
I had slowed down as I was planning on stopping for gas and was looking for the first exit with those lovely blue gas freeway exit signs. I got my gas and was basically only 160 miles from DC although it seemed like a long ways since I was up in the hills.
I was driving along heading out of the hills when they started having those summit signs on the side of the road. The funny thing was the first sign was a whopping 1500 ft or so and last one was 1000 ft. I had to laugh as back in Oregon we have foothills around Portland with those elevations. At lunch time, we ride up hills that top out around 1000 ft. This has me worried about being able to keep my hill focus for the Canada Ironman as there are some decent hills on the course. I need to find a 1000 ft climb or so and do repeats to keep ready. Otherwise, I'll turn into a flatlander wussy.
I got to Frederick, Maryland and saw an exit for Gettysburg. There is going to be so much American history just miles away it will be interesting for Elena as she gets older.
And then I got my first taste of east coast traffic...There was construction going on that had closed one lane of the freeway. It caused at least a couple of miles of backup. I slowly made my way through that and was hopeful I wouldn't be too late into the day. I was hoping to get to my final destination, Silver Spring(a suburb of DC) before rush hour hit.
There was a four lane highway and people were doing 75 in a 55. It was great. I could speed along and look slow to normal. People were zipping in and out of traffic. Ahh...my kind of driving.
The beltway! I had to get on the beltway for 3 miles to get to my exit. It was jammed pack at 4pm and took me a half hour to get those 3 miles. Stop and go but I really didn't care because I had basically made it. I got off the freeway and meandered through Silver Spring to the house. I made it. Woohoo!! It was 4pm East Coast time. It had taken me 2 and 1/2 days.
Here's the final statistics on the drive:
2856 miles traveled
35 hours driving
$351 gas
Cheapest Gas: $2.79 outside Cheyenne, WY
Most expensive gas: $3.29 in North Platte, NE ( I got reamed!)
Average gas mileage: 125 gallons for roughly 22mpg
I was moving through Indiana when all of sudden there would be construction signs with a speed of 45 posted and all these signs about going to jail if you got a reckless driving ticket. The thing was there was no construction at all just signs. It was the equivalent of neighborhood speed bumps as the traffic would slow down and then get back up to 75.
I finally got out of Indiana and was going through Ohio. This state had some hills again but nothing too bad. I stopped at this little gas station and the people in the store were actually quite pleasant and nice. It was a surprise. I got some gas and a sandwich. I washed the windows and I was off. I had calculated that I would only need to stop one more time before I got to DC.
It's amazing when I thought about how really close I was. I went through Buckeye country, Columbus and traffic wasn't too bad. I made it into Pennsylvania which was just weird. Everything was a township instead of county. I was only Pennsylvania for like 50 miles before I was in West Virginia.
I drove right through Morgantown where I was listening to a local radio station. They played an Alansis Morisette "You oughta know" parody about how the head football coach abandoned the team. It was hilarious. Good stuff. I started heading up some mountains agian basically the Appalachians. I was driving through some really raining/cloudy conditions which made visibility tough. Especially going up hills with super slow semis.
I was nearing my gas tank fillup and the town wasn't coming any sooner. I was getting a little worried because it was really countryside out in the middle of nowhere. Very little cell service if any. Just as we were entering the town on the freeway there was a classic speed trap. Basically you start heading down this hill into town and the speed limit goes from 65 to 45 and smack around this bend was a cop just sitting in his car waiting for a speeder.
I had slowed down as I was planning on stopping for gas and was looking for the first exit with those lovely blue gas freeway exit signs. I got my gas and was basically only 160 miles from DC although it seemed like a long ways since I was up in the hills.
I was driving along heading out of the hills when they started having those summit signs on the side of the road. The funny thing was the first sign was a whopping 1500 ft or so and last one was 1000 ft. I had to laugh as back in Oregon we have foothills around Portland with those elevations. At lunch time, we ride up hills that top out around 1000 ft. This has me worried about being able to keep my hill focus for the Canada Ironman as there are some decent hills on the course. I need to find a 1000 ft climb or so and do repeats to keep ready. Otherwise, I'll turn into a flatlander wussy.
I got to Frederick, Maryland and saw an exit for Gettysburg. There is going to be so much American history just miles away it will be interesting for Elena as she gets older.
And then I got my first taste of east coast traffic...There was construction going on that had closed one lane of the freeway. It caused at least a couple of miles of backup. I slowly made my way through that and was hopeful I wouldn't be too late into the day. I was hoping to get to my final destination, Silver Spring(a suburb of DC) before rush hour hit.
There was a four lane highway and people were doing 75 in a 55. It was great. I could speed along and look slow to normal. People were zipping in and out of traffic. Ahh...my kind of driving.
The beltway! I had to get on the beltway for 3 miles to get to my exit. It was jammed pack at 4pm and took me a half hour to get those 3 miles. Stop and go but I really didn't care because I had basically made it. I got off the freeway and meandered through Silver Spring to the house. I made it. Woohoo!! It was 4pm East Coast time. It had taken me 2 and 1/2 days.
Here's the final statistics on the drive:
2856 miles traveled
35 hours driving
$351 gas
Cheapest Gas: $2.79 outside Cheyenne, WY
Most expensive gas: $3.29 in North Platte, NE ( I got reamed!)
Average gas mileage: 125 gallons for roughly 22mpg
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Trip (Part 3)
I started my 2nd day knowing that I had to go through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and stop just outside Indianapolis, Indiana. I was only Wyoming for an hour as I guess Cheyenne is pretty close to the Nebraska border.
I had everything dialed in and my body was slowly adapting to the driving. The miles just kept going by without much effort. As I got close to big cities, I listen to the radio to pass the time. Another positive was it was smooth sailing as there wasn't a mountain in sight. No more climbing.
As I hit Omaha Nebraska I saw a sign for a Gorilla burger. It was this 2lb hamburger. I almost stopped in because it was around lunch time but I fought the urge. I saw the restaurant as I stopped for gas right next to it and bought a subway sandwich instead. I have to keep watching my weight. After the Ironman, I'm going let myself eat tons of junk food. Can't wait, multiple bags of Doritos are in order.
I entered Iowa and immediately started hearing presidential campaign ads on the radio. It was interesting as it's getting closer and closer to the Iowa caucus. I also hit some rush hour traffic in Iowa City which was lame but not so bad. Also I crossed into the Central time zone. Crap another hour lost although on this day I would only be going around 1000 miles. This combined with the flat roads and 75mph speed limit made the day go well.
I hit the Illinois border at dark and crossed the Mississippi river. It would've been nice to see the massive river in the light but oh well. This is where I deviated from the standard google directions to Maryland. I decided to skip going through the outskirts of Chicago because it would probably be a massive traffic jam and just went through the heart of Illinois towards Indy. The google directions take you north of Indy on I-80.
I cruised through Illinois but it was sure was cold and dark and the speed limit was only 65 so it was slow going. Every so often a car would come by doing 80 and I'd get behind them for awhile until the would exit the freeway. I didn't even see the sign of crossing into Indiana and before I knew it I was in Indianapolis. I had to take all kinds of exits which had patchy ice to navigate around the city. My last stop of the trip was just outside Indy.
I made it around 11pm central time. I got comfortable for a nights sleep and I was out. I had traveled 15 hours and I'm not sure of the exact mileage as I still have to calculate how many miles total and how I did on gas mileage. The massive part of the trip was over though as the last day was only 700 something miles. Piece of cake.
I had everything dialed in and my body was slowly adapting to the driving. The miles just kept going by without much effort. As I got close to big cities, I listen to the radio to pass the time. Another positive was it was smooth sailing as there wasn't a mountain in sight. No more climbing.
As I hit Omaha Nebraska I saw a sign for a Gorilla burger. It was this 2lb hamburger. I almost stopped in because it was around lunch time but I fought the urge. I saw the restaurant as I stopped for gas right next to it and bought a subway sandwich instead. I have to keep watching my weight. After the Ironman, I'm going let myself eat tons of junk food. Can't wait, multiple bags of Doritos are in order.
I entered Iowa and immediately started hearing presidential campaign ads on the radio. It was interesting as it's getting closer and closer to the Iowa caucus. I also hit some rush hour traffic in Iowa City which was lame but not so bad. Also I crossed into the Central time zone. Crap another hour lost although on this day I would only be going around 1000 miles. This combined with the flat roads and 75mph speed limit made the day go well.
I hit the Illinois border at dark and crossed the Mississippi river. It would've been nice to see the massive river in the light but oh well. This is where I deviated from the standard google directions to Maryland. I decided to skip going through the outskirts of Chicago because it would probably be a massive traffic jam and just went through the heart of Illinois towards Indy. The google directions take you north of Indy on I-80.
I cruised through Illinois but it was sure was cold and dark and the speed limit was only 65 so it was slow going. Every so often a car would come by doing 80 and I'd get behind them for awhile until the would exit the freeway. I didn't even see the sign of crossing into Indiana and before I knew it I was in Indianapolis. I had to take all kinds of exits which had patchy ice to navigate around the city. My last stop of the trip was just outside Indy.
I made it around 11pm central time. I got comfortable for a nights sleep and I was out. I had traveled 15 hours and I'm not sure of the exact mileage as I still have to calculate how many miles total and how I did on gas mileage. The massive part of the trip was over though as the last day was only 700 something miles. Piece of cake.
Friday, December 21, 2007
The Trip (Part 2)
Okay, so we left with our hero(me) heading out trying to get to Cheyenne, WY on the first day.
I leave 24 hour fitness around 5:30 AM pacific standard time (more on this later). I basically will be taking I-84 thru eastern Oregon all the way to the Ogden, UT before changing over to I-80.
My group at work gave me a cooler full of snacks for the trip plus 3 comedy CDs to help pass the time. Since I had just finished a tough swim workout, I decided to drink a Propel and eat a ClifBar. This way I could just start driving and not worry about stopping to eat for awhile.
It's dark and I'm cruising along I-84 doing about 10mph over the speed limit. I get to the Dalles and the sun is just starting to come up. There is a little frost on the sides of the road but it's not too bad on the lanes themselves. There are not many cars at all on the road. I start up my music from my phone via headphones and begin to rock out as I'm flying thru the desert of Eastern Oregon.
Just before I get to Pendelton there is this little stretch of construction. I figure I might as well slow down from 75 to the construction speed. Luckily, that I did because on the other side of the construction is a state trooper shooting his laser down the road. Phew..just avoided a big ticket there. Sweet. I immediately take the speed back up figuring there's probably no more state cops out at this hour. WRONG!
I'm flying at a modest 80mph when I see another state cop. I'm screwed but hope that since I was in the slow lane doing that speed he didn't laser me. I think he was just running normal radar because as I go by at 65mph., he pulls out. Oh great, this should be interesting. I'm just cruising along with him behind me for a bit. I think well maybe he's just hanging. WRONG! The lights go on...I'm busted.
I pull over and he walks up to my car window. I was surprised he actually came up to the driver window instead of the passenger window because of the small shoulder and traffic wizzing by. He asks me the usual question, how fast do you think you were going? I say oh 70, 75. He says nope 80. He asks me where I'm headed and I just mention that I'm starting my trip across the country to the east coast. No details just in case I need to make a quick getaway and be on the lamb for awhile. ;) Now here's where I'm shocked he says I'm not going to give you a ticket but I need to see your license. Wow, I couldn't believe it. I got off.
I continue on my way. Now here's where things are interesting. I'm cruising along at 75mph in a 65mph the rest of the way. I'm still in Oregon though just at the almost Idaho border when I see it. "ENTERING MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE" FUCK!!! I just lost an entire hour on my road trip. I totally forgot factoring in the time zone changes in my estimate arrival times. So I just went from getting to my first stop around 10pm to 11pm. Ouch!
I just keep cruising but once I get to Idaho the new speed limit is 75mph. Woohoo so I start going 80ish. As I stop for gas about every 220 miles or so I get a chance to stretch. My back is already hurting me a little and my gas leg is sore. I move my seat all the way back and my leg immediately feels better. Sweet but my back still starts to get sore about the 100 mile point of the gas stops.
I cruise towards Ogden Utah and hit some small flurries of snow but nothing major as a Jeep blows past me doing 90mph. I get to Ogden just as the sun is going down and begin my trek through the mountains on I-80. It seemed I was going up the whole time until I hit Cheyenne. It was weird.
I'm cruising along making great time when it happens. I start to run into patchy ice and blowing snow. The ice is hard to make out and goes for stretches at a time. There was one section where it was a total sheet of pack snow and ice. There was a semi jackknifed in the median. I slow down to 50 and put it in 4 wheel drive off and on. The big trucks are still doing 65mph at least and passing cars left and right. It was crazy but I guess they're so heavy they don't care about simple little icy spots. This lasted for about 50 miles and then that was it for weather the rest of the trip.
I got to my first destination at 11:30pm mountain time. Woohoo...I was beat and ready to sleep in my car for the first night. Anything to save a little extra money and it really wasn't a big deal. If truckers can do it why not me. I'm tough. I was prepared as I had my massive goose down comforter, wool gloves and wool hat. The wind was howling the whole night and outside the comforter it was in the 20s. I got about 6 hours of sleep.
I started my 2nd driving day at 6:30 mountain time...
I leave 24 hour fitness around 5:30 AM pacific standard time (more on this later). I basically will be taking I-84 thru eastern Oregon all the way to the Ogden, UT before changing over to I-80.
My group at work gave me a cooler full of snacks for the trip plus 3 comedy CDs to help pass the time. Since I had just finished a tough swim workout, I decided to drink a Propel and eat a ClifBar. This way I could just start driving and not worry about stopping to eat for awhile.
It's dark and I'm cruising along I-84 doing about 10mph over the speed limit. I get to the Dalles and the sun is just starting to come up. There is a little frost on the sides of the road but it's not too bad on the lanes themselves. There are not many cars at all on the road. I start up my music from my phone via headphones and begin to rock out as I'm flying thru the desert of Eastern Oregon.
Just before I get to Pendelton there is this little stretch of construction. I figure I might as well slow down from 75 to the construction speed. Luckily, that I did because on the other side of the construction is a state trooper shooting his laser down the road. Phew..just avoided a big ticket there. Sweet. I immediately take the speed back up figuring there's probably no more state cops out at this hour. WRONG!
I'm flying at a modest 80mph when I see another state cop. I'm screwed but hope that since I was in the slow lane doing that speed he didn't laser me. I think he was just running normal radar because as I go by at 65mph., he pulls out. Oh great, this should be interesting. I'm just cruising along with him behind me for a bit. I think well maybe he's just hanging. WRONG! The lights go on...I'm busted.
I pull over and he walks up to my car window. I was surprised he actually came up to the driver window instead of the passenger window because of the small shoulder and traffic wizzing by. He asks me the usual question, how fast do you think you were going? I say oh 70, 75. He says nope 80. He asks me where I'm headed and I just mention that I'm starting my trip across the country to the east coast. No details just in case I need to make a quick getaway and be on the lamb for awhile. ;) Now here's where I'm shocked he says I'm not going to give you a ticket but I need to see your license. Wow, I couldn't believe it. I got off.
I continue on my way. Now here's where things are interesting. I'm cruising along at 75mph in a 65mph the rest of the way. I'm still in Oregon though just at the almost Idaho border when I see it. "ENTERING MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE" FUCK!!! I just lost an entire hour on my road trip. I totally forgot factoring in the time zone changes in my estimate arrival times. So I just went from getting to my first stop around 10pm to 11pm. Ouch!
I just keep cruising but once I get to Idaho the new speed limit is 75mph. Woohoo so I start going 80ish. As I stop for gas about every 220 miles or so I get a chance to stretch. My back is already hurting me a little and my gas leg is sore. I move my seat all the way back and my leg immediately feels better. Sweet but my back still starts to get sore about the 100 mile point of the gas stops.
I cruise towards Ogden Utah and hit some small flurries of snow but nothing major as a Jeep blows past me doing 90mph. I get to Ogden just as the sun is going down and begin my trek through the mountains on I-80. It seemed I was going up the whole time until I hit Cheyenne. It was weird.
I'm cruising along making great time when it happens. I start to run into patchy ice and blowing snow. The ice is hard to make out and goes for stretches at a time. There was one section where it was a total sheet of pack snow and ice. There was a semi jackknifed in the median. I slow down to 50 and put it in 4 wheel drive off and on. The big trucks are still doing 65mph at least and passing cars left and right. It was crazy but I guess they're so heavy they don't care about simple little icy spots. This lasted for about 50 miles and then that was it for weather the rest of the trip.
I got to my first destination at 11:30pm mountain time. Woohoo...I was beat and ready to sleep in my car for the first night. Anything to save a little extra money and it really wasn't a big deal. If truckers can do it why not me. I'm tough. I was prepared as I had my massive goose down comforter, wool gloves and wool hat. The wind was howling the whole night and outside the comforter it was in the 20s. I got about 6 hours of sleep.
I started my 2nd driving day at 6:30 mountain time...
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Trip (Part 1)
I made it out here all in one piece today(west coast time)/yesterday(east coast time). I can't sleep. My body is all screwed up for what I made it go through on the trip. I consumed mass quantities of junk food and excessive amounts of caffeine.
The weather was perfect well almost perfect. There was just one stretch of I-80 which had some dicey conditions as I was driving in Wyoming.
Let's go back a few days to Saturday. I just got done seeing Golden Compass with my buddy Andrew. Check out his review here. I got the phone call from Swift. They asked if it would be okay to pack my stuff on Sunday. I said that would be great as I had been monitoring the weather on the route I was going to take and Monday and Tuesday looked great through the plains.
I had linner(somewhere between lunch and dinner) with my friends Eric, Tracey, Dylan and Susan at the Olive Garden with Elena as well. It was good fun eating and seeing them. I'll miss being able to hang out with them way out here in DC.
On Sunday the movers said they'd get there between 12 and 1pm. I was able to get in a good swim and decent run and still have time to get the last things in order. I packed up the car with all the stuff I wanted to have with me since I wouldn't be seeing my stuff for possibly 2 weeks or more.
The movers didn't arrive til 2:30pm and they look like I should've spent more money on the my trip. I start out being a little worried when the truck is medium sized and only one speaks English. They have all the appropriate documents so they start packing. At first they say it will be a snap and then they get to packing up the TV. The main dude actually packed it up awesome. I actually think it has a chance. It got packed better than my previous TV which was damaged when I moved from California back to Oregon.
They packed and packed and packed. I figured it would take them a couple of hours to pack so I didn't run any of my last minute trip errands before they arrived. I figured it would help pass the 2nd half of the day if I ran the errands afterwards as I would have no furniture or comforts after they had left. I was wrong. It took them 6 hours to finish packing up all the stuff. I was shocked. It just kept taking longer and longer.
I found out that I could saved a bundle on "my car insurance"...oh wait if I had just packed some of my stuff myself. They charged by the box. If I had bought some simple boxes and just packed my clothes I could've saved probably $300 to $400 dollars. Live and learn.
I left before they had even driven out of the parking lot desperate to get some windshield washing fluid, deposit my Oregon kicker check( YES! ) and eat. I also had to use my $25 Fred Meyer gift card. I had won the gift card for paying my rent on time. I lived in the complex for 3+ years and finally my luck came through. Not bad considering I had the rent on autopayment through my online billpay. I love online banking and haven't written checks in eons. I'm still gonna just keep my bank account rather than re-open it in Maryland. Woohoo out of state banking. I feel like a gangster except I don't have a lot of money, don't whack people for skimming, and really don't have an offshore bank account. The only problem with bill pay is you have to be careful. Last month I accidentally paid the wrong credit card. I was frantic as credit card late fees can kill. Luckily it seems since I had been paying regularly I called and they hadn't charged me. We'll see if that's true when I get my statement.
This blog is long I haven't even got to the part of leaving. I got home from my errands and slept on the floor. This was going to be the best night's sleep I would be getting until I reached Maryland(even though it's 2am here and I can't sleep in the soft bed).
I woke up at 4am and headed off for my last workout at 24 hour fitness. I had planned to do 200yd intervals in the pool. If things went well I was going to 5 sets with 30 seconds rest in between. I've found that's a nice magic number for rest. I warmed up with my usual 200. Everything felt okay so I took off for the first interval. My goal was to go low 1:50ish per 100 and maybe even sub for each interval. This was difficult. I did manage to hit the first hundred right around 1:47 for all 5 with the second hundred being 1:50 for all five. I finished with an easy 400 yards.
I just wonder about my swimming sometimes. I have to be stronger but I also wonder how much is technique. It's hard to tell at this point. All in all a great workout. I showered and got in the car for the trip of a lifetime.
I had previously only driving 10 hours straight before on my trips up from San Jose to Portland when I lived in Cali. My first day of a 3 day trip was going to 16 hours. I had set my plan to drive the most on the first day when I was fresh. My goal was to make it to Cheyenne, WY 1100 or so miles away in the first day.
Will he make it? Will his new GPS work? Is the weather gonna hold out? What does the song "Breakin the Law" by Judas Priest and eastern Oregon have in common? Find out tomorrow on another exciting edition of Al's blog.
Oh and if you made it this far one last fun tidbit. I got my body fat checked on Friday morning after swimming 2200 yards in the pool my longest and just over a half-iron effort at 42:34. Woohoo half way home. I usually get my body fat checked twice a year by the same person with the pinch test. It's a rough estimate and within a few percent of one of those scales. I came it at 5%. This is one of my lowest yet. I weigh just 6lbs more than my lightest running days when I would usually hit 7%. All in all great news. I was also quite excited that I know I won't drown for the half-ironman since I can swim 1.2 miles. I just hope it's not too much more difficult to swim 1.2 in open water with 2000+ other folks.
I really need to find some way to get out into some open water and get a feel...
The weather was perfect well almost perfect. There was just one stretch of I-80 which had some dicey conditions as I was driving in Wyoming.
Let's go back a few days to Saturday. I just got done seeing Golden Compass with my buddy Andrew. Check out his review here. I got the phone call from Swift. They asked if it would be okay to pack my stuff on Sunday. I said that would be great as I had been monitoring the weather on the route I was going to take and Monday and Tuesday looked great through the plains.
I had linner(somewhere between lunch and dinner) with my friends Eric, Tracey, Dylan and Susan at the Olive Garden with Elena as well. It was good fun eating and seeing them. I'll miss being able to hang out with them way out here in DC.
On Sunday the movers said they'd get there between 12 and 1pm. I was able to get in a good swim and decent run and still have time to get the last things in order. I packed up the car with all the stuff I wanted to have with me since I wouldn't be seeing my stuff for possibly 2 weeks or more.
The movers didn't arrive til 2:30pm and they look like I should've spent more money on the my trip. I start out being a little worried when the truck is medium sized and only one speaks English. They have all the appropriate documents so they start packing. At first they say it will be a snap and then they get to packing up the TV. The main dude actually packed it up awesome. I actually think it has a chance. It got packed better than my previous TV which was damaged when I moved from California back to Oregon.
They packed and packed and packed. I figured it would take them a couple of hours to pack so I didn't run any of my last minute trip errands before they arrived. I figured it would help pass the 2nd half of the day if I ran the errands afterwards as I would have no furniture or comforts after they had left. I was wrong. It took them 6 hours to finish packing up all the stuff. I was shocked. It just kept taking longer and longer.
I found out that I could saved a bundle on "my car insurance"...oh wait if I had just packed some of my stuff myself. They charged by the box. If I had bought some simple boxes and just packed my clothes I could've saved probably $300 to $400 dollars. Live and learn.
I left before they had even driven out of the parking lot desperate to get some windshield washing fluid, deposit my Oregon kicker check( YES! ) and eat. I also had to use my $25 Fred Meyer gift card. I had won the gift card for paying my rent on time. I lived in the complex for 3+ years and finally my luck came through. Not bad considering I had the rent on autopayment through my online billpay. I love online banking and haven't written checks in eons. I'm still gonna just keep my bank account rather than re-open it in Maryland. Woohoo out of state banking. I feel like a gangster except I don't have a lot of money, don't whack people for skimming, and really don't have an offshore bank account. The only problem with bill pay is you have to be careful. Last month I accidentally paid the wrong credit card. I was frantic as credit card late fees can kill. Luckily it seems since I had been paying regularly I called and they hadn't charged me. We'll see if that's true when I get my statement.
This blog is long I haven't even got to the part of leaving. I got home from my errands and slept on the floor. This was going to be the best night's sleep I would be getting until I reached Maryland(even though it's 2am here and I can't sleep in the soft bed).
I woke up at 4am and headed off for my last workout at 24 hour fitness. I had planned to do 200yd intervals in the pool. If things went well I was going to 5 sets with 30 seconds rest in between. I've found that's a nice magic number for rest. I warmed up with my usual 200. Everything felt okay so I took off for the first interval. My goal was to go low 1:50ish per 100 and maybe even sub for each interval. This was difficult. I did manage to hit the first hundred right around 1:47 for all 5 with the second hundred being 1:50 for all five. I finished with an easy 400 yards.
I just wonder about my swimming sometimes. I have to be stronger but I also wonder how much is technique. It's hard to tell at this point. All in all a great workout. I showered and got in the car for the trip of a lifetime.
I had previously only driving 10 hours straight before on my trips up from San Jose to Portland when I lived in Cali. My first day of a 3 day trip was going to 16 hours. I had set my plan to drive the most on the first day when I was fresh. My goal was to make it to Cheyenne, WY 1100 or so miles away in the first day.
Will he make it? Will his new GPS work? Is the weather gonna hold out? What does the song "Breakin the Law" by Judas Priest and eastern Oregon have in common? Find out tomorrow on another exciting edition of Al's blog.
Oh and if you made it this far one last fun tidbit. I got my body fat checked on Friday morning after swimming 2200 yards in the pool my longest and just over a half-iron effort at 42:34. Woohoo half way home. I usually get my body fat checked twice a year by the same person with the pinch test. It's a rough estimate and within a few percent of one of those scales. I came it at 5%. This is one of my lowest yet. I weigh just 6lbs more than my lightest running days when I would usually hit 7%. All in all great news. I was also quite excited that I know I won't drown for the half-ironman since I can swim 1.2 miles. I just hope it's not too much more difficult to swim 1.2 in open water with 2000+ other folks.
I really need to find some way to get out into some open water and get a feel...
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Closer
t keeps getting closer to the big drive. I've been frantically checking the forecast along the route and things are looking pretty good. An occasional snow shower but nothing like the big ice storm that just swept thru the midwest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all stays good for the trip.
This weekend I have to empty out the car and then repack it with the stuff I'm gonna cart across the country. Let's see, my bike, bike trainer, helmet and a limited amount of other bike crap. I'm gonna need some nice business clothes for an upcoming Europe trip in January just in cast. I need to pack all my workout clothes and a good set of normal clothes for duffing around the house while I "work". I'm gonna pack a bunch of ZipFizz to keep me awake late in the day on each part of the drive. It should work great because I'm totally off the caffeine since mid-summer. I've plugged in a few key points into my phone's GPS so I'll have that help guide me along as well as the directions from Google Maps.
I have to unplug and get all my electronic stuff ready. I need to take back the cable modem and cable box. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to catch up on all my Heroes episodes sitting on the DVR but oh well, I can always view them on the NBC website. It seems with this writers strike we won't have much TV to watch very soon.
I hope I don't get too fat with all the days I'm gonna take off from working out and possible fast food on the road. I think I'm gonna bring a few clif bars and just eat them to keep me going. We'll see I'll try to stick to Subway since it's pretty healthy compared to Big Mac and fries from McDs.
I wonder how my swimming is gonna be affected by the long layoff. It will probably take me a bit to find a pool when I get out there so it may be a 10 days off from swimming. I'm hoping I won't lose much and just come back stronger. I guess we'll see. I've been slowly getting ready for more structured workouts in swimming which will come in January. I'm still amazed at how fast people can swim as compared to me. I'm getting a little faster but there seem to be tons who can just bust out fast times. I'm still looking for the magic...
This weekend I have to empty out the car and then repack it with the stuff I'm gonna cart across the country. Let's see, my bike, bike trainer, helmet and a limited amount of other bike crap. I'm gonna need some nice business clothes for an upcoming Europe trip in January just in cast. I need to pack all my workout clothes and a good set of normal clothes for duffing around the house while I "work". I'm gonna pack a bunch of ZipFizz to keep me awake late in the day on each part of the drive. It should work great because I'm totally off the caffeine since mid-summer. I've plugged in a few key points into my phone's GPS so I'll have that help guide me along as well as the directions from Google Maps.
I have to unplug and get all my electronic stuff ready. I need to take back the cable modem and cable box. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to catch up on all my Heroes episodes sitting on the DVR but oh well, I can always view them on the NBC website. It seems with this writers strike we won't have much TV to watch very soon.
I hope I don't get too fat with all the days I'm gonna take off from working out and possible fast food on the road. I think I'm gonna bring a few clif bars and just eat them to keep me going. We'll see I'll try to stick to Subway since it's pretty healthy compared to Big Mac and fries from McDs.
I wonder how my swimming is gonna be affected by the long layoff. It will probably take me a bit to find a pool when I get out there so it may be a 10 days off from swimming. I'm hoping I won't lose much and just come back stronger. I guess we'll see. I've been slowly getting ready for more structured workouts in swimming which will come in January. I'm still amazed at how fast people can swim as compared to me. I'm getting a little faster but there seem to be tons who can just bust out fast times. I'm still looking for the magic...
Monday, December 10, 2007
Brrrr....icks!
Man, it was cold this past weekend. At least, it makes the start of the swim more comfortable. I got in the water and I was still tired from my 2000 yard effort earlier last week. So I just cruised easy on Saturday morning. This was good because I went out to my last team ride.
We went up one of my favorite routes, Dairy Creek. It kicked my ass. My first team ride was up that beast and it killed me. I can't believe it crushed me yet again. I guess it just shows how much top end I've lost. I've just been spinning for the last couple of months and it shows. I'm okay with it as the real training doesn't happen yet. Overall, when I got off the bike I had put in 74 miles and 4 hours of riding. Not lightning fast but just there for a winter ride. The temperature at the end was a balmy 40 something compared to the frosty roads at the beginning.
On Sunday, I swam an easy 1000 before hoping on the bike. It was colder at a whopping 28 degrees. I decided to ride and then run afterwards because it would be my last ride with the Sunday riding group. I usually ride almost all summer with these guys so it would be fun. They are usually really laid back and my legs needed a nice spin ride before pounding the pavement for the run.
The ride started off super hard at least it felt hard to me. My legs were just dead. I had looked at the doppler radar before the swim and there was moisture on the coast. I figured we'd stay dry til Noon. We started to head towards Hagg Lake. We decided to stop at this golf course about 16 miles out and make some decisions about total mileage, etc.
The pace was pretty smooth and hard out to the golf course and it was still about 32 degrees because unlike Saturday there was only clouds and no sun. I stuffed a whole Clif Bar in my mouth at the golf course as people took bathroom breaks. We figured to go about 3-5 mile more miles out which would make my total for the day around 50. We started pedalling and not about 5 minutes later it started to sleet.
We all immediately turned around and started hightailing it back. All I can say is I'm glad we weren't in the middle of a longer loop. I was racing the roads becoming wet and slick. We were rotating pretty well and only dropped one poor soul. He had a rain bike so I wasn't too worried about him not making it back. It was every biker for himself. I had to get back through Tigard before it got too dangerous. I just remember the last time it started snowing on a Sunday afternoon when it was cold and there was mass accidents.
I got back to the 24 hour Fitness parking lot and tossed the bike in the car. I downed a power gel and put the running shoes on. I took off on a nice 7.5 mile loop as the snow was still coming down but not really sticking. My legs felt great on the run compared to how crappy they felt on the bike. I'm really surprised about how fresh and relieved the muscles feel when I get off the bike. I think my body is just built for running.
I finished my run and was tired but not totally wiped out. I was totally frozen though and was thankful for the hot shower when I got home.
It's still cold today so I decided to stay warm by just spinning on the trainer. If the weather stays dry, I may venture outside tomorrow...we'll see.
We went up one of my favorite routes, Dairy Creek. It kicked my ass. My first team ride was up that beast and it killed me. I can't believe it crushed me yet again. I guess it just shows how much top end I've lost. I've just been spinning for the last couple of months and it shows. I'm okay with it as the real training doesn't happen yet. Overall, when I got off the bike I had put in 74 miles and 4 hours of riding. Not lightning fast but just there for a winter ride. The temperature at the end was a balmy 40 something compared to the frosty roads at the beginning.
On Sunday, I swam an easy 1000 before hoping on the bike. It was colder at a whopping 28 degrees. I decided to ride and then run afterwards because it would be my last ride with the Sunday riding group. I usually ride almost all summer with these guys so it would be fun. They are usually really laid back and my legs needed a nice spin ride before pounding the pavement for the run.
The ride started off super hard at least it felt hard to me. My legs were just dead. I had looked at the doppler radar before the swim and there was moisture on the coast. I figured we'd stay dry til Noon. We started to head towards Hagg Lake. We decided to stop at this golf course about 16 miles out and make some decisions about total mileage, etc.
The pace was pretty smooth and hard out to the golf course and it was still about 32 degrees because unlike Saturday there was only clouds and no sun. I stuffed a whole Clif Bar in my mouth at the golf course as people took bathroom breaks. We figured to go about 3-5 mile more miles out which would make my total for the day around 50. We started pedalling and not about 5 minutes later it started to sleet.
We all immediately turned around and started hightailing it back. All I can say is I'm glad we weren't in the middle of a longer loop. I was racing the roads becoming wet and slick. We were rotating pretty well and only dropped one poor soul. He had a rain bike so I wasn't too worried about him not making it back. It was every biker for himself. I had to get back through Tigard before it got too dangerous. I just remember the last time it started snowing on a Sunday afternoon when it was cold and there was mass accidents.
I got back to the 24 hour Fitness parking lot and tossed the bike in the car. I downed a power gel and put the running shoes on. I took off on a nice 7.5 mile loop as the snow was still coming down but not really sticking. My legs felt great on the run compared to how crappy they felt on the bike. I'm really surprised about how fresh and relieved the muscles feel when I get off the bike. I think my body is just built for running.
I finished my run and was tired but not totally wiped out. I was totally frozen though and was thankful for the hot shower when I got home.
It's still cold today so I decided to stay warm by just spinning on the trainer. If the weather stays dry, I may venture outside tomorrow...we'll see.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
New Phone
I ordered a new cellphone last week. I had been wanting a nice cellphone with a larger screen so I could read email. I was thinking about maybe going with an Iphone but it had so many limitations as far as certain features even though it was really cool. I decided to stick with Verizon since I had purchase about 3 or 4 albums already with the Verizon music store. I also have "ringback" tones with Verizon which allow people calling you to hear music instead of listening to a boring ring sound.
By luck Verizon and LG just came out with this cool phone called the Voyager. It has a touch screen like the Iphone but also a full QWERTY keyboard on the inside via a flip. It has full blown GPS capability which will be great since I'm moving. You can even watch TV on it. It has like 8 channels with some programming like normal TV. Of course, it's a full blown music phone with bluetooth stereo capability. All in all it's one sweet phone.
I'm in the middle of loading up a 2Gb micro SD card with a bunch of music. Man is that slow but at least I'll have a ton of music ready to go.
Here's a couple of pics:
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
2000
I decided after taking two days off from swimming to see how things went for a long swim this morning. I just started and kept knocking off hundreds. I totally lost track and at one point tried to figure out what split I was on. You really can't read small watch text with goggles. I wasted a simple 8 seconds looking and decided just to do my best.
I used the big clock on the wall and just tried to swim past 30 minutes as I was cruising. I wanted to make sure I got a full mile in so I made extra sure. After it was all done I ended up with 2000 yards. My farthest swim to date. The other cool thing was I swam a 34:17 for the mile which is 3 minutes faster than time.
I could barely raise my arms though at the end. I just need to be able to set them on the aerobars and start the cruising on the bike. Overall I was just a little short of the official half ironman swim distance. I wish I would've kept better track because having a nice benchmark time for that distance would've been nice.
I might be able to find some more speed but it's just a matter of feeling comfortable once I get out of the water and not drowning.
Only 3 weeks til Xmas..
I used the big clock on the wall and just tried to swim past 30 minutes as I was cruising. I wanted to make sure I got a full mile in so I made extra sure. After it was all done I ended up with 2000 yards. My farthest swim to date. The other cool thing was I swam a 34:17 for the mile which is 3 minutes faster than time.
I could barely raise my arms though at the end. I just need to be able to set them on the aerobars and start the cruising on the bike. Overall I was just a little short of the official half ironman swim distance. I wish I would've kept better track because having a nice benchmark time for that distance would've been nice.
I might be able to find some more speed but it's just a matter of feeling comfortable once I get out of the water and not drowning.
Only 3 weeks til Xmas..
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Ranked
I was looking through my gmail today and noticed the RaceCenter NW newsletter. As I glanced through I saw that TriNorthwest had published their 2007 rankings. I figured I'd hop over there to check them out:
http://www.trinw.com/rankings/07rankings/overalls/Olympic-Du.html
If you notice, I'm ranked #1 in the open male. Woohoo!! I have no idea how they come up with their rankings since I failed to even make the overall duathlon rankings. Oh well, I guess all those races and training accounted for something this past year.
I got a new fancy phone that I was hoping to use for email and stuff since I'm traveling more. I saw one of those email ads from wireless provider, Verizon and decided to check it out. Well they cut me a deal on this phone called the Voyager. It's like an Iphone but with a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen is smaller than an Iphone but it also has an inner screen due to the flip open keyboard. It also includes GPS which will help since I'm moving to a new place. I'm syncing my music to it as we speak. It also supports bluetooth stereo so that will rock on rides without wires everywhere.
So the Beavers are in a cheap loser bowl called the Emerald bowl. The only interesting thing is we're playing Maryland. I just happen to be moving to about 5 minutes away from the University of Maryland campus. I'll be out there for the bowl game on Dec. 28th. Can you say, hello residents of Maryland in my full OSU regalia in a bar drinking lots of beer. Okay, well I won't be drinking beer but I'm an asshole 24/7 even without beer. I'm sure I can make lots of new friends. I can just hope the Beavers don't get embarrassed.
The move is getting closer and closer. I can feel the pressure...ugh. I determined my route barring massive snow and ice. I'm gonna try to make it to Cheyenne on the first day, then Indianapolis and then finally Silver Spring, Maryland. I figure I can drive the farthest on the first day as I'll be rested and ready to go. The last day will be the shortest at 880 miles.
How about the flooding everywhere...makes you want to see Evan Almighty and get your own Arc ready to float.
http://www.trinw.com/rankings/07rankings/overalls/Olympic-Du.html
If you notice, I'm ranked #1 in the open male. Woohoo!! I have no idea how they come up with their rankings since I failed to even make the overall duathlon rankings. Oh well, I guess all those races and training accounted for something this past year.
I got a new fancy phone that I was hoping to use for email and stuff since I'm traveling more. I saw one of those email ads from wireless provider, Verizon and decided to check it out. Well they cut me a deal on this phone called the Voyager. It's like an Iphone but with a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen is smaller than an Iphone but it also has an inner screen due to the flip open keyboard. It also includes GPS which will help since I'm moving to a new place. I'm syncing my music to it as we speak. It also supports bluetooth stereo so that will rock on rides without wires everywhere.
So the Beavers are in a cheap loser bowl called the Emerald bowl. The only interesting thing is we're playing Maryland. I just happen to be moving to about 5 minutes away from the University of Maryland campus. I'll be out there for the bowl game on Dec. 28th. Can you say, hello residents of Maryland in my full OSU regalia in a bar drinking lots of beer. Okay, well I won't be drinking beer but I'm an asshole 24/7 even without beer. I'm sure I can make lots of new friends. I can just hope the Beavers don't get embarrassed.
The move is getting closer and closer. I can feel the pressure...ugh. I determined my route barring massive snow and ice. I'm gonna try to make it to Cheyenne on the first day, then Indianapolis and then finally Silver Spring, Maryland. I figure I can drive the farthest on the first day as I'll be rested and ready to go. The last day will be the shortest at 880 miles.
How about the flooding everywhere...makes you want to see Evan Almighty and get your own Arc ready to float.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Are you a SUPER fan?
With today being college football rivalry week, do you call yourself a super fan? I'm hardcore in my dedication to the Oregon State Beavers and my hate for the Oregon Ducks. I was talking with some fellow alumni at work and they mentioned how they actually root for the Ducks when play other schools. I almost died. I always root against the Ducks no matter what. I have friends who are Duck fans but they just know that I will never root for their team. It's just the way it is. Is that going too far? I don't think so.
Another thing about my young alumni co-workers was they thought it was gonna be a cake walk this year because of all the Oregon injuries. I told them they were high and I was just hoping we could win the game. We hadn't won in Autzen in eons. I just saw the box score and noticed that we were crushing them and then all of sudden they were winning. It looks like we did our typical screw up at the end of the game that would've won it and then almost lost it on a penalty for their game winning kick. We pulled it out which is amazing. I'm so excited but I knew it would be close.
Double overtime win, 38-31. Nice. I'm sure Duck fans are suffering especially after the injuries and watching their season slip away due to injuries. I just wonder which bowl games we'll end up.
Go Beavs!
Another thing about my young alumni co-workers was they thought it was gonna be a cake walk this year because of all the Oregon injuries. I told them they were high and I was just hoping we could win the game. We hadn't won in Autzen in eons. I just saw the box score and noticed that we were crushing them and then all of sudden they were winning. It looks like we did our typical screw up at the end of the game that would've won it and then almost lost it on a penalty for their game winning kick. We pulled it out which is amazing. I'm so excited but I knew it would be close.
Double overtime win, 38-31. Nice. I'm sure Duck fans are suffering especially after the injuries and watching their season slip away due to injuries. I just wonder which bowl games we'll end up.
Go Beavs!
Fast Girl
Today was a complete indoor day and it's not because I'm a total cold wimp. I had my daughter Elena this morning. We first took her to cooking class and it started to snow. Not bad considering its only the first of December. Elena was quite excited but I'm sure she'll just get used to snow once we move to DC. After Elena finished making her PBJ scones which were quite tasty, I went over to 24 hour fitness. It was just before 10:30am. I was in shock as the place was totally packed. Almost every treadmill, stair stepper, and elliptical was going. I have never seen it this crowded.
I was thinking about totally baggin the swim this morning but with it super packed I figured I'd check the pool and see if it was crowded. There were only 2 lanes out of the 3 being used. Okay so I'm getting into the pool. My arms are completely dead after the Thursday's hard 200 yard intervals and yesterday's 4x400 yard intervals. I decided to focus on stroke and just cruise til at least 800 yards.
I finished the swim and went out to hit a treadmill for an hour. I felt nice and relaxed on the treadmill at my 1% incline with 7:30 pace. I decided to up the last mile to 7 minute pace. It felt good and I'm excited about that as a nice goal pace for the IM marathon. I got off the treadmill and walked over to the "special" spray that is suppose to kill sweat germs on site. I notice a nice looking blonde girl clipping along on a treadmill. I stole a closer look and she was doing 7 minute pace and was into her run about 13 minutes. I was impressed. This is the fastest girl I've seen on a treadmill in a long time. She looked like it was a piece of cake. Nice!!
I was thinking about totally baggin the swim this morning but with it super packed I figured I'd check the pool and see if it was crowded. There were only 2 lanes out of the 3 being used. Okay so I'm getting into the pool. My arms are completely dead after the Thursday's hard 200 yard intervals and yesterday's 4x400 yard intervals. I decided to focus on stroke and just cruise til at least 800 yards.
I finished the swim and went out to hit a treadmill for an hour. I felt nice and relaxed on the treadmill at my 1% incline with 7:30 pace. I decided to up the last mile to 7 minute pace. It felt good and I'm excited about that as a nice goal pace for the IM marathon. I got off the treadmill and walked over to the "special" spray that is suppose to kill sweat germs on site. I notice a nice looking blonde girl clipping along on a treadmill. I stole a closer look and she was doing 7 minute pace and was into her run about 13 minutes. I was impressed. This is the fastest girl I've seen on a treadmill in a long time. She looked like it was a piece of cake. Nice!!
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