New Bike Setup

I had to throw in a vintage Steeple pic from the 1996 World Jr. Championships in Sydney Australia.  This is during the trials of the Steeple.  I didn't make finals, but PR'd by 12 seconds

Here's my new bike setup.  I just got a set of Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL wheels to help cut down my TT and duathlon times.  They are great for Crits too.  Should be fun!  

The wheels have a 52" deep rim that helps with being more aerodynamic.  I've only had them out for a quick 10 mile sprint and averaged probably 24-25 mph without too much effort.  Sweet!  The rest of my setup is a 2007 Specialized Tarmac Pro.  Pretty sweet ride also!

The NW is on ice!

First of all. . . .Merry Christmas! This tree is made completely of Mt. Dew cans! I thought it was pretty sweet. No I didn't make it.

Brady's Dad Doug was up over the Thanksgiving holiday and we decided to get out and do a quick ride. I haven't been on a bike in like 3 months, but I've been running, playing b-ball and football off and on, so I didn't suffer too much. This is at the top of Gimpl Hill which is a good mile climb or so. I realized I don't have my climbing legs anymore. I gotta start training a bit more, but it's tough with the weather being like it is. It's been snowing off and on all week!

Here's Brady and I at the start of our ride. I shed my jacket about 5 min into the ride.

Brady was brave enough to pull out his camera and snap a pic. He broke his camera doing this last year. I guess he didn't learn his lesson. I couldn't quite get my "bunny ears" over his helmet, but I look pretty cool anyway!

Above all I've learned that NW people don't know how to do anything in the snow/ice. The whole world has shut down due to the weather. Brady and I were talking and neither of us could remember school ever being cancelled due to snow when we were growing up.

Update

I decided to try growing some facial hair for once in my life.  This is 3 weeks of growth!  Pretty pathetic I know.

Here's one of my training partners.  She gets me up in the mornings and we're trying to get a few miles in before work.

Here's my other 2 partners.  They make for an arm workout while I'm running

What's a recreational runner???

I've heard this term many times in my life, but didn't think I'd get there so early in life.  I'm having a bit of a hard time with it.  Instead of placing in the top 5-10 in each race, I'm struggling to out kick girls at the end of 5k events.  

Could be that my training is non-existent?

Could be that I have 4 wonderful daughters that want me to jump on the tramp rather than run?

Could be that I work 40-50 hours a week?

Could be that my motivation is zilch?

Could be that I need Joe and Corbin to move to Eugene so we can have a "Rat Pack" pow wow??

Could be I just need a training partner?

Probably just a combination of all these things.

I was looking through some of my pictures and noticed a few changes:

Here's the 2005 Spokane Bloomsday 12k and where I had no fear to go out with a bunch of Kenyans.

Here's the "Rumble at the Ranch" which was a crazy 10k through rivers and blackberry bushes all while sliding down muddy slopes into mud bogs.  That was my idea of fun.  This was one of my favorite races. . .not to mention I won it!

This is one of my training partners now.  This was after running 17 miles up on the Mckenzie River Trail and golfing 18 holes in 95 degree temperatures.  Trying to push Emily on her bike was like the final 2 miles of a marathon. . .I drank probably 4 gallons of fluid that day and I was still dehydrated.

This day was almost 3 weeks ago and I haven't ran since.  I need to be a bit more consistent, but it's been tough to be selfish and be away from the family so I can get a run in.

I have another PR on the scale though!  175 lbs. . . ouch!

Hammer Toe!!!!

For all you lovely runners out there that have experienced "hammer toe," then here is one of my more painful ones.  My big toe I guess just isn't supposed to have a nail on it because every time I get it grown out after losing it, I just beat the heck out of it again and this is what happens.  This one was a bit tougher because the top part of the nail was still alive and I couldn't get a pin under the nail to pop the blister and relieve the pressure.  So what's my solution???

Yep, you guessed it. . .I got out my drill and got a few "blow holes" to get some junk out.  It was slow going, but I was able to get it done without completely drilling through my toe

Success!!!!!!

I know you're all really impressed and are going to run home and try this for yourselves!  Sorry for all those that are completely grossed out now!!!!

2008 Summer Update

These are some older pics, but I've been doing some of the same things.

Every summer I hike up into the Uintah Mountains of Utah with my dad and brother-in-law Nolan. Here's some of the beautiful country that God has placed in front of us that you can only see by hiking there.

This is just below Marsh Peak and I'm overlooking the whole mountain range that has valleys riddled with lakes and streams where fish are waiting to be caught. You can't ask for anything prettier!

This is a view from just above Fish Lake. The lakes off in the distance are the Dry Fork Twins where we actually set up base camp. I'm at about 12,000 ft altitude right now!

Here's one of the cutthroats that I caught while I was up there. You don't catch too many of these, but they're usually a bit bigger fish. This guy was about 12"

This is what I found at the summit of Marsh Peak (12,250 ft). I guess they were used as storage bins or shelters at one point. Now they just house dust and bugs

Here's one of my favorite pictures. I took this from my float tube as I was landing this 13" Brook Trout. Some of the most colorful fish that I've caught up there.

Trail run in Africa!!!!!

I got the opportunity to go to Africa to train with some Kenyans. We went out for a 15 miler one morning and I took my camera. This is what we ran into on the way!
2 lowly lions
I asked my bud if I could wrestle one of them, but he said no.

Then we ran into one of these jack-a-lope thingies and he let me wrestle him, but it doesn't seem like I'm a good wrestler cuz I could flop him on the ground like Stone Cold does.

This is one of those rarely seen African Bears. He wasn't interested in wrestling with me when he saw me take that jack-a-lope down. I ran after him, but bears are pretty fast.

Here's a cool African birdamajigger. They're very friendly. They survive on a diet of wild boar and honey. He was too pretty to wrestle.

OK, OK, OK. . . . . . . . . .YOU GOT ME. This isn't Africa, it's just the drive thru wildlife safari down in Roseburg, Oregon. They wouldn't even let me roll down my window in the lion's den, let alone wrestle him!

My story was better though wouldn't you say??? It's like one of JD's daydreams off "Scrubs."

Actually on my 6 mile run today I got chased my a miniature datsun or something like that, but he was a mean one. . .all 5 pounds of him!