Well, I am trying to go outside for a ride but its cold, real cold, like less than 40F cold but Im going to suck it up and get out there and do my thing. Perhaps I will be riding my rain bike, recently re-equipped with fenders after a stellar performance during cyclocross or perhaps my road bike, one (maybe more than one) more time before I clean it up and try and sell it, or my beat up MTB, which could use a new front brake and a new shock. Who knows, but if I dont get my ass out there soon, I will lose interest, soooooooooo, Im out, thanks for calling, ps, have a nice day, bubye.
DS
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Escape from Alcatraz..... Im in, now what?
A couple of weeks ago, I foolishly read MJ's blog and decided to click on a link, which took me here and then I clicked the enter button for the lottery for one of the coolest tri's in the US, and today, I got this email (below) ..... DAMN! Now I have to train for a super hard race with no flat sections to speak of....
Congratulations DARREN SMITH!
Your registered email address is: [Email]Your registered date of birth: 2/3/1966
Please follow this link to register for the race:https://secure.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com/index.cfm/override/92,1,1-E6FEDD6A694668ABB91FF2F9ABA0C202.htm
You are one of the exceptional triathletes that has been selected as a Random Drawing Winner for the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. As a Random Drawing Winner, you receive a slot in the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon to be held in San Francisco on June 14, 2009. You have until January 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm to register for the race and pay your registration fee. Your slot is non-transferable and will be void on January 10th. We recommend that you register right away to make sure that you are able to complete the process, don’t wait until January 9. On June 14, you will get to jump off a perfectly good boat into the frigid water of the San Francisco Bay, swim with 2000 of your best friends from Alcatraz to Little Marina Green. You will climb out of the water and run (with or without shoes) one half mile to the transition area, jump on your bike and ride 18 miles (most people say that it is all up hill) and then run 8 miles under the Golden Gate Bridge, through the sands of Baker Beach, up the infamous sand ladder and back to Marina Green to the finish line. What a great way to spend the day! If you need any assistance please e-mail registration@escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com and give us a description of what you need and we will have someone contact you.
We look forward to seeing you in June,
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Event Staffwww.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com
You are receiving these messages as you have previously participated in The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon or have recently signed up for a race or the random drawing. To ensure that you get future messages, please whitelist all email coming from the domain "escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com". You are currently subscribed as "drdsmith@hotmail.com". If you need to update your email address or would like to opt out, please contact: registration@escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com
So, now Im trying to figure how Im going to do this since Stacey has Boise 70.3 on her schedule and it coincides with EFA.... Not only that but this is a hell of a race, no AWAD category so Im going AG but it wouldnt matter anyway, looks like for me, its going to be a survival thing.
Running on the beach with my ankle might be a tough one, climbing stairs, riding up silly 18% hills could be tough on me. It might be my A race for the year for triathlon at least since I want to be a bike racer next season and try and make the Canuck team. Who knows, but I really want to do this race so Im hoping I can do it.
Congratulations DARREN SMITH!
Your registered email address is: [Email]Your registered date of birth: 2/3/1966
Please follow this link to register for the race:https://secure.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com/index.cfm/override/92,1,1-E6FEDD6A694668ABB91FF2F9ABA0C202.htm
You are one of the exceptional triathletes that has been selected as a Random Drawing Winner for the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. As a Random Drawing Winner, you receive a slot in the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon to be held in San Francisco on June 14, 2009. You have until January 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm to register for the race and pay your registration fee. Your slot is non-transferable and will be void on January 10th. We recommend that you register right away to make sure that you are able to complete the process, don’t wait until January 9. On June 14, you will get to jump off a perfectly good boat into the frigid water of the San Francisco Bay, swim with 2000 of your best friends from Alcatraz to Little Marina Green. You will climb out of the water and run (with or without shoes) one half mile to the transition area, jump on your bike and ride 18 miles (most people say that it is all up hill) and then run 8 miles under the Golden Gate Bridge, through the sands of Baker Beach, up the infamous sand ladder and back to Marina Green to the finish line. What a great way to spend the day! If you need any assistance please e-mail registration@escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com and give us a description of what you need and we will have someone contact you.
We look forward to seeing you in June,
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Event Staffwww.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com
You are receiving these messages as you have previously participated in The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon or have recently signed up for a race or the random drawing. To ensure that you get future messages, please whitelist all email coming from the domain "escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com". You are currently subscribed as "drdsmith@hotmail.com". If you need to update your email address or would like to opt out, please contact: registration@escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com
So, now Im trying to figure how Im going to do this since Stacey has Boise 70.3 on her schedule and it coincides with EFA.... Not only that but this is a hell of a race, no AWAD category so Im going AG but it wouldnt matter anyway, looks like for me, its going to be a survival thing.
Running on the beach with my ankle might be a tough one, climbing stairs, riding up silly 18% hills could be tough on me. It might be my A race for the year for triathlon at least since I want to be a bike racer next season and try and make the Canuck team. Who knows, but I really want to do this race so Im hoping I can do it.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Its that time of year..... Part 1, work
Yep, time to reflect on the past year and all the things that have gone right, wrong, and in between. I will start with my year in work and follow with my year in sport and if I confuse you, as they say in la belle province, c'est la vie.
I spent the first part of the year being a stay at home dad, working a few hours a week doing physical exams for a trucking company. On top of the PE's, I had to give them pee tests as well. Yum, that was fun. I learned that truckers, as a group, are the most unhealthy people I have ever met. All of the people I examined were newly hired employee's but not all were new to trucking. I tried to give advice to all of them about smoking, walking/exercise, and eating habits, but with the short time I had with them, Im not sure how well it worked. As gas was creeping up in price, it was costing me more to go to work than I was making so after making no headway to get a gas allowance from them, I resigned.
A few months ago, I found out that I would have been layed off anyway as the company HQ in Nebraska, hired a new medical officer and he said he didnt want chiropractors doing the PE's. Old school MD, wouldnt even listen to reason and the company backed him up on it even though it cost them a ton of coin in the long run to have MD's doing the exams. Oh well, not my problem... ok, I have a problem with closed minded health care professionals of any sort but I wont get into that.
In early April, my friend Molly connected me with Lisa Hunt, the director for the Value Act Capital women's pro cycling team. I agreed to work for the team at the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico and I was gone for 8 days. Longer than I had ever been away from the family before. Thats was a great experience for me and I agreed to do additional races with the VAC team later in the season. Turns out, that was the only race I could do with the team but I keep in touch for possible future work.
Not long after I got back from NM, I had an offer to work with the men's pro team, Bissell, at the Mt Hood Classic. Another great experience, but I was away for almost another whole week. I love doing the work but it doesnt pay as much as I should be making to justify being gone from home for that long. At the time, however, I wasnt working much in an office as a chiropractor so this was fun and it paid me a bit.
In mid May, an acupuncturist friend of mine asked if I wanted to work in the office he was in. They were looking to replace another chiro that wasnt fitting in very well and since Terry and I had worked together before, I came out to look at the office. After talking to the owner, I agreed to work with them. Its been a long process to get used to the way things work in that office but after 6 months, I think Im getting the hang of it. The clinic is Russian owned and staffed and we market to Russian's that get into auto accidents. Myself and Terry are the only native english speaker's in the place so that is tough at times with my lack of knowledge of the culture and language.
In the summer, I do a lot of work with the Oregon Youth Soccer Association and their Olympic Development Program (ODP). I provide medical support for the ODP tryouts throughout the year as well as a couple of tourney's, one is during Memorial Day weekend in May. This coming January, when its cold and wet here, I get to travel to Phoenix for a regional ODP tourney. It will be a very long weekend but should be a nice break from the dreary weather here in Oregon.
My friend Jonathan and I have done medical for the Premier 50, a soccer camp for the top 50 high school girls in the country, for the past 2 years. This year, due to some politics that I didnt understand, they cancelled it and put a 7 on 7 touch football tourney in its place. This was a good experience for football as we had a few more injuries than I normally get at the Premier 50 camp.
I was asked to work at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Central Oregon for the UCI Pro Continental team, BMC, but as I had been gone for so many days already this year, I had to turn them down. This is the first year since 1998 that I have not worked at the event for one team or another.
The annual family trip to Mexico was pushed back from the normal winter travel time to June, after the kids were out of school. Stacey's brother Andy was deployed to Iraq with his Air Force Reserve Unit and since he was gone until April, we postponed the trip to June. That sounded redundant but you get the point. Andy is a Major (then Captain) and an engineer with the 557th Red Horse Squadron and they basically build stuff (sorry, dont really know what they built). Anyway, thankfully, Andy returned home safe and sound with all the ammo that he was issued with when he left.... The trip was great, a welcome rest that came immediately after I did World's. I was still training for Ironman Canada so I was trying to swim and run when I could but having never run in extreme humidity (extreme for me, 80%), it was very difficult. Swimming, my strong suit, consisted of maybe 3 short swims but more on that later.
For the past 8 seasons, I have been the team chiropractor for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. This season, the team was up for sale, and in late October, they were sold to a Calgary businessman. The new owner cleaned house, fired the head coach, one of his assistants, the head trainer (he had been there 32 years), and some of the front office staff. He hired all new staff, all with NHL experience. The new trainer had worked with the NY Islanders and the Olympic team in Bejiing this summer. I went to meet him and left him a resume. Not to 'apply' for a job, but more to let him know what I was all about. He said he would call me later that week. He never did. I tried to get him on the phone but had no luck so at the next home game, I showed up, like always, and was prepared to do what I always did on game day. I wanted to find the trainer first but by the time I finally found him, all the guys that wanted to be adjusted, had to get dressed for warm up. He didnt recognize me from our first meeting (first bad sign) then he says "I dont need you to come to games anymore".... Um, ok, what DO you want? Im not sure he says, I will be doing most things in house and referring out. Okay, so, um, Im still confused. Anyway, long story short, after reviewing my resume with me (obviously he didnt read it before) he said he would come to see my office later in the week and then blew me off to talk to someone else that had interrupted me. Again, he said he again that he would call me and visit my office later that week. Its been 5 weeks and I still havent heard from him. i have given in to the fact that I wont be working with the club anymore but who knows. I havent contacted him either but if players are in need of an adjustment, I would think I might have received a call.
My impression of him is the same that I have of a lot of ATC's (not all) and PT's that work with elite and professional teams; they feel like I am somehow going to step on their toes (usually because of a bad experience with a chiro) and they put their ego in the way of the health of the athletes they are paid to protect. As a side note, I saw a chiro that I had worked with before, a real prince, coming into the arena one for a game and given that he went to Bejiing as one of the Team USA chiro's, Im sure he knows the new trainer, and it could be the players are now going to see him. I havent found that out for sure but it seems to fit since said chiro always told me he doesnt like hockey and yet, he was at a game, hmmmmm.
Anyway, you know, all in all, I had a good year with work. Better than last year in general I would say. Im looking forward to 2009. As I said, the work year starts with a trip to Phoenix where there is a very good chance that I will be seeing the sun.
I spent the first part of the year being a stay at home dad, working a few hours a week doing physical exams for a trucking company. On top of the PE's, I had to give them pee tests as well. Yum, that was fun. I learned that truckers, as a group, are the most unhealthy people I have ever met. All of the people I examined were newly hired employee's but not all were new to trucking. I tried to give advice to all of them about smoking, walking/exercise, and eating habits, but with the short time I had with them, Im not sure how well it worked. As gas was creeping up in price, it was costing me more to go to work than I was making so after making no headway to get a gas allowance from them, I resigned.
A few months ago, I found out that I would have been layed off anyway as the company HQ in Nebraska, hired a new medical officer and he said he didnt want chiropractors doing the PE's. Old school MD, wouldnt even listen to reason and the company backed him up on it even though it cost them a ton of coin in the long run to have MD's doing the exams. Oh well, not my problem... ok, I have a problem with closed minded health care professionals of any sort but I wont get into that.
In early April, my friend Molly connected me with Lisa Hunt, the director for the Value Act Capital women's pro cycling team. I agreed to work for the team at the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico and I was gone for 8 days. Longer than I had ever been away from the family before. Thats was a great experience for me and I agreed to do additional races with the VAC team later in the season. Turns out, that was the only race I could do with the team but I keep in touch for possible future work.
Not long after I got back from NM, I had an offer to work with the men's pro team, Bissell, at the Mt Hood Classic. Another great experience, but I was away for almost another whole week. I love doing the work but it doesnt pay as much as I should be making to justify being gone from home for that long. At the time, however, I wasnt working much in an office as a chiropractor so this was fun and it paid me a bit.
In mid May, an acupuncturist friend of mine asked if I wanted to work in the office he was in. They were looking to replace another chiro that wasnt fitting in very well and since Terry and I had worked together before, I came out to look at the office. After talking to the owner, I agreed to work with them. Its been a long process to get used to the way things work in that office but after 6 months, I think Im getting the hang of it. The clinic is Russian owned and staffed and we market to Russian's that get into auto accidents. Myself and Terry are the only native english speaker's in the place so that is tough at times with my lack of knowledge of the culture and language.
In the summer, I do a lot of work with the Oregon Youth Soccer Association and their Olympic Development Program (ODP). I provide medical support for the ODP tryouts throughout the year as well as a couple of tourney's, one is during Memorial Day weekend in May. This coming January, when its cold and wet here, I get to travel to Phoenix for a regional ODP tourney. It will be a very long weekend but should be a nice break from the dreary weather here in Oregon.
My friend Jonathan and I have done medical for the Premier 50, a soccer camp for the top 50 high school girls in the country, for the past 2 years. This year, due to some politics that I didnt understand, they cancelled it and put a 7 on 7 touch football tourney in its place. This was a good experience for football as we had a few more injuries than I normally get at the Premier 50 camp.
I was asked to work at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Central Oregon for the UCI Pro Continental team, BMC, but as I had been gone for so many days already this year, I had to turn them down. This is the first year since 1998 that I have not worked at the event for one team or another.
The annual family trip to Mexico was pushed back from the normal winter travel time to June, after the kids were out of school. Stacey's brother Andy was deployed to Iraq with his Air Force Reserve Unit and since he was gone until April, we postponed the trip to June. That sounded redundant but you get the point. Andy is a Major (then Captain) and an engineer with the 557th Red Horse Squadron and they basically build stuff (sorry, dont really know what they built). Anyway, thankfully, Andy returned home safe and sound with all the ammo that he was issued with when he left.... The trip was great, a welcome rest that came immediately after I did World's. I was still training for Ironman Canada so I was trying to swim and run when I could but having never run in extreme humidity (extreme for me, 80%), it was very difficult. Swimming, my strong suit, consisted of maybe 3 short swims but more on that later.
For the past 8 seasons, I have been the team chiropractor for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. This season, the team was up for sale, and in late October, they were sold to a Calgary businessman. The new owner cleaned house, fired the head coach, one of his assistants, the head trainer (he had been there 32 years), and some of the front office staff. He hired all new staff, all with NHL experience. The new trainer had worked with the NY Islanders and the Olympic team in Bejiing this summer. I went to meet him and left him a resume. Not to 'apply' for a job, but more to let him know what I was all about. He said he would call me later that week. He never did. I tried to get him on the phone but had no luck so at the next home game, I showed up, like always, and was prepared to do what I always did on game day. I wanted to find the trainer first but by the time I finally found him, all the guys that wanted to be adjusted, had to get dressed for warm up. He didnt recognize me from our first meeting (first bad sign) then he says "I dont need you to come to games anymore".... Um, ok, what DO you want? Im not sure he says, I will be doing most things in house and referring out. Okay, so, um, Im still confused. Anyway, long story short, after reviewing my resume with me (obviously he didnt read it before) he said he would come to see my office later in the week and then blew me off to talk to someone else that had interrupted me. Again, he said he again that he would call me and visit my office later that week. Its been 5 weeks and I still havent heard from him. i have given in to the fact that I wont be working with the club anymore but who knows. I havent contacted him either but if players are in need of an adjustment, I would think I might have received a call.
My impression of him is the same that I have of a lot of ATC's (not all) and PT's that work with elite and professional teams; they feel like I am somehow going to step on their toes (usually because of a bad experience with a chiro) and they put their ego in the way of the health of the athletes they are paid to protect. As a side note, I saw a chiro that I had worked with before, a real prince, coming into the arena one for a game and given that he went to Bejiing as one of the Team USA chiro's, Im sure he knows the new trainer, and it could be the players are now going to see him. I havent found that out for sure but it seems to fit since said chiro always told me he doesnt like hockey and yet, he was at a game, hmmmmm.
Anyway, you know, all in all, I had a good year with work. Better than last year in general I would say. Im looking forward to 2009. As I said, the work year starts with a trip to Phoenix where there is a very good chance that I will be seeing the sun.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
and I ran to the end of Greenbough County......
.......... and I just kept running. Well, unlike Forest, Forest Gump, I can't run that far or that fast but I did manage two short runs this week. I havent got to write that letter yet today but Im working on it.
On Monday, I took the husky and ran just over two miles in 24 minutes and change on the Heritage Trail. Yesterday, I got to the school early and ran the block around the school a couple times. I didnt time it but I figure it is about a mile per lap as my run time was 24:20. Unlike Monday, my knee didnt hurt at all. Monday was pretty cold though so that might have been part of it. Yesterday, I felt great and probably could have squeezed out another lap but I didnt want to be waiting with all the other parents while smelling so poorly.
Anyway, Im going to give this running thing another go. Simon Whitfield is going to be here on Saturday and although I have to work, I really want to meet him. MJ said he is a great guy, not to mention we have the same jacket from World's. Simon will be leading a run from Athlete's Lounge, our team sponsor, and although I would love to, I wont be able to keep up, but I certainly can try for a bit anyway.
On Monday, I took the husky and ran just over two miles in 24 minutes and change on the Heritage Trail. Yesterday, I got to the school early and ran the block around the school a couple times. I didnt time it but I figure it is about a mile per lap as my run time was 24:20. Unlike Monday, my knee didnt hurt at all. Monday was pretty cold though so that might have been part of it. Yesterday, I felt great and probably could have squeezed out another lap but I didnt want to be waiting with all the other parents while smelling so poorly.
Anyway, Im going to give this running thing another go. Simon Whitfield is going to be here on Saturday and although I have to work, I really want to meet him. MJ said he is a great guy, not to mention we have the same jacket from World's. Simon will be leading a run from Athlete's Lounge, our team sponsor, and although I would love to, I wont be able to keep up, but I certainly can try for a bit anyway.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Weather, Beavers, training, traveling, writing, running, Jason Lester, Meyrick Jones....
I always have so many things on my mind, usually when I have no computer to bang out my thoughts on so, even though I really should be doing other things (I am the reigning king of procrastination), here are some things I want to talk about.
Weather: I live in Oregon, I shouldn't complain about the weather, but I always do. In some ways I wish it would snow. As I look outside today, however, its beautiful so I guess I wont dwell on that subject too long.
OSU Beavers: Watched the Civil War game on Saturday. It was a mess! The Beavers looked like a high school team, at least their defense did. I don't mind the Beavers loss so much as who they lost to, the freakin' Ducks. Duck fans have an excuse for losing and a superiority complex when they win. I know I wont be able to wear my Beaver's shirt without some Duck fan rubbing it in my face about the win last week, regardless of how long since the game was played. I would love to see UCLA beat the Trojans next weekend. Not to gloat about the Beavers making it to the Rose Bowl, should that unlikely event happen, but to shut up annoying Duck fans.
Training: Haven't done much. About two to three times per week is all I am able to motivate myself to do. Today is Monday. I started out the day with a 25 minute run. Not sure how far I went, probably about 2 miles, but at least I got out, no excuses. I just have to get over the pain in my knee so I can do something again tomorrow. I want to train, just unsure what I'm training for at this time. I want to try and do some track stuff so I can try and make the national cycling team in 2009 but I also want to race XTERRA events. I had a coach lined up but I told him I wasn't going to use him this year. he is a tri coach, a good one, but I think I need a cycling coach. I have a friend that is a cycling coach and I might use him hourly since he is pretty pricey per month. Having said that, should I spend more to get a good cycling coach because of my lofty goals?
Traveling: I'm supposed to go to Las Vegas this weekend for a seminar. Its worth 18 hours. I need 24 by the end of the year for my sports medicine degree, but the hours required for my state licenses are not due til February. Financially, it is going to be difficult to get it done by the end of the year. Going to Vegas will be relatively cheap however I will miss out on a couple of things, half a day or more of work due to flights, working this weekend at a soccer camp (more money out of my pocket), food etc in Vegas (lodging is free as I will stay at my mom's place) so now that I type all this out, I'm thinking I'm not going. I can do another seminar locally, not miss work, but miss out on an easy $400 for doing the soccer event. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Writing: Not writing things like emails and blogs, but writing as in pen and paper. How many of us do this anymore? Even Christmas cards etc, some of us get pre-printed cards. I thought about this the other day and dammit, I'm going to write a letter the old fashioned way this week. I will keep you posted on that one. I do write chart notes but that definitely isn't what I'm talking about since my chart notes are usually in my own version of short hand and its not legible to anyone but me and hopefully most insurance adjusters.
Running: Like I said earlier, I ran for 25 minutes today, maybe 2 miles. I took the husky with me which perhaps took me faster so maybe I went 2.2 miles in 25 minutes but it hurt. My left knee hurt, my right low back hurt, and my right glute is tight and sore. I remember early last season, I went through a lot of pain and discomfort but once I got back into it again, the knee pain went away. I'm going to go with that until I figure that isn't the case and then perhaps rethink the whole running thing.
Jason Lester: Jason is a guy I met at World's this year in Vancouver. He was representing the USA in the AWAD division. His coach is one of my Ironhead team mates and told me about Jason before I met him. We have talked about getting together to put a proposal together for local race directors to have an AWAD division put into some of their events. He has an injury to his brachial plexus from a bicycle/car accident and is unable to use his right arm. Yesterday, Jason finished Ultraman Hawaii a little over a month after finishing Ironman world championships and winning the AWAD category there. Ultraman is a tough event, 6.2 mile swim and a 90 mile ride on day one, a 171 mile ride on day two, and on day three, they get to run a double marathon. Jason swims with one arm and on day 1, he swam through a school of jelly fish, got stung, had trouble breathing, and got pulled into the rescue boat. After hearing the doctor say he was going to get a medical DQ, he rolled into the water and kept swimming. After battling jelly fish, massive cross winds, a whopping headache, and 100 degree heat, Jason finished in 24th place at 32 hours and change. Pretty amazing guy. I wouldn't even think about attempting something like that. I don't like swimming that much :)
Meyrick Jones: Another guy I met at World's in June. Meyrick is a below the knee amputee (BK) and is on the Canadian tri team. He is hoping to make it to the 2010 Paralympics representing Canada in the Nordic Skiing events. MJ is one of the best ambassadors for disabled athltetes I have ever met. He started the Momentum Foundation (website is still under construction) and has been working on getting it off the ground along with raising three children, being a husband, training, being an advocate and motivating people (able bodied and disabled alike) to push themselves beyond what they expected (not sure if that comes out right, but he is one hell of a motivator), and traveling around parts of Canada doing some kick ass things. Not bad for a kid missing part of his wheels eh? I'm writing about him not only because he motivates me but because his writing is amazing. I like to write, MJ LOVES to write so I encourage you to read his blog, he is very insightful.
OK, I'm done with my writing to make up for last month, I hope to write more sometime soon. With a pen and paper........
Weather: I live in Oregon, I shouldn't complain about the weather, but I always do. In some ways I wish it would snow. As I look outside today, however, its beautiful so I guess I wont dwell on that subject too long.
OSU Beavers: Watched the Civil War game on Saturday. It was a mess! The Beavers looked like a high school team, at least their defense did. I don't mind the Beavers loss so much as who they lost to, the freakin' Ducks. Duck fans have an excuse for losing and a superiority complex when they win. I know I wont be able to wear my Beaver's shirt without some Duck fan rubbing it in my face about the win last week, regardless of how long since the game was played. I would love to see UCLA beat the Trojans next weekend. Not to gloat about the Beavers making it to the Rose Bowl, should that unlikely event happen, but to shut up annoying Duck fans.
Training: Haven't done much. About two to three times per week is all I am able to motivate myself to do. Today is Monday. I started out the day with a 25 minute run. Not sure how far I went, probably about 2 miles, but at least I got out, no excuses. I just have to get over the pain in my knee so I can do something again tomorrow. I want to train, just unsure what I'm training for at this time. I want to try and do some track stuff so I can try and make the national cycling team in 2009 but I also want to race XTERRA events. I had a coach lined up but I told him I wasn't going to use him this year. he is a tri coach, a good one, but I think I need a cycling coach. I have a friend that is a cycling coach and I might use him hourly since he is pretty pricey per month. Having said that, should I spend more to get a good cycling coach because of my lofty goals?
Traveling: I'm supposed to go to Las Vegas this weekend for a seminar. Its worth 18 hours. I need 24 by the end of the year for my sports medicine degree, but the hours required for my state licenses are not due til February. Financially, it is going to be difficult to get it done by the end of the year. Going to Vegas will be relatively cheap however I will miss out on a couple of things, half a day or more of work due to flights, working this weekend at a soccer camp (more money out of my pocket), food etc in Vegas (lodging is free as I will stay at my mom's place) so now that I type all this out, I'm thinking I'm not going. I can do another seminar locally, not miss work, but miss out on an easy $400 for doing the soccer event. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Writing: Not writing things like emails and blogs, but writing as in pen and paper. How many of us do this anymore? Even Christmas cards etc, some of us get pre-printed cards. I thought about this the other day and dammit, I'm going to write a letter the old fashioned way this week. I will keep you posted on that one. I do write chart notes but that definitely isn't what I'm talking about since my chart notes are usually in my own version of short hand and its not legible to anyone but me and hopefully most insurance adjusters.
Running: Like I said earlier, I ran for 25 minutes today, maybe 2 miles. I took the husky with me which perhaps took me faster so maybe I went 2.2 miles in 25 minutes but it hurt. My left knee hurt, my right low back hurt, and my right glute is tight and sore. I remember early last season, I went through a lot of pain and discomfort but once I got back into it again, the knee pain went away. I'm going to go with that until I figure that isn't the case and then perhaps rethink the whole running thing.
Jason Lester: Jason is a guy I met at World's this year in Vancouver. He was representing the USA in the AWAD division. His coach is one of my Ironhead team mates and told me about Jason before I met him. We have talked about getting together to put a proposal together for local race directors to have an AWAD division put into some of their events. He has an injury to his brachial plexus from a bicycle/car accident and is unable to use his right arm. Yesterday, Jason finished Ultraman Hawaii a little over a month after finishing Ironman world championships and winning the AWAD category there. Ultraman is a tough event, 6.2 mile swim and a 90 mile ride on day one, a 171 mile ride on day two, and on day three, they get to run a double marathon. Jason swims with one arm and on day 1, he swam through a school of jelly fish, got stung, had trouble breathing, and got pulled into the rescue boat. After hearing the doctor say he was going to get a medical DQ, he rolled into the water and kept swimming. After battling jelly fish, massive cross winds, a whopping headache, and 100 degree heat, Jason finished in 24th place at 32 hours and change. Pretty amazing guy. I wouldn't even think about attempting something like that. I don't like swimming that much :)
Meyrick Jones: Another guy I met at World's in June. Meyrick is a below the knee amputee (BK) and is on the Canadian tri team. He is hoping to make it to the 2010 Paralympics representing Canada in the Nordic Skiing events. MJ is one of the best ambassadors for disabled athltetes I have ever met. He started the Momentum Foundation (website is still under construction) and has been working on getting it off the ground along with raising three children, being a husband, training, being an advocate and motivating people (able bodied and disabled alike) to push themselves beyond what they expected (not sure if that comes out right, but he is one hell of a motivator), and traveling around parts of Canada doing some kick ass things. Not bad for a kid missing part of his wheels eh? I'm writing about him not only because he motivates me but because his writing is amazing. I like to write, MJ LOVES to write so I encourage you to read his blog, he is very insightful.
OK, I'm done with my writing to make up for last month, I hope to write more sometime soon. With a pen and paper........
Monday, November 10, 2008
Cross racing in the mud... not as easy as it might look to some
Yesterday I decided to attend my 3rd ever cyclocross race. I had not raced since Stacey's unfortunate incident and all told, I probably trained about 4 times since then as well. I didn't expect to do well, I just wanted to go play in the mud, is that wrong? Oh, wait, I did race last weekend but I'm not sure you can count the annual Guinness/Ironheads Beer Crit as a race but it was heaps of fun... drink a Guinness, ride a lap, and so on for a total of 4 beers/4 laps.
Anyway, it has been pouring in our fair city for days on end with a few scattered sunny breaks but not enough to dry out anything especially areas with grass and dirt... I got to the venue early, checked in, paid my money, and went for a quick one lap ride to check it out. It was ugly, I wanted my money back... OK, not really, but I wasn't looking forward to it especially when there were going to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 130 beginners and 120 cat C riders going before us not to mention the 30 or so minutes of other people warming up before the first race even started.
I hung out with a couple of friends from Camas, they get there early too and get their tent and other 'tailgate' supplies set up. It never ceases to amaze me the turn out we get at one of these events. If you do not get there early, you stand the chance of parking a few miles away but getting there early is fun anyway if you like to people watch. There are some interesting characters to say the least. I think I saw a picture of a guy wearing a pink spiderman outfit and of course there is always the ever-present boy scout.
Anywho, at 9:50am, the C's go, all 120 or so of them and two minutes later, 35 heavy weights go. I know I bitch about this all the time but if you are BARELY cresting 200 and do not have some sort of paunch, I don't think you should be considered a clydesdale. The top 10 guys, most of them are between 200 and 210 and after they race in our cat, they go and do the B race as well. OK, off the soap box now.
I didn't go very hard off the start, like I said, I hadn't trained for a couple weeks.... ok, maybe a couple months off from REAL training. I got into a groove and fell in behind most of the folks that started in front of me. There were a couple of interesting bits along the first straight away, one went alongside a steep hill then back up on the road, on the grass, made for some falls (not me, at least on that one), then a 180 down a short hill, onto another road with loose gravel. Again, lots of falls, but not me :)
Another section of road, up a grassy hill, back down the grassy hill, then came the tough part. An open section of grass that wound its way for about 100-120m and it was completely muddy. there wasn't a dry section anywhere, even if you went half a foot off the course, your wheels sunk in. My legs were burning. I ended up running part of it on the first lap and remounting, riding through a big puddle, and then dismounting again to run the rest of that section. By the time i got back clipped in to my pedals, it was time to jump off again to go over this concrete barrier. For me, it was a tough step up and a long way down.
It was much easier to remount after that barrier as there was a slight downhill after it. My cleats were completely full of mud but somehow, I managed to get clipped in and out for the whole race. OK, there was another grassy section which was not as bad as the first, which led to the next set of barriers and a run up through the infamous windmill. This was the toughest section for me, even more than the muddy grass area because I had to cross the barriers carrying my bike up hill. I had a bit of difficulty going over the barriers with my left leg and my right leg was starting to weaken too.
This area had the most spectators as there was not only the four barriers to run across but also there was a slick section on the side of the hill along the grass. I managed to ride that section all four laps. Some guy with a drum and a cymbal was doing his thing each time someone biffed it. Fun times!
Another 200m dirt road section, up a short hill and then down the hill only to come back up, on grass again, VERY slick. I rode the first two laps, walked down the third due to the number of people on it, and rode the last lap but fell down when some young rider pre riding the course cut me off. I bent my shifter but it is fixable, it only rotated on the bars.
After that run up, I remounted and rode through the area where the windmill was again with lots of fans because? You guessed it, a curvy downhill on grass, perfect for falls and hilarity. Then, back through the start finish for another fun lap. As the race wore on, I believe my HR Average would have been in the 180's should I have worn my HRM but I specifically chose not to utilize this wonderful piece of feedback as it wouldn't have mattered anyway, I was having trouble focusing on the track let alone the thingy on my wrist.
The flat grass/mud section was getting worse and i wont bore you with the details of each lap but lets just say, I was ready to pack it in on my fourth lap. Actually, had I known they weren't going to give me my last lap in the results, I would have packed it in. I ran the entire section on the last two laps and instead of remounting on the last lap, I ran through the mud puddle . I twisted my ankle a few times (I normally wear an ankle brace for running) but when I saw a couple guys running because their bikes were in some state of broken-ness, I figured I could still make it out of last place.
I crossed the finish line and talked to a couple of people that have joined my triathlon team for 2009 and then went to the truck, got cleaned up (sort of) and went back to the expo area for my $3 bottomless pint glass of beer. It was PBR but after that race, that's all I wanted. I wanted to stick around for the single speed race as it was the main event of the day, but had to get home to the kids. I missed out, they had a bubble machine and other fun costumed riders (I still dont get it, but Im getting used to it).
I swore after yesterday, I would train for the next race in a couple weeks but today, i did not fulfill that wish but I can justify it by saying today is normally a rest day.....
Anyway, it has been pouring in our fair city for days on end with a few scattered sunny breaks but not enough to dry out anything especially areas with grass and dirt... I got to the venue early, checked in, paid my money, and went for a quick one lap ride to check it out. It was ugly, I wanted my money back... OK, not really, but I wasn't looking forward to it especially when there were going to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 130 beginners and 120 cat C riders going before us not to mention the 30 or so minutes of other people warming up before the first race even started.
I hung out with a couple of friends from Camas, they get there early too and get their tent and other 'tailgate' supplies set up. It never ceases to amaze me the turn out we get at one of these events. If you do not get there early, you stand the chance of parking a few miles away but getting there early is fun anyway if you like to people watch. There are some interesting characters to say the least. I think I saw a picture of a guy wearing a pink spiderman outfit and of course there is always the ever-present boy scout.
Anywho, at 9:50am, the C's go, all 120 or so of them and two minutes later, 35 heavy weights go. I know I bitch about this all the time but if you are BARELY cresting 200 and do not have some sort of paunch, I don't think you should be considered a clydesdale. The top 10 guys, most of them are between 200 and 210 and after they race in our cat, they go and do the B race as well. OK, off the soap box now.
I didn't go very hard off the start, like I said, I hadn't trained for a couple weeks.... ok, maybe a couple months off from REAL training. I got into a groove and fell in behind most of the folks that started in front of me. There were a couple of interesting bits along the first straight away, one went alongside a steep hill then back up on the road, on the grass, made for some falls (not me, at least on that one), then a 180 down a short hill, onto another road with loose gravel. Again, lots of falls, but not me :)
Another section of road, up a grassy hill, back down the grassy hill, then came the tough part. An open section of grass that wound its way for about 100-120m and it was completely muddy. there wasn't a dry section anywhere, even if you went half a foot off the course, your wheels sunk in. My legs were burning. I ended up running part of it on the first lap and remounting, riding through a big puddle, and then dismounting again to run the rest of that section. By the time i got back clipped in to my pedals, it was time to jump off again to go over this concrete barrier. For me, it was a tough step up and a long way down.
It was much easier to remount after that barrier as there was a slight downhill after it. My cleats were completely full of mud but somehow, I managed to get clipped in and out for the whole race. OK, there was another grassy section which was not as bad as the first, which led to the next set of barriers and a run up through the infamous windmill. This was the toughest section for me, even more than the muddy grass area because I had to cross the barriers carrying my bike up hill. I had a bit of difficulty going over the barriers with my left leg and my right leg was starting to weaken too.
This area had the most spectators as there was not only the four barriers to run across but also there was a slick section on the side of the hill along the grass. I managed to ride that section all four laps. Some guy with a drum and a cymbal was doing his thing each time someone biffed it. Fun times!
Another 200m dirt road section, up a short hill and then down the hill only to come back up, on grass again, VERY slick. I rode the first two laps, walked down the third due to the number of people on it, and rode the last lap but fell down when some young rider pre riding the course cut me off. I bent my shifter but it is fixable, it only rotated on the bars.
After that run up, I remounted and rode through the area where the windmill was again with lots of fans because? You guessed it, a curvy downhill on grass, perfect for falls and hilarity. Then, back through the start finish for another fun lap. As the race wore on, I believe my HR Average would have been in the 180's should I have worn my HRM but I specifically chose not to utilize this wonderful piece of feedback as it wouldn't have mattered anyway, I was having trouble focusing on the track let alone the thingy on my wrist.
The flat grass/mud section was getting worse and i wont bore you with the details of each lap but lets just say, I was ready to pack it in on my fourth lap. Actually, had I known they weren't going to give me my last lap in the results, I would have packed it in. I ran the entire section on the last two laps and instead of remounting on the last lap, I ran through the mud puddle . I twisted my ankle a few times (I normally wear an ankle brace for running) but when I saw a couple guys running because their bikes were in some state of broken-ness, I figured I could still make it out of last place.
I crossed the finish line and talked to a couple of people that have joined my triathlon team for 2009 and then went to the truck, got cleaned up (sort of) and went back to the expo area for my $3 bottomless pint glass of beer. It was PBR but after that race, that's all I wanted. I wanted to stick around for the single speed race as it was the main event of the day, but had to get home to the kids. I missed out, they had a bubble machine and other fun costumed riders (I still dont get it, but Im getting used to it).
I swore after yesterday, I would train for the next race in a couple weeks but today, i did not fulfill that wish but I can justify it by saying today is normally a rest day.....
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Helmets for everyone
I have had my share of times riding without a helmet. Never went without on a MTB ride but there were times that I have driven to get to a road ride only to discover that I didnt have my helmet and rode anyway. One time I rode back home with a friend to get my lid and another time I just put my hat on backward and did my ride. There were times, however, where I wouldnt ride with friends because they didnt have a helmet, sort of hypocritical I know.
Sometimes after cleaning my bike or putting my race wheels on I would go up and down the road in front of my house all the while making the kids put their helmets on regardless of where they were riding. After this weekend, NEVER AGAIN will I get on my bike (except on the trainer) without having my helmet on.
On Saturday, October 18, Stacey got geared up to go for a ride. She put a backpack on with her running kit and set out for the gym, a mile or two away. About 20 minutes after she left I got a phone call from a woman I didnt know. She said she was with Stacey and she was OK and the paramedics were with her...... Holy crap, what the hell happened to her? Can I talk to her? Where is she?
I quickly got the needed info and left to go and get her. Both boys jumped in the truck without shoes because we were in a hurry which I later regreted. We drove down to where she was, past the fire truck, the ambulance, and the police Suburban. I was instructed to pull into a driveway down the hill and walk back up. As we drove past, I could see her on the spineboard with C-collar and all the other gear they put on you when they suspect a neck injury.
I didnt think about it but the boys saw her too. I told them to stay in the truck while I went up to talk to the police man and the paramedics. The woman that had called me was there and she helped me take Stacey's bike back to the truck. Again, not thinking about the boys being in there being able to see her lying on the spineboard and then being picked up to be put inside the bus. I said hi to Stacey and she said "I fell down". She asked how her bike was so I knew she was somewhat OK.
I talked to the paramedic briefly and he told me what they found and they were transporting her with lights and siren because of head trauma. She had an abrasion on her head but had her lid on when they got to her and because of her repeated questions about the same thing, I knew she got her bell rung pretty good.
I took all her gear back to the truck as they loaded her up and could hear the boys crying. They were very upset and in hindsight, I should have grabbed a neighbour to watch them while I went to see her. I calmed them down and we drove to the house to get some extra clothes and to get their shoes and Kelton's soccer gear just in case. I thought I could get someone to take him for me should i still be in the hospital with Stacey.
On the way, I left a voice mail for Stacey's parents because I thought they should know. I didnt say anything but to call me. They didnt need a VM saying their daughter was in the ER after a bike accident. We got to the hospital and the paramedic met me and asked for her helmet to show the ER doc then we went in. We were met by a chaplain and directed into a private room to talk to him. I wasnt very interested in that I just wanted to know what the situation was with Stacey.
Finally, the ER doc came in and told us what he found so far. She was going to get a CT scan but we could see her before they took her.
I took the boys in to her room and she was still in the C collar and still had blood on her head. Kelton didnt really want me to lift him up to see her but I lifted Taguen up so he could give her a kiss. She kept asking questions, the same ones over and over again. I really thought she was pulling my leg but apparently, she wasnt. Her melon was pretty shaken up and her memory wasnt working so well. Kelton stayed away and Taguen and I held her hand til she was taken to the CT.
We went to the cafeteria and after talking to her mom, we agreed they would pick up the boys. After a crappy $8 sandwich, the boys went with Papa, and I went to see Stacey.
The doc met me on the way in and said the CT was normal and as soon as they dressed her wounds, she could go home.
There were two nurses helping us, one was in her 40's, the other MAYBE in her 20's. The younger one was supposed to be dressing the road rash but what should have taken her 15 minutes max took almost 45 minutes. She missed a lot of blood but I was getting impatient and just felt like I could clean in better when we got home. She used some topical pain killer and got most of the ashphalt out of the wounds.
We finally were able to go home around 1pm and after picking up the boys and dropping Kelton at his game, we got Stacey home and into bed around 2pm.
In the week since she crashed. I dressed her wounds in some Tegaderm a couple of times and all the road rash is getting better. Her memory isnt so good right now but its getting better.
I started out just talking about helmets and how I have, at times, gone without but NEVER AGAIN will I do that (I think I mentioned that already). After seeing how Stacey's helmet saved her noggin from something more severe, Im a believer. Even test riding after switching wheels, helmet time. I wont roll my eyes at my wife when she tells me to wear my helmet even on those 2 second test rides, my lid is huge and it needs a protectin'.
On a positive note, Stacey can go out for Hallowe'en as a busted up cyclist with fresh wounds.
Sometimes after cleaning my bike or putting my race wheels on I would go up and down the road in front of my house all the while making the kids put their helmets on regardless of where they were riding. After this weekend, NEVER AGAIN will I get on my bike (except on the trainer) without having my helmet on.
On Saturday, October 18, Stacey got geared up to go for a ride. She put a backpack on with her running kit and set out for the gym, a mile or two away. About 20 minutes after she left I got a phone call from a woman I didnt know. She said she was with Stacey and she was OK and the paramedics were with her...... Holy crap, what the hell happened to her? Can I talk to her? Where is she?
I quickly got the needed info and left to go and get her. Both boys jumped in the truck without shoes because we were in a hurry which I later regreted. We drove down to where she was, past the fire truck, the ambulance, and the police Suburban. I was instructed to pull into a driveway down the hill and walk back up. As we drove past, I could see her on the spineboard with C-collar and all the other gear they put on you when they suspect a neck injury.
I didnt think about it but the boys saw her too. I told them to stay in the truck while I went up to talk to the police man and the paramedics. The woman that had called me was there and she helped me take Stacey's bike back to the truck. Again, not thinking about the boys being in there being able to see her lying on the spineboard and then being picked up to be put inside the bus. I said hi to Stacey and she said "I fell down". She asked how her bike was so I knew she was somewhat OK.
I talked to the paramedic briefly and he told me what they found and they were transporting her with lights and siren because of head trauma. She had an abrasion on her head but had her lid on when they got to her and because of her repeated questions about the same thing, I knew she got her bell rung pretty good.
I took all her gear back to the truck as they loaded her up and could hear the boys crying. They were very upset and in hindsight, I should have grabbed a neighbour to watch them while I went to see her. I calmed them down and we drove to the house to get some extra clothes and to get their shoes and Kelton's soccer gear just in case. I thought I could get someone to take him for me should i still be in the hospital with Stacey.
On the way, I left a voice mail for Stacey's parents because I thought they should know. I didnt say anything but to call me. They didnt need a VM saying their daughter was in the ER after a bike accident. We got to the hospital and the paramedic met me and asked for her helmet to show the ER doc then we went in. We were met by a chaplain and directed into a private room to talk to him. I wasnt very interested in that I just wanted to know what the situation was with Stacey.
Finally, the ER doc came in and told us what he found so far. She was going to get a CT scan but we could see her before they took her.
I took the boys in to her room and she was still in the C collar and still had blood on her head. Kelton didnt really want me to lift him up to see her but I lifted Taguen up so he could give her a kiss. She kept asking questions, the same ones over and over again. I really thought she was pulling my leg but apparently, she wasnt. Her melon was pretty shaken up and her memory wasnt working so well. Kelton stayed away and Taguen and I held her hand til she was taken to the CT.
We went to the cafeteria and after talking to her mom, we agreed they would pick up the boys. After a crappy $8 sandwich, the boys went with Papa, and I went to see Stacey.
The doc met me on the way in and said the CT was normal and as soon as they dressed her wounds, she could go home.
There were two nurses helping us, one was in her 40's, the other MAYBE in her 20's. The younger one was supposed to be dressing the road rash but what should have taken her 15 minutes max took almost 45 minutes. She missed a lot of blood but I was getting impatient and just felt like I could clean in better when we got home. She used some topical pain killer and got most of the ashphalt out of the wounds.
We finally were able to go home around 1pm and after picking up the boys and dropping Kelton at his game, we got Stacey home and into bed around 2pm.
In the week since she crashed. I dressed her wounds in some Tegaderm a couple of times and all the road rash is getting better. Her memory isnt so good right now but its getting better.
I started out just talking about helmets and how I have, at times, gone without but NEVER AGAIN will I do that (I think I mentioned that already). After seeing how Stacey's helmet saved her noggin from something more severe, Im a believer. Even test riding after switching wheels, helmet time. I wont roll my eyes at my wife when she tells me to wear my helmet even on those 2 second test rides, my lid is huge and it needs a protectin'.
On a positive note, Stacey can go out for Hallowe'en as a busted up cyclist with fresh wounds.
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