Home for the Holidays

Well I have been home in Spokane Washington for a couple of weeks now and have decided to get back into the swing of things. I visited Curt at Runner's Soul and picked myself up a new pair of running shoes. It seemed appropriate since my three weeks of rest was about up and that my old shoes smelled like cat pee. I am not sure why they smelled so bad but occasionally someone would announce that someones feet reeked. I was usually brave enough to say it was me then immediately removed and hid the source, usually outside or in another room with a airtight seal. But really what I wanted to say was that I loved my new shoes and running around good old Spokane. Running some of the familiar trials we used to train on while in high school brought back great memories.

Just like I did while riding my bike around this past fall in Las Cruces, New Mexico I have been thinking more about my running bio mechanics than ever before. I think all the cycling helped me figure out that brute force and strength is not always the best way to get faster. I won't bore you with all the details but mainly I have been trying to pick my knees up and increase cadence while on my runs.

As always when I get excited about something I start thinking into the future and I find myself setting goals. One of my goals, as of lately, (like two days ago) is to attempt an Ironman distance triathlon. Yeah laugh it up if you must but I just find challenges that seem completely ridiculous compelling. I am also at the moment looking for a couple of other half ironman distance triathlons to enter to fill my summer with delight and drama.

Switching gears I have enjoyed my time home with the family. I was majorly psyched up to go skiing since it has been approaching two years since I have glided across the white stuff. The weather patterns have had other ideas, apparently, and the snow in the mountains has been let's just say about as significant as a gnat kitting the windshield of a train. Here in the house however, Mom has been amazing with the meals and the chores. It is nice to have a week (or two or three) free from having any deadlines and due dates on the old calendar. Christmas dinner was exceptional. The turkey and stuffing was cooked to perfection and the pumpkin pie was the best I have ever had. I'm not just saying that. This pie was the bomb! No really!

I brought my camera home with me in hopes of taking pictures of many of my favorite sights around the Spokane area. The following are some of the better pictures. I will try and take a few more before I head back but for now these will do.

A foggy morning on a farm near Tower Mountain.

Mom upon remembering tomorrow is Christmas.

Pepper our black Labrador.

Gus our chocolate Labrador. He is very ferocious.


Gus and Pepper exploring by Hangman Creek. This is one of my favorite things in the world; exploring cool places with dogs.


Mama Ruth inspecting a package of band-aids. She is really good at studying inanimate objects.


I really like this picture of my grandma. The bright cold light coming in from the kitchen window does something I can't quite explain. It was nice to have her down for Christmas, even if she drives everyone crazy.


And this is about 3 weeks into my attempt at growing a beard. What do you think? Mustache, Goatee, Soul Patch? I will probably shave it off pretty soon because it is itchy and my hairs are constantly getting stuck in it which tickle my face. Nothing like an itchy face when you are trying to fall asleep at night.

Polar Bear Triathlon

Before it becomes too long and I forget everything I suppose I should talk about my last triathlon of the season. Last Saturday was the Polar Bear Triathlon held at the White Sands Missile Range. Yes this is the same military range where the first atomic bomb was exploded in 1945. It is a (mostly) flat and desolate place in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert. On race day there was an added surprise. An arctic air mass apparently comprised of liquid nitrogen moved into the area bring temperatures I have only ever felt once before while racing cross country many years ago.



Like always I was accompanied by my NMSU Race Club Teammates. A funny thing about this triathlon was that it was done backwards. Having no open water to swim in (which would have been frozen anyway) the swim was done in a pool. And since it is almost impossible to have 100 people start simultaneously in a pool the race began with the run. The bike was after the run and the swim was last that way everyone would be mostly spread out by the time they flopped into the pool. The swim and run were also very short in proportion to the bike. This was something I was quite thrilled about since the bike was about all I had been doing.

Just before the race began an official looking dude pulled up and quietly whispered to the race starter that a major water main had broke (probably due to the freak temperatures) and that water was shooting 20 feet into the air and washing all over the bike route. Luckily the out and back bike leg was easily adjusted to bypass this terrible catastrophe.

We began with a 5k race around the base. My plan was to hold back and then lay it all down on the bike. I ran with Taylor for a little bit and then about a half mile into the race I found myself in second. I felt very good and managed to hold the leader to about 20 seconds for the remainder of the run. My final 5k run split was 19:44. Definitely not fast for me but good enough for now.



Transition went fairly smooth. I had some toe warmers in (thanks Xavier) and some shoe covers standing by. Since I was into transition second I saw that I could beat the leader out if I didn't put on my shoe covers. I hoped I made the right decision and wouldn't pay for it later by having my feet amputated due to frost bite. I calmly got on the bike and felt it would be highly unlikely someone would pass me and drastically out bike me unless I had some major problems. I was ready to fly.

Cruising through the base I passed an official looking guy just standing by his car next to the road. I slowed as I passed him then yelled back, "Are we supposed to turn there?" He said yes with a little hesitation then pointed in that direction. I turned around and went back around a road cone to correct the whops. Good thing I asked other wise he would have just let me ride off course into oblivion. When I went by him I suggest he make it a little more obvious for the other athletes. Shaking off the close call I continued on down the gentle grade out in to the wild blue yonder. There was not much out there except a couple of coyotes I snuck up on a and a rabbit. I was glad it wasn't windy since the terrain was so open but man was it cold.

When I took my first sip of water I noted that the outside of my bottle was getting a little crispy. Oh no! My water is starting to freeze up. I had better drink what is left of my water now before it completely freezes solid. My fingers then started to get cold and I was not really enjoying the way things were going. I was continuing to drive hard when BAM!!! my calf cramped. Ouch! Back it off man, you are going to hurt yourself. Okay lets try it again, BAM!!! CRAMP! ow ow ow. I am not sure if I had a nutrition problem or what but I suspect that the main culprit was the cold. Now I was constantly looking behind me because I was scared. No longer did I feel like the lean mean machine on the bike but instead felt like the rusty tin man. Getting out of the saddle did little to generate more power since my calves were basically shot. The turn around seemed to take forever to reach and for a while I wasn't even sure I was on the right road since I saw no one. I reached the turn around at last and was a little surprised to see second place still around a minute or two behind me. He looked to be motoring on mighty fast with his disk wheel and aero helmet.

The ride back I was still fairly helpless. I just wasn't able to use Thor and Zeus (aka my calfs) like I was used to. I had to drive hard with my quadriceps instead which one, generate less power for me and two, makes me really tired. I looked back a lot expecting to see a black dot and to keep seeing it get bigger and bigger. However I managed to hold my lead and even extended it with having the fastest bike split of 1:05 for 40k. Despite having the best bike split I was a little disappointed. I really wanted to break the one hour barrier but the conditions on this day just weren't conducive. Someday it will happen but not this day.



Wrestling my cloths off I was happy to dive into the pool and warm my extremities. The first 50m were nice but then I started to get pretty dang tired. Around the 200m mark I switched to the breast stroke because I could hardly get my arms out of the water. I didn't want to look like a show off so I went back to freestyle. I did the backstroke on one of the 25s then finished up feeling slow and heavy doing freestyle. I stayed in the pool for a couple of minutes because the water really did feel very good and warm.

I waited for second place to finish so I could congratulate him. He was a nice older gentleman from the base who was actually competing as a Clydesdale. I waited a little longer and was very surprised to see Xavier finish in sixth over all. His improvement in the sport is mind blowing and he hands down earns the best performance of the race. I changed into some dry cloths and then watched as the rest of the team finished up looking cold and relieved to be done.

This was the last race of the season for me. I am now sitting at home in the beautifully gray city, Spokane Washington after my first semester as a graduate student sipping hot cocoa and watching college basketball. It feels so good to lay on the couch and not have any plans for the day. My new goal is to eat copious amounts of cookies, gravy, and bacon and hopefully gain lots of weight to help me get through these cold temperatures I have (apparently) become allergic to. I might even try and grow a beard if my mom doesn't get on my case.

Happy Holidays!