Well, as you can imagine by the fact that my last post was a few days ago and only 200 miles from Tucson, I made it. I opted not to get up at dawn for the mere 3-hour drive and instead took my time and wound up arriving around 2:00. Oddly, there was snow on the ground much of the early part of the ride and into the Arizona state line, but fortunately it was gone by the time I got to Tucson. Once again the drive was painless, and although the weather wasn't normal Tucson weather as it was only in the 40's, the sun was out and of course it is due to warm up, so I wasn't concerned.
First step was going into my new condo. I found it without issue, and thanks to Google street view I knew what to look for. I found the place from an ad on Craigslist, which we all know can be risky, but seems to have worked out ok. Turns out the guy I'm subletting from has a sister who lives about 20 minutes from me back in New Hampshire, so she was the middle man in the key/money exchange, which was nice. Also made me feel pretty secure that I was probably not giving the guy a check only to get scammed.
So anyway, in I go and the place is quite nice and has a great view. I really wish I could show you said view, but I forgot the cable that downloads the pictures from my digital camera to my lap top, so it will have to wait until I maybe go buy a new one. I do want to keep this interesting and share some nice pictures. But I can't just yet. Of course even though the drive was as painless as could be considering the duration, and I really hadn't felt that tired, it was like as soon as I arrived I felt exhausted and the prospect of unpacking the car felt like someone had just asked me to do a double Ironman. But of course, it had to be done, so I lugged three months worth of stuff upstairs. At least I tend to pack light, so probably brought less than most might in my situation. I did bring my cold weather riding and running gear, though. I packed similarly when I was in Phoenix in '07, and while the majority of the time it's pretty decent, I know that sometimes it can get pretty cold.
At that point I was torn between collapsing and the fact that I had no food with me. The thought of getting in the car again seemed awful, but it had to be done. At least there is a Super Walmart right around the corner. I saved the big shopping for later and opted just for some essentials to get me through a day or two. Then it was time to collapse for a bit. On Sunday I ventured out for some workouts and signed up for where I'll be swimming for the next three months. There is a YMCA less than a mile down the road with a gorgeous outdoor pool. To top it all off the place is $30 a month cheaper than my gym back home and there was no joining fee due to a January special. I feel silly signing up for a new gym on January second, I feel like saying no, I swear it's not a resolution thing!
So I was set and ready to go. Yesterday morning I was up bright and early and drove the 3 minutes down the road to the Y and hopped in the pool. The pool itself is a nice 82 degrees, although the 30-degree air is a bit rough when it comes to getting in and out. Still, a small price to pay when you get to swim under the stars. I realize I could've waited until later when it was warmer, but that's not the way I like to do things. A nice weight workout and I was done early for the day and ready for some more serious grocery shopping.
Today it was back to the pool again and then I had a pretty substantial ride to get in. Of course I didn't really know where to go, but I'm pretty good at Google. So I searched Tucson bike routes, found a couple that were near enough to where I live and off I went. It's not incredibly warm here just yet, maybe in the 50's, but as long as the roads aren't snow and ice, I'm probably doing pretty ok. And to top it off, I didn't get lost! I nearly lost a water bottle that was pointed out to me at a stoplight by a passing motorist, but otherwise it was a good start. The roads here are not exactly in the best condition, but again, the weather is decent which is a lot more than I can say for things back home. And the roads were pretty quiet, which is obviously a good thing. So the beginning of my adventure is going pretty well. Only 12 weeks to go.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
New Year's Eve in New Mexico
I have driven a lot in the past few days. I believe at this point right around 2400 miles. If I had timed things differently I could actually already be in Tucson, but I can't get into my condo until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon so I figured I might as well stop and have an extended rest somewhere and not be driving.
It seems that I do my driving in much the same way that I deal with long trainer rides or bike rides. I start early enough that it's like you're not even awake enough to notice the first couple of hours. That, coupled with crossing time zones on occasion makes it seem amazing to me when I do the math and realize I've already been driving for six hours or whatever the case may be. Day 1 began super early. I had set my alarm for 4:45 to be on the road at 5, but I woke up at like 3:45 and couldn't fall back asleep so just decided to get up and leave. I was in Pennsylvania by 8am after having crossed New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Of course then the states get really long.
One of my best friends from college happens to live just over the border from PA in Ohio who I only get to see every few months, so I figured why not take the opportunity? I got there at about 1:30 and was a great house guest initially as I almost immediately went and took a nap. That was about 640 miles on day 1, although I was thinking to myself that had I kept going I probably could've made it past Indianapolis.
Day 2 began about the same, this time I slept until my 4:45 alarm and was in the car 10 minutes later. I did this drive four years ago with a friend and I knew that time we almost made it to Indiana on day one and then got west of Oklahoma City on the second day, so my goal was to close the gap. Which I did. I figured it would be 1000 miles and obviously a lot of time in the car, but I was also gaining some time with a time zone change, the weather looked good and the speed limits increase as you move west, so I had high hopes. That, along with the fact that I am very efficient in my stops which include less than 10 minutes at each gas station in which I fill up, use the bathroom and buy whatever available to eat in the car and continue on my way. Efficient? Yes. But I'm sure it would annoy anyone else who might want to join me.
Day two involved a lot of state line crossing again, but all much bigger states. Ohio to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma. I left blizzard conditions to drive into what looked like well-worn snow, and that second day began with some light rain that turned into real rain through Indianapolis and a bit in Illinois before it was just overcast. The snow slowly but surely disappeared and the temperature steadily rose. This wasn't so much because I was slowly heading south, there was just a front of unusually warm air moving through the middle of the country. It wound up being nearly 70 degrees at the warmest points of the day.
One thing I definitely noticed driving across the country is that there are trucks everywhere. And they drive me nuts. Why? Because they are always trying to pass each other. It's just like in a triathlon when on the bike the guy in front of you is trying to pass someone, except he won't complete the pass and move over and you get stuck. Another anomaly I found was that while the speed limits steadily increase as you move west (75 in Oklahoma and west) it seems like people actually start to drive slower. In New Hampshire it seems that while the speed limit is 65, everyone is driving at least 75. Here, the speed limit is 75, yet someone is in front of me in the passing lane going 65. What is wrong with you people? At times on I-44 especially I would come across what seemed like a dozen trucks all bunched up, some passing each other, and taking a while to get around. But the further west I went, the less traffic there was and the less of an issue anything was.
You'd think that driving 1000 miles by yourself for over fifteen hours might start to drive you crazy. I don't know why, but mostly it didn't really bother me. I never said to myself, man, I can't stand being in the car anymore! Initially I was nervous because I don't think I've driven more than 4 hours or so by myself, but it's been fine. And something tells me that it will continue to be fine for the final 200 miles. I guess I'm just used to spending lots of time by myself, so why should this be different?
So last night I had made it through Oklahoma City and it was about 7:00 (8:00 from where I'd left) and dark and I finally decided to stop. I actually felt fine to keep going, but my mother had called and my phone was roaming and I couldn't answer it, so I figured I'd better stop and call her so she wouldn't think I was stranded by the side of the road somewhere. So I got a room in El Reno, Oklahoma and didn't realize how tired I was until I actually stopped and lay down.
Unwittingly, we hit I-40 and made it several hundred miles before somewhere in Texas, of all places, the roads were completely covered in ice. There was a bit of snow on the ground, about the same amount that we'd hardly even notice in New Hampshire. But the roads were just a complete sheet of ice. It was bright and sunny at the time, but cold. There weren't a whole lot of other cars on the road and we just had to drive probably 30mph for a while until finally we hit New Mexico and the roads cleared up. I'm guessing the problem came from the fact that it's likely they just don't have the amount of plows and salt trucks that we do.
So, we thought we'd made it through the worst of it. We'd stopped at a gas station that said that 40 had re-opened from the day before. We never even knew it was closed. So we kept driving... until the traffic just stopped. So we sat there for a few minutes before realizing that this wasn't just slow traffic, I-40 had literally become a parking lot. The thing that was strange was that at that particular spot there was no ice and the roads were fine even though there was snow on the ground. But apparently that was not the case further west, and the interstate had been closed.
I don't know, this seems odd to me that the interstate just closes like that. We've had some pretty crazy snowstorms back home and the interstate doesn't just close. You just have to drive slower. So after sitting and not moving for a couple of hours and fortunately having Olive Garden leftovers in the car, my friend Kate had made friends with some of the truck drivers who were going to lead us on an alternative route so we would not me stuck in New Mexico indefinitely. Finally we were led off a nearby exit by the police and we proceeded to follow two semi trucks and a couple of other cars from the northeast who also happened to be heading for Arizona.
I really have no idea how we got anywhere. We were on dirt roads passing nothing but an occasional farm for probably 100 miles. Once we hit pavement we lost the truckers and had already come across a couple more roads closed due to snow, but fortunately I can read a map so I was able to navigate us the rest of our new alternative route. This included going through Roswell, New Mexico. I saw no aliens, but I can understand why they chose that particular spot. You just go miles and miles through nothing and then suddenly there is this random city there. I think if you wanted to go to the "next town over" you'd have to make it a day trip.
So the last time we did that, that was a very long day. And this time I was determined not to wind up in that same predicament. So I took out my lap top and very quickly found out that I-40 was unbelievably, once again, closed for about 80 miles in the exact same spot as last time. Is this normal? Does it snow there all the time? Does the road just close anytime it snows? Why does it always snow there when I am supposed to drive through it? I think there is some global conspiracy that is trying to keep me from ever seeing Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was unclear whether or not the road would be open the following day, but I decided that the last thing I wanted was to find myself stranded on the interstate for hours or days or whatever. Granted, there are enough Powerbars in the car to keep me alive for at least a few weeks, but still.
So, right off the bat I devised a new route from my hotel down through Roswell once again but minus the scary, dirt back roads with no names that aren't on any maps. The funny thing was, when Google maps gives you the options, of course it usually shows you the interstate routes but also sometimes gives you some options. Oddly, the second choice route, which happened to go through Roswell and avoid all of that closed roads business, was about 100 miles shorter and was estimated to take less time. Why was this not the first option? It was like taking the hypotenuse of the triangle, and I was ready for that different route.
I slept in a bit more and didn't hit the road until 5:40 after one more check of the weather and deciding that, no, I wasn't going to risk going I-40. The road conditions looked slightly iffy where I was headed, too, but no sign of road closures, which is of course what I was most concerned about. So off I went. The first couple of hours in the dark were a total blur. I think the sun was up by the time I crossed into Texas. I had a brief concern when I burned through an entire tank of gas in a mere 150 miles, where it had normally been about 240 or 250... also sad as the Xterra gets terrible mileage. My Sentra gets 350 miles to a tank and holds six less gallons! Anyway... I realized just before I pulled off to get gas that while I had the cruise control set, for some reason it was sort of stuck constantly accelerating with high RPM's, which burned through the gas fast. So I had to pay attention to that the rest of the time, but fortunately that was the only 150-mile tank of gas.
The worst part about that gas stop was getting out of the car. It was nearly 50 degrees when I'd left my hotel in Oklahoma. It was about 24 in Texas and WINDY. Maybe the 40mph headwind didn't help the gas mileage, either. I passed the restaurant in Amarillo that serves the 72oz steak and totally would've stopped to try it if it wasn't 8:30 in the morning at the time. (no likely; I haven't eaten 72oz total of steak probably in the last ten years) And that was where I got to defer to my new route. I-27 to... other roads. On the map they look like total back roads, but they're almost exactly the same as the interstate. Four lanes, medians, 70mph speed limits. I couldn't figure out the downside.
I guess one thing was that at times I seriously felt like I was the only person left on Earth. I mean, there was nobody anywhere, no houses in sight, no buildings, no cars.... just road. In Texas it was incredibly flat and then suddenly this one, big mountain showed up in the background and a whole bunch more weren't far behind that one. I did make sure that this time I didn't wait until the gas tank was near empty, but rather stopped at almost any gas station I found because, well, you never knew when the next one was going to show up. Fortunately I never came close to running out.
I'm very curious to know how bad the snow was a bit further north and whether or not the road was closed again because where I was, you never would've known anything had happened. If I ever drive this way again I would definitely choose the route I drove today, because it was no big deal at all. It was great, actually. It did progressively get colder, down to 17 degrees (I thought I left that behind!) and at 6000' there was some snow, but we're talking an inch or two, and nothing that slowed down what little traffic there was. I saw some houses in some interesting places in the middle of nowhere. How do you grocery shop? Do you even get electricity? And a couple of the post offices... how do you staff something literally in the middle of nowhere?
So, after winding through the mountains of New Mexico and leaving the little bit of snow just as quickly as it had shown up, I was down the other side and found myself 700 or so miles from my starting point yesterday in ten hours. I love you, 75mph speed limits. I opted to stay in the exact same hotel as the last time I drove through here, and stopped just before 3:00 mountain time. Obviously I could've kept going... heck, I could've made it all the way to Tucson by now, but I can't get into my place until tomorrow afternoon and I've been pushing and pushing the last few days, so why not take some extra time to sit down and relax and maybe get a full night of sleep? Plus a nap? It's still freezing cold and windy, again, exactly like the last time I did this, but it should warm up in Tucson in a couple of days.
So, this is where I spent New Year's eve 2006 into 2007. 2006 was an amazing year for me. By far the best in recent memory and honestly, possibly my favorite ever. '07 wasn't as great, but not bad. Now, I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true, but 2010 was, by far, the worst year of my entire life. I don't think there is any particular other year that I would've considered bad as a whole. Some not as good as others, but none that were just plain bad... until now.
First, the clearest example as to why 2010 was awful: my father died. That in and of itself is plenty, thanks. I can't tell you how often I think about how much I still just can't even believe that happened. And it's probably going to be another 9 months of "first time" things without Dad. We had the first Thanksgiving and Christmas, not looking forward to the first summer without him, but we've probably talked enough about that kind of thing...
So the tri season. Oh, the tri season. Wow. We're talking epic bad. In 2008 I had a horrible season also, but this one surpassed it by leaps and bounds. I set new personal worsts in several categories and pulled off my two worst Ironman finishes by far (1 and 2 hours slower than the previous worst) one of them with more time on the marathon than the bike and the other one darn close. I somehow only did 1 half ironman this year and while that one wasn't the worst one I'd ever done, it was still just generally not a good experience. I had my worst 5K, slower than my best Ironman marathon pace-wise (there's a real feat, isn't it?) worst 10K, did manage to avoid my worst half marathon. Two years ago when I had that other rough season due to injury I at least managed to pull out a win at a really small sprint race on the lake. Not only was the race that day a complete disaster for me this year, but of course that was the day Dad got in his accident, and otherwise would've been out on his bike that morning instead of watching me suck at racing. I did finally remember that there was actually one bright spot to the year as far as racing goes, and that was the BTTITT (Boston Triathlon Team Indoor Time Trial) back in February that I managed to win. I got there late because I got a little lost and I seem to excel at racing without warming up. I got a pair of Oakleys out of that deal, definitely my best prize for winning a race and the shortest duration of effort for the wins. 10 hours for your win? Have some Ironman socks!
There wasn't a whole lot else specific that sucked about this year, at least not that I can think of. But in general I just wasn't quite my usual self. Maybe I knew already it was going to be a bad year so I was pre-emptively depressed. Yeah, that's it. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to moving on from here. That is why I am in New Mexico right now, almost at Tucson for a winter of being focused on nothing but training. I felt a little bit guilty when I packed up the car and left the snow behind, and I don't think I'll need to do this every year (my best season came about after suffering through the snow and cold) but for now, I need a change of venue, a clean slate and a fresh start.
Somewhere along the line things started to go in the wrong direction, and that's where they keep going. What is that saying, that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing but expect different results? Yeah, that. So, warm weather, different training grounds, a totally fresh way to jumpstart my 2011. I've got a lot riding on the next three months. One thing that definitely happened the last time I trained in Arizona: I definitely got in really good shape. While the race at the end of that stint was a disappointment, that was the fault of race execution and maybe slightly too-high expectations (looking back now I'd just about kill to have a race like that again!) I'm hoping that this one will end on a higher note.
So that's it, now I'm going to sit back and continue watching this Saturday Night Live marathon on VH1 before I fall asleep. Do we really get to start over completely just because the calendar says so? I'd kind of like to be able to start 2010 over again and do it better (and lock my dad in a closet on September 5th) but I guess we just have to take what we've got and move on, right?
Hope everyone else has a great 2011.
It seems that I do my driving in much the same way that I deal with long trainer rides or bike rides. I start early enough that it's like you're not even awake enough to notice the first couple of hours. That, coupled with crossing time zones on occasion makes it seem amazing to me when I do the math and realize I've already been driving for six hours or whatever the case may be. Day 1 began super early. I had set my alarm for 4:45 to be on the road at 5, but I woke up at like 3:45 and couldn't fall back asleep so just decided to get up and leave. I was in Pennsylvania by 8am after having crossed New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Of course then the states get really long.
One of my best friends from college happens to live just over the border from PA in Ohio who I only get to see every few months, so I figured why not take the opportunity? I got there at about 1:30 and was a great house guest initially as I almost immediately went and took a nap. That was about 640 miles on day 1, although I was thinking to myself that had I kept going I probably could've made it past Indianapolis.
Day 2 began about the same, this time I slept until my 4:45 alarm and was in the car 10 minutes later. I did this drive four years ago with a friend and I knew that time we almost made it to Indiana on day one and then got west of Oklahoma City on the second day, so my goal was to close the gap. Which I did. I figured it would be 1000 miles and obviously a lot of time in the car, but I was also gaining some time with a time zone change, the weather looked good and the speed limits increase as you move west, so I had high hopes. That, along with the fact that I am very efficient in my stops which include less than 10 minutes at each gas station in which I fill up, use the bathroom and buy whatever available to eat in the car and continue on my way. Efficient? Yes. But I'm sure it would annoy anyone else who might want to join me.
Day two involved a lot of state line crossing again, but all much bigger states. Ohio to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma. I left blizzard conditions to drive into what looked like well-worn snow, and that second day began with some light rain that turned into real rain through Indianapolis and a bit in Illinois before it was just overcast. The snow slowly but surely disappeared and the temperature steadily rose. This wasn't so much because I was slowly heading south, there was just a front of unusually warm air moving through the middle of the country. It wound up being nearly 70 degrees at the warmest points of the day.
One thing I definitely noticed driving across the country is that there are trucks everywhere. And they drive me nuts. Why? Because they are always trying to pass each other. It's just like in a triathlon when on the bike the guy in front of you is trying to pass someone, except he won't complete the pass and move over and you get stuck. Another anomaly I found was that while the speed limits steadily increase as you move west (75 in Oklahoma and west) it seems like people actually start to drive slower. In New Hampshire it seems that while the speed limit is 65, everyone is driving at least 75. Here, the speed limit is 75, yet someone is in front of me in the passing lane going 65. What is wrong with you people? At times on I-44 especially I would come across what seemed like a dozen trucks all bunched up, some passing each other, and taking a while to get around. But the further west I went, the less traffic there was and the less of an issue anything was.
You'd think that driving 1000 miles by yourself for over fifteen hours might start to drive you crazy. I don't know why, but mostly it didn't really bother me. I never said to myself, man, I can't stand being in the car anymore! Initially I was nervous because I don't think I've driven more than 4 hours or so by myself, but it's been fine. And something tells me that it will continue to be fine for the final 200 miles. I guess I'm just used to spending lots of time by myself, so why should this be different?
So last night I had made it through Oklahoma City and it was about 7:00 (8:00 from where I'd left) and dark and I finally decided to stop. I actually felt fine to keep going, but my mother had called and my phone was roaming and I couldn't answer it, so I figured I'd better stop and call her so she wouldn't think I was stranded by the side of the road somewhere. So I got a room in El Reno, Oklahoma and didn't realize how tired I was until I actually stopped and lay down.
Unwittingly, we hit I-40 and made it several hundred miles before somewhere in Texas, of all places, the roads were completely covered in ice. There was a bit of snow on the ground, about the same amount that we'd hardly even notice in New Hampshire. But the roads were just a complete sheet of ice. It was bright and sunny at the time, but cold. There weren't a whole lot of other cars on the road and we just had to drive probably 30mph for a while until finally we hit New Mexico and the roads cleared up. I'm guessing the problem came from the fact that it's likely they just don't have the amount of plows and salt trucks that we do.
So, we thought we'd made it through the worst of it. We'd stopped at a gas station that said that 40 had re-opened from the day before. We never even knew it was closed. So we kept driving... until the traffic just stopped. So we sat there for a few minutes before realizing that this wasn't just slow traffic, I-40 had literally become a parking lot. The thing that was strange was that at that particular spot there was no ice and the roads were fine even though there was snow on the ground. But apparently that was not the case further west, and the interstate had been closed.
I don't know, this seems odd to me that the interstate just closes like that. We've had some pretty crazy snowstorms back home and the interstate doesn't just close. You just have to drive slower. So after sitting and not moving for a couple of hours and fortunately having Olive Garden leftovers in the car, my friend Kate had made friends with some of the truck drivers who were going to lead us on an alternative route so we would not me stuck in New Mexico indefinitely. Finally we were led off a nearby exit by the police and we proceeded to follow two semi trucks and a couple of other cars from the northeast who also happened to be heading for Arizona.
I really have no idea how we got anywhere. We were on dirt roads passing nothing but an occasional farm for probably 100 miles. Once we hit pavement we lost the truckers and had already come across a couple more roads closed due to snow, but fortunately I can read a map so I was able to navigate us the rest of our new alternative route. This included going through Roswell, New Mexico. I saw no aliens, but I can understand why they chose that particular spot. You just go miles and miles through nothing and then suddenly there is this random city there. I think if you wanted to go to the "next town over" you'd have to make it a day trip.
So the last time we did that, that was a very long day. And this time I was determined not to wind up in that same predicament. So I took out my lap top and very quickly found out that I-40 was unbelievably, once again, closed for about 80 miles in the exact same spot as last time. Is this normal? Does it snow there all the time? Does the road just close anytime it snows? Why does it always snow there when I am supposed to drive through it? I think there is some global conspiracy that is trying to keep me from ever seeing Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was unclear whether or not the road would be open the following day, but I decided that the last thing I wanted was to find myself stranded on the interstate for hours or days or whatever. Granted, there are enough Powerbars in the car to keep me alive for at least a few weeks, but still.
So, right off the bat I devised a new route from my hotel down through Roswell once again but minus the scary, dirt back roads with no names that aren't on any maps. The funny thing was, when Google maps gives you the options, of course it usually shows you the interstate routes but also sometimes gives you some options. Oddly, the second choice route, which happened to go through Roswell and avoid all of that closed roads business, was about 100 miles shorter and was estimated to take less time. Why was this not the first option? It was like taking the hypotenuse of the triangle, and I was ready for that different route.
I slept in a bit more and didn't hit the road until 5:40 after one more check of the weather and deciding that, no, I wasn't going to risk going I-40. The road conditions looked slightly iffy where I was headed, too, but no sign of road closures, which is of course what I was most concerned about. So off I went. The first couple of hours in the dark were a total blur. I think the sun was up by the time I crossed into Texas. I had a brief concern when I burned through an entire tank of gas in a mere 150 miles, where it had normally been about 240 or 250... also sad as the Xterra gets terrible mileage. My Sentra gets 350 miles to a tank and holds six less gallons! Anyway... I realized just before I pulled off to get gas that while I had the cruise control set, for some reason it was sort of stuck constantly accelerating with high RPM's, which burned through the gas fast. So I had to pay attention to that the rest of the time, but fortunately that was the only 150-mile tank of gas.
The worst part about that gas stop was getting out of the car. It was nearly 50 degrees when I'd left my hotel in Oklahoma. It was about 24 in Texas and WINDY. Maybe the 40mph headwind didn't help the gas mileage, either. I passed the restaurant in Amarillo that serves the 72oz steak and totally would've stopped to try it if it wasn't 8:30 in the morning at the time. (no likely; I haven't eaten 72oz total of steak probably in the last ten years) And that was where I got to defer to my new route. I-27 to... other roads. On the map they look like total back roads, but they're almost exactly the same as the interstate. Four lanes, medians, 70mph speed limits. I couldn't figure out the downside.
I guess one thing was that at times I seriously felt like I was the only person left on Earth. I mean, there was nobody anywhere, no houses in sight, no buildings, no cars.... just road. In Texas it was incredibly flat and then suddenly this one, big mountain showed up in the background and a whole bunch more weren't far behind that one. I did make sure that this time I didn't wait until the gas tank was near empty, but rather stopped at almost any gas station I found because, well, you never knew when the next one was going to show up. Fortunately I never came close to running out.
I'm very curious to know how bad the snow was a bit further north and whether or not the road was closed again because where I was, you never would've known anything had happened. If I ever drive this way again I would definitely choose the route I drove today, because it was no big deal at all. It was great, actually. It did progressively get colder, down to 17 degrees (I thought I left that behind!) and at 6000' there was some snow, but we're talking an inch or two, and nothing that slowed down what little traffic there was. I saw some houses in some interesting places in the middle of nowhere. How do you grocery shop? Do you even get electricity? And a couple of the post offices... how do you staff something literally in the middle of nowhere?
So, after winding through the mountains of New Mexico and leaving the little bit of snow just as quickly as it had shown up, I was down the other side and found myself 700 or so miles from my starting point yesterday in ten hours. I love you, 75mph speed limits. I opted to stay in the exact same hotel as the last time I drove through here, and stopped just before 3:00 mountain time. Obviously I could've kept going... heck, I could've made it all the way to Tucson by now, but I can't get into my place until tomorrow afternoon and I've been pushing and pushing the last few days, so why not take some extra time to sit down and relax and maybe get a full night of sleep? Plus a nap? It's still freezing cold and windy, again, exactly like the last time I did this, but it should warm up in Tucson in a couple of days.
So, this is where I spent New Year's eve 2006 into 2007. 2006 was an amazing year for me. By far the best in recent memory and honestly, possibly my favorite ever. '07 wasn't as great, but not bad. Now, I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true, but 2010 was, by far, the worst year of my entire life. I don't think there is any particular other year that I would've considered bad as a whole. Some not as good as others, but none that were just plain bad... until now.
First, the clearest example as to why 2010 was awful: my father died. That in and of itself is plenty, thanks. I can't tell you how often I think about how much I still just can't even believe that happened. And it's probably going to be another 9 months of "first time" things without Dad. We had the first Thanksgiving and Christmas, not looking forward to the first summer without him, but we've probably talked enough about that kind of thing...
So the tri season. Oh, the tri season. Wow. We're talking epic bad. In 2008 I had a horrible season also, but this one surpassed it by leaps and bounds. I set new personal worsts in several categories and pulled off my two worst Ironman finishes by far (1 and 2 hours slower than the previous worst) one of them with more time on the marathon than the bike and the other one darn close. I somehow only did 1 half ironman this year and while that one wasn't the worst one I'd ever done, it was still just generally not a good experience. I had my worst 5K, slower than my best Ironman marathon pace-wise (there's a real feat, isn't it?) worst 10K, did manage to avoid my worst half marathon. Two years ago when I had that other rough season due to injury I at least managed to pull out a win at a really small sprint race on the lake. Not only was the race that day a complete disaster for me this year, but of course that was the day Dad got in his accident, and otherwise would've been out on his bike that morning instead of watching me suck at racing. I did finally remember that there was actually one bright spot to the year as far as racing goes, and that was the BTTITT (Boston Triathlon Team Indoor Time Trial) back in February that I managed to win. I got there late because I got a little lost and I seem to excel at racing without warming up. I got a pair of Oakleys out of that deal, definitely my best prize for winning a race and the shortest duration of effort for the wins. 10 hours for your win? Have some Ironman socks!
There wasn't a whole lot else specific that sucked about this year, at least not that I can think of. But in general I just wasn't quite my usual self. Maybe I knew already it was going to be a bad year so I was pre-emptively depressed. Yeah, that's it. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to moving on from here. That is why I am in New Mexico right now, almost at Tucson for a winter of being focused on nothing but training. I felt a little bit guilty when I packed up the car and left the snow behind, and I don't think I'll need to do this every year (my best season came about after suffering through the snow and cold) but for now, I need a change of venue, a clean slate and a fresh start.
Somewhere along the line things started to go in the wrong direction, and that's where they keep going. What is that saying, that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing but expect different results? Yeah, that. So, warm weather, different training grounds, a totally fresh way to jumpstart my 2011. I've got a lot riding on the next three months. One thing that definitely happened the last time I trained in Arizona: I definitely got in really good shape. While the race at the end of that stint was a disappointment, that was the fault of race execution and maybe slightly too-high expectations (looking back now I'd just about kill to have a race like that again!) I'm hoping that this one will end on a higher note.
So that's it, now I'm going to sit back and continue watching this Saturday Night Live marathon on VH1 before I fall asleep. Do we really get to start over completely just because the calendar says so? I'd kind of like to be able to start 2010 over again and do it better (and lock my dad in a closet on September 5th) but I guess we just have to take what we've got and move on, right?
Hope everyone else has a great 2011.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Leaving in the morning...
I will post about Christmas later, but for now, just a quick note that I am finally leaving for Tucson in the morning. At first I thought I'd leave the 27th, but that seemed kind of early so I decided to leave the 28th. Then I woke up yesterday morning to the blizzard and decided to give the roads an extra day to clear out from the mess and am now, honestly leaving in the morning. It doesn't seem real. Again, I did do something similar in 2007 but that time I went with someone and I think it is just now dawning on me that I am about to spend several days in the car by myself and another 3 months the same way. Well, the idea anyway is to just completely focus without distraction, so I guess I am at least set up to make that happen.
After spending some time braving the wind and cold I have to say I am not sad to be leaving winter behind this year. I don't think I'd want to skip it every year, but I was just about to go completely out of my mind last year, so I think this will be good for me. The car is packed, gassed up and ready to go. I am, unfortunately, driving a bright yellow Xterra for the next few months. My brother wound up with my father's car (my sister and I both decided we didn't want it and didn't mind if he took it, being given a car is one thing, but having to pay to maintain it and put gas in it is another entirely) and my mother seems to think it is a bad idea to drive a 2001 Nissan Sentra across the country, so '04 Xterra it is. Strangely, the Sentra has less miles on it. I think I often ride my bike more miles in a year than I drive my car.
I will try to post often, hopefully with some pictures of the fun I will be enduring over the next couple of months. It will be an experience, for sure, just hoping that it is a fun one.
After spending some time braving the wind and cold I have to say I am not sad to be leaving winter behind this year. I don't think I'd want to skip it every year, but I was just about to go completely out of my mind last year, so I think this will be good for me. The car is packed, gassed up and ready to go. I am, unfortunately, driving a bright yellow Xterra for the next few months. My brother wound up with my father's car (my sister and I both decided we didn't want it and didn't mind if he took it, being given a car is one thing, but having to pay to maintain it and put gas in it is another entirely) and my mother seems to think it is a bad idea to drive a 2001 Nissan Sentra across the country, so '04 Xterra it is. Strangely, the Sentra has less miles on it. I think I often ride my bike more miles in a year than I drive my car.
I will try to post often, hopefully with some pictures of the fun I will be enduring over the next couple of months. It will be an experience, for sure, just hoping that it is a fun one.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Christmas
Ten days to go. As usual, I started to feel complacent since I did a small amount of my Christmas shopping kind of early (for me this means the beginning of December). But then it's like I forgot that I have several people left to buy for and not a whole lot of time in which to do it. However, I have at least learned that the mall on Christmas eve isn't crowded at all. I will do what I can to make sure that a Christmas eve trip is not required, but, well, at least I know it's an option.
And, hey, I've got one less person to buy for. And in looking through some of Dad's stuff I did happen to discover a shirt I bought him for Christmas last year, still all neatly folded with the department store cardboard inside it. I've bought him clothes in the past that he has worn, but apparently missed the mark last year.
So, let's state the obvious that I am not looking forward to Christmas all that much this year. I mean, who looks forward to the first holidays without a parent? Especially one who left way too early? Now, I do think it could be harder than it probably will be. Dad was always more of a background figure at the holidays. Every Christmas of my entire life has been spent at my mother's mother's house, and my mom has a whole lot of brothers and sisters who are a whole lot more vocal than my father ever was. Dad was never one to talk unless he really had something to say, and he definitely wasn't one to fight for attention at a table of thirty or so Irish in-laws. In fact, back when we had a dog he used to use that as an excuse to make his quiet exit.
Of course, just in our house, he was a major player in the Christmas morning rituals. My father used to get up at like 4:30 in the morning every single day... except Christmas. It used to drive me and my brother insane. I'm sure at some point it bugged my older sister, but by the time I was old enough to remember this kind of thing, she was old enough to not be quite as enthusiastic on Christmas morning.
My brother and I shared a room for a while when we were younger, and even in the years after I had moved into my own room I would usually sleep in the extra bed in his room on Christmas since he was upstairs and "away from Santa". It just seemed wrong to sleep on the same floor that Santa would be coming on. I rarely slept at all on Christmas eve. I just remember lying awake all night and wondering when it was going to be time to get up. We never went downstairs until everyone was up and we could go down together.
I don't know what time it was that my brother and I would start knocking on my parents' door to get them to wake up so we could go downstairs. I like to remember that it was more like 6, but Mom tells me it was a lot earlier than that. Either way, it always seemed that we couldn't go down until closer to 7:00 when they finally got up. Again, my mother I think tells me that they probably relented a lot earlier than that, but I know it wasn't 4:30, Dad's usual time to get up, which was what made it frustrating.
My sister would come upstairs and we'd wait impatiently until Dad finally led the way downstairs, to the right of which was the living room complete with the Christmas tree and three large piles of presents. They were never under the tree, we each had a designated spot. And we weren't the kind of family that sat around and watched each person open a present before moving onto the next person. It was just a free-for-all of ripping through the paper as fast as possible to find out all of the stuff we'd gotten. Then, when the dust settled, we'd go around and see what everyone else had gotten.
Eventually we'd sit down to breakfast and Dad would make freshly squeezed orange juice. This was all long before we'd finally go over to the chaos at Nana's house, where aunts, uncles and cousins made for a very full house and plenty more presents.
Obviously Christmas hadn't been exactly the same anymore, at least not the beginning part. It still winds up very similarly at Nana's, except now there are great grandchildren. I think this will be Christmas #54 at that house. We now go to my sister's house mostly to see the kids and their toys, because Christmas really isn't much fun unless at least somebody gets toys or is excited about Santa.
So, that was what Christmas used to be all about for me and my family. It's obviously not going to be quite the same. You know, a lot of times I can sort of ignore the whole thing because hey, it's not like he'd be around right now, right? Well, you can't really ignore it at Christmas.
And, hey, I've got one less person to buy for. And in looking through some of Dad's stuff I did happen to discover a shirt I bought him for Christmas last year, still all neatly folded with the department store cardboard inside it. I've bought him clothes in the past that he has worn, but apparently missed the mark last year.
So, let's state the obvious that I am not looking forward to Christmas all that much this year. I mean, who looks forward to the first holidays without a parent? Especially one who left way too early? Now, I do think it could be harder than it probably will be. Dad was always more of a background figure at the holidays. Every Christmas of my entire life has been spent at my mother's mother's house, and my mom has a whole lot of brothers and sisters who are a whole lot more vocal than my father ever was. Dad was never one to talk unless he really had something to say, and he definitely wasn't one to fight for attention at a table of thirty or so Irish in-laws. In fact, back when we had a dog he used to use that as an excuse to make his quiet exit.
Of course, just in our house, he was a major player in the Christmas morning rituals. My father used to get up at like 4:30 in the morning every single day... except Christmas. It used to drive me and my brother insane. I'm sure at some point it bugged my older sister, but by the time I was old enough to remember this kind of thing, she was old enough to not be quite as enthusiastic on Christmas morning.
My brother and I shared a room for a while when we were younger, and even in the years after I had moved into my own room I would usually sleep in the extra bed in his room on Christmas since he was upstairs and "away from Santa". It just seemed wrong to sleep on the same floor that Santa would be coming on. I rarely slept at all on Christmas eve. I just remember lying awake all night and wondering when it was going to be time to get up. We never went downstairs until everyone was up and we could go down together.
I don't know what time it was that my brother and I would start knocking on my parents' door to get them to wake up so we could go downstairs. I like to remember that it was more like 6, but Mom tells me it was a lot earlier than that. Either way, it always seemed that we couldn't go down until closer to 7:00 when they finally got up. Again, my mother I think tells me that they probably relented a lot earlier than that, but I know it wasn't 4:30, Dad's usual time to get up, which was what made it frustrating.
My sister would come upstairs and we'd wait impatiently until Dad finally led the way downstairs, to the right of which was the living room complete with the Christmas tree and three large piles of presents. They were never under the tree, we each had a designated spot. And we weren't the kind of family that sat around and watched each person open a present before moving onto the next person. It was just a free-for-all of ripping through the paper as fast as possible to find out all of the stuff we'd gotten. Then, when the dust settled, we'd go around and see what everyone else had gotten.
Eventually we'd sit down to breakfast and Dad would make freshly squeezed orange juice. This was all long before we'd finally go over to the chaos at Nana's house, where aunts, uncles and cousins made for a very full house and plenty more presents.
Obviously Christmas hadn't been exactly the same anymore, at least not the beginning part. It still winds up very similarly at Nana's, except now there are great grandchildren. I think this will be Christmas #54 at that house. We now go to my sister's house mostly to see the kids and their toys, because Christmas really isn't much fun unless at least somebody gets toys or is excited about Santa.
So, that was what Christmas used to be all about for me and my family. It's obviously not going to be quite the same. You know, a lot of times I can sort of ignore the whole thing because hey, it's not like he'd be around right now, right? Well, you can't really ignore it at Christmas.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
2011 begins tomorrow
Tomorrow is the beginning of my training for the 2011 season. I had a good conversation with my coach about a week ago and we have laid out what should be a very busy schedule, but hopefully a good one. I have to say, at the moment I feel so far removed from any racing that it might as well have been years ago that I set foot on the start line. In fact, it was three months ago today... and that was also the day of a pretty horrible event, but let's not get into that right now.
So my key race for the year will be Ironman Cour D'Alene. I have to admit that when I heard this was the race that most of my fellow teammates would be doing, I wasn't really that excited about it. I don't know why. In fact, I wasn't going to sign up for it. But then, when it came time to figure out my schedule for next year, I couldn't really figure out which other race to target. There was always Utah again, but let's just say that although someday I would do that race again, I'm not incredibly anxious to revisit the sight of the longest time I've ever spent on a race course. And that was with perfect weather. Just imagine that course with less-than-favorable weather conditions!
I guess there was that new race in Texas, but that didn't really spark any interest in me either. There was always Lake Placid. But seriously, that would make it my eighth year in a row going there. Isn't that just a tad bit excessive? While it is the sight of my greatest triathlon accomplishment it is also the sight of my most bitter disappointments. So, what was left? Cour D'Alene. Ok, so I guess I'll be visiting Idaho for the first time in my life.
Aside from that there will be a lot of 70.3's which will be nice because just as I was typing that I realized that I did exactly... ONE of those this year. The plan for next year? If all goes as scheduled, five of them. That's a bit of an increase.
Also on the docket of course is that three months I'll be spending in Tucson. I can't believe that I will be leaving in three weeks. I need this excursion right now more than anything. I don't think that at any point in my starting to do these races that I have ever felt like less of a triathlete than I do right now. While that is certainly the case, I can also say that I have probably also never been more rested than I am right now. Usually I finish up a season with an Ironman when I'm exhausted and sick of my bike and never want to drink Gatorade again for the rest of my life. I couldn't tell you the last time I had some sports drink.
So, this could all be a really great place to start or a really terrible one. I don't know. I'll let you know in April. Actually, hopefully I will be a much better blog updater when I get out there. If for no other reason than to make those of you riding your trainers while it snows outside insanely jealous. That, and I'll be there by myself, so what else do I have to do while I'm not training?
So tomorrow is the beginning of what I guess I can consider my last chance season. If it goes well, fine. Good. Let's keep at it. If not? Well, I don't know yet. But hopefully I'll never have to figure that out.
So my key race for the year will be Ironman Cour D'Alene. I have to admit that when I heard this was the race that most of my fellow teammates would be doing, I wasn't really that excited about it. I don't know why. In fact, I wasn't going to sign up for it. But then, when it came time to figure out my schedule for next year, I couldn't really figure out which other race to target. There was always Utah again, but let's just say that although someday I would do that race again, I'm not incredibly anxious to revisit the sight of the longest time I've ever spent on a race course. And that was with perfect weather. Just imagine that course with less-than-favorable weather conditions!
I guess there was that new race in Texas, but that didn't really spark any interest in me either. There was always Lake Placid. But seriously, that would make it my eighth year in a row going there. Isn't that just a tad bit excessive? While it is the sight of my greatest triathlon accomplishment it is also the sight of my most bitter disappointments. So, what was left? Cour D'Alene. Ok, so I guess I'll be visiting Idaho for the first time in my life.
Aside from that there will be a lot of 70.3's which will be nice because just as I was typing that I realized that I did exactly... ONE of those this year. The plan for next year? If all goes as scheduled, five of them. That's a bit of an increase.
Also on the docket of course is that three months I'll be spending in Tucson. I can't believe that I will be leaving in three weeks. I need this excursion right now more than anything. I don't think that at any point in my starting to do these races that I have ever felt like less of a triathlete than I do right now. While that is certainly the case, I can also say that I have probably also never been more rested than I am right now. Usually I finish up a season with an Ironman when I'm exhausted and sick of my bike and never want to drink Gatorade again for the rest of my life. I couldn't tell you the last time I had some sports drink.
So, this could all be a really great place to start or a really terrible one. I don't know. I'll let you know in April. Actually, hopefully I will be a much better blog updater when I get out there. If for no other reason than to make those of you riding your trainers while it snows outside insanely jealous. That, and I'll be there by myself, so what else do I have to do while I'm not training?
So tomorrow is the beginning of what I guess I can consider my last chance season. If it goes well, fine. Good. Let's keep at it. If not? Well, I don't know yet. But hopefully I'll never have to figure that out.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Disney World, Philadelphia, and it's almost Thanksgiving.
Well, I have been a terrible blog updater. But lately the posts have bordered on more than just mundane, so I laid off for a while. But recently I actually had some slightly interesting events, if you could call them that. Last week I went down to Disney World. I always enjoy a good trip to Disney World and it lets me act like the big kid I still am. We went a few times when I was growing up, then I went with a few friends in college, and then we did another big family trip down there last May when I actually managed to squeeze in 26 hours of training around long days in the parks by getting up between 3:30 and 4 every morning, swimming in a smaller-than 25-yard pool, biking in the dark on a 2.4-mile loop over and over and over and over again, and running in the dark in circles. Hey, you do what you have to.
This time wasn't quite like that as I had minimal training to get in that could be taken care of by awakening at much more sane hours and also riding the spin bike in the hotel gym. This is one of the only times I am glad for my current training focus on running.
Anyway, I'm going to admit that although I know I love it down there, I wasn't super excited to go. I mean, when things aren't so great in life you're not that excited to do all of the fun things you usually love. But it was really just the distraction I needed for a bit. I went down and met up with one of my best friends from college and her husband and kids. They are in the Disney Vacation Club and has some use it or lose it points and asked if I wanted to join them. Let me think... ok, yes. Between planning the trip and going on it, Heather discovered she was pregnant with child #3 so unfortunately that meant no extreme rides for her. But fortunately for the rest of us, it made the decision of who stayed back with the 3-year old and the 16-month old that much easier. We'll just have to go again later when she can do the rides.
I might be unwilling to divulge this secret for fear that it might get out, but I figure even if the seven of you who read this take advantage of it I'll still be ok. But the week before Thanksgiving is a fantastic time to go there. While the parks seemed to have lots of people walking around, there was never a line for anything. I mean NEVER. A few times we got fast passes but never wound up using them because it wouldn't have made the wait times any faster. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate Disney World if I had to wait more than 10 minutes to ride anything. I honestly don't know why you'd even bother to go if you knew it was going to be crowded. Why spend all that money when you're going to spend the majority of your time in lines? I managed to do the Everest rollercoaster four times in the span of maybe 15 minutes. Finally they stopped even bothering to make me get off. Space Mountain? No wait. Thunder Mountain? No wait. Splash Mountain? Tower of Terror? Aerosmith rollercoaster? Yep, get right on. It was great.
It was also probably the only time I've been ok with Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Some of the lights were incredible. Although the music just felt weird, being in shorts in the warm sun and having it feel like summer. So if you get the chance to go then, I'd highly recommend it. The weather was also perfect, which made up for the last time I was there and it rained literally the entire week. Record setting, worse than a hurricane, almost 20 inches of rain that week. At least we dind't have to worry about sunscreen. But anyway, had a great time, hung out with some friends, enjoyed some good weather and then came back.
Except I didn't fly back to New Hampshire. Instead I flew back to Philadelphia to watch my friends Kevin and Trent run the marathon there. They drove down on Friday and were due to pick me up at the airport. I kind of knew in the back of my head not to expect them on time, so I found myself a nice little corner with a comfortable chair and got my computer out and killed three hours until they got there. Hey, as long as I can stretch my legs and stand up whenever I want, I'm fine.
Once they picked me up we headed to New Jersey to stay at Kevin's friend's house since they were actually at Disney World just then. There was a note to feed the hamster, and Kevin told us to look around and see if we could find the hamster food. Then he called us into the next room to see if we saw a hamster in the cage, because he definitely didn't. Great, so we're thinking there is a hamster roaming around loose in the house and I started looking for any little debris on the floor because when I had a hamster as a kid that was how we always found her when she got out.
Eventually Kevin had texted his friend and he said that she likes to burrow down underneath all the fluffy blue stuff lining the bottom of the cage. So, fearing that we might get a little hamster bite to the finger, I started digging around using the eraser end of a pencil. Finally I uncovered the white, furry little body burrowed way down at the bottom. So great, she's not loose in the house. But not so great, she's also not moving at all. A couple of more forceful pokes with the pencil confirmed it: Bubbles is dead. Great. Lesson learned, kids: if you're going away from home, have someone feed your hamster in less than a week. I mean, maybe it was just her time, but there was no food in that dish when we got there...
So that minor trauma ended and we tried to watch a movie but fell asleep instead. Got to check out the Philly expo the next day and see a bit of Pennsylvania and only made it back to the house in time to eat dinner and go to bed. I was glad not to be racing, but not glad that I was sharing a car with them and would have to leave just as early as they did. At least we had managed to secure gated parking at an office building right close to the start line. And it wasn't that cold of a morning, which made the spectating that much easier. But it was definitely one of those mornings where when my alarm went off I had a few moments of, where am I, what's that noise and why do I have to get up right now?
The race was a success for both Kevin and Trent and as usual Kevin could hardly walk afterward while Trent sauntered down the street was no big deal. To be fair, Kevin went 2:55 and Trent went 3:08, so maybe once Trent breaks 3 hours he will have equal trouble walking back to the car. We immediately got out of town and after a quick stop to pick up our friend Leslie in New Jersey we finally headed home. We were even home at a decent hour, and I was afraid it would be like 11 at night when we got back, but before 7 was perfect.
So that was my big, exciting week that made me feel all well-traveled. I relish any opportunity to travel without my bike. In fact, all I had was my backpack so I didn't even have to deal with baggage claim. So now here I am, waiting for Thanksgiving. And I'm trying not to think too much about how this is the least I have ever looked forward to Thanksgiving, ever. By far. Aside from the one time I stayed in Los Angeles for the holiday, this is the first time I have to have Thanksgiving without my father. Most of the time we have celebrated it with my mother's family, which is big and loud so Dad was more of a background fixture rather than the one running the show. But that will probably only make it a little bit easier. You see, for a while now it's been kind of easy to just convince myself that well, Dad wouldn't even be here right now with me, so what's the big deal? There is no denying that he would be there at Thanksgiving dinner, no matter how much he would've rather stayed at his lake house and watched football all day. We will miss you tomorrow, Dad.
This time wasn't quite like that as I had minimal training to get in that could be taken care of by awakening at much more sane hours and also riding the spin bike in the hotel gym. This is one of the only times I am glad for my current training focus on running.
Anyway, I'm going to admit that although I know I love it down there, I wasn't super excited to go. I mean, when things aren't so great in life you're not that excited to do all of the fun things you usually love. But it was really just the distraction I needed for a bit. I went down and met up with one of my best friends from college and her husband and kids. They are in the Disney Vacation Club and has some use it or lose it points and asked if I wanted to join them. Let me think... ok, yes. Between planning the trip and going on it, Heather discovered she was pregnant with child #3 so unfortunately that meant no extreme rides for her. But fortunately for the rest of us, it made the decision of who stayed back with the 3-year old and the 16-month old that much easier. We'll just have to go again later when she can do the rides.
I might be unwilling to divulge this secret for fear that it might get out, but I figure even if the seven of you who read this take advantage of it I'll still be ok. But the week before Thanksgiving is a fantastic time to go there. While the parks seemed to have lots of people walking around, there was never a line for anything. I mean NEVER. A few times we got fast passes but never wound up using them because it wouldn't have made the wait times any faster. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate Disney World if I had to wait more than 10 minutes to ride anything. I honestly don't know why you'd even bother to go if you knew it was going to be crowded. Why spend all that money when you're going to spend the majority of your time in lines? I managed to do the Everest rollercoaster four times in the span of maybe 15 minutes. Finally they stopped even bothering to make me get off. Space Mountain? No wait. Thunder Mountain? No wait. Splash Mountain? Tower of Terror? Aerosmith rollercoaster? Yep, get right on. It was great.
It was also probably the only time I've been ok with Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Some of the lights were incredible. Although the music just felt weird, being in shorts in the warm sun and having it feel like summer. So if you get the chance to go then, I'd highly recommend it. The weather was also perfect, which made up for the last time I was there and it rained literally the entire week. Record setting, worse than a hurricane, almost 20 inches of rain that week. At least we dind't have to worry about sunscreen. But anyway, had a great time, hung out with some friends, enjoyed some good weather and then came back.
Except I didn't fly back to New Hampshire. Instead I flew back to Philadelphia to watch my friends Kevin and Trent run the marathon there. They drove down on Friday and were due to pick me up at the airport. I kind of knew in the back of my head not to expect them on time, so I found myself a nice little corner with a comfortable chair and got my computer out and killed three hours until they got there. Hey, as long as I can stretch my legs and stand up whenever I want, I'm fine.
Once they picked me up we headed to New Jersey to stay at Kevin's friend's house since they were actually at Disney World just then. There was a note to feed the hamster, and Kevin told us to look around and see if we could find the hamster food. Then he called us into the next room to see if we saw a hamster in the cage, because he definitely didn't. Great, so we're thinking there is a hamster roaming around loose in the house and I started looking for any little debris on the floor because when I had a hamster as a kid that was how we always found her when she got out.
Eventually Kevin had texted his friend and he said that she likes to burrow down underneath all the fluffy blue stuff lining the bottom of the cage. So, fearing that we might get a little hamster bite to the finger, I started digging around using the eraser end of a pencil. Finally I uncovered the white, furry little body burrowed way down at the bottom. So great, she's not loose in the house. But not so great, she's also not moving at all. A couple of more forceful pokes with the pencil confirmed it: Bubbles is dead. Great. Lesson learned, kids: if you're going away from home, have someone feed your hamster in less than a week. I mean, maybe it was just her time, but there was no food in that dish when we got there...
So that minor trauma ended and we tried to watch a movie but fell asleep instead. Got to check out the Philly expo the next day and see a bit of Pennsylvania and only made it back to the house in time to eat dinner and go to bed. I was glad not to be racing, but not glad that I was sharing a car with them and would have to leave just as early as they did. At least we had managed to secure gated parking at an office building right close to the start line. And it wasn't that cold of a morning, which made the spectating that much easier. But it was definitely one of those mornings where when my alarm went off I had a few moments of, where am I, what's that noise and why do I have to get up right now?
The race was a success for both Kevin and Trent and as usual Kevin could hardly walk afterward while Trent sauntered down the street was no big deal. To be fair, Kevin went 2:55 and Trent went 3:08, so maybe once Trent breaks 3 hours he will have equal trouble walking back to the car. We immediately got out of town and after a quick stop to pick up our friend Leslie in New Jersey we finally headed home. We were even home at a decent hour, and I was afraid it would be like 11 at night when we got back, but before 7 was perfect.
So that was my big, exciting week that made me feel all well-traveled. I relish any opportunity to travel without my bike. In fact, all I had was my backpack so I didn't even have to deal with baggage claim. So now here I am, waiting for Thanksgiving. And I'm trying not to think too much about how this is the least I have ever looked forward to Thanksgiving, ever. By far. Aside from the one time I stayed in Los Angeles for the holiday, this is the first time I have to have Thanksgiving without my father. Most of the time we have celebrated it with my mother's family, which is big and loud so Dad was more of a background fixture rather than the one running the show. But that will probably only make it a little bit easier. You see, for a while now it's been kind of easy to just convince myself that well, Dad wouldn't even be here right now with me, so what's the big deal? There is no denying that he would be there at Thanksgiving dinner, no matter how much he would've rather stayed at his lake house and watched football all day. We will miss you tomorrow, Dad.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I'm Officially Wintering in Tucson
So, I think I might have mentioned this before, but I am going to be spending the winter in Tucson. I don't remember exactly when I decided it. It might date all the way back to my 10th long ride last winter done alone in my basement when I had finally seen every movie ever made, including all of the really bad ones, and I thought I was finally going to go insane. Whenever the decision was made, of course it never quite seems that real until you finally set up accommodations for when you get there.
Well, thanks to the power of craigslist, I will be subletting a place in northwest Tucson, a bit out of the city, from a guy who is going away for the winter. This is great because it means it is not really a vacation property and in a way I'm doing this person a favor as well. Plus, the location looks great, it's next to a golf course which leads me to believe that it is in a nice neighborhood, and according to Google maps, it is half a mile from a YMCA with a gorgeous outdoor pool and plenty of lap swim hours. In short, I think it's just what I had in mind.
This is exactly what I need on so many levels. Obviously things have been a bit different in my life, we're still getting used to the idea that Dad is never going to be around again. And admittedly right after that incident occurred I thought to myself that there was no way I was going to go away for the winter. But time passed, and you know what? It still feels like it's what I should be doing. So I am.
This is not my first winter of escape. In 2003 I was living in Los Angeles. That wasn't for the purpose of escaping winter but rather my brief attempt at having a career in the film business. Believe it or not, that is actually what I went to college for. Unfortunately, the summer before I left I also did my first triathlon, and the rest is history. But anyway, I also decided to go out to Phoenix for the winter of 2007 in preparation for Ironman Arizona which back then was run in April. I left my real job and headed across the country for what I considered to be the beginning of an amazing training experience.
Well, when race day came around, although I was swimming and biking faster than ever before, I may or may not have tried to power through the hideous winds that kicked up on the bike course and somewhat sabotaged my run. Of course, my marathon time that day is probably one I'd kill for now even though at the time I considered it a huge disappointment, and the overall time got me first in my age group and the Kona slot that goes along with it, but at the time, that wasn't good enough for me.
But anyway, sometime during that fun outing I rode my bike from Phoenix to Tucson and realized very quickly that I'd picked the wrong city in Arizona to live in. While Phoenix isn't entirely terrible, at least from where I was living, I was pretty much forced to drive my bike 20 minutes away from home and park somewhere to get a decent ride in. On occasion I'd ride from my condo, stopping at lots of lights, riding briefly on the paved canal paths, then stopping at more lights. But it was close to an hour of slowly getting out of town, which meant I'd spend an hour slowly coming back. That is not the kind of riding I wanted to do. And maybe for some people they don't mind driving their bike somewhere and riding, but that has never been of interest to me. I like to get ready to ride from home, open the door and start pedaling. And, fortunately, I think that this time I've gotten myself a place from which I can do that.
Having all of the details worked out makes it seem like much more of a reality and makes me much more excited about it. I don't necessarily mind winter... until Christmas is over. Then I'm sort of done. I actually do enjoy skiing. But I can't tell you the last time I went skiing that I wasn't with my father, who was always initiating trips to Cannon Mountain and when I worked for him sometimes he'd actually make me take a day off in the middle of the week to go with him. Needless to say, I don't know that I'd be going skiing this year even if I did stick around.
So off I will go to warmer weather. I really need to do this, I think. I need the complete change of scenery. I need to be in a place where I can just focus on the training and not worry about anything else. I need to be free from distraction. I used to be a lot better at getting myself through the training with other things going on, and I think that once I get back into that mind set, I'll be fine with it once again when I come back. But for now, I just need that little push in the right direction.
Because you know, if things don't turn around again next season, I don't think I can do this anymore. I mean, this is sort of what I want to do with my life. Or at least what I want to do with it until I get too old and ruined to do it anymore. But I can't keep going back and forth from having decent seasons to bad ones for no good reason. I completely respect the fact that there are so many triathletes out there who just want to go out and race because they enjoy it and don't really care what the outcome is as long as they finish. I'm just not one of those people. If I can't do it well I don't really want to be wasting my time with it. So, I've got a lot riding on you, 2011. Let's not mess this up.
Well, thanks to the power of craigslist, I will be subletting a place in northwest Tucson, a bit out of the city, from a guy who is going away for the winter. This is great because it means it is not really a vacation property and in a way I'm doing this person a favor as well. Plus, the location looks great, it's next to a golf course which leads me to believe that it is in a nice neighborhood, and according to Google maps, it is half a mile from a YMCA with a gorgeous outdoor pool and plenty of lap swim hours. In short, I think it's just what I had in mind.
This is exactly what I need on so many levels. Obviously things have been a bit different in my life, we're still getting used to the idea that Dad is never going to be around again. And admittedly right after that incident occurred I thought to myself that there was no way I was going to go away for the winter. But time passed, and you know what? It still feels like it's what I should be doing. So I am.
This is not my first winter of escape. In 2003 I was living in Los Angeles. That wasn't for the purpose of escaping winter but rather my brief attempt at having a career in the film business. Believe it or not, that is actually what I went to college for. Unfortunately, the summer before I left I also did my first triathlon, and the rest is history. But anyway, I also decided to go out to Phoenix for the winter of 2007 in preparation for Ironman Arizona which back then was run in April. I left my real job and headed across the country for what I considered to be the beginning of an amazing training experience.
Well, when race day came around, although I was swimming and biking faster than ever before, I may or may not have tried to power through the hideous winds that kicked up on the bike course and somewhat sabotaged my run. Of course, my marathon time that day is probably one I'd kill for now even though at the time I considered it a huge disappointment, and the overall time got me first in my age group and the Kona slot that goes along with it, but at the time, that wasn't good enough for me.
But anyway, sometime during that fun outing I rode my bike from Phoenix to Tucson and realized very quickly that I'd picked the wrong city in Arizona to live in. While Phoenix isn't entirely terrible, at least from where I was living, I was pretty much forced to drive my bike 20 minutes away from home and park somewhere to get a decent ride in. On occasion I'd ride from my condo, stopping at lots of lights, riding briefly on the paved canal paths, then stopping at more lights. But it was close to an hour of slowly getting out of town, which meant I'd spend an hour slowly coming back. That is not the kind of riding I wanted to do. And maybe for some people they don't mind driving their bike somewhere and riding, but that has never been of interest to me. I like to get ready to ride from home, open the door and start pedaling. And, fortunately, I think that this time I've gotten myself a place from which I can do that.
Having all of the details worked out makes it seem like much more of a reality and makes me much more excited about it. I don't necessarily mind winter... until Christmas is over. Then I'm sort of done. I actually do enjoy skiing. But I can't tell you the last time I went skiing that I wasn't with my father, who was always initiating trips to Cannon Mountain and when I worked for him sometimes he'd actually make me take a day off in the middle of the week to go with him. Needless to say, I don't know that I'd be going skiing this year even if I did stick around.
So off I will go to warmer weather. I really need to do this, I think. I need the complete change of scenery. I need to be in a place where I can just focus on the training and not worry about anything else. I need to be free from distraction. I used to be a lot better at getting myself through the training with other things going on, and I think that once I get back into that mind set, I'll be fine with it once again when I come back. But for now, I just need that little push in the right direction.
Because you know, if things don't turn around again next season, I don't think I can do this anymore. I mean, this is sort of what I want to do with my life. Or at least what I want to do with it until I get too old and ruined to do it anymore. But I can't keep going back and forth from having decent seasons to bad ones for no good reason. I completely respect the fact that there are so many triathletes out there who just want to go out and race because they enjoy it and don't really care what the outcome is as long as they finish. I'm just not one of those people. If I can't do it well I don't really want to be wasting my time with it. So, I've got a lot riding on you, 2011. Let's not mess this up.
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