Where is he.

Sorry I haven't written. I am back from vacation. I did some nice riding and put in some nice single track at a beautiful state park in north western Minnesota. I got home and the next day I went and rode some awesome single track at 7 oaks. I was really riding well and felt strong. I felt like I had a lot of laps in my legs. Ever since I haven't done a thing, but worked my butt off and try to stay caught up on my classes that I am taking. Why and the hell do I do this to myself?!!? Here I make more money than I ever have, but I keep working my ass off and do less than when I was broke?!!? I need to get some Fking things in prospective.

Give me one of those BKB kits damn it. JK.

Once again Nine mile is on my anniversary. Shucks.

Not so happy training for me.

Leaving for a week in Phoenix with no bike. Darn.

Vacation time! I think!

It is Thursday and I am most of the way done with my week of vacation. It has been wonderful except for one thing! Summer classes! I am taking two online classes through Des Moines Area Community College. They are Stress Management and Understanding Mental Illnesses. They are both good classes, especially the Stress Management class, but the time investment is crazy, especially while I vacation. I have just finished my 7th hour of homework today! Time to get some exercise in!

This week I have been running every other morning and biking nearly everyday. Yesterday I did 56 miles in 4 hours. Mostly pavement with about 12-15 miles of gravel thrown in. It beautiful here in Ottertail County. They literally have over 1200 lakes in this county alone! I hope to go check out some single track tomorrow so I am excited about that!

If you haven't already take a took at http://greatdividerace.blogspot.com . Sure sounds like fun doesn't it!

Happy training.

AAAAHHHHH! Vacation

Tammy, Paula and I are in northwestern Minnesota this week. Ottertail Lake to be precise. This week is always a nice week. Tammy and I put in a seven mile run this morning to get the day started. Hopefully I can get off my lazy ass and keep up the exercise. I have been way to lazy since Dirty Kanza. Jim McGuire is taunting me with the idea of going to the B63 in Breckenridge, Colorado. It sure would be a blast! I sure have a lot of work to do in the next month to prepare for that thing!


Remember when I sold my kayaks to buy another bike. Well, that money is long gone (Ask Tammy and Paula where it went because I haven't seen anything from it!) and now I have spent even more money! Tammy and I had a Honda Element. I loved the thing until two weeks ago we did some figuring on how much gas we were spending with that thing every month.
Let's just say it was about $150 dollars more than the payment every month! So, we sold it the next day! We went and bought a Saturn Vue Hybrid. We should be saving roughly $150 dollars a month in gas! Now, where was that bike I was wanting?

To go along with the car I bought a Hidden Hitch from Awesome prices and 99 cent delivery. Also, you CAN put these on yourself. It isn't EASY, but they just bolt on. It is getting your fingers into the nooks and cranies that make it somewhat difficult. But, I am not much of an automotive mechanic so if you have some pretty nifting tools that will help you reach into tight areas then it will be a piece of cake. Also, after using a Walmart bike rack for the last 10 years I went all out this time with a Xport Flatbed 4 bike rack from Performance Bike. When I rode down to Dirty Kanza with Jon Billman I was able to use his two bike version of this rack. I was so impressed I had to get one. What I love about it is that it took me all of 20 minutes to put it together, it was easy to put on the car, it is very, very stable, the bikes can be put on in literally 10-20 seconds a piece, and most of all the bikes don't tough each other or the car. Also, it doesn't sway hardly at all! I am very happy with the purchase.

Speaking of Jon Billman, he is the guy I went to Dirty Kanza with. I found out that he is a writer for Outside, Mountain Bike, Bicycling, and Skiing Magazines. Well, he is riding in the Great Divide Race and I am sure he is on assignment for Outside Magazine. It should be interesting. After my daughter graduates from high school I sure would love to do that race!

Well, happy training.

YES!

What a relief! I actually rode my bike! On Saturday, Other Paul, Cory, Emily, Alex, Will and I worked on some trails at Petersen Pits. With the flooding we had just before Trans Iowa several of the trails were ruined. It was a good time and really got me motivated to get out again. Later in the afternoon I rode just short of 20 miles enjoying the bike again. Sunday morning I took off for Cory's house around 8:30 for some morning coffee and a ride to Boone for some single track. We took off south of Ames on the gravel which I knew would likely add an hour to our trip due to the fact there was not going to be a bridge crossing the Des Moines River so we ended up having to go a bit further south, but miles are miles and it was a good time.

We got to Seven Oaks and they were having a motocross race on the front side of the ski hills. It was actually pretty cool so we sat around for a half an hour before heading out on the single track. Once we got going I was getting my ass handed to me. I was able to clear one section that I had never been able to do, but I had to put in 100 percent effort to due it and I was maxed out to say the least. This trail shouldn't be that hard, but I have lost some of my conditioning since Dirty Kanza and without that extra training I just got my butt kicked. What is amazing to me is Emily running 34 X 18 (I think it was). You see, I was in my very easiest gear quite often and there were times that I was looking down at my chain rings and I thought for sure I was in my middle ring when I actually wasn't. So, running 34 X 18 on a 29er certainly would be tough. She truly is one of the toughest riders I know. I finished 1 lap... yes, 1 lap and was cooked. I was wondering about getting home quite honestly as I was very hungry. We left Seven Oaks and found some ice cream in Boone! That hit the spot. I was fresh again and off we went. I got home feeling great, yet tired. Just over 60 miles with an hour of near maximum effort thrown into the middle!

Good times that is for sure.

Paul

I'm back.

I decided to start up another blog, but this time being a bit more anonymous. Being an educator I decided that I needed to be a little less open about my life outside of school. If you haven't worked for a school you may not quite understand, but parents create all kinds of opinions. While most people that like to train a lot will think I that I am spending a worthy amount of time training, but there are parents out there that think that we, as educator's, should be working on our school work ALL the time. That we (I) should not be "wasting" our time training for something as stupid as running a long ways or biking on gravel roads for distances people complain about having to drive on the interstate. So, this is a new beginning. Now, I am even be more of who I am. Not that you care, but keeping a journal of sorts and having the support of the readers keeps me accountable. And.... I like that.

So.... Happy Training.

Paul