Part Deux

Day 2 Stats:
Distance: 5.65 miles
Max Speed: 20.5 mph
Average Speed: 15.7 mph
Time: 21.48 minutes
Calories burned: 291.3
Fat burned: 36.3

Day 2 was a little bit of a different ride. I started off heading E. on 27th and immediately knew that it was going to be a hard ride because my legs were sore. I decided to turn S. on 50 E. road to avoid the big hill on 150 E. road. I would have been going downhill and didn't want to inflate my numbers, so I chose to ride on more of a flat surface. I rode down 50 E. road and then turned W. on 200 S. road and crossed highway 27. I continued W. to 150 W. road then turned N. About half way down this road, it turned to packed dirt and was quite bumpy and caused me to slow down. I made it to 100 S. and turned E. I then headed back into town and to home. The route was fairly level with one slight incline. I think that I need to stay on a country road that has no stop signs so I can keep riding without stopping. I had to stop 3 times because of stop signs at busy intersections. When I got home my legs felt like jello and my right arm and hand were numb. I must have been favoring that side? I feel pretty good about the distance that I rode. I am certain that my average speed will go up if I avoid slowing and stopping at intercections. I went out at 7 pm and it was much better riding in the daylight. The temperature was about 85 degrees, but I encountered far less bugs and didn't eat any tonight. I need to get a waterbottle cage to keep some water with me. I will try a different route tomorrow to see if I can bring my average speed up.

Tour de Farce

Back in July I went and watched my friend Matt participate in the Spudman. The Spudman is the local triathalon considered "Olympic distance" consisting of 1.5 km (0.93 mi) run, 40 km (24.8 mi) bike, and a 10 km (6.2 mi) run. Also known as "international distance", "standard course", or "short course". Watching Matt and the other athletes made me think that if I really wanted to, I could do the Spudman. Heck, I played sports in high school and still played basketball during the winter. Sure, I have gained some weight since high school (40 lbs.) and my main form of exercise is mowing my lawn. Not to mention that the last time I swam 1 mile was for the swim check at Camp Bradley when I was 13 years old. I rode a bike alot on my mission, but that has been over 10 years ago now. The main thing that I am worried about is the bike portion. Most everyone that partcipates in the event rides a road bike or a tri bike....I don't have any bike.
A week after the Spudman, Andrea and I had gone down to Utah for our anniversary and we stayed with her Uncle John and Aunt Leslie. John use to ride alot and has a road bike hanging in his garage. In visiting with them we were talking about some of the rides that he went on and I mentioned that I was thinking about training for the Spudman. I asked if he would be willing to sell his bike. Without hesitation, he said that I could just have it. That is how I got a free bike. Now, this bike needs some work to get it up to riding condition. I have spent $110 on new tubes and tires, handlebar wrap, $27 for new pedals, and $20 for a wireless bike computer. I have a neighbor that has offered to sell me his helmet for $50, but that will have to wait until next month. Andrea's cheap flower helmet will have to do for now.

I have decided to keep a diary of my training to see my progress and to get some tips from anyone out there that has or is training for a triathalon. I think that the swimming part will be the hardest part to train for, so I will focus on biking and running for now and worry about the swim when the Spudman gets closer. The next Spudman is July 31, 2010 and the registration opens on January 4, 2010. With fall upon us, I will not have much time to train until it is time to register. I started riding last night, but it was a short ride and I was testing my new computer. Tonight was my first official ride and here were my stats:

Distance: 3.607 miles
Time: 15:17 minutes
Max Speed: 23.2 mph
Avg. Speed: 14.3 mph
Calories burned: 187.1
Fat Grams burned: 22.2
Weight: 215 lbs.

I went hometeaching tonight, so I didn't start until about 8:30 pm and the sun was just setting. I rode down our street and turned E. on 27th, stayed E. on 100 s road, S. on 150 E. road. I had downshifted and when I upshifted, I lost my chain. I forgot to mention that the bike is a 21 speed, with the shifters on the uptube, so I found out that you have to get the levers just right or they rub on the chain, and if you go too far, it throws the chain off. The chain got stuck between the rear sprocket and the frame, and I had to pull on it pretty hard to get it unstuck. My hands were black with grease, so I walked into the potato field and washed them off with the sprinkler. I decided when I got back to my bike that it was too dark and I had better head back home. I got home and was pretty spent. My legs are pretty sore and I was sweating pretty good. I am so out of shape that I am not sure what my goal should be. I guess that I need to do some research on training to see what I should be shooting for. Keep you posted.

Summer Vacation 2009

I am not the most creative when it comes to making videos. I just like to get the pictures out there in a more entertaining format than just page after page of pictures. We had a great time in Florida, even though we got rained on every day but the day we went to the beach...ironic, I know. Thanks to John and Susan for putting up with us for 8 days. It was so nice after a long day of playing to come back to a home with lots of room for the kids to unwind and to have home cooked meals (thanks to Aunt Susan). We left Sophie at home with Andrea's parents and were grateful to them for keeping her safe. I guess in a couple of years we will need to take her to Disneyland, when she will remember it. Good times were had by all.

The Weight of the World

I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged. I am getting ready to go and play basketball for the first time since February and I am having a hard time getting the energy to go. I had the realization that I needed to get some exercise today at work. I had to take some papers to a customer that was just down the street from the branch. I didn't run or even walk fast. I got back into the branch and was told that I had a phone call waiting. I picked up the line and the first thing that the person on the other end said was that I sounded out of breath.....I told him that I must be out of shape because I basically walked less than 100 yards. Here's my sign.

I have justified gaining a few pounds because I was made fun of in high school for being so skinny and it felt good to actually have some meat on my bones. Granted, most of the meat is around my midsection. It has been good to play basketball and not get pushed around the paint, but I actually do the pushing. I have been told by many a church ball foes that, and I quote, "am a force to be reckoned with." I think it was more for my girth on the basketball court than my skills, but I took it as a compliment anyways. I weigh about 220 lbs. and would ideally like to be around 200 lbs. I think that I will wait for basketball season to get over to start losing that extra 20.

I had better head up to the church. When we first moved into this ward 5 years ago, I was one of the "young ones." Thanks to a couple of new housing developements, I am now one of the "older ones" that gets out and plays. I hope that my experience counts for something. If not my weight should.

Jazz out.....so am I

The Jazz finished another season with another playoff collapse. It seems like they play so well and then come up against a team (Spurs or Lakers) and then they forget that the point of stepping onto the court is to score baskets. When it comes to NBA Basketball, I am a playoffs guy. I don't see the point of watching game number 58 of 88 during the regular season that has absolutely no meaning, other than to make millionaires more money. I would rather wait until only the best teams remain. Now, I do watch sportscenter during the season to stay up on who is doing what, but overall, I don't really care.

I think that TNT was absolutely brilliant for starting their 40 games in 40 nights promo during the playoffs. I think that I have watched almost every night, thanks to a longer spring, there hasn't been much reason to be out in the yard. Tonight, with the Jazz out, I was able to get alot done outside. (see following detail in chronological order)

Arrived home from work
ate dinner
changed into lawn mowing clothes
decided to start gas powered trimmer that I never winterized.
Andrea can see I may be a while, starts mowing lawn.
started gas powered trimmer. (no longer have any feeling to right arm.)
started trimming edges and let string get too short and pulled into trimmer head.
removed trimmer head and rethread string.
continued trimming, felt rock bounce off forehead above right eye. Glad I had sunglasses on.
ran trimmer out of gas.
mixed gas and oil and refilled trimmer.
let Kensie and Ellie smell gas, after hearing that it smells good, warned about smelling gas too much.
finished trimming edges of yard.
Took over mowing, listened to Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay on Ipod.
Ipod ran out of battery, had to finish mowing without music. Time seemed to stand still.
started sprinkler system while finished mowing the back yard.
Forgot that 1st station waters part of the backyard.
huried to finish mowing area in back yard where 1st watering station gets wet.
Put swings up on swingset so I wouldn't get tangled in them.
ran mower into swingset leg and baby swing flew down and smacked me in the head.
cursed swing to you-know-where and finished mowing back yard.
decided to change oil in lawnmower, since it had been over 2 years since I had done it last.
changed oil and removed blades to get sharpened.
scraped off green grassy grunge under mower deck.
cleaned up mess.
tried to start mower to circulate new oil and found that it would not start.
reinstalled blades and started mower.
ran for a minute and then drained oil again.
added new oil and started again to circulate oil.
removed blades.
put away mower just in time for second water station to start watering.
Realized that each station takes 1 hour and that I had spent about 45 min. changeing oil in lawnmower.
Watered new plants and tree out front.
Saw that they were looking a little droopy and that I needed to make area around each plant to keep water from running off.
Called Robert to see about taking some dirt from his dirt pile.
Took down wheelbarrow and went to neighbors to get dirt.
Repeated this step twice.
Watered plants.
Repaired various breaks in water dams.
Was remined of changing water as a kid with siphon tubes and gaited pipe and having to fix the corrugates that would break open.
Remembered the long skinny ballon that Brady and I found in the ditch, that we couldn't get to blow up. Showed Dad and he asked us why we were trying to blow up a condom?

Sweet niblets!

I was home today for a few hours watching Ellie and Sophie so Andrea could go to an eye doctor appointment. I turned up the radio for a new song by Rihanna. To be perfectly honest, I don't have a clue who she is, but the song is kind of catchy. I start to do a goofy little dance for sophie and she thinks it is pretty funny. As you can imagine that it is pretty easy for a 6'4" white guy that has no natural rhythm, to look like a complete dork while dancing. It is a good laugh for those in the room. I submit to the judges that girls start giggling around 16 months old and it continues on until... well okay, so it never really stops.




For you Hannah Montana aficionados out there, like myself, you probably recognize the title of my post. Kensie has been saying this phrase constantly for a week now. "Where did she get that from?" I ask Andrea. "Guess." she says. "School?" I say. "No, guess again." she says with a slight hint of disgust in her voice for my lackluster guessing skills. "Disney channel?" I retort. "Hannah Montana." she replies back with no emotion in her voice, due to the fact that she has heard this phrase about 100 times that afternoon. "Ohhh!" I reply. "Hannah Montana, should have guessed that one."

Now we all know that some of the best "one-liners" come from movies and TV. I can remember in high school quoting the Chris Farley movie"Tommy Boy" about a million times. As a tribute to this classic I have compiled a short list of quotes from the movie.

1. "Son of a....that's gonna leave a mark!"

2. "Holy Shnikeys!"

3. "Does this suit make me look fat?" "No, your face does."

4. "Your my naughty little pet!"

5. "Housekeeping!"

6. "Fat guy in little coat."

Please feel free to tell me your favorite "Tommy Boy" quote that I may have left out.


View of John Hancock Building from Lincoln Park Zoo

Sidebar: While on my mission I was serving in an area just north (Lincoln Park) of downtown (the loop) Chicago where he died. He lived in the John Hancock building, which is where he was found dead from a drug overdose, and I remember looking at that building from a distance and thinking that I would never laugh again. Immediately upon returning home I rented "Beverly Hills Ninja." I never finished it. I think I fell asleep. Needless to say, the wounds have healed.

Winter fun

I was looking at some of the pictures that I have taken this winter and found this one. During christmas, I borrowed blair's snowmobile and we went up into the hills with andrea's family and went sledding. I took everyone on snowmobile rides back into the trees and over to thompson's flat. It was a great day to go sledding. I love doing activities with my girls. It is fun to be with them when they experience something for the first time. They love riding on the 4 wheelers, so they both had a blast. I only got stuck once, and spent about 15 minutes digging and trying to pack the snow around me and lifting and moving the snowmobile around so it was finally facing downhill. It is not easy doing all of that when you sink into the snow up to your waist.



We have had a couple of good days of snow, but this day was one of the better ones. The girls go out and play, but they only last for about 1/2 hour before they get "bored". They then go in for hot cocoa. I think that the only reason they want to go outside is so that they get cold and have an excuse to have hot cocoa. Pretty smart if that's the case.