FYI: This post is long. Like real long. Like DCRainmaker's Garmin Forerunner 310XT Review long. Read at your own risk. Like a marathon, pacing is encouraged...
okay, I warned you....
As you may have noticed and I have eluded to via Twitter, I had quite the hiatus away from the blogging world. The missing 2 weeks can be easily summarized in 3 somewhat complicated events (not including the lack of internet access, thanks Time Warner Cable):
1. I moved into my new apartment!
2. B-Day/Fourth of July Festivities
3. Crazy training schedule...
So, here is the lengthy synopsis of those jumbled events...
The Big Move: Let me give you a little background into my living situation the last few years. When I first moved to the big metropolitan city, I lived in a simple 1 bedroom apartment for a few months. My girlfriend's brother and sister-in-law moved to Atlanta for a few months and asked me to move into their home and watch their dog while they were gone. Needless to say, I said yes. The temporary move for them turned into a permanent thing. I was there for a little over a year, and am so grateful for them letting me stay there. When their house went on the market to sell, my girlfriend's other sibling, her sister and brother-in-law, offered to house me for awhile. Again, I am so grateful to have such good friends, who are without a doubt the most generous people I have known. I really struck the gold mine in Rachel (my GF/BFFAE). Lots of perks... I was at their house for around 6 months and now am out!
Actually, I should say "we" are out. Rachel and I came to the decision long ago that we were going to move in together and get "OUR" first place. Pretty awesome. So we got the place picked out, signed the lease, paid some cash, and started moving all of our stuff in (again, with the help of the most generous family known to man). Here are some preliminary photos:
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| Rach working on the somewhat tiny kitchen |
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| Living room, before all the furniture |
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| The study/training room to be... |
And some aftershots of the furniture in the place...
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| The living room with TONS of stuff... |
The "almost, getting closer..." finished product!
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| Nice shot of my MASSIVE TV! |
At the moment, we are still getting everything unpacked and settled in. I forgot how long it takes to get everything set up and put away when you move. I'm looking forward to it, and hopefully I am able to part with some things I don't use anymore. I now have to share my space with someone else, so the extra space is needed... :)
4th of July Weekend! Every year, the 4th of July weekend is pretty crazy for me. It's definitely worth the busy-ness and driving. This year, Rach's brother and sister-in-law from South Carolina were in town with their little boy. They aren't back very often, so everyone wanted to see them as much as possible. There were several dinners with "the in-laws", which were a great time. Saturday the 2nd was a fairly low-key day. We spent some time in the pool with "Davy", got some sun, and relaxed. Sunday, however, was my 25th birthday! Still can't believe I'm 25, sure don't feel like it... or act like it sometimes... But I got to spend most of the day at the lake! It was pretty cloudy and rained some, but it was fun just to be out on a boat floating around. It was awesome. We had dinner at my former roommates' house, and opened some presents! I unveil to you my gifts:
I also got some ca$h money, a Cost-Co giftcard from Rach's parents, and plenty of cards! I even got one from one of my patients! It was an awesome day, and am incredibly lucky!
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| BOOM! New helmet, courtesy of my girlfriend, and my membership with the KU Tri Club (Thanks for the discount...) |
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| Garmin Forerunner 305 Watch, courtesy of my parents! |
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| A bit bigger than what I'm used to, but a bit more awesome!!! |
Every year, my Dad's side of the family gets together for a family reunion of sorts. We used to always go to my Grandma's house on Christmas to see everyone, but she now is unable to house the massive amounts of people. My Dad's side of the family is huge, I honestly have a hard time remembering everyone's name (like 2nd cousins... tons of kids!). My parents have taken it upon themselves to keep the tradition alive, and have everyone over on the 4th to swim in their pool, have some food, and get some sun. This year was great, although I ended up leaving a little early to get back to KC at a reasonable hour (I had my clinical the next morning). There was a solid turnout, my brother brought his dog, and just had some good food and relaxation.
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| Parents' Crib. They moved there as soon as I moved out. Typical... |
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| The 10th tee box, at Topeka's Finest, Western Hills Golf Course! haha |
Training: Since the Topeka Tinman race (and actually a little before), my training has fallen into this inconsistent existence. Some weeks I'm able to get most of my workouts in easily, while other weeks I was stretching just to get half in. With moving, work, clinical, weather, and the holiday, my training schedule was definitely leaning on the "lesser" side.
One thing that I was able to do was ride the Shawnee Mission Park Triathlon bike course with Scott. Man, I had no idea what a "hill" was... We did 4 total laps around the lake on the course, which is twice as far as I'm racing and exactly as far as Scott is racing (he's doing the long course). After the 3rd lap, I wasn't sure I was going to get the 4th done. I barely made it, no thanks to the Dam(n) Hill, Scott was out of sight halfway through the lap... It was an awesome workout, probably one of the best cycling ones to date. I will be trying to get some hillwork in there every other week because those are the steepest hills I have seen in KC without traffic.
Apart from all the missed workouts, I have actually been pretty good about getting up at 5am to get some workouts in! I have been up at 5 or earlier 3-4 times each week, which is awesome for me. With the temps sky-rocketing in the afternoons, it has led to some increased motivation to drag my b-hole out of bed to get a run or bike in. Plus less traffic! I'm still excited for my race on the 10th, I should be in decent shape for it, but it's not an 'A' race for me. I'm just hoping to have some fun and not get destroyed by the Dam Hill.
Okay, you made it. This is the end. It's times like these I wish I had giveaways, because if you have reached this point, you definitely have earned something. Someday....
Instead, here is my Friday Video, a day early. Ben Crane, professional PGA golfer, gives some workout advice EVERYONE can use.
Happy Friday, happy training, happy racing, happy living.
2 comments:
Thanks for the shout out. I actually still feel bad about that fourth lap.... especially when you passed to start a fifth while I was at my truck! Sorry man!
There is a growing possibility of going back to SMP on Thursday next week for another brick session, including a swim in the lake. I'm trying to meet up with a former co-worker who is just getting into triathlons. Let me know if you are interested... either way, I'll post it on the tweeter. :)
Will do. I may be interested in a brick, as I am going to be concentrating a little more time on run training, but will definitely be interested in the bike, too. Hell, I'd swim.... I will let you know how my legs feel after Sunday.
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