26 thoughts on “Back at it.”

1. Facebook friends will know I did the tri loppett yesterday. 8 km kayak; 5km run; 11km mountain bike. The run was the hardest as it was very muggy and the route was cruelly full of hills. Plus I'm not much of a runner. The kayak race started off at Lake Calhoun and there were whitecaps on the north end of the lake.

   Having never done this I was shooting for a goal of less than 3 hours so I was very happy with my time of 2:51. That got me in the bottom third or so but many kayakers/canoeers doubled up. Also you could do it in relays with one person kayak, another run, and another bike. So the fact that I did it all solo put me at a slight disadvantage. But then I wasn't doing this to compete against anyone but to prove to myself that I could do it.

   1. Just saw my results. My run was over 14 minutes per mile. I was doing 10 minute miles when I trained. In men solo I came in 82nd percentile but you could still double up in kayak/canoe and still be considered solo.

      1. Well that seems like crap. Seems to me solo should mean solo. Nice work on doing that all actually solo though. My arms and legs have already stopped working just thinking about the effort required.

         1. Yeah, that seems by the very definition of the word "solo" to be complete bullshit. Still, mucho congrats for your finishing, and with a great time to boot.

            1. It really wouldn't have mattered if they were solo in kayak/canoe or doubled up because they all would have passed me in the run portion anyway.

               I appreciate all the accolades (my Facebook blew up) but to be honest, I think anyone who is in decent shape and has a modicum of perservence could finish the Tri Loppet. My only experience canoeeing any distance is on the St. Croix from Taylors Falls to Interstate Park, and that's going with the current. I'm not a runner but ran maybe 6-8 times in May and June to get a sense of what 5 km felt like. The distances are very managable. Like I said, I finished under 3 hours and was in bottom quartile.

               That's got me thinking, maybe next year we do a WGOM tri loppet competition? Let's see who is the fittest with the bonus of AMR not being able to use his actuary science voodoo magic like he is in predicting World Cup scores.

               1. I could probably manage bottom quartile of the WGOM.

               2. As long as there's no swimming portion, I'm definitely in for that.

   2. Congratulations--it sounds like quite of an accomplishment just to finish.

2. I'm back at it too. After about a 15-month break, I've started taking ballet classes again. Haven't done a full class yet, which means I'm missing out on the fun stuff (the actual dancing part of class), but I'll get there. My muscles aren't quite sure what to make of it just yet...

   1. Where do you take classes? The wife has taken classes off and on for a lot of years.

      1. Mostly at Zenon. In the past, I've sometimes taken at the Minnesota Dance Institute also.

3. EAR took the kids to her parents house for an extended weekend. I'm home without major responsibilities for the first time in forever.
   I decided to bike. 22 miles yesterday. 32 today. I might have done more yesterday but the rain. Instead I hiked around Coon Rapids Dam Park as the storm dwindled. Today was beautiful and as I neared home I kept wandering further and further off the direct line.

   I had to bike to church today, (7.7 miles in about 40 minutes, I left too late: I was soaked when I walked in (and it wasn't raining)). I brought my backpack with a change of clothes, snacks, extra bugspray and sunscreen.
   I like to bike because I like to explore new places* and I can stop and look at birds if I want to.
   I'd probably like to bike more if I had a new seat and better grips.

   *Despite looking cool on the map and aerial photos, Palmer Lake is not anything like Wood Lake. Bummer, I would like a version of Wood Lake I could bike to.

   1. Springbrook has promise as a closer substitute for Wood Lake, but going in the evening in midsummer is not optimal. 8 miles biking, about 2.5 miles hiking in the middle.
      Family is back tonight. My legs are thankful.

      Springbrook just cleaned out all of their Buckthorn this spring. The place looks like there was a forest fire but only in the understory. I hope it works well and that other parks (like Coon Rapids Dam) repeat it. Or maybe being flooded will kill off all the Buckthorn.

      1. I hate buckthorn. I cleared out maybe 10,000 sqft of it in the area immediately adjacent our back yard this spring with about quadruple that yet to go.

4. I competed in the SayHey5K in Chaska this weekend, posted my best time- 26:32. Now I have to work my way up to running 5 miles for a race near my home town in central MN at the end of the month.

   1. Oh which town is that?
      I know Glenwood has races for Waterama at the end of the month. (Not sure on distance.)
      That's EAR's hometown.

      1. Olivia, so quite a bit south of that.

5. Ran Grandma's Marathon a week and a half ago. It was truly wonderful weather for the race (30+ year old course record was broken) and, though nervous, I was excited to run. Just shy of five and a half hours later, I trudged across the finish line, a time which was not the goal I had in mind when I started training. My last marathon was the TC in 2009 when I just missed the five hour mark. I was hoping to do better than that but poor weather this spring, a full time job, toddler, larger house/yard and 11 day road trip in the weeks before the race contributed to my poor training and my resulting time. I'd promised myself after the first one in '09 that I'd never do a race of that length again. I wavered in my commitment but have recommitted myself to it. I'll do races up to 13.1 miles and duathlons again - maybe try a triathlon (or tri-loppet), but no more marathons.

   1. I'm hitting 10K+ distances lately, but still absolutely no desire to run a marathon. I'm impressed with anyone that does though; cheers.

      1. Thanks. The first marathon was an age-30 bucket list sort of thing. This time, my best friend and I ran the half last year and had such a good time that his constant nagging to do the full from June - December finally wore me down. After the race, he admitted his error and apologized, agreeing that my "no more marathons" mantra was probably a good one.

   2. Congrats on Grandma's, COC!

      1. Much appreciated, NBB!

6. It's not much, but I'm trying to reintroduce some activity into my life after a long period of complete sluggishness. I've been playing softball and have started a weekly tennis match. I'll probably be willing to go for a run one of these evenings. I've informally committed to running a 5k in mid-August.

   I'm also finally trying to cut back on soda and snack foods. Results are mixed.

7. I could never do a triathlon, a marathon, or anything like that, but I have been riding my bike about fourteen miles a day when the weather and my schedule permit. I don't set any speed records, but as the saying goes, it's not bad for an old fat man.

   1. I could never do a triathlon, a marathon, or anything like that

      I reject that.

      1. just call it a "Trinity Tribulation" or summat.

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