Retribution

Ok, I deserve it. Somehow, I saw this Superbowl commercial, thought I heard "Timberlake" when I really heard "Federline" (I know, it even says KF when it opens...). I just watched and listened again - if you're not a fan, and wouldn't know either of them if you ran into them with your Avalanche (wishful thinking...), the bossman could have said "Timberlake" just as easily as what he did say, "Federline..." An easy mistake...an honest mistake, but a mistake nonetheless.

Retribution has been demanded of me. For too long now I've been riding Bold on his taste in music, namely his obsession with JT. For the life of me, I can't understand why someone in our Age Group would groove to the beat of JT, even if said person was handicapped by, say...nationality or hairstyle. Different strokes for different folks - but still, a grievous error has occurred by me, and an act of retribution is necessary to bring the stars and planets back into alignment. So what could I do?

Something physical perhaps - some pushups or situps? No, too military. Give up something I love, like beer or pizza or pop-tarts? No, just too hard. How about a little self-depreciation? A picture of myself at my first multi-sport event, nearly 30lbs ago? Now there's a handsome fellow....thankfully there are no shots of me coming out of the water.

Something else, music related, perhaps? Ok - very few people know about this - you know the cell-phone commercial with the "Come and get your love" song as it's tag line? Well, until those commercials started to air, I always thought that song went, "garden guitar love" - yea, I'm a dork. I like ELO - yea, I'm a dork. Dr. Hook - I'm a fan. I've got issues, I'll admit it - just not too loudly.

Bold, I'm with you on one thing - massages. I've yet to ever get a massage. Not even the freebies after a race. Don't touch me - hey Ray, hey Sugar, Tell 'em who we are....(now there's a famous yet obscure reference...). I may come around to massages some day - I promice you, however, that I'm not going to rush out any time soon to buy a JT disc. Cameron Diaz, really? I know, old news - I'm such a dork.

Good Intentions

I had every intention of biking this morning. I got up when the alarm went off - 5:30am. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and turned the news on just in time for the weather report. Currently 51 degrees in Tampa, windy with bands of rain. Doppler radar showed rain right over my bike loop, and out in the woods, it's always a little colder. I turned off the TV and climbed back into bed on my way to sleeping in to 8:30. Nice. So much for 3 x bike rides this week.

Got me some new running shoes yesterday - the local Sports Authority was running a deal with the Gasperilla folks and I got half off my entry fee with my Nike purchase - saving $20. Nike's really run small - I had to get a size 15 - but they fit just fine. Ran with them last night and they felt great. It sure is nice running in new shoes. About 7 mile in, it started raining - crap! Not on my nice new Nikes! So instead of 10 miles, I ran 8.8 miles. Small sacrifice to keep the new shoes looking and smelling good for a while.

I got the Nokon cables in the mail this week - the brake set came missing a part. The place I got them from, ICYCLES, made me mail the whole kit back instead of just sending the part I needed. None of my LBS's carried the Nokon cables, so I had to order out - hence the aggravation. I bid on Ebay for some used Profile Design Sonic Stryke aerobars, but didn't win, bummer. I want some bars that will allow for internal cabling, so if not these, I may have to opt for the Ironman Carbon Strykes. Either way, I'm tired of wrapping my aerobars. I also got a set of replacement brakes - Kool Stop - for my new (used) Dura-Ace brakes.

I also modified my workout plan for next week. It would have been an easy week, but with my hamstring nagging me 2 weeks ago, it was like an easy week. Plus, I'd like to taper a bit for Gasperilla - and put out a good effort at that half marathon. So next week's a big effort week, to round out the cycle, and then it's a week taper for the half mary. When I registered yesterday, I got their race shirt - really nice cool max, tight, light weave, and a neat design - I tried it out on my long run last night and no nipple bleeding, so the shirt is a "go" for Gasperilla.

My running's improved with the focus and increase in intensity, and my bike seems to be hanging in there - biking is so time-intensive, and lately my work has been getting in the way of everything else. Swimming has been taking the biggest hit; I've been to the pool only once in 2 weeks! That's got to change - I'll try and take small bites out of that next week with 3 lunch miles and at least one long swim on a day off. Just hope the weather cooperates. All of our pools are outdoors, and the slightest bit of rain or cold air and it seems like the pools are closed for half-hour blocks until they can "re-evaluate". Feb 25th the schedules go back to normal at the YMCAs - right now the pools are only open during my work hours (and until 7pm - get off at 6, drive to the pool, change and I'm left with about 30 minutes...).

I'm really enjoying reading about raceAthlete's team trip to Temecula for the bike camp with Mel and Floyd and crew. Sounds like it was a great trip with some awesome people. Thanks for keeping us posted on it.

Only 8 weeks until my season-opening Triathlon - gosh the "off season" went quickly. I hardly feel ready to start up again. Two more training cycles to ramp up for that race - granted it's a "C" race, but it's still a race. It will be my litmus test for St. Anthony's - my "A" olympic and early season race - the Tri-America Triathlon has some different distances - 2k swim, 37mile bike and 9 mile run - and it's in the hills of Cleremont - so I'd better be ready. It's time to crank it up a bit.

Said Tie Returneth

After much fan fair, the Bigun's tie has been returned to it's rightful owner. Surprisingly, Jr has come through as agreed to in prior negotiations, and the exchange took place at 9am. The siege is over - no one was injured in the process. Call off Mrs. Bigun - put your weapons on "safe".

I say "exchange" - actually we are experiencing a snafu in the process. Jr wants his tie back cleaned and pressed - have you ever? Never! "Ugly" will remain here, in my office, until such time as either it is removed by it's owner or it just gets lost somehow. There's a very good chance that some harm may come to this tie - I'm not saying what or when, it's just, well, you know, things happen...

Saga of the Tie

Now take a look at this tie. While it's not a bad tie, there's nothing remarkable about it. I could wear this tie, but it's not one I'd go out and buy. Jr. is holding my tie hostage until he gets his back. He claims that we "swapped" ties; my awesome tie for his mediocre, catchup stained one.

So today, at 10am, we are slated for a tie exchange. Negotiations have been successful, pressure was put to bear, and the Bigun will get his tie back. M. Bigun is happy - since the tie was a present (Mrs. Bigun buys most of the big guy's ties...) and has nearly resorted to violence in order to secure the release of said tie. Let these pictures represent proof of life - we've already seen the Tie d'Bigun, and I've been accused of no longer having this damaged, ugly, wrinkled, tired, stained tie.

Of course, if the tie exchange goes anything like my shoe brush and polish return, borrowed by the same individual and his roommate, I'll have to keep this crappy tie in my office (bound and gagged) for the next couple of weeks. Lets hope not - M. Bigun's prepared to take the next step - full breach.

Better Judgement

I decided to not compete in a race - the Florida Challenge Half Marathon - for a couple of reasons. First, it's an off-road race, and I would have just been setting myself up for injury. It's REALLY off road - cross country in fact. Second, it rained the night before the race - so it would have been extra hazardous.

So, I did the Bigun Neighborhood Half Mary instead. Only about 250' of elevation with 3 little hills, it was a great course, if you like running mostly on sidewalks. I won't bore everyone with a detailed race report, just make a note that it was an awesome running day for the big guy. It should have been, for Pete's sake - I did squat all week nursing my left hamstring. Something about that hard bike effort on Tuesday laid me up all week. A crappy work schedule had a little to do with it too...

I stopped the Garmin right at 13 miles (yea, I missed the point one...I just wasn't thinking straight!) in 1:59:35 for a 9:10 pace. My last Half Mary was the Brandon Half in December that I did in 2:12 - so I'm pretty psyched about the improvement. Chalk it up to BASE training - that stuff works like a charm. My average HR for this effort was 162 - and I rarely was close to 170 - huge difference in effort from December. I only stopped for water once at a water fountain in a park at about mile 8.5 - a few sips and I was on my way. No gels. No running partners, just me against the clock.

I'm looking forward to the Gasperilla Half now on Feb 28th - I'll be going for an official PR that day - really - finish under a 9 min pace. Lose a little weight (should be down to 240lbs by then) and put in a few good training weeks, buy some new shoes (546 miles on these now - what the hell is my problem?!?!) and get some competition out there and I'll be all over it - 1:57 flat puts me under 9:00/mile. That will be huge for me.

Pets

So...enough about all that. Guess the Bigun's got MMAMD - Married Male Adult Memory Disorder. Yep, I can't remember jack shit. Go ahead, ask me about any movie - great f'n movie.

Awesome Day

Tuesday was an awesome day.

I guess it started with going to bed at 1am - not the best way to get ready for a big workout day, but a start non-the-less. The 6am alarm (this was a day off work, after all) begged me to hit the snooze, but I relented. We had spent the prior evening painting our front dining room - a huge process (Mrs. Bigun is a designer, so there's no such thing as "merely" painting a wall) - but it's really coming together nicely - I'll put some pics in a future blog. I stole some time to do some work on the bike - I had to put the new Look cleats on the shoes and I put my e-bay acquired DA brakes on - still need new cables BADLY! So that kept me up 'till 1.

I'm "wheels up" right at 6:30 and feeling pretty good, actually. Got a couple of gels in the Bento and nothing but water in the bottles, but I'm thinking about pushing pretty hard for the first 25 since my riding partner, Bacon, isn't showing up until then and he's a bit slower, even with the draft. A couple of riders in a two person draft were just ahead cooking along at 21.5 - so I keep them just ahead of me for a couple miles, until they turn off in another direction. I hit the 12.5 mile mark feeling just about warmed up and averaging around 20.6 - the second loop went better, and I upped the average to 20.8mph. But, no Bacon.

It was still an awesome day, and I was feeling my oats, so I head out again and blasted back in after 37 miles keeping it steady at 20.8 average. A thought enters my almost-tired brain - try and do 50 at 21. The next 6 miles were amazing! With a purpose and the motivation of a man on a mission, I watched that average mph LED move to 20.9 - with just 7 miles to go. Of course, I forgot my HR strap, but I'm breathing heavy and loudly now, cranking along, pushing my new Looks with everything I had. I wish this story had a happy ending to it - but I just could not nudge that .9 over the top. I headed out for another lap to cool off after what was a monster effort for me, and wound up doing 62 @20.5mph - it's funny how quickly the tenths drop off compared to how hard they are to roll up. Bigun's new biking short term speed goal: 62 miles at 21mph.

But the day wasn't even close to being over. After my legs stopped screaming at me, I got the mop on my head cut - I was getting pretty shaggy. I got such a good flat top that I tipped the barber all of $8 on a $12 haircut - yes, I was caught up in the awesomeness of it, but I had just spent a month with a cut I would characterize as the worst I had ever gotten, so I was pretty stoked.

After lunch (yes, I waited entirely too long to eat after the bike) I went to most men's and some women's favorite shopping store - Lowes - and picked up a few items to help with my chores for the day. Mrs. Bigun came with, picked up some flowers and some mulch (nice not being covered up with snow) and home we went to commence with the chores.

I gotta tell ya, right around sunset, Mrs. Bigun had the front yard "stand-up" looking good! My job was inside - I had put a wood floor down in the living room and back hallway, I'm ashamed to say, over a year ago (probably 2...) and had yet to finish with the baseboards and quarter-round. Ta-da...still not finished, still have to caulk and paint - but damn near done and it looks 1000% better than it did. I know why I waited so long, however - with the big guy's knees and back, all that work low to the ground is painful at times.

So that was my day off - I would have liked to get a swim in too - but the house took priority. I could use another day off, just to relax from yesterday's "day off"! Oh well, no rest for the weary.

Calling Out Myself

I can totally empathize with Bolder - life gets in the way. Perhaps it is even more than that, sometimes training gets in the way of life. This month, I'm tripping all over work and the house to try and get a few hours of training in. But, you have to have a roof over your head, and a nice yard, and paint on the walls - and - somehow you have to pay for all of that.

Of course there's also things like family and career that have their place in the priorities of life. Ten or more hours of training (or 7 or 8 as of late) is that many hours away from Mrs. Bigun - for some reason she still likes having me around. This time of the year, working 7:30am - 6pm with only 1 day off a week - it puts a strain on everything. I really shouldn't complain about getting in only 7 or 8 hrs of training. This work schedule lasts through March - so I have got to find a better way to get it all done!

I tried again to get up this morning to run with little success (actually, no success). I was still feeling last night's run - so I probably could use the recovery time. Juggling all this gets a bit stressful at times - I can see where a person trying to fit in 15 hrs a week, training for an Ironman, could use some time away from all this.

Once it becomes too stressful from a time-management standpoint, then it starts to loose it's fun-factor. That we just can't let happen. While this is my venue for stress-relief, weight reduction, health and fitness (and my work performance is better for it as well), it still needs to remain fun. So, I'll take what I can get (and figure out a way to get more) - and I'll understand when my blog-buddies take a week or month or two to shift focus as needed.



This is my good friend Hunter (well, he is an awesome dude and triathlete-ambassador...) and my buddy and college classmate Gerry from Nebraska who came down last year to race St. Anthony's with me (I'm the guy with the flat-top). See - we were having fun!

Super Show

So this is it - RV SuperShow week - one more day left of this madhouse we have once a year. Extended hours. Tons of people, customers and shoppers. Make loads of sales. Well, not loads. Turns out the RV Super Show was less than super. Really, more like a show.

The "season" isn't over, by any means. All the "snowbirds" come down from up north and stay until around March. Unfortunately, this year it's been a bit warm up north, so fewer folks have left or are leaving from places afar. I'm sure things will pick up, I just think this year it will be spread out a bit more than in years' past.

So now we are open at 9am on Sunday. Totally blows my Sunday 50-miler. Too bad - I just replaced my bearing-seized Speedplays with some Look Classics, and I'm looking forward to trying them out. Looks like I'll be run-focused for yet another weekend. My dogs are barking already....