Thanks to the LW for providing me the link to the screw shoe. What a clever idea. Once the snow and ice come back around here, I'm going to give this a try. Maybe it will solve my falling down problem. And I appreciate your thanks for skipping the obvious puns.
(H/T to EDRW)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
99 Things to do...
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (I don't think what I've done meets the intent)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (Don't think what I've done qualifies)
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (Given, not gotten. Although there's always a reason.)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Piece a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had Chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
50/99 I guess that's not bad, although I wouldn't call some of them accomplishments.
(H/T to Gunslinger)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Silly Man. (again)
I went out today to inaugurate the 'official' training period for the Paris Marathon. It was scheduled to be 3 miles at 10:10 and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I went out with a co-worker and we did 5 at about 9:15 instead.
Overall, it was a good run, until we ran into the woman and her dogs. We were running two abreast on a decently wide (yet snow and ice covered) paved trail. She was on our right with one dog, and the other dog over on the left. There was also an older couple about 5m behind her, also on the right.
Being a rational beast, my co-worker took early and decisive action and fell in behind me on the left of the trail. Which, of course meant that the woman took her one dog over to join the other on the left. Right in our way. I'm sure this is some German custom about only passing port-to-port.
So, this required us to jump back over to the right. At this point my foot slipped on the ice, causing me to crash down on my left hip, knee and of course, wrist. This despite the fact that on the way out (this was the return leg of an out-and-back) I made specific note of how icy this area was. And how I really wasn't looking forward to running down this slope with all the ice. And how if I did slip, the one thing I really didn't want to do was to try to catch my whole body weight with my hand. But, yes, that's exactly what I tried to do.
So, my wrist which was just about 100% from Thanksgiving. Is now sore again. Joy.
Let's just hope this isn't a bad omen for the whole marathon experience. Which, thanks to the vagaries of U.S. Military medicine, I'm still not medically cleared to run. But the doc specifically said not to stop what I was already doing. So, to me that means I'm still cleared to 13.
Overall, it was a good run, until we ran into the woman and her dogs. We were running two abreast on a decently wide (yet snow and ice covered) paved trail. She was on our right with one dog, and the other dog over on the left. There was also an older couple about 5m behind her, also on the right.
Being a rational beast, my co-worker took early and decisive action and fell in behind me on the left of the trail. Which, of course meant that the woman took her one dog over to join the other on the left. Right in our way. I'm sure this is some German custom about only passing port-to-port.
So, this required us to jump back over to the right. At this point my foot slipped on the ice, causing me to crash down on my left hip, knee and of course, wrist. This despite the fact that on the way out (this was the return leg of an out-and-back) I made specific note of how icy this area was. And how I really wasn't looking forward to running down this slope with all the ice. And how if I did slip, the one thing I really didn't want to do was to try to catch my whole body weight with my hand. But, yes, that's exactly what I tried to do.
So, my wrist which was just about 100% from Thanksgiving. Is now sore again. Joy.
Let's just hope this isn't a bad omen for the whole marathon experience. Which, thanks to the vagaries of U.S. Military medicine, I'm still not medically cleared to run. But the doc specifically said not to stop what I was already doing. So, to me that means I'm still cleared to 13.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Winter Wonderland
I decided to ride into work on Friday. Mostly because I could. And I thought it would be fun. The official total was 17 inches for the week, but there wasn't more than about 5 inches on the ground.
Since I ride on trails, not roads, it wasn't clear. There was plenty of snow, just a bit of ice and pretty much no one. And it was quiet. Like I was in the middle of nowhere. Couldn't even hear the autobahn although I was less than 100m from it on numerous occasions.
Back tire sliding all over. Barely needed a light because the snow made everything so bright. My speed was no where near normal, but that was all part of the fun. I ended up walking up a few of hills, because I just couldn't keep traction on my back tire, and once I stopped I couldn't get going again. I also didn't really trust the brakes on the big down hills.
When I got home, there was about 2-3 inches of mud, snow and ice all over the bike. Great fun.
Since I ride on trails, not roads, it wasn't clear. There was plenty of snow, just a bit of ice and pretty much no one. And it was quiet. Like I was in the middle of nowhere. Couldn't even hear the autobahn although I was less than 100m from it on numerous occasions.
Back tire sliding all over. Barely needed a light because the snow made everything so bright. My speed was no where near normal, but that was all part of the fun. I ended up walking up a few of hills, because I just couldn't keep traction on my back tire, and once I stopped I couldn't get going again. I also didn't really trust the brakes on the big down hills.
When I got home, there was about 2-3 inches of mud, snow and ice all over the bike. Great fun.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Post Turkey Day Recovery
As those of you who read the better half's blog know, we went to the mountains for Turkey day with friends.What she might not have let on is that we went there with one of them.
So we had a great Turkey day dinner. Lovely desserts. Lots of fun with the kids (sledding, games, etc).
Unlike most kids, our LM doesn't like things that go 'fast'. He's a bit of a scaredy cat. So, when we went sledding he wanted no part of going down the hill. Even when his friend went down. Even wen Daddy went down. He much preferred the one-horse-open variety of sledding. I'll give you three guesses who the horse was.
So we had a great Turkey day dinner. Lovely desserts. Lots of fun with the kids (sledding, games, etc).
Tangent
Unlike most kids, our LM doesn't like things that go 'fast'. He's a bit of a scaredy cat. So, when we went sledding he wanted no part of going down the hill. Even when his friend went down. Even wen Daddy went down. He much preferred the one-horse-open variety of sledding. I'll give you three guesses who the horse was.
End Tangent
So, the day after thanksgiving, we decided to go for a run. Now mind you. It was cold. And snowy. So when we headed out at 8:30 it was an adventure. The temperature was about 2C. We headed out down the road, and turned off onto a foot path/bike path combination. It was covered in a combination of snow and slush.
Soon, it turned off into the woods. Where the path became just that: a single track path. Covered with snow and ice. It got so rough that we ended up walking for about 25m because we just couldn't get any traction while running up hill. Just too icy.
That was only the beginning of the fun though. Going down hill was even better. Slightly better trail conditions, but not much. And of course, since we were going down hill, I ended up on my derriere at one point. No serious injuries, just a sore wrist and bruised ego.
Still, it was a good run (except for the fact that he ran me into the ground going up hill). We made it back after an almost 4 mile run and all the moisture that had been wicked away from our skin onto the outer layer of clothing had turned to frost. Very cool look.
Garmin has gone and updated Garmin Connect again. I'm getting more and more satisfied with what they're doing there. Check out this new feature. It plots speed against elevation and steps through your workout together as it does so.
So, the day after thanksgiving, we decided to go for a run. Now mind you. It was cold. And snowy. So when we headed out at 8:30 it was an adventure. The temperature was about 2C. We headed out down the road, and turned off onto a foot path/bike path combination. It was covered in a combination of snow and slush.
Soon, it turned off into the woods. Where the path became just that: a single track path. Covered with snow and ice. It got so rough that we ended up walking for about 25m because we just couldn't get any traction while running up hill. Just too icy.
That was only the beginning of the fun though. Going down hill was even better. Slightly better trail conditions, but not much. And of course, since we were going down hill, I ended up on my derriere at one point. No serious injuries, just a sore wrist and bruised ego.
Still, it was a good run (except for the fact that he ran me into the ground going up hill). We made it back after an almost 4 mile run and all the moisture that had been wicked away from our skin onto the outer layer of clothing had turned to frost. Very cool look.
Kit Review
Garmin has gone and updated Garmin Connect again. I'm getting more and more satisfied with what they're doing there. Check out this new feature. It plots speed against elevation and steps through your workout together as it does so.
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