Might as well have been raining...

Had a bit of a soggy ride this morning. It must have rained pretty good in Bountiful last night

cause I was soaked. Not from actual rain but from the rain soaked foliage busting me in the chops every few seconds. By the time I reached the summit I was wet, cold and looking for the quickest way down the mountain. So instead of taking the 6.5 trail back down I took the shorter North Canyon side down, crossed Btfl Blvd and back up to Mueller Park.

A few things from the morning ride:

• Rear tires don't go easily over wet roots. Instead of rolling over them, they seem to slide across them and that didn't turn out too well a few times this morning. I ended up in some of that wet foliage I spoke of earlier.
• It's been at least 10 years since I took a bike ride/run/walk on Bountiful Blvd. However I'm pretty sure I saw a few of the same people from back when, and people are looking a lot older (except for me...I still feel..and look 21. I just shave my head).
• I haven't golfed Bountiful for a while but need to. That place is always in great shape.
• My new headband works great. Yeah, I look like a poor man's white Allen Iverson but it definitely keeps the sweat from pouring into my eyes.
• To the rock in 39:30....to the top in 1:19:00. Getting better...little by little.

Minor setback this week as well. After a heated basketball game on Matt's concrete pad on the 24th, the surgically repaired left knee isn't feeling so great. Running has been postponed for a week until I stop feeling the tendons (or whatever it is) rub against each other with every bend.

That's all for now.

Heckuva Climb...

Farmington Canyon - not much water in the lake?
Just more stupid wetlands to fight over.

My first memory of Farmington Canyon was when I was about 12 years old driving to a Father's & Sons outing. I remember thinking that it was quite a steep climb. The other thing I remember was that on the curves we were mere inches from falling off of the edge of the mountain and down hundreds of feet.

Next memory of Farmington Canyon was 1994...Senior Sluf day heading to the canyon river to the rope swing as well as a couple of other times that summer (or was it Sr. Sluff day 93' and we just took advantage?). Maybe some of you reading this remember those days. It was a pretty fun little 'damn' pool that you could swing down and drop into. If memory serves me correctly, Marci Wilson let go a little early (gravity) and broke her arm? Maybe that was a different story? I don't know...however I do know that Josh Ludwig fell out of a tree while attempting a dive and just missed hitting his head on a huge rock.

Then there was Matt Webb suffered a compound fracture of his leg while jumping into a pool further up the mountain.

So over the last couple of weeks I have returned to Farmington Canyon to make more memories. I had been driving to Mueller Park for months but I've got a short 8 minute bike ride to the canyon and it's all uphill from there. The first couple of miles are paved and steep (you can see the climb in the picture above). It actually flattens out once the dirt trail begins but it's quite the workout. After just a few minutes of pavement the legs are burning. I haven't been too far up the dirt road due to time constraints...meaning that I've got to ride home, switch shoes and run for a while. Maybe next time I'll drive to the dirt and go from there. I'd like to see how high I can get...or how tired I can get.

The best day from hell ever!

So I haven't really been able to come up with many funny stories so I have slacked on the tri updates lately. It's time for me to get back to what this is all about..it's time to report what's going on as we are a short 4 weeks away from what I like to call, the best day from hell ever. Let's just revisit 2005:

• Friday night visited the hole that is called downtown Ogden to pick up my stuff. They were giving free head shaving for a donation. Sorry I couldn't help there.

Now, a quick note about Ogden. I know that there are nice places there...I just haven't seen them. If fact that day Allie and I went down to pick up the stuff, we must have walked by at least 5 drunks and accidentally parked our car next to a half-way house. As I've heard before, they ought to put a fence around the place and call it prison.

• Saturday morning woke up and make the drive to Pineview
• Got the wetsuit on, swam to the starting beach and waited...

Now, about the waiting. It seems like your bladder is completely empty until you are waiting for something to happen. Then you go....then after 4 more minutes of waiting...you go again...and again. Good thing I had Ogden's largest toilet at my disposal (no, not downtown).

• I started swimming and felt great.

Got kicked a few times until it got spread out. I was a little worried cause the bottom of the lake doesn't have those nice straight lines to follow. However after a while you just follow the bubbles (hoping they are from the mouths of others) and the guy kicking your arms in front of you.

• Hopped out of the water after a surprisingly short time in the lake.
• Started on the bike

Uhh, you mean this is 10 miles up that mountain? After two miles I was gassed. I think my adrenaline was gone. For those who have read earlier posts, I did see one person collapse on the bike so I wasn't feeling completely gone.

• Got done with the bike after feeling like I had ridden to base camp at Everest.
• Put on the shoes and started to run

Uhh, you mean the first two miles of the run is up that mountain? After that it's really a blur. I remember having to run thru a few small rivers.. some guy taking my picture and I remember finally running down the mountain trying not to tumble to the bottom.

Yes it is the best day from hell ever and I can't wait to do it again. I'm much more prepared this time around (which isn't saying much). Also I think I'm a lot less fat this time around which is even better. I'm sure as I sit down on August 19 (my 31st birthday) I'll tell myself 'never again'. Then once I can walk normal and realize that I wasn't dead last...it'll be time to start for next year.

That's the latest. Hopefully I'll have more to share soon.

Poor Bull!

OUCH!

I'll be posting a little more training news soon enough. I know things have gotten a little boring over the past few weeks. I need to get Matt, Eric and/or Ryan out for some exercise and I'm sure I'll have some good stories for you all.

Let's mix things up a little...

Let's talk a little football. Football season is less than two months away and do you know what that means? That means that I have to hear testimony after testimony from Y fans on sports talk radio. I get to hear that 'they' are back. 'They' are again a powerhouse. And finally, I get to hear time after time that they accomplish all of this with 'righteous, fine young men'. In fact Mr. Bronco has even explained that he is bringing discipline to the team and misconduct will not be tolerated. After listening to this for the past year it was quite surprising to me that another player was arrested last week. Let's take a look at byu's off season workout program:

• July 2007 – Manase Tonga arrested after failing to stop at a stop sign, gave fake name to police to avoid being arrested for outstanding warrant.


• June 2007 – Y runner Kyle Perry arrested for assaulting a pedestrian with a mop.


• April 2007 – Terrance Hooks and Vic So’oto arrested on suspicion of burglary after they were accused of breaking into two apartments in search of someone who threw a water balloon.


• March 2007 – Matangi Tonga charged with six counts of burglary, all of them second-degree felonies, and one count of theft, a class B misdemeanor.


• January 2007 – Rashaun Broadus charged with a class B misdemeanor charge of DUI and class C misdemeanors of no driver's license, speeding and a window tint violation.

Interesting side note on Mr. Manase Tonga...supposedly after being released on bail he was able to fly to CA to participate in his Temple marriage.

So, here are a few things to make sure your are in the right frame of mind come late August:

• Utah was the first non-BCS to bust the BCS, finishing 4th in the nation


• I've seen College Game Day live once...at the University of Utah


• Utah owns the overall record of 52-34-4 (keep in mind Utah's record in the 70-80's)


• Since 1990, Utah has won more than they've lost against the BDS


• 1984 was 27 years ago - 2004 was 3 - Utah would win that match-up 10 of 10

If you want to know how good BYU is just ask them. I'm sure they won't have any problem letting you know. Then pay attention to the news because you will hear how good they are. They are great at breaking and entering, making up false names to give police and breaking down doors to protect their women from water balloons and can perform some great 'mop duty'.

Keep in mind that these problems happen at all schools. I know that Utah has their issues. However the difference is that none of these other schools pretend they don't have problems. None of these schools try to pass themselves off as perfect, but leave it to the Y to let everyone know that they are.

So have a nice football season and here is to the 3rd week of November when Utah walks into their home away from home (Rice-Eccles South) and winning again in Provo. Utah winning is key, but next to that there is nothing better than looking at 50,000 zoobies after their team loses.

A weekend break...or not

I figured that I'd better get my training in early this week as I have a pretty full weekend .

First training...then the weekend.
Things are going well, I'm really trying to get on my bike as often as possible. This is good and bad. Good because I'll be able to make it up the mountain, good because I won't have to worry about my second experience in an ambulance, good because they may still be selling lunch by the time I finish. It's bad because the more time of the bike, the less time on the road and in the pool. I don't want the fishes to get me as an early lunch and I don't want to feel my legs to give as I try to run up the mountain. However I do feel like I am way ahead of schedule compared to last time.

This weekend holds another event that is very near to my heart. The Heat Stroker Softball Tourney! Like the triathlon, marathon or any yard landscape project, this always turns out to be more than I bargain for (or more than Allie bargains for). Over the last few years I have suffered some less than comfortable injuries during these tournaments. Last year I tore my ACL and MCL. The year before that I broke my wrist and before that cracked my sternum (remember my earlier post about being retarded?).

During this tournament you play all games from 7pm to 6am and sleep during the day when it's 110 degrees outside. We've always had a pretty good showing with a 6th place best finish (out of 50+ teams). By the time it's Saturday night (Sunday morning) your body really doesn't move as quickly as you want it to. Those 3a.m. games are a real killer. However there is nothing like getting back to the Hotel at 7am, sitting down and having some nice continental breakfast, popping a sleeping aid and retiring for the day.

Here's hoping that I don't take any unnecessary risks and stay on my feet this year.