Where are you Angry Runner........

Yesterday, in the course of my workday I hit up the ol' blogspot . I clicked on the familar link to The Angry runner's site for my daily dose of the nonsense that is the run seen in HOTford..the familiar links and Jack Abramoff photo popped up but no post. I clicked on the link to see all posts but nothing has happended. I checked last night after class and this morning but it seems Sir Angry is missing in action...has he been shut down by the FCC, booted by google, hijacked by software pirates... or worse....Angry if you're alive out there shout so we can hear you.

My 100th Post of 2007 : I'M GOING TO TAUPO BITCHES!!!

Yep that's right, one of my creditors made the mistake of increasing my line...( which means more for me to pay back but hey what's money if you can't spend it on what you need and what you enjoy.) So after a quick phone call to Ken Glah and the Crew and Endurance Sports Travel I have procured a lakeview studio at the Tui Oaks Motor Inn, and transport for me and The Bitch Stomper from Auckland to Taupo for under $1300. Below are pictures of my digs for that week: unfortunately Angry it's not the Marriot or the Hilton

(note to the folks at those companies try building a Residence Inn or Fairfield Suites in the vincity. It will be a gold mine.)

EST's not booking flights until Late Janurary so that is the only missing link but it will be paid for. So yes my crazy, half frozen New England ass will be gracing the start line at IM New Zealand.( Which will start another debate on whether or not I should shave down for this sucker...but I digress.) Ok good news over...more good news I can now turn my training from possibly doing and Ironman in March to DEFINATELY doing an Ironman in March. Yes now gone are the days of the half-assed 25 mile rides that were supposed to be fifty milers, the 45 min. trainer sessions which were intended to be an hour, the 12 mile runs....well ok maybe not the 12 mile runs...theasy 3000 yard swims 3 times a week. As of 5 am this morning Build Phase#1 got going which means the next 14 days are going to be loaded with distance, one race, and early
mornings.
Monday: yielded my normal "short" distance a 7-8 miler through the burbs.

Tuesday: I got in 4200 yds. in the pool. My freestyle stroke felt a little slow but and increase in work outs will help that.

This morning I got to the Y at 5:45am and crammed in a 3000 yard practice before work. Again my freestyle felt a little slow so Tommorrow I will probably work it a little more. After work I got in a 12 mile run on the almost pitch black roads of Wolcott. My first 7 weren't bad as the sun was just starting to set and I was on roads that actually had street lamps. The "back 4" down Route 322 were dimly lit, along with a pitted shoulder and drivers hugging the white line as if they were in Some race to see who could get to Southington first. After dodging cars and nearly twisting my ankle twice on the pitted shoulder I decided this route is not a good one to do during the evening hours, or at least not without a headlamp. The last mile to two miles back home weren't bad at all ...except for trying to cross route 69 as rush hour traffic was streaming in from the DirtyWater ( Waterbury) from the south and the Little New Britain ( Bristol) from the North. All in all I got it in 1:45 so my goal of doing a 4:00 marathon or better seems to be in reach, as long as I can get my long runs and bricks in over the next three months. So on tap: tomorrow an early morning 3000-4000 yard swim work out followed by work, getting booties and wool socks to protect my footsies on my 60-70 miler this week end, maybe a 6 miler around campus, class and lifegurading. Friday an early morning trainer workout 45 min. to an hour, followed by work, and a 3000-4500 yard workout at Waterbury Masters ( note to Angry: Steph Karas is running it and we do have easier workouts, also she can help straighten out your stroke to prevent that nagging shoulder injury.)
Sat. Work then a 60 mile ride ( most likely at Waramaug of from Woodbury to Waramaug.) followed by a moderate warm up run.
Sunday: Speed Work! the Chichetti 5 miler brought to you by Wesson oil: Home of the crazy conveience store manager that made my summer of 05 a layer of hell! (pay back's a bitch!..oops well if it wasn't for my crummy stint there I wouldn't have try to find anyhting better than my gig at the video game store so in essence it helpped me believe in myself...ok pulling good from a bad situation moment over.) followed by some love time in the pool or a shorter ride maybe 25 miles in Woodbury or on the Cheshire trail, or if the weather sucks a trainer ride post race infront of my blasting heater. All in all the hardcore training period has begun.

The self -torturing triathlete
R.D.

Freezing my Beans off....

Ever notice how biking conditions in New England go from this
To this in about 2 weeks.

Well that's the phrase that best explains how I spent my weekend. Friday, after much drama at the Bank, the cops showed up and long story short left us a man down, I went to masters and actually got in a well deserved 4000 yard work out in the confines of the heated pool....that would be the warmest I'd be all weekend. On Saturday after 3 hours at the ball and chain...which helps me pay for the sport I love so dearly...I threw down $60 at the bike rack on sexy new tights and toe covers...then it was off to Woodbury for what was supposed to be a 50 miler.....key word supposed to be. After taking my chances with a foilage covered "s" curve I decided to skip going down the "steep hill" on the Griskus Olympic course and shot out on to Route 6 via Cat Swamp , ( same amount of desecnding but broken into 3 small hills instead of the drop off the face of the earth. After climbing up Route 132 in to Bethlehem..(see my Mother of all Bricks post for route description). I was hit with a savage cross wind as I descended toward Weekeepeemee rd. Now I have a habit with coasting with my left knee elevated so the wind blowing my to the left made feel like I was going to go down hard, seeing gravel on weekeepeemee rd. didn't ease my mind so I made the semi-executive descion to keep on Route 132.....Enter drop off the face of the earth hill here...

I descended at about 30mph unclipping my right shoe and sticking my foot out when I thought I was going to go knee against asphalt....I had a small burner after it which I breezed up and the I was met with....the Wall.....

Instead of manning up and climbing it I dismounted had a normann stadler moment in my mind....the walked back to weekeepeemee being passed by a dude on a trek . When I got to weekeepeemee I decided to walk the bike down it was then I discovered the gavel was washed to the sides, but the influx of volunteer firefighters crusing out to the main road...and the uncertainty of the cross winds..made me decided to walk the bike another half mile until I reached asphalt....needless to say I was ticked I climbed up to Flanders road and descended back to route 6 ( by passing the climb past the abbey and condemning another hot young thing to the convent....I mean allowing a young lady to enter religious life without my interference...) I climbed up cat swamp and finshed the remaing portion of the Griskus bike loop. I got back to the car after a 26 mile bike/1 mile walk. and did I loop of the run course. Not a bad day...but pretty pathetic for Ironman trainning.

Today I decided on doing loops of Lake Waramaug. Now I figured it was safe no traffic..brutal crosswinds, yet flat terrain...I figured I'd do about 8 to 10 loops figuring it was sheltered...well I got 2.5 done before the wind got the better of my feet . I did three loops and packed it in....I almost ran but the setting sun, freezing feet and the gathering of park rangers ready to ticket my car if I kept it after the 4:30PM close time derailed that plan. So with that being said it looks like I've got a lot of long trainer sessions and purchases of wool socks ahead. Which leaves me with a brillant new event idea:

The Lake Waramaug Freeze Your tail off 100.

15 loops of the lake, with the state park as the start /finish...it has ample facilities ( out houses, parking so you can store excess food, water bottles, foot warmers, ) Come on I know someone out there's carzy enough to do this thing with me....well maybe not....Well now I've got to rest up and tabulate how much more debt I can rack up buying the equipment to train for this Ironman.

The Icy Ironman

R.D.

I AM HARDCORE!!!!!!!

Ok I'll tone down the adrenaline a tad. Last night I decided to cram in a couple of campus loops at Central before my 7:00PM Computer Science course with Moscow's version of Bill Gates. as usual I was clad in long sleeves, beanie, gloves and shorts. ( wind pants are for wimps...or temps under 35 degrees.) Well according to my Subaru's handy dandy thermometer it was 40 degrees about 35 with wind chill, now most sane, smart, ...insert adjective here ...runners would pack it in and do laps of the indoor track, or hit the treadmill , but not me unless there's a solid sheet of ice on the ground I'm running on natural surfaces, or concrete, or asphalt, or vulcanized rubber....anyhow I did the first of my two 2 mile-ish loops around the fairly well lit campus. As I ran down the hill past the Orthodox Cemetery ( seriously is God trying to tell me to become Orthodox..granted I'm Catholic which is Orthodox light) and some moron took the turn to merge on to Route 9 to tight and flipped his Grand Cherokee on to its side, attracting a crowd of sympathetic collegiate by-standers....( you know the guys that are utterly wasted or going to get utterly wasted ..walking by going "dude, that guy flipped over.") As I ran past I tried to ask what happened but as I saw the driver climb out and start to talk with someone who had ran into the back of the jeep, I realized he was alright(at least physically), and my first aid skills would not be needed as I continued on my way. Other than the car flipping there was really nothing else of note from my run. the campus was fairly well lit ( so I was visible to traffic and anyone planning on mugging or " having their way" with me was in sight.) So I felt fairly safe. Once again physical exertion kept my legs warm against the biting cold. Serveral students watched amazed as I ran up "the Hill" with little effort. Also the looks of "Is this guy nuts?" epecially from the ladies, who were checking out my sexy defined calves and shit....well goto go the 5-o's in the office.
R.D.

Night Ride.....kind sorta

well for the first time since friday, I manned up and decided to ride The Bitch Stomper on its true domain: The open road. Braving Temps hovering in the low 40's high 30's I walked out layered well on my upper half ( Wool beanie, those stretchy running gloves, base layer tank top, dri release t- shirt, Holy Cross track long sleeve, Louis Garneau long sleeve jersey ( reflective yellow)) but was wearing only bike shorts and two pairs of socks covering the lower half, the logic was the constant climbing of the hills in the burbs would warm my legs. I managed to eek in 12 miles before it got too dark for me to be seen by speeding rush hour traffic, yet surprisingly most motorists gave me room (You guys who gave me room rock!) I descended down Lyman road at the wuss-esque 24 miles per hour ( stupid potholes.) climbed into Waterbury and road past Montoe Park then on to North main, past the Russian Orthodox Church and began the big climb back into Wolcott, as I approached the top I ran my hand over my head and felt only the soft wool of the beanie....I had done the first and most dangerous six miles of my ride sans helmet, two thoughts ran through my head as I pedaled back home to grab my blue plastic second skull, the first : I was bad ass like those guys who did the tour in the 80's . Nothing like descending the Calibier with your mullet blowing wildly knowing one wrong move and it's be au revior, Bernard* ( shameless reference to the 5 time tour champ.) the second was the primal fear of if I got hit I would be an instant organ donor. (I told my parents if I ever crashed hard and they were picking up grey matter off the road, then you might as well give my organs away because I most likely won't recover from that.) Any way I made it home got the helmet and desecnded the other side of Lyman rd. to Route 69 for my second 6. As I crossed 69 during a luck lull in the traffic, I made my way toward Scovil's dam. The cross wind kicked up and unlike in other rides where I slowed my pace , I kicked it up a knotch, with a "bring it bitch" attitude. I got around the lake then started the big climbs up Boundline rd. ( those of you wondering why I was able to climb geer mountain with out dismounting this climb is why.) The hill starts gradual with one quick burner then a nice false flat and a major burner that curves to the top. Well I kicked it into "lance armstrong mode" spinning as much as the gears would allow to the top, occasionally getting out of the saddle to push. I rode past the cemetery , high school and library descending down route 322 past Pat's IGA. I climbed up Beach Rd. a long gradual climb past the nursing home and then took it through my "old hood" before riding home. 12 miles wasn't bad for about 45 minutes. my legs held up well but my feet were blocks of ice so a set of toe covers is a purchase coming in the near future. All in all it wa a good day of training i went to class but the run never matetrialized although my bio professor and I talked for about 50 min. on training, treatment for shin splints, and other running topics so I guess that counts right. Well back to Work,
The Tell-Tale Teller
R.D.

Freedom !!!!!!! For at least a couple days.

Ding dong, the cholera paper is as dead as the 40,000 Londoners it took to an early grave in 1854 ( to qoute stalin, " One death is a tragedy, 1000 is a statistic"). So now after being repremanded for only using five sources (I thought they were pretty good, but I guess I need to spend more time looking at articles that say the same damn thing..boring yes tedious, yes but necessary. My next paper the bibliography will be as long as the paper itself.) So I have a slight reprieve from the paper writing for the moment giving me a couple of free days to train, before I hit the library and ransack the sheleves of medical journals, discussing the unsanitary conditions of Gulags, refugee camps, and the dreaded Nazi concentration camps as breeding grounds of un-holy plauges. Yes, another real upper of a paper. Ok getting out of my acadamea fueled rage Tonight holds on tap a swim, of hopefully 4000 yards. Tomorrow a 5am wakeup call awaits me followed by my first double session in almost 4 days. It will most likely be a swim and a late afternoon run followed by a night searching the web for research materials. ( hopefully 5 articles ) I will most likely hit the trainner on Thursday followed by a post work, pre-class run. Friday, Masters, library, register for next semester, research till I can't research no more...seriously it is like some law of medicine that you must quote 50 guys saying the same crap. alright rage done...hitting the coffee shop then the pool.
The Repressed Researcher.
R.D.

Fifa, Long Runs, Steve McQueen and cholera,

These four almost non related items are what made up my weekend.
Fifa World Cup 06 for my xbox took the boredom out of procrastination as I struggled to get 3 pages ( at post time I'm currnetly on 5 ) of my 8 page cholera paper done. Surprisingly I have made the U.S. a power in World FOOTBALL! ( yes I said it it's football.football football football you wankers.) the highlight of this video game football mania was me beating Germany 2-1 for the world cup..so yeah I was sitting around on the good black box of laziness for way too long.

On Saturday, after my plans for a long ride were dashed by a phone call from the boss lady. I went for a long Zen out/ hallucinogenic 13 mile run in the lovely cross winds. no for anyone who's read my comment on Angry's site, yes I am crazy I was running clad in my blue wind pants a long sleeve bike/ running jacket, with my fuel belt 4 bottle endurance clasped around my waist running my loop of the town. the start and the finish weren't so bad but the middle 3 miles where I was running past Scovils's dam were brutal. Wind kicked up off the water blowing me around with tremendous force and I gritted my teeth and plowed through it. About mile 6 or 7 I started seeing a vision of some buddist monk, whether he was encouraging me of taunting i'm not sure, all I know is if I'm seeing shit it probably means I'm not hydrated enough. After taking a few swigs of gatorade the Dali Lama disappeared and even more random shit starting going through my head, first I was envisioning Willie Nelson's whiny manager's interview slot on the Kona 2006 dvd. then I got scenes from the Rocky VI training video stuck in my head, by the time I finished my 13 mile run I had been through a whirl wind of visions, training montages, and tracks from my i-pod that I some how committed to memory. My head ...well it's a scary place to visit....and no to answer everyone's question I was not on drugs....

The cholera...or slim fast gone wrong as I like to call it, has already been mentioned. It's my medical Anthropology paper which is due tomorrow. and for the sake of all my readers who are not in the medical field I will not go into details all I will say is this if you've got cholera you should grab about 6 IV's of Saline, some, minocycline, the last six issues of triathlete , inside triathlon, and runner's world , a gallon sized jug of Pepto and barricade yourself in the bathroom....if that hasn't given away the effects of the disease nothing will.

So where does Steve Mc Queen feature in all of this random garbage. Yesterday, as I was procrastinating, I mean researching and working diligently on my paper I happened across one of my favorite you tube videos and quotes of all time. The video was from the movie Le Mans ( yes I have a thing for sports car racing especially the endurance shit, nothing like watching a group of 3 guys bitch stomp the hell out of a 911 for 24 hours, while about 70 other psychos are doing the same shit to other exotic marquees.) the most philospophical item I was able to pull from this 7 minute clip of Rock music, and automotive carnage came in the last two minutes of the clip. when he describes racing, it's similar to my view on triathlon. To qoute Mc Queen:

" Racing is important to those who do it well. Anything you did before or after is ..well...just waiting."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ORa-y0TkFA

R.D.