Still somewhere....

I have been lurking around blogland, but have been absent from my own blogging for about two weeks, somewhat on purpose. I haven't done any training since IM WI and so I don't have much to write about. I think I worked out five times in the last three weeks.

But I also want to box up this IM experience a la triteacher and move on. So just like any breakup, I needed a little time and space.

Anyways, I've got some random thoughts tonight and most aren't triathlon or training related, except the first item.

With the breaking news of 2007 IM Lube, it got me thinking a little. The Type A persona in me believes I can complete an Ironman faster than what I did at 2006 IM WI. Will I do an IM in 2007? Maybe. If I was going to do another IM, I was hoping to go back to IM WI. At some point in the near future I will need to study for a series board examinations and I purposely did not apply for the test in 2007. Just in case...

My nemesis struck again. Every year I seem to get some form of sinus infection with all sorts of symptoms to go with it. Nasal congestion, sore throat and cough. That leads to lack of sleep etc. Last year it literally caused me to give up on training for an A race. Well it decided to throw an added twist this time. Hiccups. These were some serious watch-for-whiplash like convulsions; and they stuck with me on and off all day. At least it waited till after IM. So this evening I quarantined myself, cooked, and ate. I had been watching my food intake for the last few weeks to prevent weight gain, but I believe when you are sick, you must eat. So some soup, and a lot of steamed veggies, pork, and chicken. I will be going to sleep with a full belly tonight. The only question I had was: do I wash it down with hot tea and honey or the top shelf cognac.

Last week I took a little trip to Seattle and picked up another brother-in-law. (Congrats sis.)


Seattle traffic is downright awful.

Does it rain in Seattle? Or just tease us by being cloudy? I have never opened an umbrella in that town. By the way, most of the days I spent there last week were near perfect weather - sunny with one or two clouds and about 74 degrees. If I had time and money I would have picked up something to ride from the Performance Bike Shop I passed several times every single day. Riding up and down those hills would have been soooo much fun.

Why do weddings become such big productions? If/when I make it to the altar, is there anyway I can reduce the "destructive stress"? My mom has a big family which can makes things even more exciting. We had 6 minivans and 2 cars. Oh and that's only about half of the family.

Just curious. When was the last time you got carded for an alcoholic drink? When was the last time you got carded at your sister's wedding? Being a designated driver, all I wanted was one drink. Good grief.

I love football season, so I was disappointed to miss the big college game last weekend. I watched some of the UWisc-Indiana game with my cousins in the morning, but couldn't catch the OSU-Iowa game becaue of the wedding reception. There wasn't a TV available, but at least the conciegre at the reception hall was kind enough to look up the score on the net.

By the way, I had a discussion with my brother-in-law, a UWashington grad about college football. I believe, that there is a slight bias in favor of college teams from the South and West (warm climates.) Those teams tend to have more speed and finesse that can benefit them in a bowl game. Midwest and East coast teams need to be more physical because the weather can definitely factor into the regular season games that they play. So if you take a team like USC and have them travel to Ohio for their bowl game in January, they probably would not have as much success. As a supporting statement, look at the NFL. Teams like the Colts struggle in New England come playoff time. Why? They are a finesse team whose strengths are nullified by something out of their control - weather.

Sorry to be such a snob, but I am not quite used to flying economy class. Airplanes in general are like flying cesspools. And maybe that's where I caught my sickness. Anyways, with my luck, I got stuck in front of a kid that kicked my seat the entire trip to Seattle. And all the dad did was say in a very loud voice: "Marcus, stop that. Marcus....sit still.....MARCUS." That gets old on a four hour flight. The kid on the way back home was a little more calm, but I actually traded my window seat for a middle seat on the other side of the plane just to get away from that kid.

I believe you have a better chance of having a good conversation with people in economy class, especially if you wear an M-dot t-shirt. What is more exciting: Ironman or biking around the world? I don't know, but I would love to do the latter.

Anyone watching the current season of The Amazing Race? If you haven't caught it yet, there is a duo that consists of Ironmen - one being Sarah Reinertsen. In my humble opinion, this season has been pretty lackluster.

Well, I have a few more posts in the pipeline, but I'll save them for next week. Thanks for putting up with my off topic rants.

Have a splendid weekend.