Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Let’s see. Today. Bullets:

• Left work “late” (aka on time) because I got caught up in fixing something. Not a bad thing, it gives me something to write tomorrow. (I say “late” because it’s summer and I typically am the last one in the office, with an official quit time of 6pm, and it’s been dead after 5pm)
• Got home to a new obsession in the mail. It’s all BC’s fault for mentioning it. And Amazon’s for offering the full set for less than $10.
• Played said obsession until just now. Hadn’t evven checked email this evening, that’s how bad it was.
• Despite that, managed to get laundry done for this weekend’s trip and race.
• Ran briefly this morning (as in, less than 2 miles). Went okay.
• Discovered while doing laundry that my favorite big running shorts have a hole in the crotch. Thank heavens I have multiple pairs to choose from.
• Still recovering from the head cold, but getting better.

And that’s about it today.

Another week, another head cold. Wouldn’t mind so much if I could just sleep. And maintain a stable temperature. And breathe. Aside from that, it’s all good. Ha.

Left work a bit early to come home and nap. We’ll see if I go in tomorrow. I brought some stuff home to read over for a meeting Wednesday, so I can be missed if need be. It was important to get in today because an investigator was coming in for my latest background check and I had to confirm this, that and the other with him, as well as sicking him on all my friends for their confirmation that I’m a crack-smoking communist spy an upstanding citizen.

And yes, they still ask if you are or have ever been a member of an organization which has plotted the violent overthrow of the US government (though they do not name the communist party specifically any more, at least they didn’t today). A new addition was questions about membership in terrorist organizations. All of it was pretty bland, truth be told, but glad that round’s over with.

Finally bought a backup disk for my iBook this weekend, so I went ahead and partitioned that and backed up the important files this evening. It’s not automated a la the PC version, but a simple copy and paste worked just as well. Getting all the music backed up, as well as the quicken data, addressbook, porn, and calendar on there was a good feeling. The laptop’s coming up on 3 years old, I think, with a lot of data I consider pretty important, so ’twas well past time for this.

Not much else going on. Hoping the cold’s gone enough for the next two races (the last three I couldn’t care less about), this weekend and next. In the meantime it’s rest, try not to kill myself, taper, etc. Quiet time.

Earlier today I finally posted one of the three race reports that I need to do. Still have this past weekend’s 10k and the 1/2 marathon from April yet to write up.

Work’s gotten a tad better. I spent a good bit of time cleaning off my desk, recycling or filing things. Part of that was finally having passed a draft to management of a long-term project, so while I waited for feedback I took some time to make some more work space available. Did get the needed feedback later in the afternoon so I now have more direction on which way to go, which is a very good thing, and I feel a lot better about the project. I suspect I’d have been better off chatting with da boss for a bit on this thing rather than operating in quite the vacuum I was working in, but so be it. A lesson for next time. In the meantime, I’m good to go and feeling better.

The crush continues apace. We spent most of pride weekend together, a lovely bit of time with friends and hanging out and wandering around seeing tons of folks whom I never see because either I or they never go out (or never go out to the same places). A tad too much alcohol was consumed Saturday, but these things happen. At least a couple people met the crush and I got approvals back from those who did.

Back to serious training this week. Cycled this morning, will run and swim tomorrow. 88 more days until the half-ironman, aka “Ironman 70.3” race as they’re calling them these days (if you total up the swim, bike and run miles it comes to 70.3 miles: 1.2, 56, and 13.1; a full Ironman is twice that). I can do it, and I’m pretty sure I’ll actually enjoy it, too, but it’ll certainly be a challenge. Looking forward to it.

Left work early this evening to bike home ahead of a line of thunderstorms that rolled through downtown around 5:35 or so. Just managed to get in before the rain started, so glad I left when I did. Wasn’t very long, but was very intense, and was right at closing time for me. Did up a batch of steamed dumplings for dinner. I’m trying out various pre-made ones and so far this manufacturer is winning hands down. Interesting taste, spiced just right, cooked easily, stayed together, but didn’t stick to one another. The first batch was okay, the second (boiled) batch turned into one giant mass-of-dumpling-dough-and-filling.

Attended my second cult co-op meeting of the week tonight. While I led the last meeting (which is less formal than most), this one I wish I had led. Oh. Em. Gee. Talk about toxic. The older committee members seem to have some sort of complex about years of perceived abuse that’s supposedly been heaped on them and they’re just a mess. I think we could have gotten all of the work done in an hour, maybe a little more, rather than the 1.5+ hour rambling session that passed for a meeting. What a cluster fuck. I may have to shoot the board member who talked me into getting on this thing.

Oh, and last but not least the little man purse extra small messenger bag I ordered to tool around town with finally arrived today (not those colors, though – I did a custom one in burgundy/steel/burgundy with a moss liner and a silver logo). Mmm, pretty… I wanted something to carry a few small things with if I bike somewhere in town that wasn’t my huge messenger bag (both to have the smaller bag and not to layer my entire back in a nice, unbreathing sweat bag). I think it’ll do the trick nicely.

Never before have I had so high a race number (#4!!), and probably never will again.

First, a bit of back story. I was down to do the Sunday race because my eldest niece, who turned 10 this year, was going to do her first kids’ triathlon on Saturday. The weather for the kids’ tri was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and perfect, and she had a blast. She was seeded toward the end because of her swim time, which was fine, but seemed a bit high for 100 meters (5:30) when I checked her bib info at packet pickup.

Well, there was a reason it was a little high. Evidently when I registered her for her race (her birthday present) and myself for the adults’ race, our two swim times got switched. So instead of 3:30 to swim her 100 meters, she got my 5:30 for my 300 meters, and vice-versa. Which meant when I showed up for packet pickup, I was something of a star to the volunteers because I was getting a single digit number, meaning I was supposedly faster than fast. Only, I’m not. Thankfully the race director was kind enough to tell me where I should seed myself for the swim start, and the story made for a fun one while standing in line for the swim.

Race day itself broke nice and wet. Just like the Mooseman race I did this same weekend last year. I’m sensing a trend for these races when I stay with my parents, who had brought up my niece in their RV. So we trundled out to the Y, early enough to get good parking, and I set up transition in the rain.

The swim itself was, well, dark. We had been standing outside in the semi-sun, had maybe 30 seconds at the door and into the edge of the pool before launching into the swim, and that wasn’t enough time for my eyes to adjust before I was into a churning pool full of hyped up triathletes. Heart rate was, as usual, far too high on the swim. Trying to relax there has to be my biggest weakness, even in a pool snake swim. I passed two folks, and two others passed me, so I think I seeded myself just about right. Didn’t stop except to let folks pass, and got out as soon as I could. Once out I had a good chat while running over to transition with another woman who made it out just before I did.

T1 went well, and I popped out on the bike pretty well. The woman I’d left the swim with set a pretty good pace on the bike, so, while staying out of her draft zone (USAT folks were very much in evidence on their motorcycles) I followed behind. The course was moderately hilly, but not bad. I think I shifted more in those 12 miles than I’ve done in the last month (ah, good old flat Hains Point). The rain was off and on, and I got my heart rate down a smidge from the swim, but I probably hammered it a bit much. It was a sprint, though, and I was still feeling fine. The most memorable moment had to be biking under some high-powered wires at one point because the things were literally sizzling and crackling in the rain. I was glad we were zipping along at a good clip.

There was one spot where the volunteer didn’t have a flag to motion us to turn, and I almost missed that last turn, but otherwise the intersections were well staffed with police and volunteers, all of whom I made sure to thank as I rolled through.

Somewhere around three quarters of the way through my pace setter slowed down some and I passed her. Kept up the good pace all the way to transition, and popped into that well. As usual I unclipped and shook out my legs while gliding to the dismount, and then it was into T2. It was a little slow, because I had to get stuff out of the bag I had my shoes and race belt in, but it was worth it to have dry shoes, at least for a few minutes.

About half way down the transition area I realized I’d left my biking gloves on. Not the first time I’ve done that, and I’m capable of running with ’em on, but it’s a tad annoying. As I approached the turn to head out, though, I spotted Mom and Dad at the end, so peeled off the gloves as Dad snapped photos and tossed them toward Mom and asked her to hold them for me.

The run course might have been relatively flat for the Richmond area, but it was not flat. Long, shallow inclines, both up and down both ways, dominated the run. I maintained a pretty good turnover on my legs, and ran the full 5k. The water stop was just perfect, and the volunteers were great. As I approached the turn into the finish I caught up to another age-grouper, who, as I went to pass him, suddenly picked up the pace and zipped on ahead. No biggie. Ran into the finish in an hour and twenty minutes, about ten minutes ahead of what I expected to do it in. The run and swim were right on pace, so the bike pace I followed must’ve shaved off most of the time, plus some savings in transition. Even with the rain it wasn’t too bad, and I’m getting used to racing this way.

Overall, the race itself was a lot of fun and I’d do it again. It was a fast sprint with just enough hills on the bike and run to present a challenge but not to kill yourself on.

My niece, A, is thoroughly excited about tomorrow’s race, but right now Uncle Moose is Uncle Meanie; I made her go brush her teeth.

Got down to Richmond without incident in the big, black Dodge Earth Destroyer 2007 (aka a Nitro, I think) that I rented for the occasion. Did lots of thinking about what type of car I’d actually get if I had to get one, and came to the conclusion that I’m thankful I don’t need one on a regular basis.

Packet pickup went well and was pretty easy. I saw the race official I’d met back in February who let me know about this event. We also tried to go for Chinese, but it was a buffet (ew!), so ended up down the street at a nice little Vietnamese place for tons of tofu. A is actually quite excited to have tofu these days; definitely not your normal 10 year old. My parents are currently trying a vegan diet in order to try and control Dad’s diabetes and both of their weight issues. So my brother is the sole omnivore in the immediate family at the moment.

I’m a bit worried about my bike for the race. I’m going to have to spend some time tomorrow looking at the front tire. I had my third flat in two weeks when I went to load the bike this afternoon, and I suspect something is not fitting correctly, or is otherwise rubbing the tube around the stem because the first two (I’ve not yet confirmed this with the latest flat – I just packed it flat) both had holes right near the base of the stem. Very annoying. So I’ll dig in there and see if anything’s come loose or is now rough or the like. Getting tired of replacing tubes, especially since the first one in there lasted almost a year and a half and the last two less than a week each.

Oh, I heard from my object d’crush this evening as well. He and his friends are down at Gay Days at Disney this weekend, and it sounds like they’re having a good time thus far. Was nice to get an email from him when we got settled and logged back online this evening.
We’re headed to bed now, with dusk not yet settled, because we’ve got to be up at 5:30 for the race.

Small gay world. Just discovered multiple connections between friends old and new this evening while out at dinner with a friend. Mentioned his new roommate and it went all over from there. As I’ve said before, DC is a big city, but a small town.

Behaving tonight, despite multiple invites to go out. Did pop out to the aforementioned dinner because the friend wanted to look at bikes over on the Hill, but then biked back home to relax here and lay out stuff for the morning.

Work dumped us out about 2 hours early, after the usual rush of “OMG, this has to get done NOW, NOW, NOW!!!!!!!” stuff that always happens on the Friday before a holiday. Shocked folks by wearing jeans today (for maybe the 1/2 dozenth time in the 3+ years I’ve been there?). But got through the majority of the issues and I hope got folks settled and ready for their weekend. Even if I didn’t, da bosslady said to git, so I left.

Almost ready for the race next weekend. Have to email my parents with some last minute stuff to prep my niece, arrange for the rental car, and then I’m good to go. Should be fun.

The past couple weeks have just been entirely too much. Two flat tires last week, one on each bike. My neighbor across the hall, a sweet older gentleman, died of complications from his diabetes on Thursday. Started swimming again in anticipation of the sprint race I have in two weeks in Richmond, and for the 1/2 Ironman triathlon I’m doing in September. Went out a time or two for a birthday party, and taking a friend who needed to get out of his house, and just for the heck of it. Was up just before 4 this morning to run out to Columbia to be race support for my tri club for those folks racing the Columbia Triathlon today. Most definitely been burning the candle at both ends, in the middle, and everywhere else I could find a spot to light, or just melt off a bit.

I hope that the schedule will be calming down somewhat in the next few weeks, moreso since I’ve done much needed laundry and food shopping. Cooking anything more complex than zapping something in the microwave or popping it into the rice cooker or crock pot is going to be difficult as the season progresses, but I’ll make due. Simple meals are my friends in any case.

Despite how nuts this all sounds I’ve mostly been having a pretty good time. Work’s busy, but not overwhelmingly so. We’re in the process of hiring two new attorneys, one of whom is supposed to start learning some of my area of law so we have a backup for me. I’m prepping some training for the other attorneys in my office so they can better spot issues in my practice area and refer them appropriately. I finally reclaimed my living room from the dreaded futon, so it’s a bit more together (and roomba friendly). I have two dressers on the way for the bedroom, and a plan to pass off the last piece of my niece’s bedroom set to my parents when I see them in Richmond in two weeks. So stuff is relatively together, but definitely needs some smoothing at the edges.

So, I’ve finally started training for this triathlon season. Sort of.

Ran this morning, since I didn’t get in a single run this weekend. Didn’t sleep well Thursday or Friday nights, so was too wiped. Friday it was the asshole downstairs neighbors and their incense again. I left a very ugly email for management about not getting that fixed yet. They of course did not come into the apartment today to do anything to the remaining hole in the wall that’s letting this crap in. Someone’s getting an ugly phone call tomorrow.

Anyway, ran this morning, swam this evening. Pool was mega-crowded. One of the few times I’ve had to circle swim at the Y, which always throws off the pacing of a workout for me. The other two folks in the lane were a tad slower than I was, but not too far off. Gave me some time to rest before heading back out. Was an okay swim.

Plan is to get up and bike with the club in the morning, provided it’s not raining.

Should definitely sleep well tonight.

Still have to write up the race report from the previous weekend. Oh, and I signed up for a 10k in two weeks. Because I’m insane. And didn’t have a race in May yet. Though I have a friend looking for a 5k in the area because he’s never done a running race and I said I’d do one with him.

What else? Work was nuts today. We had field counsel in from all over the country and I got to meet some of them in person finally. Otherwise I was buried in my office writing up stuff to go the uber-boss to tell him why we don’t think we have a legal problem with someone another BGA claims is a legal problem. Whee. That and trying to pry more information out of yet another BGA. At least they’re paying me well now.

Mixed messages and missed texts ended up scuttling Saturday plans, so was relatively good and quiet Saturday evening. Biked with my newbies Sunday. Made plans for dinner with a friend on Thursday. The same missed connection from Saturday seems to be missing making plans for this week as well. Oh well, his loss. Plans made for this upcoming Saturday to go to, of all things, an amusement park. Only riding the rollercoasters if they’re not too big. As Bug can attest to, I’m not a big fan. Should be a trip.

My sunglasses broke this morning; ear piece came off. Thankfully I have an eyedoctor appointment on Monday (along with the dentist – double whammy), so I’ll be able to either fix these or order a new set. Also have to get new regular lenses, I’m sure. The ones I have now must not have gotten the scratch-proof coating, they’re all scratched to heck and it’s beyond annoying when around any sort of brightish light. Look forward to being able to read the TiVo screen from my reading chair again. How much we want to bet I’m down another quarter of a diopter again this year?

Otherwise, kicking up the training for my first sprint race the first weekend of June, and settling back into a routine. While includes crashing at not quite 10 pm. Oy.

Oh, and on the removal of The Awakening from Hains Point? Let ’em have it. Maybe fewer tour busses will travel down there now while we’re trying to bike and run.

The race went well, 2:15:07 chip time (I was expecting 2:20, and this was a PR from my previous 2:58). Will do up a full report once I get home and can download the HRM info, but wanted to get something up quickly. Now, it’s off to hunt down lunch!

The drive from DC to Chesapeake (Great Bridge, specifically), usually takes somewhere around 4 hours, give or take a bit, depending on wind speed, police presence, etc. Today it took 6 hours.

Six. Hours.

There had been some sort of accident north of Richmond, so it took me four hours to get to Richmond itself. When we passed the spot where the accident had occurred, of course there was no sign of the accident itself, we were simply experiencing the aftermath of the original slow down, which is probably still inflicting itself upon the poor fools stuck driving on I-95 this evening.

The worst was the constant signs from the Ever-helpful folks at VDOT who told us “Accident X Miles Ahead; Expect Major Delays; Consider Alternate Routes”. The alternate route I considered was an expanded and decent rail system that would actually get me all the way down into Chesapeake, but alas, that is not to be. It would have been a bit more helpful if, say, they’d had VDOT or VSP officials out waiving folks along to keep them moving past the accident site and avoided the slow down entirely, but of course, that would be useful. Or if they’d actually suggested what some alternate routes might be, instead of leaving us with no idea how to hop off and get around the mess on the highway.

(I did call my parents and asked for alternate routes, but the one would have had me incredibly out of the way and the other only intersected with the highway where the accident site was, making it not terribly useful)

Now I remember why I don’t drive. I’m sorely tempted next time, even though it will add to the overall time of the trip, to take the train down to the Peninsula and rent a car there rather than have to drive all the way down and up on 95 again. Gah.

I was a tad worried this morning about the race tomorrow, my ankle started to bother me after all the walking yesterday, but it appears to be fine this evening. The 6 hours of rest in the car helped it, no doubt. Crashed out in the motor home this time so I have a real bed on which to sleep before the race tomorrow. Phone’s set to play reveille at 5 am, we’re getting to the race site at 7. 1,500 racers are registered. It’s a flat out and back, so should be good. Looking forward to dropping back down to shorter distances for the immediate future after this, too. I’ll be back up there in September for this fall’s big race, but in the meantime I want some time down to focus on biking.