Happy to hear you came away from this season on a positive! Looking forward to 2019
James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
Kerry Werner doing a hot lap during warmups. I think...
Event of the Day: Fly home from Louisville
I sit down to start writing this sitting across from gate A11 in the Louisville International Airport just after 10:00am on Saturday morning. I am tired, which is to be expected. On top of that, the largest muscle in the human body, at least mine, is sore today. This is a bit of a surprise, but as I think about yesterday, I guess the running-plodding-trodding added up and there you go. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a pretty harsh sore throat, which is sort of in-line with what @jShort has been experiencing in the fact that this has been nagging for a few weeks and just won't stop. Part of me thinks this is a relic of allergies, when the fall leaves/dust start to kick up as the air gets more dry. Regardless, it's nagging me and adding to the washed out, post-race stasis I find myself in. But as today is the first day of 2019, it's really of little concern.
Now, do I sit here and look back or look forward? I'll immediately call myself out after having written that line and state the obvious: we are always doing both, or at least we should be. We should always try to learn from what we did right or wrong, and try to apply it to whatever we line up next. I'm not thinking too specifically about 2019 right now. That will come in time. I'm also looking at the now. While it's true the season ended yesterday, I still have a few things to take care of before 2019 starts in earnest.
Looking back, I don't think I would change much of anything from the past year, or at least how I lead myself into this nationals week. I might go back and do a little less taper but I felt pretty good yesterday so really, I think we're ok. I think losing weight, then actual training into this, was a good combination. You could argue that I should have just hyper-focused on weight loss but at some point I think you need to mix it up with efforts, as this is what really gets the fire burning and making you want more. And while I am tired and my butt muscles hurt, deep down I want more. I think the combination was good. Now I have motivation to lay down the base miles, drop more pounds, and try to crank out the maximum fun while also creeping back into the mix.
I appreciate all the readers, and likes, and comments through the year. They all mean something to me, and I hope you guys keep them coming. The fact that people are reading all of this does help motivate me. While I don't necessarily do everything for others to consume, I also don't do it in a vacuum. If I didn't have people to share it with, I would be less motivated to keep at it some days. Thanks to everyone for the feedback, encouragement, suggestions, and so on. Even if it seems I am not reading & listening, I assure you I am.
I would also be remiss if I did not give thanks to @Dominique for the support. Obviously none of this happens without her being supportive of it.
I would also like to thank the academy for providing nothing at all. And the screen actor's guild. And viewers like you. And of course, @Mitch. On a serious note, thanks to @seanrunnette for kicking around this season with me. Sometimes I think he is happier about my results than I am. He's a solid partner in crime and I look forward to trying to knock out another endurance race together in 2019, among other things.
This narrative has now moved on to the plane, and we are well past the halfway point of the journey from Louisville to New Jersey. In a way, when the plane hits the tarmac at EWR this will be the true end of the 2018 bike season. It will wrap up the journey that brought me to Louisville and had me experience something that was a first for me. Once I step off the plane the transition from 2018 to 2019 will begin, and the next 3 weeks will be a scattered mess of being in different places and doing different things. I'll do my best to tie up the 2018 calendar year as outlined above. Then I'll kick off the base season on Jan 2.
Until then, enjoy the adventures of Norman Sandiego as I hit up Seattle, Canada, Pennsylvania, and a little cabin up in the wilds of Northwest New Jersey as we tie up 2018 with some good friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
I sit down to start writing this sitting across from gate A11 in the Louisville International Airport just after 10:00am on Saturday morning. I am tired, which is to be expected. On top of that, the largest muscle in the human body, at least mine, is sore today. This is a bit of a surprise, but as I think about yesterday, I guess the running-plodding-trodding added up and there you go. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a pretty harsh sore throat, which is sort of in-line with what @jShort has been experiencing in the fact that this has been nagging for a few weeks and just won't stop. Part of me thinks this is a relic of allergies, when the fall leaves/dust start to kick up as the air gets more dry. Regardless, it's nagging me and adding to the washed out, post-race stasis I find myself in. But as today is the first day of 2019, it's really of little concern.
Now, do I sit here and look back or look forward? I'll immediately call myself out after having written that line and state the obvious: we are always doing both, or at least we should be. We should always try to learn from what we did right or wrong, and try to apply it to whatever we line up next. I'm not thinking too specifically about 2019 right now. That will come in time. I'm also looking at the now. While it's true the season ended yesterday, I still have a few things to take care of before 2019 starts in earnest.
- I am 11 hours short of 500 on the year, specifically on the bike. Strava calendar says I have 541 hours which is a total of all things. I need to figure out a way to get 11 more hours on the bike this year because I want to hit 500. One last goal, which I should be able to reach assuming I put in some time in the hotel gym in Seattle. I checked it out and they have an upright bike which will make this easier.
- Seattle - need to knock out this one last full workshop for the PS org. This should be the last one of these full 5-day deals because in my new role, I'll have the ability to pick and choose what I want to do with these. Regardless, I have this last one staring me down and it begins before I even get a chance to unpack from the current trip.
- Canada - the day after I come back from Seattle we drive to Canada for the 7-day holiday tour. That includes 2 drives and 5 days on the ground. We're pretty set on how this is going to go. Looks like this (by day): drive (1), ski (2), open (3), ski/Xmas (4), family party (5), ski (6), drive (7).
- Then we wrap up the home Xmas with my parents. Then NYE and the year starts again on 1/2, when we get a new dishwasher delivered.
Looking back, I don't think I would change much of anything from the past year, or at least how I lead myself into this nationals week. I might go back and do a little less taper but I felt pretty good yesterday so really, I think we're ok. I think losing weight, then actual training into this, was a good combination. You could argue that I should have just hyper-focused on weight loss but at some point I think you need to mix it up with efforts, as this is what really gets the fire burning and making you want more. And while I am tired and my butt muscles hurt, deep down I want more. I think the combination was good. Now I have motivation to lay down the base miles, drop more pounds, and try to crank out the maximum fun while also creeping back into the mix.
I appreciate all the readers, and likes, and comments through the year. They all mean something to me, and I hope you guys keep them coming. The fact that people are reading all of this does help motivate me. While I don't necessarily do everything for others to consume, I also don't do it in a vacuum. If I didn't have people to share it with, I would be less motivated to keep at it some days. Thanks to everyone for the feedback, encouragement, suggestions, and so on. Even if it seems I am not reading & listening, I assure you I am.
I would also be remiss if I did not give thanks to @Dominique for the support. Obviously none of this happens without her being supportive of it.
I would also like to thank the academy for providing nothing at all. And the screen actor's guild. And viewers like you. And of course, @Mitch. On a serious note, thanks to @seanrunnette for kicking around this season with me. Sometimes I think he is happier about my results than I am. He's a solid partner in crime and I look forward to trying to knock out another endurance race together in 2019, among other things.
This narrative has now moved on to the plane, and we are well past the halfway point of the journey from Louisville to New Jersey. In a way, when the plane hits the tarmac at EWR this will be the true end of the 2018 bike season. It will wrap up the journey that brought me to Louisville and had me experience something that was a first for me. Once I step off the plane the transition from 2018 to 2019 will begin, and the next 3 weeks will be a scattered mess of being in different places and doing different things. I'll do my best to tie up the 2018 calendar year as outlined above. Then I'll kick off the base season on Jan 2.
Until then, enjoy the adventures of Norman Sandiego as I hit up Seattle, Canada, Pennsylvania, and a little cabin up in the wilds of Northwest New Jersey as we tie up 2018 with some good friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Event(s) of the Day: Simon turns 9 then I fly to Seattle
As if each and every day wasn't enough of an adventure, today delivers us a double adventure. First up, Simon turns 9. We kicked off the celebration last night with a dinner at a Thai restaurant, which he picked as a way to make the most number of people happy. As a comparison, last year he wanted dessert crepes for dinner because he likes dessert crepes. This year, he picked Thai because we all like it. Little man is growing up.
Went home and watched Dumpling, which is a Netflix movie with Jennifer Aniston. Not the greatest movie ever made but it was a good family flick for a Saturday night. Also finished up Simon's birthday ice cream cake from his party at Sky Zone a few weeks ago. Then bed.
This morning was breakfast in bed for the little guy.
Then we went to see Mortal Engines, which was a pretty cool story. It's a Peter Jackson flick that I thought had a bit of a Star Wars vibe to it, which is funny because that's what D said on the drive home. I'll say it's a worthy movie to watch.
In between all of this I packed.
Part 2: Fly to Seattle
After the above, I realized my window to ride was too small so I tied up my packing, showered up, then got ready to go. Then my phone popped up a message that the flight was going to be delayed. I looked into it, and the plane was still on the runway in Vegas. It was going to be a while. Decided to hop on the trainer for a quick hour, which was good, made me feel a little better. I've been dealing with this nagging cold all day and spinning a little helped that.
Flight was bumped to 8:20 which gets me into Seattle around 11 West Coast time, which gets me to bed at 12:00 at best, which is 3am our time. This is going to be one damn long night. Grabbed a salad & chocolate for dinner.
I'm not sure how I'm going to play this week yet. After today I stand 10 hours short of 500, so I may just try to bury myself in the hotel gym to get that out of the way. This stupid workshop is 8-5 every day, Monday through Thursday. I'll need to work around that. I'm in the University District this time, so I won't be in the amazing coffee spot I was in last time I was here. I'm sure there will be plenty of coffee no matter where I am. Ideally, I would knock out a ride before the workshop, then go to work, grab a quick dinner, then call it a day and try to stay on EST as much as possible. I'll need to wake up at Stupid O'clock on Friday morning to catch an early flight. I'd like to keep an early schedule all except for the fact I am wiping my internal time zone settings tonight.
Staring down the barrel of a ~6 hour flight. Here is how I burned up that time:
1. Finished 1 NYTimes Magazine. I brought 6 with me and hope to read 1 every day. It's just not as good these days.
2. Tied up some work things while I did other crap. Since they are paying for the Internet it's only fair.
3. Watched Argo on the United feed. Argo fuck yourself. Good movie.
4. Watched Patriot s1e1, as per the recommendation by @jShort. I actually downloaded both seasons to my phone. I think Jeremy said, "It's not what you think." After 6 minutes, I was like yeah, ok it's not what I would have expected. After 1 episode, I like it. Look forward to more.
5. Read a chapter of A Mango-Shaped Space, which is a book the kids read at school.
6. Added the story below.
7. Finished up writing the blog. Hit submit.
8. Unconfirmed presumption: landed in Seattle and took Uber to hotel.
Ok, a Story
I told D this story tonight while we were chatting on Hangouts. One time I flew back from Taiwan by myself. Direct flight, 14 hours. I decided to get on the plane and drink cheap Taiwanese beer. They had video games on the plane then, and there was one game I was pretty good at, but it was extremely long to beat. Well, I start this game, and play for hours while drinking. After 6 hours, this flight is goddamn awesome. I am still playing the game. You know, ok right now, you know where this is going. I keep going with this process and the awesome fades to ok fades to not-so-good fades to WTF am I doing? We are 12 hours in and I am still, yes still, playing the same single game. I am getting closer and closer to finishing it, but goddamn I feel miserable. After 13 hours of this fucking game, I am close to beating it but I have now been up for 24 hours straight and I am a waste and feel like holy hell and I screw up and lose. At this point I am probably already hungover. For the last hour of the flight I listen to Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and sleep lightly. In all, that was a completely miserable way to approach a 14 hour flight. The next 2 days were awful.
Never do that.
As if each and every day wasn't enough of an adventure, today delivers us a double adventure. First up, Simon turns 9. We kicked off the celebration last night with a dinner at a Thai restaurant, which he picked as a way to make the most number of people happy. As a comparison, last year he wanted dessert crepes for dinner because he likes dessert crepes. This year, he picked Thai because we all like it. Little man is growing up.
Went home and watched Dumpling, which is a Netflix movie with Jennifer Aniston. Not the greatest movie ever made but it was a good family flick for a Saturday night. Also finished up Simon's birthday ice cream cake from his party at Sky Zone a few weeks ago. Then bed.
This morning was breakfast in bed for the little guy.
Then we went to see Mortal Engines, which was a pretty cool story. It's a Peter Jackson flick that I thought had a bit of a Star Wars vibe to it, which is funny because that's what D said on the drive home. I'll say it's a worthy movie to watch.
In between all of this I packed.
Part 2: Fly to Seattle
After the above, I realized my window to ride was too small so I tied up my packing, showered up, then got ready to go. Then my phone popped up a message that the flight was going to be delayed. I looked into it, and the plane was still on the runway in Vegas. It was going to be a while. Decided to hop on the trainer for a quick hour, which was good, made me feel a little better. I've been dealing with this nagging cold all day and spinning a little helped that.
Flight was bumped to 8:20 which gets me into Seattle around 11 West Coast time, which gets me to bed at 12:00 at best, which is 3am our time. This is going to be one damn long night. Grabbed a salad & chocolate for dinner.
I'm not sure how I'm going to play this week yet. After today I stand 10 hours short of 500, so I may just try to bury myself in the hotel gym to get that out of the way. This stupid workshop is 8-5 every day, Monday through Thursday. I'll need to work around that. I'm in the University District this time, so I won't be in the amazing coffee spot I was in last time I was here. I'm sure there will be plenty of coffee no matter where I am. Ideally, I would knock out a ride before the workshop, then go to work, grab a quick dinner, then call it a day and try to stay on EST as much as possible. I'll need to wake up at Stupid O'clock on Friday morning to catch an early flight. I'd like to keep an early schedule all except for the fact I am wiping my internal time zone settings tonight.
Staring down the barrel of a ~6 hour flight. Here is how I burned up that time:
1. Finished 1 NYTimes Magazine. I brought 6 with me and hope to read 1 every day. It's just not as good these days.
2. Tied up some work things while I did other crap. Since they are paying for the Internet it's only fair.
3. Watched Argo on the United feed. Argo fuck yourself. Good movie.
4. Watched Patriot s1e1, as per the recommendation by @jShort. I actually downloaded both seasons to my phone. I think Jeremy said, "It's not what you think." After 6 minutes, I was like yeah, ok it's not what I would have expected. After 1 episode, I like it. Look forward to more.
5. Read a chapter of A Mango-Shaped Space, which is a book the kids read at school.
6. Added the story below.
7. Finished up writing the blog. Hit submit.
8. Unconfirmed presumption: landed in Seattle and took Uber to hotel.
Ok, a Story
I told D this story tonight while we were chatting on Hangouts. One time I flew back from Taiwan by myself. Direct flight, 14 hours. I decided to get on the plane and drink cheap Taiwanese beer. They had video games on the plane then, and there was one game I was pretty good at, but it was extremely long to beat. Well, I start this game, and play for hours while drinking. After 6 hours, this flight is goddamn awesome. I am still playing the game. You know, ok right now, you know where this is going. I keep going with this process and the awesome fades to ok fades to not-so-good fades to WTF am I doing? We are 12 hours in and I am still, yes still, playing the same single game. I am getting closer and closer to finishing it, but goddamn I feel miserable. After 13 hours of this fucking game, I am close to beating it but I have now been up for 24 hours straight and I am a waste and feel like holy hell and I screw up and lose. At this point I am probably already hungover. For the last hour of the flight I listen to Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and sleep lightly. In all, that was a completely miserable way to approach a 14 hour flight. The next 2 days were awful.
Never do that.
Take care of yourself and make sure your cold doesn't get worse, you have exposed yourself to east coast coodies, now you are getting a dose of the West coast.
Are there any good places to ride in Seattle?How is the weather, can you rent a road bike and do some fun stuff?
HBD Simon, take it slow.
Are there any good places to ride in Seattle?How is the weather, can you rent a road bike and do some fun stuff?
HBD Simon, take it slow.
Quoted for emphasis.
StayHydrated
Swedish Chef
Easily adaptable to others' experiences.
Event of the Day: Wake up in Settle, far too early
I have started using the Sleep Cycle app again, so I can tell you I was in bed from 12:47 to 4:20, PST. It also tells me when I started waking up, which was around 3:00, rising until I was pretty much awake at 3:30, which is right in-line with 6:30 at home. 3:32 in bed but I was up for a while before I called it and decided to get out of bed and knock out the hotel gym part of my day. Got to the gym by 4:45, rode London for an hour while I watched s1e2 and the start of s1e3 of Patriot, then showered up and made it to the breakfast by 6:15 only to find out it isn't open until 6:30. I told the 3 people I'm here with that I might make it, or might not. In the end I was the first downstairs.
I'm going to try to keep EST hours, if at all possible.
After breakfast, Pittsburgh Glenn drove us to the workshop site, which is technically Seattle but might as well but 200 miles north, well into Canada. We are not remotely downtown and the building we're in is a sort of barren wasteland. This is also the first time the client did not provide us with anything. No breakfast, no snacks, no coffee, no lunch, nothing. Lame, if you ask me. At least there was a small deli where I got a soup and salad. Breakfast was oatmeal, by the way. My general approach is to eat oatmeal then salad then find something good for dinner.
Dinner is a Taiwanese place 3 blocks south of the hotel. I fully expected to go it alone but Pittsburgh Glenn was on board and went with me. Austin Sean and Austin Meggan went to the hotel-attached McWhatever that you find at hotels. I refuse to eat Americana unless I have to. In Seattle, you don't have to.
On the way back to the hotel I stopped at one of the coffee shops I had found and got an amazing espresso. Legit. Good way to end the dinner walk. By the way, it was pissing rain more or less all day. As Sean texted me, there is definitely a theme here.
As much as I don't want to be here, and feel that this is somewhat a waste of my time, it's probably still pretty useful as I know far more of the product than the guy who will be running this. I ended up having to help him out a bunch of times today, as this is his first real implementation. On that note, there is a non-zero chance I'll need to go to Arizona over the winter which doesn't sound like the worst idea ever.
I'm not turning this trip into much more than what today was. We got out at 4:20 and it was almost dark already and pissing rain. Apparently the week is going to be like this every day. So it's not much of an outdoor trip for me. I'm really going to benefit from just laying low and trying to catch up on some sleep. On that note, going to button this one up and get ready for bed.
I have started using the Sleep Cycle app again, so I can tell you I was in bed from 12:47 to 4:20, PST. It also tells me when I started waking up, which was around 3:00, rising until I was pretty much awake at 3:30, which is right in-line with 6:30 at home. 3:32 in bed but I was up for a while before I called it and decided to get out of bed and knock out the hotel gym part of my day. Got to the gym by 4:45, rode London for an hour while I watched s1e2 and the start of s1e3 of Patriot, then showered up and made it to the breakfast by 6:15 only to find out it isn't open until 6:30. I told the 3 people I'm here with that I might make it, or might not. In the end I was the first downstairs.
I'm going to try to keep EST hours, if at all possible.
After breakfast, Pittsburgh Glenn drove us to the workshop site, which is technically Seattle but might as well but 200 miles north, well into Canada. We are not remotely downtown and the building we're in is a sort of barren wasteland. This is also the first time the client did not provide us with anything. No breakfast, no snacks, no coffee, no lunch, nothing. Lame, if you ask me. At least there was a small deli where I got a soup and salad. Breakfast was oatmeal, by the way. My general approach is to eat oatmeal then salad then find something good for dinner.
Dinner is a Taiwanese place 3 blocks south of the hotel. I fully expected to go it alone but Pittsburgh Glenn was on board and went with me. Austin Sean and Austin Meggan went to the hotel-attached McWhatever that you find at hotels. I refuse to eat Americana unless I have to. In Seattle, you don't have to.
On the way back to the hotel I stopped at one of the coffee shops I had found and got an amazing espresso. Legit. Good way to end the dinner walk. By the way, it was pissing rain more or less all day. As Sean texted me, there is definitely a theme here.
As much as I don't want to be here, and feel that this is somewhat a waste of my time, it's probably still pretty useful as I know far more of the product than the guy who will be running this. I ended up having to help him out a bunch of times today, as this is his first real implementation. On that note, there is a non-zero chance I'll need to go to Arizona over the winter which doesn't sound like the worst idea ever.
I'm not turning this trip into much more than what today was. We got out at 4:20 and it was almost dark already and pissing rain. Apparently the week is going to be like this every day. So it's not much of an outdoor trip for me. I'm really going to benefit from just laying low and trying to catch up on some sleep. On that note, going to button this one up and get ready for bed.
thegock
Well-Known Member
Event of the Day: Seattle Workshop Day 2 (Glorious Things)
Last night I was asleep by 8:30. It was glorious. Alarm got me up at 4:00 again but today I was far more groggy today versus yesterday. I guess that means I'm catching up on some much-needed sleep, which is a good thing. Yesterday was a struggle for sure, but I got to the finish line. The rest of the week should be easier. By 4:30 I was on the gym bike and I cranked out 90 minutes this morning. I was tempted to do 120 but if I went long I was afraid the next 2 days would be impossible. The fact I am able to knock out 90 minutes on a shitty gym bike speaks to how useful Zwift is in motivating me still. Watched Patriot again today, finished s1e3, watched s1e4, then started s1e5. I'll get through this whole first season on this trip.
Went downstairs and destroyed breakfast at 6:30. I ate oatmeal but I also had some eggs with cheese mixed in. I earned it today. It was glorious.
Day 2 of the workshop. There is nothing really interesting to talk about here. We got out early, just after 3:00. Again I will use this word: Glorious. Now with extra time on our hands, the question was: what to do? I am not one to willingly hang out with my coworkers usually, my boss being 1 of the few exceptions to this. But I had time and they really wanted to go to Pike Place Market, so I said fine, let's go.
Walked around a bit and grabbed a cup of chowder from Pike Place Chowder. It was $8 for a cup and worth every penny of this. We had come here last year with the kids but the line was so long we skipped it. Now I understand why. Glorious. Probably the best version of that word I will use today. Wow, such good.
We asked where to get a good seafood dinner and one of the fruit vendors said Steelhead Diner. I got the Kasu Marinated Oregon Black Cod. It was goddamn delicious. Again: Glorious.
Got back to the hotel and Austin Sean asked if I wanted to run to the coffee shop and I was all like, um yeah. So in the end it was closed at 6pm which is bullshit but we stumbled upon Sweet Alchemy. It was a non-standard on-premise made ice cream shop. I got the dutch chocolate with peanuts. Can you guess? Yeah, glorious also.
Today was not the best day of my life. But there were several parts of it that were perfectly fine. I have had worse Tuesdays. Now I will go to bed and pretty much repeat it again tomorrow, but with different pictures.
Last night I was asleep by 8:30. It was glorious. Alarm got me up at 4:00 again but today I was far more groggy today versus yesterday. I guess that means I'm catching up on some much-needed sleep, which is a good thing. Yesterday was a struggle for sure, but I got to the finish line. The rest of the week should be easier. By 4:30 I was on the gym bike and I cranked out 90 minutes this morning. I was tempted to do 120 but if I went long I was afraid the next 2 days would be impossible. The fact I am able to knock out 90 minutes on a shitty gym bike speaks to how useful Zwift is in motivating me still. Watched Patriot again today, finished s1e3, watched s1e4, then started s1e5. I'll get through this whole first season on this trip.
Went downstairs and destroyed breakfast at 6:30. I ate oatmeal but I also had some eggs with cheese mixed in. I earned it today. It was glorious.
Day 2 of the workshop. There is nothing really interesting to talk about here. We got out early, just after 3:00. Again I will use this word: Glorious. Now with extra time on our hands, the question was: what to do? I am not one to willingly hang out with my coworkers usually, my boss being 1 of the few exceptions to this. But I had time and they really wanted to go to Pike Place Market, so I said fine, let's go.
Walked around a bit and grabbed a cup of chowder from Pike Place Chowder. It was $8 for a cup and worth every penny of this. We had come here last year with the kids but the line was so long we skipped it. Now I understand why. Glorious. Probably the best version of that word I will use today. Wow, such good.
We asked where to get a good seafood dinner and one of the fruit vendors said Steelhead Diner. I got the Kasu Marinated Oregon Black Cod. It was goddamn delicious. Again: Glorious.
Got back to the hotel and Austin Sean asked if I wanted to run to the coffee shop and I was all like, um yeah. So in the end it was closed at 6pm which is bullshit but we stumbled upon Sweet Alchemy. It was a non-standard on-premise made ice cream shop. I got the dutch chocolate with peanuts. Can you guess? Yeah, glorious also.
Today was not the best day of my life. But there were several parts of it that were perfectly fine. I have had worse Tuesdays. Now I will go to bed and pretty much repeat it again tomorrow, but with different pictures.
The Black Cod looks delish!