What Race to Run

Well this week is a big week in training.  I am still trying to decide if I am ready for a full length sprint distance for a triathlon.  On the 6th/7th there is a triathlon put on by the local YMCA (my gym).  The distances are 750 Yard swim, 12.5 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run/crawl.  You swim on the 6th and bike and run on the 7th.  The issue here is there also happens to be a little 5K run that same morning of the 7th. 

I need to decide which one I am going to do.   I really have no attachment to the 5k run.  The proceeds go to a local high-school athletic booster club.  I am simply attracted to it because it seems more manageable then a full sprint.    The pro’s to running the tri is simply the pure bliss of finishing a tri. 

So lets break down the tri into the three area’s and what they mean to me and my training.  The swim-  Well I know right now that if I do this tri my swim will be very slow and require a few rests.   Now my attitude towards the swim is just to survive since it will be an entire day ahead of the other two events.

The bike-  So this is a considerably longer distance then what I have been doing.  Granted I have been doing this distance about once a week.  Well the bike is not my difficulty I just simply get it done.

The run- I am not overly intimidated by the 5k it’s self but I am a little scared of it after the bike of that distance.  I fore see myself walk at least a 1/4 of the run.  Almost all of my training has been inside on the treadmill and the is race will be on a paved road.  (both races will be on pavement.)

Well I will pay extra if I miss the deadline today but I am ok with paying an extra $5 for either of them to make up my mind later this weekend after this weeks training.

The race

As I wrote about in my last post I was in a tri on the 10th. I had trained hard but had also had a little set back with being sick going into the last 10 days or so. My head cold had developed into an ear infection. I specifically went to my doctor prior to the race to make sure I would be ok. I was concerned with swimming and the ear infection. The doctor said I would be fine and wished me luck…

Well I was in the second grouping so I had to sit around for a hour trying not to get to geared up. I got in the pool for the first leg of the tri. I had to swim 18 laps. I was working on lap 10 when my ear popped. It felt good at first but it started hurting about 5 seconds later. All of a sudden it was total pain to have my ear in the water. As I came down to turn for my 11th lap the girl that was standing there counting my laps stopped me. I stood up and felt goo on my ear. I looked at my hand after wiping my ear and saw blood. I had blown my ear drum in the pressure of the pool.

I pulled out of the race. It was a little embarrassed.

I got back to the Gym this past weekend and have trained everyday since Saturday but I am staying clear of the pool for a while.

Test Taking

I mentioned last week that I was taking a class for work.  Well there is a certification with the class if I decide to take the test @ $150.

 I decided to take a practice test….I passed but by a slim margin…I went back through the test to try and learn from the errors.  I realize on 3 of the 40 questions I just simply read the question wrong. I haven’t had to take a test like this in over 5 years.  College was a while ago and I am not in the test taking mode anymore.

This is going to require a little more studing.

How Old was I????

As I am sure you might have seen I am reading a book currently about racism and specifically racism in the childhood.  It is called Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity.  I only end up reading 10-15 pages a day since I leave the book at work and grab a few pages at lunch ect.  As I see something interesting I highlight and write notes in the margins…

I ran across a few interesting thoughts in it so far though.  Here is a question I read the other day….”How old were you when you realized skin color?”.  You know, when was the first time you noticed that someone had a different skin color then yours. 

 I remember being in about 5 years old.  I noticed one kid had darker skin then I did.  I don’t remember how I discovered that he was Mexican but I do remember wanting to be Mexican because he was really nice kid and everyone liked him. 

I remeber later on (still as a little boy) being afraid of a guy (older adult) because he was Native American, I knew him as Indian then.  I was afraid he would scalpe me like the Indians did to the cowboys on tv.  It is interesting how playing Cowboys and Indians had an effect on me as a young boy.

 So how old where you?  What is your first memory.

Come as you are…

I try and read Mary’s blog over at OwlHaven daily. The other day she post a little something called “Come as you are”. The basics behind it is a simple face shot of your self. It is somewhat of a inside look of your self through the outside.  She posted a link to another “Come as you are”.

Well here is my crack at it.  I had to include my trusty sidekick (My Son).  I have to call him my trusty sidekick now since he doesn’t leave my side from the moment I walk in the door from work. 

 

 

Christmas Gift

Gift Ideas- Some years I have it all planned out what I am going to get my wife for Christmas and yet other years I struggle.  This year I really didn’t have a great idea going for me when she suggest that we can the idea of getting each other gifts.  She suggested that instead of spending a few hundred on each other for this year lets grab a couple tags off of donation tree’s and spend that same money on this instead.  Well it was an interesting idea I decided so I went along with it.

We went down to the city Christmas tree where the local women’s shelter and food bank post tags with different wish lists for families.  We ended up grabbing 4 tags I think.  One of the tags was for a boy who wants cloths (size 8-10), a school backpack with school supplies, and a hoola-hoop.  Instantly it broke my heart to picture a kid going to school in 3^rd grade without a backpack or the correct school supplies. 

I remember being in 3^rd grade when my father got laid off and was unemployed for the better part of a year.  (He was never totally unemployed, he always worked what ever job he could find but it never was much pay during that year) I also remember going to the bus stop with my buddies and they where making fun of me because I was wearing the K-mart blue light special shirt while they where in the cool Nike shirt or what ever the name brand was that week.

So my wife and I started to go shopping for this boy the other day.  We went to the large Wally-came-apart story and started looking at the cloths.  Yes for about $25 dollars it seemed like we could get about 113 pieces of clothing.  But to me it seemed to close to what I was going through at 3^rd grade.  I finally said enough and we left our cart and ran away.  I explained my issue with buying these second rate cloths for kids.  I know it is extremely materialistic of me but damn it 3^rd graders are ruff.

We went to a different store where $25 got us 2 shirts but they had the “correct names on them”.  I ended up not buying 113 pieces of clothing but I did throw the limits out the window and tried to get close to 113. 

I have to say I had more fun then I ever did shopping for my wife.  She got to shop for the little girl that she doesn’t have.   

Hanging out

I have decided one of the best things in my life is hanging out with my son.  It is inevitable that I am going to hang out with him since he is only 18 months old and can’t go do things on his own but lately I have really got a kick out of hanging out with him.  Don’t get me wrong I have always enjoyed being with my son but lately he has touched me even more with his humor and smile.  He makes me laugh I think more then I make him laugh.  He always wants to hang out with me.  I don’t have to try and impress him. 

This past long weekend we spent the better part of 4 days together.  Monday morning when I dropped him off at daycare I was really annoyed that I couldn’t hang out with him that day as much as I wanted to.  I really didn’t want to go spend time at work (yeah I know what your thinking but it was a little worse then usual.) Well I went to work and he went to daycare and we both made it.  Last night when I pulled in the garage about 15 seconds after my wife pulled in (She had picked him up and he was in the back seat.) I looked over at him in the other car and he had the biggest smile on his face to see me.  I instantly got the big wave from him.  Damn it was nice to be home.