The creative use of leverage is the most powerful tool a parent has. However, if a parent allows their child any leverage, there all done. Leverage is, after all, just power.

Case in point: Our neighbor who has a son in the same class as Mathew, is an excellent fisherboy. He catches the local fox island silver salmon. He is a master. He can cast his pole and just real them in. We often get his extra fish. We eat them fresh the same day.

I would like to get a more reliable source of salmon. Of course I am too cheap to pay $5+ a pound for the stuff when ultra fresh can be had for free. Since Mathew is under 14 he doesn't even need a fishing liscense. so I offered Mathew $1 a fish. I told him to go hang out with Riley and learn to fish. But he couldn't be bothered. He would rather read or build or play a computer game.

Then yesterday he asked if he could use his savings and buy a $20 computer game. He visits a friend and comes home and asks for games all the time. They get used a bit and then forgotten. But while he wants them, that's all he can think about.

So here's the deal, if he can bring home 10 fish I will buy the game. I had to sweeten the deal a bit over $1 a fish. He still thinks that this is an impossible task because Riley is so good. But I told him that some of his 10 fish can be caught by Riley. Now the gears really get moving. He came home yesterday and set up a fishing date for today. Now I get fresh fish and he might get a computer game. Win win Yes? The beauty is that if he spends enough time with riley trying to catch 10 fish, he should be a master himself and I will have all the fish I want in the future. A minor investment of $20 will get me free unlimited fresh salmon in the future.



The picture is of Kevin at the Orcas Island FA 50k. I have been working with him on the finer points of operating a keg. Kids are great aren't they? thanks for the pic Ty

Lord cromwell

Intergenerational Learing

When I moved back to Washington, I had a lot of time on my hands. Since my grandparents lived so far away, I thought that I would volunteer at the local assisted care facility. Its a place where old folks live in their own apartments but have all the services provided for them, like meals, cleaning, laundry. I began by playing cribbage with Jack. That was 5 years ago and we still play every Friday morning.

He is in his early 90's but is still fun to hang out with. I bring Kevin, 3 year's old, and he rides his tricycle around for everyone's enjoynment. People come and go. It is hard sometimes watching some of my friends as they become less sharp, fade into dementia, or get struck with sudden illness.

What I have learned is that over the last 50 years families and the teaching that goes on from one generation to the next has disintegrated. One of the reasons I moved back was to be closer to my parents but frankly, I still see them only occasionally. And before they died, my fiercly independent grandparents would never have thought of moving any closer to us.

When I got married, I thought that the plan was for me to work and my wife to stay home and raise our kids. I just assumed that she knew how to do this. I sure didn't. In the first 25 years of my life I spend very litttle with small children or infants. Surely since my wife is a woman it is natural. What I didn't realize is that there is no natural ingrained kid birthing/raising knowledge in females. Also, there is no specific instructions that mothers usually pass to daughters. In the past families were large and the older kids helped with the younger and when they started have they own famililes all the sisters and brothers helped out. So in our family all the older kids help out and when they have their own families, I hope that they stay close so that I can stay involved and help them with their kids. And so that when i'll real old, they will be there to change my diapers.


Lord Cromwell

Thursdays are usually my easy day. I take a yoga class because I am not very limber. It is also great for strength and balance. Of course I am a complete klutz. Its like when I began playing soccer 5 years ago. The good guys would just take the ball away from me or dribble past me. In this case, I try to stay in the back of the room because I look like a dork and fall over all the time. I can also check out the moves of the women in the class. I can't beleive some of the things they do.

At the end of class they spend about 5-10 minutes laying there quietly relaxing. There is some wacky name for it, like all the other moves, but I can't hear or understand what the leader lady is saying. As I was laying there I fell asleep which is not too unusual. I was having a great dream. I was ride my mountain bike down some great trails. They were like ToP with nice squishy mud. I was leaning back so I wouldn't endo in the potholes. As I was riding, I slowing became aware of this loud noise that was waking me up. The more I came out of it the louder it got until I finally realized it was me snoring, real loud.

Is it bad form to snore during yoga?

Lord Cromwell

With lots of time hanging out, I should have cleanned the house and garage but I went to the Goodwill and got books instead. They sell for $2.00 used. A great deal but I will soon run out of room in my house. (with five kids, a wife, dog, cat, 8 birds, and who knows what else).

The first book was probably the biggest dissapointment. I was recommended Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It had some interesting history on fast food chains but beyond that, it was rather empty. He clearly has a political bias and I generally try to stay away from those books. He also infers that fast food resturants are the cause of our country's demise. Now if the public didn't demand the stuff the stores wouldn't exist. Now his critique about the quality of the food is the biggest no duh. Like he was telling you something you didn't know. Does he really believe that people don't know that the stuff is bad for you???

Finally, the meat packing industry. If anybody wants a good book on this subject, read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I worked for 5 year as a meat cutter. I wasn't in a packing plant but I worked side by side with some great guys. I have the scars on my hands to prove it. My hands still hurt when they get cold. I worked out of the union hall at many different shops. Some were good and some weren't. The ones that asked me to do things that I considered questionable, I would not return. Once again, if you shop based on price alone, your going to end up buying crap.

Finally, he could have chosen any industry and come up with bad stories. If he wants to be a muckracker, he needs more schoolin.

The Korean War by Max Hastings. This book was written in the late eighties so it has none of the current politic bias involved with the current war. What is amazing is that this book could have been written about Vietnam or Iraq. American has good intentions but there are always unintended consenquences and democracy cannot withstand war for long. All three wars were or will be fought to a stalemate mostly because the political will of the people changes. The only difference is that the first two were started but Dems and finished by reps and this one will most likely be finished by a dem.

My best read was Black Hawk Down. You got to read this one. It was gripping. I couldn't put it down. It was so sad. Once again good intentions gone awry. Sure it was about the military but it was much broader. I think that every person who wants to join the military should read this book. I hear there is a movie as well and I might have to get it.

That's all I got.

Lord Cromwell

Baja Travesia

Now I getting pumped. We have all been training hard. Below is a copy of the most recent racer update. I included only the canyoneering section. i think that this is going to be the crux of the race. This section will most likely determine the winner.

6. Ropes/Canyoneering – All ropes gear MUST be in good condition and MUST be UIAA approved. Gear that is in poor condition will NOT be approved and we will not hesitate to forbid a team from starting the race with bad gear. The Ropes/Canyoneering course at this year’s race is serious business. You must be prepared to rappel and use your ropes gear in many challenging and potentially dangerous situations. Do not come to the Baja Travesia with less than 20 rappels under your belt (not just gym rappels). You must know your gear and your teammate’s gear. You must have used the gear before you arrive – no tags on your gear at the check-in please. The Ropes Skills and Gear Check will be very strict. Any team that shows any doubt in the use of their gear or the demonstration of ropes skills will NOT be allowed to race. Do not take this information lightly, we cannot and will not let any team start the race who gives us any reason to doubt that they are 100% prepared for the ropes section you will encounter. Now all that being said, if you take the time to prepare and come with ropes experience you will enjoy the ropes and canyon like no other race you’ve ever seen. The canyon will test every team’s ability to work together and problem solve. If you are all prepared to help each other you will have the absolute time of your life. We made the first descent of this canyon and it was absolutely incredible. You will be some of the first human beings ever to descend this canyon, an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

If you are uncomfortable swimming we offer you the option of bringing a PFD in the canyon section. There will be some swimming sections that are unavoidable. A thin neoprene top is recommended for night time swimming in the canyon. Teams need to be prepared for the swimming sections. Though they are all quite short there are some things you must consider:
How to keep your gear dry
How to warm your team mates who get cold from the water
How to avoid a heavy pack when you get it wet
We have made it very clear in the race description that Canyoneering will be a major element of this race. This section will take from 20 to 30 hours and the good news is that water is abundant throughout. Most teams will opt for a sleep during this section and there are many, many nice camping options (nice is of course relative).
As we have mentioned this is completely unspoiled, virgin terrain that will require the utmost care in low impact and haul out your waste ethics. The only piece of trash we found in this canyon was the remains of a helium balloon. We want to find it that way following the race.
A secondary back up headlamp has been added to the gear list for the Canyoneering section. Every athlete must have a backup light. Shoes for this section should have good traction in wet and dry conditions. Your altimeter will be a very, very important tool in this section. A back up altimeter is required and a third is highly recommended. Sturdy gloves are also very highly recommended for the canyon section. The rocks are rough and eventually wear down your hands. The best gloves we found were the blue plastic coated gloves that you can find at Home Depot or your local hardware store. These gloves are good for rappelling and give you some added
traction on the rocks. You will likely spend a good deal of time sliding on your butt in the canyon section to scramble down some of the slick rocks. We recommend you get your team mates to wear some sturdy shorts or face looking at their bare butt during this long section.
The climate in the canyon ranges from open air alpine breezy conditions that can be near freezing to shaded, wet canyons to sweltering dry hot, exposed to the sun. You will definitely want to wear long sleeves, hat, sunglasses and sunscreen to protect you from the sun. The heat and glare off the granite walls can be extremely intense.

There are some things that I don't like to do in the rain. I don't mind running. I just throw on the Alpha SL and don't even notice. Biking is absolutely miserable. Even though I now have fenders, the cold wet wind means that I will be cold and wet no matter what. Now paddling is somewhere in between. It was real cold and windy this morning. I knew that I should go. I hadn't been in a week and it really wasn't too bad. But getting on a cold wetsuit really sucks. I himmed and hawed and was finally ready to go in about an hour.

The current wasn't too bad but the wind from the south was huge. From my house to the NE tip of fox isl I was sheltered a little. The wind was still 10-20 but because the channel is narrow, the waves couldn't build too much. Once I rounded the NE corner, WOW.. the waves had 10 miles to build from the south sound and they were huge. Being a wimp in the morning I opted for a semi dry top over my wetsuit which turned out to be a good choice.

Paddling along the island is nice because I mostly stay within 50 meters of shore so there is no risk if I go in. On this leg of the paddle I was taking 3-4 foot swells straight on. BAM I would go over the first in a set, drop in the trough, and then right through the second taking the full force of the wave on my chest. This is as fun as riding my mtn bike down fawn ridge with no risk of pain if I roll off the trail. I would occasionally look at the GPS and see that I was making little progress but it didn't matter.

Around Gibson Pt on the SE tip of the island, I went from straight on to taking them at the beam and then riding them from the stern quarter as I head NW. This is another great ride. I would paddle out to the middle of the channel and turn in to take em right up the rear. Paddle hard, catch the wave and just keep it straight.

It was a longer paddle around the isl than usual but it was a great day. As I was paddling, I was thinking that it would be great for JVG. She would probably hate it at first but with a good stable boat it is great fun

Lord Cromwell

I can really understand how an influenza outbreak could spread rapidly and kill millions. I read a book about the epidemic of 1917 and how it would spread just by close contact and some would get it and others wouldn't just because they were randomly lucky.

Over the past couple of weeks my family has been a laboritory of germs. Two of my kids got it first and I knew it was just a matter of time. Their schools have had 20% of the kids out sick. I take alot of supplements but this stuff is nasty. It finally caught up with me last Sunday. A couple of years ago I got sick and just trained through it. I ended up getting pneumoina. So with baja coming up in a month, I decided to lay low last week and hopefully get better.

I have been planning on going with the family up to orcas island for the fat ass 50k. I didn't want to miss this race because it is so beautiful up there. In addition, it was a whole weekend event so I would get to hang out with friends and family. Up until Friday, I wasn't sure if I was going to do this race. When I got up on Friday, the crap in my lungs wasn't as bad and it seemed to be moving to my lungs, so I decided to go for it.

I went out real easy and chatted with Roger, Franklin, Murry, Scott, and Brandon. We did a 9+ mile loop and came back to the start for our drop bag. Everyone seemed to daudle and apparently Roger got lost so I ran the rest of the race by myself. What a beautiful course. nice swoopy trails, hard climbs, and if it wasn't a blizzard at the top, the views would have been great. I would like to go back and bring my bike and boat and spend a week up there. the only problem was the ferry it was massively backed up. We had to wait three hours!!!

Well since I was sick, i read a few books and will get some reviews out later.

Lord Cromwell

What a great weekend.....

Sarah and I went on a road trip. We left Saturday morning for the O-meet up by Lake McMurray. I had a great run but at the farthest point out on my course I ran into her and knew she shouldn't be out that far. I showed her were she was on the map and then went out looking for her when I finished. It's tough. The course level below her is too easy and this one is a bit too hard.

After that, we drove up to Snoqualmie for Roger's winter adventure race. I wanted to get up there that night before and take advantage of the Hyak Lodge. It is always nice to have time to hang out with old and new friends. We watched PQ ate and even had a couple of beers. We didn't have any maps to do but we couldn't go to bed early because you never get any rest before an adventure race.

This is the first "A" race of the season and the first time I have raced with RVG and Aaron in a long time. We were also lucky enough to scoop up Georgia for this one. RVG and Aaron have been doing alot of racing together in the past year and they have been kickin some butt. I was a bit nervous going into this race. It is always the same. You never want to let your teammates down. I know that I have putting in the time effectively but the pressure remains. On top of that, RVG offered the nav job to me. Now we are all good navigators but it is efficient to only have one lead especially in a sprint race. How could I saY no? But that always just increases the pressure.


Roger put together a great course. His course lay out was nice with no unnessary out and backs. Nice loops with great control locations. They were mostly in strong features like hilltops or beside lakes. There was also a nice mix of routes from long bearing runs through the woods to fast compact trail runs. The legs were intermediate navigation but the close in control finding was always generally easy. We ran without snowshoes for as long as possible but were finally forced to put them on when we got to the Hyak Ski area. It was fun trudging through the snow in the back country.

We held the lead for the entire race. But it is always hard to know how much of a lead you have so we all kept pushing. You are always only one bad nav error away from losing the race. Finally toward the end, we completed a loop and found out that we had a good enough lead to win.

I think that the best part was the plastic squares that RVG brought for us to sled on. At the end we needed to go down Hyak ski area. Those things were unbelievably fast. In a minute, RVG was at the bottom yelling and waving at us. That was a blast.

An the special test? Throwing snowballs at a soda can pyramid. RVG and Aaron handled this no problem. Momar came in second with manny's and Steve Wart's team close behind.

Thanks Roger

Lord Cromwell

This is what our deep water port looks like on a nice evening. It took me a while to figure out how to post pictures so I thought I would start with a good one. The other night I was doing something on the computer and the room just got real orange.

As I said before, I spent many years in the grimy canyons of New York. Whe you are there in the middle of it, you forget the beauty that is not there. It is like the frog that is slowly boiled.

I'm glad to be back

Where did you find that antique?

That is one of the comments i heard when I did my first triathlon. I was too cheap to buy a bike so I used my wife's Schwinn Varsity that she got for gaduating high school in the mid eights. BTW the tri was in 2003. I started in the first wave so there were lots of guys passing me as my knees kept hitting the handlebars.

That was how I felt yesterday. My daughter Laura got straight A's so I took her skiing. We rented gear for her and I used the old Solomons circa 1988. Nice straight long 210cm downhill boards with matching green poles. There was nothing even remotely close to what I had on the slopes. When I was a kid in the 70's old folks would show up with leather boots/bindings and we would laugh at them. Now I am the fooool.

We had a great time. Unfortunately I dressed for a trail run or snowshoe and was a bit cold sittin on the chair that kept stopping. I now understand why I migrated away from downill skiing. Too much time in line and on the chair doing nothing.

We will do it again may over winter break

Lord Cromwell

TRI NW Long Course Triathlon Masters Champion

That's right!!!! What a surprise. I just got the Racecenter NW event guide and there I was. It turns out that the Pacific Crest 1/2 Ironman that I did last june was the championship race and since I won the masters division, I won the championship. Yea baby.

It's pretty cool to have your name in print. The kids and I did a little dance. Thanks to all my supporters who made it possible.

My family
Hammer Nutrition for fueling me and keeping me strong throughout
nuun for keeping me properly hydrated and my electrolytes in balance
FSA for quality bike components

Later

What another great beautiful day.

Today I took the ferry up to Seattle and once again met up with RYG, JVG, and Aaron. Our plan for today was to get in 4 hours of paddling. Our plan was to paddle from Lake union out to St. Edwards park on the NE end on Lake Washington. Still working on the base so this was a fun distance paddle were we could talk about technique and shake out the cobwebs.

I have been paddling a bit more lately that the rest because my last serious race was in September and they finished brazil in November. My base started much earlier than theirs. so I paired up with Jen to take to boats out. I thought I could use the first 5 miles to Magnuson Park, which is the halfway point out to St. Eds, to sort out where we all were. We could switch up there if we needed to. I felt great the whole way out. It was nothing like the struggle last weekend. Then, I honestly thought I was losing it. In reality, the wind and tide were stronger than I anticipated last week. Today, I had my GPS with me the whole time and there was no wind and obviously no tides on the lake. This made the GPS like a power tap on a bike. you have no excuses and only real data. The first five out to Mag we made about 5.5 MPH. and it felt so smooth and fluid. Its nice being in a double and working together. I gave JVG some tips and asked RVG and Aaron to demostrate the difference between proper rotation and all arms. I think that it would have been more effective if they weren't completely bundled up in dry tops. i of course opted to work on my tan.

When we got out by Magnuson, RVG dropped his rice krispy in the water, what poor eating habits. And this was after a bear claw, boston cream, honey glazed muffin and who knows what else before I got there. I wish I could eat like that. So, they had to go around to get it. Jen and I continued on leasurely pace. Then I though, they screwed up, they can work to catch up. so Jen and I pushed it back up to 5.5mph. Then I heard em chattering and thought, if they have it easy enough to chat they are obviously not working hard enough so with 2-3 mile left to go we stepped it up to 6 mph. Knowing the boats, i knew if we could keep it up there they couldn't catch up without a bit of effort. Besides, those two guys are great paddlers and JVG and I shouldn't have a chance, except for our quarter mile headstart ha ha ha.

When we pulled into St. Eds, we proceeded to get into this rediculous argument with a guy about his pit bull and rot wilder not being on a leash. I was quite surprise by the obscenities this guy was throwing at us when was nicely asked him the put his dog on a leash. However, when RVG and Aaron paddling behind us laughing all seemed to calm down.

We kept the same setup on the way back paddling together and enjoying the weather. All told we got in 20.4 miles averaging 5.57mph on the way out and 5.15mph on the way back. Finally, when we got back to the NWOC Aaron dropped his keys in the lake. He went in the water after them. After his first try, he came out freezing. I loaned him my wetsuit and booties and JVG scared up a mask and flashlight. And he was able to retreive them and drive home.

stats
3:49 paddle time
20.4 miles
64 oz water with three tabs tri berry nuun
perpetum paste
RC, MC, AFC
some ibuprophin
GPS track at
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=970

Later

Lord Cromwell

SS'en 103 the hard way.......

Today I had a great ride on the old singlespeed. I have been riding it and building up and today was the moment of truth. I went out with some of the team and went head to head with their geared bikes. I rode up to the ferry dock at southworth and caught a ride over to Vashon were I met up with RVG, JVG, and Aaron. We then proceeded to cover 50 miles on the island alone. I honestly didn't believe that this was possible. It was great to see Aaron again and to be out with the team where we could spend a few hours talking about and planning for our upcoming races.

Ryan wanted to know if the SS was so that I had an excuse if I couldn't walk the talk. I don't think that any excuses were necessary today. I logged 25 extra miles before and 25 more after the island ride. And I feel great. My knees are a little knackered and my upper body is sore from the climbs but I am ready for our long paddle tomorrow.

I used the following to keep it strong.

Perpetum 2 flasks, 4 scoops(520 cals) by 2 oz water
Hammer gel 1 flask
every hour: 1 race cap, mito cap, antifatigue cap
And sweet nuun in the bladder to keep my electrolyte profile topped off.

Have a look at the gps tracks at http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=950
pics will be added soon. Now it is time for a mexican gut bomb.

Later Lord Cromwell

Secret Weapon......

Jen, RYG and I went snowshoeing last night up at Snoqualmie. When it comes to adventure racing, we don't like to leave anything to chance. I have never showshoed before so we thought it was a good idea to get some practice in before the Winter AR next weekend. It was really no problem. Ryan loaned be a great pair of Atlas snowshoes.

In addition to snowshoing, the race will have a special test. Roger always likes to throw these in the mix. His first one was an anagram. That was kinda funny. At the start he gave everyone the same anagram. You could solve it and go straight to your bike or run a couple of miles up the road to get the answer. The answer was the name of the ridge we were going to be climbing. I was the only one to try and figure it out and since i looked at the map the answer just popped out at me. I had a great headstart. but I digress....

We were trying to sort out what the special test might be this time around. We figure it has to do with snow and maybe some feat of strength and phyiscal agility. With that in mind we then narrowed it down and practised our skills.

I can now walk on my hands with snowshoes attached
Jen can cartwheel forever with snowshoes attacted to both her hands and feet.
and Ryan??? Well his trick is the best of all

I have friend who is a food additive specialist. He loaned me a new non-caloric silicon based kitchen lubricant that his company has been working on. It creates a surface 500 time more slippery than than ordinary cooking oil. We applied it to the bottem of Ryan's sled. It has never been used on a sled before but any edge is well worth the try.

Ryan didn't stop until he got to North Bend. When we finally caught up with him, the state patrol was issuing him a ticket for speeding and operating an unregistered vehicle on I-90.

this is going to be the bomb!!!

Lord Cromwell

My teammate Cyril once told me that with where I live, I had no excuse not to paddle every day. And further, I should be the best paddler on the team. He was right. I live in a beautiful place. That is why I moved here. I needed to get away from the dirtiness and grime of the east coast. I needed to detoxify. Now I try to get out as much as possible.

Winter is always the best. There are hardly any other boaters out. Mostly just commercial craft like tugs and fishing boats and none of the crazy fair weather yahoos that tend to disregard my life. Also, because of lowered daylight, alge growth is lower and the water is a real beautiful greenish color. Finally, the weather is more variable which make the conditions more interesting.

On Sunday's paddle, I had to make two large open water crossings. These are a bit unnerving. When you are with a partner in another boat, they can help you in a jam. When you are by yourself, 2 miles from shore, there is no help and the water is real cold (54 degrees). I had performed self recoveries before so I am confident I could recover but I have never found myself alone in open water outside of the boat.

At the start of the paddle, the largest sea lion I have even seen breached 20 ft off my bow. I mean this guy actually came out of the water and splashed down. He was a big one with one of those big flabby noses. I also saw lots of Eagles on McNeil Isl. McNeil Isl has a large state penintentery located on it. You can see it on the SE side of the island. For some reason they thought I was too close to shore and the guard came out of the tower and yelled at me to move away from the island.

I want to get out to some new locations. Maybe next weekend I will drive the boat up toward Port Orchard and explore up there. The King needs to change a diaper now.

Lord Cromwell

Without music, I had alot of time to think during Saturday's Capital forest mega fat ass.

I have broken both my wife's and my mp3 players. It seems that they don't enjoy paddling as much as I do. They have never gone swimming but the moisture and spashing must just be too much for them. Usually, only one breaks and in a couple of months it works again after it dries out but now they both don't work.

At the beginning of the race, I started in the back to keep me from pushing out too hard. Also, I wanted to spend time talking to my friends. Ultrarunning has a great community and i only get to see alot of these guys during the winter runs. after that, i don't do many long running races. Unfortunately, alot of friends that said they would be there didn't show. I did get a surprise by Michelle M showing up for the run. I haven't seen her for a long time. I follow her blog with interest but actually seeing her was great. You think that you are up with someone by following their blog but actually seeing them without saying anything is much better.

When I started AR Michelle was with WAR and these guys were it in the PNW. Eventually we ended up doing some races together. I think that she just tolerated me back then. The first race we did was up in Canada. She didn't talk much and all I wanted to do was keep up. I can remember her asking me how I stayed on my bike with my stupid stomper pedals. I think that she actually called them tricycle pedals. It is possible that we had more in common than we both realized.

This race for me was mostly about training for baja. I realized that I will never be the best running, biking, or paddling because individually I consider them as a "b" races or training and never taper or train exclusively for these races. I didn't modify my training at all in the week before this race. I had 23 hrs in the seven days prior to this race so i didn't expect to break any records. I just wanted to remain healthy (injury free) and run consistently. My IT band has been hurting and I am on the brink of overtraining. However, it is a fine line between injury and pushing my performance and endurance to new levels. I have less than two months before I start tapering. At that point there are no more gains possible. the goals of my training are basically to improve my endurance and speed. For endurance races, it is all about my ability to move fast and over long distances when I am extremely tired. so to match the race conditions, i gradually increase my long days until i am eventually spending 6 hrs on foot or in boat and up to 10 hrs on bike. In addition, I like doing long back to back days in different sports. For example, I paddled for 4.5 hrs the day after the run. http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=912 In any event, I want to win baja and I will put in all I can now to give the team the best chance at success. You can veiw my training log by clicking the link to the right.
I am trying to figure out how to post my training plan as well.

For this race, I felt great, finished fourth eight minutes slower the last time I raced it. But I was very consistent in my pace which I was very happy about. It was also a beautiful run. Snow all around. I love Capital forest and would recommend it to anybody.

Here is what I ran with:

Montrail Odessey (great trail running shoe light with excellent toe box protection) with
Yanz and
Sole foot beds
Gregory Reactor Pack
Arc' Teryx Tau pullover (for first lap)
Fueled and Supplemented by Hammer
Perpetum (two flasks each with 3 scoops and three oz water)
Hammer gel
Each hour: Race cap, Mito cap, Anti Fatigue cap
ATP on the big hill

What put it all together was the nuun. I drank 100oz water. I used one tab of tri berry for each 20oz. I would recommend nuun to any serious athelte in any sport.

Later for now

Lord Cromwell

What's the point?

With this blog. It is currently a beta version as I learn to post good content. Eventually you will know about me and my family and what is going on in my life. I will also use this forum to tell you about the things I do and the stuff that helps me succeed. I need to learn how to add links and pics.

I feel like my training is finally getting focused. My goal A race is the Baja Traversia at the end of March so I have two months of 20 hour/week full on multispot training ahead of me. After taking December for a build period, I feel my body is ready for some long duration together with some intensity.

I started the endurance phase on Saturday night with Bridal Trails 50k. It was a great crisp night with snow and ice all over. My goal was a constant pace, no IT pain, and a respectable finish. My laps were 40,42,44,45,45,46. so I think i got the pace down. My IT hurt a bit during the first and second lap but after that it was fine with no pain. I finished in 4:22 which was 1 minute back from 2005(last year with comparable conditions), third overall and two minutes behind second. In 2005 my pace was all over the place so while my time was the same, i feel my performance was much better.

Along lap 4 I came across my teammate Jen S. Now at the beginning of the race she told me that it was an easy base training for her so I was suprised to find her in front of me. Her light had gone out so we shared on the way in and i gave her my backup at the transition. From then on we ran together pushing each other. It was the best Bridal yet. I had a great time talking and trading off the pacesetting. Here are the details:

During the race every hour I took 1 Race Cap, 1 Mito Cap and 2 endurolytes. I took 2 ibuprophin at the start and two more halfway through. With one hour to go I took an ATP. I fueled on flasks of perpetum. 3 scoops with 3 oz water in each flask. I drank 16oz water per lap (45 minute laps). I would have added nuun to the water but I don't have any. I can't wait to get more to add to my bottle. This is truly great stuff. Add it to your water. It tastes great without being overpowering but replenishes electrolytes in proportion to your fluid consumption.


On the outside of my right foot just below the ankle there is some kind of bruise that hurt this morning. Inner hip flexors felt a bit sore but with no hill my quads/hamstrings are in great shape. Next week I will push a bit harder with the hills and cap peak 50k where the goal will be the same, solid race with no IT issues and no injures. I will not push too hard just a consistent pace.

Post race I had Recoverite with vitamins E, 2Grams C, fish oil, mito cap, race cap, 2 TR, phytomax, and half packet of hammer vitamins. One hour later I repeated with with some solid food in between. I think that this really helped with recovery.

Now on to the next two months. My lengths will get longer and harder. Every week my long training will increase on foot, bike, and boat. I will continue with an interval session each week in each of the disiplines, and I will add hills. Also, I will be doing back to back longs on succeeding days. It is going to be great. Right now the winter woods and waters are beautiful. I only wish I could bike more but the ice is a menace. I don't have my training plan posted but you can follow my progress on:

http://www.attackpoint.org/weeklyactivity.jsp/user_2463

Of course this can only happen with Cheryl's help. she is home with the baby and is also watching Kevin. So this allows my hours to increase.

Lord Cromwell

The baby was was born this morning. If you don't beleive in miracles, you need be at the birth of a human and then watch them grow. Human life is not just a random meeting of molecules. Life itself is not random. We all know it. If it were, chaos would rein. Tere would be no difference between right and wrong, good and evil.

The labor party began last night. I write this as i saw it. Obviously my description is not reality because I can never experience the pain or joy of birth. (I beleive that empathy is a oxymoron). Cheryl was having contractions for the last few days but as she described them, they were not painful nor consistent. However, last night they became both. During dinner at 7 she started telling us when they started and stopped. They seemed to be about 5-8 minutes apart.

Now guys, there really isn't must you can do for a woman that is in labor. I think that is why historically women have taken care of women during child birth. They have all been there and know the proceedure. So all i can do is constantly ask what she needs. (answer to be done with this which I can't do much about). so we settled in for a long labor party. She wanted ice cream and a movie so I obliged with moose tracks and the Da Vinci code.

we stayed up until 11 and went to bed. Once again there is much I can do so I tell her to let me know if she needs anything and when it is time to got. I tried to get some sleep but it really doesn't work that way. At 2:30 she tells me its time to go so we got Laura out to the car and told Sarah we were leaving.

Now Sarah was at Kevin's birth and opted out of this one but Laura wanted to be there to help. I think that the best gift you can give your kids is the experience of child birth (If theyare mature enough for it.) It should be great birth control later out (The results of ones actions should always be made clear to them and this is an eye opener.), and once again historically one generation taught the next. I think that for must of us born after 1940 we lost this instruction. By Laura help her mother, she will be better prepared when she is older. She should be so afraid of childbirth. Of course older children and larger families can learn this way. By being part of this miracle, she is bonded to her brothers. this is a gift that many children don't get simply by virture of their parents choice for a small family.

Where was I? that right off to the hospital. We arrived at 3:10 and Cheryl started laboring hard. She began to hold my hand aand crushed it so I gave her a plastic handrail to hold. it seemed to me that we were in for a long labor so I sent Laura out for coffee. BAM the water breaks all over then place and the room went from quiet to 6 people in there. Now they look at the water because sometimes when the baby is under stress he craps on the way out. This is a problem because it gets in his stomach and worse yet coats his lungs. So they got extra help for this reason.

Now I won't go into the physical details but let me say that it is painful and physically tough on one's body. I think that this kid was the toughest yet on Cheryl. Because of the poop mentioned above. They have extra procedures to clean his mouth and lungs asap, so unfortunately, he was my only child that I didn't get to cut the cord. He was born at 4:38AM

He was quite and at peace like Kevin. I told the baby nurse not to worry about him not crying. He was just happy to be here. They cleanned up mom and baby and let them sleep in a room. Laura and I went home. It was the nicest day in a month. no rain or wind

Laura went to bed and I was pumped up so i went for a ride and a kayak. the whole family return tonight for the naming party. We haven't settled yet but we should get his name by tomorrow as we get to know him better.

Peace be with you
Lord Cromwell

I faced the one legged man again today.

I have gone up against him three times now. The first time he beat me, the second i beat him with tyler's help, and today I beat him but just barely. I am talking about the annual New year's Day Paddle around fox Isl. Today I thought that I would use the surfski in order to make a record time for me. I arrived at the put in for an 8:00AM start. The wind was calm and the water was glass. Problem is, the race didn't start until 10. I went home and came back at 9:30. now it was cold and windy with the wind from the SW. This was an unusual wind direction. I didn't know how big the chop would be on the S side of the island but I thought that i would go for it.

Now I don't like to have my world messed with and this late start really screwed with my head. I was late to the water, the GPS was buggered up and I was not ready to go. So I backed up to shore to straighten this up when they said go. No problem, I'm a good paddler and can easily catch up. so i was last to start having spotted the group two minutes.

When I got going I noticed that the rudder was working right. It was sticking. No problem in the bay where we started and I easily started passing other paddlers. At the first turn i stopped to free up the rudder.

Back in the boat and on my way but it was no better. now in a normal sea kayak it is no big deal without a rudder but in a surfski it is imperative to keep you upright. Now this section was exposed to CASE inlet and i was now taking waves at the beam with rudder. in fact the rudder was more of a hinderance because i would put increasing pressure on it to turn and it would finally/randomly break loose causing the boat to swerve out from under me.

I went swimming at least 10 times. I was now last and the one legged man was way ahead of me. This was a major frustration moment. I couldn't get going without swimming. I would get going and ahead of him and then bam, I'm swimming again and he would take the lead. This went on for an hour. I finally made it the 6 miles along the S side and made the turn N where the water was calm and I didn't need the rudder. No more falling in and I put some time on him.

It was a great workout. But even just the paddling time was longer than in my sea kayak. My surfski is usually 10% faster. You can see the GPS track at

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=763


Lord Cromwell