It is Wednesday morning the day before I am leaving for baja. I has been a typical pack for AR. My bike is still in pieces in the garage, my gear is strewn all over the living room and Kevin was up puching last night. No stress huh? I am picking up Ryan Flemming at 5AM tomorrow and we are heading south. I will be gone for a while and will miss the kids. They are going to set us up with live GPS tracking so be sure to tune in to www.bajatraversia.com.

Think about us next week in the middle of the night when we are making our way across baja.

Lord
Cromwell

whidbey island loop at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Some kind of funky tree growth

Lunch

blake Isl Trail map

aaron on the fly

Paddling gear laid out to dry during our run

Coming around the SE corner of the island after the run from alki

Another hard day in the books. Today Aaron and I hooked up to paddle to Blake island in the middle of Puget sound and then run its trails for 2-3 hours. We were both late to our Alki meeting point and if one of us had offered to bag, the other would have gladly agreed. We were both tired from yesterday and just getting there was the battle.

We headed out with a North wind and 2 foot swells giving us a fast ride to the SW. We were both cold on the start but once paddling we warmed up quickly. We swung around the south side of the island and beached on the NW tip at the marine campground. The place was deserted except for what seemed to be a lonely lady ranger who wouldn't stop talking even as I took off my wetsuit to reveal my wet undies as I changed.

This is a great place that I am definetly returning with the family to camp either by kayak (nanooke style) or on the sailboat.

We began our run and Aaron just lit it up. We were both sore and tired from yesterday but he just wanted to hit it. After about 4 miles, he finally stabilized and we ran together. Except for his funny nuance of speeding up whenever he gets excited. Variable speed running. If you need some speed, just ask him about one of his passions. 15.5 miles later after hitting every train in both directions we stopped for lunch sore and tired.

we waided into the frigid waters to lossen our legs and then warmed in the sun as we ate a feast. We were so warm and sheltered that I convinced Aaron that we should leave our paddle jackets in the boat for the return.

This was a mistake as we got out into the main channel only to find the winds were stronger but the swell was much less with some confused chop. It was a grunt back to Alki. As we approached, there was some crazy guy cheering on the beach. My eyes are so bad that I didn't recognize RVG but I did notice that he had a nice looking Arc'Teryx jacket on.

When we got in, he said he saw us coming across and told Jen that it had to be us because nobody else was stupid enough to paddle the sound in winter with no top.

One hard week in the books. Preparing for Baja, this week and next are the toughest in my training plan. Aaron and I have been hitting it pretty hard.

...............................................................Ave.......%
........................Sessions..Hours..Miles..Session..Time

Total Biking.........4...........13.......168.......3.25.....49%
Running...............3.............8.5.......41.......2.85....32%
Paddling..............4.............5..........21........1.25....19%
Total..................11...........26.5....230........2.40

I look at average session time because as an endurance athlete I believe that I get the most benefit from long workouts. During the winter, I try to focus exclusively on Long Slow Distance. I beleive that anything under an hour adds very little to the physiological adaptation I am trying to achieve. After baja, I will begin to layer in shorter speed works.

Also, the balance of workouts looks very good. I am trying to overemphasize my bike because that is my weakest discipline. Normally I would also have some strength training and swimming in the mix but not this week. All core disciplines.

Areas for improvment include continued focus on hills primarily on the bike. It is very apparent that my weakness is hills. While riding I am usually dropped so I need to continue with strength training and add hill repeats to the mix...More Power.

Here is our route from today:
road bike up north at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Kimberly saw the major malfunction in my bike reconstruction. I would just add in my defense that all five kids were screaming at the time and since it is a single speed there is no derailuer or other identifying hardward to confirm the correct side.

But if that wasn't enough. I my mind after I noticed the problem and was trying to figure out how not to spend another hour with the kids screaming while i worked on the bike, I thought, this might be a good way to ensure that my legs stay balanced if I ride bikes with cranks on different sides. Of course that wouldn't work unless I wanted to ride backwards. The freewheel only works one way.

Lord Cromwell

Kimberly where should I deliver the jam.

The single speed has been reborn. Ressurrected from the twisted ashpile that was formed from hard asphalt and Jaguar bumper. Pieces of which are now mounted on my wall of fame. I was able to purchase some used parts and salvage a few. Now I am running with a combination black and red/white. The reconstruction took place in my living room. Forged with screaming infants and toddlers at my back and crabby teanagers with attitude. Paying close attention to detail I gently carressed the parts back into place. She is a thing of beauty.

There is only one problem. Can you see it. I told RVG so he can't have a bite at this one. A jar of homemade peach jam to the first person who correctly identifies the major F-up with my rebuild.

Lord Cromwell

20080126 Harstene Kayak at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks


another great day of paddling. This time Aaron and I got around Hartstene Island in the South Sound. We are running out of Islands in the Puget Sound

Lord Cromwell

20080120Vashon Kayak at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

This is a pic from our Sunday paddle. Notice the open water as we were heading down the east side of Vashon running with the wind. On the way back up the west side, we fought a strong head wind all the way and pretty much stayed on the shoreline. also notice the line gap on the NW corner. This is were the wave got huge in a nice tidal rip and it must have lost the signal.

What a great weekend. aaron, Hayes and I went to roll practice on Friday night with the guys for the Outdoor adventure center. I forgot my nose plugs but was finally able to get it done. Next time I am going to bring the sea kayak and work with it. Aaron lost his roll and was doing underwater helocopters. And Matt Hayes was a fish going over and over in circles around us.

I you ever have an inclination to improve your kayak skills, the are in the Juanita pool every Friday night from 9:00-10:30. After that I drove down to the Cap Forest FA trailhead and slept in my car. It was a great race. I have never seen so many people there and the tent/fire/food setup was way nicer than it has ever been. It is bordering on becoming a normal race and losing its FA quality.

Because there was so much snow at the top, they excluded the top half of the loop and added a Lost valley loop. Lost valley is a great place with lots of mud. This made the course a bit longer but lopped off a bunch of elevation. still it was a great course and it was a nice change to run Lost valley. I only did one loop becasue my knee is having serious problems. But I did go Mtn bike riding with Matt Hayes and Robin Smith afterwards in the mud and rain.

Needless to say, When I woke up on sunday i could barely move my knee. something is seriously wrong and i am hopefull that when i see the Dr tomorrow, he will fix it. the goos news is that my knee go a good long rest on Sunday as we paddled around Vashon Island. RVG, Aaron, and Frenchie all headed out clockwise with the wind. We portaged and thereby didn't go around Mury isl. But on our way back up to the N side of the Isl, the wind that helped us down punished us unmercifully. 28.5 miles and 6 hours later, we returned to the launch and sat down for some great mex food.

My plan had me riding long and hard today but at this point I am sure that anything short of resting my knee will only cause more problems. so we are just hanging out enjoying the sun.

Lord Cromwell

Some final 2007 pics. When i was out setting the course for the race on the olympic peninsula, I ran into this fellow. Never seen a bear in the wild before. He wasn't too happy to see me and made quick tracks for the brush

More pics from 2007. Just like halloween, we don't merely go to the tree stand, we go to the source. We usually head out to the olympic peninsula for our Christmas tree. The trees are kinda tall, thin and scrauny but it is a good day with the family. My oldest daughter really hates these family events. She tries to just sit by herself in the back of the car with her mp3 player. Next year I am going to lay down the no electronics rule.

Christmas tree

I haven't been posting much lately because my online speed has been unbelievable bad. I assumed that it was the dialup until it just stopped working for the most part. I called the ISP and they said all was fine. I called the phone company because there was this static sound but they said it was fine. I even took the computer to some shady computer shop. I knew before I even called that this was a bad idea. They charged me $80 bucks and told me that all I need to do was pay them $150 and they would remove my Mcaffee and put in a "better" anti virus scanner.

I was at my wits end and pissed. So I called the phone company again a waded through their stupid phone tree. The guy came out again today. He found a short on the poled and fixed it. Go figure. Stupid technology. I like the old days when I could pull the engine in my car take it apart put it back together and it would work better. Now its just money down a rathole.

PS: I looked into cable and DSL. for at least $50 a month i could upgrade but I would lose my email address. And for what, faster email?

Lord Cromwell
The frontier of loss is not visable until it has passed.

Here is a picture from last halloween. Knowing me, most of you would probably assume that I really don't have a life beyond training and racing. But I do. normal people get their pumpkins at the supermarket. We go to the source. This is a great family business in the puyallup valley. Our family only has one rule, whichever one you pick, you have to carry it to the car.

I live in the southern Puget Sound. I like to paddle around Fox Island. It is about 12 miles and takes me between 2:15 and 2:30 depending on the weather and tides/ It is generally nice and peaceful but can get nasty on the south side sometimes. This is a pic of Gibson point on the SE side of the Island.


This one is looking back SE toward McNeil Island which has the state pen

And looking NW along the south side of fox Isl. On a nice day the southern Olympics are all lined up to see. Today we only get the Navy undersea warfare center where they train dolphins. Middle right

And finally on the way home heading NE through Hales passage. The tides get rocking through here I canusually get the kayak up to 7 or 8 mph. Got to love Rainier in the background.

RVG, Aaron, Maria and I have been spending our Friday nights learning how to roll our kayaks. I would say the RVG is the best so far. We have been having a great time learning with the Outdoor Adventure Center instructors. And it is great to know how we will all react when we roll in the real deal.

These are the guys to call when you want to improve your kayak skills or you want to take your less adventureous friends and family out on an adventure. They lead guided sea kayak tours up in the san Juan Islands, whitewater rafting trips down the Skykomish and many other great adventures.

Jen was commenting on RVG's new found growth. Apparently, it has gotten a bit thicker since Jen got Pregnant.

Practicing our form before we go over and then replicating it once under.

The boys had the benefit of a practice session the week before the lesson so Maria was at a disadvantage. Below is aaron's first successful roll. Good form except for his upturned head.

I'm am getting some sweep practice before being turned loose on my own. Below is my solo try. I am not sure if the splashing is bubbles or just thrashing about

We had Bucky there to give us a hand when we couldn't make it.

















Happy face when I actually got er done. Too bad I couldn't repeat with any consistancy

Found this old pic from last Halloween. not sure who it is but he clearly put alot of effort into his nacho libra outfit (including the extra bulge around the middle)

If you are like me and have lots of stockings to fill every year. Every year I struggle to get good gifts that are inexpensive, good for the environment, and make a difference. This year I think that I have found the best gift of all. Really inexpensive carbon offsets. Since they are such a great deal, I got 10,000 for each of my kids, 100,000 for my wife, 5,000 for my extended family, and 1,000 for each of my neighbors. Yes even the crappy new neighbors that are putting in the heat pump right on the property line. It is Christmas after all. Have a look here

http://freecarbonoffsets.com/home.do

Forget about global warming. At 1:45,000 we should all do our part to avert this catastrophy. It really doesn't matter how much we have to spend because if we don't do it, well, you know the rest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run-
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!
-Rudyard Kipling

Now take a deep breath and read it again slowly this time. I enjoy writing it because it forces me to read it slow and anticipate what will come next. This is one of my favority poems. It says it all. How many of you can find part of your lives in the words of this poem. And once found, how do you measure up? Are you a man or have you fallen short.

Lord Cromwell

I give up. I am facing the fact that I can't deal with it anymore. It is going to be hard to believe but I just can't stand it. Most of you know that I have dail-up. I have had it forever. I still have my first and only email address that my wife got in the 90's. I am not good with change and I am a cheap ass bastard. The problem is that I just don't know how to make the conversion. Frankly, I don't want to know how. I just want it to happen without me knowing anything, or seeing anything, or costing anything. I just want my computer to work faster.

I asked prodigy once why it is so slow sometimes, like every sunday night and at random points throughout the week. Their explanation is that they are only allowed one phone number in my area for their servers. I am not sure if this is true or they just don't want to invest in dial-up. my alternative would be to program in a long distance number to another server or something like that.

So want is a person who is completely ignorant to do. We don't have cable. I don't want cable TV. Do I need to get cable hooked up? Would I then have to pay an additional fee? Would I have a choice of cable or is there some governmet granted monopoly that limits my choice. Would I need to change my long held and loved email address. Somebody who knows please help. I know that some of my friends are or were microsoft geeks and most surely should know this.

I am real good with written instructions. If somebody would write it all out for me in easy to follow steps I would be most grateful. I might even throw in a jar of this year's blackberry jelly. I would offer salmonberry but it is much too good. Maybe I would follow up with a jar of salmonberry next year when we make twice as much.

Michelle, I am working on the tag thing. I have been trying to sort out my facts.


Lord Cromwell