"Borrrinnng"

This would be a great place to ride but only if you were going with the wind.  Otherwise it would be just mind and ass numbing tedium!  I swear to God however, that driving can be even more tiresome and tedious.  We went over 800 kms today and are now parked in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

All that monotony gave me lots of time to try to figure out what this is.

I am pretty sure we puzzled it out but probably you farmer types will know without doing any research. One thing I can tell you is that they grow an awful lot of it in Saskatchewan.  Almost as much as wheat it seems.

As to my LOTR subtleties of the other day I need to share them just to prove how crafty I am.  Perhaps you will recall that a few weeks back I called myself an old gapher.  The "gapher" of the more recent post just happens to be the very wise gardener of Frodo Baggins, and co-incidentally the father and mentor of Samwise Gamgee, the guy Sam learned everything from.  The second clever bit was hidden in the quote.  The author, Sean Astin is the actor who played Samwise.  Astin co-incidentally has run several marathons, and in actual fact had to quit running for 2 years to fatten up to play the part.  Interesting eh?

I can't wait to get to Canmore tomorrow where I will be parked for a week while Roo heads into the Rockies.  This past 4 days on the road has withered my discipline.  It seems like all I want to do is eat, and none of the right things.  I'm afraid that I'm a creature of habit and when it gets interrupted I lose some of my resolve.  Now is not the time to relax!!!  Game on!

(no workout)

"He will not enter hell who hath faith equal to a mustard seed in his heart; and he will not enter Paradise who hath a single grain of pride, equal to a mustard seed, in his heart"---Mohammad

Love

Peter

"Life's Pretty Good"

Here I am in an RV park in Brandon Manitoba.  I have my best girl with me, a glass of Baileys and milk in hand, the air conditioning is on, and the stereo is blasting out Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild.  I just ate a delicious McDonald's chicken sandwich, and followed it up with a skinny cow ice cream from the stash I brought along.  We have a great wireless connection, if no phone (fuck you telus!).  Earlier today I rode my bike through a nice flat section of North Dakota and followed it up with a refreshing little run. Afterwards, while I waited for Roo to put in her miles, I had a shower and changed into dry clothes right beside the highway, but in the privacy of my own home on wheels,

Yup!  Life's pretty good!

The only wee, wee, little disappointment that I have today is that no one (not even you Mike!)  commented on my 2 subtle little LOTR comments in yesterday post.  I thought they were very clever but maybe they were too subtle?  Or maybe too obvious to be worth mentioning??

To get over the disappointment I'm now gonna mix another drink, and then soak my feet.

Yup!  Life's pretty good!

(ride 30 kms, run 5 kms)

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back."---Arthur Rubinstein

"Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself."---George Bernard Shaw

....I like this one best...

"Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself."---Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Love

Peter

"Double-sided Tape and Bungee Cords"

When heading out on an adventure Samwise Gamgee always wished for a "bit of rope" to take along, declaring that it would probably come in handy.  If they had such things in Middle Earth I bet he would have wished for tape and bungee cords instead.

Well this old "gapher" (get it, get it?) indeed had those things available to him and had the wisdom to bring them along.  While traveling through Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and ultimately Minnesota we kept hearing this very unpleasant rattling, scraping, banging noise coming from somewhere outside the coach.  After our 3rd inspection stop, including climbing on top, we finally found where the lower, left, front panel was coming apart.  The brackets that connect it to the coach had let go from the panel itself, and we were very close to losing it all together.  Hopefully the tape and cords will hold it together until we get to Canmore on Saturday and then I will have time to do a better fix.  Wish me luck.

I did not workout out at all today for one reason or another but I'm entirely good with it.  Much better to miss a workout now than to do an extra one.  It has left me just a little edgy right now though, as Roo can attest to.  Sorry dear!  Talk to you tomorrow from Manitoba.

(no workout)

....,and this quote will only seem relevant if you know who the author is...

"A doable goal for me is to finish a marathon under four hours. I'm doing all the training, but the hardest part is eating right."---Sean Astin

Love

Peter

"On The Road Again"

Either she grew or she's standing on a step.  Yah, a step I guess.  That's the motor home behind us.

We headed out just after 12 noon today and are now sitting in an RV park in Mackinaw Michigan.

I got us over the border in Sarnia and then she took over driving for a while.  I took the opportunity to put my feet up.

Which I plan on doing a lot of for the next couple of weeks.  My feet have generally been very good to me and I have never treated them with a proper regard.  Not just do I plan on putting them up a lot, I am also committed to regular soaks, and scrubs, and rubs, and oils...starting tonite.  I am going to be asking a lot of them come Aug 20th and my hope is to get them in tip top shape.  I particularly want to try to get rid of the constant dryness, and the feeling of wrinkles when I walk.  I bet the extra attention is gonna work.  Wish me luck.

Actually it occurs to me that this may be a better strategy for my feet than that which I have used for years....that of putting them in my mouth!

I ran a nice little half marathon before we left in just under 1:53.  Pretty relaxed and yet what I would give to be able to maintain that pace for the complete Ironman marathon.  That is definitely a major stretch!.

(run 21.1 kms,  1:52:42)


"A spirit in my feet said go, and I went."---Matthew Brady

Love

Peter

"Twas the Night Before Christmas"

I am so excited I can't wait.  It's like being a little kid again.  I am excited about everything! Spending time in the motor home, Roos backpacking trip, and of course the Ironman itself.  We are all packed and I think I have everything important.  We will head out for Sarnia around noon tomorrow right after  we get our exercise.  Tomorrow evening should find us at the "Big Mac" in northern Michigan where we will spend the night.

And while we have the trip mostly planned out, Roo is still a big fan of playing it day by day, so beyond the first couple of nights we are not sure where we will end up.  Time will tell.

I hope I can sleep tonite.

(ride 50 kms)

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us."---John Steinbeck

Love

Peter

"Spoiled"

The very best thing about travelling in a motor home is that you only have to pack once.  That one time can be a challenge however when you're heading out for 4 weeks.  To compound the complexity Claudette has to include all of her backpacking requirements, and I of course need to consider all of my triathlon stuff.  We both spent the better part of the day working on it, and tomorrow will be more of the same.  Each of us is focusing on our own stuff and trying not to get in the others way.  So far so good, but I am nervous of forgetting something important.  

I have our parking spots reserved for the first 2 nights since we don't want to use our phones in the US to scout ahead.   So I can tell you that we will be putting about 1500 kms behind us by the end of Wednesday.  Then we will head up in to Manitoba and the phones will go live again.

Other than the aforementioned bit of packing anxiety, I am feeling quite good today.  I am sure that I did the right thing by backing off during my run yesterday.   All I did was swim in the pool today and it felt solid.  Of course it goes up and down, but for some reason my confidence level is very high right now.  Let's see what tomorrow brings. :)

(swim 1500 metres)

"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence."---Mark Twain

Love

Peter

"Just Too Hot"

Just too hot to be brave.  By the time I was finished it was 33 degrees and very, very humid.  You almost can't drink enough water to keep up.  Combined with the mental tedium that is now firmly entrenched in my psyche, it was a bit tough again today.  As I come into the final stretch I just want everything to go faster.  I'm ready to race, even though I know I'm not ready.

That's why, regardless of the heat it was not a time to be brave.  I had planned a 10 km run after my bike but I cut it down to 7.5 and I did a lot of walking.  The absolutely worst thing I could do right now is have a breakdown day.  The mantra has to be, repair and recover.  Getting ready to race means doing just that.

So it is also not a good time to start having doubts, just because I had a tough day.  I have had lots of tough days, but I've also had lots of great  days.  Time to remember my 160 km ride at 33 kms/hr.  Time to remember my 5:08 Half Ironman.  Time to remember my effortless marathon way back in April.

And any and all anguish of the day was washed away by my youngest son in one magically sublime moment this evening.  I complimented him on a certain behaviour he demonstrated.   I thought he wasn't even going to acknowledge the compliment but as he walked away he turned back for a moment and made a singular comment.  He just smiled at me and uttered the one word "Genetics".  For any and all  pain he may have caused me in the last 22 years, I forgive him today.  He is my son!

(ride 150 kms, run/walk 7.5kms)

"Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory."---Douglass MacArthur

Love

Peter