Half-Marathon Training Week 1

This is the first official week of a 10 week training regiment for the half-marathon in late March.  Last night I completed the second run of the week, a short 3 mile loop through the community.  The first run was 3 miles 2 nights ago.  The first time was a slow 31 minute jaunt which was lowered to 29 1/2 last night.  Plus, last Saturday I went out for a 5 mile jaunt with D-Salazar around Burke Lake Park.

I've decided this is hard work.  Any single run isn't that big a deal, but repeated runs start wearing on ones commitment.  There are a lot more miles ahead and I'm sure hope it gets a bit easier.

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Run/Bike

Feeling good from my first new day at Guident, I took to the blacktop for a little running.  Next week is the official kick-off for the half-marathon training in late March.  I marched forward for about 3 miles last night, but was forced to walk a little with tightness in the right calf.  After getting home and feeling a little wimpy, I took to the recumbent for 25 minutes on level 5.

To my surprise, I can actually move around and get out of my chair just fine today!  An internal debate on whether to run again tonight is currently going on in my brain.

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I Qualified !!!

D-Salazar and K-Lance Post Race

The need for cross-training has led me to the running world with my friend D-Salazar (aka Danimal, aka Danny Clarke).  My near term running goal is to compete in a half-marathon in late March next year.  I tried to register for the event and learned that I need a qualifying run.  Why put off tomorrow what can be done today?

I woke up early this am to participate in the 8k Drumstix Dash race at Burke Lake Park.  On the way over to pick up D-Salazar, I kept thinking "52 minutes or bust!"  That's the required qualifying time for the half-marathon.  So I haven't run since early Spring ... how big a deal is an 8k?

The race started out with a quick pace resulting in a 7 min 16 sec first mile.  I think the 2nd mile was about 8:15 and miles 3 through 5 got progressively slower.  I've recently blogged about great ride support during my long bike rides.  Today I'm praising my quality run support by D-Salazar.  He waited when necessary, and let me walk a little bit ... very nice.  During the last mile he said, "K-Lance, just stay with me and we'll finish this last mile with plenty of time to spare."

Sure enough, K-Lance registered a 47 minute 23 second run thus placing me 25 out of 27 in my division.  Not sure what division means, but I'll take it.  D-Salazar registered a blazing time of 46 minutes 56 seconds.

Official race page: Drumstix Dash

I've got plenty of running ahead of me this winter if I'm going to hope to make 13 miles.  I can honestly say that I felt much better during the race at every point than I do now 5 hours later.

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I Rode to Skyland!

Hogback Mountain Overlook

This Skyline Drive bike ride will go down as one of the most scenic rides I will ever take.  It was absolutely beautiful outside with 65 degree temperatures, "just" past prime foliage, clear skies and few people.  This was also a ride that was on my to-do list, but then off due to the difficulty, then back on.  It's now "off" my to-do list because I did it.

I could not have ridden so far without the stellar ride support provided by my mom.  She drove the car ahead to each overlook, worked on her Christmas cards, and waited for me.  Then we'd be off for the next overlook.  She was carrying all the supplies in the car to make the trip far easier for me.

We started off about 9:15am on Veteran's Day at the north entrance of Skyline Drive in Front Royal.  The north section can be summed up as a ridiculous 18 mile climb.  My goal was to make the Hogback Mountain overlook at mile 21.  Surprisingly, I set my sights too low because we reached Hogback in about 2 hours.  There was considerable 2nd gear riding averaging 7-8 mph.

Here is the elevation chart:  http://bikewashington.org/routes/skyline/   You can click through the sections to get a feel for the pain.

A couple notes along the climb are that it's very strange to be riding your bike while looking down a mountain and seeing hawks circling.  I've never ridden so high before.  Also, riding gives you the opportunity to really absorb the surroundings.  You get a very intimate look at what's around you, including every chipmunk scurrying at the side of the road, every little stream seeping out of the sidewall rocks, and the sounds of the forest around you.

After Hogback, the next stretch is a 4 mile descent past Matthews Arm Campground and Elkwallow Gap.  My teeth were chattering due to the 40 mph ride down and the sweat turning to icicles on my back.  No worries as I was quickly climbing once again.

There is some relief from the crazy climbing while getting to the Thorton Gap Entrance.  This is where you can get to Skyline Drive from Rt 29/211.  There's a cool little tunnel to ride through which kind'a scared me because I didn't have a light and I was hoping not to be bounced against the inside walls by a passing car or truck.

The next ~11 miles started to take a bit of a physical and mental toll.  This climb goes from 2280' to 3664' feet with very little relief along the way.  At the top is Skyland, named very appropriately.  It's the highest point along Skyline Drive.

It's difficult to actually express what it feels like to be climbing that high after already tackling the earlier part of the ride.  So, I just encourage everyone to go on out and experience it for yourself :-)

Mom and I had a very nice time at Skyland viewing the overlook, drinking coffee made by the Skyland barista, and looking at the sites.  At this point it was about 4pm and we decided this was an excellent place to call it a day.

We drove home and met Michelle and the kids at Outback Steakhouse for a hearty post-ride meal.  Steaks were the meal of choice!  It was a very good day.

Statistics

3 hr 45 min riding time / 5 hr 30 min duration 

11.3 mph average

42.8 miles

42 mph max

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Leadville 100

I went to see the documentary of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race the other night.  It's a race that starts in the town of Leadville, Colorado.  It's 50 miles out and back.  The ride gets interesting when approaching the peak of Mount Columbine.  It's a climb from ~8000 feet up to more than ~12,000.  It's definitely a separator of the men from the boys.

1500 racers are eligible through a lottery system to attempt the feat.  Half of them finish.  One question I have (among many) is for the riders who make it and don't.  What kind of training did each of the two groups perform?  There were a few older riders who finish the race in 12 hours.  You are removed from the race if your pace is not at 12 hours at given points.

I'm not quite gung-ho enough to register for the 2011 race.  I've got plans to ride the Wilderness 101 in the Pocono's, along with the Shenandoah 100 in September for next year.  Along with a handful of longer road biking adventures.

However, if the two 100 mile mountain bike rides do not destroy me, then I may enter the 2012 Leadville lottery and see what happens.  That's quite a commitment given that I'd have to travel to the Rockies.

For the record, I busted out a 17.5 mile loop in 1hr 9min last night around Accotink/Wakefield Park and along the CCT to Pickett Road.  I just need to do 5+ of those at elevations of 8k-12k for the Leadville training.

I'm left pondering this thought ... How does one train for a 100 mile mountain bike ride?

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In Rhythm (Accotink/CCT)

Anyone who has competed in sports, played an instrument, gave a presentation, or most other acts of concentration have felt what the phrase "being in rhythm" means.  It's when the subconscious drives the outcome and the conscious takes a back seat.  In biking, for me that means forgetting your cadence and speed, forgetting how far I need to go, forgetting about the bike and imagining you are flying through the woods, and being eerily aware of everything around you.

I reached this state during the second lap of my ride this evening.around Accotink.  I was aware of the deer, the trail bends, the leaves falling, and the rider coming at me from around a tight turn.  Unfortunately, he wasn't in the same state ... BONK!  OOOF!  Fortunately, the BONK was his bike hitting the tree to avoid me, and the OOOF was him one-upping the bike's impact on the tree.  Yea buddy, how about taking the turn a little wider next time?

It was a good ride, 2 hrs 16 min's for 34.8 miles.  The first loop was 1hr 7min's, second was 1hr 9min's.  It's getting dark pretty early nowadays, so thankfully I brought the light.  If I had not had the light, that would have been a very interesting ride through the path out to Pickett Road.  It was dead dark back there.

This was a good training run for jumping forward to Nov 20 or 27. Those are the weekends I'm thinking about  riding the 184 mile C&O Canal (now in 2 days).  4.5 hours for 70 miles, plus another 1hr 15 min's totaling about 6+ hours of riding time each day.

Life is more interesting with goals and challenges.

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Blue Ridge Mountain Road - Sept 7, 2010

On Saturday I set off with a work buddy to tackle the Blue Ridge Mountain Road out near Middleburg.  I rode this ride ~17 years ago and loved it.  However, back then I did strain a knee tendon that put me off biking for almost 1 year.  Needless to say, I've been tentative about tackling this ride again.

Conquering my fears, but not my anxieties I set off again Saturday.  I didn't sleep well the night before knowing this challenge was ahead.  I picked up my buddy around 9:30am and off to Middleburg we went.

The ride hasn't changed much from what I can tell.  I came close to following the same roads as last time.  Winding, hilly country roads with very little traffic.  It's beautiful scenery if you aren't struggling too much to appreciate it.

The introductory incline begins on Snickersville Road as a lead-in to the Blue Ridge Mountain Road.  Great Country Roads Farm is here which is a great place to bring the kids.  My first pain point of the ride occurred on this intro-hill but surprisingly it was the right knee.  It's always the left knee, why the right?

My buddy was commenting on just how tough that hill was, and I indicated that wasn't even the big hill.  A quick jog on Rt 17 and Blue Ridge Mountain Road was on the left side.  All my anticipation was that I was going to get a kink in my neck looking up to the top of the road, but it wasn't quite as steep as I remember.  Nonetheless, it's a formidable climb.  Bring on 1st gear and let the legs start churning!

It's probably around a 30 minute climb from Snickersville up to the first apex of BRM Road.  I don't know how those Tour de France guys can do 116 miles through the Pyrennes.

The top is more rolling hills which at this point in the ride I'm really tired of seeing.  It was somewhat disheartening everytime you turn the corner and see another decent climb in front of you.

On the way down, we reached 45 mph on a thin winding country road.  Now that almost got my shorts dirty.  That's pretty damn fast for me and especially to turn the bike with a crosswind.  You feel like any little bump will send you flying through the air.  Near the bottom the descent, I see a 15mph sign for a turn.  I look down and I'm doing 42mph ... I'm thinking to myself, "This is not my comfort zone."

The rest of the ride was beautiful country gazing while fighting a head wind along Atoka Road.  Overall, a great ride that I'll consider doing a 3rd time.

Miles to you,

K-Lance

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CAAD10 Maiden Voyage - Oct 4, 2010

The maiden voyage of the 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 resulted in the easiest 52 miles that I have ever traveled.  Dan Wolfe and I set out on the W&OD trail Saturday morning and rode from Gallows Road out to Leesburg and back.  I simply couldn't believe how effortless the ride was.  Less than 2 1/2 hours duration with a few short stops.

I feel very confident of making the Seagull Century which is this coming Saturday.  Weather is predicted to be 71 degrees, sunny, with winds from the NE at 8mph.  

On a sad note, I listed my 1996 Cannondale m700 on Craigslist.  That bike has taken me thousands of miles, but now I suspect it will get little travel as all my path riding will be on the Cannondale Super V-500.

Many miles ahead,

K-Lance

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Seagull Century October 2010

Dan Wolfe and I set out Friday after another slow day at work for Salisbury MD. Traffic was horrible but we started getting excited seeing bikes on other cars starting around the Bay Bridge. In fact, I told Dan to stop next to one guy in the stop/go traffic and ask if he was going to Seagull. He was, and then he asked us if we had $2.50 for the toll. He had no cash. Being fellow bike riders, we coughed up the $2.50 and told him we would be looking for him during the ride. Note: We are still out our $2.50.

We stayed at the Salvation Army. Dan slept in his van (why? ask him.) and I stayed inside the gymnasium. It was comfortable, but as usual there were 2 guys having a wood sawing competition. For all you snorers out there, stay the hell out of public sleeping arrangements. We got up around 7am and rode over to the starting line. A quick breakfast and we were on our way. This was a rolling start event, so whenever you showed up you could start.

There were over 8000 riders this years. Bikes were everywhere. It was pretty neat. This is my first experience with a biking event and I found it very fun to be riding through country roads with all those people. This was only my 2nd ride on my Cannondale CAAD10 so I'm still feeling out the bike. For some reason, I thought that a 20mph average was a good way to start a 100 mile race.

It wasn't long before I jumped in the draft lines of the faster riders. Through 50 miles, I think my average speed was close to 25mph. This sounds harder than it really is, unless you're the poor guy at the front. I avoided the front of the draft lines most of the day, but did take a few turns up there. It's not something I will continue to aspire to do.

I blew through the first rest stop at 20 miles, and only stopped briefly for gatorade at 40 and 60. 60 was the Assateague Island stop. I thought it was going to be a bit more scenic, take a walk on the sand, watch the surf. But no, back on the bike after eating a banana. I did see 2 horses.

At mile 66 I had my first thoughts of wanting to take a nap. This already exceeded my previous max distance of 63 miles. I still felt pretty good, keeping in draft lines, focusing on not crashing. Speaking of crashes, one girl got a free ride in an ambulance as she was pretty torn up on a crash. There were a handful of other wipe outs. There's an issue when you put rookie riders on small roads with 8000 people and fast draft lines. I feel fortunate not to have gone down or had any mechanical failures.

Then the ride started getting a little interesting. Miles 70-80 were getting hard. Mile 80 rest stop has apple pie and ice cream. I kept focusing on that thought while churning away. Staying with the faster draft lines (there weren't that many at this point) was mostly out of the equation. You started to see a lot more people sitting on the side of the road taking rests, and little voice in your head saying "join them".

I got to the rest stop and ate the apple pie and ice cream. This was a long stop, probably close to 25 minutes. Dan ended up getting to the rest stop and we hung out a short bit. People of all shapes, sizes and ages come rolling in. It's surprising to see so many different people capable of riding 80 miles. Good for them.

Getting back on the bike was difficult. For the next 5-6 miles I rode solo in a nasty headwind. In fact, the entire last 20 miles seemed to be nothing but upwind. It was a huge struggle to keep 15/16 mph on my own. I totally wanted to breakdown and stroll for 10mph. But the thought of taking 2 more hours for the last 20 miles wasn't appealing. Finishing this race was getting to be a very difficult physical and mental challenge.

I decided the only possible way of actually getting to the end was to get in a draft line. It was hard. A tandem bike came rolling past me and the thought occurred to me to ask the lady in back if she wanted my bike and I could jump on the back with her husband .. ha ha. I sucked it up and didn't leave their back wheel for several miles. We had to stop at a stop light and rolled up next to them. I said, "I hope you don't mind, but I need you to get me to the finish line otherwise I'm not making it." The lady said, "Sure, c'mon .. we'll finish together. We're almost there."

Sure enough, time seemed to stop while continuing to ride by more people sitting at the side of the road we did eventually get to the finish line. I thanked them wholeheartedly. I was so excited crossing the finish line with people cheering on. 100 miles is a really long ways.

Despite this being the toughest physical and mental challenge that I can recall, I expect to be back next year and try it again. I'll be encouraging Michelle to join me, along with the rest of you bikers (Eric, Hamp, Mike, Danny) to join in the "fun".

My next challenge is the 184 mile C&O Canal ride from Cumberland to DC (over 3 days w/camping). Anyone interested?

Many more miles ahead,

K-Lance

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"I got Winded" 10/21/2010

In preparation for the C&O canal ride, I set off for another regular loop around Accotink and Wakefield Park last night. Perhaps the overly aggressive approach towards this ride stemmed from my lovely day at the office. Last night I felt pretty good mentally when done, but physically I was kinda hurting.

The ride was 17.55 miles in 1hr 6mins and was pretty much a complete sprint. These things always seem like a good idea at the time, with penalties coming later. Fortunately nothing hurt, but dang I was tired and winded. It was a chore to put a beat down on Michelle at the ping pong table last night after the ride.

I hope everyone is training for the ride. Maybe a longer ride this weekend is in order???

Many miles ahead,

K-Lance

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2007 Montevideo Trip

Sunday

I arrived! Oh man, that long on a plane overnight sucks. 9:45PM departure time, 7:30am arrival. I slept a little, but woke up every 1-2 hours pretty cranky. Then would fall asleep again. The flight went into Buenos Aires for a 2 hour layover. I walked up to the cafe stop to order a cafe (coffee). So I ask for a large, and what comes out is something of a double dixie cup. I was thinking, "What the heck?" Turns out there's no such thing as 7-11 grande here. It's all cappucino/expresso. That double dixie cup turned out to pack quite a wallop!

We took a taxi along the coast for several miles to the Radisson. Beautiful coastline, similar to the strand in LA. Sidewalk, lots of bikes, runners, cafes. The embassy is right off the beach. I'll be spending a little bit of time there, but mostly at the 3rd party site.

We got to the hotel, which is very nice. We immediately went down to the Mercado del Puerto. 10 block walk through old historic districts. Very interesting place. The mercado is an open air market. We had filets, wine, appetizers, beers, no dessert. It was a Morton's type meal for lunch ... total cost, $10/head. The currency exchange here is 25 pesos to 1 dollar. I could get used to living this large all the time.

We walked around a little after lunch, and now I'm back at the hotel. There's a very nice spa and gym on the 6th floor that I'm trying to build up courage to go visit. Problem is I'm pretty damn tired. But a good ride on the bike could do me some good.

Tomorrow is a holiday here. We're going to the embassy for some setup, which may take one hour. We'll have the rest of the day free. I'm hoping to swing back over to Buenos Aires for the day, but we'll see.

Stay tuned for the daily schpeel.

Monday

Today we went by the embassy for 3 hours to setup. Gorgeous place right on the sea. Setup was fine, no issues. We then set out for some Chivigo(sp?), some greasy sandwich that tastes really good.

A few hours strolling up and down julio 18 street for some souveniers and a look. A little rest, then off to an italian place to eat by the hotel at 7:00PM. However, Uruguayans don't eat dinner until 8PM at the earliest. We go turned away and found a pizza place. I had a 1997 Don Pascual Merlot (to myself) which was excellent for 230 pesos ~$8. The appetizer was an assortment of cheese, meat and olives. The pizza was excellent. $12/head in the end for a very good meal.

Tomorrow is the first day of testing. I'll be going over to Indumex, a 3rd party visa collection fee site. No one there will speak english, and I'll probably be there by myself most of the day. Hablo Englis?

Ciao

Tuesday

Today we set up shop in Indumex. It's what you might think of as a typical bank style place. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for some visa applicants to come by. 5 hours later, we had 8 applicants run through the biometric collection. Successful test, but we'd like to get a much larger sample pool.

Tonight we're off for some serious eats, once again. I skipped lunch, because I didn't think it would matter considering the amount of food I've stuffed in my pie hole the last 2 days.

After eats, it's back to the gym for some swimming and work out.

Tuesday Dinner

Buenos Noches,

Que Maravilla! De acuerdo, this dinner cost us $25/head. On the expensive side of Uruguayan cuisine. However, let me tell you about it.

Uruguay and Argentina are known for their beef and wines. I now understand why this is so, even after our meals earlier at Mercado del Puerto. We revisited the location, it's a collection of open air restaurants down by the water. You must cab it in the evening, due to the rough nature of the crowd you may encounter on the walk. It's about 10 blocks from the hotel. On the way back, you see a variety of people who you probably wouldn't ask for directions. But the eating establishment and hotel area are just fine.

Again, we opened up with a bottle of 2006 Don Pascual Tannat Reserve. Same Don Pascual I had last night, but a different selection, hence the Tannat. Excellent, smooth taste, and yes DK, I'll bring you home a bottle.

The appetizers were home-baked bread, that melt in your mouth. It's similar to an fire-oven baked bread from Bertucci's. There is a tomato/oregano something sauce to put on the bread which is excellent. We ordered some grilled provolone mixed with oregano and olive oil as on the side, named pelenque. It's a local specialty for artery clogging. Similar clogging ability as the chivitas we ate for lunch the other day.

The main course was bife ancho, en poco jugoso. Oh my, it was a specialty beef cut similar to a medium rare cut of rib eye in the States. However, don't confuse it with any piece of meat you've had in the States. It's a large size mouth melter that is simply incredible. There is a butcher shop near the Courthouse metro where I need to look for this cut. Three grilled vegetables were served with it, basically a squash, red pepper and a local vegetable like squash. Muy bien.

The dessert was a manolito. There was no "ito" about it. A mound of sweet chocolate, simliar in mousse texture. Graham cracker crust with a layer of carmel. A hard chocolate shell with a leaf of white chocolate as a topper. Holey geez, I'm not a dessert guy but this was better than anything the cheesecake factory has to offer.

I hope everyone is eating well back home.

Bon Appetite

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Elbow pain

Just a note to say the latest issue is the right elbow. It hurts playing tennis, or even putting on my belt sometimes. This year has been a little rough with injuries, including stabbing myself in the hand and cutting a bifurcated tendon.

Although, my feet are feeling much better. I don't have to wear shoes in the house to prevent discomfort. Getting 41 is hard, and playing tennis with Adam on the court doesn't make me feel any younger.

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Jared 4, Jordan 2

The kids are quite a bit older now. Jared just turned 4 and Jordan is 2.5 years old. Let's start with Jordan because she hasn't had as much publicity in the past.

Jordan is all-girl. A young energetic adorable little lady who is just now coming around to see the light-side of wrestling in the house. She loves to play chase, get tossed in the air, wrestle on the bed, play with polly-pockets, draw with the magnetic pads and lots more. She's starting to grow an affinity for little Gameboy, Dora being her game of choice.

Jared is all-boy all the time. He's really come around to be quite the funny little guy. We were talking to a friend named Bob Garrett on one of our night walks. After we left, he looks at me as asks if he likes to "Build things?" Jared loves his dinosaurs, playing in the dirt, night walks, wrestling, play-doh and drawing. He's knows his alphabet and is beginning to read.

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Gramma Caryn's walk with da'Boy

I have to tell you all about my experience while in Virginia helping Michelle after Jordan was born. My
job was to take care of and entertain Jared. At 20 months old, Jared knows what he wants and is perfectly
capable of doing whatever it is that he wants to do. At 20 months he doesn't talk much yet, but gets his
message across simply by pointing and saying a very emphatic "Ehh..."

Jared loves to be outside but is not old enough to be outside by himself. So one day while I was there, I
took Jared for a walk. He wanted to take his police car, which he can either sit on and ride, or get
behind and push. We went down the driveway and then Jared was (literally) off and running, pushing his
police car down the sidewalk. I had to run to catch up with him. I had intended to take a walk around the
block with him, but Jared had other ideas. I the end of the block, he wanted to cross the street to the
stairway into the park and walking paths through the woods that meander through the middle of Michelle and Ken's development. So down we went into the woods.

Jared knows where every stream is in the woods and he made sure he went to every one of them so he could throw stones into the water. In a very short time he had me so lost that I had no idea where I came into the woods, so I had to rely on Jared to get us out, which he did. Only he got us out onto a different
street than the one we went into the woods on, so I still had no idea how to get back to Michelle's. I
followed Jared. We went up into a cul-de-sac and went up to a house where Jared pointed at the doorbell
(ehh!! ehhh!) indicating I should ring the doorbell.

Wow!! I hoped that whoever answered the door would know Jared, because I didn't know whose house we were at. The lady of the house answered the door and said hello to Jared (to my relief), who just walked into the house and headed for the kitchen where he pointed at one of the cabinets. Nana (I learned her name later) opened the cabinet door and gave Jared some cookies and he was ready to leave again. When we got down to the end of the street, Jared turned around to go back to Nana's house. He hadn't had enough cookies and needed a few more. Nana told me how to get back to Michelle's house from there, but when we got to the end of the street where we were supposed to turn right, Jared wanted to go left, and since I couldn't carry both Jared and his police car, I didn't really know where I was to go back for the police car if I left it, I followed Jared again. And again we went back to the woods and threw stones in the streams in the woods. I figured eventually, I would find my way out of the woods, and I had no idea how long we were out there, but I knew we were out for a long time.

Eventually, Ken's mother, Carla, who Michelle had called because she was beginning to worry about us,
found us and lead us out of the woods onto the street where Ken and Michelle live. Was I relieved!!! From that point on, I never took Jared out unless he was in a stroller, but I am still amazed at (1) how well that little guy knows his way around, (2) what a strong arm he has (he'll probably be a star pitcher by the time he can play T-ball at 4 or 5 years old), and (3) the stamina and physical endurance and strength he has for a 20 month old little boy (he ran most of the 3-1/2 hours we were out in the woods).

Jordan has a much different personality, and is much more placid than Jared is, so by the time she gets to
be Jared's age, I'm hoping for playing house and school.

Caryn

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June 8, Fairfax Racquet Club Match Thoughts

Carvajal/Lucas 6-7 (5-10), 2-4 versus Buncha-Bums (The Foot Fault Guy)

 

Hola Roberto-Guillermo,

 

I've had a few minutes to think about the tennis match the other night.  I haven't come to any big conclusions about anything, but do have a few thoughts on the match. 

 

As to being match tough, I suppose there is something to say about that.  From my perspective, it's not about getting nervous or tense.  I think of match tough as being smart about where to hit the ball, should I hit a first-serve or spin it in?, which side of the box should I hit to, and how to construct a point.

 

It seems that your definition of "match tough" is getting over the anxiety and nervousness during the match.

 

Either definition is fine.  I do agree that with more matches we will be better able to win closer sets, and take advantage of opportunities that present itself. 

 

The biggest lost opportunity that grates on me is not holding serve when serving for the set.  All the pressure to win the game sits on the opponent, not us.  We should be able to play a relaxed game, hit percentage shots and keep the ball in play.  Let's force the opponent to try and come up with the big winner.  If they do, then great, otherwise we take the set.

 

From a more personal nature, I was annoyed we weren't able to get close to breaking that guys serve.  We had two break points against him which I was enthused about getting.  I think the points were lost when he hit a service winner to you, and the other when I returned the serve, but then netted a forehand down the middle of the court.  That forehand irritated me.

 

I noticed that it was far easier to return his serve when I stood 6-7' behind the baseline.  I didn't have to react quite as quickly so I had more time to line up my shot and make sure to use the strings rather than the frame to return the ball.

 

I was happy with our overall play.  I haven't played much at all.  Your play has been limited as well.  Yet we still came out very strong and were competitive.  Isn't your doubles league with Lynne over?  I'm sure that league helped you in our matches.

 

So, no big earth-shaking thoughts on the match.  Do you know when and where our next Sunday 6PM match at Burke is?

 

Later, K-Rod

 

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To Work

Sitting here idling my fingers because there is very little work to do, I'm thinking about the benefits of sitting and billing versus leaving and hanging out at the pool. It's difficult to come to work when there is so little to do, yet it's difficult to bill unless you are sitting at work.

So how shall I fix my dilemma?

By creating a blog, of course. Here I can practice my typing and think about things that perhaps could be done at work. Don't get me wrong, I'm continuing to ask for additional work, it's just that i'm completing tasks so quickly and right now there isn't enough work to keep me busy. So lazily I sit here surfing and blogging.

This has happened before at previous jobs. I left one company because the work dried up. They were still willing to pay me and do the trivial amount of work assigned, but I opted for a new atmosphere with new challenges and a longer to-do list. Little did I know that the next job would hand me the kitchen sink, but after 2 years, that work dried up and away I went in search of a longer to-do list again.

Where does this story end? In my field, there is no end, only beginnings. Start a new project every so often, complete it, maintain it, and move on. It's an endless cycle of repeating measures rotating from one full-life cycle phase to another.

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Sesame Street

Telephone rock is a fantastic kids musical dvd. Get it! Put Down the Duckie ain't so bad either.

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