1st Quarter Progress...............

With today being the last day of the month I ran some figures to see where I am. Kind of a general checkup if you will. I am trying to keep with a routine swimming and riding. I feel like it going good so here are the first quarter numbers!

So far we have had a 120 days this year. I missed 3 days in January, 3 days in February, 6 days in March and 7 days in April. That all totals 19 days out of 120. I want to say that's damn good! But then again the fact that every month the total days I did nothing keeps creeping up.

Although I feel comfortable with 7 days a month off. I knew back in January that I couldn't maintain only 3 days a month off. It just doesn't work. Life gets in the way.

This month, the 7 has worked out pretty good. So I plan on trying to stay right around that mark. I have had plenty of time with the family and me time........

Success.......Fail..........

That would pretty much sum up my weekend! Saturday I got in a great early morning ride at Steve's. I was the first for the day so I got the privilege of cleaning all the cobwebs off the trail. Again I am riding the 26in bike and seem to go a lot better on it. I have tried the 29er and I have tried to love the 29er, it just ain't happening!

So after I got home from my ride I got cleaned up and out the door we went. Nope we didn't take the motorcycle as planned because the rain was coming. Thank goodness we didn't either, we would have been wet by the time we got home if we had.

Our destination, Mcbee SC. Brown's RV's! Yes we have the pop up, it sucks! For a family of 4 it's just too small. You just don't have enough room in it. Yes it works for sleeping but that's about it.We found a 28ft Starcraft with a 13ft slide out that would be perfect for the family. It has a full size bed for Karen and I and a double bunk bed for the kids.

Not counting a full size kitchen and fridge with the full couch. Plus the bathroom! That alone would be so worth it! No we didn't pull the plug just yet but we are thinking hard! The payment would be the same and the truck can pull it so it pretty much comes down to us making the decision.

So Saturday was a success and Sunday was a fail......

Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course I am not the only one who noticed, but damn it's rained all day! No ride nothing....

Think about all the fat people who had to fight for the closest spot to the door at Wal Mart.......

Cause' you know if they are gonna ride around the lot on a sunny day they sure as hell weren't gonna walk on a rainy day!!!!

Ya gotta love America................

OK,,,,,,,,,

I guess this might be the new normal! We are booming here at work and it looks like we should are gonna stay that way. Not that I am complaining but it makes it hard o get my blog written in the morning. Hell I haven't even had time this week to read the blogs I like to keep up with.

Wow is me......

Oh well I guess my readers will start noticing my up dates are a little late but they are still coming.

So I did hit the woods last night, Charles and I did a lap at Sherman and we hauled ass! I haven't ridden all week and I was on last night. Sometimes you just have it and last night I did. We passed everybody out there! Makes me want to ride this weekend for sure.

I ended the week with 5700 yards for my swim total and 1 ride. No running this week but I am still happy with the total. Next week will be more riding for sure. My leg is feeling better so I am gonna get back to running also.

Now let's change the subject! Today during lunch I went to Harris Teeter and hit the salad bar. I like going there at lunch, it's not far from the office and they have a great salad bar. Well I got my salad fixed and headed to the line. I get in line and I am standing there waiting.

All of a sudden the lady in front of me pulls out a damn book and starts reading it! I am like what the hell? Then I notice the guy who rang her up is putting all her groceries in these cloth bags she brought with her. Never seen that before!

Now don't get me wrong I am all for recycling, I just didn't know how far some people care to go with the concept! Each bag didn't hold hardly anything and she knew how long it would take.

Hence the reason she brought the book.....

Yes I changed lanes................

Steady She Goes!!!!!!!!!!!

I hit the pool this morning and tried a new technique. I tried to just go at a steady pace and not stop. It seemed to work pretty good. I got in my full mile swim a lot quicker than usual.

Now we are gonna get back on the bike tonight and finish the week with a bang! Followed by a full day over at Uhwarrie  on Sunday and I will have the week finished. Saturday the wife and I will be on the motor cycle!

Believe it or not she wants to do another ride this weekend! Yea I was kinda surprised myself. Should be fun! So far I have been on a roll lately I have ridden the bike everyday this week. Even with going swimming I have managed to ride. Last week I was late to work every time I road, this week I have even managed to be on time.

Maybe things are looking better! Or I have figured out a new system.....

So Far !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So boring! I tried to make it more exciting with the exclamation points but it didn't help much. My week, it is what it is. Boring! All I have done is spend my time swimming and spend money at the motorcycle shop.

I rode the mtn. bike 5 out of 7 days last week and swam 4 days, so I haven't made it a point to kill myself this week. I call it a rest period! I am going to ride tomorrow but that will be the first time this week.

As I said  so far I have just swam and spent money. Damn kids keep growing and out growing all there gear. We had to get new helmets over the weekend (courtesy of grandma) and last night we got new boots (courtesy of grandma).

Thank god for grandma!!!

Cycle Gear is my new favorite hangout. That's not a bad thing though. The place has some deals! If you watch their sales paper you can really score a deal. Next we need to go through the riding clothes we have and see what we have that still fits.

By the time we get back down to TNT Motorsports, we are gonna have a fortune in new stuff!!!!!

Ya got to pay to play...................

Getting On My Nerves !!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, this job is! We have been slammed for the last two days! As you can tell I haven't even had time to blog. Something is gonna have to give! But as you can tell the job wins out over the blog.

Much as I hate it, I have to work! If I want to play I got to work.

So no ride yesterday, I did swim and I did swim again this morning. So I have that covered. Now I just need to get the bike out. Which looks like it will be tomorrow night.

I finished pulling the 4-wheeler apart last night and now we are waiting on parts. It turned out it was the head gasket. Not that big of deal, and now I now how to tear apart the 4-wheeler. Cody is ready to ride it so hopefully it will be ready by the weekend.

Tonight I am taking the kids to get new riding boots. Both of them have out grown the ones they have. We are slowly making progress towards the dirt bikes. One of these days before long we are gonna be ready. Chase is starting to get excited and so am I.

Now my wallet isn't looking so good but what the hell, I am gonna have fun while I can!!

I Want One.................

Another motorcycle that's what. Yesterday (Saturday) Chase and I went out and about looking at the bikes. The kids both needed new helmets for riding the dirt bikes so we went looking.

First stop was Ride Now Motorsports in Concord. They have about the biggest showroom in this area and I wanted to see everything. The helmet selection sucked but they have the bikes. I finally got to sit on and see the new Ninja 300. That is what I have been wanting but now I am not so sure.

Yes it is really sweet and light, but after reading up on some of the specs I am not so sure I would be happy. The 0-60 time is like 5.9 seconds, my Gold wing will do it in 3.5 seconds, and it is like 10 times bigger. The price is right at 5 grand but still it would kinda be lacking.

Right beside it was the Ninja 636! Now that's a sport bike! It's bad ass, no doubt about it. The only draw back is it costs about 12 grand! That's a lot of cash for something you can't ride everyday! But I like it! I drive a 2500 dollar car so I am entitled to buy something like that. At least that's my opinion.

So back to the helmets. We ended up at Cycle Gear, where we should have went to begin with. Yes they had just what we needed so now we are only lacking the new boots. Slowly but surely we are getting back to the dirt bikes!

They closer we get the more excited we seem to get! Chase is ready and Cody is starting to come around!

TNT Motorsports Park is calling our name.......

Change Up !!!!!!!!!!

The plans change. You have to be able to roll with the flow! I wanted to go camping tonight and evenn ot together a few things, but it looks like the rain is gonna change that. So pizza and beer at the house with the kids it will be!

Although they don't get the beer. That will be for the wife and I. But then again there might not be very much in th way of beer. I want to get up and go pretty early tomorrow so I will probably stick to coke. Damn I must be getting old!

One minute I am planning on a beer and the next I realize I have other plans that don't fit in with the beer. Oh well...

So I went to bed with the plan to swim this morning, I woke up and rolled over. Fail!! I swam all week so it is what it is. Next week I will be back at the pool and I am already looking forward to it. Have a good weekend...

Ride Swim, Swim Ride,,,,,,,,,,,,

Then do it again. Swam everyday so far this week and have ridden twice already, and tonight we are gonna do it again! The weekend is right around the corner so I am a happy camper.

Hell I might even be a happy camper this weekend. I am giving some thought to hauling the camper over to Uhwarrie and spending the night. I need to get it out and get some fresh air. The kids don't seem to interested but I am.

Saturday night we are gonna do a bar crawl so if I do go camping it will have to be tomorrow night. It's more of a checkout Waxhaw restaurant deal than a get drunk bar crawl. Which I am glad about, I don't want to waste Sunday sitting on the couch recovering.

If you have a beer in 5 different restaurants you get a t-shirt. At the rate I am going with all these races I will have a hell of a collection before long!!!!!

Rhythm........

After floundering around like a flounder, get it! I was swimming, I finally found my rhythm again. Monday I thought I was gonna drown and yesterday wasn't much better. Today I was on! I had a pace going and it was all good.

I cruised through my 1500 yards like it was no problem. I wish I would have had more time, I would liked to have knocked out a full 2000 yards. Maybe tomorrow!

Point is, don't take a week off!!!!

So anyhow I did things a little different today, last night I rearranged the garage so I could get my motorcycle out really easy. Now that spring is finally here I want to ride it more. Now I can pack the bike and out the door I can go. I was ready.

Although it being a new routine of course I was late for work. I forgot my phone and had to turn around and go back to the house after I swam. Then I knew I was gonna be late so I went ahead and went to the grill and got a sandwich and drink.

By the time I got to work and ate my breakfast I was a half hour late. Oh well it ain't the end of the world. Tomorrow I will be more efficient! Live and learn.

Tonight I have a guy coming by to go to the lake. Hopefully I can sell my boat. He wants a test drive.....

It Happens To Everybody..............

Everyone with a pool anyway! I can't tell ya how many times I left the water on all night. You need to add water and you forget you have it on and go to bed. Next morning you wake up and remember right away.

Then it's to late, all the water is draining out on the ground!

Why am I bringing this up? Because somebody left the water on at the Aquatic Center last night! Were talking a 25 meter indoor lap pool that over flowed! It was slam full! Now they have to get the chemicals all redone and get the water level right again.

You could tell the chemicals where off just by swimming this morning. They where in the process of lowering the water level and once that was done then they had to get the chemicals back right. The life guard said the boss was not happy.

All I could do was laugh! Been there and done that............

I Am In The Club !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, "I Am In The Club" and didn't even know it! Makes me feel special! Last week I was tired from the Charleston run and ended up skipping my swimming for the week. It was amazing how fast I went right back to sleeping till 6 and then going to work.

So after skipping the week I was excited about getting back in the water this morning. I actually missed it. So I was up at 4:45 and out the door, I got there and almost couldn't remember the combination on my lock. 1 week and I had to try about 3 times before I got it right.

In the water at 5:15, 1500 yards later and I was done! Now I need to hit it the rest of the week.  Now for the funny part.

Every morning for the last 16 weeks I have gone to the gym and swam at least 4 days a week. Most mornings you nod and say hi to a few people as you come and go but that's about it. The one guy Joe he and I chat most mornings but the rest of the people it's pretty basic. Even the little older woman at the front counter, it's hi and bye.

Have a nice day!

Well this morning after being gone for a week I had 3 different people ask me where I was, they all thought I had just given up I suppose. All three of them had really never said anymore than hi or bye. So It kinda surprised me. I didn't really think anybody noticed.

But they seem too, it's like I am now part of the club. We don't have a ton of people who show up at 5am so I guess if one goes missing you notice. Now I will need to pay attention. Make sure my fellow 5am club members are doing well. Maybe I will get to know them now, it's like now that I took a vacation and still came back they decided I just might make it after all.

Now that they have seen my commitment they are willing to accept me into the club. You know, why bother until you are sure they are gonna stay around....

I made the club!!!!!!!!!!!

Close,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

No it didn't kill me but damn if my left leg ain't hurting! I guess it goes back about 20 years when I used to race dirt bikes all the time.

I broke my lower out side "tibula", the smaller bone in your lower leg. At least that's what I think it's called. But anyway I broke it and didn't realize it at the time. I just kept it wrapped tight and went about my everyday business.

Of course I finally had it x-rayed and found out it had been broken but it was already healing and there wasn't anything the doc could do at that time.

Well now that I decided I am gonna run it has been a little sore. After last night I have woken up and it's really sore! Like killing me sore!

I ran my 5k last night, my second race in less than a week and it hurts. But the good news is I ran it in 28:10! That's 5 minutes faster than my last 5k so I am proud of that. Plus I have a week to get over my soreness before my next 5k.

Yep I doing one next Saturday night in Albemarle. They have a 5k and a half marathon going on so I plan to go. It's gonna be at the Badin Rd drive inn theatre. While we run they are showing a couple of kids movies for the families.

Should be fun!!!!!

Now where is my ace bandage! I need to wrap my leg!!!

But,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

While I am tired and ready to recuperate why not run a 5k! Can't kill me, might make me stronger. Plus it's only a 5k, why not....

Tonight is the 8th annual Waxhaw Town &Country Run. Does that mean anything to you? Didn't think so but if you say the whole title at least it sounds more like a big deal! It's sponsored by the hospital. Where the wife works.

So I got a discount on the entry fee and it goes to charity. I think I am to late to get the t-shirt but who cares. It's competition and I seem to like running these days. I still find it hard to believe I am saying that. Again 6 months ago I had no ambition to run much less run a race! How things change.

I would have never thought I would run 2 races in a week either! I ran Cooper River Saturday and now it's Friday and I am gonna line up again. Life is fun!

Tomorrow, providing I am not to sore I plan on a road ride. For some reason I want to ride the road bike. I haven't been on it in awhile and it's time. The mountain bike has been all I have ridden for the last few weeks and now it needs brakes. Time to move on to the next bike that don't need any work. Besides after buying the kids the four wheeler this week I spent all my money.

Who needs brakes anyway.................

I Might Be Tired !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So after I was bragging about getting faster and I was all happy as hell, it's over! LOL..... That fast things changed! One day your the windshield, one day your the bug......

Last night I was the bug!

As the title says, "I Might Be Tired". After swimming everyday last week and running my first 10k Saturday. Then getting up Sunday morning and taking a long walk. I took Monday off and hit the woods Tuesday and yesterday after work.

Tuesday night was great. Last night sucked. I had nothing! Zero, nada nothing! No power at all. I didn't even try to ride a few of the hills. I haven't swam this week just because I have swam almost 5 days a week for the last 15 weeks. Plus I knew I was tired, I have slept good.

Scott had to wait on me so many times if it had been me I would have went on. Hell I kinda wished he would have went on so I could have suffered by myself. Yet he waited. So needless to say I was glad to get to the truck.

Maybe next time..............

The Chase !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here lately I have been getting a little faster on the bike. Not that I am slow it's just the fact that the crowd I ride with happens to be some of the fastest guys in Charlotte. So naturally it rubs off on me too.

When I ride with most people I am considered fast.

So lately we have been riding a good bit, that plus swimming and my running. I have lost some weight, hence I am getting faster. So I have been getting ready and taking off in front of my buds. That way I push myself the whole time and they push there self the whole time.

If I took off with them and they dropped me after about a quarter of the way I would slow down. Now I kick it the whole time! I have just about figured out how far I need to be in front at what point to stay there through the end of the loop. We ride Steve's place quite a bit so I know where I need to be.

With all that being said last night I managed to make it till the end! Nobody caught me!! I was happy as hell with that. Now if I can start making that stick every time I will know I have arrived.......

This Is Weird !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So me being me, Sunday morning I was up before anyone else in the house. Every since I was a kid and had my paper route. I would finish up delivery on a Saturday or Sunday morning and then head out. I always liked watching a city come to life.

I was 12-13 years old back then and had 75 papers every day of the week to deliver. Five days a week I would do them right after school and on the weekends I would do the morning paper. I would leave the house before the sun came up and cut through the shopping center bicycle loaded.

I had an AMF Freespirit 10 speed. It was baby blue and had baskets on all four corners. Plus a bar basket. I was the bomb! Any how I would get done and come home change bikes and head downtown. I could cut through the UK campus and be downtown in 15 minutes. There would be non traffic and nobody out.

Slowly the city would come to life! Saturday faster than Sunday. That was 1980-81. Now your parents would get locked up if they let their kid roam around downtown like that.

Damn I had a great childhood!

So back to Sunday morning. I got up before everyone else and headed out. Paula and Ray live in MT pleasant, just across the bridge from Charleston. Where they live, it's not far from a shopping center and the Cooper River Bridge. I got to walk up through the shopping center and through the neighborhood.

Nobody was around and only saw 1 car in the neighborhood. I saw the fitness center at the shopping center was open and a few people were trickling in. Mainly women, men are to lazy to go first thing in the morning. They where probably wondering what I was doing walking through at 7am.

So I went up to the store and got a drink and chatted with the lady for a few and headed back the long way. As I walked along a few people where out walking there dogs and things where starting to move. I saw few people who must have been the ones to unlock the church because they where leaving awful early and already dressed up.

As I walked along I was thinking about that special period when I was young and had the paper route and got to do this every weekend. I ended up gone for about an hour and a half and walked 4 miles.

I felt like a kid again!!!!!!

I Will Be Back.............

That was a blast! Charleston SC, April 5th 2014. Will be the 37th annual Cooper River Bridge Run!

I will be there!

I was up at 6:30am got a shower got dressed and warmed up a ham biscuit. Out the door I went with my directions in hand. I munched on my biscuit and walked through the neighborhood in the dark. Got through eating and found a trash can.

A mile and a half later I was at the start. I got there way early and had to wait a while but it wasn't to long. 8am the invitees went off and my group went off about 25 minutes later.

I ran the whole thing, up over and down through Charleston I went. One hour two minutes and 26 seconds later I had ran my first 10k! 6.2 miles.

Until Saturday the furthest I had ever ran in a race was 4 miles. I swear I was so proud of myself I almost cried. I finished 6387th male finisher and 10782 overall! Out of 39000 people!!!!!!

I started running about 2 weeks after Christmas, I started swimming right before Christmas. I stopped smoking back in August! I have lost 20 pounds and feel great. I honestly didn't know if I could run that far or not.

With that being my goal, just don't stop! I made it and know I can do better! If I hadn't had to go through so many people I would have been under the hour mark.

Now I need another foot race!

Until then, back in the pool tomorrow am and mountain bike tomorrow night......

Believe me, you can do anything if you put your mind to it!

Count Down !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Count down to the 8am start. I am leaving work early today so we can get on the road. Then up at the crack of dawn!

Have a good weekend..... I will get back on here come Monday....

I Called It,,,,,,,,,,

If you read yesterday's post my prediction was spot on. When I got to Steve's trail there where 3 other cars in the lot. I talked to Jerry who was fixing to leave and then I hit the woods. I saw no one for my whole ride.

Perfect day! Took my time, did all the climbs and had a nice slow ride. Nobody was there pushing me and I had nobody to chase. We have been riding there for 4 or 5 months and yesterday was the first time I noticed the deer stands. Yea, ya slow down a little and you will notice new things. I was surprised! I can't tell you how many laps I have ridden there and just noticed these.

I also saw a deer and a turkey. I kinda felt bad for the turkey he isn't aware of it but turkey season opens next Saturday the 13th. He was just hanging around and next week he better be looking out! Although he's in a good safe spot for the most part. Nobody is allowed to hunt the land now that it's a bike park.

Unless he gets adventuress he should be safe.

So overall it was a good way to end the day. Nice easy ride in the woods all by myself. I then went home and had supper and that was the day. I got a good nights sleep and then hit the pool for my morning swim. Now I am done until Saturday.

Cooper River Run is calling my name. Good food good friends and Charleston SC. Looking forward to the weekend.

Laaazy Wednesday..............

Yea I changed up the title a little bit. I even grew bored of my title's already and it's only the middle of the week. So we did a 2 word title! Very clever..

Yep I hit the pool for my second day of 2000 yards. After riding last night then coming home and building Karen a set of shelves for her closet I am tired. First time I have swam that much in two days. I would really like o get up to 10,000 yards a week.

Yes I am loaded for tonight, I am heading to Steve's right after work. Tonight will be an easy ride. Kelly is out of town and I really haven't tried to find anyone else to go. Sometimes I just prefer to ride by myself. Can't help it, I like the peace and quite sometimes. If I want to go fast I will. If I don't I don't!

Sometimes I can pedal the whole lap in the little ring and take as long as needed and it won't bother me a bit. I actually like to see how slow I can go, it's neat to see all the stuff you usually fly right by. Right now that's one of the best things about Steve's, it's too hard for the majority of riders that ride Sherman Branch.

Steve's is only 10 miles from Sherman and it might as well be 30. If I went to Sherman today the parking lot would be full with all the rain coming. I might see 3 other cars at Steve's. That's why I like it!!!

Tuesday,,,,,,

This week we are gonna go with easy titles. Tuesday! It is what it is, so you can easily guess what tomorrow the title will be! Why make things complicated. I am a big fan of the K.I.S.S. method in life. "Keep It Simple Stupid".

So I got up and met Kelly at 5:10 this morning. I had plenty of time to get in a full 2000 yards! I wanted to do a full mile but I felt good and I had time so I kept on going. It feels good to get that much in. I would have never thought I could have done it very long ago. Plus the car is loaded and ready for a ride.

Mountain biking at 4:30. Life is good!

So now let's change the subject. I had to make a car payment last night. Yes my Blazer is paid for but it does have 125000 miles on it. Plus it's a Chevrolet! So when I got ready to leave yesterday the service engine light came. Then when I put it in gear it "clunked", the shifting wasn't right. Yes I just put a new transmission in it so I knew it wasn't that.

Back to my new favorite store "Autozone"! They use their little computer to check "my" computer and it says the Throttle Position Sensor has gone bad. $32.99 later and I am on the way. 15 minutes of labor and now it shifts better than it ever has! Then I took the time to wire in a trailer harness so I can pull a trailer and I was all done.

Car payment made!

Monday, Monday.............

Swam 1500 yards  this morning and watchin' the sun shine. Ready for the coming weekend, gonna get my run on!

Cooper River Bridge Run is this Saturday  and I will be there! Actually we will be there. The whole family is going. Karen and Paula are going to walk it and I am going to run it. The kids are going fishing with Paula's husband while we all do our thing. It's gonna be fun!

I have never ran a foot race as big as this so it's gonna be interesting. Plus it will be my first 10k. Or 6 mile run however you want to look at it. We haven't been to Charleston lately so I am looking forward to it. The kids haven't been in a long time so it will be fun. It's always nice staying at Ray and Paula's house instead of a motel. We are in a neighborhood instead of a motel.

The kids are free to come and go, and they have access to a golf cart. When you are 16 and 13 that's the bomb! What else do you want?