A Day Trip to the Old Iowa Capital...

Amid watching all of the horrific news about what happened at the Boston Marathon, my jaw dropped yesterday.  A bunch of questions popped into my mind...Is violence becoming part of our society?  Or has it always been there and it was just shown in other forms?  And what can we do to safe guard ourselves against such things happening?  I guess we could avoid large groups and stay safely in our homes but then what happens to our sense of community?  Are we to question what our neighbors are up to and always be questioning their motives?  And where would all of that distrust and separation possibly lead to? Well, one only may need to look at the Middle East to get the answer to that one.  Are we all leading that way? Maybe I’m just over reacting to all of this but I still can’t help but wonder what we should be doing…

Photo- The Old Iowa State Capital on the University of Iowa Campus.

Meanwhile back here in Iowa, last week when the weather was a balmy 50 degrees and the sun was shining I took a day trip to the Old Iowa State Capital in Iowa City.  The Old Capital with its gold covered dome which is a topped with flags sits prominently in the middle of the University of Iowa campus.  On the day I was there, students were sitting on its steps; some relaxing while others were buried in books studying, while still others were walking around enjoying a day of sunshine.  In general the area seemed like a place of openness, happiness, and hope; but that could have been the sunny day talking to me.

Photo- The view from the Old Capital steps.

I will say that there’s quite the commanding view of Iowa City from the back steps of the Old Capital.  There has been a great deal of growth and construction taking place in the area.  A great deal of that construction is rebuilding after the BIG flood of 2008 that took place in the area.  That BIG flood happened along the Cedar River and hit both Iowa City and my hometown of Cedar Rapids very hard, but more about that in upcoming posts.

The Old Capital actually served as the State Capital of Iowa for a very short time frame.  It was finished being built in 1842, when Iowa was still just a territory.  Four years later, Iowa became the 29^th state and it very soon became obvious that the Old Capital building was not large enough to serve as a Capital.  Meanwhile, it was decided that the Capital should also be more centrally located in Iowa.  Thus, a location was found in Des Moines, Iowa and the present day state capital building was finished in 1857.  Yes, if you do the math the Old State Capital only served as the state capital of Iowa for 11 years.

Photo- Iowa's earlier currency on display.

After those 11 years, the Old Capital building became the first permanently owned building by the State University of Iowa which later got name changed to the University of Iowa.   Until the mid-1970’s, classes took place and offices of the University were in this building.  But after a while, the University of Iowa outgrew this capital building too. 

Photo- The central staircase in the Old Iowa Capital building.

In July 1976, it was reopened as a restored National Historic Landmark and served as a state museum.  But the history didn’t stop there.  On November 20, 2001, contractors using open flame torches and heat guns on the cupola supporting the building's gold dome accidentally set the cupola on fire. Ooopps! Thankfully the actual fire was limited to the cupola area due to a concrete slab that had been installed during a 1920’s renovation but there was tons of damage done by water to douse those flames.   A new dome was built on the building in February 2003 and the building was restored and reopened to the public in 2006.

The building was designed with large windows to allow for light and there were wood stoves installed in each of the four corners of the building.  Later, they discovered those four stoves were not enough to combat the cold Iowa winter and they installed more stoves in the halls where pipes had been installed throughout the walls to help circulate the heat in the building.  This was years before duct work had been created and I guess you could say it was one of the pioneers to the idea of doing something like that.  During the cold of the winter and the height of summer heat, cloth covered shutters and wool curtains helped.  In the 1920’s there was a switch to steam heat in the building.  Sorry, I find this fascinating and I guess that’s due to working in the heating and air-conditioning business for 11 years of my life.

Photo- Old Civil War guns on display in the downstairs of the Old Capital.

Downstairs in a small exhibit hall, there was a Civil War Exhibit and it was interesting going through and reading about the Union’s 22 that were based out of Iowa at the time.  The 22^nd was instrumental in the battle of Vicksburg and amid all of the guns, swords, and artifacts there were stories of University of Iowa students that had served their part in the Civil War, both for the North and the South.  It was a very interesting exhibit.

Photo- Part of the restored Library room in the Old Capital building.

On the main floor area there are offices that have been restored.  Some of those offices are restored to the time when the Old Capital was an active Capital building and other offices that served as offices for the president of the University of Iowa.  There’s also a room that was used as a library for the University at one time. 

Photo- Herkys' signed by the freshman classes in the upper foyer area.

Upstairs in the foyer area, are four large white Herkys’ which are covered with signatures and stand on dated pedestals.  The Herky is the school’s mascot.  The signatures are from the University freshman who sign when they start attending.  The dates on the pedestals are the four most recent years.  It’s an interesting tradition of the University of Iowa.  I forgot to ask where these Herkys’ go when each year as those freshman graduate from the University.  Is there a Herky Heaven?

Photo- The House Chambers in the Old Capital Building.

Also, up on the upper level is a where the restored House Chamber and the Senate Chamber were.  The House Chamber serves as a museum area and is preserved where the Chamber appears to be used for possible meetings and other events for the University.  In fact, there was student playing a piano while I was there and getting feedback from a teacher.  I had wondered where all that wonderful piano music was coming from while I was touring the building.

Photo- The elegant Senate Chambers where the piano music was wafting from during my tour.

 

DAY 76- Phoenix Marathon & MIM…

I got up early and went down to the gym.  I managed to run a good 2 miles on the treadmill and then managed to be out of the shower before Laura was awakened by her alarm.  As she was getting ready she mentioned that all the other nuns were trying to leave ASAP today before the Phoenix Marathon disrupted their shuttle ride from the hotel to the airport.  I had no idea that there was going to be a marathon today; and it was going right by the front of the hotel.  Cool! I thought and after having breakfast with the nuns, I went upstairs grabbed my camera and went down to watch.

Photo- About the 5th mile marker of the Phoenix Half Marathon.

I found a bench, took some pictures, and did some clapping-cheering as the runners went past.  It brought back fond memories of the two half marathons (Salt Lake & Park City) that I have done.  It appears that the hotel was about mile #5 of the half marathon part of the run; everyone was still rather fresh and most of them were looking like they were doing well.

Laura came back from the finish of the retreat and the plan for the day was the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM).  I went down to the front desk to ask directions around the marathon while Laura got her stuff together.  Mary at the front desk was so excited when I told her where we were going.  She told me that it was her FAVorite place and that she was sure we would have fun.  She explained how I could drive out “the back way” and get to the interstate and after that I should be fine.

Photo- Laura playing around near the orientation area of MIM.

Off we went and I sometimes amaze myself that I actually find places without a GPS and just a short hand version of Google directions.  I paid for our entrance; the least I can do since Laura is paying for the hotel room.  We get our headphones and we go to the orientation area.  We watch the short film that explains about the museum and the operation of the headphones.  Then, we head upstairs to the United States and Canada area.  We had been told by people at the hotel to start there and then work our way to the rest of the museum.  Quite a few people had said that they had gotten bogged down in the African music area and missed quite a bit of the museum because they took too long in that area. 

So up the escalator and down the hall to the United States and Canada area we went.  When we got to the area we went in and quite a bit of the first section were Native American dancing and music.  Each section had a screen that played a video and you would hear the audio through your head phones as you got close to it.  Once you moved onto another section with a video, the headphones would pick up the new audio.  We wondered around and listened to American Rock and Roll, Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, Marching Bands, and the list went on and on.   There were areas where musical instrument makers would talk about making instruments. 

Photo- Catching some play time in the interactive room.

Next, we decided to grab lunch at the café downstairs.  We hadn’t even really made a dent in the museum.  There was THAT much to see and do.  You could’ve taken days in it and still not seen everything.  We decided we needed to pick up the pace just a little bit.  We went over to the museum store to do a bit of shopping real quick while we were downstairs.  I was disappointed with their postcards and they didn’t really have the staples of what I would consider the normal souvenirs.  There was some neat stuff but a lot of the items were not specific to MIM(Musical Instrument Museum).  I didn’t purchase anything. 

Photo- One of the drums from the Olympics.

Photo- A large mechanical instrument that we saw a demo of while at the museum.

We decided next to check out the Artist Gallery which for some reason I had in my mind was going to be two dimensional art about music.  Don’t ask me why; it’s just how my mind works sometimes.  In the Artist’s Gallery, they had current and past musicians that were on display with their outfits and instruments.  They had the last guitar that Elvis played and one of the HUGE drums from the Olympics in Beijing.  They did a demonstration in the Mechanical Music Gallery of a HUGE wall area that was basically a mechanical organ, drum,etc. instrument.  It was built in the late 1940’s and had been in a dance hall somewhere over in Europe.

Photo- A Lur horn from Denmark. 

 

Photo- A violin made from an old Dutch wooden clog?
Yes, another interesting one.

Next we went back upstairs and decided to hit the Europe area.  It was wonderful and amazing all of the music and dancing that go on throughout our world. It was also fun seeing some of the unusual instruments.  There must have been about 17 different versions of the bagpipes in different cultures made out of different skins and bladders.  There was even one instrument that was made out of a pigs bladder that looked like a violin over a bladder.   There were all kinds of horns too; long winding horns and horns with four horns coming out of one.  The variety and the sounds were all unique but what was even more interesting is getting insight into all of these other cultures around the world through listening and watching their music and dancing.

Photo- A musical instrument that has a pig's bladder? YEP!

Laura gave out half way through Europe, but she encouraged me to continue on.  I picked up the pace through the rest of Europe.  Then I picked up the pace even more as I headed into Latin America and Oceania.  I was practically at an almost speed walked through the Asia area.  I gave out before I even got to the Middle East or Africa part of the museum.  I went downstairs where Laura was and ended up grabbing a coffee.  We had been at the museum for almost 5 hours and I needed caffeine before I drove us back to the hotel.

We opted for an easy night on the way back.  We swung through a fast food place.  Then back to the hotel where we ate the fast food, threw on our swimsuits, and went down to the hot tub to relax.  It was a full day of fun.

A Year of Goals in Review...

It’s that time of year when you look back at it and figure out what you really did with it. Often times this can be a bit disappointing in that you don’t always reach those goals that you would have liked to. So here I am almost to year end and reviewing over those goals that I had set for myself at earlier this year.


It looks as though I hit my goals at about 40% of the time but I’ll let you decide. Here’s my goals and here what I did…


1.) Save more money. This I did accomplish but I only managed to save about 65% of the amount that was my saving goal for the year. 15 to 20% of this was due to no new increase in my work wages, in fact my yearly bonuses were down 18%. It was a tough year economically and I must admit that I’m grateful that I have a job. The other part that didn’t help with my saving over the year was my car repairs. But overall, I have enough in savings now for almost 6 months. Not a bad place to be considering how the economy is at current.

2.) Do a half marathon and maybe work towards a full marathon. I did the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in the Spring and then I did the Park City Half Marathon in August. After doing the half marathons I just really do not feel that I have a FULL marathon in me. It’s just too much, and I’m thinking I stick to the half’s or shorter distances. In fact, I’m really finding that I’m enjoying the 5K fun runs. I may try to do more of those in the coming year.

3.) Survive the Slow Salty Dog Tri. Well, we did not do the Slow Salty Dog this year. So this goal did not happen.

4.) Do at least one century bike ride. I didn’t do this. I got as far as a 75 mile bike ride with the intention of riding farther but had bike mechanical issues.

5.) Ride my bike up & over Little Mountain then Big Mountain to East Canyon and then all the way back. The day I attempted this I had a REALLY off day, and later I discovered that I had a rear brake pad that was rubbing BIG time. I made it to the top of Big Mountain and turned around.


And here are some interesting stats from the year….

384.75 miles running

1472 miles cycling

4.5 miles swimming

57 books read --- Oh how I am enjoying my Nook!

By the way..... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Wish Me Luck...

Tomorrow at this time, I'm hoping that I'll be done with my half of the Park City Marathon that I'm running.  Or should I say... I might be "wogging" ( a cross between a walk and a jog)?   Why will I probably be "wogging" instead of running?

Well, this last week I've been down with the "Gamboo".  It was a combination of the summer cold/ stomach flu.  I was basically sick from when I woke up this last Saturday morning till Wednesday morning when I finally started to feel semi-human again.  So, I'm really not sure what to expect for my performance for the half marathon tomorrow.  About two weeks ago, I ran 14.25 miles up & down a local canyon.  So I felt I was pretty well prepared but given this last week.  I'm not sure what to expect.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Quarterly Year Reflections...

Back in January, I set some goals for myself in 2010 and here it is all ready the last day in April. I can’t help but pause for a bit and reflect on my progress so far on those goals. (It’s also a S-L-O-W-W Friday afternoon here at work.) So here are the goals and some reflection on my progress so far.




1- Save More Money- This goal has been progressing quite well, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment from that. From each paycheck, I have been putting about 15-20% into my savings account. With what I was able to save towards the end of last year and combined with this year so far, I have started having a bit of a nest egg. It’s not a really big nest egg but enough that if I lost my job tomorrow I could survive almost 4 months. (This also probably shows how small my income is that I can all ready save enough for 4 month wroth of living.) But all in all I find that rather eases my mind especially when you just don’t know what is going to happen with the economy the way it is right now. I have heard of people that have been years at a position that would be considered “secure” and they’ve been handed the pink slip. So I feel like I’ve got a bit of a buffer zone now. That’s good.

2- Do a half marathon in the Spring and maybe work towards a full in late Summer- I finish my first half marathon on the 17th of this month. I accomplished part of this goal so far. BUT I really have to question myself whether I REALLY want to do a full marathon. After finishing the half marathon, I couldn’t see myself really wanting to do a full one. The half marathon took enough out of me. A full marathon? I think it might be the death of me!?! I am signed up to do another half marathon this August up in Park City. I would like to try to be better prepared for my second half marathon. So I guess in a way this goal is being tweaked just a little bit. Two half marathons in a year, and see if I can improve my performance on the second half marathon. I feel that’s very doable.


3- Survive and maybe do better on the Slow Salty Dog Tri-  I don’t think there’s going to be another Slow Salty Dog Tri this year. Diane has been experiencing injuries and I just couldn’t imagine trying to do this event without her or on my own. And, the thought of signing up for an official event just does not appeal to me. Too competitive for me and too expensive.

4- Do at least one century bike ride-   The bike season is finally starting here “somewhat”. I say "somewhat" because it’s been snowing and raining off and on for the last two days here. I did however manage to get in a 38 mile bike ride in this last Sunday. It was a good ride with a fair amount of climbing.  I really feel like I’m on track for this goal.

5- On my bike go up and over Little Mountain then Big Mountain to East Canyon and all the way back- This kind of reminds me of a song that that goes on to sing..."To grandma's house we go!"  I'm hoping that if the weather gets it’s act together this Sunday I'll get to the top of Little Mountain.  I figure I need to work through this goal section by section; bit by bit and I’m pretty confident that I will accomplish this goal. But only time will tell.


Wow! As I look over these, I’m kind of bit surprised. It looks like overall I’m doing all right so far. It’s a respectable quarterly reflection. What do you think? Any suggestions?  Maybe I need to come up with something else for the #3 goal ?

Perfect 10-- A Final Update- Week 10

Wow! 10 weeks has flow by in this Perfect 10 challenge. I've reached some of the goals pretty well but the losing weight one has eluded me. So here's the final update/summary for the Perfect 10 in 2010.

-- Lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks: Well, this week I did managed to lose 2 lbs. So overall that puts me at a total of losing 3 lbs. for the 10 weeks. I will admit that I'm disappointed in myself but it's better than what I usually do during this time of year, and it's something that I will continue to work on.

-- Build up to 10 miles of running in under 2.5 hours: I achieved this goal in week#7 and managed to do it in 2 hours and 6 minutes. I think I'll be very prepared for the half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 17th. I'm even a little bit hopeful that I'll manage the half marathon in under 2.5 hours. But we will see how that day goes.

-- Balance exercises 2 times a week: This week I only did it once. Overall during the 10 weeks, I have had only a 60% track record on this goal. But I think that I did accomplish what I was working toward behind the goal. My balance has improved. In fact, the other morning I did a Tree pose in yoga and managed it without having to clamp on to the wall before I usually fall down. That's progress!

-- Gym 3 times a week: Yep! I was there on Friday, Monday, and Wednesday this last week. Overall my track record for this goal is about 90%. I'm getting my moneys worth out of that gym membership, and I hope to continue on this goal. I'm most curious to see what happens to my use of that membership when cycling season is in full swing.

Unknown fact:

The last one--- and I must admit that coming up with these are probably the hardest part of the Perfect 10 for me. I always feel like I'm an open book for the most part and figure that I share quite a bit with everyone that's in my life. AND yes, for those of you that are still reading down this far I do consider you part of my life-- even though some of us have never conversed via email, phone, text, or other means. Just by the fact that you are reading this I feel like our lives have touched. Sorry if that sounds a little too Zen for you. I very much believe in the power of one. I like the idea of each one of us being that drop of water that makes a wave-- some of us make larger waves, and others of us are more gentle but each one of us has an effect on others. I hope and pray that overall I'm making a positive effect on other people's lives. But I will admit that sometimes, I can be a general screw up and I'm very very human.

A Thumb's Up Weekend!

Here’s Sofia yards from finishing here half marathon down in St. George. I only hope in April when I finish my first half marathon that I can look half as beautiful and happy as she looks. But I think this picture expresses my feelings for the weekend overall. A great run, hanging out, and a first visit ever (for me) to an In-N-Out burger joint.

It started early on Friday when took the day off from work and got the chance to sleep in. Then there was the beautiful drive down to St. George. The more and more I headed south the scenery improved. There were blue skies and a new whited mountainous landscape with white fluffy clouds floating along. It was hard not stopping and taking pictures. I managed to fit a few art gallery visits in between checking into my room and going to pick up the packet for tomorrow’s run. Later Sofia arrived and she was STARVING! We ended up getting take out from a terribly busy Olive Garden and back to the hotel room. It ended up being similar to a slumber party as we hung out, watched TV, and chatted. I’m afraid I kept her up later as we talked about local music; an interest of hers that just fascinated me.

The next morning, it was still dark as we went down for the continental breakfast. I could see that the cement was wet but it was so dark you couldn’t see all of what it was doing. It was predicted a high of 42 F degrees but I imagine that it was only in the mid 30’s as we walked the block and half down to the starting line. The half marathon, which Sofia was running, started 10 minutes earlier than the 5K. We both felt good, and the skies were gray but it wasn’t raining. It would be gray and bits of rain off and on for the rest of the run for both of us. Sofia was off!

Ten minutes later it was my turn to cross the starting line. I sent off some friends a text announcing my start. I started just jogging off slowly; just trying to slower warm up and work towards a good pace. About 3 blocks into the run, I started to pick up the speed a bit more. It was then when I started following this gal in a beige plaid flannel hat that looked like a crown. I was following the Queen of Flannel and she was keeping a nice pace that I could comfortably keep up with. There were a few puddles to go around and I would try to go around slower runners but I felt really good. My head phones in and I had managed a good list of music with the help of Sofia earlier that morning. I was jamming away and running in my own little world. This was fun!

The only water station came at the half way mark. I slowed down to a fast walk as I drank really strong Gatorade. OMG! The Queen of Flannel never even slowed down to drink any water. She faded in with the runners that went past me. I just can’t seem to manage the run and drinking water thing. Something to work on I guess. I started walking faster and faster working my way back to the pace I had. It was then that I noticed a guy with bright red shorts--- it was a nice view, and he was setting a good pace. So I became a stalker of Mr. Red Shorts, as I broke into my nice even pace. A good fast paced song came on my head phones and I couldn’t resist not taking advantage of it. I poured on the speed and flew past Mr. Red Shorts. Then, it was the finish line that came into sight and I poured it on even more. A sprint to the finish!

YES! I texted that I was done after they took off the timing chip. It was 34 minutes between my first text and this last last text. WOW! A 5K in 34 minutes! That was great for me! That beat my average speed of 12 minute mile. I was elated, as I hurriedly showered and changed then came back to watch Sofia cross the finish line on her half marathon. She looked great for running all of that distance and had a good time of about 2 hours and 20 min. She was more than ready for the treat of the In-N-Out Burger.

The In-N-Out Burger was a first time for me and quite frankly I was thinking that it was another version of McDonald’s (not a place that I frequent). We arrive and it’s PACKED! There’s a line for the counter and there are people vulturing around for available seats. Sofia said that they were always this way, and I was amazed. The menu was so simple it only had two types of burgers, sizes of fries, flavors of shakes, and soda sizes listed. We got into line and she asked me what I wanted and then suggested that I keep an eye out for a table. She would stay in line and I could sit at a table for us. It was a tag team. I noticed an older couple sitting a four top table and went over asked if my friend and I could share the table with them. Sure! I waved at Sofia in line and gabbed with the older couple. They were retired and living in St. George, and had moved down from the Salt Lake area. Sofia placed order and came to the table.

As we were waiting for the food, the other couple finished and left. I was surprised that there wasn't any fighting over tables as another couple and their daughter claimed the other half of the table. They were also retired and living here, but from the Chicago area. Their daughter was from the Draper area of Salt Lake. We talked about the weather and Mid-west while Sofia went up to get our food. The food was not too bad but it was more than I could handle. We both ended up sharing our fries with the appreciative couple next to us. It was fun, and interesting place to eat. It was the most interaction that I have had with people in a burger joint in (or any restaurant) in years. The food wasn’t too bad either.

Resolutions/Goals for 2010 & The Perfect 10...

I know. I know… everyone is inundating the Internet with resolutions and goals for 2010. It like an endless barrage and you are SO tired of it all ready. Well, sorry to say here’s one more of those. If you don’t want to read any further, I will understand perfectly. Enough is enough is enough and believe me I know because I’m there myself. But for those of you that continue on, there are reasons that this occurs. The success of these goals and resolutions are greatly improved if you follow a few fundamental steps…

1) Make it public! The accountability factor does amazing stuff, and well, that’s why there are so many stating it out on the Internet like I will be below some where here.
2) Write it down. Just by forming it into actual words on paper, it clears up the ideas and narrows it down that resolution or goal.
3) KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid! Don’t get complicated and make it hard on yourself.
4) Celebrate your achievements. You’ve worked hard towards them, and you deserve to reap the rewards!
5) Make reasonable resolutions/goals. They should be close enough to be attainable but still enough out of reach to challenge you.

Follow those above and you have managed to beat the odds of success. Don’t and you might as well be flipping a coin.

Normally, I’m not a resolution type of person. I tend to be goal orientated, and once I have set that goal I tend to be stubborn and tenacious like a Pit Bull with its jaw locked on something. So with that in mind, here’s my list…

1) Save more money, honey! Last year in August, I accomplished a financial goal that I’ve been working on for two years. I became debt free. Now, I want to start putting that money into savings that I’ve been using for paying off these debts with. I have a number in mind, but for fear of being hit up for a loan, I will not state that number here.

2) Run a half marathon. I want to run in half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon this Spring, and maybe even give the Park City Marathon a whirl too. Who knows maybe even push myself towards a full marathon in that one but lets get the first one under my belt first. Then we’ll see…

3) Do at least one century on my bicycle. Last year, I only did an 80 mile ride at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride, and that was as close as I got. Two years ago, I did 8 centuries on my bike. Maybe I can manage a happy medium in there somewhere?

4) Participate in the Slow Salty Dog Tri (70.3) and see if I can do better than 10 hours and 25 minutes.

5) Conquer Little Mountain and then Big Mountain, and back on my bicycle. I want to make it up and over and then back up the other side and down. I’ve managed ¾ of this but the backside is a climb that can prove relentless even for someone that likes to climb like me. (I usually climb a canyon once a week during the cycling season.)

6) Participate in the Perfect 10-- For the first 10 weeks in 2010, I want to give this a real go for the money. AND here’s my list for the goals of my Perfect 10…

(1) Lose 10 lbs over the 10 weeks. I think this is doable.
(2) Build up to 10 miles running in under 2.5 hours. I think this will help me train towards doing the half marathon.
(3) Do exercises at least twice a week that work on my balance. For all of you that have read my Boot Camp blogs, you know that I have some MAJOR balance issues.
(4) Make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I bought that gym membership, and I need to make sure I get my money’s worth.

If you would like to learn more about or participate in the Perfect 10. Here's the link...

http://logmyloss.com/?p=2544

So there! That’s my list and for those that are still reading this posting. I ask for your help in encouraging me and holding me accountable to these. Thanks and Happy New Year!

An Update, A Recap, & Gee, What Am I Whining About?

I thought I would continue with the monthly totals update like I did last month. Some of you will find this a little "dry" reading but I'm going to be a little selfish here and use this as a record of what I did. Who knows it might prove to be interesting to you too?

Totals for Sept.2009 ...

Cycling miles-- 337

Running miles-- 23.5

Swimming miles-- 3.5

I looked up my cycling miles that I did last year. I did 475 miles of cycling the month of Sept. 2008. Now keep in mind that last year I was only cycling, I wasn't doing any of these other "disciplines".

FINAL RECAP--the SLOW SALTY DOG Tri (1.2M Swim/56M Bike/13 M Run)

Swim--1 hr. 7 min.

T1: 46 min (I was totally dry for the bike.)

Bike-- 4hrs. 22 min.

T2: 19 min.

Run--3 hrs. 50 min.

Okay, that's the last of the SLOW SALTY DOG. I'm sure all of you are sick of it by now. Now onto the...Gee,What Am I Whining About? I've been dealing with some tiredness of late but last night I watched a video that put all of this into perspective for me. It really made me think-- what the heck am I even whining about.

I watched Running On The Sun. It's a 2000 documentary film about the Badwater 135. The Badwater 135 is an Ultra-Marathon race that's 135 miles through the Mohave Desert. The race is limited to 40 people, and the film focused on 13 of the entrants through their experience. It was just amazing to watch all of these runners test their limits. The emotions ran from despair to joy. I found myself crying as one of the entrants, a man who had lost part of his arm and a leg from volunteering to remove landmines, as he crossed the finish line. It was just amazing and I would recommend the video to anyone that is into any kind of endurance sport. It always amazes me what a person can do when they set their mind on something, and it gives me hope.