Reading List

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and there are two books that have really stood out to me.

First up is Johan Bruyneel’s “We Might as Well Win.”  It’ s the story of the former cycle racer’s transition to coaching and managing a cycling team, specifically his guiding Lance Armstrong through seven Tour de France victories.  Highly motivational, and very interesting for anyone who’s curious about cycle racing.  I think it’s applicable to anyone who wants to achieve a high level of success in any field, but if you don’t give two hoots about cycling it might be a bit dull.

I also read “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall.  It’s the story of his journey to Copper Canyon, Mexico to find a tribe of long distance runners who routinely run 100 miles or more and the white man who lives there, training among them.  It also goes into how human beings are actually evolved to run long distances.  I got a few ideas about running from it, a little inspiration, and a lot of entertainment.  It’s hard to read this without picturing yourself running hundreds of miles over rugged trails with nothing but a pair of sandals and a smile.

Out in the Cold

Been a while since I last posted, as usual.  The cold weather is setting in, but as long as the pavement is dry I’m still cycling and putting in the miles.  Bib tights are an essential piece of gear.  Looking forward to the booties coming in the mail and hoping they’ll alleviate the icicle-toes I’ve been getting lately.

I’ve been having good luck training weighted pull-ups for ice climbing season.  A couple of my friends have gear now, so it looks like I’ll be going out a lot more.  Soloing ice isn’t really my deal, so I find good partners essential.

On the 14th of October my road bike got stolen out of a bike rack in front of BSU’s Rec Center.  I forgot my lock at home that day and decided to leave it unattended for a few hours.  Being that it was a high-traffic area and that I see unlocked bikes there pretty regularly, I thought it would be safe.  Boy was I wrong.

Standing in the sleet, wearing my shoes and helmet, looking at the empty racks I had probably the worst feeling I’ve had in a long time.  I was crushed.  I love my bike just like girlfriend.  She is there for me, no matter what.  As I waited for my roommate to pick me up, getting wetter and colder, “Drive” by the cars got stuck in my head, specifically the line, “Who’s gonna drive you home/ tonight?”  Very funny in retrospect.

About two weeks later I got my bike back.  I did a few things right that helped.  I immediately called the police and filed a report.  I also had my serial number on hand.  So few people have this that the officer I spoke to didn’t even bother to ask for it.  I had to ask him if he wanted it, which he did, of course.

I also posted photos of my bike on facebook and alerted all my friends to the fact that it’d been stolen.  How helpful this was is hard to determine since the person who found it, my friend Davy, would have recognized it anyway, but I feel that having more eyes out there couldn’t have hurt.
Living in a small community and having a very uncommon bike helped.  If it was being ridden around (and it was) it was going to be seen by someone.  Davy found it in another bike rack on campus that I pass almost daily.  The thief must have been riding it that night.  Davy took the bike back and locked it away for me.

In the end it was a little luck, a little internet savvy, and a lot of help from a good friend that got my bike back.  Lock your bike up, all the time and everywhere.  It’s sad that we have to do this, even in a small city like Bemidji.

Ragnar Great River Relay

After hearing from two different people in the same week that they actually read this thing, I thought I might make an update, and lucky for me I have something substantial to write about. 

This weekend eleven other people and I ran from Winona, MN to Minneapolis MN, a distance of 193 miles for the Ragnar Great River Relay.  It was without a doubt the most fun I’ve ever packed into a single weekend.  The race begins in Winona, crosses into Wisconsin,  and follows the Mississippi river upstream to Minneapolis.  Each person runs three of the race’s thirty-six legs. 

I first found out about it a few months ago when my high school cross country coach contacted me and told me about this crazy relay race and asked me if I would be part of the team.  I’d been training hard and felt like I was in good enough shape, so I signed on.  The team ended up being composed mostly of people that I haven’t seen since high school and a few other friends of friends who I met for the first time Thursday night before the race began. 
My section was relatively short, coming in at about 12.8 miles.  Due to some poorly marked sections of the course I got a little lost on the third leg and boosted that distance to around 13.5 miles.  I found myself running down an onramp thinking, “This can’t be right.”  As a cement mixer sped uphill toward me, my suspicions were confirmed.  I lept the concrete guard rail and dropped about ten feet to the ground, crossed a train yard, tore through a little brush, found the Mississippi river, and kept it on my left until I found a foot path.  Eventually I popped out just ahead of the exchange.  My teammates were surprised to see me run from the opposite direction to make the hand-off.  All in all it cost us about five minutes of time, which wasn’t so bad considering we still finished three hours ahead of our projected end time. 

I feel so fortunate to have been able to run with such an amazing group of people.  Throughout the race, even late at night, we cheered on one another, as well as runners from competing teams.  I can’t say that any team I saw had so much spirit or enthusiasm, and I look forward to running this race again next year with the same group. 

Here’s to friends, some old, some new, all incredible.  I’m going to miss you until I see you again.

Climbing is back in Season

Last weekend I made it down to Red Wing for a little work on some sport routes and got my butt handed to me.  The climbing there is pretty good quality, and a lot of fun, but there was no keeping up with my partners who were both sending 5.11+.  Didn’t mind flailing around and looking like a fool anyway.  That’s what it’s all about sometimes.

This weekend I’ll be headed to Ely’s peak for some trad climbing.  It’s looking like we’ll have one or two days of good sun.

Spring has Sprung

Bemidji is thawing.  Finally.  Today I took a nice long run, and even though it was overcast, it was warm.  I ended up taking my longsleeved T off about three miles in and tying it around my waist.  After today the idea of running twenty six miles isn’t nearly as terrifying.  I’ve built up enough wind that I feel like if I fail now it’ll be my legs that fail me, not my lungs.  That’s something I think I can live with.