WHERE DO I BEGIN???ORTHE (LONG) WEEKEND RECAP

for some, the weekend begins on saturday, for some friday evening?? others start there calendar week on sunday. in fact my treo phone continues this "sunday feature", despite all my efforts to change the preferences (if anyone's got tips on this, please forward them). as a freelancer, there really are no weekends for me. sometimes my long rides have to get done on a tuesday. whatever works...

i would say this weekend started on thursday night. well, thursday afternoon here in Cali as it was already thursday evening in IOWA.......sorry peeps, i'm just gonna go there, the "political there", for a second so bare with me.....

I SAY BOOOOOOO YA!!!!

the "not black enough" candidate

the "frugal runner" candidate

now i'm not going to fully explain nor defend my politics in this one post. after all, this is a blog about training for an ironman. but i'm on the injured list, so there ain't much training to report on these days (note to self: check in with THE shoulder guy today). no matter if you're democrat , republican, green, independent, or just plain numb to it all, nobody can deny that thursday night was exciting for this whole friggin' miserable country!!! SHOW US WHATCHA GOT, NEW HAMPSHIRE!!!!

i was scheduled to get my MRI friday afternoon. the night before i talked with fellow tri clubber, Lesley, who's had several of them. she explained that you CANNOT MOVE, and it sucks if your claustrophobic, which i'm not. then she mentioned that they give you these special headphones so you can listen to music. now i'm getting nervous:

me: "what kinda music?"

Les: " i dunno. any old music."

me: "well, can't i just wear my ipod?? i mean i already have my 'airplane mix' that i listen to when i travel"

Les: "um hello, you can't take anything metal in. they're special headphones attached to the machine, and they just pipe in some music"

i'm not at all claustrophobic. i've climbed to the top of Il Duomo in Florence, through the inner tunnels of the Mayan Pyramid, El Castillo, at Chichen Itza, and lived in some of the smallest spaces in New York City that some would argue don't qualify as apartments. however, the thought of having to listen to "any old music" for a prolonged amount of time without being able to move qualifies to me as CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PRACTICE under the Torture Act (pre-Gonzalez). you'd think that on the eve of my very first MRI, i'd be concerned about what it would feel like or whether i could stay still or most importantly, what the doc would find, but no, i was sleepless over what music they would play... just about missed my appointment due to the rain and the fact that ANGELENOS CANNOT DRIVE FOR SHIT IN THE RAIN. accidents everywhere, and lookie loos on top of it!! nothing to see people, move along.....

cut to the table:

lab tech, donna: "so whatcha wanna listen to? i've got Sinatra (yuck), Big Band (shoot me now please), Elvis (are you for real?), Mowtown (which years?), Enya (not now not ever) you name it"

me(anxiety building): "ummmmmmmm. what else?"

ltd(racking her brain): "well let's see, i've got some Disco (you mean Disc-NO?), the soundtrack to Lilo and Stitch (i'm a grown woman), the soundtrack to High School Musical (GROWN WOMAN)... the soundtrack to....."

me(anxiety boiling): "do i HAVE to listen to something?? i mean how long am i gonna be in there?"

ltd(getting annoyed): "the machine is very loud. you have to wear the headphones anyway. it's the rules."

me(racking MY brain): "do you have any Prince (i'll even take the artist formerly known as)?"

ltd: "no."

me(pulling teeth here): "Justin Timberlake (counting on the cheese factor)?"

ltd: " i don't have any RAP."

me: "JT isn't RAP."

ltd: "oh wait!! i have THE BEATLES!!! EVERYONE LOVES THE BEATLES!! (except me)"

me: "do you have any nature sounds?? the ocean maybe (again, counting on the cheese factor)??"

ltd: "i have some rainforest sounds with some light music over it??"

me(calming down A BIT): "how light?"

ltd(getting annoyed now): "i dunno. it's like flutes or something. i've never really listened to it that closely before."

me: "ok, i think i can live with that."

the whole process didn't even take more than a half hour, and the thing was so loud she might as well have played Hootie and the Blowfish, cuz i wouldn't have heard a thing. apologies to all you Hootie fans out there, ALL 2 OF YOU. i got the impression you just quietly and gently rolled through this tube while something scanned your insides, but instead it was loud and shaky and bright and unnerving to say the least. but not painful and over in 30 minutes. lab tech donna showed me my scan and said "yeah, you can tell there's something going on it that shoulder, but i'm not your doctor, so who am i to say..." yeah thanks, lady, i think the jury is still out on your music collection too.....

got home and was itching to do some sort of workout. the schedule called for a 40 mile ride that day, so i went for a 60 minute spin on the trainer just to see how it would feel. not bad, but not great. at one point i tried to tuck down into aero position, but my shoulder just wouldn't unstick enough to stay there comfortably. no worries. i was back up and having a blast just spinning and getting my sweat on while watching the idiot box.....

being on the injured list has afforded me an opportunity to catch up with some long lost homies, and i'm taking full advantage of it. caught a flick with Beth after the trainer session, and on the way out i got a text message:

"SID BROWN SHOW TONIGHT DOWNTOWN AT 6TH & ALAMEDA"

normally, there'd be no way i could pull off a night like friday and get up and train, but Bryan's show was a hoot, stripper dancers and all. i got some quality head banging and ass shaking in. i know, i know, nobody has ever mentioned ass shaking as a form of base training yet, so remember YOU READ IT HERE FIRST!!!


didn't get home 'til about 3:00am. i definitely cannot pull that shit once i'm off the injured list, no sir!! at about the same time as i was crawlin' into bed, all the way over in connecticut, a new addition to the family finally arrived!!! i introduce to you my newest first cousin once removed, CARSON ANTHONY DODDER:

cute as a button

saturday it continued to rain, and i continued to feel sorry for myself, that my fitness was slipping away. so i sulked all day in my pajamas as MY. FRO. GREW. LARGER. blah.

by sunday, i was a mess. it was still raining, more like intermittent showers, and i knew that if i didn't get up and do something, anything, i'd surely be depressed come the end of the day. my mom even knew i was in trouble or maybe it was just that her car had broken down and she needed to borrow mine, but she got me to go with her as she did her training run/walk for the Surf City Half Mary we're both signed up for in February. i took another look at my schedule, and i was actually supposed to do 12 the day before. could i?? more importantly, should i?? moms needed to get in 9 miles, so at her pace, i could conceivably get in my 12 easily. but could i?? should i?? i'd only done 3 on the dreadmill and that felt a little tight and funky in the upper arm/shoulder, but it didn't hurt. we planned to run around the Rose Bowl, a 5k loop, so i could just take each loop one at a time, assess how i felt, and abort the mission if i felt any pain. so that was the plan, and we headed out. first loop felt good, so i went for a second. second loop felt better than the first, but it rained a little more. stopped at the car and put on my poncho. off for the 3rd loop. 3rd loop i passed moms who was on her 2nd loop. ok, so i think i can go for the 4th loop and finish 12 miles. i'm going for it. 12 miles. YESSS!!!

me n moms post rainy day run!!!

i was so proud of my mom for getting her 9 miles done in the rain. this is the first of two half marys she's signed up for this year!!! she's already run 2 marathons, but since being diagnosed with diabetes about 4 years ago, she's struggled with her weight and her fitness. hopefully this will kickstart her to maintaining a healthier lifestyle. i try not to preach and just lead by example, but i get frustrated with her sometimes, partly because i want her to be around for a lot longer, and partly because i feel like i'm watching my hereditary future, and it scares the shit outta me. either way, today was good for the both of us on so many levels. and did you notice my hairdo?? A PONYTAIL PEOPLE!!! yes, i can finally, just barely reach behind my head to put my hair into some sort of semblance of a ponytail, outta the face, ready to get my sweat on. yes, sunday was a good day, filled with small victories. but there was one more victory to come....

sunday night i got a last minute call to go to the Lakers game. my good Art School buddy, Michael, has season tickets and calls me once in a while to go cuz he knows i can do that easier than i can go with him to a rave or any of the other various crazy misadventures he takes. so off to the Staples Center i went....now i'm not gonna be a team snob, nope, not gonna do it. truthfully, i'm the biggest fan of The Lakers Dreamteam Years '86-'89 (aka the short shorts years), but damn it's great to see Derek Fisher back in the purple and gold, and WE.KILLED.THE.PACERS!!!!!

not only did we kill, but we kept the Pacers under 100 points which meant everyone in the stadium won 2 free tacos at Jack in the Box (aka "jack in the Crack). do you have J n the B where you live?? yeah, i wouldn't feed their tacos to my dogs, but it still felt like Christmas all over again. thanks, Lakers, you're the team that keeps on giving!!!

afterwards we met up with another art school pal, Steve Tirona, who was in town from Manila where he's been living and rocking it as a photographer for the past 5 years, plotting to take over the world one photo at a time. we drank, we laughed, we talked shit, and everything was right in the world....

i wonder if you're a Laker and you're on the injured list, do you get to do as many fun things as i did this weekend? out 'til all hours, drinkin', head bangin', ass shakin'? yeah, probably not. THIS.HAS.GOT.TO.STOP. triathlon is way more fun....

back to regularly scheduled programming as soon as doc gives the ok!!!!!