Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I had a fun time Saturday watching my friends, bloggers, and blogger friends at the Phoenix Marathon.  I saw Rhett, Melody, Jake, Andrea, Rachelle, Spencer, Collin, Dave, Riley, and Little Bad Legs, not necessarily in that order.

Here's a picture of me, Collin (but you can't see him because he was shy about having a raspy voice), Andrea and Rachelle.

Here's a picture of Collin on the podium.

Dave Holt/Manute Bol

Running After Babies

Here is Jake on the podium as the overall champion.  Riley Cook came in 3rd.

Jake really is a nice guy in real life.  And I don't think his victory went to his head at all.

19 miles on the cycle without training wheels.  There's some road construction going on by my work right now.  All of the east-west traffic is routed to the south side of the road behind the newly constructed median.  That means I had three lanes of traffic all to myself.  It was quite luxurious.  I saw a high school kid walking down the sidewalk and I yelled at him, "Check me out!  I'm riding in the middle of the road!"  He wasn't amused.  I passed three other cyclists on my way home.  And I saw a lady pushing a baby stroller without a baby and talking to herself.  That was weird because she didn't have the appearance of a wack job.  By that I mean, she looked bathed.  Cleanliness and sanity go hand in hand.  Don't you think?

19 miles on the bicycle.  I took Joe's counsel and yelled at three 12 to 13 year old boys walking down the street with fishing poles, "Look at me!  No training wheels!  Oh yeah!"

Check out Julie right here.

35.22 miles.  92°. 

Yeah, maybe it was on a bicycle.  So what?

Last night, or probably this morning, I had this dream that I was swimming in the open water of a lake in a triathlon.  I was very far behind the pack when all the sudden a wave of bodies that had made it to the turn around was coming right at me.  So I went down in the water a little so they could go over me, but then I started to sink.  Everything started getting black.  It freaked me out and I immediately woke up.  I wondered if it was a sign for me not to go on my ride today.  Then I figured maybe I just watch too much TV.

Word to the wise: If you wear shorty shorts when riding a bike in the sun for 3 hours, don't forget sunscreen.

After last week's 35 mile ride I thought I should be able to do a 50 mile ride if I keep to a relatively flat course.  So I set out to ride 50 miles around the Mesa city limits.  I took a water bottle, a Gel, and a pack of Shot Bloks.  I should have brought some snacks with some salt in them, but I survived.  First I headed toward the ghetto.  I could tell the wind would not be cooperating.  But I'm so stubborn that I tried to ignore it.  Dobson Road is not a good road to ride a bike on.  I know that now.  But it was nice when there was road construction and I was going faster than the traffic.  I also hit some traffic near Hohokam Park where the Chicago Cubs play during spring training.  There was a game about to start.  One scalper asked me if I needed tickets.  His friend said, "Nah man.  He's riding a bike!"  I laughed.  It was a gorgeous day out.  As I approached northeast Mesa, I started the climb up.  It wasn't as significant as the climb up Usery Pass last week, but it was still a pretty good climb.  Going downhill is always the best.  But it does put pressure on your hands.  Then I got to my old neighborhood.  It was nostalgic to see where I used to run back when I started running again 6 years ago.  There was some road construction blocking the road.  Luckily I knew my way through my old neighborhood.  By this time my butt was barely hanging on to my body.  My legs were getting numb.  And the wind was taking it's toll on me.  But I knew it was all downhill, so I just cruised in.  When I got home I was disgusted to see my Garmin said 49.61 miles.  I had to ride to the end of the street and back to make it 50.00 even.

19 miles on the bike.  Avg. speed 13.9 mph on the way to work and 16.2 mph on the way home.

13.2 miles on the bike.  Ate much.