The week that felt like a month

So here I am, 9:34 p.m. on Sunday June 15th (Happy Father's Day, Nate!) reveling in the week that was ... or the 10 days that felt like a month. We just returned from a few days in New England, specifically in Boston for the B2B ride (sponsored by Harpoon Brewery) where we accomplished what I didn't even think possible. Ride 148 miles from Boston to Vermont (brewery to brewery, hence the name) in one day, keeping above a 16 mph average. Well, we did it in about 9:30 hrs, maintaining a 16.2 mph and I felt great for the first 93 miles, if you can imagine that. If we were to do it again, I'd certainly get friendly with more riders to form a pace group since after the first 50 miles, we were sort of on our own except for a few miles here and there where we'd manage to take advantage of a group already formed. My hands and feet are sore (tingling in my left pinky and ring finger...hoping it will go away) but other than the expected exhaustion that would go hand in hand with an endeavor like that, no worse for the wear.

As usual, I got distracted...and have now done my race report and posted it to the DC Tri Club site as well as the chicksonbikes site (http://chicksonbikes.wordpress.com)

The other thing we've accomplished is participating in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco (held exactly a week ago today). Check me out with the Golden Gate behind me!!

Loads more going on...just flaked out on my 30 min swim for no good reason and will be making it up tomorrow.

National Marathon and Cherry Blossoms

So its the last day of March, the Kroll/McCarthy contingent was here in DC to run the National half Marathon and see the peak of the Cherry Blossoms...and do some touristy things besides run.

We managed to get a table at the hugely popular Dr. Granville Moore's on H Street [yes, you read that right, there is an at capacity restaurant with a wait list of up to an hour for food on H Street NE]. But the mules and frittes were worth the wait. Besides, we got to hang out in The Pug next door and have an appetizer of cheez balls before hand...

Molly took some fantastic photos of cherry blossoms and we tried to not be so annoyed at stupid tourists who violate and vandalize the trees!!


Oh, back to the race, we started out at RFK at 7 a.m. right on time, ran down East Cap and saw Meagan on the corner of 13th and East Cap [yeaaa!!] and then chugged around the park, down Cap Hill on Independence, in front of the Capitol on 3rd Street and then down along Constitution Ave, right past the Kite Festival, and then turned up 18th Street [where a convoy of black SUVs rudely drove across the line of runners] and into Dupont Circle and Adam's Morgan, through Capitol Heights [and the new Target store] by Howard University and Children's Hospital, down North Capitol Street, along K, 4th Street NE, and then H Street [my neighborhood] and then back down to North Carolina via 13th Street and back to the Stadium...where the announcer was touting the sponsors as runners were finishing...what?? No "hey, Mary X, you've finished your 1/2 marathon in 2 hrs!!" Phoey...oh well, time to go find Meghan and Molly and head home for dry clothes, good food, and some rest.

Made it back to our house in time to shower, prepare brunch for 18 and eat 'till I thought I'd burst...only thing I didn't remember to do was stretch and take ibuprofen before I started to stiffen up [and now I'm having trouble walking down stairs].

Went to visit the blossoms again on our way to drop Molly at National Airport for her flight back to Chi-town and Meghan and I went for a short swim to work out the kinks [well, my kinks].

Side note here [in case Chris p Chicken is reading]: I ran [literally] into one of Chris' former band-mates, Barb Haney, during the run [she was doing the entire marathon] and I ran with her for about 5 miles, during which time she told me that Chris had gotten a dream job with the Montreal Symphony and would be moving to Canada soon....congrats Chris!!

Anyway, I'm starting to wander with the story but suffice it to say that a good time was had by all, PRs were set, blossoms were seen, and food was consumed!! All within the confines of a very packed weekend!

Can't wait for the next adventure!

Things just keep on happenin

Not to be outdone (at least on the blogging end) I had to give the update from the midwest.

I do not have a crazy schedule like C or MK. I do not have a job (nor does Jan!) - thanks Macy's. and we do not have a baby....... well not yet. We are just a few weeks or days or hours from baby.

Macy's announced last week that they are closing our corporate offices here in stl so jan and I have jobs until May 2nd and then ??? I am looking for jobs but things are a bit difficult considering we have to stay here in stl. There is a small chance I could stay with macys in one of the few jobs that will remain here but a better bet is I will be changing career paths...

Baby is not here but he/she is due in the next two weeks. Baby room and the new bathroom (both started in October) have just been finished this week. Both look amazing (if we don't say so ourselves!!) Noah is super excited to be a big brother (he thinks it is a girl) and I think I am almost ready to be a daddy again...

This does not mean I have become a slacker. I have a pseudo schedule although nothing like Iron Kroll or Crazy Cory.. I am running my first stand alone half marathon in april here in stl. If baby allows, I will be running the st paddys day 8K. AND... if things don't change, I will make another try at the Spirit of Racine half iron in July. I have been swimming better than ever and running is the best since I moved to stl but my bike is a bit dusty....

I will send or post baby pictures as soon as they are available... and meghan, keep up that iron blog as I need motivation... and c, all running plans look difficult just so us coaches have a reason for being.

it has indeed been a while

And owing to that fact and the hiccup that means that I still can't comment on the damn blog despite being a contributor (ah, the lasting joys of the google login switchover!) I am sitting down to update everyone on what's been going on with me...

Summer was an awfully busy time for us. I moved into Alden's townhouse and continued full-time at the university, finishing up a paper with my adivsor at the end of the summer. My year-long leave-of-absence from the doctoral program began on September 15th. Alden and I both lost our paternal grandmothers at the end of the summer which was difficult, but reinforced the importance of family to me and the incredible journey Alden and I were starting together.

Fall was an amazing time with the wedding and all the festivities. Pictures are here. Cory made the trek out and was uberhelpful with the preparations. She even crashed the ceremony itself owing to a liberal interpretation of "immediate" which I will let her 'fess up to... One of my favorite pics of the weekend is of the "wedding crashers" on the early ferry over to the farm.

Alden and I had a lovely honeymoon drive down the coast and ended up in Lake Tahoe for a 3-day tri associated with the Lake Tahoe Marathon. It was crazy disorganized, but mellow and fun once we settled in. Alden had a fabulous race and cycled around the entire lake in 3:17:58.63- w00t! For my part, I won my division of the 3-day tri. It was a great destination and time.

Once back at home, I settled into contract work at Highline|West Seattle Mental Health (where I'd be consulting for almost a year). That quickly turned into full-time employment and I've been enjoying the community side of work. We've submitted some really exciting grant applications and the work is stimulating, rewarding and lots of fun. Good stuff!

Alden literally broke his Cyclocross bike back in November and had to make a quick turn-around purchase of a new one which took us over to a great bike shop in Redmond called Sammamish Valley Cycle. Whilst he was scoping out his options online, he stumbled across an XS Scott carbon frame tri bike way on sale since it was an 06. I hadn't thought about buying a new bike so soon, but knew I wanted to upgrade and had a good idea about what I wanted. The shop was fabulous in terms of talking me through the process and making sure it worked for me. Hence, my first major purchase after receiving my first paycheck in over 2 years was an awesome Scott tri bike. It's only been out once due to the o-so-cruddy Seattle winter weather, but I am looking forward to really breaking it in once spring arrives. I'll be out on my bike quite a bit in the next six months since...

I signed up for an Ironman next summer! After a failed attempt to get into IMMOO with some friends, Cory helped me to find a summer Iron I could do- Vineman down in Northern California. Recently, I learned that she and John will make it out to race as well (John in the full and Cory in the half on the same day). Should be a great time!

I officially started my Ironman training on February 1st and have started a blog to communicate with my coach and anyone else interested in keeping up with what's going on for me. Thanks to the 35 and dryers for the inspiration to get 'er done! Please check it out and comment often.

In preparation for Vineman, I have my racing schedule pretty well set for 08. Not nearly as adventurous as Ms. Churches, but ambitious nonetheless! Here it is:

• National Half with Cory and Meagan (and Molly flying in from Chicago- woo hoo!) on March 29th.
• Vancouver Half with my run club crew on May 4th.
• Victoria Half Iron on June 22nd.
• And the big one- Vineman on August 2nd.
• I'll also probably do some centuries as well-supported training rides and for the confidence they'll instill.
• The end of the summer will be spent with the Family Kroll on our next adventure (a la Croatia) which will be piloting our own boat around canals in Germany. Hey, it's not racing, but it is adventurous!
  

My winter has been full of consolidation- catching up from the frenetic pace of the past couple of years. I feel like I'm finally getting to a place where I can breathe and sit again which is an amazing gift. I'm looking forward to using my renewed energy to grow and train and give back in these next few months both personally and professionally. Hoping you all are finding space for reflection in the midst of all that you do.

Peace out-
Iron McKroll

The 2008 season has begun!!!

So, slackers unite [or is that untie??]

I've been in hibernation mode for waaaaayyy too long...and the clothes are shrinking [ha ha ha]. John and I just registered for this: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?pid=28553
The route goes from Boston to VT for 143 miles in one day, includes 2 rest stops and a bus ride back to the start.

The 600 person ride sold out in less than 20 minutes.

Other races on the agenda include:

March 29th: Nations Half Marathon
June 8th: Escape from Alcatraz (if I manage to get in via lottery in Feb)
June 14th: Harpoon Brewery to Brewery ride (143 miles)
July 13th: Muddy Buddy in Richmond http://www.muddybuddy.com/events.php?id=4
August 2nd: Vineman 1/2 Ironman (Barb's race)
Sept 7th: The Survival of the Shawangunks race in New Paltz, NY (www.ulster.net/~sosnyta/)

That seems like a full calendar to me. Somewhere in there I might do a "normal" triathlon that doesn't require massive travel or storing your shoes in a dry bag.

Time to get cracking on the run training if I want to be able to keep up with Meghan and Molly!!

Over and Out!

Cory

Its been Waaaayyy too long since we've posted here....

So, I know there's significant news out there amongst all y'all former 35 and Dry-ers...but rather than spoil everyone else's news, I'll just focus on my own...

Since August and the house sale, things have been relatively quiet and we've been adjusting to co-habitation with all that entails. I gave my Honda to my mom and bought John's dad's Toyota 4 Runner [I feel somewhat guilty for having an SUV that gets at best 19 mpg...but I don't drive it that often so does that help??]. We've registered for the SOS race, put our names in for the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz race in SF in June, are talking about doing the B2B bike ride (http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/b2b) with Harpoon Brewery where you ride 136 miles from one brewery to the other and then drink beer...not a race, just a ride. Haven't actually considered any "traditional" races yet and have gotten shut out of Columbia due to my lack of attention...you snooze, you lose, right?

We've also discussed doing the Vineman Iron distance race [he would do the IM, I would do the women's only 1/2 on the same day] but those discussions are still ongoing. There's also talk of doing the Disney Challenge [1/2 marathon one day and a full marathon the next] in 2009. I would only do the half to keep from feeling totally like a slug...speaking of slug, that's exactly how I feel now...hibernating, not exercising, and eating like its going out of style...[an all time low point currently].

I've thought about training for at least the 1/2 marathon for The Nations Marathon at the end of March...maybe the marathon but in my current sloth-like state, even 5 miles seems like too much. We're doing the Celtic Solstice 5-miler this coming Saturday and then my nephew and I are going to see Spamalot at the National Theater. The Celtic run is up from 400 when I first ran the race in 2002 to 2,400 this year....craziness.

Oh, in September, I went out to Seattle for Meghan's wedding which was fantastic!! Besides being my first trip to Seattle, it was just great to experience the Kroll wedding and see everyone up close and personal...




Am officially "retiring" from the DC Tri Club board and handing the reigns off to a new group of youthful energetic and enthusiastic members who will take the club off to bigger and better things. They organized and executed the first DC Tri Club swim meet yesterday and had 45 people show up for all sorts of fun and prizes. $5 got you into 5 different events...sounds like fun but 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning isn't something I see very often any more...Heck, I don't see 5:30 a.m. during the week at all and since I've stopped setting an alarm, I'm more likely to see 7 a.m. than 6...geeze, now I just feel old and lazy...

Okay, so there's a newer post, jump in if you have significant news [and I know some of you do]. Hope to see some of you soon ... Meagan...wanna go for a run?? Reebok is sponsoring a 1/2 marathon training program at Gotta Run in Pentagon Row ... for free...Sat a.m. runs from the shop....sounds good to me!!

Happy Hanukkah, Xmas, and Merry New Year!

Cory

House sale is complete on August 30!!

FYI all, The sale of the house is complete on August 30th and there closes out my 5 year plan...almost to the day. I purchased the house, closed on it August 31, 2002 and I will close again on August 30 5 years later.

Didn't get my asking price but I'm still able to walk away satisfying my goals of debt relief, new car, and some investment $$.

The cohabitation is going well, and since its been raining over the past two days, we've been experiencing some leaky roof issues. Gotta love homeownership...

I will be racing this weekend at the Northeast Triathlon, first time since Eagleman and I think I've been able to shed the maliase and burnout. I've been base building for the past 3 weeks and trying to slim down at the same time. We were in Luray, VA this past weekend and rode on the picturesque country roads with several grinder hills.

Not much other news to report, no new job, and no "bling" on the left hand [he he he...].

Cheers all!

Cory