Its Meghan's Birthday!!

Call her to wish her a happy birthday and safe journey across the country to Seattle. She and her mom left this morning for the drive...hopes to be in WA by Friday!! We expect a detailed account of the trip...

Chris comes for a guest ride

Hey all,

Since Meghan last posted, there's not been a whole heck of a lot going on...I've been too busy being plugged into my new iPod toy to really pay much attention to anything other than how much battery life I have left.

Chris came down this morning to bless us with his presence (thanks Chris) and since he's had his bike fitted, no knee pain (cross our fingers).

Meagan has sent her husband, Scott to represent her on the rides...nice to still maintain the Jancy connection if only via the 'better half'....just kidding.

Today's ride was uncharacteristically more men than women: Andy, Scott, Nate, Chris, Jen Jacobs, Elizabeth and me...nice neat little pack.

It was chilly, at 65 degrees...could have used an arm warmer or two...but it was fantastic compared to the 90 degrees and humid we've had in the past.

I'm getting ready to go to Cleveland for a wedding next weekend and will most likely be visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Brewing company (on Chris' recommendation) in my 'down' time. Can't decide whether to risk taking the PA turnpike and all its drama or go out via 68 to Cumberland and cut up north...

Due to a grant from Kaiser Permanente, the DC Public pools are now free of charge to DC Residents...yea!! no excuse for not going to the pool and no more need to have 3 singles...

Its been a totally unproductive day at work today but going to a funeral in the morning can really curse the rest of your day....so, hope y'all are having a great Thursday!!

Lansing Legislator Race Report

Normally, this is where I would post my times, but that won’t be happening here and there’s a story behind why not...

I decided to do this event a few months ago when looking for a race to facilitate my cross-country transition. It seemed perfect- close to my parents’ house so they could come and see me race, commemorative biking jersey with the name of my hometown on it instead of another cotton t-shirt, and a good Oly distance to keep me motivated to train while moving. I signed up excitedly and a couple of weeks ago the e-mails started coming. Now, I don’t want to say that I have high expectations, let’s just say that I’m a bit structured about things. So there were some red flags in the e-mails. The race organizer was referring to the distances in the race and they kept changing- by the time race day arrived they were 1.5 k swim, 31 mile bike, 6.5 mile run. By the way, the website says 35.4 miles total- don’t know how any of these numbers add up. They also were running a 1/2 IM and a duathlon as well.

Went to check in the day before and no jerseys were to be found. They mentioned something about them coming in from overseas and not arriving on time. Hmmm, I was suspicious. 52 people were signed up for the short course, about 120 for the 1/2 IM and 30 or so for the duathlon. Drove the bike course, but didn’t see a lot of good markings for the turnarounds, etc. so I was glad that I drove it instead of riding. Got home and to bed early hoping that the forecast for rain wouldn’t be right.


The morning came with overcast skies, low humidity and temps in the mid-70s. Arrived in plenty of time (no comments here please!). Set up my transition area, racking next to two Giants which I thought was a good sign. Realized that I still haven’t found my watch since the move. It’s been nice running without it for the past week, but it would have been great to have race day. It was a nice, mellow group of people and the pre-race went well once they got folks squared away on the two courses for the swim. The water temp was 77 so it was just wetsuit legal. I decided to wear mine since I had it with me, but was a bit concerned about overheating. The 1/2 athletes and duathletes went off about 10 minutes late and I got in the water to warm up a bit since we were going 30 minutes later. Earned my OBX t-shirt (if you don’t get this reference then you don’t want to know) and got ready to go.


Mellow start and I took off. It was good that I paid attention when they were going over the course because I ended up all by myself for most of the swim. Had some trouble sighting on the way back as the sun was on the horizon directly in front of me. Think I exited the water 4th (not that I was counting!) despite having only swum twice since Colonial Beach and feeling like it. Easy transition to the bike and I was off!

Now this is where the story gets interesting. I felt great on the bike, but noticed that no one was passing me from my race. I was catching and being passed by some folks from the 1/2 and the du. I knew that I was having a good day, but couldn’t imagine that no one was with me. It was a strange course (http://www.3disciplines.com/legisltr_maps.html) with some portions where you could see other folks and I noticed that I recognized some people from my race coming back that I didn’t remember passing me. Here’s where I started to worry a bit. Am I on the right course? What is going on? Am I doing a second loop so I’ll end up going 56 miles instead? About ten miles from the finish I started passing what looked like the back of the packers from my race. How did this happen?!

Turned into the park to finish and rode by the 3 mile mark on the run seeing lots and lots of folks out there. Damn, how could this have happened? Came into the transition area at almost 33 miles by my computer. Saw a woman I rode with last week (who I hadn’t seen at all out on the course) totally lost next to the transition area trying to read a map of the course with a volunteer and find where she was supposed to go. Most all the bikes were already in and took off on the run after hearing my dad cheering. Ran with a woman for a bit who mentioned that the bike course was screwed up and people went lots of different distances. I felt less crazy at that point, but it didn’t help the fact that I was almost dead last in the race. Picked some slower runners off (this felt good despite the fact I knew that I was in the wrong place and that was the only reason it was happening). The run course was deserted and poorly marked. I think that it would have been better if I had other racers around, but I saw perhaps a total of a half a dozen people during the whole run. I even had to stop and consider which way to go at one point because there was no marking on the road- just call me Bob Frost ;-) Felt good on the run, but had no idea where I was going and felt really alone out there considering what the hell happened.


Finished strong at about 3:15 for the whole race. It was explained to me immediately that some people in the short tri did 22 miles instead of the 32 I did on the bike. There was apparently a sheriff misdirecting at an intersection so some racers missed the first 10 miles of the bike course which would explain my utter confusion and how everyone got ahead of me. They were asking folks who had computers on their bikes to report the distance they rode and they were going to try and sort out the results from there- good luck! Also, lots of people were confused about the run since we were all so spread out and the course was so poorly marked. My dad gave away his map of the course to a competitor and both my mom and dad stationed themselves in places where they could direct runners since everyone seemed lost. BTW- as I crossed the finish line, the announcer was already offering 1/2 off next year’s race due to all the confusion...



Checked on the thread on the slowtwitch forum today () and they’ve got some thoughts about the race (although most of the posters did the 1/2 IM so their distances weren’t messed up). Posters did report that the bike course was a couple of miles long and some short-course finishers in the transition area told me that they thought the run was more like 7 miles instead of 6. No e-mail yet from the race director or info on the website about the whole debacle. So, how did I feel about the day? Strange for me. It was great for my parents to be able to see me race. But in a time in my life where I’m already discombobulated with transitions, this was a bit much for me. Shouldn’t everyone in the same race do the same distance? Why isn’t 31 miles just 31 miles instead of 32.6 or 22?! Onward to the Crim Ten Miler in a couple of weeks and I’ll post an update once the race director posts an explanation and I get my official times...

Eagleman.... or the real reason we stuck together

So...... as I have not yet added anything major to this blog craziness, I started to think why we have gotten to the point we needed a blog. one word: Eagleman. Ok so not all of us did it, BUT we really did.

Not sure when it all really began but sometime last fall, we were all talking (drinking maybe) and I think I was the one who threw out the challenge that we could do a half ironman. Chris and Meghan thought about it, Cory thought it was crazy and Meagan started her long stage of disappearing... There was a long pause and then on a ride one morning, the gauntlet was thrown out again. This time, Meghan, Chris and I said we were in. Cory was making plans for knee surgery so she said she would be our support crew.

There was more talk for the next few months..... Chris went off to play his horn on the west coast.....Meghan and I coined the term 35 and dry......Cory got the knee fixed.....Meagan helped push us on some rides, even dragging her husband along a few times........but things were not definite yet. Then came December. Registration was about to open for Eagleman. Would we really register?? Would just two of us register and the other not??? The day registration opened, all three of us charged $175.00 and then checked to make sure the others did the same. Things had gotten a little more serious.

So why was this the thing that kept us together?? Well, as the following race reports will show, there was no way we could have trained for this thing alone. There was no way I was getting up at 5 AM on a sunday morning when it was 40 degrees out and saying "sure I think riding 60 miles is a great idea!!" We made sure that we pushed each other. At the same time, when you are out in the cold for 4 hours together, you start to tell stories and discuss issues and open up and fix flats and talk of bacon and push each other and hear each others deep darkest secrets........

I won't go on anymore. Hopefully we can all somehow post of Eagleman race reports here. Cory and Meagan did not "finish" the race, but you will see from the race reports, that none of us would have "finished" the race without them.

I guess what I am saying is.......see you all at the finish line of Eagleman 2006. Hopefully someone will say to me "are you gonig to finish this thing???."

iPod, Fully Loaded!!

If I wasn't already a complete and total geek, this recent purchase of an iPod (30GB, color, stores photos) pushed me over the edge.... I received it yesterday, plugged it in immediately, listened to the 'sample' which was Beethoven's 9th symphony (only a portion) and it never sounded sooo good. I have now configured my PC, downloaded over 500 songs from my hardrive and photos (you all are in my iPod now...) Whoopie!! now starts the chore of creating my very own CD archive on my iPod...

Some reflections on my transition

Leaving DC:

The last few weeks have been resplendent with metaphor, significance, action (and no, I don’t mean just that kind of action) and solidified some wonderful relationships that I'll carry forward with me. There are watershed events and times in our lives and (geesh, this is getting melodramatic) this is feeling like one for me. I think it goes without saying (but I’m going to verbalize it anyway) that this has become about more than just long bike rides. There are few people in this world who I feel like really see me when they look- and you all have become part of that small circle. Thanks for the discussion, perspective, support and general presence in my life. Keep it coming by e-mail, text messaging (now that I have the unlimited plan), blogging, calling and certainly visiting. And remember, STP is only 11 short months away!

On returning to a place I called home for so much of my life:

There’s something very comforting about this house and this topography for me. My parents bought 1925 Tahoe Circle in 1978. I know it like the back of my hand, and it provides a touchstone for me as I orbit about in the world and then come back here to check in, refuel and move on.

Being here helps provide a yardstick for where I’ve been and where I’m going which can be alternately comforting, suffocating, affirming and confusing (or all those things at the same time). Here are reflections on some of those moments in the past week:

Going back to the pool where the thought was first born that I could be a good swimmer. Then looking for Nate’s college coach in the parking lot so I can yell: “You’re fuckin’ joggin’!” at a complete stranger.

Watching Regis & Kelly, What Not to Wear, Larry King Live, local news ad nauseum and Days of our Lives with my mom. There is a lot of TV out there to watch, folks!

The serendipity of a Monster Energy truck going by as I am writing at the coffee shop.

Having my mom tear up in the waiting room of the Toyota dealership when I mention, quite by accident, that I may never have children given my age, current relationship status, blah, blah, blah- how did we get into this discussion anyway?!

How damn quiet it is here- I’ve got to put my earplugs in to sleep. Was it always this quiet and slow here? I’m used to so much more action and find myself craving it.

Installing a wireless network and noticing how addicted/dependent I am on the technology. It’s interesting, because it’s actually about connecting with people- it’s comforting to get a text message from a friend at 5 a.m. when she is trying to go to bed and I’m trying to go back to sleep after waking up and realizing that I won’t make it out in front of the Eastern Market pool this morning.

Having my mother’s friends comment to her that I’ve turned out to be such a lovely young woman- the oppositional teenager in me wants to say: as opposed to what?! Being here reminds me how outside the mainstream I am- the exercise, pursuing a PhD, the fact that I’m not married with two kids.

Almost tripping over a bump in the pavement on a long run and realizing that it is where I fell when I was six and cut my right knee (you can still see the fabulous scar). Then walking there the next day and hearing my mom tell the same story about the bump.

In the Beginning...

in a place called Capitol Hill, on a forum for triathletes, there was a lone post

(Feb 27, 2004) no-e-plz (but at the time it was still noeplz)

Big Grin Okay, since I suggested this, I'll start the first string. In the past, there's been great interest in locating training partners but its been difficult to sort through the endurance levels, schedules, and intensity of training to find a suitable match.

The idea is to briefly state your goals/objectives, your pace in each sport, whether you train in the AM or PM and where you do most of your training (i.e. geographic location).

Here goes:

Goals: 2 Olympic distance tris (Aug and Sept); 2 Sprint distance (June, Aug)
Pace: Run 9-10 min miles, Bike 14-15 mph (road bike), Swim 2.5-3 min/100 yds (yes, that's slow)

I prefer to train in the morning and am in search of running motivation as well as encouragement on the bike. I am work/home located near Cap Hill.

'nuf said. I know a few people at last night's happy hour are in a similar situation and I'm willing to be flexible on location....I normally bike along the Rock Creek loop, W&OD, GW Parkway to Mt. Vernon, and Poolsville.

Couple weeks go by....response post (Mar 11, 2004) Meghan

I just moved to Capitol Hill and have similar training goals (a couple of sprint race in June/July and an Olympic Distance race towards the end of the summer). I was a competitive swimmer in a former life so the swimming won't work out, but I would definitely be interested in talking about running/biking in the mornings and on weekends.

Then it was a virtual 'flood' of interest (Mar 12 2004) meaganjancy

I also live on Capitol Hill and would be interested in meeting up for some training. I am doing a sprint April 24 in NC and then the next would be the Spud in June. I swim at night at the Capitol East Natatorium- even if we swim different paces, we could still come up with a good work-out. I run and bike in the ams. my days are flexible. I would definitely love to have someone to ride with on some long rides on weekends. I am also interested in some new routes. Let me know. Big Grin

Then the first guy jumped on...(Apr 1, 2004) bignate

To any of the three of the hill triathletes, I would love to meet some mornings to ride. I am a runner that is planning on some duathlons again this summer and just need to get out there on my bike. Speed is secondary to just getting up and out in the morning. The earlier the better in the morning. Let me know if anyone is interested.

After a few fits and starts of trying to meet for coffee, beer, riding, we somehow managed to get it together, even through getting Chris' e-mail wrong; who can forget the "Homail" debacle? The Meghan/Meagan both on Giant bikes (that are really pretty small), and my absence for first few months, Nate and his Schwinn. The point is, we managed to form a consistent, frequently silly, unorganized, fun group and personally, I got more than just improved biking skills out of this. Others may have wanted to join the crew but essentially, they were just 'along for the ride'.

I'm sad today as Meghan has her car packed, her bike on her car, her kayak next to it, has her route to MI planned out to hit the maximum number of Sheetz, and while she'll be 3 time zones and many miles away, will always be a 35 and dry member. The "Donuts + Bacon > 5:00 a.m" T-shirts are great, we now need a new one with the "35 and Dry" and the whole list of quotables on the back...[maybe in Meagan and my case, its 40 and dry]. While I'm sad now, I'm hopeful that we can stay connected (if Nate and I don't drive each other nutz) still ride when we can, 'hang out' with Chris when he calls drunk on the phone on his way from Balt, and generally share in one another's crazy lives.

We'll have photos of the 'drunken' Tuesday night soon, and frankly, the photo of the 5 of us looks damned good...it might have to go on the t-shirt...

An end of an era but a new beginning as well...Bon Voyage Meghan, safe travels and we'll miss you!!

An Evening of Drunken Debauchery

Last night was quite and evening and I figured I was the only non-hung over one to start this entry. The evening started at the wonderful Cafe Saint-Ex, where in the past year, Meghan et al have enjoyed evenings similar to last night. It was my first time there, but what an experience.

Nate was in true instigating form - I really think 2 women is enough. Chris was trying hard to prove his manhood and Cory, well she was just loud! As Meghan enjoyed her last few beers (way more than she is capable of normally drinking!) there were quite a few quotes that I thought should be remembered. I won't name who said them but just try and remember if you can and it will definitely bring a smile to your face.

Here we go -- Quotable Quotes, August 2, 2005:

- The tag was as big as the swiss flag. You could see it from space!
- Fuckin' representn' the mitten!
- When it's in your mouth, you must swallow!
- Hands above the waist people!

I'm sure there are plenty of other things said that are definitely quote worthy, so please add them. I had a really great time and Meghan you will definitely be missed.

So did anything happen at Finn MAC Cool's that I should know? Was there any smokin' and drinkin' 15 year old liquor involoved? Photos?????

A "Moving" weekend

You may or may not notice the addition of "Sheetz" to the links but its there...just above the dictionary.com link...how appropriate.



This weekend was Meghan's moving weekend and we somehow were able to clear out her house and pack her life into a Pod (Nate's just good with puzzles).

Toby is enjoying an additional person in the house and will soon become accustomed to her habits (and will pester her for affection) just as he has with me.



Fern, hopefully, is ensconced in her two room penthouse, safe from the wiley orange troublemaker (aka Tom kitty).

Oh, and I loved this post-Tour article: Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Life after Lance. Since when does John Stewart get away with calling Lance a quitter and they review the best and worst of the ads.