Bandit and the Groundhog

Saturday I was compelled to ride in the garage on the trainer with coach Troy. He had me do Spinnerval 14.0 Aero Base Builder. . Got in about an hour and half with 25+ miles. Good time was had by all. Although, there is one fellow on the DVD that I am not fond of and actually find myself competing against. . .I might have a problem.

Sunday was the GroundHog run. The World's only total underground run. Troy (Smith) came over around 8:00 and we headed up to the caves to meet up with Bob and Matt Schloegel and some other guys we run with. We decided to do the 5K as a warmup (well I guess all of us besides Troy, because he took off like angry badger). 5K was a good run . . not too hard, but not too easy either. Seriously. . running with Bob and Matt at easypace is my semi-fast, but a 7:19 average per mile felt good and relaxed.

After the 5K we did a couple miles cooldown to get ready for the real race. . . . the 10K. Long story short, the 10K was great, I set a PR of 43 minutes 21 seconds and that averages out to under 7 minutes per mile (6:59 :) ) Picture at top is me and Matt talking going into the finish while those around us prepare for their full on sprint finish. I am farthest on the right with black shirt on.

We finished up with 1.6 mile cooldown. All in all 12 miles for the morning. . and tired legs to show for it the rest of the day . . and into the next. :)

OH!!! Bandit. . I didn't explain. A bandit is someone who shows up for a races but doesn't pay. . .but I would never do that. . . .

How much longer???

Till summer gets here??? I enjoy winter, I enjoy it up until Dec 25th and then I am ready for summer. Winter helps to set the mood for Christmas and the holidays, but after that, I have very little use for winter and snow and ice and all the mess associated with it. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and a good snowfall, but I think I like it more in places such as Colorado, Idaho, etc. In my ideal world, it would winter there all the time and I could drive there enjoy it and then return to my 75 degree and sunny world. :)

Saturday morning, I picked up Troy and we headed down to Longview lake to hit the road with some other guys on a 12 mile run. 80% of the roads were snow/ice covered and made for an interesting run to say the least. No one got injured, but running shoes and ice/snow don't mix real well. Oh, and you would be surprised by the number of cars on the road at 7:00AM on a Saturday morning. Don't people sleep in anymore???!!!! The best part of the long run? Being finished. :) No pics this time. . sorry.

Sunday I chose to sleep in and spend some quality time with Amy and Kloden. It is amazing to see him grow and become aware of his surroundings. He is starting to smile at you and that is the most amazing thing I have seen in a long long time. The first smile of a baby, has to be one of the most precious things ever.

After church I hit the road solo for a bike ride out to Buckner and back. My average speed to Buckner was 21 mph. . my average coming home was about 16 mph. Oh, how I love the winter wind from the west northwest on a Sunday afternoon!!! I hit some hills on the return trip, since my speed was slow anyway. Figured I might as well throw in some hills to add a little more pain to the fun.

Got home, watched Football, went to church in the evening and looked forward to sleeping in on MLK day!

Winter Trail Run and BB Ride

Saturday morning started at 6:20 AM. . I went and picked up Troy to meet some other guys out at Lake Jacomo to run the trails. The car temp gauge said 21 degrees out and the wind was pretty strong out of the Northwest. When we got to Jacomo it had started to snow and any moisture on the trail/ground at that point was frozen. I hadn't run the trails before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Tim (a friend and triathlete) said it was just like the Little Blue Trace Trail. Well, it is nothing like Little Blue Trace Trail, that trail is flat and smooth, this trail is hilly, rocky and technical, especially after 4 miles when we hit the singletrack trail where I managed to twist my left ankle twice and my right ankle once and one false step either meant slamming your head into a rock or dropping off the ledge down into the lake. . . I will say though, that I haven't had that much fun in a long long time. It was neat to run with some new guys and to try some new terrain. Next time I am getting some trail running shoes for better traction and taking a fuel belt for water. All in all. . it was AWESOME!!! 10.6 rocky miles. . .

Sunday was a group ride. We started at White Oak Plaza and went to Buckner and Back (hence the title BB Ride). 6 of us showed up as the first (un)offical Bike Stop training ride of the new year. The pace was pretty mild, with a few stretches of some people getting after it, but normally kept everyone together and were just thankful for the 42 degree weather and the sunshine. About 37 miles when all was said and done. Not bad for January.

New Baby. . New Year

Wow! December was a great month!!! Amy and I had the pleasure to see Kloden Tell Kuntz come into the world on December 12, 2008 at 3:03 AM. He wanted to make sure that we didn't get any sleep so that is why he waited till early morning! Amy's parents and my parents and Amy's sister were all at the hospital since about 5:00 PM the previous night. . so everyone was quite tired the next day.

Amy did great through labor and I must truly say that she is an Ironman too!!!! She was basically up since 1:00 AM Thursday morning and was without sleep for well over 24 hours when Kloden finally came.

2009 is set to be a great year. . I didn't really make any new years resolutions, but do have some goals.
1) To get out of debt (we don't have much right now, but if we could get the car paid off then we would be doing good).
2) To stay in shape and continue on 2008 Triathlon season success.
3) To break 11 hours at Ironman Louisville at the end of August.
4) To be the best husband and father I can be through everything else going on.
5) Be more involved with church, try to go to more services and functions.

I guess those are the major ones. . . maybe some smaller ones in there, but those will only help me reach the above 5.

Happy 2009!!!