February????

I need to start taking pictures at some point. .. I know. .. :)

WOW! I must say, that heading out for a ride Saturday morning, it didn't feel like the normal February day. . . No, the temperature was 55 degrees at 7:15 AM and it only got better from there. I rode up and met the guys at White Oak Plaza in Blue Springs. There were 5 of us all together, apparently no one else go the memo that we were going to get a taste of April in February. We headed south on 7 Highway but were shortly stopped because someone (either on purpose or accident) left about 40 framing nails in the median. 5 bikes and 40 nails and you no something has to give. . . Randy got a flat and while he was fixing that Dave and I went back to the nail deposit and threw them all in the ditch, so the next group (I am positive there would have been more) didn't ride through them and experience what we did.

After fixing the flat we headed down 7 to Colbern and then wandered through Lees Summit till we hit Todd George road that took us south to Greenwood. We took a right on 150 Highway (we need to find an alternate route) and then headed over to Ward Road that took us up to our pit stop Lees Summit Bike Stop. Curt was there and nice enough to open the doors for the team at 9:00 so Randy could restock on tubes/cartridges and get some air in the tire. Curt even did a wheel truing of my back wheel and we were off again. We headed north through Lees Summit and took the outer road off of 291 till we hit Woods Chapel and then headed the long way around Lakewood. At Lake Jacomo I took off down the outer road to head home and the rest went through the park back to White Oak. It was a great day of cycling all around with some surges, good hill climbs and basically good moods all around. I think everyone was loving the weather and just being outside again!!!

Sunday, I met up with the normal run group, but this time we had the honor of having the Lees Summit/Blue Springs Tri/Run group meet up with us. I think we had 12 guys in all and that was without about 3-4 of the other regulars. . . it made for a great run and the time flew by as we got to chat with some new people and just talk about the upcoming season. Everyone got in between 12 and 20 miles and even though it wasn't as warm as it was on Saturday, the 40 degree weather was a nice change from the 12 degree weather that we were accustomed too!!!!

2 Gears, 3 hours with baby and then 16.4 to cap it off

Here is a little recap of the weekend . . .

Decided late Friday night that I needed to ride early Saturday morning instead of with the whole crew Saturday afternoon. I am the type of person that likes to get the workouts for the day started in the morning, not at 1:30 PM. So I sent Dave C. a text to verify he was riding in the early morning and to get the ok to tag along. Saturday morning I took off from home at about 7:15 AM with 32 degrees, wind and a little frost/ice on the pavement. I could tell right away that the route we had selected would put us in the wind's furry on the return trip. .. but Dave's only response to that, was "yeah, it will be tough". Understatement of the year. . . . On our way out to Buckner, I heard a snap come from Dave's bike and shortly after the statement "my cable snapped, I only have two gears". So from there on out, Dave had his 50/34 in front and the 12 cog in the back. For a normal rider that would have meant just doing their best to get through the day, but to Dave it meant . .I will ride harder and faster and show you how much better I am than you (in a good way of course).

After our turn at Buckner to head back to Independence/Blue Springs we were met with the onslaught of the West/Southwest wind. . . Speeds quickly dropped to around 17 mph (if we were lucky) and the brutal pedaling began. We finally made the turn off where I would head home and Dave would return to Blue Springs and I asked if he wanted a ride home, he said he would be fina and turned off to head up Crenshaw, which is one of the steepest hardest hills that we have. . . with of course only two gears. Dave is a cycling champion.

Saturday I volunteered to watch Kloden for about 3 hours so Amy could go with her sister and friends to see a movie and out to lunch. Kloden and I had a good time together and he slept for about half of the time in 30 minute segments and ate for about 20 minutes. All in all we had a good afternoon together.

Sunday morning's run was slated for the Blue River (probably one of the least nice places to run in the city) and I decided that 16 miles was the order of the day. Long story short, I got 16.4 in and averaged just under 8 minute miles. I am happy to see my run getting stronger, just hope i tall pays off come summer. :)

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!!!

Still waiting . . .

Kloden Tell hasn't come yet, and that is really all we are focused on for now. Hopefully he comes soon and is a healthy baby boy. . that would be the best Christmas present ever. Amy is very uncomfortable and I think she is ready to have him. . Me? oh I am fine, thanks for asking. :)

Training is going well, I have cut back on swimming and somewhat on biking to focus more on running. I need to get in a swim or two a week, but it just seems hard to hit the pool for some reason. Biking indoors has its limits. . I did well for a while, but need to get back at it. December of 2007 I biked a total of 10 miles, so hopefully I can up that this year.

I started to type up a blog about the whole season and thoughts and stuff, but got bored writing it so let me sum it up real quick.

2008 was a great year. I made huge improvements and hope to carry those over to 2009. I like the year 2009. . just something about those numbers that I like. Anyway, Kloden will be a welcome addition to the Ironman world and I am mapping out his first race for him. .
Ironman Couer D' Alene in 2035. I project him to finish first in his age group. :) Training starts the day after he gets here. . I hope he is ready.