We're almost half way through 2011 which marks my 9 month anniversary in Chicago. As you know it's been a wonderful and rocky road. While I'm confident my move to Chicago was the right one and Devra is the right woman for me, it's been a huge year for change.
Change, as a word, is fairly innocuous. We change all the time whether we realize it or not. In fact, each day in and of itself is a change we all experience and none of us can do anything about. The change happens. Some days we approach with fear. Others with exhileration. Regardless, these changes happen and we typically take them in stride and build them into our day in the least disruptive way possible.
Over the past 9 months I've experienced close to as much change as any one person should experience in that amount of time. On the surface the change felt straight forward. Yet, over the past 9 months, the journey has been anything but. My life, as I knew it back in Minnesota, no longer exists. The active triathlete who had his entire life in control from sun up to sun down has had a very long, drawn out and painful death.
None of this was anticipated. I took the word "change" to be the benign form. How much impact could moving to a new city have? How much impact could a new job have? What's the problem with moving in with your significant other? How much extra work is getting a dog?
The answer? A LOT! A lot more than I ever anticipated. Enough change to necessitate the death and rebirth of my life. At this point, after 9 months, I feel comfortable saying that it's now time to pick up some of the pieces that make sense, leave the rest behind and find out how to become an active, healthy, happy triathlete in this city with a fiancee, puppy and a pile of great friends. Now that I've finally had my full breakdown and partial recovery it's time to find that answer.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Bike the Drive 2011
Chicago is an interesting city. It's teaming with a rich and deep history. Every weekend you can find (literally) hundreds of things to do to keep you entertained. And there's never a shortage of unique people to speak with or stare at. But this weekend is Memorial Day weekend and it seems that's a uniquely interesting time for Chicago. One fun thing was the low flying fighter jets yesterday. The thunderous roar of the jets overhead was great.
Today was another spectacle. Lakeshore Drive was shut down from 5:30 to 9:30 for Bike theDrive. Essentially from 6000 north to 6000 south bicyclists owned the road. A few friends of mine and I hit the ride with the expectation that we'd ride a century. I knew this wasnt happening for myself for a few reasons but mostly because I physically can't finish 100 miles in 4 hours. What made this particularly special for me was it was the second time I'd be riding the drive. The first time was last year for the LifeTime Fitness Tri. I had a stupendous bike last year so I wanted to see if that would happen again. Plus, with Escape from Alcatraz less than a week away and being extra out of shape I was excited to see if I could survive.
My friends and I started off at North Ave (great for me since it's less than a mile away from my house) and headed north. We quickly got separated because of different speeds and expectations but John and I took point and tried to push the pace.
Ultimately it was a nice ride but it had a few shortcomings.
Why was it a nice ride? There's a lot to like about having 4 lanes of one of Chicago's most beautiful roads open to you for biking. In Chicago proper you're not going to find any better place to ride. The lake front path is nice but too windy and congested to make for any decent training. Lakeshore drive is gorgeous and you can really hold a nice pace.
What made it fall short for me was mostly myself. To be sure, there were just too many people out there riding slowly in the fast lane. Is made me more angry than not. I had to keep slowing down to make sure I didn't kill anyone and myself in the process. Understandably, this is a "ride" and not a "race" so getting mad at slow people is just dumb. What's even more dumb, though, is being slow in the fast lane. Ink of how aggravated you get while driving somewhere and in front of you is someone driving at half the posted speed limit. But they're in the passing lane so there's nothing you can do.
Yes. Very annoying! I greatly dislike congested rides for the obvious reason.
Where the problems fell on me are with my expectations I came with. No matter how I look at it, no ride is an acceptable ride unless it meets the standards I had back in the twin cities: mainly clear roads, smooth pavement, diverse geography and easy to get to. I got extremely spoiled up there. Let's face it. And it's going to take me a long time to get over it. Until then, I have to spend the time to realize that I didn't order myself a shit sandwich by moving here but instead got a Chicago style burger: good and special in its own way but not the same flavor that I've grown to know.
Today was another spectacle. Lakeshore Drive was shut down from 5:30 to 9:30 for Bike theDrive. Essentially from 6000 north to 6000 south bicyclists owned the road. A few friends of mine and I hit the ride with the expectation that we'd ride a century. I knew this wasnt happening for myself for a few reasons but mostly because I physically can't finish 100 miles in 4 hours. What made this particularly special for me was it was the second time I'd be riding the drive. The first time was last year for the LifeTime Fitness Tri. I had a stupendous bike last year so I wanted to see if that would happen again. Plus, with Escape from Alcatraz less than a week away and being extra out of shape I was excited to see if I could survive.
My friends and I started off at North Ave (great for me since it's less than a mile away from my house) and headed north. We quickly got separated because of different speeds and expectations but John and I took point and tried to push the pace.
Ultimately it was a nice ride but it had a few shortcomings.
Why was it a nice ride? There's a lot to like about having 4 lanes of one of Chicago's most beautiful roads open to you for biking. In Chicago proper you're not going to find any better place to ride. The lake front path is nice but too windy and congested to make for any decent training. Lakeshore drive is gorgeous and you can really hold a nice pace.
What made it fall short for me was mostly myself. To be sure, there were just too many people out there riding slowly in the fast lane. Is made me more angry than not. I had to keep slowing down to make sure I didn't kill anyone and myself in the process. Understandably, this is a "ride" and not a "race" so getting mad at slow people is just dumb. What's even more dumb, though, is being slow in the fast lane. Ink of how aggravated you get while driving somewhere and in front of you is someone driving at half the posted speed limit. But they're in the passing lane so there's nothing you can do.
Yes. Very annoying! I greatly dislike congested rides for the obvious reason.
Where the problems fell on me are with my expectations I came with. No matter how I look at it, no ride is an acceptable ride unless it meets the standards I had back in the twin cities: mainly clear roads, smooth pavement, diverse geography and easy to get to. I got extremely spoiled up there. Let's face it. And it's going to take me a long time to get over it. Until then, I have to spend the time to realize that I didn't order myself a shit sandwich by moving here but instead got a Chicago style burger: good and special in its own way but not the same flavor that I've grown to know.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Week 13 Long Run by jasheldo at Garmin Connect - Details
Week 13 Long Run by jasheldo at Garmin Connect - Details
I love non-snowy weather. It makes me happy.
I love non-snowy weather. It makes me happy.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Untitled by jasheldo at Garmin Connect - Details
CARA Lakefront 10 Miler + 10 extra at Garmin Connect - Details Not a bad trot. The goal was to burn calories and that got accomplished.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
A New Study in Chicago
Adapting to a new lifestyle can be difficult. Adapting to that new lifestyle in a new city makes it at least an order of magnitude more difficult. Ever since moving to Chicago and completing Ironman last year I've found my motivation to exercise wane as other life events have taken over.
Part of the difficulty I have with getting back on the exercise wagon is what happens to me every year. Affectionately I'll refer to it as seasonal affective disorder. This is a normal part of what happens and something I'll get over once the weather improves and the sun is visible more than once a week. It's the normal ebb and flow of human emotion. Granted, I'm convinced I reach far greater extremes of elation and depression than most but so far it's not something that's unmanageable.
Another difficulty is the location change. Since I'm not motivated to exercise like I used to I'm also not motivated to do much to change that behavior. It takes a lot of work to find new friends, meet up with them, and develop a habit of exercise. The problem is also exascerbated by my thoughts. In a prior life, exercising was simple. In fact it was so easy I took it for granted. Where I used to be able to ride a bike out my front door and ride in any direction I wanted for 100+ miles along beautiful, windy, hilly, scenic terrain, I now have to drive more than 30 miles out of the way just to get to a place that's reasonably acceptable to be on a bike. Where I used to run on any of a few dozen paths, mostly ones I made up, I now have to stick to a small handful, most of them with endless stoplights.
But this change isn't completely negative. Swimming is kind of an improvement. I now live within jogging distance from a 1-mile long lap lane in Lake Michigan. Also, the gym is within walking distance from my house. The lap lane there is 25 yards but at least it exists.
It needs to be impressed that these are just growing pains. It's on my shoulders to adapt to my new environment, pull up my big boy britches and accept what I have while at the same time understanding that I don't have what I used to have. What I lost was a lot of convenience which is making it that much more difficult to get out of my funk. But I'm certain it can be pulled off.
Devra and I also recently got engaged and acquired a new french bulldog puppy. These changes are amazing and I'm very grateful for all of it. Somehow I caught her in a weak moment and she said "Yes" so we're now busy wedding planning. The dog, while a great asset to our relationship, needs a lot of time and attention.
Needless to say, there are a lot of changes and obstacles in my life that don't add up to giving me time to train. It's my hope that when the dust settles (who knows when that'll be) I can return to being the active self I enjoy being.
In the mean time, I'm getting out about 2x per week to do some running and ensure I can run the marathons I've got on the schedule. So far so good.
Part of the difficulty I have with getting back on the exercise wagon is what happens to me every year. Affectionately I'll refer to it as seasonal affective disorder. This is a normal part of what happens and something I'll get over once the weather improves and the sun is visible more than once a week. It's the normal ebb and flow of human emotion. Granted, I'm convinced I reach far greater extremes of elation and depression than most but so far it's not something that's unmanageable.
Another difficulty is the location change. Since I'm not motivated to exercise like I used to I'm also not motivated to do much to change that behavior. It takes a lot of work to find new friends, meet up with them, and develop a habit of exercise. The problem is also exascerbated by my thoughts. In a prior life, exercising was simple. In fact it was so easy I took it for granted. Where I used to be able to ride a bike out my front door and ride in any direction I wanted for 100+ miles along beautiful, windy, hilly, scenic terrain, I now have to drive more than 30 miles out of the way just to get to a place that's reasonably acceptable to be on a bike. Where I used to run on any of a few dozen paths, mostly ones I made up, I now have to stick to a small handful, most of them with endless stoplights.
But this change isn't completely negative. Swimming is kind of an improvement. I now live within jogging distance from a 1-mile long lap lane in Lake Michigan. Also, the gym is within walking distance from my house. The lap lane there is 25 yards but at least it exists.
It needs to be impressed that these are just growing pains. It's on my shoulders to adapt to my new environment, pull up my big boy britches and accept what I have while at the same time understanding that I don't have what I used to have. What I lost was a lot of convenience which is making it that much more difficult to get out of my funk. But I'm certain it can be pulled off.
Devra and I also recently got engaged and acquired a new french bulldog puppy. These changes are amazing and I'm very grateful for all of it. Somehow I caught her in a weak moment and she said "Yes" so we're now busy wedding planning. The dog, while a great asset to our relationship, needs a lot of time and attention.
Needless to say, there are a lot of changes and obstacles in my life that don't add up to giving me time to train. It's my hope that when the dust settles (who knows when that'll be) I can return to being the active self I enjoy being.
In the mean time, I'm getting out about 2x per week to do some running and ensure I can run the marathons I've got on the schedule. So far so good.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
I'm Honored
Not sure what I did to deserve this nor am I smart enough to figure out how to put this on the side of my blog but I guess I've got an accolade:
If not for my athletic ability at least I get recognition for my rantings. I'll figure out how to put this on the side of my blog but for now rock on.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
To Be Fair
Because of my extreme disappointment with the Wahoo Fitness receiver in the previous few posts it's only appropriate I follow with the resolution of the matter.
Last week the Wahoo Fitness team sent me a new too via express ship to my house. The moment I connected it I got a signal and it worked like a charm. Apparently as of this writing I'm only the second of all their shipments that received a faulty receiver. Such is life.
After using it a few times I'm very pleased with the ease of use and how simply it integrates with some other pieces of software such as RunKeeper Pro for iPhone. A huge THANK YOU to the Wahoo Fitness team for quickly and professionally resolving the issue I had with the Ant+ receiver I bought. It's a great tool and I look forward to the improvements they'll make along the way.
Now, it's time to get the RunKeeper Pro app up to speed. It's a beautiful tool and does a great job but there's lots of room to grow. For instance, we should be able to train according to our heart rate zones. There should be an option to receive audible feedback when we're outside the specified heart rate zone.
Last week the Wahoo Fitness team sent me a new too via express ship to my house. The moment I connected it I got a signal and it worked like a charm. Apparently as of this writing I'm only the second of all their shipments that received a faulty receiver. Such is life.
After using it a few times I'm very pleased with the ease of use and how simply it integrates with some other pieces of software such as RunKeeper Pro for iPhone. A huge THANK YOU to the Wahoo Fitness team for quickly and professionally resolving the issue I had with the Ant+ receiver I bought. It's a great tool and I look forward to the improvements they'll make along the way.
Now, it's time to get the RunKeeper Pro app up to speed. It's a beautiful tool and does a great job but there's lots of room to grow. For instance, we should be able to train according to our heart rate zones. There should be an option to receive audible feedback when we're outside the specified heart rate zone.
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