And they wrote 40 on my calf

June 13th, 2010

Yesterday was the Liberty Triathlon. 70.3 miles of swimming, biking and running.

My season has typically ended with a race of this distance. I train all summer to be able to do this. But this year, it’s just a training on the calendar. A base line of how things are going. We hardly even taper. It’s odd to say the least.

So how did the race go you ask? Well, I had some mighty high expectations of myself…which is almost always a bad way to start.

The 1.2 mile swim: I headed into the water when the gun went off and within about 1 minute my arms and legs felt like logs, I felt like I couldn’t breath and I was having a hard time sighting the buoys. This always happens to me. The big FREAK OUT in the water. I eventually found a good rhythm just in time for the wind to kick up and start bashing waves in my face. I came out of the water and my watch said 37 minutes…a whole 5-7 minutes slower than I was hoping.

Transition 1: I went into transition, ripped off my wet suit, slide my arm warmers on and hopped on my bike. No problems with the exception of some disappointment with the swim.

The 56 mile bike: Well, with all the bike drama I have been having I was not really looking forward to this leg of the race but they were not going to cut it out just for little’ol me, so onward. Biking is hard for me, biking hurts and the little voice in my head just kept saying, you better just man the f*&% up if want to do well on this race.

My body was wet as I was not so quickly speeding down the road. My hands started to become so cold that I couldn’t shift at all with my left hand and ended up doing everything with my right. This causes a little bit of unbalence and almost took me down as my elbow came up and off the aero bars. My legs were burning and it was getting dark in my head.

It continued to get darker as my average pace slowed and the miles clipped along. Then my team mate passed me like I was standing still. If I didn’t like her so much I would have spit at her. It was around that point in time that my mind and I were discussing the possibilities…just stop and not care anymore or bearing down, sucking it up and focusing on the best last leg possible. It was my race I was racing and I had to let go who was passing me and that I might not catch them today.

I could fold or I could fight.

Transition 2: I happily slapped my bike on the rack and decided to sit down to put my shoes on. I could not find my Yankz last night (bungee cords for your shoes) so I had to tie my shoes instead of just slip them on. This proved to be a serious problem, I couldn’t feel my fingers and they were not going to let me do something as nimble as tie my laces. So my shoes were on, but not tight. I couldn’t even unclasp my helmet because my fingers couldn’t pinch hard enough to get the clasp undone, so I wiggled it around my chin and slipped it off. Minuets wasted!

The run 13.1 miles: I decided I would just let the laces go, even though my feet were slipping around in my shoes from not being tight enough. A friend yelled out that my feet and hands would get their feeling back around mile four, so I was determined to run until then, and then I could fix the problem.

Back on the bike, I decided to fight. I decided to pull myself out of the not so happy place I was in and decided to do whatever I could to make the run the best it could be. I took it one mile at a time, watching my pace and working the down hills as much as possible. I was feeling pretty good, which meant the nutrition plan on the bike was good. The miles clipped by as the rain kept coming. I never stopped to tie my shoes again, why waste more time? I finished the run leg in 1:48:30, almost catching my own half marathon PR of 1:47:50. Not bad.

My finishing time 5:26:34. 5th in my age group (yup, they bumped me up to 40 even though I am 39 for two more days) and 11th over all the ladies.

My lesson learned this race, I am tough enough to pull myself out of a mental tail spin. I’m gonna call that a success.

And kudos to all my buddies, my coach and my team mates racing yesterday. You can find Diane 5th over all, Courtney 7th and jMatt 9th on leader board. AND huge props to Cousin Katherine who WON the Olympic Distance race.

It’s super cool to race with such a talented group of people.

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And the winner is….

June 11th, 2010

So last night, Omar and Becca headed off in all their finery to The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year^® gala to see if Omar would earn the prestigious award of Entrepreneur of The Year for Consumer Products.

AND HELL YES HE DID!

Congratulations Omar, Becca and Surly Brewing Company!

“Ernst & Young LLP is pleased to announce the winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the Upper Midwest Region. This group of leading entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel made up of regional business, academic and community leaders. The winners were revealed at a gala event on Thursday, June 10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Ernst & Young believes in the power of entrepreneurship,” said William Miller, Partner and Strategic Growth Markets Leader with Ernst & Young LLP’s Minneapolis office. “These Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners are best in class, and we are proud to honor their outstanding success.”

The Upper Midwest program recognizes companies based in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Upper Midwest winners for the Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2010 are:

·    Lifetime Achievement – M. A. “Mort” Mortenson, M. A. Mortenson Company (Golden Valley, Minnesota)
·    Master – Jack Link, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky (Minong, Wisconsin)
·    Emerging – Joe Keeley, College Nannies & Tutors (Wayzata, Minnesota)
·    Technology – John Romans, BioMedix Vascular Solutions (St. Paul, Minnesota)
·    Retail – Rollie Benjamin, ABRA Auto Body & Glass (Brooklyn Center, Minnesota)
·    Distribution – Jimmy Vosika, ShopJimmy.com
·    Consumer Services – Peter Taunton, Snap Fitness (Chanhassen, Minnesota)
·    Health Sciences – Jerome Ruzicka, Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, Minnesota)
·    Consumer Products – Omar Ansari, Surly Brewing Co. (Brooklyn Center, Minnesota)

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The dead connection

June 9th, 2010

So, do you think we connect with the dead or the dead connects with us?

I know, crazy pop is what you are thinking, but really??? Is it all coincidence or do we look for more meaning in the mundane happenings?

Yesterday, the kids were playing a game and they kept repeating the word AMAMENTO. Now, that word means nothing to you and it was a made up word to them. But to me, it stopped me in my tracks. I turned to them and said, “What are you saying?” They repeated, AMAMENTO!

The night my dad and I had our last conversation, he used that word. He was confused and he was trying to get an idea out and all the languages he knew flooded together and out came AMAMENTO. We joked about it and the conversation went on and on using the word. He found out the made up word could be used for many things. The word could be used affectionatley, my dad grabbed my mom’s hand, kissed it and tenderly said AMAMENTO. Then it went to the other side of the coin where he put his fist up in the air and said, “Fucking AMAMENTO”. It could be used for many things and we kept going as long as we could.

It made us laugh.

It was one of our last conversations.

My kids have never heard the word, but yet here it is.

I’m not sure if my dad was trying to communicate something to me from the other world or if it is just a happy coincidence that brought me right back to his memory.

Either way, it makes me feel close to him again.

AMAMENTO dad…AMAMENTO!

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