Let's give them something to talk about

Or in this case, something to blog about. Well, thanks to Jilian for organizing a weekend at Snowshoe and convincing me to give snowboarding a try. Certainly provides some blogging material.

I rode up to West Virginia with Joel on Friday night and got caught up on bunker life - the trip went by quickly and we were at the farmhouse in no time. Arrived to find Jilian enjoying the hot tub and talking enthusiastically about her day on the mountain. Enjoyed a couple of beers as we watched the parade of other farmhouse guests arrive. The "Galax Crew" was by far the most entertaining arrival, as many of them had been celebrating the whole way up. As one of the sober of them said - "the folks in my car drank enough beer on the way here to float a boat" - I believed him. I turned in for the night, hoping the gang wouldn't be too rowdy (they weren't) for me to get some sleep before tackling snowboarding for the first time the next day. The only disturbance of the night came after midnight when a coal miner broke into the room, shined his light around some then left. I found out later that it had really been Nate with one of those headband flashlights, looking for his sleeping berth on the top bunk.

My watch alarm (love the BodyLink!) woke me up at 7:30 as scheduled and I quickly got ready to head over to the Inn for breakfast. I had stayed at Elk River before and remembered how good the breakfasts were. I was not disappointed! The blueberry breakfast cobbler was fantastic - I left breakfast knowing that If I died on the mountain, at least I would die with a belly full of good food! We bundled up and headed over to the Elk River rental shop to get our equipment.

Joel and I got our boots, snowboards and helmets (a last minute decision, and a wise one) and headed to Silver Creek. Jilian had offered to show us the ropes, but as it came closer to us actually snowboarding, her confidence in being able to teach us diminished greatly. Finally, I decided to take a lesson and forced Joel to do the same (at least that seemed to be his slant on the situation). We had a two hour lesson from and Aussie with a cute accent, who may or may not have been cute (hard to tell in ski gear and goggles). The lesson was helpful and would have been more so not for a kid that shouldn't have been in our group (he should have been taking a kid's lesson). He just wasn't up to hitting any of the real slopes, so none of us got to hit them as part of the lesson.

After our official lesson came the unofficial lessons with coach Jilian. We went down the green slopes (the easier ones) and found it much easier than the area that we had been doing the lessons in. I quickly mastered a falling leaf pattern, riding the heel part of the board side to side down the mountain. My coach was trying to get me to try to turn to my toe edge more, but I never really mastered it. I did keep trying though and got a little better at it, but I still need a lot more work on the toe edge. The coach was much harder on Joel, trying to get him to get his butt in the air more, I kept hearing her yelling at him about his butt - I felt bad for him. Soon she decided that we were ready to leave Silver Creek and head over to Snowshoe.

We rode the bus over and found a green slope to go down. Well the top of this slope was narrow and had a gentle incline and was much more crowded - not ideal for beginning snowboarders who only know the falling leaf method of going down the slopes. I wiped out a few times, most spectacularly in front of a group of kids taking ski lessons - Joel crashed right beside me in the same spot. Oh well, I'm sure we provided a good laugh. Rode back up the lift and Jilian was headed to some challenging slopes and left us there to try the slope again. Joel and I decided to head back to where we were comfortable instead and returned to Silver Creek. We had some good runs, some funny falls after getting of the lift (though no spectacular mishaps on the lifts as we had anticipated based on stories of past people that Jilian has introduced to the sport of snowboarding). I had only one painful fall on my butt the whole day and was feeling good about the experience. Joel and I decided around 4 that we were getting too tired and decided to hit the bar.

We went into the lodge at Silver Creek and found the first bar we could. It was very lame, but we got a beer and some food and sat and watched some extreme snowboarding on TV. Jilian later clued us into another bar in the lodge, so we headed down there. Well Joel pissed the bartender off by asking him what one of the taps was, so we ended up having to wait an eternity before he would come back and take our order. We finally got a pitcher of beer and waited for the others to finish up on the mountain.

As we sat in the bar, Joel and I decided that we would ski on Sunday. We figured we would be sore from the snowboarding and that since we were both more comfortable with skiing, that would be the better choice. Well, we get to the rental place to exchange our equipment and the cute young lady working there seems very disappointed that we are giving up snowboarding. She gets our ski boots, I put them on and remember how uncomfortable ski boots are compared to snowboard boot, plus I don't want to disappoint this nice girl, so I decide to stick with snowboarding for another day. I get a shorter board (as recommended by my lesson instructor) and Joel gets skis (obviously, he doesn't care about breaking young girls hearts).

We get back to the farmhouse and are greeted by the great aroma of the chili and soup that we had started in crock pots that morning. We enjoyed the hot tub for awhile then ate soup, chili and brownies. I went to bed early and left the rest of the folks playing poker and Uno - fortunately they were very quiet for a large group of people drinking and playing and I was able to sleep. It had been a great day - snowing most of the day and really beautiful.

The next morning I had another great breakfast (blueberry pancakes) and headed back to the mountain. The snowboarding was great. the weather was colder though and there was thick fog the entire day. We stayed at Silver Creek and I got comfortable enough to try some blue slopes which are a little more challenging. I had one crash with another snowboarder and ran over the back of a skier's skis, but other than those was doing well. Around 3pm I told Joel I had one more run in me, but that I could tell my legs were getting too tired to do much more. Well, looks like I had one run too many. On the way down the slope on the last run, my toe edge caught and I fell face first really hard. Joel was right there and asked me if I was ok - my response was "no." My right lower rib cage hurt like hell. I just laid there in the snow a minute until the pain subsided. I had a choice to either head to the lodge (which was close by) or to continue down the mountain to the lift and then board back down to the same spot and go into the lodge. Well, I didn't want my snowboarding experience to end on a bad note, so I went to the lift. I had a great run and ended the day off on a positive experience. Joel and I returned to the bar and our favorite bartender was back. We did manage to get some beers and food, though not great service. We waited for the others to finish up their day on the mountain then we all headed back home.

Unfortunately Joel headed back a little too fast - I'll let him tell you about that if he wants. But we made it back safely and had a great weekend. I'm very sore today (probably the most sore I have ever been) but am very glad to have tried boarding. I'm pretty sure I'll do it again... The only thing missing from the weekend was my little sister - but she decided to be responsible and get some work done and stick to her budget (I'm proud of her even though I missed having her along).

I can't wait for the next adventure!

Nice, Long Weekend

Basically started the weekend Thursday night with a meal of bean dip, homemade pasta and cake at a friend's house to celebrate a birthday. The food and company were both great.

Friday night I decided to make a meal for Karyn and I to eat after the girls were in bed - that way we could really enjoy the food and each other's company for awhile. I made real baked potatoes (not nuked), grilled filet mignon, salad and brownies. It turned out well and we shared a peaceful meal. Karyn had rented a Dennis Leary comedy tape, but neither of us particularly got into it and ended up watching Letterman instead.

Saturday I ran 12.25 miles in the icy weather. Not the fastest run ever - I was being pretty cautious not to slip anywhere. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the fine ice crystals that were falling really bugged my eyes. I later found out that I had looked at my schedule wrong and only needed to run 11 miles - oh well. It felt good to have run 32 miles for the week.

Saturday night Karyn went out with a friend, so I volunteered to take the girls to Chuckie Cheese's. Well, we got there and the restaurant was closed! We were bummed - guess we'll have to do that another time. When Karyn got home, the two of us watched Missing. Okay movie, nothing special.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We all went out to Olive Garden for dinner. Started out roughly with Haley throwing a huge fit that she didn't want to be there. She finally settled down and ended up liking it (she's always liked it when we've been there before). It isn't my favorite restaurant (I'm not big on chain restaurants), but Grace and Mattie always want to go there. After dinner, Karyn and I went to a movie while my niece babysat the girls. She's newly married to a Marine who left for Iraq on Friday. It was good to see her and have a chance to talk with her for awhile. I was pretty frustrated to learn that since the operations in Iraq are now considered "peace keeping" instead of "combat", the soldiers get less pay. I wonder how much of that designation was determined by fiscal considerations rather than operational considerations?

The movie that we saw was The Aviator. I thought it was a good flick – I liked the way it made you feel the paranoia that he felt. Definitely would like to learn more about Howard Hughes – I just remember reading about his eccentricities and reclusive nature when I was a child (yes, he was still alive when I was young – I was 10 when he died).

Back to the grind today? Not really, the girls don't have school and I don't have a project assignment, so we are catching up on errands and stuff around the house. I'm ready for the weather to warm up a bit (which it is supposed to starting tomorrow) so that my running is a bit more fun.

My little gourmet

Haley told me yesterday that she was going to make me a special treat after she finished her lunch. Well, I was working in my attic office (yes, I've been relegated to the attic like the crazy relative that I am, but at least I have windows!), and she brought me the treat that she had prepared all by herself: two whole wheat pitas stuck together with chocolate sauce!

and the reason is...

Ok, not the reason but yet another reason (I just like using song lyrics for my titles whenever possible - in case you haven't noticed) that I'm glad I'm not a girl - straps. Lately my heart rate monitor strap has been bugging me when I run. It slides down and drives me crazy - I can't imagine having to wear a bra.

Is it just me or do things bug you more when it is really cold outside? Like the heart rate monitor strap - in the summer when it slides around, it's a minor annoyance. But when it is 20 degrees outside (like it has been for my runs the past 2 days), it's a major ordeal. Guess I'm just not a cold weather person at all. I do love snow, I just don't see a reason for cold when there is no snow (about 90% of the time). I'm ready to move to somewhere like San Diego and then take vacations to ski resorts :) Who's with me?

She Shoots! She Scores!

Saturday's indoor soccer game, Mattie takes a shot at goal, but instead of going in the goal the ball goes to Grace, who takes a shot and makes a goal! I credited Mattie with the assist, but she was pretty adimant that she had NOT passed it to her sister - oh well, it was still exciting!

In other soccer news from Saturday, Haley hammed her way into the official Orange team picture with her cute smile and cheerleading pompoms. I'm glad that Grace and Mattie welcomed the intrusion.

W

No, not that W - the hotel chain. I'm staying at the W in Atlanta and it is definitely not like any other chain. A very San Francisco feel. Techno music greets you in the parking lot. The same music is broadcast throughout - lobby, elevator, halls, etc. There are phrases projected on the walls and floors. The lighting becomes dark in the evening with lit candles everywhere. The halls are illuminated with black lights and red bulbs - very dim. The decor has a scandinavian/japanese feel. I like the concept, but I must say that it disoriented me a bit when I arrived at 1am or so to check. No I wasn't out partying - I've been working crazy hours to get a proposal out.

If I get a break I am going out and buying a small digital camera so that I can take pictures when I travel - I'll take some pictures of the W and post them.

I welcome camera recommendations...

All work and no play...

makes Robert a dull boy! Sorry not much exciting to blog about - working long hours in Atlanta. The folks that I'm working with are finally getting to find out what a smartass I can be (it takes a while for me to get comfortable around new folks, but once I am all bets are off as to what I might say).

I managed to get a 6 mile run in Wednesday night. I would have gone further but the Hotel staff kicked me off because it was 10pm. I could understand this if the exercise room was beside a guest room, as it is in some hotels, but this one is removed from the guest rooms. I guess they don't want some drunk going in the facility late at night and suing them when he/she gets hurt. Couldn't they come up with an alternative like a key given out at the front desk or something? Anyway, at around 3 miles I thought I was going to die, but I kept going and felt better after about the 4 mile point.

Well, back to work - just thought I would post while I had a lull...

On the road again...

The road to fitness that is (though I'm also in Atlanta for work). I took a couple of weeks off from running and lifting over the holidays. I hadn't intended to, it was just the way things worked out. I ran and lifted again last night. The running was harder than I had expected (I managed 3.5 miles at a 8min pace). Looks like the road to the Nashville Country Music Marathon might be a little more challenging than I had hoped. I would really like to improve on last year's time. My work travel schedule might hamper the training required to achieve that goal - we'll see.