March 2006 Archives

Lost in the flurry of house purchasing this weekend was a tremendously good weekend of training.

Friday ended with a sweet swim workout. I finished a 1000 (40 lengths) in 12:30 for a sustained 1:15 / 100y pace for the entire swim.

Saturday's run called for 13 miles. Why not make it an even 13.1 and compare it to last year's half marathon? I ran around Lake Monona in 1:52 and change, about two minutes faster than said half-marathon. The main difference was that this was a training run and last year I "raced" the half-marathon, expending much more energy. What a difference a year makes.

Sunday was a two-hour ride. I didn't quite trust the weather, so I popped X2 into the DVD and pedaled a good pace the entire 120 minutes on the trainer. It was much stronger than any previous ride this spring.

One last breakthrough was on the scale. Flirting with sub-180, I finally cracked the plane and saw 179 for the first time since the Ironman.

Yup, it was a good weekend indeed.

Kris and I are now moving into Phase Two of adulthood. (Phase One was getting married.)

It all started Saturday night when a new e-mail announced a new house within our price and location specs. It announced an open house, too. That night, we were out and about for dinner and drove by the house to scope it out. Hmmm...looks like it could have potential, but we decided that the open house would have to show us more.

And that it did. We were amazed to find a beautifully restored kitchen that opened to an actual dining room which spilled over into a nice living room. Upstairs features three bedrooms, each with large, walk-in closets. The basement holds lots of potential with enough room to stand up straight and then some. (You'd be amazed how tiny and low the ceilings are in basements in older houses.) We were so intrigued, we had to see everything twice.

We continued to two other open houses, but enlisted the services of my parents and sister to view the house and provide their opinion. We were at the grocery store when we got their positive report. We engaged our buying agent from there and got the wheels started. Two hours later, we were back inside the house with our agent, who was equally impressed with the home. We prepared the offer letter on-site and crossed our fingers. We stopped on the way home for a small bottle of Asti, not enough to jynx us, but enough to celebrate.

Three hours later, popping the cork never felt so good. The current owners accepted our offer and we are now potential home owners. Whoa.

But, please, don't take our word for it. Take a look for yourselves. Many thanks to all for your support, advice and well wishes. On to Adulthood. (And please, don't ask what Phase Three is. We're taking this one step at a time.)

I'm not really sure how this works, but I figure there's enough of you out there that actually know me. Help me understand myself by filling out my interactive Johari window (Background on what a Johari window is.)

[And just so you know, "robbyb" was already taken, so I went with "robeb." Say it with me: "Rob E B," my initials as well as "Robby B."]

A quiet, unassuming store on an otherwise busy street, Movin' Shoes is the place to go for your running needs. I've told many people that the place to go. Every employee runs, and their body types show it.

I've bought my last four pairs of shoes from them, and a month ago, went back to get myself ready for a new season. I brought the latest copy of Road Runner Sports catalog, with at least seven different shoes circled, and my existing pair. It was within a half-hour of closing of a long day, and the clerk assisted patiently answering every mundane, newbie question that I could muster. I must've tried on at least six different pairs of shoes, settling on some Brooks Beasts that hoped to provide the support for my flat feet without additional inserts.

I tried them out on two separate occasions, but didn't find the comfort and support needed. Saturday, I went back, again within an hour of closing, following three people to find the store bustling with people. There were many boxes of shoes strewn about with all types of people trying out shoes. There was the high school athlete, struggling to find race shoes in a twelve-and-a-half, the newbie runner learning just how much she overpronates, the New Year's resolution, dealing with blisters as she moves from the treadmill to out doors, and a few more out of earshot.

I hung out behind everything, ready to wait for awhile. Suddenly I was confronted. I explained my situation and asked for a new pair of my old shoes. He disappeared in the back and came back with the new model. Was the old model available? Another few minutes in the back, and no, they weren't. He took a look at the Brooks, said that's OK, they're a bit more, but we'll call it even. Really? Sure.

I promised to come back. I also promise to send everyone that asks about running shoes in Madison to Movin' Shoes.

I missed the latest UDC approvals inlast week's paper. Aside from the proposed development, which sounds cool itself, there was a short paragraph near the end with some big news:

...the UDC approved several projections including the Great Dane Pub and Rstaurant in the Hilldale Shopping Center [and] the Granite City Brewpub and Restaurant in the West Towne Mall parking lot...