Monday, July 7, 2008

Toodler to Racer and back again

I post this on behalf of toodlers everywhere (you know who you are).
I embarked on my short-lived racing career Sunday in a duathalon at Pioneer's Park. My wife is a runner and thought it would be cool to enter as a team.

It was great fun, in a sort of masochistic way. The race was a 2-mile run/12-mile bike/2-mile run. The bike portion was three laps around Pioneer's Park. I've not pushed myself like that on the bike before -- going hard for 30-40 minutes. The best parts were 1) teaming up with my wife and having our 4-year-old son be the "coach" -- hopefully, growing up seeing his parents be physically active will rub off on him. And 2) hanging out with all the friendly and supportive people who were there. There were several teamFIRE people out there -- both racing and just showing support.

It was a great time and I'm glad my wife took the initiative to enter us as a team. I'd like to do it again next year -- if my teammate will pick up the slack for me again, of course.

21 comments:

nicol said...

It was fun, wasn't it? I thought that was cool Kevin M. came out just to cheer.

nicol said...

Oh! And, the Gravy too. I couldn't believe he was there that early.

kevin said...

Yeah, Nicol -- I thought that too. I wanted to tell Kevin M that I heard every cheer of his at the top of that hill. That was great of him.

If you read this Kevin M -- thanks for the support!

And Gravy -- you da man!

I'm just proud of teamFIRE overall. It sounds gushy -- but the people I've met through teamFIRE are wonderful. It's a club/team to be proud of.

LoupGarou said...

You're more than welcome. Everyone did an awesome job. I had a great time.

Welcome to the wonderful world of racing Kevin.

LoupGarou said...

Oh, I almost forgot. I loved the guy who was wearing his aero helmet backwards. Not sure if it was intentional or not.

Adrian Olivera said...

Great job KW. I was cheering for you all the way from KC. Way to GO! Omaha Crits next?

kevin said...

Crits? -- uh, no thanks. That would be way too humiliating.

Weekend in KC? cool. I'm heading there in August for a ballgame. Nice getaway town.

gravy said...

Wonder Pet #2 is pulling your leg Adrian.

I saw him scouting a crit course after riding an epic, after doing the duathalon. The man has the eye of the tiger!

Bob K said...

Nice job - I'm in Chicago this week or I would have come out to watch. Way to go out and crush their souls!

nicol said...

I saw the guy wearing an aero helmet but I think it's pretty funny that I didn't notice it was backwards! So observant, I can be. :D

Eat lots o' pizza in Chicago for me, Bob K!

Gravy, you just took me back to jr. high school with that 'eye of the tiger' comment!

kevin said...

How bout a toodlers crit? -- make a social loop around pioneers park then first one to the ice cream shack wins.

LoupGarou said...

Ooooohhhh....did someone say "ice cream"?

Bob K said...

Goin' to Giordano's for some deep dish tonight. Other meals so far:

Thai Green Curry Chicken at Joy Yee's Noodle Shop in Chinatown.

Guacamole made fresh at the table, followed by grilled pork tenderloin in Oaxacán black mole, with fresh corn tamal and sautéed garlicky spinach at Adobo Grill in Old Town.

Can anybody let my bike clothes out for me before the next group ride?

kevin said...

Fish sticks at my house last night!

nicol said...

Ha! Is that 'toodler food' or 'racer food,' Kevin?

gravy said...

Bobk, my Giordano's Jealousness is going out of control!

You better have tooken pictures and bring back samples of your adventure there!

Adrian Olivera said...

Did someone say MOLE'?

Adrian Olivera said...

Bob - I am impressed with your knowledge of the word "tamal".

nicol said...

He just misspelled it and got it right.

Bob K said...

Nope, learned it here.

Adrian Olivera said...

OH YES! That is a TRUE Mexican menu. I'm so hungry now!