This morning I am sitting in a meeting with my job. The kind where I have to wear dress up clothes. But later on this afternoon I will be out training and really looking forward to it because I will be on my mtb then later still on my ski paddling. What makes this a best case scenario is that today is REALLY windy here in the ATL and that means paddling will be crazy fun as I basically try to stay upright in what can be best described as tricky conditions. But it’s the kind of practice I need for my race back in nz next month. Normally I wouldn’t be as nervous but because it’s winter if I flip and fall in its BLOODY COLD!!!

Have spent the past 3 days in eastern PA/western new jersey. Decidedly colder than the dirty south and might even snow tonight. Looking forward to going home tomorrow and being home for at least a few weeks before we travel home (yea-haw) for close to 3 weeks

Have spent the past few days at camp brainard and then this afternoon and this evening at camp johnsonburg. The photo is late afternoon at j-burg

The last few days have been a little less than normal. In fact since Tuesday this past week past pretty much blown!!!

Start rough with us having to cancel a retreat at Calvin Center b/c of low registration. It wasnt super low but it was the kind of retreat that needs a good critical mass to fly. Then on wednesday a good friend and colleague passed away in his sleep Tuesday night. He was recently hired in the past year as a the program director at Ghost Ranch Retreat Center in NM. this was his dream job. And now he is no long with us. Ed de Lair… you will be missed.

Then & not to forget… i wont bore you with all those. However essentially it was a rough week. Happy to have Robin home friday afternoon. Only to have me leave to go where she was this past week. PA, but the other side of the state.

Spent a good chunk of the day training. my running and paddling are coming along nicely but i need to spend more time on the mountain bike, and with me leaving tomorrow thats not going to happen too much until at least wednesdsay night.

I plan to ride early in the am then get my flight to PA.

Away until wednesday and then may leave again saturday to go to a memorial service for Ed on Saturday… guess where??? PA!!!!

With all the travel i have done in the past month i find myself being on the receiving end of leaving with Robin going to PA for 4 days to have her annual visit with several close friends she gradutated from seminary with.

So bottom line is… i will be (cue music) “all by myself”. however i think Cora and i will be fine. in fact i will be able to get a lot of work done. Part of the reason for that is that 48hrs after Robin get back from PA i get to go to PA, different part of the state though. I have a board meeting to attend and need to put in some time planning for it.

I am also looking forward to racing again this weekend as i complete in a 3? mile mountain bike race. not even sure how many mile it is. but when its thirty something its going to hurt. its in the mountains in North Ga. So its going to be hilly… ouch!!!!

Training for the NZ champs that i will do in March is going well. its a shorter race (@ around 3-4hrs) but will be a lot faster and and intense. Run, paddle, mtb & another run. Therefore my training has been adapted to accomodate the speed. And while training sessions are shorter. i havent run more than 2hrs in about a month. that is complimented with more intense workouts though. Lots of sprinting and high intensity burts of speed. However difficult it is. It is certainly a plesant change and makes me feel young and fast again. if that is possible at almost 38yrs old

One of the events i had to say no to in 2011 was racing at Adventure Racing World Champs. These were in November in Tasmania. I was invited to race with a team and as much as i tired i couldnt make it work.

As we entered 2012 i made it no secret that i wanted race in the 2012 edition in France. Well save the date, becuase i am going to Adventure Racing World Champs!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!.

I have been invited to race with a team that will include 1 of my male team mates Peter and a another guy called Pete who i havent raced with before but know well.

World Champs is a hard race to qualify for and so that fact that i am going has me really excited. For more details as the date gets closer check out

http://www.arwc2011.com/

This means that in 2012 i will also race Florida Ironman. Not because i want to become an triathlete geek or something, but want to do ONE ironman to say that i have done one. In terms of time length an ironman is shorter than most of my races but i’m not thinking it will be any easier.

I am home safely in Georgia now after being away for a total of 8 days…. too long!!!! Good to be back home where it is warmer. Well certainly warmer than Minnesota.

The rest of the week was fun. The weather really did cooperate for this time of the year and that part of the country. I remember running Tuesday afternoon in shorts and t-shirt. then playing the local fav game broom-ball for a while in the same attire.

Besides the actual educational and connectional value of the gathering at Clearwater Forrest Presbyterian Camp the other highlight was the Polar Plunge we took on Sunday afternoon.

Pictures are worth a 1000 words so here are a several 1000 for you to look over.

Here is the local Fire Dept making the hole for us. Complete with post hole digger and chainsaw. And of course before we jumped we had to sign a waiver.

Then the actual jumping and exiting out of the water, back onto the 14inch thick ice

And then finally 2 very different shots of the contrasting weather. When we left thursday morning the wind chill was -10F or -24C. YIKES!!!!

Made it to Clearwater Forrest yesterday afternoon, to even colder temps. But warm by their standards. Finished of final pieces of planning for everyone to arrive this afternoon.

Was going to run this morning but it is darker longer. But managed to get my run in before lunch. But here is the cool thing. I ran on the lake that this camp sits beside. its huge and totally frozen over. People ice fishing on it, they even have those little houses they hang out in to fish and stay warm.

Below are some pics from my run today. It was about 28F while running but colder with the wind chill. nonetheless a beautful day.

Currently in COLD Minnesota, well really its not, by their standards its really warm. Hmmm. Flew in yesterday to hang out with some friends from adventure racing. Team WEDALI  are good friends of ours, and most of them live in Minnesota. As I wait at the airport I think about the last 24hrs. We have spent many hours with WEDALI in various races over the years. Humor has us balancing between friends & rivals, but generally more as friends. We have eaten each other’s food, pushed bikes for one another; help each other over rocks, up cliffs etc. while still maintaining a good rivalry.

Was greeted by Justin at airport to quickly go eat lunch and then hit the trail and rides bikes for 2hrs. Again this wouldn’t be normal behavior for this time of year as the original plan was to go cross country skiing but obviously that didn’t work. We rode urban bike trails in & around Minneapolis which was very different for me and my usual appetite of trails and country roads. It was fun to bike downtown, along the frozen Mississippi River, and lots of frozen lakes. Did you know ‘Minne’ in Native American means lake?

From there we retuned back to their condo to get ready to go run & wait for Molly(Justin’s wife and trusty team mate) to return from work & others who would be joining us. Including Erl who is another WEDALI team mate. We ran for about an hour then came home to clean up for dinner.

It was a great day, good to be outside in some colder weather and with some good friends.

I started my crazy month of travel yesterday driving to Black Mtn, NC and i’m already bac home. it was a quick trip with my job. But is some ways happy for it to be that way because it was soooo cold!!!! this morning when i woke up it was -3F with the wind chill. thankfully it had stopped snowing, which it was doing like crazy last night. I wasnt sure i would make it off the mountain as i drove off to where i was staying last night.

Good to be back home, not that its much warmer here. its 9pm and already the temp is well below freezing. i guess our dog (cora) will get lucky and get to sleep inside the house again tonight instead of in her crate on the porch.

On another note… today as i drove 4hrs back home i was thinking about the expression that people use to say “…. gorilla in the room” OR “… elephant in the room” its a funny expression and find myself using it at times. My observation is this. Who decided it will be a gorilla or an elephant. why not a humpback whale or longhorn cow. I know what the gorilla and elephant mean metaphorically, but surely whales and bulls can do some damage too.  Then why do some people say gorilla and others elephant. Personally i use the gorilla in the room expression. What do others use? does it matter, what does it say about that person.

Also… what is the difference between the gorilla and the elephant. Not a how lot in some ways.

Either way i prefer to name them when it comes to acknowledging what issues or challenges a person, group or team etc is facing. What might happen if ones doesnt. i know i dont want to encounter a made elephant or gorilla.

Yes its true. i know its been a really long time since i posted. months in fact. and dont want to call this a new years resolution but plan on blogging more this year. Starting now i guess. No point lamenting the past so lets look to the future.

I have a busy few weeks, make that months ahead. starting tomorrow…

North Carolina (Black Mountain)

Northern Minnesota (by thursday for a week)

North Georgia later this month

Eastern Pennsylvania in early Feb

HOME… Yes for almost 3 weeks in feb/march

So hold on for a wild ride… should be fun.