Bear Photos

Morning weigh-in: 172.5#, 11.5% BF

I put my bear photos here, for now.

Yahoo has a pretty crappy interface, lotta bullshit to get what I wanted done, and there was no "do such-and-such to all thse files and I'll be back later," it was all very labor intensive but they're in. Not really happy with the quality of the photos I took though, kind of blurry. I still have to learn how to use that camera.

Riding tonight on the towpath, then going to Which Brew with Theresa and her son for a toga party (Greek theme actually, Margarita is guest chef w/ traditional family recipes).

I think that the race is acting like a big rock in the river: lots of turbulence and other effects downstream. Ive been very tired lately, and the weight's dropping. Shouldn't complain, eh? I want to be below 170# for Allamuchy.

Bear With Me

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 175#, 12.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 173.5#, 14.5% BF

My friend/trainer Dawn, whose sister works for the NJ Dept of Fish & Wildlife as a bear control officer, got me an invitation to help out with their annual bear trapping & tagging program. That's what I did yesterday, and it was way, way cool. I'll post more about this (including pictures) later or tonight, but I will say that: we caught two bears (both female yearlings) and saw several others; I handled, carried, measured, and helped take blood and DNA samples as the drugged bears snored away; and I have pictures to proove it. More after the jump...

By the way: it seems that I'm not allergic to the "black-faced yellow cur" dog breed (basically, a bear hound; it's the same breed as "Old Yeller"), but bears, which smell like dirty wet dog, make me itch.

More Post-Mortem

Morning weigh-in: 175.5%, 12% BF

Just a thought: with a little better time management, a few more pounds shed and some interval/hill training under the belt, I bet I could shave off another hour from my W101 time, maybe even more. Wait till next year...

Went and saw Brian last night, recovering from angiogram/catheterization or whatever it's called: he had an exploratory procedure yesterday, in-through-the-groin-and-up-the-arteries to look for heart blockages, w/ optional angioplasty if they found anything. Luckily, there was nothing to find, and he recovered enought to be sent home. Still no idea what's up with his chest pains and irregular heartbeat, but as he said, at least he doesn't have couch potato disease -- very embarrassing for a cyclist!!

I may got to the gym tonight. Tomorrow I'm taking a vacation day, and volunteering to help track/catch bears. Maybe photos?

post-race high

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 9.5% BF

Well, it's done, and it's well done too! The Wilderness 101 is over and I think I vindicated myself... results here.

My goal was to have an 8 mph average, which translates into a twelve-and-a-half-hour race. My actual time was 12:28:11, so I just made it. I also beat the two friends that I went with: I was one place ahead of Greg, beating him by less than two minutes (after more than 100 miles of racing), and unfortunately Bob had to drop out after about 60 miles.

The race was great, the course well-designed (the same course as 2002 in fact) and it was in great shape, the weather was ideal, and the rest stop volunteers were literally angels of mercy -- and the post race party was excellent, with beans burgers & beer, prizes etc. Gary's girlfriend Gina took fifth in the women's division, got up on the poduim with the pros & actually won money. Others who were there: Gerry M (Gary's friend) -- who was in the bathroom for the prerace meeting, missed the special instructions re: vandals messing with course markings, and got lost for part of the race -- and also Rob L, who finished in 8:37 and then drove down to Michaux for Sunday's race (yowza).

Speaking of beer: there was some kind of brewfest in State College the same day, and some of the participants (vendors? contestants?) were staying at our motel. When we got back from the race, one group invited us to help them finish their beer, but we were too tired.  Dang! Timing is everything.

Tip of the Day: Hammer Gel is amazingly effective, if you can stomach it.

And in other news: I came home and found T at least as sore as I was -- she was going down the stairs, tripped over her new kitten and tumbled the rest of the way. Yeeeowch!! Bumps, bruises, scrapes on elbows & knees, and a nice shiner. I stopped by her place yesterday (after a good long nap) , caught the end of the Tour.