It all started Monday when we woke up to a snow covered Munich! Barbie awoke me by saying it is beautiful outside, so I figured it was nice and clear and sunny…but what she meant was that everything was white. This is the first time that I have ever lived where it snows…kinda strange, but it just doesn’t snow in Miami. Anyways, that afternoon the snow continued to pour down. Barbie and I both said it was the most snow we had ever seen fall, but I wasn’t about to tell my co-workers that…knowing I would just get ridiculed. Anyways, the night was pretty uneventful…except for more snow.
Tuesday we woke up to completely iced over streets again and snow everywhere. By mid-morning I took Kymba to the English Garten for some fun in the snow. She absolutely loved just playing around in it and chasing her ball. Lucky for me it wasn’t that cold…so I was able to enjoy it also. Anyways, the fun really began that night. To start off, I watched the Dolphins game that evening (it’s delayed over here) while riding my bike for an hour on the rollers. Needless to say I was pretty upset about the outcome, especially since they probably won’t make the playoffs now! Afterwards, I decided to take Kymba for a walk back to the english garten b/c I couldn’t find her leash, and figured I may have dropped it somewhere the last time. It was actually pretty cool being able to follow my own footsteps in the snow and track where I had been earlier. Unfortunately…no leash. To give you a little background, normally Kymba is only off the leash when she is at the park b/c she chases bikes, but it was around 8:30pm, dark and snow everywhere…so there weren’t a lot of people out…much less bikers. So, we are about 200 meters from our house and are still right next to the Isar (not a street, but a path), and jogger comes by that Kymba decides she wants to run with. She goes, but then comes back when I call her. When she gets to me (jogger now 200 meters away), she decides I am boring and takes off after the jogger again. So I start walking towards them calling Kymba to come back, but to no avail. (jogger now 500 meters away). I start jogging after the Kymba and the non-stopping jogger thinking the jogger will eventually realize he has someone elses dog and either stop or run back towards me. Well, eventually they get to the point where the path splits in like 4 different directions, but since it is dark and they are still a good ways off I can’t determine which way they went. Now becomes the worst part…I HAD LOST KYMBA! I end up asking people where they went, but they weren’t sure except that one person saw them go across the bridge/dam to the English Garten, so I am jogging looking for them. Eventually, I have jogged about 2+ miles looking for her, but nothing. So, I get to the house, get on my bike and start looking again…but nothing and no one has seen them. Around 9:15pm I call Barbie, and she comes home and starts helping. Long story short, I was out til 2am riding around in the snow looking for Kymba and posting flyers. All in all I would say I got about 4 hours worth of biking…plus my original hour workout, plus the 2+ miles of jogging when I first lost her. Amazingly enough, Barbie handled everything really well (didn’t divorce me). I was expecting to beaten over the head with everything in the house, but she was calm and just worried since it was snowing! Anyways, the next morning we found out the dog pound had gotten her and checked her in around 9:30pm. So I spent the better part of 4+ hours looking for a dog that wasn’t there and was nice in cozy in some kennel somewhere. What we figured happened is that the jogger ran all the way home, realized that Kymba’s owner wasn’t there, and immediately called someone to come get the dog…but why didn’t he stop or run back in the first place. I know beating your personal times while jogging is important, but come on…you’ve got someones dog!
So, on to Wednesday…other than getting Kymba back it was pretty uneventful other than I went for a 45 minute run that absolutely exhausting. Unfortunately it was not b/c I was running hard, but b/c of my workout the night before. I guess 2+ miles of jogging and 5+ hours of biking will do that to you.

Saturday I went and had a fitness test done which helps to determine what kind of shape you are in, what your potential is, and some other cool stuff. The test starts off with you standing (barefoot) on this scale that has two metal spots for your feet, and you hold these handles in your hand. The machine then sends electricity through your body or something and it is able to determine you fat and muscle percentage…along with determining your weight, but somehow I don’t think it needed the electricity to determine my weight. You don’t feel anything and it takes all of like 20 seconds for this to happen…giving you specific details on each arm and leg as well as your “trunk” (chest area). Well, I don’t remember what my muscle % was, but my fat % was around 15% and weight was 79.6kg (175 lbs.).
After this, you put your running shoes on and step on the treadmill and begin with a 10 minute warmup at 6km/hr (16 minutes/mile pace)…which means you are basically walking. After the 10 minutes you go up to 8km/hr (12min/mile) for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes you stop and the guy pricks your ear lobe and takes a small sample of blood…this takes all of about 30 seconds to a minute. Then you move up to 10km/hr(9:36 min/mile) for 5 minutes, then 12km/hr (8 min/mile) for 5 minutes, then 14km (6:51 min/mile) for minutes, then 16km/hr (6 min/mile)…etc. etc. with the guy taking a small blood sample after every 5 minutes. You basically go until you can’t go anymore b/c of pure exhaustion. Looking at these times before hand I figured I could get through the 16km/hr….WRONG!! I ended up finishing the 14km/hr but didn’t attempt the 16km/hr b/c I was dead of exhaustion. I probably should have tried to truly suck it up and go for it for a little bit, but I may have passed out and injured myself.
Anyways, the guy will now look at my results and create a full training plan for me for the Ironman in July. I tell him what days are good for the long workouts (weekends) and what days are bad, then I can call him and adjust anything during the training if I notice some things work and others don’t. Basically I get a coach for a pretty cheap price…but he won’t be with me during the workouts.
I told him I would like to do a marathon sometime in early February but couldn’t find one, and he immediately suggested one on Feb. 1st. in a town called Bad Fussing named Thermen Marathon. Apparantely the temperature is usually b/t -10 to 0 degrees Celsius (14 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit), and it is mainly trail running. This is going to be extremely tough if I end up doing this one. Anyways, besides saying that, he also said I need to lose around 5 kg (11 lbs) in weight…which I don’t think will be too much of a problem considering all the training I will be doing. Well, that is all for now regarding my triathlon stuff…I will let you know more soon.

As some of you know who have read this site in the past, I have had a very hard time getting a halfway decent haircut (see Bad Haircut). To give a little history on my haircut experiences, here is how it first started. A girl from the Berlitz school told me to try this one place, but when I got there they were about 35 or 40 euro…which is way too much for me. So I headed to the local Macy’s type place which had a salon also. Luckily they were only about 20 euro and gave a halfway decent haircut, but it wasn’t close enough for me. So then for my next time I saw that there was a haircut place by our grocery store. the first time there wasn’t that bad…the the 2nd time was an absolute nightmare. This girl must have been in her first week or something. Of course me being the loyalist, I gave that place another shot and got absolutely butchered for a second time. Needless to say Barbie laughed and told me I was an idiot…and I must say I agreed with her after looking in the mirror. The next time I found a place that was also close and they gave the best head massage in the world. For someone that is used to just a cut, and not the wash and cut…I was in awe. However, the lady who cut my hair wasn’t great…but she wasn’t a butcher either. So I decided last night to try them again but they were booked for the night. I then remembered seeing a haircut place on the street that I run on…but I knew it couldn’t have been there for long. So, with no other option I gave it a shot. The lady was great and the haircut was awesome! I know it weird to talk about your hair looking good, but if I can say it then you know she had to be good. Afterwards I realized why Barbie is always wanting to go out and party after her haircuts…somehow when you get a good one you want to go party. Luckily for me the place is less than a mile away, and there is only one person that works there…so more having to hope I get someone good…it’ll always be the same person. Geez…that was a long post about my haircuts.

Growing up in the sunshine state and spending the last few years in Northern California I have never been subjected to a cold winter where everything freezes and you can actually get your tongue stuck on a pole. Sure Tallahassee had it moments of temperatures in the teens…but nothing that lasted for too long. Anyways, this has been a pretty chilly week here in Munich, and today is actually considered quite warm…temp is about 35 degrees. Well, last week I watered down the yard with our hose, and at the end turned the water off and headed inside. Most of you think this is normal, but apparantely it is not a good idea when it is winter time. For example, this week (specifically two days ago) I needed to water something down again, but when I went to turn on the water it took all my strength just to turn the knob. Not thinking too much of it other than it was a little cold so things had shrunk, I went to the spray handle and couldn’t even squeeze it. Sure enough, the water that was left over in the hose from the previous week was completely solid now! Basically I had an entire hose that was filled to the rim with ice, and no water was getting through even if I could squeeze the spray handle. Luckily it warmed up yesterday and today so nothing is frozen anymore, and I can drain the hose after I shut off the water valve. As they say…You live, you learn!

As of two days ago I am now officially signed up for Ironman Germany in Frankfurt on July 11, 2004. I know I have talked about it, but the money has been paid and my entry slot is secure. If you don’t believe me, you can see the Competitors List for yourself (I am in the 25-29) bracket.

I have been doing a lot of running lately to get prepared, and some biking, but zero swimming. My plan is to be ready to run a marathon in early February, then increase the Biking and swimming, and just maintain the running aspect of things. Basically…high volume (lots of miles) workouts now, and then decrease the mileage later on while increasing the intensity. In case you are wondering what I am running now…I am up to a 1/2 marathon every weekend, and usually a 6 or 10 mile runs during the week. Biking is done on off running days. I actually just bought a new used mountain bike b/c I am going to start biking into work a few days a week…which is around 16 miles each way…not to mention it will be below freezing and pitch black outside when I do it.

Well, I will try to give a more detailed list of my workouts as I do them…not only for you but for myself so I can keep a training log. I am going to get my Lactate Threshold tested this weekend…along with obtaining a full training plan. The test consists of me running on a treadmill with the following increments: 10 minute warmup at 8Km per hour, followed by 5 minutes at 10km/hr, then 12Km/hr, 14km/hr….until you basically pass out and can’t go anymore. After each 5 minutes you actually stop while they take a blood sample from your ear to test later. They are trying to determine at what point your body can no longer process the same amout of lactic acid that is being built up while working out…this is called your Lactate Threshold (LT), and is where you want to be when racing. Basically, if you are at or right below the LT you are maximizing your performance without building up to much lactic acid. I know, it sounds all scientific and crazy…let’s just hope it works. I’ll post pictures when I am done!

Well, I have definitely been M.I.A. from my website lately, but I promise this week I am going to get things going again. First of all, I need to update the site with a new Christmas look, then I have some cool optical illusions that I will post in our gallery (don’t worry, I will provide the link).

So, to get you caught up as to what has been going on here…Lisa left last Sunday to head back to Cali. She stayed for about a week and got to do all the tourist stuff with Barbie this time instead of me. When she came to London I wasn’t working yet, so I was the tour guide. Needless to say Barbie was quite happy to have her out here and be able to show her around.
This past week I have been doing a good amount of Triathlon training with a guy from work…more details in a future post. On Friday Barbie got to head back to Cali for work, so she has been the spending the weekend with her family in Motown (a.k.a. Modesto). She is going to be doing a ton of travelling this month, so I expect her to be a little grumpy at times. She is in Cali for this whole week, has to fly to London for a day or two next week, then we both head to Miami at the end of next week for the Christmas holidays. Talk about Jetlag!! She’s a trooper, so I am sure we will be fine. So, you may be wondering what I am going to do with all this alone time with Kymba…well, let’s just say I’ll be in pretty good shape since I will be doing a ton of triathlon training. OK…enough for now…more to come later.