Sad day...

Helaman, my parents 9 1/2 year old St. Bernard, died today. The dog that had become a friend to literally thousands of people over the years will be sorely missed, but infinitely more so by mom and dad.

"We will miss our loyal friend. He has been so much fun here at the Dell. He will be missed by a lot of people. He became over the years the center of attraction here at the Dell. We even had people who were just driving by stop in to say hello to Helaman. He is such a great dog." -Mom

Nearly burned the house down tonight...

My Hay came over to look up some stuff on the internet tonight for her Senior Project. I figured it was a great opportunity for me to fix her dinner. I made chili. Addi ended up tagging along but she doesn't like chili. I heated up some chicken noodle soup for her. Anyways, long story short, I was re-warming up the last of the chicken noodle soup (cause I hate to throw stuff out) when I got sidetracked and left the soup warming up on the burner. 20 minutes later I walked into a kitchen filled with smoke and black scorched to the bottom of my small pot. Tonight, and quite possibly for some time to come, I'll be smelling that burnt smell.

I'm off to bed now though. I'm going to try to get up fairly early in the morning (6:30) and into work before 8:00. Somebody hold me to that, will ya?

Gonna do it myself

I've ordered the tools ($46 worth) and am actually looking forward to replacing the crank. The only hesitation I felt throughout the decision making process and the purchase was whether the tools would end up being one-use-only tools. I don't think they will be though. In fact, I think I'm going to go out of my way to make sure they're not.

It snowed this morning. A good 3 to 4 inches. Lovely!

And I filled out and mailed the application to the Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run. So far, I'm 0 for 2 on this brutal 50 mile course, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I don't go down 0 for 3!

Replacing the Bottom Bracket and Crankset

Attempts at sleep after the evening I've had would most likely be futile, so I've spent much of the past couple of hours scouring the internet is search of information that might help me do the work on my 2001 GT Aggressor 1.0 myself.


I'm going to need the tools--they're fairly specialized--but I've got the time--it's winter and I don't anticipate doing much if any winter biking, especially with damaged ribs.

From what I've been able to see, taking the old crank off shouldn't be too difficult. Putting the new one on might be. I can pay the local bike shop $15 to $20 to do it for me, but am I learning or growing as an aspiring do-it-yourself-bike-fixer by having someone else do it? I think not.

But if I can get it done rather quickly by someone with the know-how and the tools, I could consider some early winter mountain biking (seeing as how there's no snow up in them there mountains).

Maybe Jerry's buddy from the bike shop will give me a tutorial and allow me to do all the hands-on stuff! That'd be way cool!

Gears are a-turnin'

I have this new crankset for my mountain bike sitting here on the floor next to my desk. Brand spanking new, in the box, eagerly awaiting it's installation on my bike. I'm eagerly awaiting it too! Too bad winter weather is nearly here.

The reason I bring it up is this: the trail I rode my bike on last--the one in which I took the rib cracking spill--would make an awesome 15 mile trail run. And as long as there isn't snow on the ground, it's doable. Right NOW! Well, except for the ribs of course. I think I'm going to try and do it as soon as I can though. This winter or early next fall. It'd be an easy 15-16 mile run, and if I just reverse path at the one end, it becomes 30+ mile run--a 50k easily, I would think!

The mind is now moving... considering... contemplating.

Timpanogos needs to have a trail run associated with it. There used to be (still is?) the Timpanogos Challenge 50K, but I've neither seen or heard a thing about it in years.

SGM Pics

Which to you prefer?



The first one is somewhere in the vicinity of mile 15. The second at mile 18-19 (roughly).

Mary J. Blige does U2

I know, this is old news, but Mary J. Blige covered U2's One a few years back. I REALLY dig it!

Christmas Present to myself...

I've already ordered one of these:


But I've realized I need one of these:

The batteries to my old drill are all but dead. And a man without a drill is like... Is like... Something bad.

Am I OK, or am I a wuss?

Two weeks ago, I took a spill while mountain biking and landed hard on my ribs. Fractured or badly bruised, I don't know. I'm hesitant to go to the doctor due to the high deductible health plan I'm a part of; and the fact that unless there's something else wrong, I'll probably get sent home with nothing more than pain killers--there's not a lot that can be done for rib injuries.

Do I go to the doctor? Do I do nothing but wince and whimper for the next month? Or do I suck it up and tough out some runs?

What do I do?

Yikes!

I was scanning marathon photos last night. While scanning my very first ever marathon pic, I was shocked at the difference I see in myself between then and now.

1997. Scary.

And then there's Park City this year.

I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that it's been 11 years, but still. What was I thinking when I chose what I'd run in that day in October way back in '97? Holy Crap!