Back In Cincy, State of Planet Address

NYC and Miami, FL are but happy memories. Now...back to realty, back in Cincy, back to training and back to work, with nearly every project's construction calendar synchronizing like a menstruating convent. AGGHH!!!!

What did we learn from all these world travels?

*NYC will chew you up and spit you out hourly. If you stop walking, the pedestrians will run you over. Goldang, it's a tough city to relax in. Luckily, Sis-in-law Molly branded her urban machete and was an ever-gracious host. We even found a raw restaurant where we ordered a raw cake for my birthday-- only $55!

My family OWNS the subway once we board. But the noise at terminals fries our brains.  We ain't really city folk.

 

Watch out, here we come.

*Miami is an inappropriately sexy city.

The women are sexy. The beach is sexy. Even the buildings are sexy. 

 

Manatee expert/adventurer and future free range vodka farmer?

Manatee in the harbor drinking fresh water from the hose

*The second green LEED building you build may be the worst building ever built.

Crappy technique. C'mon guys, do it like you did the first time. 

On your first building, you have the fear of God in you because you don't understand the LEED rating system and the owner is breathing down your neck so they can claim government incentives. But then, on your second building, you consider yourself a green expert and you come up with cute ways to cut costs, i.e. don't put insulation in wall cavities.

*Shaving your legs brings ZERO improvment to your triahtlon's aerodynamics, but does NOT hurt your marriage, and CAN lead to easier road rash cleaning. 

I took a turn too fast on a the greasy wet pavement and slid across the entire intersection in front of about a billion on-lookers. "I meant to do that."

It takes too much time that could be spent training or resting. It wastes fresh water and energy. It requires costly shaving lubricants. It demands dangerous bodily contortions in the shower. It burns too many calories. It is never 100% finished. Despite all these wonderful benefits, it will NOT make you any faster in wetsuit, on a bike, or running. Nevertheless, the wifey likes it and it makes your legs look fast which are both just the kind of ego-stroking perks that every triathlete needs.

*The worms are getting busier (hubba hubba, bow chicka waow waow)

The worm bin was full of lettuce heads and brown bananas and peels before we left. Now all that's left is the most amazing soil on the planet. I frapped a bunch of spoiling iceberg lettuce for them when we got home since they sounded hungry as they slithered across each other.

*$180 sunglasses are worth their weight in litter but not their weight in urushiol oil (aka poison ivy)

My training partner D-Bo tromping around for his broken sunglasses today that he wishes he didn't throw away in the poison ivy. His last words before tossing his glasses: "I feel bad about littering but F*$% this hill, man. [Toss] Yunno, for $180, I bet there's a warranty. I'm gonna get 'em. Shit! Is this poison ivy?"

*Coffee's a hell of a drug.

Today's training experiment-- what does a single shot of espresso do for a former addict on a 90 mile brick workout?

Since I went off coffee 11 months ago, I've developed better habits of eating, sleeping, working, relaxing, and playing. Best of all, my depression is gone.

I've decided coffee drinkers have implicitly declared dietary bankruptcy. I've come to see coffee as a great confuser-- an addictive drug that enables exactly the kinds of behaviors that we know are destructive-- overworking, undersleeping, eating foods that bog us down. Nevertheless, I wanted to see how my body responded to a shot of espresso today. After I lost D-Bo to the poison ivy fiasco, I still had about 30 mi to ride and 6 mi to run. I knew it could be dangerous flirting with my former addiction, but I decided, what the hell.

It actually felt pretty good. Not like anxious energy. However, when I tried to take a nap after my ride and run...which is normally pretty easy, I couldn't un-tense. I didn't sleep at all...which means I lost out on some dosage of critical recovery.

*A man who "cooks" is as cherished in our house as a woman who "cleans".

I "cooked" and Susie cleaned today for the first time in months! A delicious raw pizza sits in front of our new banana-ripening shelf. I love playing house with my womyn.

Summer is here. Life is good.