Life after the Arrowhead

The last week and a half has been up and down around our house.

The Bad:

-My uncle died while I was up north.  He was 63 and had Leukemia.  Although we knew he was not doing well, it was still kind of a shock.  RIP Lester.

-My parents had to put their 12 year old Samoyed down.  He had bad hips and could hardly walk.  He also had some sort of autoimmune disease.  My parents had 3 dogs, we have 3 dogs, so we are a canine oriented family.  RIP Aspen

My 10 year old and 5 year old knew what was going on.  My 3 year old twins had no clue.  Lots of tears at our house.

-My 3 year old twins got their tonsils and adenoids out.  They did pretty well, but two at once is much harder than when Andrew had his out.  Still getting up a couple of times a night for pain meds.  Daily trips to McDonalds for ice cream.  Bonus that it is Shamrock Shake season.

The Good:

-My plumbing issues have resolved.  Not sure why it happened, but ibuprofen for several days and no riding cleared it up.  A couple of the Urology MD's are cyclists so I hope to chat with them this week.  I'm still bummed about AH, but it could be worse.  I'm sure I'll be back next year. 

-I have ran twice, lifted weights, and learned to snowboard (took a lesson).

-Home projects are getting done.  I made Andrew this bed out of pallets:

Closet organizer in his room went up today:

Zoei wants a new bed next, I think Lori has some ideas--she is addicted to pinterest

The basement is finished except for the sound system.  We are very happy with it.  (I did not do any of it myself.)  I'll try to get some pics up soon.

Not much on the bike front.  A look around the shop saw several projects to do, my goal this spring is to get everything running and maybe clean house a bit.  I have a couple of old frames (15-20 year old) that I have the parts for.  Andrew will probably fit into them.  I'd like a new snow bike, but I'll have to put the pug on the auction block (although Josh makes multiple fatbikes look pretty nice).

Next event will be the Almanzo on a tandem with the eldest offspring.

J-No

AH recap

This year up north things did not go as planned, here is the story...

Tri and I arrived without fanfare as we had in previous years.  Check in went smoothly and we were soon squared away.  Race morning soon came and all cylinders seemed to be firing.  I ignored the fast fellas up front and rode my own pace.  I felt better about my training this year compared to last, but not as good as my first year.  Gateway came and I was within 15 minutes of my previous times.  I decided to top off on fluids and shed my jacket as the temps had warmed up.  Chatted with Criego and Zylstra while I was there.

I made a point to stay on top of hydration during the second leg.  I soon met up with Eric Peterson and we rode together for a while.  Eric is a super nice guy and was way stronger than I was.  I started to get pretty tired, but I remember feeling this way last year at this point and knew I could recharge at Melgeorge's.  I never remember the hills before the lake crossing, and they were bigger than I remember.  At some point we were passed by a skiier!?!  Eric and I walked the big ones and I told him to go ahead.  I ended up several minutes behind him at Melgeorges.  I had to turn on my lights just before crossing the lake, missing my goal of a daylight crossing.  About the same times as the last couple of years.  The last hour before Melgeorge's I was having some trouble peeing.  I assumed I was behind of fluids and drank more.  No relief, and I began to dread stopping due to the pain from attempting to relieve myself.

Once at Melgeorge's I grabbed a grilled cheese and started to refill my bags.  I was mentally preparing for a night on the trail. The temps were going to be mild and I had a solid plan to staying awake.  My male plumbing issues were continuing to get worse (I'll spare the details, but Farrow's man diaper started to sound like a good idea).  I took some Tyelenol and drank some water.  I had a quick talk with Kershaw, RN, and asked his advice.  We developed a plan to drink water, maybe a little caffeine to get things working, and wait for an hour. 

I settled in and chatted with Eric (who looked really fresh). Criego and Zylstra were there, Maxwell and Wethington, and also met Tsai and Bekke.  I also met Dr Mark Seaburg, who was conquering his demons from last year.  He was kind enough to do a "curbside consult" with me and let me know that my problems were not likely to get better through the night.  I waited for a while and as things got worse instead of better, decided to pull the plug.  The possibility of being stuck out there and needing some medical attention was not something I wanted to deal with.  I hitched a ride with Rob Treuer back to IF and we had a nice talk.  Turns out we had crossed paths at Tuscobia and his wife did a residency at the same place I work at.  Small world.

Congrats to all the racers.  Strong finishes by Eric Peterson (keep an eye of this guy), Seaburg, Tsai, Bekke, Zylstra, Creigo and all the others I saw at Melgeorge's.

I followed up the next day (no change in symptoms) with my Dr here at home.  After a THROUGH exam, I was diagnosed with prostitis, (inflammation of my prostate).  I was able to avoid a catheter, and things slowly cleared up with Motrin over the next few days.  A couple of weeks off the bike and no long rides for a month.  The default reson would be from riding, but I have not changed anything on the bike in a couple of years.  There are a few urology guys here that are also cyclists, so I will follow up with them.

Things have been busy since.  I'll write more later, but for now my 3 year old twins are getting their tonsils out today.

J-No