wrecked

Just got back from ski camp with Orono. My whole body is feeling all the skiing that occurred. I am not sure how much I skied, but some of the kids went 100k or more throughout the time up in Ironwood, MI.

I will post longer about it tomorrow or Tuesday. 

I want to give a shout out to Mr. Ben Doom! He crushed the Tuscobia 150 mile race. He took home a 2nd place behind a man (Jason Buffington) who, as Mr. Doom describes, is perhaps the master of the winter endurance races. Not too shabby if you ask me.
So way to go Mr. Doom! Arrowhead is where you can get your redemption. I am sure it will also feel like a cakewalk being it "only" 135 miles.

Bow tie

I got a bow tie from Santa today. My frustration level is rising as I do not know how to tie it. Good thing I have friends like Brennan Jones who will show me how to tie it!
Oh, it is also Christmas Day today if you didn't know.
Here is a song from one of my favorite artists Mr. Michael Buble (click his name!)

Not much new to report. I haven't gone skiing yet this week. I am being a slouch. I have been running, but that won't help me a great deal for the loppet.

I have been doing some car shopping this week. I am looking for a car of my own. Nothing fancy. Just one that will get me around town, runs well, and gets good gas mileage. I will do some visits next week and maybe test drive.

Thursday I leave for Ironwood, MI for ski camp with the Orono ski team. I am pretty excited about going there. They have great trails at ABR and Wolverine. Last year I worked with a bunch of new skiers and it was a blast. I plan on working with them again this year. I will let Oumar take care of the fast kids!

I also procured a fatbike drive train kit (sans brakes). So I just have to get a frame and wheels and them I am set to roll a Pugsley!

Until next time... Let it Snow!!! (another song!)

Not the end of the world?

I really thought it was going to end. I was so confident that I bet my friend Aaron $5 that it would end. Looks like I owe him some cash money.
I now have some free time on my hands now. When students get days off so do I! Subbing does have a few positives with it. I shall spend my time running, skiing, and winter biking.
I picked up a pair of bar mitts. So far they are pretty great. I want to test them on a longer ride. I would enjoy potentially doing a 100 miler in the coming days. Depends on the weather though. The roads do seem pretty clear so that is good.
Tonight is an xmas party at my cousin's house. Should be a good time!

I will make sure to get a run in this evening in an attempt to become faster (or lose the weight I will gain this evening).

Chugged a rockstar and blogged

Yup. The punched flavor. I enjoyed it as it gives me a nice kick of energy that will last until late this evening. Today was a non-subbing day for me. Meh, it allows me to get other stuff accomplished. Such as blog posting!
Yesterday I met Sven up at Elm Creek to do some skiing. We went round and round the man-made loop. We went onto the norther lights loop only once. It was rutted, dirty, and icy. Took all of my skiing skills I had to not fall down. All total we got in 2hrs of skiing. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow so let us hope it is more than a dusting!
I have a pair of classic skis now. They are sitting at Gear West because I need to do a  base prep on them and also pick up my classic boots. This shall be exciting. I cannot wait for my legs and arms to get torn apart by my coaches. Yeah I have multiple coaches: Jennie Bender is the special guest coach, Mason is the: I am going to tell you the hard truth to make you better coach, and...well I am open to having more coaches! haha

I started reading a new book too. It is Under the Dome by Stephen King. So far it is alright. I am only 6 pages into it though!

Now I am off to work. After I shall do a night run with Journey.

Perhaps I shall enjoy one of these as well!

Rain

So it is December 15th and it is raining outside. This is very upsetting and disturbing. It destroys my motivation to go run because I end up getting soaking wet. I would rather it be snowing right now.
I also have to spend more time on skis. I got the City of Lakes Loppet coming up and if I don't start getting in the workouts its going to be a long, painful day.

I will say that this winter started off better than last year in terms of weather. It upsets me people don't take climate change seriously (or believe in it). The evidence is staggering. Another blog post. I shall not rant now!

I am going for a run soon as the rain has mostly stopped. Then I need to do some xmas shopping. I always wait until last minute because I am a terrible shopper. I am very indecisive.

Planting ice seeds

Yesterday I decided that I must go outside and plant some ice cubes into the ground. My hope is that they cause the temperatures to decrease and the amount of snowfall to increase.Over the next few weeks I will monitor its growth. 

This should ensure that we have a nice, cold winter with loads of snow!

Got the ice cubes (seeds)

Dug a hole. Journey helped start the hole

Seeds planted

Covered up with dirt

Here is to hoping this works and the weekend is the last we see of the 30+ temps until March!

It begins again

My day-to-day subbing starts again tomorrow morning. This is the fun routine of either going to bed knowing  I have a job the next day, or waking up at 5 am to check for jobs. The automated calling starts at 5 am and go till about 8 am for jobs for that day. Then at 5 pm till 10 pm the automated systems calls for jobs for the following day or other days in the future. Basically, I feel as though I must always have my phone on me to have the possibility of getting sub jobs. I can't stand that feeling. If I go for a run or a ski in the evening I feel as if I gotta bring my phone, which I really loathe. The only electronic thing I have with me should be my watch. Blah. It is not all bad though. I get to be loads of different classrooms and I don't have to worry about grading papers in the evening. The districts I am on the list for are Edina, Richfield, Orono, and West St. Paul. Orono and West St. Paul are new so we shall see how they go.

I also went for a nice run tonight. Left with Journey and got in about 9 miles. I do enjoy doing my runs in the nighttime because everything is way less crowded and it's much more quiet. Started at the house and went down to Minnehaha Parkway. We then ran east to Lake Nokomis around part of that and then back home. He is now laying on the floor sleeping. Journey is showing his age (9yrs old), but he can still run with the best of them.

Anyways
I am going to go to bed. Hopefully I can get myself outta bed in the morning to go for a run.

Thanksgiving week

I have finished my long-term sub stint out at Moreland Elementary. I did have a great time out there (some days better than others). I will get on the sub list for ISD 197 and be able to sub out there when a teacher calls in, but otherwise I don't know how frequently I will go out there. It seemed far too short. Once I finally felt as though I had a grasp on the classroom and developed friendships with the staff it ended. I can't stay put forever though, and the principal did give me some great advice on how to get a full time position. I am confident that I will get a full time position sooner than later (although if I don't get one for next fall I will alter my plans).

On another note I started my loppet training on Monday. I have now gone rollerskiing twice. Twice in one week! Damn right. Hopefully we get some great snow soon so I am able to go skiing on one of the many trails within a 30 min drive from my house.

We are dog sitting Theo for the next few days. He sure does like to bark at everything that moves outside. haha

I have also recently acquired a new (to me) road bike frame. Still debating on what I wanna do with it. I could either swap components from my current bike to new frame, or buy a new group set. If I do the group set I would do sram force. Buying a new group is more expensive though... Decisions decisions.

I have also been looking at mtn bikes. Still haven't made up my mind. Part of me wants a single speed because they are fun, but I also would love a high-end mountain bike. I also haven't really saved up enough to drop the cash and I do need a car of some sort.
Blah

I will keep you informed.

Here again

I only have 2 days left out at Moreland Elementary. The past 8 weeks have gone by incredibly fast. I will be sad to leave, but I know that I got an excellent experience and opportunity. It just is annoying that now I finally feel as if I have a grasp on things, made friends with the staff, am in a nice little routine and its just going to end in 4 days time. I guess I will go back to day-to-day subbing. Blah. Such as life.

I still am excited though because I will be able to use this on my resume to pursue other endeavors at other schools. 

Looking ahead is alright though. I will volunteer my coaching expertise (and skiing skills?) for Orono Nordic. I like coaching. It is very fun to see athletes improve and enjoy the sport.  

Sorry for the delay

Hello again,

What can I say? The past month flew by and now it is November. The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy. My long-term sub position is over halfway done. I had conferences the last 2 weeks. Tuesday and Thursday and then Tuesday. Needless to say they ended up being very long days. get to school around 630am and leave around 7pm. It was very fun meeting all the different families. They all went very well too. I think the best part was that the families viewed me as a teacher and not a sub. They actually took what I had to say about their child as legitimate. It was an experience that I will be able to put to use in my quest for a full-time position.

I have been pondering the ideal grade that I would enjoy teaching. So far I have taught (taught being longer than 1 month) 2nd grade and 4th grade. I am thinking I need a middle school long-term sub position to really nail down where I would like to end up. As of late I have been leaning more toward the older population because they can do more higher-order thinking and more in-depth projects. I do enjoy teaching the younglings, but I think I may be better suited for grades 3 and above.

Onto another subject! Cyclocross racing. That sport is fun. I love it. I did the Velo Cx race up in Blaine last Saturday with Mr. Jones. We did the cat 4 race together. I did it on my single speed crosscheck. I don't think I could own a bike that is more fun than that (ok, maybe I could but that's neither here nor there). The race was hard, but the course was very nice. We started in a pack of about 20ish? I am not totally sure on the numbers, but I started somewhere in the middle. Needless to say my starting position wasn't the greatest, but I just kept picking my way thought the crowd. There was a pack of about 4 or 5 guys that were stupid fast so catching them was out of the question. There was 3 guys in front of me that I was chasing hard to catch, but eventually the just kept pulling away and at that time I was in no-mans land. Either way I think I finished well and had a great time (did not crash this time either). They had free beer after the race and beer is always good after a race.

Well, for now that is all I have to say. I will put up another post soon. In the meantime I leave you all with this message: VOTE NO
Vote no for the marriage amendment and vote no for the voter ID law.
also: Go Obama!

Been going crazy

Well, it has been a little while since I have posted so I figured it was time. The past couple weeks have gone by incredibly fast. I started my long-term sub job and it seems I haven't had a time to sit and relax.
Last weekend was the Twin Cities Marathon I rode  bikes with friends and watched the race. We saw a ton of people we knew. It is always fun to bike around the cities and even more fun to watch the marathon. The day consisted of meeting at Lake Harriet and then following the course all the way to Summit Ave in St. Paul. Breakfast consisted of coffee (sick) and doughnuts! I will take that any day of the week!

With regards to teaching, I feel as if I finally have a grasp on the classroom. It has taken a couple weeks, but I feel as if the students finally view me as their teacher and not just a sub. Thus far, I really enjoy it at that school. The students are fun and the staff is 2nd to none. They are very helpful and kind. I try to bike to school a couple times a week too. It wakes me up more quickly than coffee and it is also a nice little ride. Takes me about 50min-1hr depending on the wind. The last couple of times it has been a quick ride there and a longer ride home because the wind is in my face the whole way back. I don't mind that though because I am in no rush to get back. Kevin lent me a "winter" helmet to use for biking to school in the cold early mornings. It is just a bell sweep helmet with a light mounted onto it and it has a helmet covering over it to keep the wind out. Its actually pretty awesome. He says I can use it until, "I want it back or when I fire you."

This week is MEA so there is only 3 days of school and then a 4-day weekend! It will be good to get caught up with things I have neglected the past week or so. Such as cleaning, yard work, laundry, and a couple other things.

Also one HUGE thing happening this week is my bff Tim Moes and his lady friend Nancy are heading into the hospital this week because Nancy is having her baby! Very excited about that. I may have to make a trip up to cloud town to visit the little guy. Jared's wife is also expecting their 2nd child this month too. Crazy stuff. Lots of babies poppin out. Which means I will get some baby clothes as gifts for people.

Until next time
-Luke

What a weekend and first days of the week

Well, another weekend flew and it was fantastic (for the most part).
I was asked to go wrench at the Treadman Duathlon down in Pine Island, MN. I got my bike all ready to race. My Salsa El gogo is my trusty steed. I put the race wheels on and loaded it up into the truck to drive down Saturday morning. Well, 5am came very early and it was 40 degrees out. Needless to say after 2hrs of sleep, the drive down there, and me being a baby when it comes to cold weather I decided not to race. After I did the bike mechanic stuff and everyone got onto their bikes from the run I left that joint.

Sunday was the real day. Mtn bike race up in St. Cloud on the jail trail. It was a great time. I got to see the boys from Revolution Cycle and Ski. Hung out and chatted with Ron and Ben. It was good to see them and to catch up. They put on a great race and got some good support for Mid Minnesota Cycling Club. Mason, Elagnor, Oumar, Adam, and I raced. It was a blast. We all had fun, especially Mason! Mason did get some crowd points by going through the tough rock garden until he made it without stopping. I think everyone placed in their age-group except Mason and me.... Hmmm... I think it is cause I am too slow and Mason likes to please the crowd!

I was offered the 4th grade long-term sub position as well! I am very excited and nervous at the same time. I am excited to teach. It is in a great area and I will get to work with an amazing staff.  I am bummed because I wanted to go out to 24 hour mtn bike nationals to support Mike in his quest to be national champ, but I start on October 1st (possibly sooner if the teacher has her baby before then) and that is the day we would be driving back. It would have been great to hang out with everyone and run around the woods handing out nutrition/giving support to Mike. I am thinking next year???

I'm tired. Going to bed because tomorrow I am going to shadow the teacher for the day. I need to make sure I got a good group of students!

Crazy day

Ahhhh another post on the blog. I had an interview today for the West St. Paul Public Schools. The position is for a 4th grade long-term sub position. It would last from October through November. I think it went well and the atmosphere was very friendly. I could definitely see myself teaching there. I usually get nervous before an interview but today I wasn't nervous at all (which is good?) I would be pretty excited to get the position because it would put me one step closer to a full time position. I did joke and tell them I could be the next Will Schuester (from GLEE) because their school is an arts and health magnet school. They laughed and enjoyed my comment. They said they will let me know by next week. It is scary, but I love teaching. It is a great challenge that is very rewarding.

This weekend is Revolution's Single Track Escape mtn bike race. I am going to be racing it too; on Jared's single speed. It is a nice bike especially considering that when I go slow I can blame it on not having any harder gears to shift to. I am going with a lot of friends, so it will be a great time. I will race and cheer. If Mason wins the race I will buy him some Chipotle, or McDonald's...

My big race this fall is going to be the Wild Duluth 50k. I need to kick my running self into gear. I have been slacking lately and running 30-40 miles a week only. Over the next few weeks I plan on really hitting the running hard by doing some long runs and some real long runs on some trails. There are some good running trails by Gear West, but I think that Hyland has to have some of my favorite trail running (its mostly on the ski trails though). Ideally I would love to get up to Duluth and put in a long run on the hiking trail because that trail is rough, fun, and very tough. It will harden me up in no time! Hahaha.

Well I think that is all for now. I will post again very soon. Right now I am dog sitting Theo. Theo is a crazy, but a very nice dog.

 “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

Just started!

After much flip-flopping I decided to start a blog. It will have random thoughts, race reports, exciting news things, possibly some training stuff, etc...
I have no idea how many times I will actually post, but I hope to do it frequently. I think it will be fun and I know a few people who do this blog thingy, so I might as well join the club! Haha

These pics are from a 12hr mtn bike race that my friend Mason and I did. It was the Minnesota 24 http://www.24minnesota.com  It was down in Red Wing and we did the 2-person 12hr race. We were Blokes with Spokes! Both of us rode the Surly Puglsey for the first time. That bike is awesome. I love Surly even more now after riding this bike. I never thought I would be doing something like this because I used to be head-over-heels over triathlons. Over the years I have found tris starting to become very expensive and I needed a little change. I think I have found my new sport (besides running of course!) I will be getting my own bike soon. I have been borrowing a felt nine solo from Jared (fellow mechanic and friend) and that bike is fun. Though I do need my own so I won't feel bad if I break something! Once I get that bike I think there will only be maybe 6 bikes I still would like to own... I think my goal is to be like Ben Doom, dominator of long races and owner of many awesome bikes. Also emulate Mike Schroden, destroyer of 12 and 24 hour mtn bike races!

I think that is good for a first blog post! More to come. Enjoy. Cheers? Nah, I am not cool enough for cheers.

This is me loving it

Mason killin it out there