Lindsey Heim

Yet another update on life...

- Did the final move from Omaha at the end of May. I have been saying that I would remove my rear view mirror on my way out of town; however, I didn't need to. The final load in my car was so full, it literally took me 5+ hours to back, I had knives under my seats, clothes jammed in every nook, and the back end barely closed, yet I did it! Literally, I had a hole for myself to drive, and that is it. The passenger seat was up to the level of the dash, and the rest of the car was densely filled to the roof, which had 3 bikes on top.

- With that being said, I moved in with my parents for a few weeks until I closed on my home. It was actually quite nice to spend some time with them. During my stay I got some beautiful riding in and around LaCrosse county. It was awesome to ride the ridgetops, and go into the valleys filled with beautiful mist and quaint little dairy farms. My stuff was in the garage in what I would call a pretty impressive pile. It is pretty funny when you actually take all of your stuff from its little nooks where it is all packed away- it turns out to be more than you thought- oh well, I guess I do have a house to fill.

- So, I am now in Madison, and officially a homeowner. Moving in went really really well thanks to some awesome people and wonderful friends. Fortunately, my home is perfectly fine with the apocalyptic flooding that has been going on around the area. While out running, I saw many many homes around the lakes in town that were pumping out their basements. All in all, I am thankful that my home is atop a moderate hill from nearby lake Wingra which I have been wanting to go kayaking on. I am loving Madison, and the neighborhood that I am in. I have wonderful local restraunts and shops within walking distance, beautiful trails to run on, the arboretum nearby with miles and miles of trails winding through beautiful green space, and a straight shot out of town to beautiful country roads to ride on. Every ride I have been on I have seen at least a dozen other cyclists out riding no matter what time. It is such a welcome contrast to see people out on bikes everywhere training, commuting, and bebopping around town, people are running everywhere, people out in parks and out on lakes sailing/ boating/ kayaking. I am loving this town.

- I got cable installed yesterday, reluctantly, but I was allured by having the Tour de France DVRd in high def so I can watch it whenever I want. :) So, within a few hours it stopped working. So, I called the cable company to see what the deal was, they couldn't fix it, but here is the catch. During the course of the phone call, the tech asked TWICE if I wanted to add movie channels to my cable. I asked her why I would want to pay for more channels when what I have isn't even working. She couldn't give me an answer, obiously. Naturally, I got things working on my own after the phone call.

- This weekend is the Hy-Vee triathlon, oh wait, duathlon, oh wait again, triathlon! I will admit, with all of this moving and nomadic lifestyle the past few weeks, getting to the pool has been pretty non-existent since Omaha- for real. I am not proud of it, but it is what it is- it unfortunately hit the chopping block pretty hard. So when they first made the announcement that the swim of the race was cancelled- I was really disappointed and bummed that I would be driving a long way (even longer due to interstate closures) for a 10K-40K-5K. I was secretely releived that I would not need to test my lack of swim training, but a little scared thinking how a 40K TT would feel after runing 10 K. Right before I was going to run before my ride yesterday to test the waters, the announcement came out that the swim is back on. Mission aborted- I am glad that I did not need to experience the horror and unnatural progression of a run-bike instead of a bike-run! Kudos to the race directors for pulling a new course out a few days before the event- I presume not an easy task. So, now that the swim is on, I have made a decision: to go into the swim cold turkey, and of course with a wager. :) No swim training, and I will hopefully have the same swim split as last year, or faster. I need to beat a 30:28 swim, and I will get a post race feast and drinks- bring it!