Lauren's Bunk Bed

I've been working on the design for Lauren's bunk bed in sketchup.  Here is the first draft :

The bed itself will be made out of soft maple, the bookshelf mostly maple plywood with a solid face frame.  At least that's my current plan...it may change.

Welland Half Iron Triathlon - June 26th, 2011

Short Version

First HIM, finish - 4:47:59.4, 34th OA, 8/38 AG.  

Average swim (for me)

Long Version

I started with Endurance Nation in the November OS, having run marathons for the past 7 years but not doing much biking or running during that time.  I've done a few sprint triathlons over the years for fun, but this was my first time training specifically for a triathlon.  The Welland HIM on June 26th was my first 'A' race of the year.

Before the race

Welland is a 4 hour drive for me, so me and the family drove up on Friday after work and checked into the host hotel.  $120/night for a nice suite with a full kitchen just across the canal from the race site.  It's probably about a one mile by road to the start, 300y if you want to swim there 

Saturday morning I took a quick 10 minute swim around the canal where the race is held.  That was my first wetsuit swim of the year and went about that well.  If anything it made me more apprehensive about the swim and I probably should have skipped it.

Welland Ontario is 30 minutes from Niagara Falls so we spent Saturday at Niagara Falls.  Both of our young kids enjoyed the Maid of the Mist boat ride and the Butterfly Conservatory.  Drove back to the hotel in the late afternoon, stopping at the race site to pick up my race packet on the way.  Take-out pizza for dinner and hung around the rest of the night watching TV.

Race Morning

0210 - 2xPC Chocolate Ultrashake at  - 470 calories

0530 - 1xSesame bagel w/cream cheese, 1xPC Chocolate Ultrashake

0630 - Rode my bike over to transition area, with wesuit and everything else in a back-pack.  Since I was one of the few fools to show up that early I got the closest spot to the Bike In/Out on my (numbered) rack.  Setup my transition area then when for a short-ride and practiced my bike mount/dismount. 

0800 - Short race meeting in bike transition area, ate one gel then headed down to the swim start.  Swim start was 450m away from transition area, over grass, asphalt & gravel.  I brought an extra pair of shoes and stashed them on the path at the swim exit for the run.  Many people did not and I passed them on the run to transition.

Got in the water and swam around for about 10 minutes before the start.  Moved towards the back third of the pack and minutes later the race started.

Swim 

Plan - Finish, maybe 40 minutes?

Actual - 37:40 - 125th OA

I'm a poor swimmer.  My arms started feeling tired after about 200 yards, but I pushed on and just kept counting strokes.  Count to 5, sight, and repeat.  I found different sets of feet to follow and tried to keep positive thoughts the whole way.  There were a little over 300 people in the swim so it wasn't very crowded.  The canal itself is probably 60-70y in width, no waves and straight.  The swim is one lap, a long rectangle so pretty much as easy as it gets in a triathlon.  

There was no clock (that I saw) at the exit, so I didn't know my time until after the race.  My RRs in the pool have been about that time so I am happy with the swim. 

After getting out of the water, I pulled off the wetsuit, slipped into my shoes and ran the 450m [2:24] to my bike, carrying the wetsuit.  Many people were running barefoot with the wetsuit around their waist - didn't make sense to me.

T1 - drop wetsuit, put on RX sunglasses & helmet, grab bike and go.  Shoes are on the pedals.  Time - 0:42, 1st OA.  I passed a whole bunch of people in transition; I couldn't believe how many people were in there and how slow they seemed to be moving.

Bike

Plan - 200 NP, no time goal - expected around 2:40ish based on RR of 2:48 (including stoplights, stop signs, etc)

Actual - 205NP, 1.02 VI, 2:30:27 - 50th OA

I was planning to go with one bottle on the bike, but took two once I saw that most people had at least 3.  I had four gels in my jersey from the start.  Took it 'easy' for the first 8 minutes and kept the watts under 200.  After my swim there were plenty of people to pass, and I started that right away.  Once in a while I found a wheel to follow for a bit, keeping legal at 5m.  Started drinking (gatorade) and pushed the watts up to 210ish after about 10 minutes.  Spent the rest of the ride passing people, probably 30-40 in total.  About 5 people passed me, but two of them came back later.  Finally found a wheel at 80km that I followed for till the end - 56 year old guy that was 21 years older than me.  I was a little under 200w for that last 40 minutes.  I was finding it a little hard to keep the watts up, which is why I was glad to stay on his wheel and save it for the run.

Bike Nutrition - Gels @ 0:45,1:20,2:00,2:20, 3xgatorade/heed@150cals

T2 - hop off bike, pull on socks & running shoes, grab hat & go.  0:58 - not first (darn socks).  Just like T1 I passed a bunch of people that were standing around.

Run

Plan - start at 7:30s and move down to 6:45s, ending up wherever - around 1:35ish (I didn't actually do the math, that was my guess)

Actual - 1:35:50 / 7:19/mile - 29th OA

After beating my best estimated bike time by 10 minutes I figured all I needed was a 1:40 to break 5hrs, so I revised my mile pace down a bit.  Since this was my first HIM I wanted to make sure I didn't end up walking.  I figured that 7:30s would get me there so I resolved to keep all my miles under 7:30.  First mile was 7:25 which included a much needed pee break, so I was off to a good start.  I walked through one aid station and then decided I didn't like walking so didn't do that again.  Temperature was perfect for the run and was 90%+ in shade and flat. Slowed up at the end, 10-12 were 7:35/44/38.  I missed some long runs in training so my run fitness was not quite all there.

I drank Heed and dumped water on my head at all the aid stations I could but missed a few as the volunteers were not ready.  I knew I was ahead of the game on fluids so didn't worry about it.  1 gel (from the course) at 6 miles.

Just like the bike I was able to pass a number of people on the run, between 10-15 would be my guess.  I did 'let' one person go by my on the 2nd loop, I didn't get his number and I'm not sure if he was on his 1st or 2nd loop. 

Finish

I was sure I was under 5 hrs but didn't know how far until I was about 50m from the finish and could see the clock.  I was very happy and a little shocked to see the 4:47.  Zipped up my jersey and crossed the line, got my medal, finisher's hat and collasped (kidding).  Drank a few cups of Heed and dumped some more water on my head, then got interviewed by the series sponsor - milk.

Results

Overall I was surprised how 'easy' the day went.  I've done 14 marathons and none of them were easy.  Since I planned on taking about 2 hours longer in this event then my marathons, I figured it would be much harder.  Never during the day did I feel that I had to walk or quit.  I felt positive the whole time.  

I am ecstatic with my finish time.  Before the race I thought 5:00 was my stretch goal, and probably 5:05 was realistic - 40m swim, 2:40 bike, 1:40 run + transitions.  After my swim 'practice' on Saturday I changed it to 5:15.  I told the family to meet me based on the 2:40 bike split, but luckily they got there early, just in time to catch me at T2.  I knew at the halfway point in the bike (1:15ish) that I was having a great day on the bike and was going to get sub 5:00.

I've done 14 marathons and only been 'okay' with one of them.  All the others I had the fitness but blew the execution.  Thanks to Endurance Nation I was able to nail the execution of my first HIM.  I told my wife after the race that I should retire now as I've had the best race I could.  

Next 'A' race - Rev3 Cedar Point HIM.

Other

FTP - 241

VDOT - 55ish, March HM in 1:22:19

Laundry Room Upgrade - Part 3

Once the subfloor preparation was complete, it was time to get the tiling done.  I don't have much experience tiling, and the tiling that I have done has been pretty frustrating, but I had high hopes for this job.  After spending a lot of time getting the subfloor nice and flat I figured that this job would go smoothly.

Well, it did.  Mostly.  Before I started I had to run out to Home Hardware to get some tile edging.  Three pieces of 8' tile edging for $50.  Once I got home I pulled the two 50 pound bags of thinset mortar out of the car that I'd bought the other day.  Read the instructions to make sure I knew what I was doing and found that I'd bought the wrong thinset.  I had unmodified thinset, which the instructions said not to use with porcelain tiles - and I'm putting down 13" porcelain tiles.  Argh.  Back to Home Hardware to buy three bags of poly-modified thinset, which they only have in 25 pound bags for $20 each, vs the 50 pound bag of unmodified I got earlier for $16 each.  Double Argh.

After mixing up the thinset, I started laying tiles.  I mixed the first batch of thinset a little thick, but the remainder went down no problem.  I think this job ended up taking me three hours.  I could have gone faster if I had someone to help mix the mortar, but I'm glad I got it finished.

Here's the completed job - a nice smooth, unbroken floor (inspector Oscar checks it out).  Hmm, wasn't there a vent there somewhere.  Oops.

After the tiles dried for a couple of days I did the grouting.  Well, first I cut out two cracked tiles and the third tile that covered the vent.  The grouting took longer than I thought it would.  First, the grout we had was the color of, well, brown.  So of to Home Depot to pick up some new grout.  After getting started late (again), it took me about 45 minutes to put the grout down.  I cleaned up my tools and got back to the floor to sponge off the excess grout. 

I must have waited too long to clean off the grout, because I had to scrub the floor for another hour and a half to get off all the grout.  That was the opposite of fun.  As you can see, inspector Oscar is always close at hand to make sure I am doing quality work.

Here's the completed floor.  I still need to make up a crawlspace cover.

Here's the new vent hole.  I tried plunge cutting the porcelain tile with a 4" diamond blade on an angle grinder but could not get the hole cut without breaking the tile.  After three tries I gave up and went with the below instead.

Laundry Room Upgrade - Part 2

After finishing up the drywall with four coats of drywall compound, I was ready to paint.  I started with a coat on all of the new drywall and any area that was patched.  The walls that were previously covered in wallpaper already had a good coat of primer so I left those alone.  There were a few brown spots on the ceiling where there were previously cabinets, so I primed those to cut down on the number of finish coats I'd need.  You can see one of the brown spots above my head in the picture below.

The floor was the next thing to tackle.  We'll be putting in a 13" porcelain tiles, so I need a strong, flat sub-floor to support the tile.  The original floor was : 3/4" tongue and groove planking (original), 1/2" particle board, two sheets of 1/4" plywood.  All fastened together with a bazillion nails.  I tried just ripping up the plywood and particle board, but it was coming up in fist size pieces due to all the nails.

After giving up on the 'easy' way of ripping out just the plywood, I pulled out my circular saw and sawzall and got to work.  First I used the circular saw (and a cheap blade) to cut through the floor adjacent to each stud.  Then, a large prybar and sledgehammer to pull the floor up far enough from the joist to cut the nails securing it to the joist.  A couple of hours, sweat and blood and I was able to get the floor removed and piled up outside the door.

Here is the naked floor.  A quick check with string showed me that it was bowed up to 1/2" in the middle.  I didn't want to impede on the floor space in the crawl below, so I decided to sister the 2x8 joists with some 2x6s in order to even out the floor.  With a string line stretched across the top of the existing joists to help line them up, I added a 2x6 to each of the original joists with construction adhesive and screws.  I had to notch the bottom of a couple of the 2x6s to clear wiring in the original joists.

After I finished flattening the floor, I put down two layers of 5/8" tongue and groove plywood for the subfloor - the first was glued and screwed to the joists, the second only screwed to the first layer.  On top of that I attached 3/8 fiberock with mortar and rink shanked nails.  Now the floor is ready for tile.

Laundry Room Upgrade - Part 1

In our house, the Laundry Room and the Kitchen are the most dated and upgrade ready rooms in the house.  

The kitchen cupboards are 80's melamine with a mirrored backsplash and laminate counter tops.  The ceramic floor tiles are cracked and loose, the layout is too spread out and the walls are a dark brown.

The attached laundry room has ugly as heck wallpaper, awkwardly sized home made cabinets of dubious quality and a wavy vinyl floor.

This year's major house renovations will be to completely redo the kitchen and laundry rooms.  We'll start with the laundry room - once it is fixed up I'll setup a temporary sink in there and tear apart the kitchen.

First, a few before shots of the laundry room.  Nice wallpaper!

I had hoped to tear out the cabinets, strip out the wallpaper, the patch and paint the walls.  Unfortunately I found a surprise when I tore out the cabinets - part of the wall was cinder block.  The remainder of the wall was plaster directly attached to the cinder block which is beyond my skills to replicate.  Parts of the cinder block were on the same plane as the plaster in the adjacent wall (to the right) so there was no way I could just add drywall to cover the cinder blocks - I'd have to cover the entire wall with drywall.

Finishing drywall is definitely not a skill I've mastered very well so I knew this would be a bit of a challenge.  I called a guy who's done some other drywall work for me but he decided to retire from drywall earlier in the month so I was on my own.  I started by strapping the walls with some 1x3s, using construction adhesive and screws to attach the strapping to the plaster.

The ends of the 1x3 were attached to the cinder blocks with a powdered actuated fastener (Hilti DX 36).  I used cedar wedges to fur out the 1x3s on the cinder block so then lined up with the strapping on the plaster.

Once the strapping was in place, it was time to add the drywall.  Two sheets of 4x10 1/2" drywall covered this wall, I needed one other 4x8 sheet to cover up some plaster on the opposite wall.

I scoured the web for about an hour to brush up on my drywall finishing knowledge, here's a few sites I liked :

• This Old House - How to Finish Drywall
• Hometime - Drywall
• DrywallInfo.com

After the drywall was hung,  Joshua gave me a hand taping the joints.  I used paper tape for the flat seam and preformed metal corner beads for the corner and ceiling.

Here I am finishing up the first coat of mud.  It took me another three coats to get everything smooth enough.  Not a perfect job but good enough for the laundry room.  I definitely need to find (competent) help for the kitchen drywall job.