Montalcino Panorama

Here is another panorama from Italy. This time from the top of the castle in Montalcino Italy.

Race Report: Fall Classic Duathlon

I haven't done all that much racing this Summer. The usual time trial once a month and a couple 10K races. Nothing all that interesting.

Saturday was a great morning for a duathlon - 3 mile run, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run. It's the very same course as the spring time Oakdale Duathlon. Sunny, almost no wind. I had arm warmers but ditched them at the starting line as it started to warm up. They had 2 waves to spread people out. I was in the second wave of all women and all men over 39.

Within a few minutes after the gun I found myself in 5-6 place and going fast - around a 6:20 pace! Yikes, thats fast so I'm already worried about flaming out. I watched my HR closely and let the leaders pull away a bit. Hoping to catch them on the bike. At mile 2 my left glut starts to tighten but I worked through it and it went away. Little did I know, not forever.

Transition goes well and I'm off on the bike. At this point I'm starting to catch the back end of the first wave. As we exit Lake Elmo Park Reserve, we head right up a hill that's about a 1/10 of a mile long and very steep. Lucky for me this in my neighborhood and I ride that hill every weekend. I know how to ride it AND how to handle the slight climb recovery at the top. A big 'home court' advantage I felt. The rest of the ride was spend watching out for and passing the first wave. I was passed by one one guy that looked really really fast.

At the second transition I had assumed we would enter from the far side but it was much closer so I was not ready. I was still in my shoes (normally I slip out and pedal on top of them). When I jumped off the bike my cleaks took me for a slide on the smooth asphalt. Wee!! I didn't go down but man that was scary.

As I started my last 3 miles my glutt tightened up again right way. Far worse then before. I was really hobbling and thinking I wouldn't make it. But I decided that I would walk if I needed to. After a full mile it started to loosen and by the 2 mile mark I was back to full speed. By this point in the race we were so spread out the few people were around me. One guy that I know was over 50 past me. He had been ahead of me on the first leg but I passed him on the bike. Damn, I was hoping to get enough time there to cover my run. He was a fast runner.

I finished the race very stong and sprinted in alone. The guy at the line told me I was somewhere around 25th. Later in the day I saw on the website that I was 1st place for men 40-49. I was 2nd of all the second wave (behind the 50 year old dude). My effort was all on the bike as I was the 8th fastest there out of 134 finishers. Full results here.

Of course I always have photos. This time thanks to the Linda. The best one is me pointing to where I had ditched my arm warmers. Looks like I'm doing a disco pose.

Flickr Photos

Drawing Class Final

The drawing class is over now. The last assignment was an extra one that Iain would do individual critics of. The assignment was to do another self portrait but now with the knowledge of the last 10 weeks. I definitely applied things I learned about proportion and drawing the volume of shapes. I'm not sure that it looks any more like me by I like the second drawing more. The following is Iain's comments;

Rhalvorsten: Quite a transformation from your first sketch, Robbie, which I just hunted down among the Challenge One submissions! Your first portrait was actually full of charm, but structurally distorted. This one is much more structurally sound and proportionally correct, but it has lost some of the warmth of the first portrait. This often happens whenever we’re learning something new. You can’t use your old tricks because you’re learning a new way of doing things, but you haven’t learned the new stuff yet so that won’t help you either. If you persevere, though, the new skills will inevitably kick in, and the moment they do that, you can draw on all your old tricks too. The net result is that, seemingly overnight, your drawing ability takes a huge leap forward. That’s where I think you are right now: poised for the leap into Stage Two. Where do you go from here? Keep working on your new skills—proportion, balance, anatomy and lighting in particular. As those become stronger within you, your natural ability at expression will find a solid support from which to leap. By the way, your desire to sketch and keep a sketch book is the best news of all! Beyond learning to draw, there is a challenge a thousand times more terrifying, and that is WHAT to draw. Your sketchbook—a collection of things drawn for the pure love of drawing them—will show you the way. Keep it with you and sketch in it always, and know that one day, when you need it most, it will remind you who you are, and what you need to say with your drawings.

Iain's word to me, and the other 5-6 people who did the extra work, are very motivating. Not only is he an amazing artist who is inspiring just to look at, but he is also a gifted educator.