oh, word, people.  just 2 more days and the rest of the wires come out of my mouth.  then what?  only the shadow knows.  the actual dental work will start then, i guess.  but i'm totally ready for it.  just want to keep moving it along...  but wires out will be super sweet.  hopefully the teeth will start feeling a little more minty fresh without 23 and 24 gauge wire entwined all around everything.  awesometime.

 

work has been really hectic lately.  i'm heading probably the most important comms program for the navy that has exactly zero funding.  but it's really important.  but there's no money for it til FY08.  but they want the capability now...  it's kind of stressing cause i get wrapped up in solving problems, etc, but then i'm only working half-time, so i just have to try to leave it sometimes.  i don't know - it's kind of hard to explain.  i want to do the best job possible and get this capability out to the fleet, but there's just so many stumbling blocks in the way, etc.  and i can't just keep on staying at the office, cause then that means ditching training, or starting training late, which means eating late, which means getting to bed late, which then leads to subpar work/training the next day, you get the idea.  and when does laundry ever get done?

 

but in case you're wondering, training is going just fine.  raced at the track tuesday night - it was ok - nothing special - just trying to get my form back.  today was an easy 3 hour ride - just endurance.  tomorrow is weights in the morning and pursuit efforts in the afternoon.

it's all about the baselines.

 

so back on the 18th i got my jaw unwired (mostly).  went out for pizza and beer the next day with the boys.  now, i'm a fairly slow eater, but when your jaw simply doesn't want to cooperate, it makes things even worse.  took me forever to get through those 2 pieces.  they were quite tasty, nonetheless.

 

got pizza and beer again last night.  one week later, and the chewing is a-ok.  the jaw has been beaten back into submission and he now takes commands from my stomach.

 

stomach : i'm hungry!

jaw : aw, man....

stomach : what'd you say?

jaw : uh, nothing.  can i get you some pancakes or maybe a steak or maybe both?

stomach : YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!

 

so before we got pizza and beer back on the 19th, i did a full day of racing at the track.  pretty ridiculous - i mean who goes from basically zero physical activity back to full-on racing?  that's like page 1 out of the how to wreck your body guidebook.  but it's also page 1 out of the kickstart your training program guidebook.  weird how those coincide.  so i did a 4 km pursuit - it was pretty slow - and a points race - it hurt real bad.  the amazing thing is that by some miracle i got 5th in the points race and went ahead and qualified for nationals.  utterly ridiculous.  sunday saw more racing, but it hurt triple hard that day.  ugh.  then came the work week, and all of a sudden i could actually talk at work for reals.  no more mumbling incoherently - at least not intentionally anymore?  raced on tuesday night at the track again and got dropped from the final race - suckage.  got some steady miles in on the rest of the week, and then went up to the adt velodrome in la on saturday.  total suckage in the form of racing.  did another fairly slow pursuit, but just wanted to set a baseline time up there for post-accident, and then got shelled in the points race.  finally got in some real pursuit training on the track here in sd on sunday, and things are looking better.  not sure if i'll be in any kind of great shape for nationals, but we'll see what happens.  5 more weeks of training, then it's nationals.  yowsa.

 

oh, and just 5 more days and the doc takes the rest of the wires out of my mouth.  hmmmmmmm.  just in time for labor day!

Jeremy Mucha - you've just got your jaw unwired. What are you going to do next - Disney Land? No - pizza and beer, please. The team took me out for a celebratory 'back in the saddle again' meal last Saturday, and it was sweet.
Word.

 

What'chu lookin' at!?!

 

oh man, i just yawned.  that was flippin sweet.

Freedom at last! Time to get some breakfast... I was so excited to dig in that I started eating before I even got the camera out...
Mission accomplished.

OK, so eating food was super cool. But do you know what was shocking? I took the first bite of pancakes and realized I could barely even open my mouth! Yeah, I could open it a little bit, but not the normal amount to simply put food in - I could only open it about the width of my thumb. That was weird, cause I had to cut things up really extra small. Next, my mouth had basically forgotten how to chew! Chewing was nearly impossible - it was more like cut things up really small, put them in the mouth, try to press them with my molars, then swallow. Yeah, weird. The teeth didn't feel right - it just felt like I was gumming my food or something. Really odd. So the pancakes and eggs were fine to not really chew too much, but the sausage was tough. But like the professional eater that I am, I managed to overcome the naysayers and clean the plate. booyah.

next up, thai. 

holy smack, people.  tomorrow's the big day.  jaw gets unwired.  there'll still be wires in the mouth - kind of like braces - but i'll be able to open up and start chowing down on solid food.

 

now, i've known this day was coming for awhile, but i've really done a good job of keeping my cool.  never got too excited.  just kept on spinning the blender.  oh, another ensure?  why, that would be simply delightful!  please, I know I ordered soup, but do you guys think you might be able to put it in a blender for me?  no?  oh, ok, i just thought i'd ask.

 

but then about 10 minutes ago, i was listening to some social distortion - i'm gonna live before i die - and man, i just got fired the hell up.  tomorrow i'm gonna eat before i die.  can you smell what the rock is cooking?  i sure can.  word.

 

now, prolly the most asked question is : what are you going to eat first?

 

for me, what i eat first is not really so important.  what's important to me is to simply eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat.  and i've got some ideas, folks, i've got some ideas.

 

 

friday

 

06:00 - wake-up

08:30 - doctor appt

09:30 - pancakes, eggs, sausage

10:00 - show up at work to display my new grill

12:00 - leave work - i mean, seriously folks, it's friday in san diego

13:00 - pad thai w/ chicken

16:00 - caribbean burrito

19:00 - fish tacos, rice & beans, chips & guac

 

 

saturday

 

06:00 - wake-up

06:30 - pancakes, eggs, saugage

08:00 - setup at the velodrome, start warming up for the track nationals qualifier match

10:20 - race a 4km pursuit

11:30 - race a 30km points race

13:00 - souvlaki platter (beef shish-kebobs) at the greek resto near the velodrome

16:00 - fettucini w/ chicken maranara + camembert/rochefort on water crackers + cabernet sauvignon

19:00 - pizza and beer

 

 

i think you get the idea...  the 3 hour food schedule is my favorite.

 

ok, so eating solid food is gonna be really nice.  i've been able to hold out for 6 weeks on liquids simply because i knew i'd be able to return to solids.  if i were never able to eat solids again?  wow, don't even want to think about that one.  so i always knew solids would come back - liquids were annoying, but i could be patient enough.

 

but what will actually be the best part of being able to open my mouth?  things you take for granted much more than solid food.

the ability to :

 

yawn

sneeze

cough

brush my teeth

 

mornings with your jaw wired shut suck.  you're trying to wake up, but you're tired.  you involuntarily yawn.  but you can't open your mouth.  more accurately, your teeth are wired together, such that the involuntary yawn simply tries to rip your teeth out of your mouth.  now, to some degree you can control yawns, but to some degree you simply can't.  sneezes are almost hopeless.  if you feel one coming on, then you better clench your teeth really tight to try to keep them still, or who knows what might happen.  no fun, that's for sure.

 

but all that will be over soon - so soon.

 

i also love the fact that our velodrome is holding qualifiers for the national track championships the very day after i get my wires clipped.  man, that's awesome.  as long as i get top 5 in the pursuit i'm good to go.  should i mention that i only got back on the bike last week, and really haven't done anything more than short easy endurance rides on the trainer?  nah...  i figure i'll go down to the track tomorrow afternoon for a little warmup and then just go for it on saturday.  i'm not so worried about setting any super times - just qualifying for nationals.  and if i don't qualify this weekend, then that's no big deal.  the other california velodromes have qualifiers coming up in the next couple of weeks.  it'll still be a good kickstart to the training...

 

 

IN SUMMARY

 

CAP'N HQ GLUTTONY OF UNIMAGINED PROPORTIONS WILL ENSUE ON 18 AUGUST 2006 AT 10:30 PDT.  KEEP SMALL CHILDREN AND ANIMALS INDOORS.  THE STREETS WILL RETURN TO CHAOS.

3 days til freedom

4 days until my tongue is released.

T-minus 5 days and counting til the grand opening of my jaw.

new lunchtime drink:

 

vodka-red bull-boost

AKA

boooooooooooooost!

 

that's:

 

1 bottle of vanilla boost

1 can of red bull

3-4 count of vodka

 

yum.

well, i finally got on the bike today for the first time since the wreck. i mean, it's been almost 5 weeks now, and my desire to get back to riding and training has ebbed and flowed and i've asked myself if i even wanted to ride anymore at all. just last week i was at work, and starting to feel like a real 'working' person and all and i just didn't know if it was worth the hassle of training training training anymore. why bother? too hard a life. do i even have that kind of talent anyway? there's so many people that are so much faster and they're so much younger. yeah, fairly negative thoughts, but just trying to take a step back and re-evaluate all of it. i didn't want for the injury to "beat" me, but if my time for cycling was through, then it was through. there are a lot more things i'd like to do in life, for goodness sake.

anyway, i hooked the bike up to the trainer and just rode for half an hour. things started a little slow, but then the legs started turning over and i realized that i just needed to keep on keepin on. it's not over yet. got to keep the big picture in mind, and in the big picture i've been progressing nicely year by year. sure, there've been bumps along the path, but could i have it any other way? simply, no. we all have our own paths and that's what makes us who we are. some are rougher than others, but that's just how it is. i'm no fan of crashing, much less breaking bones, but if that leads to even just the possibility of experiencing the opposite side of the pendulum - winning championships and such - then i'm willing to take the journey. that's my lot.

was thinking about new breakfast ideas a couple weeks ago - and then it hit me. what about coffee and donuts... in a blender, of course! could be truly sweet. went down to the local KK with my mom and was SHOCKED to find the following sign : no joke, i was in shock for days after that event. i almost had to get out of the car and ride shotgun - i couldn't even focus on driving anymore. i mean, it's clear - can't you see it?

that krispy kreme clearly shut down when they heard that i was on the disabled list. they had budgeted for the cap'n HQ donut escapades, but when they heard i had an inactive mandible, they knew they were doomed and couldn't hold out for my recovery. TRAGIC FOLKS, TRAGIC. 

ok, so there was a going away party for laurel tonight. a nice grill session including brat, salmon, tuna, ribs... wow, can you say paradise? anyway, i brought the cuisinart for some fun. bratwurst, anyone? how about some tomato/cucumber spicy type salad to go with that? and a tecate to wash it down? but of course!
but what about in a blender?
now, one would think that the beer would just go foam crazy in a blender, right? wrong! the food absorbs the shock and the tecate is then just a nice fluid to help make a smoothie! no foaming at all. and i've got to say, it tasted not too bad at all. pretty decent, really. basically tasted like a cold soup - just had a beer base, that's all... and i bet if i had heated it up in the microwave, it might have been truly appointed - only had dixie cups, though.

that's called a 'cerveza-brat surprize'
awesome.

 

Tried a little something different in the blender last night. Was helping a friend move an amoire out of their apartment - or well, maybe i was just watching as they moved and offereing murmurs of confidence. anyway, we finished and there was this 6-pack of slim jims. not the natural style jerky - just the tubes 'o beef (or assorted animal products). anyway, puled 2 from the pack and took em home. beef sticks, bbq sauce, spinach, and a bit of milk to make it a drink. hmm?
Yeah, it turned out... well, not as good. trust me, i've made worse, though. I put too much bbq sauce in there (forgot about the inate spiciness of the beef sticks) and the final product just had too much kick. Enough that it might as well have been like drinking bbq sauce straight. couldn't take more than a few sips before i had to pour it out. i think if i had just done the slim jims, the spinach and milk, then it just might have turned out a-ok. 

well, i had an appointment with the oral surgeon yesterday, and he said 2 more weeks.  and then 2 more weeks after that.  huh?  yeah, so in 2 weeks (aug 18) the doctor will cut the wires binding my top jaw to the bottom jaw, but will leave all the hardware in the mouth.  that's so just in case my bite shifts or something like that, then he can do whatever it is that he does.  if all is still good in 2 more weeks (sep 1) then all the metal wrapped around my teeth will finally come out.  awesome.  didn't expect the second 2 week period.  that really sucks.

 

so basically, 4 weeks down, 2 more to go.  weeks 7 and 8 will mostly be just like i'm wearing braces again.  joy.

so i'm in chicago for the weekend for a wedding.  flew out on southwest this morning.  checking in for the flight:

 

can i see your id?

sure [hand id over]

mucha?

yep.

wow, so you're a "whole lotta jeremy" ?

 

sweet.  wanted to reply back, "YOU  BETTER BELIEVE IT!" at full volume, but that would have really sounded like "you bebber beliebe it." in a muffled voice.  so i was just like:

 

heh-heh, yeah.

 

so lame.  it's hard to even smile with all the wires in the mouth.  oh, well.  just another 2 or 3 weeks.

A classic photo back from a racing trip in March. It was dinner time and tomorrow was a 100 mile road race. i was double hungry and needed the double calories. so what else? order double dinners. that was awesome. looking forward to the return of those days...

 

Here's what it looked like before the bench and grill moved in. Moved the plant to an empty dirt spot in a neighbor's section. Cool.

 

The Garden Project... Used to be just knee-high weeds under my front windows. Well, mom wanted to clean that up, so instead of just planting flowers, we got some pots and mulch.
But then I had the bright idea, "huh, that looks pretty cool - maybe we can put a bench out here to look at it all? and what if I get hungry? you know, i've always wanted a grill for steaks..." Yeah, had to hack down an overgrown hedge jungle for that one.
But then I had to put it all on lockdown - wouldn't want the grill to go the route of the scooter...