Columbia,MO Triathlon

Off Season Workout...Tabata

2011-12-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

Every off season, I want to let my body take a break from the swim/bike/run routine. Last year, I was reading in one of Catina's (Women's) Muscle and Fitness magazines, about a different type of workout...Tabata.

This is a relatively new (1996) type of workout, where the participant does 20 seconds of intense exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeating this for a total of 4 minutes (8 sets). The key is intensity; the sets have to be done at a minimum of 70% of your VO2Max to get the benefits. Some trainers say that this method should only be used with aerobic exercises (treadmill, elliptical, stationary bikes, calisthenics, etc...), while others say to incorporate weights or some type of resistance into the exercises. Either way, if done properly, it will help improve your aerobic capacity and VO2 Max! Which is like music to a triathletes ear!

There are virtually an unlimited number of exercises you can incorporate into the Tabata Method. The only equipment that you need is a stop watch, or a clock with a second hand. Other than that, your body weight can supply all the resistance you need to perform a few simple, yet hard, exercises...Push ups, wall sit, squats, plank, sit-ups, chair dips, pull ups, super mans, etc... You can also add in some old school calisthenics to give your workout a kick in the pants...Tuck jumps, squat thrusts (burpies), mountain climbers, jumping jacks, side jumps, etc...

To be continued...

I hate it when I do that...

2011-12-01T09:16:00.001-08:00

Simple home remedies...

2011-11-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY SIMPLY USING THE SINK.

3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF ON THE ARM AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

DAILY THOUGHT:

Some people are like slinkies...Not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

These came in an email from my brother!

The Jeepster

2011-09-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty stoked about my new car. I bought a 1979 Jeep CJ7 about a month ago on eBay. Although everything turned out just fine, I don't know if I'd buy a car through eBay again. There are a bunch of expenses that you don't really think about when buying an item this large. Mainly shipping! Yeah, UPS doesn't ship vehicles do they.

There is also the "buying, without looking" thing. When you buy online, you can't really slam the doors and kick the tires, when the car is in Gilman, IL. All I had to go by were a few pics and the Seller's description. I felt sorry for the Seller, because I kept pestering her with 100's of questions. Instead of doing the sensible thing and make one long list of items to ask about, I would shoot her an individual email every time I thought of something new. Here's what it kind of looked like...

Aug 23, 12:30pm - Hi I like your Jeep. Is the mileage original?
Aug 23, 1:15pm - Hi, me again. What color is the Jeep?
Aug 23, 1:35pm - Hi, one more question. Does the Jeep have 4 wheels?
Aug 24, 7:45am - Hi, I have another question. Does the Jeep have an engine?
Aug 24, 8:00am - Does the engine work?
Aug 24, 9:30am - Does it have head lights?
Aug 24, 9:33am - Do the head lights work?
Aug 24, 9:45am - Does it have a steering wheel?
Aug 24, 9:48am - Does the steering wheel work?
Aug 24, 10:00am - Does it have a radio?
Aug 24, 10:05am - Does the radio work?
And so on, and so on.

After about 1,246 emails, I was satisfied with the information and was able to safely make my purchase...

Phobia

2011-09-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

I went to the refrigerator the other day and noticed that we have a bunch of jelly. Not just a couple of extra jars. We have a bunch of jelly...8 jars! 4 in the frig and 4 waiting on reserve in the cupboard. It is almost that we have a fear of being without it. I googled it and found nothing on "the fear of being without jelly," so I can't say that we have an actual documented phobia. But it still just a little wacko to have 8 jars of jelly under one roof.

I did learn that having 8 jars of jelly doesn't hold a candle to some of the phobias out there. Did you know that Dutchphobia is the fear of the Dutch? Really? Why would anyone be afraid of little dudes in wooden shoes? Epistemophobia is the fear of knowledge and Phronemophobia is the fear of thinking, which is just all around stupid! But the phobia that struck me as the funniest is Logophobia, which is the fear of words. So, the rest of this entry is dedicated to those suffering with Logophobia...

:)

Jackson County Triathlon...race recap

2011-08-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Before jumping in and trashing a race, I wanted to give it some time and see if I would change my mind after a few days. I really hate to start a race report being all negative and bitchy, but having been on the organizing side of triathlons, I can really tell when a race is put on well and when a race is not. This race was a NOT.  Matter of fact, there were so many things that were screwed up with this race, that I have trouble writing about those things that were good.

Last Sunday I raced the Jackson County Triathlon for the first time. I signed up for this race back in early spring in order to save a few bucks. I was really looking forward to this race, because I haven't done it before. In the past, I've only heard negative comments about this race, especially about the one lane wooden bridge. What sealed the deal for me this year is when I found a blogger's review about his experience last year and only had only good things to say about it. So, I thought that maybe they've cleaned this race up and wanted to give it a try.

As usual, race morning came really early and really quick. After my fourth visit to the bathroom and a cup of yogurt (not necessarily in that order), I realized that I should pack up my stuff and hit the road. I got to where I thought the entrance to the park was, but it was so dark I couldn't tell and saw no signage marking this to be the entrance to the race. I guessed this was it and turned in and was immediately ushered down a little side road in park, where they were having us park half on/half off the road; leaving only a small lane for both cars and athletes to travel.  I got there just a bit after 5:30am, so I was able to get a "relatively" close parking slot.  Still, I had to hoof it quite a ways up to the race site, while playing a life size version of Frogger...weaving in and around parked cars without getting hit by oncoming traffic. When I arrived to the race site, racking of the bikes was first come / first serve.  And, they had the Stinger type racks which means that basically there was just enough room for my bike and nothing else. Those types of racks are great for a Race Director (who has to cram a bunch of bikes into a really small space), but really craps-ville for the athletes (who have to try to maneuver their equipment in and out a really tight space).  Once I secured my bike spot, I went and got my timing chip and then on to the port-o-pots for one last attempt.

As the race time approached, they opened the swim course for anyone who wanted to warm up. I remembered some good advice that Bree Wee (pro triathlete) said on her blog..."If given the chance, always do a warm up swim."  I try to always adhere to that advice, so I lathered on the body glide and began sliding on my wetsuit. Just as I got everything situated and ready to go, they announced that they needed everyone out of the water and on the beach for a pre-race meeting. 15 minutes early! Come to find out, they needed that extra time to explain the f'd up swim course that they had devised. The RD called everyone to the beach and began explaining the route that we will follow in the water. As I looked out, all I saw was a bunch of "No Wake" buoys and three orange inflatable buoys; all spread out in a seemingly random pattern in the water. Kind of like when you play Jacks and you toss the jacks at the start of the game and they go everywhere.  That is how the buoys looked to me. According to the instructions, we were to maneuver our way through the "lane" created by the buoys, then back to the beach; exit the water and run across the beach and do it all over again (2 laps). The thing that confused us the most was that they wanted us to keep the orange inflated buoys on the outside of us and turn at the white buoys. Obviously this goes against everything we've ever been instructed to do at races. Always, always, always...we turn at the orange buoys, keeping them to the inside of the course!!

As we tried to sort out the swim course, the first wave was sent off. I was in the second and was called down to the water. We had the advantage of watching how the first wave maneuvered the buoys. As we waded out, the lake was very shallow and were able to cut abut 25 yards off the course just by wading out to our waists. Once in the water, we could get a better idea of just where we were supposed to go, but also how short this course was going to be. It was supposed to be an Olympic distance that was now shortened down by half, maybe more. We would swim out about 50 yards, turn left for maybe 150 yards, then turn left for another 150 yards. Exit the water and run 100 yards across the beach and then do it again.  350 yards of swimming, 100 running!

As the first wave exited the water, ran across the beach, and started their second lap; the RD yells "GO!" for the second wave to start. So, there were two waves all converging on the first buoy at once. I've heard athletes talk about how violent an Ironman start can be. This would have been good training.  I took off, sprinting for that first buoy. In the process I kicked, punched and swam right over other swimmers. I was getting the same treatment, so I didn't feel bad about it. Luckily, I had on my wetsuit, so when I got pulled under, I just popped back up like a bobber.

Me and another guy lead out our little pack of racers. He was a faster swimmer, but he kept zig zagging all over the place. We both exited the first lap together and entered back into the water. As we dove in, I heard the RD tell the third wave that they still had one minute before they started. "Awesome!" I thought. I won't have to battle anyone for that first buoy, except for ZigZag Boy. After the run across the beach, my goggles were totally fogged and between the low morning sun and the white buoys, I had a difficult seeing where I was going. I had to let ZizZag Boy go and Tarzan swim a majority of the second lap. [My final swim time was 7:36; averaging :46 per 100 yds...that time seems amazingly fast]

I almost forgot...as I was exiting the water on the first lap; I was in about 6 inches of water and stepped on a huge flip'n sharp rock. Something that I normally would have been able to avoid, but with my fogged goggles, I couldn't see. Add one "Big Sharp Rock in the swim exit" to the list of screwed up things during this race.

Into T1 and onto the bike course. The bike course was little to no vehicle traffic, making this the best part of the race. They had police and volunteers all over the place, which seemed to make it a safe. The hills made it just challenging enough to know that you rode 24 miles, when we started the run. However, there were some really screwed up things with this course too. There were 15 turns in this course, 11 of which were left turns! How did they get this course approved by USAT? The only thing I can think of is that this course is closed to traffic, but i couldn't find that documented anywhere on their race website. [I averaged 25.2 mph...that time seems a bit fast]

Into T2 and onto the run. The course was an relatively flat, out and back, on an MKT type trail...Nice and soft on the knees and calves. It always amazes me how far the first mile marker seems to be. I thought I was getting close to the turn around mark, but only to find out that I had just made it to mile 1!! So, I kept plodding along through the mile 2 water stop, making it to the turn around. When I got there, I saw that there were no timing boxes/strips so as I made my U-turn, I called out my number.  Didn't want anyone to think I was cutting the course or anything. But, as i called out the number, the two volunteers sitting there just smiled and nodded their heads.

As I made my turn, I saw that there was a dude right on my tail. I had, maybe, a 5 second lead on him. I wanted to (but didn't) turn to him and invite him up and chat a bit. I thought that might help the time go by quicker. Instead, I began telling the other runners "Good Job!" or "Nice Job!" or "Good Work!," as we passed on the trail. Sometimes when I was breathing too hard, I would just say, "Job!" This was a stroke of genius. It made the second half of the run go by so quickly. It totally took my mind off the pain and race. Apparently, it also helped me pick up my pace; I crossed the finish line about a minute ahead of the guy that was on my tail at the turn around. After we both finished, he caught up to me and commented on how I picked up the pace on the second half of the run. Which surprised me, because I didn't feel like I was running any faster! Cool! After I crossed the finish line, I kind of looked around for someone to hand me something for finishing. Usually there would be a finisher medal, or a finisher something waiting for us, but there was just a couple of kids trying to wrangle the timing chip off my ankle. [I ran a 32:40, 6:32 p/mile...that time seems a bit slow]

As the Family and I were milling around the finish line area looking for the post race food (which there was none), the RD announced that there would be no awards ceremony and all awards would be received through the mail. "Huh? That's just crazy talk! Who do they think they are...Ironman?" No awards ceremony, meant that we could get the "H...E...Double Toothpicks" out of dodge. So I gathered up my stuff from the transition area and made the long trek back to the car.

I finished 6th overall, 1st in the 40-44 age group. I heard that they were giving awards to the top 5 overall, so I went to their website to make sure. Sure enough, I missed the overall awards by 1 slot. However, I then found out that they were only giving awards to the top 5 overall...No age group awards! Wow!

Needless to say, I will not be returning to the Jackson County Triathlon.

(Finishing the Bike Course)

(Going down the Finish Shoot)

(Finishing)

(The Fam...Catina, Brayden, Me and Skylar)

(Aquaphor Teammate Jene`)

ISM Adamo Breakaway Saddle...review

2011-07-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

My ever so thoughtful wife got me one of the best birthday presents a triathlete could ask for...an awesomely comfortable saddle. I personally think that she was only thinking about herself when she made this purchase, because the ISM Adamo Breakaway saddle is supposed to reduce the risk of impotence in men. It reduces the perenial pressure which allows normal blood flow to those more "vital organs."

After I got this saddle, the instructions made it clear that these are quite different than any traditional seat. So, I immediately went to their website for extra pointers. They do a great job of explaining how to set up your saddle to achieve maximum comfort. Here are a couple of important tips that I found there...When installing this seat, Adamo recommends that you lower your seat post by 1/2 to 1 centimeter, because the rails are a bit higher than your normal saddle. They also recommend that the seat rails stay as close to level as possible, with only a slight tilt in either direction. Also, there is a break-in/adjustment phase for your booty to get used to the new pressure points of this saddle.  They warn that you may be sore for the first few rides, so start out with short rides until your booty toughens up!

Here is the link to their set up video: http://www.ismseat.com/videos.htm

Just to be sure, I left my post in the same spot and as level as my eyeball could see it.  Once everything was tightened up, I took it out for the first ride. The seat immediately felt different, but in a very good way. It was a lot wider than my Fizik, so it felts like I had a huge maxi-pad between my legs.  [Well, I can only imagine that is what it felt like!] I could feel my body weight on the arms of the saddle, putting all the pressure on my sits bones and nothing on my soft under-carriage .  They were right, my post had to come down a touch and the nose needed to be tilted down too. Once I made these adjustments, everything began feeling even better.

Now that I've ridden it for a little over a month, I can say that one of the best attributes of this saddle is that it is comfortable no matter my riding position. When I race, I get out on the front of the saddle.  Conversely, when I am riding at a slow to moderate pace, I stay more towards the middle. Yet, this saddle is accommodating to both positions. So no matter what pace I am riding, the pressure points of the saddle stay the same.   I have also noticed that I don't have to get out of the saddle to let things "breathe" anymore.  I have been able to stay in the saddle for way longer periods of time without the discomfort that I used to experience.

I am so happy with this saddle that it is hard to come up with any negative comments. But, there are a couple of small things that come to mind. The first is the cost. The Breakaway is $200 in just about every online store I found. There is a Time Trial version that goes up to $225.  However, there are other models that are in the $120-150 range.  Another negative is that bumps in the road seem to be magnified. Hopefully, this is only a temporary thing, until my sits bones get a little tougher. Finally, for all of us weight weenies out there, the Breakaway is a bit heavier than other tri seats, in spite of its titanium rails. It tips the scales at 319 grams, where as the Fizik T2 Carbon and the Selle Italia SLR Tri Gel weigh in at around 225 grams.

All in all, I am completely satisfied with this saddle and would recommend it to anyone who is going to be logging any kind of miles on their bike. And, for any young male cyclist who is wanting kids in the future, this saddle is a must!

OFF THE SCHNEID...the first "1st Overall"

2011-07-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

I almost didn't go. The weather was HOT and HUMID! There were thunderstorms in the area. And, Brayden's soccer team was scheduled to play their semi-final game. But, it's hard to pass up a $25 race entry fee on home turf. So, I told Brayden good luck and apologized for missing his game.

They moved the triathlon to a new location for 2011. Phillips Lake, which was just purchased by the City and turned into park and nature area.  It is just about a mile from the Discovery Parkway overpass to no-where. And, only about 10 minutes from my front doorstep.

We started off with a lighting delay. 8am was the official start time, but they called a 30 minute delay, due to lightning in the area. I guess it was a good call, since a spectator was struck by lightning at one of the baseball venues just the day before.  The problem with delaying our start was that the temperatures were already soaring and another 30 minutes could mean 90+ degrees during the run.

The 1/2 mile swim started in two waves...Ages 34 and under were the first to go.  Then the "geriatric" group of us 35's and over; went 5 minutes later.  I had to laugh; to start the first wave, they yelled "GO!" [Yeah, real high tech, but what do you expect for $25, right?] Once the second wave got going, I took the inside line and it seemed to work out perfectly again. I had open water almost all the way. And then, I only had to maneuver between a couple of swimmers just before the exit.  I really hope that this open water trend continues. I'm 3 for 3 in the "I had an awesome swim" category when taking the inside line.

Exit to T1...Grabbed my bike and hoofed it to the mount line.  The road that exits the Park was a hill, so I had to ride with feet unstrapped (1/8 mile or so) until I hit the main road. Having been in the second wave, there were plenty of people to pass for motivation. The middle section of the course is an out and back, which gave me an idea of who is leading and by how much. Once I saw the first wave leaders, I knew that there wasn't enough course to be able to catch them on the bike. However, once I reached the turn around, I was pretty confident that I was leading the 35+ wave.

T2...Made it through the bike to run exchange without incident, which is always a bonus.  After I cleared the transition area and all the cheering, the run course got really hard. The 2 lap course was a MKT like trail that followed the edge of the lake. Although it was totally flat [Yeah!], it was also totally exposed to the sun [Boo!].  The start of the run was with the wind, which made for no air movement. My head felt like it was going to pop. Even when I had a head wind, it only lowered the possibility of a head pop'n by about 5.237%. As I made my way around the lake trail, there were a lot of athletes walking and struggling with the heat. I just tried to ignore it and concentrate on my stride and cadence.  Finally, I made it to the finish line! Or should I say..."Finish Area!" There was no actual "Line." Just a bunch of people standing around with maybe a clip board and a stop watch, or two. As I sprinted past them, none of them said anything to me. So I kept going for another 5 strides.  Then, in the most pleasant voice ever, I asked, "Where's the finish?!" Nonchalantly someone answered, "You're done."

As it turned out, I was first overall, setting a course record of 1:12:22! [Yeah, I'll have bragging rights to the course record for a year. Only because this is the first time at this venue! ] Good thing I went, huh!

The King Orthopedic Big Shark Triathlon...race recap

2011-07-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

Originally the Big Shark Tri was not on my race schedule. Until, Catina decided to do a Figure Show the day before this race. And, since I was going to be in the neighborhood, I registered and added it to the calendar.

Her show was Downtown StL and we were staying in the very swank Historical Mayfair Hotel. Not knowing how long it would take us to get our car out of the Parking Garage and packed, we decided to get up at 3:30am. It was quite the logistical conundrum. Get her stuff and my race stuff downstairs and to the road, and ready to load. Then, sprint to the Garage and get our car out of hock. Then, back to the Hotel to load; all, before the bums come along and try to take off with everything.

We made our way out of the Downtown area and set the phone GPS for New Town. [Cell phones are truly amazing. Honestly, what can’t they do? Soon, they will make them with coffee makers and hair dryers.] We arrived with plenty of time to get my packet, chip, body marking and to get a descent spot on the bike rack. I’ve made the observation that as I get older; my bike racks progressively have gotten closer and closer to the rear of the Transition Area. Sad really!

We were to enter the swim by bib number, which was arranged by age. Elites were first wave, then the youngest ages to oldest. I thought my number was 554, but my number was actually 454. [The first “4” was written on the back of my shoulder and I couldn’t see it, until I pulled my shoulder up.] “Oh Crap!!!” I began working my way up the line…500’s…490’s…480’s…70’s…closer and closer I got to the starter, and still didn’t see any 450’s. As I got to the front, the swim organizer pushed me forward and said, “You are up!” Just as I stretched on my swim cap, they said “GO!” I didn’t even have on my goggles. I stepped in the water and pulled them over my head and dove. “Ready or not, here I come!”

We were swimming in a man-made lake that was more for looks than anything else. The water was extremely warm, churned and choppy, which really made for a foul tasting, stinky swim. [I’m not for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a little sewer mixed in there.] However, I took a page out of my Quartermax play book and took the inside line and found fairly open water. My swim was a little slower than I hoped, but without incident.

Exit swim and enter the bike. Flat is the best way to describe the bike course. We were riding through farm land that was mainly used for growing corn. The only hill on the course was the little ramp that went up and over the railroad crossing. Seriously! I exited the water with another guy from my age group and we were almost the same speed. He would slowly pull away from me, but then I’d reel him in on the turns. At the beginning, he was about 20 yards ahead of me and when we arrived back at T2, he was about 20 yards ahead of me. We were keeping a pretty good pace, so I figured that he and I would be leading our Age Group.

He exited T2 about 10 seconds ahead of me. I caught up with him at the first turn. After I made the pass, I was hoping that I could keep the pace. I was really glad when I saw that he wasn’t giving chase. After I made it to the first water stop, I settled into my pace hoped that I didn’t burn myself up in the early going. As I rounded the course and pulled through for the first lap, the crowd gives me a pretty good energy boost. “Man I’m feeling awesome right now.” But, as soon as I turn the corner and leave the cheers, the legs turn back into jello. The course was flat, so I just held onto my pace and made it to the finish shoot. As it turned out, I didn’t run as fast as I had here in the past. This flat course should be super fast, but the heat (90+ degrees) made it harder than it should have been. [That’s the excuse that I’m using!]

I finished 6th Overall (including Elites) and was “chicked” by Morgan Chaffin who got 2nd Overall. She kicked me in the swim and bike, but I out ran her!! I was 2nd Overall of the Age Groupers and 1st in my 40-44 Age Group.

2011 Quartermax Triathlon--race recap

2011-07-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

Quartermax as in the name used to be a quarter of an Ironman distance race. Now, they have changed the description to an “International” distance race, but all the distances are still the same as before the name change…1000yd swim / 26mile bike / 6mile run.

I set the alarm for 3am, in hopes of getting out of the house by 4:00. Innsbrook, MO is a little over an hour drive from CoMO, so I make the early drive the morning of the race in order to save a few bucks on a hotel room. The down side is leaving an hour and half before transition opens. This should give us plenty of time to get to the race site, with a little fudge time to make a quick pit stop, if needed.

5:30am—We arrived at the race site with plenty of time to get my race packet, timing chip and body marked. Many of the athletes haven’t arrived yet, so there were no lines to anything, even the port-o-pots! I gather my things from the car and make my way to the empty bike racks.

7:00am – They announce that the water is 76 degrees…Wetsuit legal!!

8:00am – First wave in the water. (Short coursers go first.)

8:30am – My wave, 40 and up, are called to the beach. I was one of the first to enter the beach area to get into position for the start. I usually like to start as far outside of the pack as possible, in hopes of finding the smoothest water possible. I’ll accept swimming a little farther, if it means getting clean water. However, it seemed like everyone in this wave had the same idea. As I walked all the way to the far end of the swim start area, everyone followed. When I turned around, there were a huge pile of guys all standing around on the farthest end (left side) of the beach. Time for Plan B. I walked to the right side of the swim start. I thought to myself that this could be a huge mistake, because this would put me on the inside of the bottle neck when we came to the first swim buoy. As it turned out, it was a great idea. I had, quite possibly, the best open water swim of the history of me doing triathlon. As I approached the first buoy I was expecting to be hammered by all the other swimmers, but nothing but smooth sailing. By the second buoy, I had caught up with the slow swimmers from the wave before…the Pink Caps. They were scattered around the course like sticks in the wind.

As I weaved my way through the mine field of pink caps, I still couldn’t believe the ease of this swim. Turn one, turn two, then into the final stretch, without incident. “Unbelieveable!” As it turned out, I was second out of the water from my wave.

T1 – I peeled off the wetsuit and grabbed my bike stuff; made a quick exit of transition and onto the bike course. The first 3 miles of the course are super technical and hilly. If you push it, this is a great time to make up time lost in the swim. And, we had a tail wind on the first two sections, so I wanted to use this to my advantage. So, I went hard and hoped that I would have enough for the run. It was nice to start behind most of the long course racers, it is always nice to have people to chase. As I closed on the final miles, I noticed that my quads were getting a little crampy. NOT a good thing!

T2 – I grabbed my running shoes and was off onto the 6 miles of hilly hell. The first ¾ miles is up hill and I definitely felt that I rode too hard. My quads and hamstrings were trying to cramp up on me like a mother. I stopped running a couple of times to try and massage out some of the tightness. I tried to shorten my stride, but nothing seemed to help. If this kept up, I wouldn’t be able to go on. I knew I was having a good race, so there was no way I wanted to DNF at this point. Finally, I arrived at the mile one water stop. I grabbed a cup of water and stopped running so I could drink the entire cup. By some miracle, this was what I needed. Almost immediately, I felt the cramps subside and I was able to move again. I kept drinking at each water stop and it seemed to hold off the cramps. Going into the final mile, my left quad was getting super tight. Luckily and I’m not sure how, I was able to hold it together until the finish. Even more surprising, I was able to pull off 6:53 miles.

I finished 8th Overall including the Elite Division, 2nd Overall within the Age Group Divisions and 1st in my 40-44 Age Group.

Rec Plex Triathlon

2011-06-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

I try to race Rec Plex every year. It was my first triathlon that I ever did, but I’m not sure why it holds a special place in my heart. This race is the most “laid back” race that I’ve participated. In spite of some of the short comings, it has a great race atmosphere, awards, food and us usually very competitive.

As I woke at 4am, I heard the all too familiar sound of thunder. When I peeked outside the window, it confirmed my worst fear…raining it’s ass off! I flipped on the Weather Channel and tried to get an idea of the storm. There were Thunderstorm Warnings all over St Louis. In two hours, the weather can change fast, in Missouri. So, I hoped for the best and began going through my pre-race rituals.

By the time I was ready to get to the race site, the rain had all but stopped…score! When I got there, I found “Superstar Parking” on the first rack closest to the bike exit in the transition area… double score!! Then, I went to the restroom and was able to sit right down, without waiting…triple score!!! (My luck would soon end during my swim.)

This race has a pool swim and we enter the water 15 seconds apart and in the order of when we registered. So, there is no rhyme or reason of the speed of swimmers in front of you. As luck would have it, I was behind the slowest swimmers in the race, maybe in the WORLD! I passed the athlete in front of me before I reached the first wall (less than 50 meters). Then, I caught two more swimmers at the next wall (less than 100 meters). Later around lap three, I was held up by a pack of 4-5 swimmers. This was the slowest swim in my history of my doing this race.

By the time I got to my bike course, I felt like I had to go like hell to make up that lost time in the swim. Going out I felt great and was super fast. I didn’t realize that I was being aided by a 10mph tail wind. When I got to the turnaround I realized why the first half felt so good. As I rode into the wind, it didn’t take long for my legs to begin feeling drained and heavy. This race is a “B” race for me, so I didn’t taper going into it and was now cussing myself for that.

As I exited the bike and began my run, my legs had recovered a little and felt as good as they usually do after the bike. The run course is on the trails that connect a couple of the city parks. The trails follow a creek, so they twist and turn and it’s hard to get a visual on who is in front of you. There are a couple of good straights for passing and getting visuals, but for the most part we are running blind and by ourselves.

When I finished, I just felt “BLAH” about this race. Maybe because I didn’t properly taper; or, maybe it was the head cold; whatever the reason, I felt sluggish and tired. I did have good transitions, so there is a positive to take from this race.

I ended up finishing 3rd overall, winning a plaque, water bottle and a $50 gift card to Momentum Cycles. Not too shabby for a tired old man with lead feet, I guess.

Lessons remembered

2011-05-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've trained in the heat. Yesterday, was 90+ degrees here in CoMo! [It's about frig'n time!!] For the past 7 months, the weather has been down right frigid. I think we had the coldest winter on record for the last 1,000 years, or so. October through April, I start off my day by going outside and yelling..."COME ON GLOBAL WARMING! WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

Yesterday, as my run turned into a jog and my jog turned into a walk, the heat reminded me of a couple valuable lessons that I had forgotten...

1. Always take some energy with you. For me, gels are the best. They are compact and fit nicely into a pocket or slide under the leg of my tri shorts.

2. Water! If it can't be found on your route, you must take some with you!

And, that's it! Two simple rules that might save you from the humiliation of being passed on the trail by Old Mrs. Magillicutty and her dog Snots.

BTW...we were a no show for the Mud Run in STL. Two members of our co-ed team didn't want to get their finger nails dirty! [Actually that's a lie, it was me that didn't want to get dirty!]

TriZou, pt2

2011-05-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

More pics from TriZou. Courtesy of Action Sports Images...

2011 TriZou Sprint Triathlon...first race of the year

2011-05-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

First time racing since September 2009! I was excited to be racing again, and a little unsure of how I'd perform. In my time off, I re-read Breakthrough Triathlon Training, by Brad Kearns. I've also been following an Olympic Distance training plan from Multisport.com. This is the coaching group headed by Paula Newby-Frasier. When I compared Brad's plan versus Paula's plans, both had very similar attributes, which made me think that they were onto something.

Wasn't sure how I'd perform because both Brad and Multisport.com's philosophies are totally different than how I used to train. They advocate lots of aerobic training, with one hard run and one hard bike session per week. That's all. This is a huge U-turn from the way I trained just one year ago…which was fast, fast, faster, everyday, every workout.

In spite of taking a year off and my change in training, the thought of racing never really made me feel too freaked out. I fell right to sleep and found it kind of difficult to get my booty out of bed when my alarm went off. I had all my stuff pre-packed the night before, so really, in the morning the only thing I had to worry about was getting in a couple “good” bathroom visits before I had to leave. I got into my tri suit and stepped outside to test the weather man’s forecast. Cold! 50 degrees and wind blowing. “CRAP they were right!”

It is amazing how little traffic there is in CoMo on Sunday morning. A trip that usually takes 20 minutes, only takes about 5 minutes at 4:45am. So, I looked like a hard core over achiever, arriving to the race site at 4:50am. I guess the upside is that this ensures no waiting at the port-o-potties!! It was also amazing that despite this extra early arrival I was still not the first to rack my bike. Once I found my rack and got to work on setting up my bike…shoes in the pedals, one water bottle, sunglasses and helmet, etc… Running shoes, socks, bib number and visor. (Yes, socks! I tried running without socks once…ONCE!) Now with all this done, there was plenty of time to get in a warm up jog and swim.

The race: The “Elite Division” got the race rolling. Then, us age groupers got our turn. We entered the water one at a time, 20 (I think) seconds apart. Before the race began, we were to sort ourselves in approximate swim time finish. I tried to find the 6:15ers. But, it never fails that there is going to be an athlete who totally over estimates and underestimates their swim time and totally screws everything up. The guy directly behind made up the stagger and passed me in less than 100 meters. He definitely was an “underestimater!” I guess I can’t say too much about this…having passed two athletes myself. Oops! As I exited the pool and ran outside, the cold air hit me like an arctic blast. “Whoa COLD!”

T1 was about 150 yards from the pool, so there was a pretty big sprint to the bikes, then another 100 yard sprint to the bike out gate. T1 went smooth; I got onto the bike and into my shoes without incident. (For the first time, I actually practiced this before the race and I think it paid off.) The bike course is 2 laps, basically a square with two big hills on the east and west sides. The first lap seemed quick and easy. However, the second wasn’t as much fun. The wind and the hills seemed to slow me down a lot more. And to add insult to injury, I got passed by a local speedster (Mark Wilson).

Luckily, T2 came and went without incident. As I got to my transition area and pulled on my socks and shoes, grabbed my hat and bib number and off I went. My transition was quick enough that Mr. Wilson exited the transition area about 50 yards ahead of me. Knowing that he is a fast runner, I was glad that I could still see him at this point. The first half mile of the run is up a long gradual hill. There is nothing better than maxing out your heart rate in the first ¼ mile of a race. As we went up, up and up, I noticed that the gap wasn’t getting any bigger between us. Mile one…I was closing, but wasn’t sure if I could hold this pace. Mile 2…I had closed the gap. Just as we came even, he accidentally turned off course (into a parking lot) and I kept going straight. He noticed the mistake and turned around, but by then I had put a gap on him. That seemed to be the breaking point, because I only increased the gap after that.

The thing with a time trial start is that you really don’t know where everyone else started…before you, or after you. So you really don’t know who is beating you and who you are beating. As it were, Mr. Wilson started about 3-4 people behind me, giving me a good minute or so head start. So, I would have to put over a minute on him, on the run. Even though I came through the finish ahead of Mr. Wilson, he still beat me by 34 seconds.

Final results…4th Over All and 1st in my 40-44 Age Group. If I had raced in the Elite Division, I would have placed 8th. My swim has my run out included in the time, so I don’t know my average pace. I averaged 23.3 mph on the bike. And, averaged 5:50 p/mile on the run.

Idol E Neuman

2011-04-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm almost 100% sure that I am not the first to say this, but doesn't American Idol's Scotty McCreery look just like Mad's Alfred E Neuman? Catina is hooked on American Idol, so it is on the TV every night of the week. I can't keep up with all the contestants names and only know them by faces. But, I do know one of the names...Alfred E Neuman! That low voiced, country singing boy from North Carolina. Yup, I can remember his name.

Team Aquaphor

2011-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since I opened this blog!

I've been trying to heal up my plantar fasciitis (Spelling?? I've had it for 6 months, you would think I could spell it by now!) It is a constant battle. One day it is fine, the next not so much. Last summer, it was "one" of the reasons why my race schedule was a BLANK! However, it seems to be healing or at least getting better. There is still pain, but not like before. Umm, more of a dull nagging pain now, rather than a burning jabbing pain last summer.

Anyway, there is some good news to report; for a change. I have been selected to be a member of the 2011 Team Aquaphor. The team is comprised of 200 amateur age group athletes, who are predominantly triathletes and runners. I am still in process of getting my Team stuff (more on that when it all arrives) and instructions. Monday, I have a conference call with the team organizers and will get more information of what is expected of us athletes. I am pretty stoked about being selected. I applied a couple of times, but nothing. So this year, I applied again, but with zero expectations. And actually, I had totally forgotten about it when I got their "Congratulations" email. I had to laugh!!

Since I found out, a couple of weeks ago...It has surely been a great training motivator. Knowing that there are now expectations at every race helps to focus the training a little tighter. "Everything with a purpose!" is now the motto. After laying off last year, I am really looking forward to getting out there and letting 'er rip!!

More to come...

Is it time, yet?

2010-12-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

I think that it is time to start training again, isn't it? The heel is beginning to feel better. (I've been battling a very stubborn case of plantar fasciitis.) The only reason I say this, is because the Christmas season is upon us. Now is the time when all I eat is garbage...chocolate, pumpkin pie, candy, etc... For example...last night the Family went to our Church's "Family Christmas Celebration." [Which was a great time!] We watched a play, listened to music and played games. Afterwards, the entire entry way to the church was lined with tables, filled with desserts. You name it, it was there. Everything from brownies, fudge, chocolate covered pretzels, M&M's, muffins, yadda, yadda, yadda...there was a lot of junk food.

This morning, I come to work where we are doing our company "Holiday" [we can't say "Christmas" because it might offend someone!!] Party, where we had biscuits and sausage gravy, three different types of egg/sausage casseroles, breads, spreads, juices and all sorts of food craziness.

I'm estimating that in the last 10 hours, I've consumed 12,000 calories! Yeah, is it time to get back to training??

Just the thought of it all makes me want to...

Mizzou over Oklahoma in stunning fashion

2010-10-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

I watched the Missouri vs Oklahoma game on TV. What an amazing game. This is the best win for Mizzou in YEARS! First, victory for Coach Pinkel against a #1 ranked opponent. All week I kept saying that I hoped that Mizzou would just keep it close.

Luckily they didn't hear my pessimism, because they came out ready to play and kick butt. They beat OU in every aspect of the game. One of the most impressive plays of the game was when we needed a foot or so for a first down. We did a QB sneak and our offensive line totally pushed OU's line backwards. In past years we would have punted, because our line would never be able to man handle OU's line like that. Impressive!

After the game, Catina and I jumped in the car and headed down to Harpo's. We wanted to be a part of the victory hysteria. Mizzou Fans didn't disappoint. Thousands of Tiger fans filtered downtown like zombies to a brain, just to get a glimpse of the goal posts being marched downtown. Matter of fact, I mentioned that to Catina...Why do the goal posts always get taken to Harpo's and then hacked to pieces? That is a weird (but cool) tradition that we have here.

Here are some of the photos that I took of the goal post march:

All my post game pics can be found HERE.

Yankee hater...et al.

2010-10-19T18:16:00.001-07:00

Watching the American League Division playoffs, I find myself rooting for the Texas Rangers. It's not because I really want Texas to win. It's more like, I want to see the New York Yankees lose. There are a few teams that I absolutely love to hate. No matter who they play, I'll root for the other team, every time. My top 5 "Love to Hate" list...

1. Kansas Jayhawks - Being a Missouri Tiger, this is instilled in my being from when I was a wee young'n...WE HATE KANSAS! What is a Jayhawk anyway???

Do you know why all the trees in Missouri lean to the west? Because Kansas SUCKS!!

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Not exactly sure why, but maybe it's because they totally stink and NBC still feels the need to air every one of their boring games. Or, maybe it's because they think that they are too good to belong to a single Conference.

3. New York Yankees - Probably rooted back when good 'ol George was at the helm and hiring and firing managers like they were going out of style. And, every year they try to buy their way into the World Series.

4. Dallas Cowboys - Once again...They have an owner that needs to remove himself from the lime light. Just shut it Jerry and get off the field!

5. Tiger Woods - OK, he's not a team, but am totally sick of him. It's truly amazing that Tiger had so many affairs without anyone knowing, because the Media feels the need to report on everything that he does. No matter how well or crappy he's playing, we get highlights of his play. Always! Tiger can be 25 over par and they still have to tell us about it. F'n annoying!

12 Healthy Power Food Pairs - Actice.com article

2010-10-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

I found a pretty good article about the benefits from pairing certain foods and/or activities together. The article sites 12 pairings and their benefits. Here are the highlights...

1. Green Tea and Lemon-Lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke.
2. Exercise and Music-Lifts your mood and motivates you during exercise
3. Pot Roast and Carrots-Vitamins and minerals from both (plus its a comfort food)
4. Burger and Frozen Yogurt-Calcium blocks the absorption of fat
5. PLAC test + HSCRP test-What and huh??
6. Salad and Avocado-Avocado aids in absorption of vitamins
7. Strength training and stretching-Stretching helps strength development
8. The Mediterranean diet and Nuts- Aids in weight loss and is a low cholesterol diet
9. Retinoid and Benzoyl peroxide- Another what and huh?
10. Eggs and Orange juice-Good sources of Iron and Vitamin C
11. Curcumin and Black Pepper-Anti cancer properties and reduces chances of getting Alzheimer's disease
12. Caffeine and Cardio-(My favorite) Anticancer properties. Caffeine increases endurance.

The original article can be found on Active.com's website by clicking.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................here.

Roots N Blues pt2

2010-10-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Funny how things work out. Here is an little blurb with some of my photos on MyMissourian.com.

http://mymissourian.com/2010/10/03/wilsons-fitness-employees-participate-in-roots-n-blues-half-marathon/

Roots-N-Blues 10K and Half Marathon

2010-10-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

Roots-N-Blues Half Marathon seemed to be my last chance to get in a race, before the Missouri racing season ends. For the last month, I tried to get my mileage up in hopes of racing in the Half, until my planters fasciitis really flared up and doused my plans to race. A couple of weeks ago, I called it a season and am looking to get back into racing next spring. Or at least, that's the plan for now.

Wilson's Fitness had about 30 people running in the Half or 10K, so I took the camera and snapped some photos as they finished. Photos are here.

Bret Michaels Rocks Vegas

2010-08-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Did you see that Bret Michaels is going to put on a free concert following the Rock-n-Roll Marathon in Las Vegas? I saw their ad in the latest issue of Triathlete Magazine. I had to laugh at how they are toting this concert...

"Kick off your post-race celebration by rocking out to the sounds of power ballads and party anthems performed by electrifying headliner Bret Michaels."

(I guess I should give Bret some props for giving a free concert!)

However, I have a theory about Mr. Michaels...BALD! Has anyone ever seen him without a hat or bandanna? Sometimes he wears both!! Pretty sketchy if you ask me! I think that he's pulling an "Andre Agassi" on us and wears a hair hat. Come on Mr Michaels, those long golden locks are purchased and not grown, aren't they.

Someone should contact Myth Busters and ask them to look into this!

Track work

2010-07-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to the track to do a little sprint work. For the last 18 months or so, my version of "track work" was just upping my tempo on a shorter run. So, it felt really weird to sprint again. My arms and legs felt like they were all over the place and my head felt like it was being rattled off my body. After a couple of 200's and 400's, I started to get the hang of it again. But by then, I was pooped and ready to stop. Not to mention that the heat index at 2:00pm was like 1,000 degrees. As I staggered over to my water bottle to get a drink, I noticed that it felt super light. Yeah, Brayden drank all my water. "NO WATER FOR YOU!" [in a Soup Nazi voice]

What are the odds??

2010-07-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the odds of being struck by lightning is about 1:500,000? The odds of dying in a plane crash are about 1:10 million. And, the odds of winning the Powerball Lottery jackpot is 1:195 million.

So, what are my odds of being out on a ride, having a bee hit me in the head, getting stuck in my helmet vent and stinging me on the forehead?? I guess they are pretty good!

I was into about mile 28 of 30, when I heard a loud "CRACK" on my helmet. In Missouri, it's pretty frig'n common for insects to crash into you during a ride. I've always wondered why they do that. All that space out there and they want to occupy the same space at the same time as me. They are so tiny compared to me. You would think that they would try to avoid crashing into something 1,000 times larger than them, but nope! Anyway, I felt something moving around in my hair, then "Yoweeeeee!" Something laid into me and stung me right on the head! I quickly unbuckled my helmet and threw it into the ditch. [Which was very dangerous, because I was going well over 50mph.] My glasses got tangled in the straps and fell right under my back wheel..."Crunch!"

So there I was, two miles from home with a throbbing head, broken glasses and trying to find my helmet in the ditch weeds. As I limped home, I was just hoping that I was going to look better than this guy...

Zombie Awareness Month

2010-05-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that May is "Zombie Awareness Month?"

In an effort to keep with the May tradition, I watched the 2008 version of the "Day of the Dead." Holy-moly, it was pretty bad and totally predictable. I laughed through almost all of it. It never ceases to amaze me, how people can do some really stupid things when zombies are trying to eat their brains. [Why would you ever try to fight an army of zombies with an oxygen tank?]

As bad as they are, I really enjoy zombie movies. They are probably my most favorite of all the horror flicks. Unfortunately, 99% of all zombie movies ever made really suck! I guess it is the combination of "scary" and funny that keeps me coming back. I'll take a bad zombie movie over a romantic vampire movie any day [Twilight...OMG, I think I'm gonna puke!]

So, here are my favorite zombie movies for May...

1. 28 Weeks Later (Excellent; never kiss a zombie, even if it's your zombie wife)

2. I Am Legend (Will Smith; don't cook the bacon)

3. Resident Evil-Extinction (Anything with Ali Larter has got to be good)

4. 30 Days of Night (Real good, but the ending stinks)

5. Night of the Living Dead (The original; black and white is just creepy)

Cursed

2010-04-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

For years now, there has been a mystical force [or maybe a curse] that follows me around on my bike. No matter where I am, no matter how desolate the area I'm riding, it will bring two cars together at my exact location.

It never seems to fail...I'll be riding our on Rangeline with no cars for miles. As soon as one car approaches in front, another will approach from the rear. The three of us always seem to meet at the same spot of the road at the exact same time. Honestly, what are the odds. Nothing for hours, then two cars at the same time. This happens every time I ride.

I first noticed this when we lived in Colorado. I used to ride on a awesome stretch of road that would have one travel on it every 12 weeks, or so. Except when I was riding. Invariably, those two cars would meet precisely at the same time and place as me!

I guess it's a good thing that I don't mountain bike, huh!

"The only reason one should run in the rain, is to avoid getting wet!"

2010-04-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

With the new Healthcare Law, there has been much debate about our inalienable rights. Washington DC has publicly stated that government run healthcare is a right for all Americans. Really? I thought that was a privilege. The line between rights and privileges has been sewed to the point where I'm not sure which is which anymore. What I used to think were privileges are now becoming rights. Very confusing!

Except for SPANDEX! There is no gray area here my friends, spandex is, and will always be a privilege, and not a right. If you have ever raced a triathlon, you know what I'm talking about. Never has there been a start of a race, without someone who has seemingly misjudged or underestimated their own personal girth. Squeezing into a tri top and/or biker shorts, that defies every law of physics and all common decency. Burning an image into our medula oblugodas that no amount of therapy can ever remove.

Rule of thumb...If you have to ask "Does this make my butt look fat?" The answer is always YES!

Not a dryer

2010-03-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that the Suitmate Water Extractor at the pool. . . IS NOT A DRYER!!

I'm waiting to use the super spinning machine. In my way, is a dude who expects every micro-ounce of water to magically disappear from his shorts. I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting! Finally, the machine's auto shut off kicks in and begins slowing the spinner. The dude doesn't get it and doesn't accept that all the water is gone and keeps holding down the lid. I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting. Finally, the machine stops and he takes out his shorts. I put my shorts in, spin for a second and done. That's the way you do it!

Whew! Why is that so hard?

First ride of 2010

2010-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my first ride outside for 2010. Last spring, I upped my minimum riding temperature. Well, this year I kinda upped it again. There was a time, when I would ride in temperatures in the upper 30's. As I got older, my cut off was 40 degrees. Last year, I upped it to mid-40's. I guess, I just upped it again to 60. The last week, we have had temps that would have easily been ridable, in the early years. But, yesterday was the actually the first day of 2010 that was within my new guidelines.

Eventually, I don't see any way that I can live in Missouri. Not just on riding terms, but for living! As my riding temperatures increase, so do my living temps. this winter has been particularly rough! Those days where we didn't get above 20 degrees were just horrible. I lived in my long johns, sweatshirts and wool socks for about the last five months. Matter of fact, yesterday was the first time I've taken them off since Halloween. [Maybe now, I can wash them. They are getting a little rank!] I always thought that Phoenix, Arizona would be a great place to live.

'09 USAT Ranking

2010-02-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

New logo! (Oooh, ahhh!)

I just checked out the USAT rankings for the '09 season. I have to admit...I'm a little disappointed. I thought that I would have placed just a little higher than I did. I am still in denial (a little bit)..."There must be a mistake!" Right?

My 2009 score is 90.48135 [which means nothing to me, really]. Nationally, that ranks me at 235th in the 40-44 Age Group; All American-Honorable Mention. (First in Missouri thought!!!)

Sadly, in 2008 a score of 90.48135 would have been good for a ranking of 94th nationally in the 40-44 age group. And, in 2007...a 90.48135 score would have been ranked 45th nationally. Confounded!!

This is good news for the sport, but very very bad for me!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2010-01-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

You know, when you find something that is practical, economical and works, you stick with it. There are a few things that I consider to be "Just the Best" in the realm of athletic stuff. I've compiled a list of those small things that make life as a triathlete, so much easier! And, if you don't have them, you probably should...

WD-40
From chains to cables, this stuff is the miracle lube for everything bike. And, it can help you get those annoying stick on numbers off our stuff.
Black Electrical Tape This is the triathletes "Duct Tape." Universally used and easily comes off, so you don't have any left over tape gunk stuck to your stuff. I've used this on race day to hold gels to my top tube and numbers to my frame. Generally use it to mark on my seat height, when I have to take my seat out of my frame. And to hold my rolled inner tubes/tubular tires tight, so they'll fit into a pocket.
Venus Razors There is no better shaver than these. I have less nicks, ingrown hairs and razor burn with these razors. And, an all around better shave.

Equate Deep Moisture Body Wash
I use this instead of shaving cream. It is super slippery for the perfect shave.

Bag Balm
On long runs, there is nothing better between the toes and any area that might chaff. Some triathletes put Bag Balm directly in their shoes so they can run without socks and blisters. Do not use this with wetsuits though!Fuel Belt Bento BoxIt's the perfect size for those little things that you need access to during a longer ride. I use the small box size and it can hold my cell phone, 2 gels, keys, inner tube, power bar, driver's license and debit card. Stopwatch
Great for intervals at the track or in the pool. Why these are better than your awesome Timex Ironman watch?...The display is bigger, it can be viewed during your swim and one hand operation.

The cool thing is that you can find all these things for around $10 (each).

When the dogs bite, when the bees sting, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel soooooo baaaaaaadddddd! [In a Julie Andrews voice]

Fair Weather

2010-01-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I am a fair weather guy. There was a day, when I would go for a run when the temperatures were in the negatives. Matter of fact, Catina and I used to have a competition of who could go for a run in the coldest temperature. Those days are long gone and now I don't even think about getting out for a run when the temperatures are below freezing. And, I won't even think about touching my bike if the temperature is below 50 degrees.

As I was browsing around Multisports.com, I found a AWESOME quote by Jimmy Riccitello...

The only time someone should run in the rain, is to avoid getting wet.

Bravo Jimmy, well said! Maybe I wouldn't have always said this, but I do now. I think that the moral of Jimmy's quote is...Swimming, biking and running are things that should be fun, not miserable. Missing a workout because of any reason should be good enough and should not weighing heavy on your minds.

Good words of wisdom! As the season approaches and training ramps up, this saying is going to be my 2010 motto!

TRIATHLETES kNOw SUFFERING

2010-01-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

I was watching the Ironman World Championships on telvision and something disturbed me. I thought that maybe I was being too sensitive and dismissed it. However, last night I was on the trainer and decided to watch it again. So I reach into the DVR and hit the replay button. As before, Chrissie and Craig won again! I had to FF through most of those "Feel Good" stories...how someone lost their hip bone in a marsh mellow eating contest and now they are competing in the Ironman.

Anyway, as I'm watching the show, it is nearing the end and they are showing a disabled athlete. He had a artificial leg and seriously struggling to stay upright. He was trying to run, but was leaning so far over that he was going further sideways than forward. There was a mob around him, cheering him on. Inevitably, he slows and starts walking. The mob keeps cheering and urging him to keep going. Obviously, this guy was done and anyone could have seen this. He stops. The mob keep urging him on. "He's DONE!" I scream at the TV. The mob keeps urging him on. He is staggering around and can hardly keep his balance. Finally, one lady (I think it was one of the Medical Staff) says to him..."It's OK. It's OK." At that moment, as if he needed permission, he collapsed to the ground.

Watching this scene just disturbs me. I am so totally pissed at these guys who are cheering him and don't seem worried about this dudes health. People...When someone has been exercising for 15 hours and is staggering around and can't walk straight, HE IS IN TROUBLE! He isn't getting any better, and no amount of cheering will help. Thank God that someone told him that it was OK to stop.

How ironic is that...I'm a triathlete and hate to see people suffer! Suffering is the essence of our sport. Yet, I cringe when I see athletes staggering or crawling to the finish line. Like the classic footage of Julie Moss back in 1982.
http://www.livevideo.com/video/trigirl/4FE1ED0A9D254E39A0EE2405DAE105F5/julie-moss-1982-hawaii-ironma.aspx

That's hard to watch!

Quote of the day...50% of the time, it works everytime!

Being Aero, after 40

2009-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Being a Type A, I am in constant "competitive" mode, usually just with myself; trying to beat my performance from one moment to the next. Usually it is something stupid, like trying to make it up the stairs in so-many steps, or how fast I can get ready for work in the mornings. I'm this way with triathlon too. Every year, I want to be faster than I was last year. But, as the years pass, this goal keeps getting tougher and tougher. I've accumulated all the "stuff" to make me as efficient as possible...tri bike w/ aero bars, aero helmet, deep dish rims, carbon fiber this and super light that (made from a space-age polymer that should pedal itself). Even with all this stuff, I've noticed that my bike splits haven't reached the speed of light, as all the brochures promised. So, what gives?

One morning, I was sitting in my "one seat office" reading Triathlon Magazine. I found an article about body positioning (on the bike), which basically said that the body is the largest mass that slows us down. And, if we can limit the amount of air that is being caught by our bodies, we will ride with more efficiency (and be faster). Seems simple enough, right?? Not really! Research shows that the position of your head, shoulders, back, etc...all have an impact on aerodynamics and speed. So, to be truly aero, all these parts need to be held in the correct position the entire time on the bike. Or in other words, wrap yourself up in a ball and hold! Oh and by the way, do this while riding your bike as fast as you can!

One of the things that they did with Lance Armstrong, when he was tweaking his aero position, was to work on his flexibility. [I don't really consider myself to be a better time trialist than Lance, so I thought that that might be a good starting point for me.] These are a few of the stretches that Active.com recommended to improve flexibility for a better aero position...

Cat Stretch - With hands and knees on the floor; let your lower back sink toward the floor and then reverse and arch upward.
Standing back extension - Stand and place palms against lower back, just above the hips with fingers pointing down. Push palms in.
Arm extension - Interlace your fingers above your head, palms facing up. Push your arms slightly back and up.
Upper body stretch - Place your hands against the wall, shoulder width apart, directly in front of you. Slowly move your chest downward. Keep feet planted under you and make sure to bend your knees.
Figure "4" stretch - Sitting on the floor, put your legs in a figure 4 (one leg straight, the other bent with the sole of your foot touching just around the knee or inner thigh of the straight leg; the knee of the bent leg should be as close to the floor as possible). Lean forward from the hips and try to touch your toes. Don't forget to switch legs!!!

And, if this doesn't make me faster...At least I'll be able to touch my toes!

Hope to see you out there!

Back in the saddle

2009-11-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

I probably shouldn't say anything about this yet, but I'm bust'n.

Catina and I are organizing a triathlon!

It's been a couple of years since I've done this type of thing, but like riding your bike...it comes back to you. We've chosen an indoor tri, because this is something that no one does around here. And, February has no events! We are hoping that this will also help kick off training for most triathletes, or motivation for non-triathletes.

This is going to be a fund raiser for someone out there. We can't decide on a charity.

More to come on this once it gets "officially" approved!!

2009-10-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a lot going on lately, that's why the lack of writing. Tri season is over, the Cardinals are out of the playoffs, MU football stinks, the Chiefs stink even worse, so there isn't a lot of positive things to write about. The only thing that has been going on has been a lot of eating. It seems that my appetite hasn't diminished since I was training like a triathlete. Needless to say, I have gained a few pounds since Lake St Louis in August.

Which brings me to my newest theory on food. To go along with my "Dessert should be eaten first," (and the beer before liquor thing) I think that when it comes to mixing your flavors of pizza, you should never eat the meated pizza before the veggied pizza. It must be the extra fat that is in the meat that makes our mouths say "Yes, give me that one, forget everything else!" Veggie pizza is mostly blah anyway, but once your mouth gets a hint of that pepperoni grease...forget it!

go tigers!

Mizzou vs Nebraska

2009-10-09T11:02:00.001-07:00

Columbia Daily Tribune

Last night I watched the Mizzou / Nebraska game. Man, that was tough to watch. The only thing worse than the weather, was the football being played. Missouri and Nebraska should be embarrassed by what took place on the field last night. Neither team could do anything. Dropped passes, mis-ques, fumbles, interceptions, penalty after penalty after penalty, 3 and out, 3 and out, 3 and out, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt!!!!! Calgon, take me away!!! You know it's bad, when the announcers of the game are comparing the score to a baseball game and when there are more penalty yards than offensive yards.

The part that kills me, is that Missouri is a better team than Nebraska. Yet, NU put it together when it meant the most and came out on top. I guess that's why they play the game.

Reality is reality enough!

2009-09-30T10:29:00.001-07:00

I just read on somewhere.com, that the Jon & Kate Plus 8 reality show may be over! How are we going to live our lives, without Jon and Kate? How can we go on?

Unbelievably, there were over 7 million viewers during season 5, with only a little over 1 million viewers watching this season. Which brings me to ask, why is there still 1 million viewers watching this crap. The reality of Reality Shows is that we the viewers need to get a life. When Reality TV first came about, it was fresh and new. But now, you can find "reality shows" on every station; everything from watching Truckers drive their rigs on ice to The Life of "Wolfboy."

And if that wasn't bad enough, we have those crapola magazines like the Star, Enquirer (is that even around anymore?), Us, People, etc...keeping a lot of these "stars" careers limping along. If it weren't for these magazines, we wouldn't even know that Brittney Spears, Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton were even alive. But no, each edition they have to keep us posted on their drinking habits, love lives, or how often they exit a limo without panties.

With everything that is going on in the world, the real reality, is reality enough. The economy stinks. Israel and Iran are about to duke it out. Obama and all the Democrats are about to Socialize the US, not to mention bankrupt her in the process. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't end. Talk Like a Pirate Day has passed. And, worst of all...SUMMER IS OVER!

So yea, I guess I'm not too worried about Jon and Kate.

On Training Strike!!

2009-09-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

Two weeks and counting!

Since the Lake St Louis Triathlon [Aug. 22], I haven't put one foot into a pool, one foot into a running shoe, nor put one butt on a bike seat. After that race, I strained my calf and wanted to take some time off and do a little bodily healing. Just taking some time off and not worrying about my next workout REALLY feels good. Since I went on my training strike my calf, knees and achilles have stopped hurting. Amazing how that works. [Maybe those doctors were right?]

My original plan was to do some massage therapy and a lot of stretching on the ol' legs. But, I have really done none of that. Which is a real switch from my usual Type A personality non-stop two-a-day mega intense brick workouts, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, go go go Go GO GO!!!

The plan from here out is to get back into it, BUT only when I feel like it. Not, because I feel like I have to train. So, I've made a deal with myself to take as much time off as I want. And, WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY FOR IT!

So far, so good! Cheers!

B

2009-09-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

3x5

I'm writing you
to catch you up on places I've been
And you have this letter
probably got excited, but there's nothing else inside it
didn't have a camera by my side this time
hoping I would see the world with both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words
Today skies are painted colors of a cowboy's cliche'
And strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky
are next to mountains anyway
Didn't have a camera by my side this time
Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
just no more 3x5's Guess you had to be there
Guess you had to be with me Today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture framme
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to
lose my way but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
no more 3x5's

by John Mayer

Lake St Louis Triathlon

2009-08-24T07:10:00.001-07:00

OK, so I lied! I haven't posted my Mexico pictures yet. Matter of fact, I'm not even sure where they are!!

Anyway, Lake St Louis Triathlon was on Saturday. Good race, as usual. This race always has a light and fun atmosphere. I guess its because there are so many first timers, that everyone there is out to have a good time and not get bogged down with winning. One of my favorite things about this race is the beginning of the bike and all of the run goes through neighborhoods. My favorite is the family just on the other side of the dam during the run, who always have the music cranked, their yard is filled with people and they all cheer for you as if they know you. Speaking of...A big THANKS to those cheering at the finish line. Catina and the boys couldn't make the trip, so it was nice to have someone calling out your name. Very cool!

I haven't compared my splits from this year to last, but I was about 4 minutes slower this year than last. And, I'm blaming that on my damn calf. I tweaked it the week before the Big Shark race last month and it has been bothering me since. I hoped that I could mend it over the vacation, but us Type A's can't seem to ever take a day off. I went into Saturday, knowing that it was going to be more painful than usual. Luckily, I'm not signed up for any more races this season, so I think that it is time to make myself "rest" a little. I always tell myself to take at least two weeks off, which usually turns into two days. We'll see!

Hola Amigo

2009-08-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigo!

Just got back from Riviera Maya, Mexico. Quite the adventure! I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Hunter Kemper

2009-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night I was going to hop on the trainer and spin while I watched a little TV. I checked through the DVR'd recordings and found a lot of nothing. It seems that we only record Sponge Bob, or triathlons. There were 50 million cartoons and races in there, but no movies. I think that I've recorded (and kept) every tri that has been broadcast in the last three years.

As I'm sifting through all the Sponge Bob cartoons, I find the un-watched 2009 Hy-Vee triathlon. So I jump on the bike and push play. As I watch the insanity that is ITU racing. I can't believe the mass chaos of the swim...100 uber competitive, Type-A guys, swimming in one huge pack, all trying to get to the turn buoy first! Not really my idea of a good time.

As the broadcast went on, they did a little interview with Hunter Kemper. [Three time US Olympian and pretty much all around stud triathlete.] As the interview went on, I kept thinking that he reminded me of someone. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. When I got to work this morning, I realized who it was that Hunter reminds me.

If they ever do a claymation version of Hunter Kemper's life. I know who would be a perfect fit to play his role!

I think that this may be a symptom of adults watching too much kid's television.

My Pants

2009-07-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

So...What's the deal with pant sizes? Am I shrinking, or have the clothing makers changed something? I have been a size 32 for years! All of a sudden, size 32 is WAY too big! I noticed it last winter, when I tried to buy a pair of jeans. Usually, I just grab the 32/34 and am good to go. Nope! They were HUGE! They totally slid off my ass! So, I thought that that particular pair was mis-sized and exchanged for another pair of 32/34's. When I got them home, they were the same way. What the #$%&!!

So, I've ordered two pairs of size 32 TYR shorts this year. The first pair was a tri short (w/pad) and the second was a square leg swim short. The tri shorts seemed a little big when I first got them, but they are OK. The square leg shorts are way too big and even bigger when I get them in the pool. Unfortunately, I've worn both pairs and can't return. I've had size 32 TYR swim jammers in the past and they fit very snug (like they should). What's the #$%&!!

The weird thing about all this size swapping, is that I can still fit into my older size 32's. It isn't just a case of the incredible shrinking man. There is a conspiracy here in America to make us think that the obesity problem isn't as bad as it really is. Fat, dumb and happy. That's the way we like it best. What the #$%&!!

New Town Triathlon...Review

2009-07-21T09:29:00.001-07:00

OK, so I raced in the New Town Triathlon...instead of the Show Me State Games. I still feel guilty. And, another layer of guilt was spread on thick, when someone in the Club sent out an email about SMSG saying "We should try to support our local races."

So we travelled to New Town - St. Charles! That was quite the experience. Quite the experience on so many different levels!

First, the town...The word on the street was that the guy that built the set for the Truman Show, is the one developing New Town. It is something out of a story book. Picture perfect in every way. I don't even know how to describe it. It is truly something right out of the Truman Show. For me...I couldn't live in a place where visitors gawk as if they were looking at a freak show. It was way too stale, fake and WAY TOO CREEPY!!!

As for the triathlon...

I absolutely loved the time trial start into the water. To all the race directors out there...that's the way to do it! The only place that seemed to get congested was around the turns. I'm not quite sure why, but it was smooth sailing until I got to the turns, then there were 20 guys all doing the breast stroke.

The bike was super flat and fast. I don't think that there were any hills, at all, ever!!! This area is all farm land and flat as far as the eye can see. I heard another racer mention that they wished there was more scenery on the bike course. [Uhh, it was a race!] The only thing that I have to say about it is that there were a lot of left turns, which are always dicey with vehicular traffic. And, there were two rail road crossings. Otherwise, the course was smooth, the staff/volunteers did a great job with traffic and direction.

The run was a lot like the bike course, except with a view. They had us run through the streets of New Town. Even though it was a super fast run, it still was a little creepy. Some of the residents were cheering from their porches and front yards. That is always welcome and not creepy.

As for the biggest negative that I saw...They ran out of post race food! One of the things that most athletes remember about a race is the food. Ask any triathlete specifics about a race course and they might remember. But, you ask them what they had for post race food, and they'll definitely remember.

I'm pretty easy to please, I'd give this race two Siskle and Ebert thumbs up!

New Town Triathlon

2009-07-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a sprint race in St Charles, MO this upcoming Sunday...New Town Triathlon (.62 mile swim / 20 mile bike / 4 mile run). It is organized by the St Louis area bicycle empire...Big Shark Bicycle Company. I really hated to do it because it is on the same day of the Show Me State Games. The SMSG tri is here in Columbia, has cheap entry fees, one I've done for years and is actually a good little race...1/2 mile swim / 20 mile bike / 4 mile run. I like to support the local races, when I can. Unfortunately, I want to get a better pool of USAT races and SMSG's isn't sanctioned. I guess that makes me a USAT points snob, doesn't it?

New Town Tri has an interesting twist to their swim start. Like Memphis In May, they start everyone individually, by age group and with a three second gap. But, we start ITU style... on a dock and with a dive start. This could prove to be amusing.

Bike Course...flat and fast! It is in the Missouri River bottoms, which can be fast and furious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a low wind day, because any wind out on the flats always feels stronger than normal.

Run Course...flat and fast! [At least, from what I can tell from the map.] It is a two loop course, which should be good for spectators and totally confusing for the athletes.

We'll see!

Boys

2009-07-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

There are a couple of bodily oddities that are always good for a laugh at the Topash household...Farts, Burps and Boogers. [There are actually a lot more, but because of time constraints, the list has to be limited to the top three.] No matter, where, when, how or why, these always are good for a laugh. One of our favorite movie scenes is in Elf, when Buddy burps for forever while sitting at the dinner table, then asks his brother..."Did you hear that?"

Last week, we had a hilarious run in with the second and third! I guess Brayden had a little bit of a cold. Being the Father, I knew nothing of this! He was drinking a soda in the car and wanted to get an easy Topash laugh by burping. One of his nostrils was...a little full. So, when he burped, out flew a huge booger. This thing was the size of a lobster, almost!! We laughed, until we cried; I almost rear ended the car ahead of me. Little did he know that he was going to get a two for one sale.

B

Movie Review...Transformers 2

2009-07-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

So, the fam went to see the new Transformers 2 movie. Skylar and Brayden were totally stoked. We pretty much had to go, since they've been counting down the days until it opened and Brayden had been wearing his Optimus Prime Halloween costume all week.

I really didn't pay attention to the first Transformers movie, so I thought that this one might suck. All I remember from the first movie was how fast everything moved. Maybe because I'm getting old, but I couldn't keep up with any of it [and the music was too loud!]. Anytime there was a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, I couldn't tell who was who and who was winning. You know guys, there is technology in movie making that slows the action down...it's called "Slow Motion!!"

However, I was pleasantly surprised with the sequel. Still, the action was fast and furious, but not dizzying like in the first movie. The plot was nothing more than good versus evil, which always seems to captivate the audience; especially for those ages 6 and 9. There was plenty of hot rods, explosions and machines being destroyed. Sam, the main character, finally grew a sack. He wasn't this little wussy boy, who was afraid of everything as in the first movie [annoying]. And finally, there was Megan Fox (Mikaela), who definitely lives up to her name. She is breathtaking [in a good way Elaine]. Her first scene had her in Daisy Dukes, straddling a motor cycle. That scene alone got the movie two thumbs up! And yes, there were many scenes with her running in slow motion! Funny how they can have the fight scenes at super sonic speed, but when it comes to the hot chick running...that has to be slowed down!!!

Really, what more could a guy ask for in a movie...machines fighting and trying to destroy the world and a totally hot chick running in slow motion. Needless to say, I'd give Transformers 2 two Siskel and Ebert thumbs up!

Rec Plex Triathlon

2009-06-22T08:02:00.001-07:00

Sunday was Rec Plex Triathlon. Good little race! They always get about 400 participants to show up. One of my favorite things about this race is that they give away cotton shirts. They are one of the few races that haven't gone to the "new moisture wicking super-duper"polyester material shirts. The moisture wicking material is more like a t-shirts made from 30 grit sandpaper, that totally rip my nipples clean off my chest when I try to wear them! So yes, give me the cotton.

There was one incident that I finally had to mention to the Race Director. This happens every year and drives me CRAZY...Because it's a pool swim, racers go into the water every 15 seconds based on registration order; so if you are number 543, you know that you have a long wait before you start. So, some of the racers think that they are "smart," sleep in and show up after the race gets under way. When they get to the transition area, they see all these wonderful empty spaces all around the front of transition and think that they are open and try to take them. But, they are NOT OPEN! These are spaces that are taken by racers who have already started and are OUT ON THE BIKE COURSE!!! You would think that your spot would be safe with your goggles, swim cap, running shoes and bib number laying under the rack, but no. Every one of the "late arrivers" just totally ignore the stuff laying on the ground and begin racking their bike. I couldn't take it anymore and began telling them that their spaces are already taken. I felt like Elaine [Seinfeld, Episode #415, 'The Movie,' Originally aired Wednesday, January 6, 1993.], trying to save seats at the movie theater for Jerry, George and Kramer..."No taken, taken, this spot is taken!"

My time was just a little slower than when I raced it in the fall last year...44 seconds. Not bad! Even though I finished early in the morning, it was already HOT and HUMID; making for a very hard run. At one point, my head felt like it was going to pop. My per mile average was way slow, almost at my half marathon pace. I usually like the hotness, but it really zapped me yesterday.

Still a good showing and a good race!

Taking Responsibility

2009-06-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was QuarterMax Tri. With it, brings more than a triathlon. There is an enormous amount of emotion that goes along with it too. This was the race that Kevin Hunt died. While attempting his first triathlon, he drowned less than 50 feet from the swim finish/beach. Tragic!

The St Louis Post ran an article, commemorating the second anniversary of his death. Which, I found strange. I guess they were trying to point out the danger of triathlons, but that part of the story was TOTALLY overshadowed by the section about Kevin and the quotes of Kevin's Family.

In this article and the one that they ran back in 2007 there is/was an overwhelming feeling that they are trying to blame someone for his death. Which is typical of our society and especially the media. The articles constantly bring up the fact that there were no support boats near Kevin when he went under and kept bringing up the number lifeguards, watercraft, etc...on the water that day. But, do they really believe that more safety rules or personnel would have changed anything?

Ok, here is the harsh reality that no one seems to wants to talk about...The responsibility ultimately lies with the athlete. The Organizer can only do so much, the rest is up to us athletes. Sure, the Organizer needs to do his/her part, but it up to the athlete to be 100% prepared mentally and physically, for each and every race they enter. We need to be able to assess our abilities and limitations without interference from our egos or other racers. We log countless hours and miles splashing around in the pool, rolling across distant highways and pounding the pavement with our fancy sneakers, we should know ourselves pretty well. We should know what we are and are not capable of.

In addition, if we recognize that the Organizer has not created a "safe" atmosphere, we have the option to race or not. There is no one putting a gun to our heads, we do this voluntarily. At any point of the race, we have the option to stop. DNF means Did Not Finish, not...Defeated Now (and) Forever!! No one would ever question a racer for withdrawing from a race, especially if they are struggling, or if there is a safety issue.

We have options and we need to take responsibility for the decisions we make.

B

Kansas City Triathlon Pics

2009-06-05T19:32:00.001-07:00

Normally, I'd have about a million of my own pics. But Catina bought a Handycam, so she was going to be the videographer/photographer for this one. And, yadda, yadda, yadda...These are the only pictures that I have of this race.

These pictures are screen shots from Action Sports Images, website.

Kansas City Triathlon...Review

2009-06-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Since I've been on the organizing side of triathlon, its kind of given me a better feel of how things should and shouldn't be done. I guess it has made me a little overly critical of races, when I should just sit back and enjoy the experience.

So, in an effort to be a more "Happy Go Lucky" type of guy, for every negative thing I have to say about this race, I'm going to give a positive too...

Swim
Pros:
Wetsuit legal - Being a May event, this was almost mandatory. The water was way too cool not to wear one.
Final leg - The wind and waves were pushing us toward the beach on the final leg. That was beautiful.
Cons:
Mass Start - Men's and women's races had a mass start. Normally, that wouldn't be too big of a deal, but the area which they tried to start us was wayyyyyyyy to small for 225 men. The first 1/3 of the race was mass hysteria. Bodies on top of bodies, kicking, grabbing; that may have been the roughest swim start that I've EVER had.

Bike
Pros:
Course - Well marked and clean. Lots of volunteers. Enough hills to make it a challenging course.
Cons:
Too technical - They had us go through a residential section with many hair pin turns and a round-about. Too much hard braking and sharp turns for me. It also made it impossible to pass any slower riders in this section. If I wanted a crit, I'd be a road racer.

Run
Pros:
Flat - Mostly.
Closed Course - Mostly. Maybe 2 of the 6 miles was open to autos.
Cons - NONE!

Transition
Pros:
Space - Seemed to accommodate all athletes.
Trash Cans - Cans inside the transition area, SWEET!
Cons:
First Come First Serve - Not a fair transition area. For those who arrived early got the best spaces. Anyone arriving after 6:30am...SCREWED! The Swim In and Run Out were at one end and the Bike In/Out was at the other. So, depending on where you racked, you might have to run with your bike a long ways, or just a little. I was on the Bike In/Out side and had only had about 10 meters of running with the bike, compared to someone at the other end who had to run the entire length of the transition area with theirs.

Other
Pros:
Good effort for the first year.
Beer - Lots of Michelob Ultra at the finish.
Parking - Plenty.
Cons:
Results - There was some kind of snafu with the ages. They didn't have everyone "aged up" (unless your birthday was on or before May 31st). So, those who've already had a birthday were racing in the correct age group and the rest of us were racing at last year's age group. [I was in the 35-39 Age Group...AGAIN! Only the toughest age group in the history of the free world.]
Timeline - They started the awards ceremony an hour before it was scheduled to start. I was playing with the boys by the beach and almost the entire thing. I totally missed all the Short Course awards and I got there just as they were announcing my age group for the Long.
Price - If you didn't take advantage of the early price breaks. This race costs over $100. That's getting in the "Too Much Moola" category for an Olympic distance race for me. [I admit it, I'm a cheap ass when it comes to racing and it kills me to pay that much for a race.]

All in all, this race was pretty...OK [B-]. I guess I was expecting a lot more from this race, especially because of who was organizing it, the location and the price. And, maybe it was a combination of all the 'Cons' that just leave me feeling a little disappointed.

2009-05-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

I got to sleep in yesterday and today! First time in months that has happened!

Thursday, I had a hard ride...35 miles of hills, hills, hills. I haven't really given myself much time to recover and am still feeling sluggish today (Sunday). I gave up my Friday run for a Friday "Pool Run" and tried to go easy yesterday on my ride [but couldn't give up the chance to push the pace, as usual!]. There was a section of about 6 miles where I knew there were dogs, so I did some sprint work too. So, today...I'm feeling fat and slow. [Did I mention that Thursdays ride had some hills?]

I think that I did something stupid...I went to the Kansas City Triathlon website and looked at the bike course, then plotted it out on gmaps to see it's profile. It has a few big hills. So now I'm thinking that I need to work hills into my training plan to "MAKE THAT COURSE MY BITCH!!" But, it hasn't worked out quite like I had hoped. Now, I'm feeling like shit! [Nice going ME!!]

I read a book by Brad Kearns , Breakthrough Triathlon Training, who was a pro triathlete and now coaches. He suggests not doing anything special in preparation for a race. Train as usual and then just show up the night before, then just race. Trust your training and keep your own schedule. This way, your head won't get in your way and you will just perform.

As usual, I need to find a happy medium here. Maybe I should re-read Brad's book, and maybe Newton's Law of Gravity.

Train hard, race hard and don't forget to wear white at night!

B

Boys of Summer

2009-05-14T06:49:00.000-07:00

Skylar and Brayden have started City League baseball. Last night, they had a double header. The only good thing about double-headers is that it gets us out of spending another evening at the ball field. Another heavenly time saver is that they are both on the same team, so we can get it done all at once. I guess it could be worse, we saw a Wilson's member there last night and stopped to chat. She has four kids, all playing, all at different times...She is one busy chick!! I'm not quite sure how that would go for us, we only have two, on the same team and we are still late to every practice or game. I can't imagine.

I'm still not sure if the boys like it or not. They seem to enjoy it at the time, but never really want to go and are super glad when the game is over. Sometimes, I think that they do it just for the "after game snacks."

I used to play 'semi-pro' ball for quite a few years [into my early 30's]. It is super hard not to be critical of them and I really have to keep myself in check. They struggle at things as simple as getting the ball back to the pitcher. To me, catching and throwing was always so natural, I don't remember not being able to do it. It is a good lesson in PATIENCE!!

BTW..."Semi-Pro" sounds a lot cooler than it really is (or was). Basically, it was an 18 and over adult league that used MLB-American League rulebook. But the rules were always sketchy at best. The home team had to provide the umpires, who was usually the 10th player off of their team or someone that they just pulled away from the bar at the local VFW. So, you never knew what you were going to get. And, each field had it's own "ground rules." We played one place where..."If the ball goes into the corn field, then all runners advance one base." Yea, right!

Cheers!

B

TriZou Race Pics

2009-05-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Just caught my booty!

Pictures from PhotoGliff.com

Shopping Cart Luge

2009-05-05T16:34:00.001-07:00

The other day the boys and I were at Gerbes getting a few groceries. The entire time, Brayden (6 yrs.) wanted to push. I was in a hurry, so I told him he couldn't. Once we checked out, he asked again. This time I told him yes. As we were walking out of the store and to the car, I turn around to make sure he is doing OK with the cart. To my total amazement, he had slid himself down into the lower rack of the cart and was luging it down the Gerbes parking lot. By this time he had zipped past me and gaining speed. I probably would have let him ride it out if he hadn't been heading straight toward a black Nissan Z convertible! "Oh God!!" I had to sprint to catch him and stopped about 10 yards away from it. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't be mad at him. It isn't everyday that you see a 6 year old luging a shopping card down the Gerbes parking lot.

Later after I thought that I could talk about it, without laughing, this was the tongue lashing that I gave him..."Brayden, even though that was the funniest thing EVER, you can't ride the shopping cart like a toboggan. OK?" He just shrugged his shoulders and said "OK." In his world, shopping cart luge is perfectly normal and no big deal.

Hilarious!!!

B

First Race of the Season

2009-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

BFF

Sunday was Race for Sight [TriZou]. Everything went great! I felt great and stayed strong in all three parts. Even though it hurt like hell, I was able to push the pace. So, in that respect, I had a good day.

However, I've come to a couple of realizations about myself...If I want to be as competitive as I think I could be, I need to really work on my transitions. My first transition was good, my time was close to all the other "faster" athletes. But, my second was way slow [comparatively]...50 seconds, compared to 30-35 seconds for the others. Out of the top ten finishers, I had the slowest combined transition times. That's where races can be won and lost. In a sprint race, 20 seconds can be huge.

My second realization is that the stronger runners have a huge advantage in triathlon. Since I've been training for that half marathon, my run is way stronger than what it would normally be. This weekend I saw the benefits of having a solid run, rather than just suffering through because I blew myself up on the bike.

Probably! The best thing about this weekend was getting to meet Simon Lessing. He was the "VIP" at TriZou this year. I got a chance to meet and chatted with him for about 20 minutes on Saturday. He seems like a really cool and down to earth guy. It was also amazing to watch him race. He said that since he retired, he has only been training a couple of times a week. You wouldn't know it though. He was still lightning fast and super smooth in the pool. He was flying through the water, but he made it look effortless. Very cool!!!

Keep on training!!

The race formerly known as...Race for Sight

2009-05-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

The TriZoo triathlon is this Sunday. [Still not used to calling it TriZoo!] I guess I'm recovered from the CMM Half and ready to go; even though I always feel like I'm not. This may be the shortest race of the season. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, however. As far as races go...

Short = Pain
Shorter = More Pain
Shortest = Uber-pain

This one is under the "Shortest" category...400 meter swim / 14 mile bike / 3 mile run. This will be a little over an hour worth of uncontrollable heavy breathing, through the roof heart rates, jelly legs and bungee spit that just won't leave my mouth. The thing that worries me the most is the weather. Cold and wet just isn't my idea of a good time and there is a chance for both on Sunday.

I really should get to the pool and time myself in a 400. This race has everyone line up by estimated swim time [fastest to slowest] and then puts a racer in the water every 10 seconds. Last year, I didn't have to worry about this, because I lost my f'n mind and raced in the Elite Division; who get a lane all to themselves. I know what you are thinking..."Just check the results from last year, right?" Well [in a Willie Tanner voice], I wish it were that easy. You see, the 1/4 mile run from the pool to T1 is also included in the swim times. So, we don't really know our true swim times. It's not that big of a deal, but just one more thing to worry about before the race.

I guess I should really be worrying if there is going to be a race at all. I just got an email saying that everything is still a go. Ultramax Events (the company that I used to be the Logistics Coordinator) had their race equipment stored at Wilson's Fitness' South location. And because of all the rain lately, their parking lot is flooded and under 8 feet of water. I'm not sure if the water will go down in time for the race. If it does, will there be enough time to get all the equipment cleaned off and ready to go? This race is the most labor intensive of all the U-Max races. I can't imagine having to deal with both the flooded equipment and then having to set up for this race!!! Wow, what a huge undertaking!

I hope to have a race report on Monday. We'll see!!!

Cheers!

B

C M M

2009-04-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Country Music Half Marathon...DONE!! Thank God, I can check that one off the list. It's not that I want to wish away the 2009 race season, I was really ready to get past this half marathon. Training for this distance just hurts and I'm not in touch with my suffering side. (However, there is another half marathon in October that I have my eye on!)

Ok...so...Saturday was the marathon. What an incredible race!!! This, by far, was the largest race I've ever entered. Rumor had it that there were close to 30,000 people registered for this race. There were over 22,000 that finished the Half. They were expecting this race to draw close to 100,000 people, racers and spectators. The largest race that I had participated in up to this point was around 1200. So I can say with some certainty, this was my largest race so far.

Luckily, I was in the first corral and was able to look behind me and see the entire field lined up for blocks and blocks. Amazing!

When the gun went off, I stuck close to the 1:30 cheat pacer. My goal was 1:20, but I knew that I have no pace, so I needed to keep my cool in the first couple of miles and not to get caught up into that adrenalin blast-off start. I was willing to take my chances with a slower first few and finish strong, than to take out too fast and blow up at mile 6. After the 2nd mile marker, I decided that it was time to push past the cheaters and settle into my own pace.

The 13 bands and cheer stations kept my attention off of how badly my little toes were blistering. Or, how tight my right Achilles was. I just wanted to keep a steady pace and keep my form. "Keep your form...keep your form," I kept repeating to myself. By mile 11 and after the big hill on mile 12 the bands, cheer leaders and my internal reminders weren't working anymore. I was getting tired and my legs weren't responding like they were. The finish was getting close and the rest was just going to have to be gutted out.

Mile 12 and I come up on a guy who wasn't letting me pass without a fight...CRAP! We kept yo-yoing...I'd pass him, he'd pass me. I had nothing left and the finish was just around the corner. As we take the corner, he has the inside lane and gets in front of me. Again, nothing left. He ended up nudging me out by one stride, in a "sprint" to the finish. He may have won the battle, but I won the war, because he puked and I didn't!!! 1:25:36.

Later, we did the math on my pace and I hadn't realized that a 1:25:00 was a 6:30 min/mile pace. Which was ultimately my goal. So, even though I didn't reach my "goal" time, I had kept my goal pace.

Satisfied and "retired" from 1/2 marathons. At this point, I'm not sure if I ever want to do one of those again.

Cheers!

B

Into the Taper

2009-04-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is the last weekend/week before the Nashville Half Marathon. I got in a quick 8 or 9 miles this morning. This starts the taper down to next Saturday. I figure that if I can get in another 6 mile tempo run and then a sprint workout this week, I'll be good to go. This 1/2 marathon isn't an "A" race for me [or isn't supposed to be, but we'll see how it goes when the gun goes off on Saturday], so its hard to find a balance between getting in my half mileage and training for those all important triathlons. The balance between the slower mileage for the half and the super-anaerobic-maxed out pace of the sprint triathlons. The two don't really compliment each other.

This morning I got up at 5am, so I could get my run in before the boys wake up and the day gets started. 8-9 miles usually takes a little under an hour, so I wanted to be out the door by 5:30. The cool thing about being out and about at 5:30am is that I'm all alone. I've got almost everything to myself. Bear Creek Trail is totally abandoned, so I can spit, blow my nose and take a leak, without worrying about anyone being offended.

Another cool thing about being up that early is that all the wild life that is out on the trail. Raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, deer, turkey, etc...I've pretty much seen it all. This morning, there were three deer on the trail. Two of them had the good sense to turn and run, but one didn't. He just stood there and was withing 6 feet of me. I could have almost reached out and hit him with a hammer. Lucky for him that he is a City Deer and I was just a runner. He would have been easy pickings for a real deer hunter.

One drawback to running in the dark is the illusion of speed. In the dark, everything passes by in a blur, which makes it feel really fast! Then when the sun comes up, reality kicks me in the butt and says, "Nope, you are still a slow ass!"

Cheers!

B

No Pain???

2009-04-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, yesterday I had my last Sunday "long" run before the Country Music Half Marathon. I only ran 12 miles, but training for this half marathon has really beaten me up. Once the training runs broke the 10 mile barrier, my body has seemed to fall apart. My knees, calves, feet, toes and Achilles!!! Come Monday mornings, I feel like I've been beaten with a baseball bat from the waist down.

It really makes me admire those who are able to continually train for and race in Ironman and Marathon races. The many, many, many miles that someone has to log just to finish; it blows my mind. Not to mention how much you'd have to train if you wanted to be competitive. Didn't Hillary Biscay race two Ironman races in back to back weekends last year? That is crazy!! Then, here I am, complaining about training for my measly half marathon.

I am really looking forward to my short Olympic and Sprint races. Those races may be more painful during, but the pain usually stops at the finish line. Those long races...the pain sticks around after the finish is long gone.

2009-04-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

I received some very sad news on Saturday. I found out that one of my fellow Columbia, MO triathlete buddies had passed away. He was an outstanding triathlete. I wouldn't consider myself to be one of his closest friends, by any means. However, during my U-Max days, I had many opportunities to work along side and to have many beers with him.

When I think of him, the first things that immediately comes to mind is his work ethic. He is one of the hardest working guys that I've ever met. When he'd help us at the events, he was the first one to the race site and the last to leave. And in the middle, he was always busy or looking for something to do. He would come to me and ask..."Ok Boss, what's next." The funny thing was that if he was asking "what's next," there probably wasn't anything left to do. Because he had already done it all!

I also will remember him as having such a modest and positive attitude. He never seemed to have a bad thing to say about anyone. [And if he did, he was probably right!]

I last saw him at the gym. I was busy chatting with someone in the hall and as he came out of the locker room. We made eye contact, but he then turned and went out to the floor. [Knowing him, he saw that I was talking and thought that it would be rude to interrupt.] And that was it, that was the last time I saw him. That was the last time I'll ever see him again. It's sad that our brief little passing in the hall, which seemed so insignificant at the time, will be my last memory of him.

Here is the Columbia Daily Tribune article.
B

2009-04-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I got out on the bike yesterday and got in about 30 miles. I didn't quite wear enough layers for the 55 degrees that was supposed to be more like 65. However, the beauty of the day wasn't the warm(er) temperatures, it was the lack of our springtime hurricane winds. As I reached my turn around point on Rangeline, I thought that I had been riding into a "sort of" head wind. But when I made my about face, I still felt the same head wind. A couple of miles later, nature called. So, I stopped to answer and noted that there was no wind what so ever. Truly unbelievable for this time of year in Missouri. For those who didn't get out and ride (or do something outside), you missed out.

Cheers!

2009-03-31T07:06:00.000-07:00

I've been cycling since the early 90's and one of the cool things that goes along with cycling is shaving. I'm sure that there has been a million and one studies on this...does it make you go faster or not. But to me, it makes me feel like I'm going faster, so it seems to be worth it.

I remember the first time I shaved...bloody mess. I used a disposable double bladed Bic razor and it wasn't good. My first swipe and my leg looked like a red dot to dot puzzle. I've tried a million products and different methods since then, but every time it seems to be an adventure.

This morning I wanted to shave. I guess I was chilled and never really warmed up in the shower. As I began to shave, I noticed the red dot to dots appearing again. Great! Goose bumps or as I like to call it..."Chicken Skin." One thing that I have learned over the years is that it is never wise to shave chicken skin. I didn't have time to mess with it, so I kept going. OUCH! CRAP! DAMN! I kept going!

So, tell me...why do we do this again?

Spring Break/Training Camp...Day 1

2009-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Spring Break usually means trips to warmer places…Florida! This year, we are doing the family travel thing to Navarre, Florida, but the warmer thing isn’t quite happening. We left COMO on Friday and arrived in FLA on Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect! 70 degrees, sunny and dry. We got in a quick run just before the sun went down and it was able to scope out a possible route for a good 28 mile ride in the morning.

Sunday morning came around and things had changed a little from the day before. Winds and cooler weather had crept in overnight. Temperatures were only going to be in the 60’s with wind gusts 20-25 mph. Different from Missouri, the winds here are from east to west. Being on the east end of the island, my only option was to ride with the wind and then into it on my return. Not the best option, but it was my only one!

I rode 15 miles with the wind in about 5 minutes, then I made my turn around point. Holy SHIT! I could barely move forward. Not what I had in mind. Half way through, I saw another cyclist with a flat. I stopped to help her change out her tube, just so I could get a break from battling the wind. By the time I finished, I was in my small ring and largest cog on the rear! There are no hills in Florida, but the wind makes up for any of that!

I tried to get in a short run, but my legs were gone. I only managed about two miles before I called it quits. Not quite the brick that I had in mind.

To be continued...

New addition to the family...

2009-03-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last week, we bought a new car! Except, I have to say it in a Rod Roddy voice, or it isn't as much fun..."A NEW CAR!" I've had my eye on the Scion xB for some time and thought that I was going to have to settle for another "Soccer Mom Cruiser," in the mini-van. As we looked at the prices and the gas consumption of the mini-vans, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do. Especially, if we are going to be racing in Kansas City and St Louis this summer. So, we began looking at mini-mini-vans (Mazda 5 and Kia Rondo). Didn't like those either. The gas mileage was better but they still had a hefty price tag, for the car that we were getting. Then we switched gears and turned to the 5 door versions...Kia Spectra, Scion xB, Toyota Matrix, etc... The price was more in our range and the gas mileage was better. However, after owning a mini-van, the size of these is so much smaller!

Of course, my vote was for the Scion. Once I test drove it, that was all I needed. LOVED IT! It's really the first "hip" car I've ever owned. I had a '66 Mustang and a '73 VW Beetle in the younger days, but I had those cars way past their "hip" years, when they were all beaten and rusted.

After we put our names on the dotted line, I had to decide how to transport the bikes. Which was probably the most important decision I had to make. Top or on the back. I love the way roof racks look, but sometimes they are a pain to get your bike on and off. And, trunk mounted racks scratch the hell out of your paint. So, I decided on the version that has the least amount of effort to use and least amount of impact on the car...hitch rack. There are only four bolts that touch the car by going this route. Scion has pre-drilled holes in the frame, so the only tool I needed to install the hitch was a wrench!!

There are more pics HERE.

Cheers!

B

Quote of the day...

2009-03-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

Brayden had a "Kids say the darndest things" moment the other day. Finally, he had his first real loose tooth. As he was wiggling it in his mouth and moving it around with his tongue. As he moved it, it gave him a David Letterman gap, except on the bottom row of teeth. He said...

"Man! This is the best gap to put your tongue in! Really
nice!"

2009-03-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that gas prices are going up again. $1.89, here in CoMo. Just the other day, I filled up my tank when it was $1.69. That extra 20 cents really makes me feel like I've gotten away with something. For that brief moment, I know that I've just taken 20 cents per gallon out of "The Man's" pocket. But then I have to fill up again and become just another downtrodden plebeian again. It also never seems to work the other way around. I rarely buy gas, then it suddenly goes down and I'm stuck with all this expensive gas in my tank. So then I have to hurry and drive to get rid of all that old expensive gas. Just so I can fill up with this cheaper stuff!

Why does the gas always go up in 10 cent increments? At least around here it does. In the last year, I don't think that it's ever gone up, by just pennies at a time...always by the dime. [There's a little safety rhyme for you.] Also, why do all the gas stations keep their gas the same price as everyone else? Wouldn't you think that a gas station would make more money, if they put their price lower than the other guy? [Kind of like my "JC Penney Theory of Economics." Which says that by lowering prices on everything in stock, I will sell more product and therefore, turn a profit.] But they never do. I bet that there is some "Secret Code of the Gas Guy" that keeps all the prices the same.

There were times last summer when I thought that I'd have to start riding my bike. Problems is that Columbia isn't the most bike friendly town. Most roads don't have bike lanes and riding on the sidewalk is illegal in some areas. The City has tried to make biking improvements. They have painted "bike routes" in the streets all over town. The problem is that they've kind of invented bike lanes and painted them on streets with no shoulders. So, I'm not real sure that is helping anything?

I guess I'll just stick with my gas guzzler and shut up!

B)

Sore muscles

2009-03-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

I've been upping my running mileage in preparation for that crazy half marathon. I'm not sure why, but I've been getting sore after my long(er) runs. I don't remember being sore last year while training for the Joker's Wild Half. So, I went to WebMD to see if I should lay off or just go easy on my sore muscles.

Needless to say, I got sidetracked and never found an answer to what I originally was looking for. But, I did find that heat as well as cold are supposed to help alleviate sore muscles. We've all heard of icing down those sore muscles, but there is some controversy about putting on the heat. The old-school thought on heat is that it makes the sore/affected area swell, which only causes more pain. The new-school of thought is that the heat increases blood flow to the affected area and speeds recovery.

Personally, I have had success with heat. Not only does it feel REALLLLLLY good on sore muscles; it has made my muscle pain go away. It also worked on my knees.

Oddly enough, the best thing that I found was a home remedy for sore muscles...

Saturate a cloth with apple cider vinegar and wrap it around the muscle for 20 minutes; the pain should disappear within a few hours. Reapply every three to four hours for continued relief until the pain is gone for good. Why it works: Apple cider vinegar is a muscle reliever; it helps to draw lactic acid (the stuff that causes soreness) out of your muscles after exercise.

Ironically, this home remedy will never be tested. First, because apple cider vinegar stinks so bad, no one in their right mind wants to get close to this stuff. And second, if someone does try this, they will never admit to it when they figure out it doesn't work.

BTW...I'm opting for "going easy" on sore muscles.

Cheers!

Freestyle...Simplified???

2009-02-24T07:54:00.001-08:00

Last week, while in the process of splashing all the water out of the pool, I was stopped. Stopped by a guy swimming in the next lane and struggling [like the rest of us]. He just started swimming and had to be in shape for the Air Force Basic Training in a couple of months. He asked one of those questions that I didn't quite know how to answer and at first, I just stood there with a "deer in the headlights" kind of look on my face. He might have well asked me what was the "Meaning of Life," because his question was so in depth that it really couldn't have a quick fix answer that he was looking for.

He asked me..."So, how do you do this swimming thing?"

Where do I begin begin with that? I gave him some mumbo-jumbo about body rotation, head placement, arm entry, etc... But those answers, I could tell, really meant nothing to him.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times...Swimming is like golf. Technique is everything and there are so many things to think about at once, it really makes it impossible to keep attention on the task. It's like when you are so overwhelmed by all the things that you have to do, that you just sit there thinking about all the things that you have to do. And, getting none of it done.

So, here! Here is my short answer...In order to even comprehend how the body passes through the water efficiently, you have to start by looking at the individual parts.

Head - In-line with spine.
Eyes - Looking at bottom of pool when not breathing, looking sideways, one eye directly over/above the other when breathing.
Shoulders and Chest - Rotate using the spine as the central point. High shoulder is on recovery arm side, low shoulder on pulling arm side.
Arms - One arm tends to be leading at all times, other arm is pulling or recovering; more of a catch-up with hands overlapping in the area from the shoulders forward.
Arm Pull - Elbow down through wrist and to the fingertips should be
in a straight line and function as one unit. They should be pointing
at the bottom of the pool as much of the time as possible - as early a catch as
can be achieved, with the maximum possible catch held until the hand passes
below the waist.
Arm Recovery - Elbow, writs and fingers should exit the water relaxed. As they exit the water, swing them forward rather than pushing forward, with thumb entering the water first to start the Pull phase again.
Trunk - Maintains the connection between the shoulders and the hips
Hips - Follow the same rotation pattern as shoulders. Attempt to initiate body rotation from the hips.
Legs - Kick is secondary to the pull, not overpowering it. Some triathletes limit the amount of kicking to save energy and leg strength for bike and run.
Feet - Faster feet = faster pull. Splashing encourages better follow-through on the kick.
Breathing - Every two or three pulls.

Imagine keeping track of all this during just one set of pull/recovery. Not to mention the one million, no...make that one billion, other little tweaks you can do to your stroke to make you more efficient. That's why I don't try to play golf while swimming!!!

Swim on!!

B

Up in Smoke

2009-02-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

It looks like the authorities are calling off the [drug sniffing] dogs on our 14-time Olympic gold medalist. There was some talk about jail time, but when it came down to it, they just didn't have enough evidence to prove that it was actually pot that he was smoking.

On the surface, Michael Phelps seems to be the only one "taking a hit." His "All American Boy" image is tarnished, suspensions given from USA Swim and his multi-million dollar endorsement deals are gone. However, I'm thinking that Kellogg's is the bigger loser in all of this. Kellogg's Marketing Department...asleep at the wheel! Think of the un-tapped markets that this could open up for them. The pot smoking community in the US is huge! Kellogg's sells nothing but "got the munchies" foods as it is and why wouldn't they market their products to pot smokers. And, who better to be their spokesman than someone with a proven track record as a pot smoker...Michael Phelps! You know, if I were the CEO of Kellogg's, I'd give the Director of Marketing a PDS [Pants Down Spanking] for letting this one get away.

Seems obvious to me!

Cheers!

B

Thanks Judi !!

Lies and the Lying Liar Cheaters Who Tell Them

2009-02-11T06:45:00.000-08:00

I have a problem with these baseball players and the steroid issue. My problem isn't really that they use performance enhancing drugs. [Hell, if I could get millions of dollars by using them, I probably would too.] My problem is that they lie to us about using them.

If you have been living under a rock you may not have heard Alex Rodriguez's apology about using steroids. To me, it sounded rehearsed and so insincere. He's may be sorry for using; but he definitely wasn't naive, nor stupid about using them. Funny, that other athletes admitting to using steroids have all said the same thing...Andy Pettit, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and even Ben Johnson [that's a blast from the past]. All these athletes who have admittedly used steroids [or caught using them] and have all played the same tune...claiming that "I didn't know what I was putting into my body."

The lie is that they know exactly what they are putting in their bodies. Don't let them fool you. They know everything there is to know about their bodies and what they put into their bodies. They are millionaire athletes who can afford having the best trainers, best doctors and best nutritionist on the face of the planet. They know exactly what vitamins/supplements to take, how many calories they should eat in a day, and amount of protein/carbs/fats in each meal. Yet, they expect us to accept that they don't know what they were injecting into their butts? Come on! What do you take us for???

After listening to all this garbage that these baseball players are feeding us; I really have to give props to Nina Kraft (winner of 2004 Ironman World Championship, disqualified for EPO use). Not for her cheating, but for admitting that she did it and accepted responsibility for it. Her reaction to being caught sounds sincere when she said..."I never really rejoiced over the victory in Hawaii. I was ashamed the entire time, especially in front of my family. I cheated.”

OK, enough on that!!

Stay clean!

Kramer

2009-02-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

I used to work with a guy who thought that the Monday after the Super Bowl was a National Holiday. Just think of it, the list would look like this...Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4th, Labor Day, Memorial Day, MLK Day, New Year's and The Monday after Super Bowl Day! The funny thing was that he just didn't show up for work and no one even realized it. It wasn't until the Wednesday after, in a staff meeting, when someone asked where he was. He said, without hesitation, "It was Monday...after the Super Bowl." Then looked at us as if we were all crazy. He went on, "What? Why are you asking? That's a University Holiday, isn't it?" We all just busted out laughing.

It really shouldn't have been a surprise. This was also the same guy who installed a sprinkler system in the front yard of a house that he rented. Yup, just took a shovel and began digging trenches. Ran a few sections of hose around the yard, screwed in some sprinkler heads and turned on the water.

From then on, we started calling him Kramer.

Cheers!

2009-02-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

Me, Mike, Kelly, Jeremy and Catina (in order of the flyer) are going to Nashville to run in the Country Music Half Marathon. This is our flyer to try to raise some money for LLS. If we raise $600 we can get a Excursion FuelBelt to split between the 5 of us!! That's my goal anyway.

Let me know if you'd like to sponsor me!!! Ha!

Cheers!

Movie Review

2009-01-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

I saw a great movie recently...Gran Torino - with Clint Eastwood. Right off, the movie gets two big 'ol 'Siskel & Ebert' thumbs up from me! At first glance, this may seem like a "guy" movie, but it will appeal to the femininas as well. This movie takes you through the entire spectrum of emotions that you can't help but to love it...I laughed, I cried, I wanted to by wear a pipe wrench in my belt!

Clint Eastwood did such a great job as Walt Kowalski, that I can't help to think that he is like that in real life. He always plays the surly, tobacco chewing, alcohol drinking, gun slinging, telling it like it is guy, that I can't picture him being anyone else. If you went into Clint's bathroom, you wouldn't find lotion, hair gel, body wash, or cologne. I bet you wouldn't even find any deodorant; he just tells his pits "NO SWEATING!" When his feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan says "Oh shit, he's awake!" Mean, I tell you!

Cheers!

Lost without you...

2009-01-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

As much fun as it is to spend the entire day with Catina and the boys. It was a little weird this weekend without any football. Since August, we are inundated with football...college and NFL. Yesterday, nothing. Even when college football ends, there is still the NFL to fall back on. But the college game is over and so are all the NFL Play Offs. All that is left now is the Super Bowl. Granted, it is the biggest game of the year. But in the mean time, there is only so much of ESPN's spin [on Pittsburgh and Arizona] that I can take before I puke.

But, then what? NBA? NHL? Winter X Games??? You've got to be kidding me!! Something has to fill this gap! I guess I'll have to watch re-runs of Manimal, AGAIN!!

Cheers to the Super Bowl!!!

B

No pace here!

2009-01-19T15:10:00.001-08:00

My favorite run, for the last month or so, has been a 6 miler on the treadmill. I don't even remember the last time I ran outside. So today, I decided to suck it up. 29 degrees seemed so warm compared to that single digit stuff that we've been having, that I couldn't pass up a chance to get out.

14 mph winds from the north. Hmmm, how to dress?? I hadn't been out in such a while that I kind of lose track of the number of layers it takes to run outside at certain temperatures. So, I went kind of light, just a couple of layers on the top and one on the bottom. Hoping that I don't make it to the middle of nowhere and decide that "It ain't enough!"

I take off and try try to tell myself to take it slow. "Slow for the first mile, let your legs warm up." Problems with that theory is that the first 3/4 mile is all down hill and second, I don't pace myself very well.

My inability to pace myself isn't really my fault. For the last month, I've been paced by my electronic running partner, letting it decide how fast [or not fast] I should be running. This time it was different, this time I was free from that THING. I was like a kid being let out of school for summer vacation...running with reckless abandon.

Right...By mile three, I was pretty much thinking that I was done. My form was beginning to fall apart and my strides were shorter. I was in survival mode at this point...Keep it together till the end without losing my lunch. Eventually, I did make it back to the house. But, it wasn't what I had in mind when I first set out.

There should be a New Year's resolution in there somewhere..."I will learn pacing in 2009." Maybe not! I think that it would be easier to learn quantum physics or develop a cure for cancer.

Cheers!

B

Is it winter yet? I hadn't noticed!!

2009-01-15T09:34:00.001-08:00

It is officially "Cold as H-E-Double Toothpicks." [Which is a funny saying, because according to my Sunday School Teacher, HELL is supposed to be a very warm place.] -4 degrees this morning at 4am. I had that nuclear frost on the windshield too...that dry frost that doesn't scrape off because it's too flip'n cold. So, I rubbed a bald spot on the window and drove "peek-a-boo" style all the way to work. Which is safe at 5am, only because there is usually one or two other cars on the road.

One of my '09 New Year's resolutions was to stop being negative about things that are out of my control...like the weather. So, here is my non-negative spin on the -4 degrees...-4 degrees really doesn't feel much colder than 10 degrees. So, I only get pissed off when it is 10 degrees or higher. This -4 stuff doesn't bother me at all!

I've put in my "Warmer, please" request with the man upstairs. I'm not sure if he heard me or not. I haven't noticed a change.

Cheers!

First Ride

2009-01-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Man, yesterday was awesome. The weather in COMO was 63 degrees with almost NO WIND! Pretty rare for this time of the year. So, I had to go for a ride, being 23 degrees warmer than my "Too Cold to Ride" wussy cut off. I usually check the weather before I go out. Yup, 63 degrees, so says KOMU TV Doppler Radar weather. Funny thing about KOMU's "current" weather update. It tells you the temperature and then it gives you the "Feels Like" temperature. I had to laugh when it said that it was 63 degrees and which feels like 63 degrees...Great, thank!

For being the first ride of the year, it wasn't all fun and games. I couldn't believe how much excitement I had on my little short ride. This seemed to have a little bit of everything...

First, I had the "Car that just had to pass me, then immediately turns right in front of me." I really hate drivers who do that. Can't they just wait about two seconds until I get past their turn. Apparently not, because this happens ALL the time.

Second, I had the "Big Redneck Truck passing another car, without enough space between them and me." Yeah, with about 100 feet between me and that big 4x4 truck, he finally makes his pass and gets into his own lane.

Third, I just about got "T-boned" by another cyclist! I was trucking down the road and saw another cyclist coming up to an intersection. I had the right of way. The other cyclist didn't stop [at their stop sign]. He almost stuck his front tire right into mine. Man, pay attention. That's the kind of "stuff" that gives us cyclist a bad rep with the motorists.

Fourth, as usual...I had the thrown cigarette butts, finger gestures and impatient honks; it just wouldn't seem like a ride without those.

But finally, I saw a dude riding a Huffy mountain bike with a little scooter motor retro-fitted into it. He was going about 20 miles an hour on this thing too. I ought to go talk to him and see if he can make one for my tri-bike. Wouldn't that be cool to sneak into a race. I bet I'd have fresh legs for the run, then!!!

Funny what a difference a day makes. Yesterday was 63 degrees, today is 25. Which feels like 14 degrees, according to KOMU. Ha!

Cheers!

Poker...Is that a sport?

2009-01-06T16:04:00.001-08:00

Have you noticed that ESPN shows a lot of poker? Since when did that become a sport. I thought that ESPN was supposed to be an all sports network. Apparently not. Poker is a game of chance. There is no skill to poker and especially not athleticism. If we were to rank "sports", poker would be at the bottom, below playing the violin.

I used to work with an ex-cheerleader and we used to get in "discussions" about what is actually considered a sport. We used to argue about cheer leading being or not being considered a sport. I was on the not a sport side.

This went on for a while, so I had to come up with some rules to help me prove my point.

My first rule was that true sports couldn't have judges decided the outcome of the competition. So any activity with judges wasn't a sport...gymnastics, ice skating, cheer leading, etc. The reasoning is that the winner is dependent on a persons subjective-ness.

Second, any activity that was skill based, was not a sport either...billiards, darts, bowling, golf. My reasoning here was that anyone could learn to be good, if they practiced enough.

Third, an activity where a person operates a machine, is not a sport.

Finally, to be considered a sport, there has to be the following present...physical activity, hand/eye coordination, timing system, increased heart rate during the activity and referees [not judges].

I am not saying that gymnast, ice skaters, golfers, Nascar drivers, aren't athletic and what they do isn't hard. I'm just saying that the activity which they participate isn't a sport. That's all!

Nikki and Catina, if you happen to read this...sorry!!

Cheers!

B

Happy Birthday to Me...and You!!

2009-01-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

January 1st means many things to us. We usually make resolutions and pray for a better year than last, or try to recover from a hang over. But, for most triathletes, it means that the sport that you love just made you one year older. We were all celebrating the arrival of the new year and counting down the seconds to midnight. However, that one little stroke of midnight meant something totally different to USAT. That one tick of the clock just made all their members one year older. Crap! I just turned 40!

Happy Birthday to us,
Happy Birthday to us,
Happy Birthday to all USAT members,
Happy Birthday to us!

Happy New Year [and birthday]!!

B

Oh no, you did not!!!!

2008-12-30T08:11:00.001-08:00

I was saddened by my fellow MIZZOU football fans last night during the Alamo Bowl [against Northwestern]. Mizzou fans booed Chase Daniels. Unbelievable! Granted, Mizzou wasn't playing very well. But, they weren't playing very well as a team. It's funny [funny strange, not funny ha ha] that the fans can watch the defense give up 500 yards of total offense and not even raise one brow. But, when Chase Daniels struggles at his position and has a couple of bad downs...the boos came raining in like notes in Guitar Hero on expert.

Did the fans really mean it? Or were they just trying to motivate him?

Do the Mizzou fans realize what Chase has done for the MU Football Program? Hmm, lets see...Heisman candidate in 2007. Holds almost every MU quarterback record ever. Outstanding academic student. Leadership to the team. Not to mention all the future recruits that MU will get because of his performances. If those boos were sincere, then I am totally disgusted by all the MU fans last night.

I'm sure that somewhere deep in Chase's psyche, he is telling all those booing fans to "Go eat a big 'ol shit sandwich." Because in the first overtime, Chase Daniels threw a touchdown that made Missouri the 2008 Alamo Bowl Champions.

Two reference to shit and sandwiches in as many days!

Cheers! [Only to those that didn't boo a the game!]

B

Sloppy Joes

2008-12-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

Brayden and I had the flu over Christmas Break. He had it on Christmas Eve Day, and I had it the day after Christmas. Luckily, it was the less than 24 hour variety and we were up and running the next day. Well, sort of.

I had the stomach version a couple of weeks ago, but this one was in the lower stomach...if you know what I mean. The one where you don't dare go anywhere further than a few seconds run from the toilet.

Brayden had just finished visiting the bathroom when he said..."I really hate having Sloppy Joes." Referring to what was coming out of his south end zone.

Little did I know that two days later, I'd be saying the same thing!

January 1st is coming! That is the day when my "training" begins. What I've been doing up to this point, hasn't really been training. It has been off season "work". Pretty soon, it will be time to Gett'er Going!! Now that I'm all done with the Attack of the Sloppy Joes, I am going to try to get in a swim today. Something short and sweet. Then, to the steam room! [Really, a steam is the only good thing that comes out of swimming during the winter.] I also have a head cold and I've been taking this nasal decongestant stuff and it makes me feel kind of funny. So, I'm beginning to wonder if being in water is really the best place for me today.

Cheers!

B

All of the Other Reindeer

2008-12-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to work and the song Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer came on the radio. The classic version by Gene Autry. This is an oldie-but-a-goodie, for sure. It is one of the few songs that I know all the words to, so I was singing along. Luckily, it was 5:00am, so there was no one to see me rockin' out in the car.

I guess I've never really paid much attention to the words, before today. The third and fourth verse of the song is pretty shitty. All of the Other Reindeer are pretty damn mean to Rudolf. Calling him names and not letting him play their games just because he's different. Shame on you All of the Other Reindeer!

Then, All of the Other Reindeer really show how shallow they are by immediately accepting Rudolf once Santa asks him to guide his sleigh. First he is different and a total outcast, then he is the most popular reindeer in history. All of the Other Reindeer are just a bunch of suck-up "Yes Men," who apparently don't possess the ability to form an original thought of their own. All of the Other Reindeer, you are very disappointing! Or, maybe I'm just expecting too much from reindeer!!

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose.

And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.

They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say:

"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee,

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,

you'll go down in history!

Merry Christmas!

Avoiding the Holiday Gain...Eat Dessert First!!!

2008-12-18T15:37:00.001-08:00

The holidays are coming up as they usually do this time of year. I was flipping through my "last" issue of Inside Triathlon and came across an article with some good practical ways to keep off those extra holiday pounds. Check it...

1. Park your car in left field. When you go to the Mall, park your car as far away as possible.

2. Make and bake for others. Take desserts to friends/family and be sure to leave them at their house.

3. Avoid the candy dish.

4. Deflate the plate. Smaller the plate size = small portions.

5. Go easy on the bottle. Yes, that means booze!

6. Wait on seconds. You should give your body at least 15 minutes to realize that it is full.

7. Walk it off. Take a walk after dinner with your family/friends.

8. Rediscover kid fun. Sledding, ice skating, etc...

9. Downsize dessert.

This number 9 reminds me of an old theory I used to preach to the MU students when I worked at the Student Rec Center...Eat your dessert first.

In a nutshell, my theory goes like this...

Dessert is our favorite part of the meal, therefore, we are less likely to skip that part. When we leave dessert until the end, we are more likely to over eat because we first fill our plate with regular food and eat until we are technically "full." Then we stuff that huge piece of chocolate cake into our already full stomach, because we don't want to miss out on that joyful part of the meal. If we eat dessert first, we get to enjoy the best part of the meal, while including other foods as well. We are less likely to over eat after eating dessert first because we won't stuff ourselves with regular foods. Honestly, who really wants second and third helpings of brussel sprouts.

Please note: this is a theory on over eating, not nutrition!!

Maybe I should edit this list to include another...

10. Eat dessert first!

Cheers!

It's Rain-Freeze!

2008-12-16T19:01:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I've made an early New Year's resolution to stop complaining about the weather. But that's really tough...not being a "winter guy", in the middle of winter. The last couple of weeks have been pretty fair [weather-wise] and I've really tried hard not to bitch and stay positive about it. This arctic deep freeze that we've been in for the last three days, has really been a test of my resolve. Today, I broke. With the mercury hovering around 10 degrees, I've found that keeping a positive attitude about weather sounds good in theory, but very unpractical. Sub-zero temps, snow, sleet and freezing rain is all we have in our future and all we really have to look forward to.

Freezing rain, what is that anyway? Is it freezing in the air or once it gets on the ground. If it is in the air, wouldn't it be called snow or sleet? Or, is it rain that freezes once it hits the ground. In that case, shouldn't it be called "rain freeze?" It's rain first, then it freezes on the ground. Technically, if you call it freezing rain, it should be frozen in mid air. Otherwise, it wouldn't be considered rain. It really doesn't matter what you call it, either way it sucks! [I bet there is a Seinfeld episode in there somewhere.]

There is one positive thing about all this...the snow is beautiful. Especially at night. All the lights reflecting off the snow, make it almost seem like early day break. Very cool!

You see...positive attitude!!!

Poor Mr. Pumpkinhead...he's freezing his seeds off!

Cheers Mr. Pumpkinhead!

B

Devotion or Stupidity

2008-12-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

I went for a 6 miler today. Running headlong into a 15 mph Chinook wind isn’t something I like to do all the time. It really isn’t something that I’ll do, just so I can brag about it either. But, my last run was on the treadmill and I couldn’t bear the thought of going through that torture again. So, I bundled up and took off.

As I turned the first corner, there were some Ameren UE workers on the side of the road. You know how that goes…three workers…two watching and one working...take a break...two watching and one working...take a break [repeat all day or as needed]. As I passed, one looked up at me and said, “Now that is some real devotion, right there!” I just laughed and gave a wave, but in my head I was really thinking…”Or, is it stupidity?”

The temperature was just 32 degrees, but when you factor in the wind…that makes for a cold frig’n run! [I'm sure that there is some formula that I could insert to figure wind chill. But that would be too much like math and I gave up that long ago.] As I ran along the city streets, the houses kept the wind from really getting to me and for the first two miles, I thought that I might have worn too much. But, as I made my way outside the city, the wind really picked up and started chewing through my fleece top. Nope, I didn’t wear too much! And then began to wonder if I had enough layers.

As I went drudging along, Mother Nature added insult to my already frozen injury and began hitting me with a mixture of rain and sleet. The rain wasn’t too bad, but the sleet felt like little pin pricks all over my face. So I kept repeating to myself…

“That, which doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger. That, which doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger. That…which…doesn’t…kill…me…only…makes…me…stronger!”

But you know that type of motivation only works in the movies. When you are faced with real crap, that shit just don’t seem to fly! And yes, at that point I did feel like turning back and getting into a hot shower.

By the time I was totally miserable, I made it to my half way point and made my final turn…due south. Oh yea, that’s when I got to run with the wind. Funny how my pace picked up, strides lengthened, my breathing slowed, and my spirits rose.

“That, which doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger! That, which doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger!”

Yes, I believe! As I finished, I felt great. I could have gone for another three or maybe four miles. If only Columbia had a Museum of Art, I could have had one of the great runs, just like you see in the movies. Yea, but that hot shower sounded way too good.

Yo Adrian!

B

New Header

2008-12-04T14:07:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I'm trying out a new blogger header. It is something that I've been wanting to do for a while, but could never really come up with the right idea. So, this one will have to work. Or until I can come up with something cooler and more studly.

It's amazing what Photoshop can do. This is a race photo and it had "PROOF" all across the front and with a little help from my "Clone Tool" it came out pretty clean. There are a few spots where I didn't quite get all the letters mixed in, but otherwise it turned out pretty well.

As for me, I am still trying to get in a little training here and there, mostly there. For the most part, I've reserved the right to cancel any scheduled training, for no reason at all. Yesterday, I noticed that my arms were a little tired from Tuesday's swim, so I told myself that I should take the day off. I've given myself permission, until January 1st, to eat whatever and train whenever I want. I've tried to toss that Type A Personality into the trash can and focusing on being a good father and husband and use this extra time for family. Not trying to squeeze a workout between picking up the boys and Parent Teacher Conferences is a lot easier, when you know you can "just skip it!" Continents don't collide and worlds don't end, if a workout is missed. Amazing!!

Cheers!!

Hot and Cold

2008-11-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

It's getting to be that time of year, when I start complaining about the weather. The weather is the only thing that we all have in common, so it is easy to write about. And, we can all relate to the day to day shitty-ness that winter brings. If you are like me, the long cold winter months kill me and am always looking forward to spring, when I can go outside without having to bundle up in 40 layers of clothing.

They say that if you don't like the weather in Missouri, you should just wait a couple of hours and it will change. Whoever made that observation wasn't just whistl'n Dixie! How true, how true it is. Yesterday, the temperature was in the upper 50's, so I decided to get in a ride. How wonderful it was to be outside riding, rather than on that trainer. I rode out south of Columbia, in the river bottoms..."The Big Tree Loop," if you are familiar with the area! The bluffs and rolling hills are beautiful this time of year and I enjoyed every minute. But, what a difference a day can make. Today, the temperature isn't supposed to get above 40, with a low of 13 flip'n degrees. So for all you horticulture nuts...bring in any of your precious vegetation that you don't want turned into veggie-sicles

There is one positive thing about cold weather [there may be more, but I can't think of any right now]. Not that I am afraid of bugs or anything [maybe spiders, a little], but it kills all those flying insects that decide to crack me in the face when I'm riding. Isn't that the weirdest and most annoying thing ever? Why do bugs decide that flying into a huge moving object is going to be good for them? You'd think that they would see us coming and fly in the opposite direction. But they don't, so they die, face down on the asphalt, only to have their little insect bodies cut to shreds by the peloton.

Cheers!

B

Fair weather triathlete...

2008-11-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

So, this is the time of the year when I become less than optimistic. I used to think that weather didn't play a part on my disposition. I was wrong!

Just about this time of year, my mood always seem to go from glum to glum-ier! I could be wrong, but I'm blaming it on the crappy weather that we have here in the Midwest. It actually started later than last year, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. But the forecasters are calling for some real crap weather the next few days.

Today, we reached our high temp for the day at 6:00am and it's only going to go downhill from there. They are predicting rain and then snow. SNOW! What the crap! Check this out...

Here's the Saturday forecast for COMO. Rain, turning to snow, with the high of 36! I can't go riding in that!!!

Then again, maybe it won't snow!!! I did a little research on the accuracy of our lovely weather forecasters. They get their precipitation predictions correct about 85 percent of the time with their one day forecasts and go down to about 73 percent on their seven day forecast. Which sounds pretty good, until you consider that if they would just predicted that it would not rain, they would be right 86.3 percent of the time!! Ha, ha! That's too funny! That makes me feel a little better!

Go Tigers!!

Piece or Peace???

2008-11-11T16:28:00.001-08:00

I created a piece of peace of pie. While fixing a very un-nutritious dinner for the boys, I unintentionally cut this pie into one of the most recognized symbols of our time. Even though this symbol stands for something so powerful, I think that the pizza is more recognized than the symbol itself.

The best way to lose weight in the off season...upgrades!!!

2008-11-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

As the off season rolls on, I find it hard to sit around and do nothing. I can't help to think of ways to save time in next year's races. For one, I can increase my hours of training. Second, I can develop better work out standards and commitment. Or finally, I can lose weight.

Because it is the off season, those first two options aren't something that I am going to work on just yet. I'll leave those for the spring. However, I can shave those off precious ounces off in those areas where it will help me be faster.

This is the kit that I bought. It has the crankset (175mm, double), bottom bracket (English 68mm), bottom bracket cup tool, crank cap and crank cap tool.

Removed old bottom bracket and installed the new right side shell.

By inserting a thin rag between the shell and bb tool, you can reduce the amount of scratching that the tool does to the outside of the shell.

In this case, I've shaved off ounces in upgrading my crankset and bottom bracket. Going from an Shimano Ultegra crankset and bottom bracket to a Dura Ace crankset and bottom bracket. Which is a change from 853 grams down to 779 grams. I've also added two carbon watter bottle cages at 20 grams each, which is a weight loss from my old cages at 40 grams each.

Final product! The removing and installing only took me about an hour from start to finish. Shimano has really streamlined this process. Quick and simple!!

Carbon bottle cages. Super light and super strong!

These may seem like small changes, but every little bit helps. Or, at least that's the way I see it!

Cheers!

B in COMO

2008-11-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

Now that the season is over and the "gotta train" mentality is being suppressed somewhere deep in the back of my mind; it's truly amazing how much extra time I have on my hands. During the season, there is always that constant struggle to try to squeeze in a little extra training that will make me the best triathlete in the world. But for now, that type of thinking is done. With all this extra time, you'd think that I would do something earth shattering or spectacular. Maybe even change the world! But no, I've been doing nothing. Nothing at all! My grass is super long, the dishes are piling up and there is a pile of clothes that is almost as high as the washing machine.

I have, however, been a keeping up with all the cycling auctions on eBay. Test me! I pretty know what everything is going for and what items are on eBay. Sad but true.

I have also been working on building up my resistance to alcohol. Or, maybe I've been working on destroying my liver; however you want to look at it. Lately, my favorite has been Bud Light Lime. Mmmmm, Bud Light Lime (in a Homer voice)! I've also been enjoying a new drink that I've invented. I call it "F.I.G," which is short for Flavor Ice Gin. I'll swipe about 5 or 6 flavor ice from the boy's stash. Cut off the tops and squeeze them into a tall glass. Then pour two to three quarts of gin in the glass. As the flavor ice melts, it flavors the gin. Tasty! I've also been enjoying wines, too. Les Bourgeois Vineyards, local company from Rocheport, MO, makes a great white wine...River Boat White. That's pretty yummy too!

So, I guess I have been keeping busy. I've been doing informational research and have been an inventor. So, I shouldn't feel like I've been wasting away all this free time.

Cheers!

Columbia, MO gets a visit by Obama

2008-11-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 30th Columbia was visited by the next president of the United States...Barack Obama. The wait was definitely worth it. He was scheduled to give his speech at 9:30pm, and the gates opened at 730pm; which meant that someone who wanted to see him up close would have to get in line around 5pm. I guess Janine, Mackenzie and I weren't smart enough. We got in line just before 6pm and by that time, the line was about 1/2 mile long. By the time it was time for the gates to open, the line had strung around 1.5 miles.

Once the line got moving and past his security, we moved in as close as we could. We were about 50 yards from the stage. Not bad for being 1/2 mile from the start of the line. But, the way that they had the stage set up, anyone less than 6 feet tall couldn't really get a good look.

Lucky for us, he came on stage ahead of schedule...around 9pm. Unlucky for others still trying to get pas the gates, they only got to hear him speak. They estimated that over 50,000 people attended this rally.

Once he finally got on stage, he pretty much said everything that he's said before. But the way he speaks leaves you wanting more. Some people have compared him to Hitler. Can you believe that? Hitler! I don't believe that Barack Obama could ever wipe out an entire race or pull the wool over on America's eyes to do the same thing that Hitler did. That comparison is totally ridiculous!! They have based this totally on his ability to talk to a crowd and get them fired up. Just another example of how scare tactics are being used to get mindless sheep to vote for their candidate.

Got me an eBay special...

2008-10-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I was cruising around eBay and came across an "Almost Like New" Rudy Project Syton aero helmet. The bidding was only up to $50, with only 10 hours left. [These things sell for $160 new.] So, I added it to the thousands of items in my Watch Items. I can definitely use an "Almost Like New" aero helmet, because all the cool fast people wear the Syton.

With 1 hour left, I flip on the computer to check out the "Almost Like New" Syton. Awesome, still $50! 45 minutes...no change. With 10 minutes...still $50!! I've bid on these helmets before and they've always sold for an almost new price.

Finally, with minutes to go, I am glued to the computer. Refresh, refresh, refresh!!! I'm expecting the price to go up. But nothing! What the hell, I'm going to bid. So, I add in a stupid low bid with only seconds to go, thinking that I had no chance to win. I really didn't care if I won or not, because I already have an aero helmet. And wouldn't you know, I won it for $61!!

So, now you are looking at the newest owner of an "Almost Like New" Syton areo helmet. Congratulations to me!!

Cheers!

Down goes Frazier...down goes Frazier!!!!

2008-10-19T15:18:00.001-07:00

With all this "off-season" time on my hands, the boys and I have discovered nerf baseball. We take a nerf ball and a wiffle ball bat and play baseball. It's a good alternative to the real thing, because we only have about 30 feet of usable front yard. Even when you really lay into that nerf ball, it only goes about 20 feet, then the grass brings it to an immediate halt. Our bases are only about 10 feet apart, making it a fast and furious game.

Today, was a beautiful autumn day, so Skylar, Brayden and I decided to get in a couple of innings. I started out pitching, Skylar hit first, Brayden was on deck. Of course, Skylar make up the rules as we went along and as it turned out, he hit a home run on his first at bat. Brayden, then hit a double that turned into a modified home run, bypassing third on his way to score. Then it was my turn to hit. Skylar took the ball and became the relief pitcher. First pitch...hit me in the back. Second pitch rolled to home plate. Third pitch was a high looping change up that went over the plate, but was about 10 feet high. Thinking that this might be the best pitch I'd get, I took a huge step back and attempted to hit it. Something went seriously wrong. As I swung at it, I lunged and that's when I lost all ability to coordinate putting my two feet back on the ground simultaneously. I'm not sure if it was the stepping backwards, the lunge, the flip flops or just maybe that I'm getting old, but I ended up landing flat on my back. As I hit the ground, I landed awkwardly on the side of my foot, wrenching my big toe, my ankle and knee. Luckily, I the only pain that has lingered was the pain in my big toe. But, holy shit! That sucker hurts like a moth'a!

Needless to say, the game was called, due to the only player able to throw strikes I went down with an injury. What the F! This is the second time in the last week, that one of us has gone down with an injury while playing yard games!!! Maybe Sundays were only for watching football and drinking beer and exercise is out of the question!!! Hmmm, I'll have to think about that while I'm spinning on the trainer tonight.

I was going to do a little speed work at the track tomorrow. I guess that will have to wait until later in the week. I doubt that I'll be able to push off with a toe the size of an Idaho potato.

Cheers!

Jerry Rice...watch out!

2008-10-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I were out playing catch with the football. He hasn't quite got the catching thing down quite yet. He can throw like Joe Montana, but catching is another story.

Playing a sport that requires 22 players on the field is a little hard with only two. It would be a lot easier to pick up the blitz with 3 players, but I can't ever motivate Skylar to play with us. So, he calls in the plays from the sidelines and tells us everything that we are doing wrong. I usually quarterback and have Brayden hike it from center, block the blitz, then go out for the pass. Mostly, we run little screens, but ever once in a while we run the deep route. My quarterback rating was pretty dismal, considering Brayds didn't catch one single pass.

But finally, after about 30 passes...there was success. Skylar calls in the play, but before Brayds snaps the ball I call an audible when I see that the middle line backer is going to blitz. I'm going deep to the B-Man. Brayden runs the perfect out and up, to the back of the end zone [which was a pair of old pink and yellow fuzzy slippers that we found near the trash can]. I pump fake to the left, then toss it ever so gently to the right [perfect spiral, I might add]. Up, up it goes. Brayden spots the ball and it is right on target. He puts out his hands and the ball falls perfectly into his hands. Unfortunately, the pass was a little high and he has to trap the ball to keep possession. Since the pass is high, he has to trap the ball between his hands and...uh...and ...uh...his face. The point of the football goes right into his mouth. "Ouch!" he screams. "I hate this game!" as he throws down the ball. But it was more like a victory spike, because he caught the ball!!! And, in the end zone..."TOUCH DOWN!" I yelled. It was no consolation for Brayds, he was injured and needless to say, he was done. What started out as a friendly game of catch, ended in tragedy...with a fat lip and a bruised ego.

Ironman World Championships

2008-10-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

After watching the sluggish Missouri Tigers lose to Oklahoma State, I turned on IronmanLive.com. I joined the podcast at 10:55:00 into the race. It is totally amazing to think that these guys were out there on the course for 10 hours. And, the majority of the racers have yet to finish. They still have 6 hours until the course closes! To put this into perspective...a normal work day is 8 hours. Some of these athletes are exercising for 17. That is a long day!

As I watched these guys finish, the announcer calls them "Ironmen." How inspiring is that? What an accomplishment! I just wanted to say congratulations to each and every person who started this race and a big 'ol high five to those who finish!

A special finish line high five to Rodney Adkinson from Lohman, Missouri. I've had the pleasure to know and race against Rodney for the past 6 years. He is a great guy and triathlete. He finished in 10:11:53. Knowing Rodney, he had his heart rate monitor and power tap dialed in the entire race and had his slide rule out for ever stroke, pedal and step of the way. Great job Rod!!

Hey Rodney! YOU...ARE...AN...IRONMAN!!!!!!!!!

2008 Fall Rec Plex Triathlon

2008-10-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Racing in Missouri during the month of October is always a crap shoot. The weather stinks, then it is good, stinks, good, hot, cold, rainy, dry, stinks, good. Sunday was an awesome day to race. 75 degrees, little to no wind and not a cloud in the sky. I guess it was Friday, two days before the race, that I walked out of the house and about froze my tail off. If it is this cold on Sunday, there was no way in hell that I'd race. Cold and I don't get along! And, I've accepted that. I don't try to fight it. Cold, you win!

But on Sunday, there was no cold. Only warm and I could tell it was definitely going to be a good day. My race actually started 1 hour, 29 minutes and 45 seconds after the first athlete began racing. RecPlex staggers their start time, by the order of your registration. If you register first, you go into the water first, second, third and so on (with 15 seconds between). Luckily, I was the 348th person to register. So by the time I started, the sun was up and out and Global Warming was in full gear!

I had a really good race. I PR'd the course, placing 2nd Overall. And, I scored $100 cash! Woo hoo!! My splits went like this...500 meter swim - 7:50; 20 mile bike - 52:11; 4.4 mile run - 27:31. Because of the stagger start, I was in first place from the time I finished until almost the end. Until that pesky Jay Orr finished, he ended up beating me by almost one minute and half. He started back in the 600's, so I had a pretty good idea that my lead would be short lived, and it was. But you know, it sure did feel good to see my name at the top of the results page!

With this race, you don't really know how well/poor you are doing until it's over. So, I set unrealistic goals for myself. Just to see if I can reach them. This time, I said that I wanted to pass someone who has a number in the 200's. When I did that, I pushed it up and said that I wanted to pass someone in the low 200's. When I did that, I pushed it up and said that I wanted to pass someone in the 100's. That one didn't come for a while. But I did it! But does it really count if they are really old and competing in the 75-79 Age Group? Hmmm, I'm not sure about that. Otherwise, I didn't see anyone else with a number in the 100's.