BoroRacer

Way, Way Too Much.

2012-01-29T13:15:00.000-05:00

LightHouse at Lake Hefner

One of my biggest downfalls when I come to Oklahoma City in the winters, is that I try to stuff as much training as I can while the weather is good. It has been fantastic here. And because it's been so great, the need to run has been good too.

But, that isn't where this starts. This starts to this past Monday, when a classmate, and also a co-worker from home, wanted to play racquetball. I love racquetball, it's a lot of fun, very high intensity, and as far as sports go, I have never taken it seriously. I also haven't played it in 15 years.

Flashback: 1997, in the same gym here in OKC, I was in a high stress, weed-out string of classes, and my classmates and I played a lot of golf, hit the weights, and played racquetball and wallyball, before heading back to our apartments for another 3-5 hours of studying. It was, as I have called many times, Boot Camp for the mind. One particular day, we were playing Wallyball, think volleyball in a racquetball court, when I was at the net and jumped to block a return shot. I got the point, but when I landed, it was on another guys foot and the angle was so wrong, that I ended up with a dis-located foot. It was situated like a ballerina's, but it wasn't going back. All the other issues aside, after that, I have not been able to ice skate, roller blade, ski, both water and snow, or anything that has a lot of lateral motion without some hinderance. After several years of stretching and plyometric work, I'm actually better now and have been able to do more.

Anyway, we played a game of Cutthroat, and then 6 more games, we split 3-3, before realizing that neither one of us were going to like the results. I was pretty much right, my legs hurt, and hurt bad for about 3 days. I also need to see the Chiropractor for multiple walls that my shoulders took. It was fun, though. I'd like to play more in the future.

2nd helping of overdoing it: Lake Hefner, has about 9-10 miles of trails around it, and is just a great place to ride and run. Lots of people, but not too overly crowded, and I enjoy it. I have been doing 5 mile runs the past couple of runs here, and for some reason, unknown to my rational thought process, I just kept on running yesterday. I didn't realize that I was a tad bit out of shape and that my back still stings a little from chasing a ball around an indoor court, until around mile 7. That left me 3 miles of looking at an empty golf course, due to frost, and passing several groups of people who looked like they run 15 marathons a year. It was a most painful experience. And because I left my foam roller at home, it would be my IT bands that feel the worse for wear. It was a good 10 miler though, I felt slow, but any run that I walk away from, is a good one.

One last thing: I have a habit of giving a nod, or a small wave, maybe a smile if she's cute, but why is it, that the runners in this town, don't seem to have that in their make up. I've gotten looks that make me feel like I have 3 heads. This is one very friendly town overall, just not while running I guess. And the cyclists here are the same as everywhere else I guess. If your not cycling, or have a bike close by, they don't want anything to do with you. I asked the 2 guys parked next to me how the winter riding has been and they both looked at me and ignored me. My first thought was to grab my utility tool out of my emergency back and cut their shift cables.

Don't get me wrong, I like this place. I could become an instructor here. But, I don't see that happening, my wife would have to be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'd lose my job and that there was no other choice before she'd give consent to it. The nice thing about all that: She's at least entertaining new places to live.

Looking forward to getting home. I miss my wife and my little people. I have a Pinewood Derby car to help put the finishing touches on, a championship swim meet to help officiate, and a little dude who makes bowling pins out of everything. Plus, I need to extend my wife's closet. Keep forgetting that last littel tidbit.

On On

On the Road Again....

2012-01-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

After a couple of weeks off, a highly detoured road trip, and a whiny blog post, yes, I will admit the last one was a bit whiny, I am back in the saddle again. After making sure my wife knew where the water main was located, the main electrical breaker, and the home defense apparati, I went off to Oklahoma City again. I had to detour, for some weather concerns, a little more southernly route, but it was all in good time. My wife misses me because she needs someone to run the snow blower, it sort of scares her. Not the possibility of someone breaking in, no, she's a better shot than I am and a whole lot meaner too.

Anyway, the weather here has been good, and I've been going to the gym, but I have realized one salient fact: I can't benchpress for crap anymore. I can squat a whole hell of a lot of weight, shoulder press more than I ever could, and I fairly flexible, but I need a lot of ab work. I've never been much of a gym rat, but I do like to head there when I'm either in OKC, or on the road in general.

I'm also a big fan of the bike trails around Lake Hefner in the NW part of the city. A very well, laid out affair, that offers almost 10 miles of trails around the lake. I did 5 my first day and the weather was great, with very little wind. What I've forgotten, is that if the temp is 50, when you run with the 15 MPH wind, it feels warmer, and you sweat more. When you return and head into the wind, the temp is 15 deg colder and the sweat tends to freeze a bit more. I'm planning on a 10 mile around the lake affair over the weekend, so we'll see how good of shape I'm in. I've put in two 5 milers in the past three days and both have been pretty good.

An impulse buy. I had quite a few Best Buy gift cards, and stopped in to look around. I walked out with a small Nikon camera and a sleek little carry pouch, an extra battery, and a SD card for $20. It's going to be able to make some runs with me and a few rides later in the Spring. I have the Glacier Ridge Trail run coming in April, so I'm sure that will be its maiden race/tryout. My phone has a great camera, but after trying to use it for a run, it feels like a brick on my arm. My 5 year old Nano is almost non-existant when I use it. I'd rather trash the camera, than the phone. But I did take a couple of these and played with the editing software when we went to GoKart track today.

In-Door Go Kart racing....a whole lot of fun

The karts are electric, can get up to 45 MPH, and have told me that I was not built for motorsports. Give me a bike, a pair of swim goggles, and some running shoes, and I can excel. Put me on a course with walls that move when they are hit, and I will be changing the direction of the course in a lot of major sections. I had a good time all the way around.

It's still winter out there...stay safe.

On On.

Back At It.

2012-01-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

As I close out my first week of the new year at work, I realized that taking two weeks off puts me about two days behind just clearing out the e-mail and getting the synopsis of current projects. However, I do enjoy my job and I do enjoy everything else about my life, and I tend to get a little annoyed when that is tinkered with. So, without further ado, I am starting a new feature: That Which Annoys.

I will only post these one a quarterly basis, basically so that I'm not seen as a grouchy, irritable, not-so-nice person.

-Whining about a race filling up. Reference the Facebook page for the Oil Creek100 and the three - four month premature crying that they might not get into the race. There have even been some concern that their computer will crash, or their internet will freeze up. I understand all that could happen. Facebook sucks anyway, but please don't fill up the wall with "If I don't get in this race, I'll kill myself."

-Expecting more by doing less. Let's face it. People today are lazy and getting lazier. I just old enough to remember the days of 3 channels on TV, plus PBS, and the playing of the national anthem at the end of the broadcast day. I also remember how food got prepared pre-microwave days. Nowaday, it seems that those of us who do remember it, are forgetting it. With racing and training, you get what you put in. Jeff, from danglethecarrot, has a good take on it from earlier today. I'm not nearly as fast as I was 10 years ago, and I'm ok with that, but I know that to improve, you need to do the work.

-The New Year's Resolution crowd. I know they're coming, I know they'll be gone by March, but that doesn't make it any easier. Especially when they feel as if you need to cater to them in their workouts. Take the pool. At 0600, I know there are 5-7 people who are always there when I am. Over the past 6 years, I've developed a friendship with all of them and it's good. Yesterday, there were 10 people and the most miffed were the folks who decided that maybe getting back into the pool right then was the only way they were going to live. I will share lanes, even circle swim, just don't give me an attitude. Oh, and I wear ear plugs, so I can't hear you, just get in and get at it.

-Fellow runners: Thank you for running in correct direction, meaning against traffic. And thanks for wearing reflective vests. But, please stay over as far as you can so that I don't get hit because some driver is pissed at all runners because he had to ditch it in a snow bank because you were afraid to get your shoes wet. This goes especially towards the university women's cross country and.or track team who feel that as a pack, you can take up the whole road. Well, my truck is paid off and I'm enjoying bowling these days, so trying to pick up the 7-10 split is a bonus.

I feel better. Stay safe this winter and be careful.

On On.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

Man, am I lazy....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-20T17:01:00.000-05:00

To say it's been a good year, would be an understatement. Every year is a blessing to some degree or another. I will be off work until Jan 3rd, and look forward to the kids being home and just some time with them. This, is the time in their lives that will mean the most later on when they are teenagers and my wife and I are just plain stupid. It will also be the time that I will look fondly on as I contemplate how long they are going to be grounded.

-Only one gift this year. I love it and plan on using it always. Damn Verizon for killing the unlimited data plan.

-The kids are also taken care of too. Where they are going to put their new junk, is something beyond my comprehension. I need a sherpa and GPS coordinates to get through my daughters room already.

-Two trail races on the calender so far for 2012. With an office move and a large runway extension, I will premium space on my calender and premium time to train. I will probably surprise myself, but probably 3 triathlons, a duathlon, and a couple road races....all etched in sand of course.

-The college is on semester break...greatest....time....ever!!!

Merry Christmas.

On On

Twas Three Weeks Before Christmas

2011-12-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

Other than tipping the scales at a much higher weight than I would like, I have been amazingly active with keeping in winter upkeep mode. I've been swimming between 4 - 5000 yds a week, keeping the running at a good clip, and getting my Netflix streaming on the stationary. I did attempt to try to play some Modern Warfare 3 while spinning, but ended up noticing that my Kill to being Killed ratio was incredibly lopsided and not in a good way.

Quick Hits:

-I've gotten absolutely no Christmas shopping done. But, I only work 4 more days and I'm calling it a year. Even though my 6 months as manager was productive, I never took any time off, which I couldn't regardless, and I need to get rid of a lot of Leave, or I lose it. So shopping I will go. My present involves me wanted to choke the life out of the Verizon Executive that decided that tier pricing for a data plan was a good idea.

-Woodworking has become an increasing hobby of mine. I know how to use a lot of tools, have built several things, and can safely live under the things that I have built. Over the last couple weeks I've been making his shadow box for Cub Scouts and have had a good time doing it. It's a nice little cedar box, I might post the finish product in a future posting.

-I'm Apolitical until April 1st. I pay no attention to the news, and can't begin to understand how Newt got back into the national spotlight. And that is all I will say about that.

-Why can't I get interested in football, or even hockey for that matter. I've been watching a lot less TV, and actually reading more. Since I spend a lot more time on the computer at work, I don't boot up at home too often, and when I do, it's for some mind numbing game playing. It's the winter, what else do you want me to do.

-And as always, we're supposed to be getting some lake effect snows tonight. I hate the cold, being cold, and the white crap that comes with it. BUT, my wife is happy, my oldest boy is looking forward to skiing again, and all three want to go sledding. I consider it a sacrifice for the family...for now.

Just don't have much else going through my mind. Be careful out there shopping. And even more so if your training in the colder climates. For those of you in the warmer areas that read this drivel....I hope it rains.

On On

Turkey Trot 5K Race Report.

2011-11-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

A race report for a 5K race is sort of anti-climactic, but I did make a few observations both before and after the race that are worth a few lines on the blog.

Pre-Race: This is one popular race and a lot of people decide to spend Thanksgiving morning here for some running before eating and napping. And since the Cross Country season ended just a few weeks ago, there are still a bunch of high schoolers who have some speed and endurance and still want to race. All of that is very commendable and makes for good, technical racing. And by technical, I mean having to run around grandma and leap over Aunt Bertie who lined up in the 6:00 minute pace section. Which brings me to:

1.) This is the first Turkey Trot that I've seen with the Pace sections set up. I stood right at the 8:00 pace sign and figured that I could move forward easier than having to plow through a mob from the rear. This would've been possible if I weren't having to bob and weave through pre-teens, the elderly, and a few misplaced walkers.

2.) There are a tremendous amounts of port a johns all over the parking lot where everyone assembled prior to the race. When the unit is available, the little window is green. When the window is red, it's occupied. So, to the fine gentleman who repeatedly yanked on the door that I was in, I say, consider yourself lucky. Because if I you had gotten the door opened, I would've pissed on you. Seriously, I was impressed with the number of toilets available.

3.) Pre-race instructions can best be heard when people aren't yelling to the people next to them because everyone else is yelling. This is very important because the course was a bit revised this year to handle to number of people running. Can't help but think that might have played a part in what happened at the end.

Race: As far as 5K's go, this one was as stress free and effortless as I can remember. I wasn't in for a PR and wasn't going to slack either. Since this was my first race since the 50K, it was more or less a chance to take off if I felt like it, or practice the "target and conquer" routine which worked very well. After the first mile, I would pick someone up ahead and then work on picking them off. First there were the girls wearing the black compression outfit and hot pink shorts, then the dude in the Sidney Crosby jersey, and then a girl with the strangest pony tail/hairdo that I would've needed a picture of to do justice.

1.) I wear my iPod. The volume is enough to hear, but also enough that I can be aware of my surroundings. I know that this is subject to great debate and I've been on both sides of it. In my teens and on the race teams, I was dead set against it and saw those who used them as weak. Now, I want to listen to something other than myself. On the bike, absolutely not. If you do wear them, and don't respond to the request to move right, then be prepared to be moved. And, if I can hear the crap your listening to while mine are on and we're running, its too damn loud. You deserve to go deaf at age 40.

2.) Pay attention to the course. With the aforementioned new change for accommodation, you have to watch the cones and the volunteers, bless them, so that you don't run off course or farther than the distance. Yes, sometimes mistakes happen, but so do car accidents. This will also figure into my last point at the end.

Post-Race: No real sprint at the end, but I did get a younger dude to ratchet it up the last 400 meters by telling him that old people shouldn't be beating him. He smiled and I still beat him. Kudos to all the youngsters, there are some really good runners on the rise in these here parts. There was no food, just the admonishment to keep moving and clear a path for the people coming in behind. Just a couple cups of water and I walked down the road a bit to look for my brother and dad. They did well, and yes, I left the camera at home. I really need a newer, more slimmer one.

1.) Great race Erie Runners Club. With almost 4-5000 people in two events including walkers, it takes an army of volunteers and great logistics to put these events on. Not to mention its Thanksgiving and your giving up your time to help others enjoy their time out in the cold. To the race director and the volunteers: Bravo Zulu. (Which means good job in Naval parlance.)

2.) To the ASSBAG who decided to drop a F- bomb because he went off course, I merely say this: Suck It. It's your job to pay attention and your job to run the race. If you want immediate results, then I submit that you've never been an RD at any point in your life. Had it been my race, I would've thrown your ass out of the race, and then black balled you from any other race that I could in the future. Be thankful that you live in a country that allows you to do this on a day off in the middle of the week. Be thankful that you have the ability to run.

Overall, it was a good experience. A few bad apple do spoil a bunch.

As for my stats:

24:44 (7:59 pace)
329/2713 Overall
20/85 AG

New Years Part 2

2011-11-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

This is one of my shortest posts, mainly because I haven't done squat. I blame it on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. I'm halfway through the Single Play, and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. When you live here in NW PA with the snow belt shellacking, you need a winter hobby of a some what mindless nature. And for me, that is computer gaming. But here is what I have found out in the past week:

-It hurt like a royal bitch when I rolled my ankle during the early pre-dawn run on Wednesday. The same ankle that took a beating during the 50K last month. I was only a mile from home so I was able to hobble back to the house and did it all without crying. Cause that hurt like hell. BUT,

-After 3 days, I could run again and even though my ankle was stiff, it felt much better. Did I do any damage to it? Don't know, but it didn't hurt to walk, so I figured why not give it a try. Sidenote: With the morning runs taking place in the dark, I have become a sort of trend setter. Prior to my starting to wear a brightly colored vest, I never saw anyone else around town with them. Over the last couple months, everyone I've seen has had one. I take credit...well, yeah, I'll take credit.

-With the off season, comes an awful lot of "Honey Do" completions to get through with. So far, the snowblower works, the leaves got mulched in place, and the mower put away until next April. I've even managed to paint a wall and now I get to work on extending my wife's closet. Plus changing out five of the doors from the 1960's mishmash to something resembling the 6 panel door that I installed to the attic some 5 years ago.

-Next week, it's camping with the scouts. To express my delight on winter camping would take a lot of restraint to not write a whole string of Non-Mother approved verbage.

-My take on the whole Penn State saga: I have none. I have no affiliation with the University, and I'm not really a fan. I did watch the Nebraska game today and noticed that one of the Seniors is a local kid, go figure. If the allegations are found to be true, the former assistant coach can rot in Dante's 7th circle.

Have a good week and stay safe in the winter training.

On On

New Years Resolutions...Part I

2011-11-04T10:54:00.000-04:00

Started this particular entry a week ago, just got busy with other stuff. Because my racing calender is from November to October, I usually start filling out the new training plan, and figuring out where I could do better.

I crunched the numbers from the training pages and came up with an almost startling revelation. I ran more mileage than I biked by 8 miles. The numbers are not the stuff that inspire, except for the swimming, and at just short of 100 miles for the season, I'm content with that. As for publishing those numbers, I would, but they aren't in front of me right now. I do know, that I'm 5 pounds heavier than last year and I find that almost depressing.

So what have I learned:

-The "more with less" strategy paid off in the long run. The shorter, but more intense workouts actually had better results in terms of time for some of the sprint races, and even my placing. This strategy will be used again this next year since I'm going to be deeply involved in a high dollar runway extension project and time will be at a premium.

-No matter how much I've tried to avoid injuries they are still going to happen. I think weight might be part of it, but I plan for that. What I can hang the hat on is this: I was still 13 minutes faster at the 50K and ran less mileage and got the nutrition down this year.

-I'm buying a smaller camera for next race season. My wife has the uber-Nikon, and I'm using the old Kodak, but I need something smaller that I can keep tucked away for race use. Would really like to add more pictures next season.

-First race is the Turkey Trot. Since I can't do the Winter Series this year, I'm just planning on doing the 5K and then spending the time with the family. My daughter isn't running it this year, mainly since she hasn't been running and is busy with two dance classes and swim team. I did tell her that she could do one or two of the kid's triathlons that they hold every summer if she wanted too. She balked at first, until she saw that a friend of hers had done one this past summer.

-Carrying the weight that I have through the summer wasn't very good for racing in general. Granted, I was a desk jockey for the majority of the race season, and getting out of my Fortress of Managment was a pretty difficult task at times. Now that I am in my current position, at least for the next 2 years, (though probably permanently,) I have free reign to get out of the office and not be chained down.

Otherwise, I'm haven't learned much.

On On

The End of Season.

2011-10-22T22:12:00.000-04:00

Sound advice for those that turn to hunting in the winter.

I've been giving little to no thought as to how this season wrapped up. In fact, training isn't something that I've even considered, since there is nothing to train for. But, alas, I have decided to do the Turkey Trot and the 5K only at that. There is the opportunity to run both the 5K and 10K's, but I'm not interested in staying around for both. For one, the huge throng of people, the crappy parking situation, and the weather the last two years has been absolutely horrendous. The other reason, I don't want to be late for Thanksgiving dinner again this year...again.

I have also signed up for the Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra 30K race for next April. Another trail run with a tighter time cutoff. I'm just hoping that I don't have bronchitis again like I had this year. With signing up for that race, I have decided to scrap the Tough Mudder for next year, which is the week after this one. But, this is October, I will make a dozen more decisions before the end of the year.

-I don't watch a lot of TV, but my wife made me watch an episode of "The Big Bang Theory" and now I'm hooked. She said it's been on for a few years and she was surprised that I never saw it before. Unless its hockey, something sports related, or in the winter, I probably haven't watched it. And when the next Call Of Duty version comes out in November, I won't be watching this show either.

-Politics: Until January, I don't care. I don't pay attention until the year of an election, and probably not until September. Twice now, I have been asked about my opinion, and I don't have one. I will say this one thing though. Anyone who thinks that investments are gambles is an Ass Clown.

-My first run since the Oil Creek race and my ankle was a little stiff toward the end of the run. It felt good to get out and put in a short little run, with no real reason to go except to just go. I've been reading quite a few of the race reports from the trail run and they're all well written. A couple were even a little heart wrenching.

-I do have a compound bow for Archery. It's a heavy duty hoss that my father in law gave me when the 60 lb pull became a little too much for him. I'm right handed, but my dominant eye is my left so I shoot both firearms and the bow left handed. Suffice it to say, I've had to work at my shooting. I'm not a hunter either. Mainly because I hate the cold, and just sitting in wait is not conducive to my hyperactive nature. But to go out and shoot, I could do that until the ammo runs out. Or I get pissed because my wife is a better shot than I will ever be.

Enjoy the week.

On On

Who Would've Thought.

2011-10-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

-Having the dislike that I do for Facebook, I tend not to log on but once a month, or if I have a picture or two to post for the relatives. Needless to say, I didn't know that there was a little gadget on the side that told you how many new posts that any group that you might belong to adds up. So, with over 300 in the Tri Club, I glanced down and noticed over 500 in the Oil Creek group. Interesting. A lot of links to race reports and some on Facebook itself, and all worth reading. Then, I noticed that mine was listed.

I will unabashedly state for the record that this race report wasn't nearly as good as last years, and that on the whole, I tend to write like my 4 year old after an antibiotic bender. Having said all that, I think it's great to get the publicity, add a new follower, which is 5 more than I figured I'd ever have, but I wish it had been better. I'll try better next time.

-Foot is much better, I may even be able to run this weekend. I'm having my orthotics retread too, so that might make it a little more comfortable to run in the future.

-Better blog later this week. Maybe. Not promising anything. It'll probably suck.

On On.

Oil Creek 100 50K Race Report

2011-10-13T14:44:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite race for the 2nd year in a row. Not because I'm stellar, or because I have a special need for immense pain, but because it is one challenging pain in the ass. Over it's three year existance, there have been more than a couple of Western States and Leadville veterans that have said that this course is technically harder than the aforementiond venerable events. I don't have any other race to judge specifically, so I'll take their word for it. I do know that being out there in the woods when the sun goes down is one very dark place to be.

START/FIRST SECTION:

With the starting temps in the upper 50's with an expected high in the low 80's for the afternoon, I went with the tried and true maroon tech shirt, shorts, the Nathan's waterpack, and my trail shoes. I added a race belt with slots for gel packs and it made hanging my iPod a lot easier too. The iPod was only for the data since I figured I could keep myself company when I found myself alone, which is now a law in terms of racing.

I started off at a very easy pace, just at the point where I could keep a conversation and not have to stop talking to take a breath. The course entered the woods at an earlier point this year, but the daylight was enough where I could see the treacherous roots, limbs, and rocks that littered the single track that is the first section of the course. I stayed in a conga line group of 8 for pretty much the first 7 miles and our little group passed several stragglers who had taken off at the start and were now starting to pay the price.

As in last years race, I was very much worried about screwing my ankles up like I did early last year. I had my eyes pretty much aimed at the calves of the guy in front of me, his name was Jacob by the way and he had some nice trail shoes and wore gaiters around his shoes. Anyway, before the first aid station, there is a rather large downhill that is chock full of rocks, and roots, and leaves that cover rocks and roots. I picked my way down this hill and halfway down I was almost tickled with how well I managed to avoid the pitfall of last year and that if I made the bridge over the creek, I'd be almost golden. 30 feet from the bridge, my right ankle, met moss covered rocked and slid acrossed it. The snap, and immediate pain, was very heart wrenching, but I was able to put a little weight on it in fairly quick order. I made it into the first Aid Station and took 5 ibruprofen, quitting wasn't an option.

REST OF RACE:

The hill leading out to the rest of the course is called "SwitchBack" and it sucks. Not just a little, but a whole lot. Between this one, the "Neverending Hill" and the "Cemetary Hill" leaving Aid Station 3, the quads take an incredible pounding that I'm still feeling when I walk up and down stairs almost 5 days later. With my achilles issues, running hill intervals is not a good idea, but I had figured that I'd be ok based on my cycling regimen. Also knowing that cycling is an opposing motion to running, but I was hoping.

After Aid Station 1, which is called Wolfkiel, the course widens in a lot of places and allows you chances to make up time from walking up hills by running through these areas. I was able to start running again, my ankle most happy with the ibu-, but I was also very careful when the trail went single track and the tree roots and rocks made grand appearences. It was in first 5 miles between the 1st and 2nd stations that I met Steve from Pittsburgh, and we worked the course together at a good clip. I would pace the uphills, oh the irony there was, and he would pace the running since he wasn't hobbled and he was very good at varying his pace to match the terrain. We took turns pacing the run, but at mile 23 after a root reached out and grabbed the right ankle and I slid 5 feet down the trail, he became the full time pacer. If I fell behind on the run sections, I would catch up on the hills. It worked out real well for both of us.

The great thing about these races is that competition is sort of a collective effort. Yes, you know there are those that are keeping a podium finish in mind, but when a race doesn't have age groups, and 60 year old women can run the whole damn thing, and talking to the people in whatever group you find yourself in is more important than what placing is at the moment, then you know that compitition is a little different. The Timex is recording the real enemy in an Ultra, the clock. The Oil Creek race has very generous cutoff times and is considered an "entry level" type of event. Yes, people still fail to make the times, and drop out for other reasons, but it's an event meant to be fun. A painful type of fun, but fun nontheless.

With that in mind, Steve and I were looking for PR's after we found out that my iPod was too fast, and that his GPS watch had us 2 miles behind our actual location. We puffed fairly quickly through the last section and even managed to run up a couple of the climbs. I knew the ankle was still there, but I was still able to run pretty well. We hit the final switchback down the hill to the road below and the mile loop around the Drake's Well musuem. For those history buffs, Edwin Drake is considered the father of the petroleum industry and where terms like Wildcatter and Teamsters originated.

We hit the road and I managed to run for a half hour before I was reduced to a fast paced walk. Steve kept going and beat his PR and earned a lot of respect points in my book. My last 2 miles were a combination of waddle running and sloshing from my water pack and my ankle screaming at me every step of the way by now. The pavement didn't help so I found the grass sections and kept on chugging. I hit the finish at 7:43:30, or 13 minutes faster than last year. Overall I was 53 of 116 finishers, and I earned my 2nd belt buckle.

POST SCRIPT:

I woke up Sunday morning and my wife telling me I needed to have my ankle looked at because it was a mass of black/blue/and red and shaped like a ball. The Doctor had it X-rayed and other than a chipped bone, from when it was dis-located in 97, it was sprained to the 12th degree, or something like that. I asked when the next time I could run, or at least ride the bike was and he told me to get out of his office. My wife threatened to hide my shoes if I so much as set my alarm clock over the next couple of weeks. So, I'm forced to paint some trim and work on extracting some pictures from my wife's old computer. Can't wait until April to sign up again.

On On.

Yes, There is Still One More Race This Season.

2011-09-22T12:14:00.000-04:00

How can you not love a dog in a hoodie?

I read a passage once that said, "While aiming for the sky, it's best to pay a little attention to the present, since you never know when you're going to crash into that mountain right ahead of you." Can't remember if it was in a book about Chinese philosophers, a cereal box, or written on the wall above a urinal, but what I do know is that it it fits when compared to my running ability and the impending Oil Creek 100 50K race that might become a walk/crawl/meander and eat lots of M&M'sand wonder if I'm going to meet one really pissed off mama bear. As I said before, I'm in decent enough shape overall, I'm just not in "31 miles-in-a- cloud-of-dust-with-my-hair-on-fire" shape. I'm almost certain that it'll be 40 degrees with rain. Isn't my positve attitude so contagious?

-Now would also be a good time to express my thanks to Big Daddy Diesel for the "Pukie" award. I can honestly say that I have gotten sick in races, but of all the runs and triathlons, I think I've only hurled two or three times. I will embrace it for what it is, my body saying "Hey Dumbass, do you really think the Captain Crunch/Life Cereal breakfast was such a good idea now?"

-What does it say about me when I have as many "Friend Ignores" than I have actual Friends on Facebook. Meaning, I get a request and then I just ignore it, or just plain leave it to rot in a "1's" and "0's" purgatory. I only created an account when the Tri Club officers decided to do business via social media rather than the website. I have volunteered to take the website over, just haven't done it yet. I guess it's time to dust off the Word Press and start the site up again. For the record, most of the "ignores" have been relatives I've seen maybe 20 years ago or some who is a friend of a friend and has 500 "friends" and is just swelling the ego with their big numbers of "friends."

-I have decided that I will be doing the "Insanity" workout this fall and winter. I will look at the P90X again later, rather than just my 8 favorite disks. My wife said that she will do it with me, so if I'm going to look like I have epileptic seizures, I might as well have company. The final decision came down to my travel schedule and work schedule that is starting to develop. Plus, my wife would like to work more on the cardio and it wouldn't hurt me either.

-Enjoy the last vistages of the warmth if you live in the northern climate, and if you're basking in the warmth and comfort of the south where it's comfortable all year, show us some pity.

Been Awhile.

2011-09-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

Or maybe as not as long as I thought. I've recently moved out of management, my 180 day stint ended and the law says I can't do it again for until Feb 27th of next year. But, I did move into the position that I have been waiting for almost 11 years for them to redevelop. I can do the management position, and do it well, but you have to deal with people. And people aren't worth dealing with.

-I put in my longest run for the upcoming Oil Creek 50K. 8 miles. The race is Oct 8th, and I haven't had a double digit run in a long time. The good news, I've got a healthy Achilles and I managed to do the run with an average of 8:02/mile. Will that apply for the actual race, no, but I'm not out of shape either.

-Put putting in some good rides on the stationary bike followed by the leg exercises and some ab work twice a week. The other two days are still swimming and I stopped that for a couple days due to a cold.

Nothing else to write. Been focusing on my family and enjoying them. My 10 year old is teaching me how to play the guitar, and he is starting to enjoy yelling at me once in awhile. If it gets him to playing "Eruption" in the next 5 years, it'll be worth it.

POST MORTUM: Watching the Navy football game. Don't care if they win, but it's nice watching a team that looks like its having fun being on the field. The Big Ten...don't get me started.

On On.

Presque Isle Triathlon Race Report

2011-08-31T15:09:00.000-04:00

I like a good race report, too bad I can't write one. Sometimes during the bike portion of the race, I will write one in a stream of conscience sort of fashion, but then sit me in front of the keyboard, and I get nothing. Too bad this wasn't an Ironman report, that one was fun to do. Sit in front of a keyboard with ice all over the legs and a beer next to me. Aaahh, memories.

Anyway, one of my favorite races, and a staple on my calendar is the Presque Isle Triathlon. As this is the 5th time I've been on these roads this year, I've become very familiar with the course. I almost entertained coming up for a training ride the week before but figured the only information that I'd glean from that was just how boring this course is.

Swim (.35 mi:) Again, I'm not sure how you mark the distance for a OWS, but I know that not all .35 mile swims are created equally. This felt like a long swim last year, and didn't feel much shorter this year either. I have put a lot training time in the pool this year and it has helped out a lot. What throws that training off though, is when you get caught up at the first turn buoy and it feels like a cattle roundup, get kicked in the ribs, pulled on from the sides, have someone pawing at your rear for almost 100 meters, you know, a normal triathlon swim. The water was very smooth, and even at 78 deg, I was still wearing the wetsuit. It felt good and I was happy with the effort, just not the time. Time: 12:13

Orange cap, probably where the kayak in the middle is where I can be found.

T-1: The run from the beach to the bike wasn't too long, and when I take the time to remove most of the wetsuit before I arrive at the bike, then getting ready to ride is that much easier. I didn't camp at this portion like I do in a lot of races, so that was a plus. Time: 1:56

Bike (13.0 mi) I have covered this road so many times in the past 5 years that I know where to start getting bored and where to just be mildly bored. Sure, I can spin just as fast as these legs will go and the mindset is always just to look at the trees, the lighthouse, the singing bridge, or rather where it once was since its not concrete, and the pavilions as you pass it by the first time. My mind tends to wander quite a bit during a ride, pretty much going from subject to subject without too many thoughts to the race at hand. This doesn't bother me for a couple of reasons. The first being, it keeps my mind off the leg burn and the second being the sheer delight that I just finished the bike and it's time for the next phase. I was averaging 21.5 MPH and passing quite a few of the first wave swimmers in the process. How many passed me, I do not know, I usually don't worry about them. I give this ride an A-. It was outstanding, but I still think I can squeeze another 1 MPH on this flat ass course. Time: 35:02

T-2: No camping here either, but I had a hard time getting one of my shoes from slipping, it was set too loose. So I had to stop briefly and tie it a little tighter. Good stop, might have to stage my gear better next time Time: 1:49

Run (3.5 mi)

Fat Man Running!

With the Achilles feeling much better, and the Oil Creek 50K looming in 6 weeks, I need to concentrate on better mileage as a whole. Speed is not of the essence, but for this race, it was better than endurance. Surprisingly, I did not have the normal quad pain to work out in the first half mile that is the norm for a tri. No, this time I felt like I was going to puke. I tasted it in my mouth, my stomach, and anywhere there is plumbing associated with eating. Worse yet, I was passing people without really overextending myself. I had the normal bowl of cereal when I woke up, a small cup of coffee and nothing but water during the race. Luckily, the feeling gave way from Mile 1 to Mile 2.5, and I was able to just scoot along at a healthy pace. However, from Mile 2.5 to the finish, it was going to be a tight one, until I was forced to stop on the trail to the finish because the impending feeling of doom was there. For 30 seconds I waited for it and it never happened, and then decided to just finish the race and if it did then, it was meant to be a public spectacle. Alas, it never happened and the feeling went away about an hour after the race. I don't know what happened, but this was the first time that I ever felt that bad and didn't chuck up something. Time: 28:53
Total Time: 1:19:54, or 4 minutes faster than last year. I can only imagine how much better than would've been if I hadn't had the stomach distress. The winning time was 1:00:18, so for the person who is concentrating on other races, that is not a bad thing. Can there be more improvement for this race? Hopefully a 1:15 is a reachable goal within the next year or two. Who knows, but it'll be worth the effort.

Other notes of interest:
AG: 7/27
OA: 97/379

On On

Just Because.

2011-08-19T09:45:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...he should've have the common decency to at least stand close enough with the umbrella to help shield her from the rain. Or maybe the cases were doing a good job of that already. Who am I to judge.

Nothing of substance this past week, and with a free weekend coming up, I'm going to try and sneak up to Presque Isle on Saturday morning to get in a couple of laps before the triathlon next weekend. I'm sure that there is something else going on within my family confines, but I haven't been told about it just yet. Or I was told and I just didn't write it down. What are the odds of that.

The 2011 Presque Isle triathlon is sold out, and as usual there is the normal amount of complaining about not being able to get in, and the "whoa is me!" that you here because of it. I've had my application for about 3 months, and sent it in at the end of July, and that is starting to push it with this race. It has filled up each of the past 3 years and is becoming pretty popular. A couple of other Tri's have popped up this same weekend so that will hopefully get those who can't race an opportunity to try something else. Or volunteer.

It's exactly that kind of whining on Facebook that has soured me to the whole Social Media. I don't feel as if I want to know what someone's dinner looks like, or how much they enjoy their fabulous life of endless vacations. In this vein, I have decided to take over the Tri Club's website after I leave my current position as the Acting Manager. Right now, I don't have the time to do it, or at least to my level of satisfaction. Not that I will have all that much time in my new position either, but there aren't as many distractions with that as there are with being the Head Chedder.

School is a week and a half away and with it: Football. I love the sport, played it, and have coached it. While I wasn't the best at it, I didn't shy away from hitting someone, or pull up when I knew I was going to get plowed. I respect the game for what it is, a game. Treat it as such. Something that is fun to watch and even better when it's a bunch of Little Gridders in person. My son is large enough and strong enough to play, he'd probably be a good O-Linesman, but he has no interest in the sport. Doesn't watch it on TV, and could care less about it. Does it break my heart, no, but mainly because he has the ability to be a really good swimmer if he continues to build off this summer. Anyway, Go Big Ten (although come January you'll disappoint the crap out of me as usual.) Still don't think Nebraska belongs.

Have a good finish to the race season, stay healthy and go fast.

On On.

Oil Creek Biathlon Race Report

2011-08-15T15:26:00.000-04:00

Last year, I took pictures. This year I did not. No more excuses, if I put them up, then I actually remembered the camera, otherwise, I didn't remember. Sometimes I think I have the memory of a drunken squirrel. Anyway...

The one race that has been etched on my race schedule every year has been the Oil Creek Biathlon. In it's 6th year, I can't say that it's lost its ability to be fun. I get to shoot, run, and make fun of how serious runners in general can be. Having a running background, I can relate. I'm sort of glad that I've outgrown it. As I've said time and time again, I'm not in these for anyone else but myself, and the satisfaction that I get. This race is so low key, but well run, that I just enjoy running it for no other reason than to just get out. It's also part of my mandated two times a year trek to this state park.

This year, I was bib #26, so I started out in the 26th position. My brother was 29th and dad was 37th. When I checked in, I told the RD that I was going to take a lap of the course to see if the calf and Achilles would let me at least pedestrian mode this event or if she had gained another volunteer for the day. Good news, I felt nothing, and not just emotionally this time.

SEGMENT 1:   I take off and feel decent, make the long 1/4 mile decent and nothing is amiss, and then round out at the bottom and start the craptaculer uphill and upward sloping portion. The Achilles starts to ache a tad, but goes away once I hit the 1/4 mile flat and turn toward the rifle range. Not so bad, and I wasn't pushing it at all. TIME: 8:50:51 Obviously, I wasn't pushing it.

SHOOTING PRONE/Penalty Loop: My first thoughts were "How many can I miss this year?"  which battled the "How many misfires am I going to have?" Well, I hit the first target, missed the next two, hit the 4th, and missed the 5th, although not by much. No mis-fires, no issues, and already 110% better than last year. 3 misses mean 3 penalty laps and I take them sort of easy. To avoid a repeat of last years run, I decide to start counting when I get to the referee. Well, if I had actually paid attention I would have known that the first time I go by the Ref, I would've had 1 penalty loop done already. So, in essence I ran 4 penalty loops...what a dumbass. TIME: 3:43:66

SEGMENT 2:   I head out the 2nd time and get halfway down the hill and hit the side of root and begin the twist process of the ankle. And holy crap did that hurt. Trails and my ankles are not friends. And to think, I have the 50K coming in two months. So going uphill, I went into pedestrian mode once again and decided it was time to just enjoy the race, and shoot again. TIME: 9:23:82 No kidding on the taking it easy part.

OFFHAND SHOOTING/Penalty Loop: Since I didn't hit a damn thing last year, any hit would've been remarkable progress over this year. I made the effort to try and control the breathing, and when the 1st target went down, there was the sound of cathedral bells going off in my head as I wanted to dance a jig. So of course I miss #2 and #3, but the bells and dance went off again as I hit #4 which caused me to miss #5. I was almost happy that I hit something, and off I went to do my penalty loops yet again. And did I screw the pooch and run extra this time? You bet. Gotta get my head out of my ass next year. TIME: 4:23:52

SEGMENT 3: During this section, I realized that my winter workout was going to be the "Insanity" 60 day workout trial for no other reason than I need more cardio work and to lose some of this blubber that is starting to accumulate around my midsection. I really did a number on the ankle cause it wasn't screaming at me to quit, but it was calling me names that I can't repeat in a public forum. Best part is, I almost hit that same root going back down the hill. I lapped my brother at this point and he had a pacer too. One of the earlier finishers was running with him and they were BSing as I passed. I wish I had a pacer. Nope, the rule of thumb is no one seems to be around me in a race, and it was true here until I caught up to a guy at the bottom of the hill. The guy bulldogged his way up and I sort of used him as my guide get me up as well. I felt bad because I ended up dropping him toward the finish, he just couldn't keep up I guess. Was I turning a world class time at this point: TIME: 9:30:64 I think a wounded duck could've run faster.

Overall time: 35:52:15. I figured with the 2 extra penalty loops taken out, sub 35, but if you're going to be stupid, you get what you get. I didn't hurt too badly, and there are other races ahead.
PLACEMENT:   7/11 AG I moved up to the Masters Catagory and boy does that show. Surely I was in the top half: 21/39 OA (males only.) What was it I said about the racing pedestrian.

Still love this race, and I'll be back again next year too. Just a lot of fun.

On On

Injuries and What Not.

2011-08-10T09:09:00.000-04:00

A quick posting to decide if I just need to amputate my left leg and re-invent myself. The injury is more centered to the calf and I have half an idea that the real problems have been calf related all along. I've been good with rest, icing, and just plain keeping myself stretched out. I also have a need to shed some pounds over the next few months because I'm just too heavy for this time of the year. Not that I'm eating bad foods, just too much of the good foods. As an amputee, I can also be like a rather prominent girl that I ran Cross Country and Track with in High School....but that is a different story for a different time.

That being said, I'm a starting line decision for the Oil Creek Biathlon on Saturday. I'm going to go, but we'll see how the leg feels before I toe the line. I'm looking big picture now at the October 50K in the same state park. Amazingly enough, you can run the 50K and only come within a couple miles of the Biathlon course. It's also the same place that I'd like to achieve my 100 mile goal, but I'm not really sure that I want to run 3 laps of the same course. Mental toughness only goes so far.

Damned if I don't, I will be getting myself healthy again. I'm still undecided on what to add to the off-season to strengthen the auxillary muscles that seem to be the cause of my breakdowns. I did ask Sport Doc was she thought about either P90X or the Insanity program and she was pretty much non-committal outside of the stretches and mini-plyometric routines that I have been given. If I can stay away from more time at the weight room, I'd rather do that, for a couple of reasons, so I have to decide which program I want to undergo. Always looking for suggestions.
Various:

-I love reading the Smoking Gun website. I hadn't read it in a long time, and not since they changed their format, but I'm impressed. One of my favorite sections is the Backstage portion which has Tour riders for all kinds of bands. Iggy Pop and the Stooges is an example of awesomeness.

-Egg Whites for burns. There is a plant in our kitchen that we use for small burns, but found out that a couple of egg whites work wonders. Not sure that I'm going to intentionally burn myself to find out for sure, but you never know.

-Netflix. If your going to give me a choice between streaming and DVD's, then make sure that you have the same content for both platforms. I can watch the Leverage season 1 on DVD, but not available through streaming....Come on.

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer...On On.

Presque Isle Duathlon Race Report

2011-08-01T12:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Erie Runner's Club,

I love your events and the race fees are pretty reasonable. You also offer some decent swag and the option to save a couple of dollars by not taking the shirt or whatever. That's a nice offer. BUT, if your going to offer something, like a nice little bag and a clapped out day-glo green tie dyed t-shirt, make sure you have my size and the bag. I pre-registered, and a lot of time the only reason I will do a race is because of the swag. I didn't know about the bag, until I saw that my dad had one and heard some grumbling from others. I will let this one slide, but I am disappointed.

I told myself a couple of weeks ago when the Achilles started to act up just a tiny bit, that maybe being support crew again for my dad and giving the leg another couple of weeks to recuperate was a good idea. But, did I listen? Hell no, I figured that I'd be ok, and I was real interested in beating my time from the Pedal for the Planet Duathlon in April, which is run on the same course.

First 5K Segment: Start was good, felt good, the temps were in the mid 70's with fairly high humidity and dewpoint, so the conditions were pretty favorable. Ran at a good clip and felt real comfortable. The course was an out and back and I wasn't real far behind the leaders at the turnaround, but far enough to know I wasn't catching them...it's always nice to be at least within spitting distance of the the winners. At the 2 mile mark, I started to get the nagging twinges of something is not going to be right. I slowed up the pace a little and latched onto a couple of guys from the Tri Club and made it into T-1 in 23:09. Not bad considering.

13 Mile Bike: Got on the bike and ramped up to a nice 21 MPH on the flat roads around Presque Isle and stayed very steady at that for most of the trip. Most of that was spent worrying about the pain that I was going to feel based on the throbbing in my left Achilles. I got up on the pedals a couple of times to stretch it out and kept on cruising at the same 20-21 MPH the whole way around the park. I have learned that if I get passed at that speed, then they have obviously spent more time than I have on the bike and are probably a little more gifted at it to. I semi-broke down the bike on Saturday to give it a good cleaning and that paid some real dividends on the course because the only sounds I heard were other bikes and the sound of rubber on road. Did it make me faster, no, but it let my mind spend more time worrying about how painful the next run was going to be. Time: 37:46

Second 5K Segment: I started out pretty good, no problems, and the legs weren't too heavy, and the Achilles felt just fine. The first mile was non-eventful and the eventual winner came by me at the mile mark, so I knew that I have been doing something right in my training, which I have tried to focus more on quality over quantity in the limited amount of training time I have. I even hit the turnaround in good shape and still felt ok, but instead of a nagging in the Achilles, it was joined by a "balling" effect in my calf. Through the 2 mile mark I was getting to a near limping stage. So, it was a fast walk for about a minute and a half and then some more running at a definitely slower pace. Time: 25:38

Total Time: 1:30:13. Or 17 seconds slower than April for the same course.
Placing: AG: 7/18 OA: 86/229

-Injury take. As much as I would like to the do the Oil Creek Biathlon, I'm fearing that it might not be possible this year. If I give myself a chance, I might be able to do the Presque Isle triathlon at the end of the month, and still be fresh for the Oil Creek 50K in October. Either way, I'm going to need to be pretty vigilant on the resting, stretches, and really, I don't think the weight gain has helped either. So, is it time for the self loathing and pity party to commence? Or just some pro-active steps to get healthier and prevent this crap from happening again. I'll go with the latter.

On On.

Various Stuff

2011-07-23T12:23:00.000-04:00

-It has been hot, hot hot. Don't get me wrong, I love the heat. Add a little humidity, and I'm just as happy. Put that on race day and the only problem that I have, is how well I've trained for it. Probably the only issue I've had over the past week is that I was stuck with safety inspections all week and had little to no time to get out in the morning. Not a lot going on, but I figured a quick post would be nice.

-Watching the Anybody-But-Contador Tour and the time trial just finished with Cadel Evans from Australia tearing the Grenoble course a new France. I love watching this race, the most time I spend watching TV all summer, and it gives me a sort of mid-summer charge to keep getting on the bike. I've always noticed my bike mileage is best in the month of July. With this being the last weekend it also means my wife and kids don't have to watch it anymore either.

-Achilles tendon in left leg has started to flare up a little. I've been keeping the stretching and icing routine fairly simple and letting it rest over the past 10 days. Tomorrow I will go for a run to test it out. I've been using the Strassburg Sock at night and so far all is well. I've been told that some compression socks might be useful as well, just haven't given them much thought though.

-I'm a pretty politically minded person. This blog is not geared for that, and I don't want it to be. But why are there so many stupid people out there. Do they not teach economics in college anymore? I know that high school is abysmal, I only have to read the local school superintendant's column to know he's a hopeless case. But really, critical thought processes have just seemed to evaporate over the past few years. Give you a hint: John Maynard Keynes was an idiot.

-I've mentioned before that I have my 10 favorite P90X disks, but I've decided that this fall/winter, that I am going to embark/critique another of the BeachBody franchise workouts: Insanity I'm not a big infomercial guy, but I have seen this one a couple of times and finally a guy at work mentioned his son has done it and can't finish it. I like the P90X, and this one is supposed to be harder, so why not. I need a new off season workout.

-Am I the only one who doesn't seem to care about the NFL? Ask me in mid-October, my answer might be different, but right now, I just don't care.

-I like music. My iPod library is chock full of just about everything. I also have almost 55 Gb of music on the E drive of my computer, and my oldest son is teaching me how to play guitar. The last being a ploy to get him to practice, but actually a win for me. I told him he can quit when he has mastered Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption." My daughter wants to take piano lessons..I might learn something else too. I bring this up because I was running a couple of weeks ago and had a punk type mix selected with some stuff from the 80's. After searching through some old boxes, I finally found a long forgotten concert shirt and have taken to wearing it while I do some outside stuff. At the same time, I have a worn out ballcap from my wife that has her sorority letters on it and I usually wear it while I do woodworking. So I'm setting up a project and I needed nails. So down to the hardware store I go, where I walk in and there in the lumber section is about 10-12 girls having some lumber cut down to size, normally unusual, but we live in a college town, maybe its for summer school. I grab what I need and leave, but not before I notice between 20-24 eyeballs staring at me. Fast forward to later that evening, my wife and I, sans kids, stop for coffee at little Timmy Hortons and sitting in the little couch area are 8 girls just chatting away. We order to go when all conversation from that area ceases. We're just about to leave when a cute little blonde wanders over and asks, "Please don't ever wear our letters with a Butthole Surfers concert shirt ever again."

-Dude at the top is my soon to be 4 year old, photo from last year. We have named him Spawn.

On On

Butler YMCA Triathlon

2011-07-10T20:31:00.000-04:00

When you have an event that has been going strong for 30 years, you must be doing something right. Are they flawless? Not a chance, but its a class event and they keep on fixing it and making little tweaks, and that can't be taken for granted. So, before the real report, let me give my one major gripe:

The transition racks are plentiful, and the number of the competitors are as well. I don't know if they cap the number of entrants, but that isn't an issue, the more the merrier. The distances are such that it makes for a good first timer event, but challenging in ways that I will go into later. So, why do I bring this up? Because when I did find a spot, the "Professional" had a beach towel spread out and all her shit (yes, I said shit) spread out too cover almost two slots, other than her own. Best part is, she heard me when I went into my diatribe about it. I also used the word shit then too. My dad, support crew for this one, told me that after I left, she was telling her friends that since this was her third triathlon that she knew what she was doing. But, really, if this is my only complaint, I will go with that.

I first did this race in 1987 at age 16, and I've always loved to compete in it. Moraine State Park is a great race venue, and the park has a lot to offer for just about anyone. This was the 30th annual running of the event and one that I hope is around for a while longer. No real goal for this one, just wanted to get the 1:00 mark. I wasn't worried about competition or placement, just me and the clock.

SWIM: .25 miles Start is in waves, I was in the 2nd wave of 40 and older and it wasn't a huge group, that was reserved for the "Day Of" registration group in wave #4. The water was warm, no wetsuit needed and I didn't take it anyway. I got a good start and managed to get out away from the middle of the swim and thought I was in a good place until I hit the first big orange balloon. In wonderful world of triathlon swims, this is expected as I got pinched at the turn and had to resort to diving under and through. Since the swim was in a counterclock wise fashion, I swam breathing to the left, which I have found is a lot better for me in the long run. No other problems with positioning and I managed to avoid a lot of swimmers as well. TIME: 6:46

BIKE: 7 miles. Yes, its only 7 miles, but there is not one flat spot anywhere. If it's not going up, it's going down, and since it's an out-and-back you tend to remember that what you went down earlier is coming up to return. For the type of bike to choose, definitely a road type works well. Not having raced this event the past 2 years, I sort of had to map out the gearing on the fly. For the two large climbs, I slapped into the small ring and did my best impression of a cyclist. My bike computer was going fairly schizo as I'd average 35 MPH down a hill only to barely scream 12 MPH for a couple of stretches. While I was happy with the ride, I think I might've been faster on this course before. So, that means Mr. Madone has to make amends one day. TIME: 25:04

RUN: 3 miles. Run primarily on the multi-purpose trail, this run bobs and weaves and snakes around on an out and back course that is scenic, but feels oh so long. I just didn't feel right as I tried to see how good of a time that I could salvage out of this one. The first mile seemed to take forever, but when I reached the turnaround, got a quick drink, and headed back, I felt a little better and the legs moved a bit freer. I've been real pleased that I haven't had an injury so far and if the stretching is the answer, then the 20 minutes a day is well worth the effort. As I topped the small grade just about 1/4 mile from the finish, I glanced at my watch and saw the window of hope to break an hour. I hoofed it pretty good, and realized that I was pretty happy with the run. TIME: 23:59

Overall Time: 1:00:12. Where could I have gotten those 12 seconds back, I don't really know. Will I dwell on it? No, but I'm going to have to get a little faster up those hills or on the run. My swim was good for me, and the transition times aren't camping expeditions anymore either. I'll be happy with the results, it could be a lot worse.

OA place: 59/242
AG: 4/26. I missed 3rd by 18 seconds...that sort of motivates me.

Grade: A- The whole transition area needs to be rethought. Otherwise, I'll be back.

-Been watching my annual fill of the Tour De France. Anyone but Contador. Schleck, Evans, Voekler, don't really care. Amazes me how they make those bikes dance up mountains and pedal at a constant 25+ MPH.

On On

Some Days, Nothing Works.

2011-06-24T15:08:00.000-04:00

For a Friday, it has been a pretty busy day at work. I can usually write up an entry and semi-proof read it during lunch, but not the case today. For some strange reason, I have found myself fighting with every piece of office equipment that I have. A computer that keeps shifting the monitor configuration, a printer that will just start spewing pages when I haven't even printed anything, and the most egregious of all: The coffee maker is starting to leak. Please Mr. Bunn, just limp through to the next fiscal year.

No races this weekend, and no where to be, so I will probably find myself riding a little longer on Saturday, hopefully close to a 50 miler. But that'll depend on the rain system that has seemed to have stalled over top of us. My run schedule has me for 10, and with the Oil Creek race only 106 days away, it's about the right time frame to start bumping up the mileage a bit. With the Sprint tri's this year and the shorter duathlon and biathlon, the need for speed is a little greater than the endurance. But if I have to have an "A" race, then finishing the 50K in under 7 hours would have to be it.

-The Tough Mudder seems to be an event that my Dad and Brother are both not interested in doing. For my Dad, it would be the April timeframe and the cold water. Mostly the cold water. No reason for my brother, but he'll do it. Just have to convince him that it's in his best interest, or for family honor, or the name calling that I will resort to.

-I had someone ask me at the last race why I ride a road bike and not my tri-bike. Well, the short answer is I don't have a tri-bike. When faced with the daunting choice a couple of years ago when shopping for a new ride of whether to go Uber Road or Uber Tri, I chose the most versatile. My trusy steed, Mr Madone, has proven its worth in quite a few races, including an Ironman, and almost 5000 miles has been a good choice. I will eventually break down and get a Tri-Bike eventually, just probably not one of the Uber versions that I had been looking at. But, that doesn't mean that I can't pimp it out and make it eligible for bike porn.

-Nothing else at this time. I reached the 1 million point mark for the Presidential Fitness program that I started a few years ago. While I wasn't planning on adding to it, I've sort of just been haphazardly adding as I think about it, and if a computer is close by. I will never get to the 2 million point mark, and I think that the people who have might not be totally honest about their inputs.

Happy Training.

Happy Fathers Day...and minor revision.

2011-06-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

I spent my day in Pittsburgh with my oldest for LegoFest, and I wouldn't have changed it for the world. No bike time today, no races, nothing but 4 hours of driving, 5 hours of Lego stuff and a pretty awesome time with my son.

We spend a lot of time together, but nearly as much as we used to and as he has gotten older, he has liked to spend some time by himself. I remember about 12 different events in my life like it happened this morning, and his birth, as well as my other two offspring, are all at the top. They grow up quickly so I try not to take for granted the time that the good Lord has given me with them.

Also found out that I still love Legos as much as I did when I was his age. I didn't have the 5000 sets that he has in his room, but I had a good little supply that were used for fortress building for the GI Joes that my brother and I waged war on.

Tomorrow I will get up and put in an 8 mile run before the kids wake up, so it'll even out in the long run.

-Minor Revision Time: A guy at work, along with a couple of comments from the "Followership" made me re-think the entire Warrior Dash and what really bothered me about it. The answer came from an old Navy buddy who never would run with me when we were stationed in Pensacola, Fl, but is now starting to get into the adventure racing arena. The Answer: The distance. The idea of driving 4-5 hours for an hour (guestimating here) of action. But Scott, Navy buddy, set me upon an event that makes it worth the drive, and has my name all over it. Our at least my pre-registration. That event: The Tough Mudder in PA next April 21st. 10 miles of some tough running, with obstacles, and no timing or placing. So give it my due, I will.

-I have crashed on every bike I have ever owned, twice during triathlons, and the key is pretty much to have as short a memory as possible. When I was 7, I broke my collarbone when my front wheel came off my bike and I went over the handlebars. My first race crash came in 1987 during the Butler Triathlon and was a slow speed affair going up a hill and occured because I couldn't get my feet out of the toe clips. More embarrassing than anything else.

My second crash occurred in Mr Madone's first triathlon. I was killing the bike split and as I came into T-2, I didn't realize that the cleats of my brand new cycling shoes would slide as much on the wet pavement of the rainstorm that occurred during the race. I didn't quite run right finishing that race. I still have the scars on my bike as a reminder of what could've been a worse case senario.

Since then, I've had my brushes with disaster, and quite a few vehicles as well. There is a carpet store owner in town that knows if he ever gets that close to me again, that he will get a visit and should he hit me, well, let's just say that he also knows that my family will own a carpet store. The road rashes heal, the bones will mend, and the ego will see it as a right of passage. The memory banks just need to be flashed over.

Having said that, I'm not the one whose injured and pain is still that.

-Four followers. Well, I'm glad to have you. Never expected one, but Diesel's been around awhile, and if you find it worth the time, then that's cool with me.

On On.

Going for the Points.

2011-06-10T13:14:00.000-04:00

Round is a shape.

In 2006, or somewhere around there, my agency decided that employees needed to be healthier. So they decided to start a group for the Presidents Challenge to achieve that lofty goal. Being a person who likes to look at tangible numbers and reach a goal, I decided to give it a whirl. Now, after 5 years of logging and logging, followed by putting those numbers into a website, I have reached the magic number of 1 million points.

What does this all mean? Not a damn thing. I can't think of one tangible item that comes out of it, other than my name goes on a list on the website and I'm immortalized in "1's" and "0's" for as long as the site exists. Sure I can order, read pay, to have a plaque or medal or something to remember it all by, but really, Why? That's a rhetorical question.

Probably what I'm most proudest of is the fact that I was honest with the logging, I didn't exaggerate and I only used events outside the normal work environment. The whole logging thing was simply a giant pain in the ass. The big question moving forward, will I continue on to the 2 million mark? Nope. I reached the "Platinum Award" level and have decided to bail off this boat. However, I will probably pick up another goal or achievement or some sort of bucket list type of checkbox.

-Bucket Lists. Stupid. While it's awesome to try new things, gain new experiences, and accomplish greater heights in life, doing so because it's on a list is stupid. And if your living off of a bucket list at age 25, like someone I know, you're uber-stupid. I've literally seen this person invited back to a location and the response was not "no thanks," but rather, "been there, have other places to cross off my bucket list." Dumb ass.

-So there is going to be an Ironman US Championship race with 75 Kona spots available. Actually a pretty good idea, another potential cash cow and a good precursor to a world championship race in Hawaii. But, who woke up one morning, bolting out of a dead sleep and had this amazing thought. "Let's have this race in New York City!" I'm pretty sure that swimming 2.4 miles in the Hudson is somewhat comparable to swimming the same distance in the Ohio like Louisville. I'm fairly sure that this won't be my next Full distance race, should I decide to go that route again in the future.

-Been seeing a lot of mud run events and the Warrior Dash series starting to take off in popularity in the past few months. My first mud run event was at Camp Pendleton in 1994 when I was stationed in San Diego. If I remember right, it was a 5 mile or 10K run, can't really remember, with lots of obstacles and the final being one being a mud pit with wire mesh just over the surface of the water. I distinctly remember the admonishment of no contacts because of that pit. Did I listen? No. Did I pay for it? You bet. That race also required long pants and boots too.
Anyway, a guy from work asked me if I was interested, but, after reading about it, I wasn't. I have no clue why this hasn't tickled my fancy, but it hasn't. Maybe it's the fact that there are no venues close to me and for the drive involved, the distance of the race isn't so enticing.
Or maybe I'm just being a disagreeable dickweed and should put it down on my bucket list.

-My wife is going on an overnight camping with my oldest for the cub scouts. I'll be at home with my daughter and the little dude. I've been told that they enjoy the chicken nuggets/popcorn chicken dinners with some broccoli thrown in. I think that maybe some wings and a pizza without the disgusting vile weed is a much better dinner. My wife is one of the leaders and this is one of the last events she's going to have with our big guy, so she wants to make the best of it. For Boy Scouts, I get the honor of camping out. Seeing that anything less than Marriot rewards points is considered camping for me, I'm looking forward to the coming years.

-Next race: Butler Triathlon. A sprint event of .25 - 7 miles - 3.1 miles. I usually finish in under an hour, but haven't done it since 2008. Don't let the 7 mile bike fool you either, the hills are of the little chain ring tough.

-The Pittsburgh Pirates. The ownership better start trading players now, and maybe the manager, cause their only 3 games under .500 and not the normal 15 at this point.

On On

Edinboro Triathlon (Sprint Edition) Race Report.

2011-06-04T22:00:00.000-04:00

First of all, my wife took pictures, lots of them, so I will post some whenever I can grab the SD card and clean it up. Haven't posted a race picture for awhile, now is a good a time as any. Now, on to the report:

Weather was overcast and cool at 60 when I showed up and played the parking pirahna looking for a place to park. Since I live here, I'm going to pack my crap the night before and park my truck very close the night before and ride my bike over next year. I didn't appreciate the parking lecture from the kayak lady, and I'll leave it at that.

I was plenty early enough to set up the transition area in a good spot, test the water, use the bathroom, get my chip and bullshit with a couple of friends along the way. Even if the lake was 76 degrees, I was still using the wetsuit. I was setup next to a guy that swims toward the end of my swim workouts and I ogled (sic) his new Giant Tri-bike while he asked about the bike course. A girl across from us forgot her pump and asked if her tires were good. A little spongy, but for a 10 mile course, would not cause a problem for her.

SWIM: .3 miles
I finally got into my sausage casing, got the swim stuff and waddled down to the start area for the announcements that I never seem to hear regardless. Maybe it's the insane volume of the pre-race music in the check-in area...regardless, I spy my wife and the three kids and we take some pictures, and then its game time. I love the RD, Pat Davis, she puts on a great race, a classy individual, but her swim distances are long. I know that measuring a .3 or a .75 (Olympic distance portion) mile swim is a little difficult, but at least she's consistant. Gun goes off and I realized that my idea of going "Hell bent for Sunday" approach was going to have to be toned down a bit as I found my groove and let some water into my wetsuit to cool off a little as I reached the turnaround boat.
I tend to not swim a straight line in the pool anyway, and today was no exception. I didn't swim way out of the way, just sort of weaved and bobbed all over the place, sighting every 15 strokes instead of every 30 like I have in the past. I think I will go back to the 30. No melees took place, and brushed up against a couple people and only felt my feet get brushed a couple times as someone was drafting off me. Silly ass, you picked the wrong person. But, I think all the work in the pool is starting to pay off a bit as I felt pretty good. Not a great swim, but not bad either.

TIME: 9:27 and that's after running across the beach and over the mat.

BIKE: 10 miles
No dwaddling in T1 this time. I ran, not jogged, to my spot and run across the grass cleaned the sand off my feet and I was able to put my socks on, throw the rest of my stuff on, grab a swig of gatorade and ran the bike to the mount point. I have ridden this course so many times that I can pretty much navigate it with my eyes closed. The legs felt good and even though I was in the middle of the pack, I was able to latch onto a couple of targets and figure out who would be able to pull me into a good split. A couple of new Tri Club members were with me for awhile, not drafting by any means, just rolling along together when the guy behind me came up to chit chat. So we did for a half hour and then I told him to go ahead for the turn up into the only hills that this course had.
I was taking the hill pretty good and getting drinks every 5 minutes so I wasn't really checking my pace or the time. When I hit the downhill section, I cranked the gears and watched the computer spit out 24-25 mph splits for about 2 miles, and that's when having knowledge of a bike course is awesome, because I used that momentum to get me us the last real rise and put me on a good clip toward the transition area. And yes, I was by myself for the last 4 miles of that ride. I'm either going to have to get better or use deodorant as part of my transitions.

TIME: 30:48 (19.5 mph) For the amount of riding that I've been able to get in during the Spring NW PA monsoon season, I'll take it.

RUN: 3 miles
Ran the bike, 2 for 2 in the no-dwaddle transition approach, felt good with amount of water that I've had to this point, changed shoes, grabbed hat, and ran across the mat and onto the course. Last year I was in Oklahoma so I didn't really remember the run course, but there is a couple of wicked hills in the first mile that can sap the legs if you've blown your load in the first half mile. The humidity was definitely up by this point and the hill didn't help, but I latched onto a guy in front of me and was able to climb it up without taking the mental abuse as well. Should I do the Sprint next year, I will make a mental note to run this course again just so I remember the hills.
The sprint course goes down a short steep hill for about 1/2 a mile, circles around a park that I knew existed but have never visited before, and then back up that damn hill again. I caught up to at least 4 other people and finally caught up to the guy that I had been following the entire time. We go back down the first hill and he finally out sprinted me, I guess that's what you call it since I really don't sprint anymore. Either way, I was pretty happy with the run and no pain anywhere.

TIME: 3 mi run: 23:34 (7:51) The Human Race 5K on Memorial Day was 23:11 so all things considered, I'm thinking I could've done better at the 5K

SUMMARY: My final time was 1:08:14. My thoughts before the race was 1:05, so I was within range of acceptability, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Overall, that was good for a finish of 22 out of 83. But, it also meant a finish of 3/6 in the AG which is my first tri award since 1988 when I was 17. I have a box of awards from my teenage triathlete years, but it sure is nice to finally earn one as a middle ager. But I didn't get it because I left early due to the impending rain that hit right about the time of the awards ceremony. Doesn't matter.

Good race, gives me hope and lets me know that the stretches are working.

On On.

So I Got Up This Morning...

2011-05-30T18:45:00.000-04:00

Spent some good family time this weekend, Saturday at my home and today at the in-laws, and other than that enjoyed the weekend for what it was. I'm not real sure why I watched the Indianapolis 500, other than it has a special place in my father's heart having grown up a Hoosier and gone to the race on numerous occasions. But it was an awesome finish, very surprising to see a guy crater the end like that. But, that is why the race is 200 laps, and you have to finish them all.

Later on I watched the Coca-Cola 600, in pieces since I spent a lot of time playing with the kids. But as I watched Jr run out of gas on the last lap, I could empathize with him based on the fact that he had to run more than the 400 laps. Regardless, the race isn't over until the finish line you have crossed. But I turned to my wife at one point and mentioned the Human Race 5K and if she cared if I ran it. It's early, won't take long, and I'd be home in time to get ready for the trip to the in-laws.

So, I get up at 0600, decide that the body parts were good for a run, and that a racin I was going. I originally planned to run a 6 miler, but this would be a lot for fun. Anyway, I leave the house, forget the stupid camera again, get in town to register, didn't get a t-shirt (ran out, no big deal,) and have plenty of time to stretch.

Funny running in the town where I went to high school, ran track and cross country, but no one I ran with in those days recognize me. When they hear the name, they do, but to just look at me, not so much. I guess it's just because I got so incredibly suave and debonair since then. Anyway, I bring that up because I'm standing next to a couple of girls talking about triathlons and how they are volunteering at Lake Placid in July so that they can get into the Ironman next year. A guy standing next to them asks how long they've been doing tri's, and the response, "Oh, never, but the Edinboro triathlon is our first one next week, and we can work our way up from there." Priceless.

Anyway, the 5K started, and really, this race should be a drop in the bucket, but the first 1/2 mile really sort of hurt. The heat and humidity were pretty substantial to what it has been, but I just didn't feel right. I worked those kinks out as it hit the gradual up hill of this out-and-back course, and as I went through the first mile in 7:15, I felt pretty good. My strategy in racing is to pick out people and use them as a marker, and as I pass, find a new mark and go from there. I spied this little guy, yep, he ended up being 12, but a short guy, and he was pushing a pretty good clip as we neared the turnaround. He must've saw some fellow kids cause he really took off. I caught up with him nearing the 2 mile mark and mentioned to him that he might want to throttle back just a wee bit, to which I got a smile in return.

I did manage to pick up two more "markers," a guy and a girl, and they stayed with me the last 1/2 mile and both would sort of glance at me as I thanked the auxillary police for blocking the traffic. I kept my no-sprint mantra intact as the guy took off and the girl tried to push past me, but pretty much ended up even with me. I found out that the guy was 20 and the girl 19, so hooray for beating two people half my age.

Final Tally: 23:11 64/253 OA and 5/15 in AG. But the real bonus, no pain, no aggravating strains or pulls, just me and lots of stretching and plyometrics to prevent it. My speed is slowly returning, and I'll foster that along for now. No need to accelerate it.

As I stood and watched the rest of the people come in, I watched the 12 year old prop himself up on a tree and get ready to hurl. I was about 10 ft from the water coolers and got him a bottle, since nothing tastes worse than vomit in the mouth.

Not bad considering I only decided to race this less than 12 hours earlier.

On On.

Memorial Day and Various.

2011-05-27T18:03:00.000-04:00

-First and foremost, before we go out and train, race, fire up the grill, drink beer, whatever, take a few moments to remember those that have made this country the most free in the world. Being a veteran and having had served in a war zone, or two, I understand the mind frame of those who have sacrificed. At least keep that in the back of your mind at some point this weekend.

-NW Pa is once again getting enough rain to either raise the Titantic, or float Noah's Ark again. A couple of storms here, and a couple of tornado warnings and it reminds me more of Amarillo, Tx or Oklahoma City, than the normal summer weather proof area we normally are. We don't get earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes (last major outbreak in 1986,) or anything out of the ordinary, other than a buttload of snow.

-The Tri Club is planning on a workout for the Edinboro Triathlon tomorrow with some swimming, a lap around the Olympic distance course, and a run just for one last good workout before the race on June 4th. Something affectionetly known as the "Big Brick." I'd love to attend, but I have afternoon plans and a lot of yard work including mowing and some tree trimming. What I want to do though, it power ride the Olympic course and see if that 20 MPH barrier is possible with Mr. Madone. I'm confidant that it is, and still be good for the race next weekend.

-This will also be the 25th running of the Edinboro Tri. It used to be a premier race, but has been handicapped in recent years due to a high bacteria content 2 of the last 3 years. The Boro says that it's Goose droppings, but the Bullshit flag wonders why the bacteria content is so high in that part of the lake, where the cottages are located, but perfect readings are taken across the lake where there are no cottages, just a campground and some boat docks. Also interesting, seems that they've only taken those readings over the past couple years after an adjoining township quit discharging into the lake. How much truth there is to the last part, I don't know, it's what I've heard. I do know that I have swam in the lake prior to the race every year but last, when I was in Oklahoma. Just don't drink the water. Which is sound advice for any race really.

-Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Cartoonish, but humorous. I like the lead guy, whose name is escaping me right now, and the supporting cast was good, but it seems to be missing something. This is the time of the year when I watch movies in snippets, 15-20 minutes at a time and in the Bunker, which is my section of the basement.

-Again, not a big week. Next week is a race report for an honest to God triathlon. I need more races so that I have more to write about. I have a lot of political crap to spew, mainly dealing with "Green" donations toward carbon offsets for driving to a race. They're even kind enough to calculate your proper donation based on your address to the race venue....I can't check NO fast enough.
Yep, I feel slightly better now.

Have a great week.....On On.

Nothing At All

2011-05-23T13:04:00.000-04:00

Command Module

For the past 3 months this has been called my "Mega-Desk." I don't watch "The Office" so I was given a crash course You Tube session on why it was called that exactly. It has been more of an electronic leash that has kept me in the office more than I would have ever liked in the past. I added the 2nd monitor about a month ago because I have as many as 12-14 screens open at any given time and I got sick of closing the wrong one at the wrong time. Far too much data has been lost for stupid reason. I was told that with the extra screen real estate, I should be a lot more productive as well. Really? Like how exactly? Maybe I just use one to watch movies all day and the other to just casually browse my work email and delete that which I don't feel like doing. If I'm going to be strapped in front of this for 8+ hours a day, I want to have as comfortable a fit as possible.

-Great weekend weather meant a great ride on Saturday. Rode the Olympic distance course for the upcoming Edinboro triathlon in a couple of weeks. Even though I'm racing the Sprint race, I like the longer courses ride. The race has had a black eye the past couple years due to the high levels of bacteria in the water which has caused it to be shortened to a Bike/Run Duathlon. The cause of which is still under scrutiny by the state and the local people. I have my own ideas as to why, but now is not the forum. I was pretty thrilled with the almost 20 mph pace that I maintained, and I didn't feel thrashed afterward either.

-Another positive is that I've been running injury free for quite awhile now and I feel better after a run and not hobbled like, well, the past couple of years. Even in the Ironman training year, I just didn't have the feeling that it was clicking on all cylinders. I managed a speedwork last week and I hit my times, got through the normally puke wrenching 1.5 miles run back home in fair shape, and managed to work all day without the normal cramping or painful death marches when I got out of my chair.

-So how does this bode going into the race in a little under 2 weeks? With the improved swimming, a bike that just wants to go fast, and injury free running, I might just surprise myself. The best thing about sprints are that they are meant for a balls-to-the-wall speed frenzy where it all gets thrown out there. I don't make time or placement goals too often anymore, but I might if this continues.

-I'd be highly disappointed if Lance Armstrong was a doping fiend. Can't discount all the clean test results, but it's also hard to discount all the witnesses as well. Case of sour grapes? Would I quit wearing my Discovery Channel ballcap? No chance, that hat is cool. Honestly, my true feelings are that I could care less. Doesn't affect me one way or another or make me feel any differently about watching cycling on TV.

-A 5 minute margarita recipe: 1 can frozen Limeaid concentrate, 1 bottle/can of beer (doesn't matter what type,) toss into blender with a dozen ice cubes, fill 3/4 of limeaid can with tequila, and then blend away. Watch it turn white as the carbonation and ice mix and the blender starts to bog down. Then enjoy. Can also be served on the rocks if so desired, just keep ice out of blender. Supposedly you can do this to make whickey sours as well. but I've never tried.

On On.

Rain

2011-05-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

I don't have an adversion to rain, I have run way too many races in downpours to even begin to count. But to train in the rain is a whole different situation. If it's raining, I will either run, or go into the bunker for some stationary riding at Netflix theatre. Why? No clue, just don't feel like I doing that anymore. During the 2009 Muncie Endurathon, no I'm not calling it the Muncie 70.3, it poured for 45 miles on the bike and the entire 13.1 miles of the run. Did it suck? At the time, yeah, but did I ever think of quitting or not doing it? Not a chance. The reasons are simple: 1.) I was in the middle of the race, and 2.) I paid to do it and drove from NW PA to do it.

But from that end, I feel for the people around the Mississippi River who are enduring flooding and the rest of the southern regions still recovering from recent tornadic activities. Complaining about a little rain and inconvenience of not being able to run or ride is insignificant compared to rebuilding your life and family after such events. So, if you're feeling down and out about not getting a dry day: Stop. Quit your bitching.

Anyway, the "ride" allowed me to watch the entire first season of Archer, a cartoon show on FX involving a Spy agency. You have to watch the shows in sequential order to get the jokes and comments made in later episodes. After all that, my legs hurt real bad, I can barely walk today, and I have something new to watch.

Not much else to write about. Swimming is getting pretty good, working on speed and hoping that my form can stay intact, which is something that I have been actively keeping on top of. I'm not terribly concerned about my cycling for a few reasons, but there is always room for improvement. Most of my mid week rides are for interval work up several of the hills around the house, and for sprint work on some of the flatter roads around the college. Also, my triathlons this year are sprints, and I don't need a whole lot of mileage, just good quality work for the miles that I put in. But, the running, that is what I have been paying attention to. I'm keeping the running as my first priority, with the 50K in October in mind, but also to keep the previous injuries from reoccuring again.

On On

Pedal for the Planet Duathlon Race Report

2011-05-08T21:47:00.000-04:00

The inaugural running of this event was a student project associated with Mercyhurst College, a small school with a kick ass division I womens hockey team. They staged the race at the same place, with the same course layout, that the the Presque Isle Duathlon runs in July. Not having run that race last summer due to the Achilles drama, I was almost looking forward to this one. The sun started to peek out a little before the start and with it, the temperatures started to rise a little as well. All of which was a good thing, since it was a little too cool to just wear the tri club kit. So out came the long sleeve shirt and the hope that it wouldn't get too hot.

No, no pictures, I forgot my stupid camera, something I really need to just pack with my helmet and shoes.

5K RUN #1: The start, Presque Isle Beach 11, is an out and back around the Perry Monument, and encompasses the running up the highest altitude of the peninsula. Which is, oh, roughly 10-12 feet, give or take another foot or two. My first mistake, not starting up closer to the front of the field. This was a small event for the most part, roughly 84, including teams, and I was in the rear of the field talking to my dad and one of my co-workers at the start. So as I started to pick up speed, and picking off people one by one, I was happy for two things: 1) I am starting to pick up some speed, slowly, but it's getting there, and 2.) I didn't have an ache or pain one.

I started to look for other ETC members, of which there were only a few, of which to use as my targets of opportunity. I was about 1/4 mile behind Jeff and I managed to catch him with a half mile left in the segment. We ran together for the last portion and the pace was good, but not enough for me to be breathless or fell tight.

TIME: 25:14

20K BIKE: I didn't dwaddle in the transition, just long enough to change out shoes, drop the hat, slap on my helmet and get out. Maybe 2 minutes at best. But where was Jeff? I got out, got the legs to realize that this was a race and as I settled in at 20 MPH, I noticed on the first straightaway that Jeff was a good half mile ahead and moving away real quick. I only had one person pass me on the bike, a relay team, and realized real quick that I was moving solo. They stressed the whole no-draft policy, but that was not an issue with me in the slightest. In the first 4 miles, I passed about a dozen or so people, and as I got to the turnaround, I passed one guy riding a mountain bike who was on a relay team. I mentioned to the guy that there was not a soul within a two mile radius of us and asked if he wanted to draft, but he just smiled and told me he'd take a pass.
I didn't battle headwinds, wet roads, or even rain, just me pushing a nice cadence at 20 MPH sort of wondering if I how much better it would've been if I had a little competition to push me faster. I did look across the devided road and noticed that there were some people behind me, just not closing the distance on me like I wasn't closing on anyone else.
The rest of the ride was spent wondering how much better I might have been if I had been able to get out the house more this spring to get some riding days in. I wasn't unhappy by any means, the ride was quiet with the sound of my tires on pavement being the only sound I heard. Something so soothing about a quiet race machine.

TIME: 40:18

5K RUN #2: The transition went smoothly enough, not too far from the dismount to my spot, and I jogged most of it, which is becoming a norm for me, go figure. Swapped shoes again, put on hat again, and off to the last part. This run is another out and back to another location, Beach 9, and is flat, flat, flat. Race Tip #1: Always run the first half mile no matter what. You can stop and walk after that, but always the first half mile needs to be run. It's a muscle adjustment thing that has been proven for almost 100 triathlons, or how ever many that I have done in my life, and when I haven't run that first half mile: Bad runs and times. Even at Louisville, I ran the first half mile, so that's how much I go with that.
Anyway, I am still by myself just motoring along, feeling pretty good, but getting warm. The long sleeve tech shirt worked great on the first run and the bike, but was a bit warm for the last segment. Not too bad, but warm. I passed the winner, and he had a great lead too, and then the groups of people started to become visible. And I was in a void that was utterly amazing. I used that to sort of find a little speed and motivation to hopefully catch someone. But, I have confirmed Eric's Law of Racing: No matter the number of competitors, be it the Akron Marathon, the Louisville Ironman, whatever, I will always be an island unto myself. It was like that in high school cross country, and has followed ever since. It's almost like I'm not at elite status, and I'm not at scrub status. I'm just there.
I did get passed by a relay guy, who was on the Mercyhurst cross country team, and thanked me for the pacing, and a relay girl who I didn't mind running behind because she was all legs and had great "form."

TIME: 24:22. Yes, a faster split than the first one, that was a bonus.

The final numbers: 26 of 84 Overall and 4 of 9 in the AG. The race was done well and if they hold it again, I'll do it. Other than some cosmetic changes the student race directors did a good job.

Next Race: Edinboro Triathlon.

On On

What Won't I Eat?

2011-04-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

No, probably not that.

Easter time, a time when kids get all kinds of candy, and a time when the peanut butter eggs are all on sale, and then on clearance sale a week later to make room for the next holiday. This year, I sort of forgot about easter, basically since it's later than normal, but as usual, my wife got me some of my favorite treats. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't see them, but when I'm down in the bunker, think man-cave only manly sounding, there is no place for them to hide. In the span of three days, I have chewed up three rabbits, four eggs, and several other cream filled eggs.

In the pool this morning, I realized that my mantee impression was feeling a little more sea turtle like, so I held my breathe and let myself drop to the bottom of the pool to drown. So really, I'm dead and this is the after-life. Dear God I hope not. I hate to think the last thing I got to enjoy on this earth was a bunch of sweaty old men bitching about the gas prices and how Bush is still somehow involved with all the difficulties of the country at the moment. Which is why I love going to the Y on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings.

On a more serious note though, I do need to lay off the chocolate stuff and find other alternatives. What those are and the fact that carrots do not taste like peanut butter eggs, is a problamatic experience. What I need to tell myself, is how getting into my tri-top for next weeks duathlon will be an embarassing experience when the emblem is stretched to funhouse mirror proportions. On the plus side, I have been very good about drinking lots of water, and have noticed that when I drink water and coffee, sort of in a chaser format, that I feel a lot better, and that the combination of the two helps me stay awake, or rather more focused at work. Maybe I should find one of the Air Traffic Controllers down the hall and pass that along. And yes, for the one or two of you that do read this, I still feel no sympathy, and you do know why.

Little Thoughts:

-Dangle The Carrot, a blog that I started browsing through a few weeks ago, had a blog on how races, namely the Houston Marathon, are now going to a lottery format. While I'm fairly neutral on the subject, I don't believe that special treatment should be allowed by anyone. I would love to do another Ironman one day, but based on the whole lottery format, and the exorbant (sp) prices, I just can't justify it right now. Might be one reason the Rev 3 races, and some of the independants, like the Redman in Oklahoma City, OK, have started to gain in popularity. Either way, when I entered the Oil Creek 50K, which filled up in 2 1/2 hours, I wrote a note asking the RD not to go to a lottery format.

-Why the sudden interest in endurance races? I know when I was starting to run in 1983, at the ripe old age of 12, it was about the time that the big running boom from the 70's was levelling off. In 1986, when I did my first triathlon, I was the only kid in my high school who did one solo. Sure plenty of the swim team members were on relay teams, but to do the whole thing? Not a chance. Now, there are high school triathlon teams, and clubs galore popping up all over, or have been around for quite awhile. Go figure. Maybe now, we're getting another swing in the pendulum and another boom, this time involving multi-sports is starting emerge.

-Still raining here, or will again in the next couple of hours. Tonight was supposed to be the first night of golf league, but that was postponed since they won't let carts on the course. Lots of water in places where it shouldn't be. Regardless, the kids are back to school tomorrow so maybe I'll play a couple games with them, or make them change the channel on the TV like my brother and I had to for our dad. I basically hide the remote and make them scroll through the channels until I decide on something... evil, yes, but fun.

-Week and half until the first race, and looking forward to it. For next weeks blog, I'll try not to be so sarcastic.

On On.

Back At It.

2011-04-19T21:05:00.000-04:00

After 11 days off with a horrible case of bronchitis, I finally got back on the road to pound some pavement for a few miles. The lungs felt good, but the legs, they were enjoying the vacation. My quads screamed for a few days but all seems to be good now. So far, the pool work is starting to get ramped up again, only slightly dipping into pathetic pregnant manatee range, I'm now well entrenched into miserable pregnant manatee range, so yeah, back to normal. There is a reason I say get some rest when the cold starts to get into the chest. Had it gotten into pnuemonia, I'd have missed as least another 2 weeks, or more.

-First multi-sport race is May 7th, a duathlon called Pedal for the Planet. Sort of a sprint deal with 5k-20k-5k run-bike-run configuration. It's being thrown by a local college and is an inagural event being held at Presque Isle, which is becoming a very common place to hold races. Should be fun.

-My golf league starts next week. Have a new golf bag, in fact its sitting right behind my chair right now. I need to change my clubs over, but not really looking forward to starting. Especially when the highs haven't been out of the 40's too terribly often this past month. Hell, I'd like to get my bike out a little more cause it needs a really good run. More than the golf clubs do at this point in time.

-Not a lot else to worry about right now, or even to really write about. But, I think it's time to do my best impression of an Air Traffic Controller. You make that much money...you can stay awake.

On On.

Glacier Ridge Trail 30K Race Report, if only

2011-04-10T18:44:00.000-04:00

I hadn't had developed a raging case of bronchitis. When I woke up on Tuesday I felt like I had a midget sitting on it. I decided to go to the Doctor, but he didn't find a thing. Ok, so I'm out a $20 co-pay and I take the rest of the week off to rest for the race.

No such luck, I ended feeling absoluely miserable on Wednesday with the chills and some nasty little aches and pains in all the joints. Thursday, I lost my voice to all that and I knew I was in a heap of trouble. I was off Friday for an appointment for my youngest son, and ended up making an appointment for later in the day, but the decision was already made that I would most likely not be racing on Saturday.

However, I did send the RD an email asking if it be possible to move my registration to next year, and after talking with my dad and brother, said that we could work something out. I was told that the race was well run, and that the course was a little sloppy from the recent rain, but was a good race. I hope so, because I'm looking forward to running it next year.

-Being laid up the last week has sucked. The weather finally reaches the 70's and I'm stuck doing nothing. Fortunately, my wife has me focused on laying low and just be smart. The antibiotic runs out on Tuesday, so maybe by Thursday, I can get a small training session in.

-Had a chance to watch an old video from the 80's. Had the 7-11 cycling team illustrating how incorporating interval workouts on the bike were helping them narrow the gap between the US teams and European cycling teams. What was interesting was they kept referring to the mantra that to be fast on race day, you had to train fast. Sort of interesting how that approach seems to be coming back around. Sadly, I can't find the URL history to save that video anywhere in my computer, and that sucks.

-Beer with a freshness date of 4/2010 is still good in 4/2011. Good old American engineering that is.

On On.

The Chest Cold.

2011-04-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Today was supposed to be a 9 mile run, a nice tuneup before next weeks GRT 30K at Moraine State Park next weekend. But, in the best laid plans mold, when the 3 year old got up at 0530, I sort of knew that wasn't going to happen. Not that he got up, but because the wheezing in my chest told me that breathing was going to suck. Hence, my 1st piece of training advice for athletes of all ages: DO NOT EXERT WITH THE CHEST COLD.

My thinking has always been this: A little workout will get all that crap out of my lungs, what could be better than that. Well, 2 bouts of pnuemonia, the first at age 17, because I refused to quit swimming, and the other after Boot Camp, which was sort of unavoidable, has taught me that resting 3-4 days will not have a detrimental effect on the overall training. Pnuemonia/bronchitis, that's good for 2 weeks, and at this time of year, can cause a bit of a problem, especially if your racing in May. So save yourself the co-pay and prescription costs and take some Mucinex, you'll feel better for it in the long run.

-Speaking of the 30K, I'm starting to wonder what I was thinking when I entered it. I'm really not in the shape that I would like to be in at this point, especially one that is 18 miles long, on a trail, that goes out and back, and has a time limit. Nope, nothing can go wrong here. I'm not even sure what the finishing prize is for this race either. Maybe a nice shirt, or a belt buckle. I can honestly say that it didn't even cross my mind when I entered it.

-Other race schedule items for this year: Looks like a sprint kind of year for triathlons, with 3, maybe 4 races, 2 duathlons, and the ever present August biathlon, and the 50K race in October. I've sort of realized that I have a lot of other obligations to take care of, and racing takes a back seat to those. I'm taking it all in stride and looking to see if the training plan of "More-with-less" approach will work in the long run. So, far, I've not been disappointed with the race results, we'll see what the multi-sports do to the program.

-Eating. Yeah, my eating habits suck. I'm blaming it on the winter.

-I like certain shows, but ones I don't like to miss is "Holmes on Homes" and "Holmes Inspection." I wonder if I could get him to come to Pa from Canada. Boy, do I have some inherited problems that need addressed. Did learn how to get rid of a plumbing issue that I had, and even managed to fix it myself.

-Giving training advice isn't always my strongpoint. Maybe it's delivery, or maybe it's just that nobody every asks, but after 27 years of running, and 24 years of triathlons, I have picked up a few ideas and pointers. Not all of them good, and not all of them bad either. I've won a few races, and have performed poorly, but I've never DNF'd, and never finished last either. It's what keeps me competitive that makes me get up and train. Point is, never be afraid to find out what makes someone good, and how you think it'll help you.

On-On

What It Means To Be A Parent.

2011-03-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

I guess after the long haul of winter, the road trips for swim meets and cheer competitions, I've had a lot of time to realize with Spring in the air, Mr. Madone in the shop, and the backyard cleared of doggy landmines, that Baseball season is around the corner.

Why baseball? Well, in these parts, baseball is the sport where parents just don't know when to shut the hell up. They yell at the umpires, who are usually high-schoolers, they yell at the coaches, players and each other. "Why doesn't my kid play 2nd base?" "Why are you putting Bobby in, he sucks" These are the things you hear at the ball fields. Amazingly, these people think that their kid has the ability to sign a multi-million dollar contract, so they live vicariously through thier kids, to compensate for thier inabilities or lack of achievement.

But, I have never had that happen to me. I've expected it, I've probably deserved some ridicule, but I just haven't had to worry about it. However, at the start of the first practice, I do make it clear, that if you don't want your kid to play, then start in on my coaching. And in almost 20 teams, I can't say that I've had any problems. Even as a swim official, I've had no problems. The kids are very receptive to what they did wrong, and one even apologized to me for arguing with me over a DQ. I don't try to DQ kids, in fact, I am very liberal in my interpretations of the rules.

But what bothers me, is the whole "Everyone's a Winner" mantra that has been adopted. We don't keep score, we try to build up "fun." Yeah, right Bullshit. You want to know the score of a game, ask the kids. They do keep score and they know there are winners and losers. And while I'm at it, I hate explaining to the little people that "No, you don't get a trophy for playing." Hells Bells Gertrude, do you know what you get for a years worth of going to work? A paycheck. Nothing else. No pizza parties, or banquets, or love and admiration.

One last thing. Your kid is not your friend. A buddy of mine relayed a story to me once. He was in a store with his 4 year old daughter and she kept grabbing for an item. After telling her no a couple of times, he swatted her hand and told her that was enough. After she quit crying, she told him, "Friends don't hit each other." And his response, "I'm not your friend, I'm your father." There are special bonds between me and my children, and my wife and the kids, but friendship isn't one of them.

Anyway, I got off on a rant, for no other reason, then my memory was jogged in WalMart the other day. Running is good, swimming is off the charts, and getting out on the bike is great, even if my toes are freezing at the end.

With the weather changing and more people getting out on the roads running or cycling, its important to realize that those that don't train are not used to seeing those of us that do. So be seen, and be safe.

On On

A Race/Series Results and Various

2011-03-19T18:08:00.000-04:00

I'm pressed for time and wanted to get something out. Yes, I know that I hade another topic, and I'll get to it, but birthday parties for 10 year olds don't wait for nobody.

But in the interim, here is the overall results of last weekends events:

Winter Series: 5k+5mi+10k 9th of 23 overall Leprechaun Leap 10k: 52:48
5k+5mi+5k 17th of 43 overall Leprechaun Leap 5k: 25:19

Overall, happy with the perfomances and happy that I didn't blow my load completely in the 5K so that I could actually keep close to the same pace throughout both the races. Because of the threat of rain, I decided not to bring the camera again. Which was sort of stupid since I could've thrown it in the pouch of my windjacket and had no problems. Either way, I went through injury free and think all the time, and I mean time, spent stretching has sort of paid off.

-Registered for the Oil Creek 100 race again and decided that I was going after the 50K again. The reasons are two fold. The first being that I want to go after a faster time than last year, and I'm also looking to see if the streching and strength exercises that I've been doing will pay off after an extended amount of time. Which in this case, will be about 10 months. Second, I got on the bike this morning for the first time and after a 15 mile ride in the 27 degree chill, I realized just how out of shape that I am. Maybe not too out of shape, but more than I really want to be. And the third and final reason, and probably the most important, is that I have more important time to devote to my kids and my job. I'll put in the time and effort, but what doesn't get done at the buttcrack of dawn, just doesn't get done.

-Speaking of the 50K, it sold out in 2 1/2 hours. The other races are on track to probably fill out sooner than they have in the past too. It's a testament to how good the races are run, and the amazing support that they get from the Titusville community, and the race staff. When I mailed in my race check to the director, I wrote a note asking that he not make it a lottery system for the future. The race has been in existance for two years, this one being the third, and I have no doubt that its popularity will probably continue to grow in the future.

-Was plain awesome to get out on the road today. I decided to take the bike to the shop for an extra tune-up that I don't have the time to do myself. There's not a lot that needs done, but Mr Madone is much more complex than the Bridgestone, which I have broken down, cleaned, and rebuilt too many times to count. If I can get out a couple more times before the end of the month, that'll be just fine by me.

Nothing else...On On.

100th Post and a Race Report (kinda, sorta)

2011-03-12T21:51:00.000-05:00

I remember a sign like this at the Hueneme HS pool in Oxnard, CA in 84-85 timeframe

-I noticed that this is my 100th post. So, I was able to come up with enough incomprehensible topics, misspelled words, and run-on sentences to write about 100 times. Amazing. I guess the old adage of "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit." Through it all, I picked up one follower, I owe you a pizza one day Big Daddy. I'm sure that there are those that read this train wreck on a regular basis that aren't official followers, and I can respect that, I do the same. Should I continue this for another 100 entries, I'll have myself a giveaway of sorts. Why not, might be fun.

-Site is going to go through a design change I think. Finding the time might be a little difficult since I started a new position at work, and I'm the local project manager for a rather large project taking place here at the airport. Not sure what it is I want to do this blog, but it might be nice to add a few more items that are actually useful for training, racing, etc.

-The comment made on the last post about being a swim official got me to thinking about something about coaching and sports officials in general. Seeing that most of these are voluntary positions, meaning officials and most YMCA coaching I've done, where swim coaches do get paid, I have taken a different attitude about the relationship between myself and parents. My next blog, or #101 for those keeping score, will be about parenting these days. Having three kids of my own, my wife and I are not only guilty of being "helicopter parents" but also being "old school" as well. I think it'll be interesting.

-The Leprechaun Leap Race Report is tacked on the bottom of this blog, and the snow has returned. And why not. There are two races, the 5k at 0900, and the 10k at 1000, and I've decided to run both of them. With the first trail run in a month, I want to find out what kind of shape my body is in. I've told my brother and dad that my days of racing with them are almost over since every race we've done in the past year has been weather poor. The wind coming off Lake Erie onto Presque Isle can be brutal, and if the Park maintenance crew hasn't plowed, it'll suck even more for footing. With luck, it'll only be snow, since the forecast is for rain later in the day. Either way, I'm taking two sets of clothes just for the chill factor.

-Race sign-ups for the Oil Creek 100 races are next week and I'm still on the fence about moving up to the 100k race or trying to improve my time in the 50k. I know how beat up I was after the race last year, and I'm curious as to whether my body could take another 50k after the first lap. But that is why the training, both mentally and physically, takes place.

-Training has me getting out on the bike now. Oh really. I've tried the mountain bike in the snow, and the results were mixed. It was great if stopping isn't important and inadvertant climbs of snow banks are planned, but for time trials and real quality, not so much. I have looked at Mr. Madone swinging from the basement rafters and thought a couple times how nice it would be to get out on the road. The bike trainer is starting to lose its luster, even though my movie picks have gotten a little better. Right now, I'm watching "Push" and have only to wonder this: How old is Dakota Fanning? She's obviously gotten older, but she still looks like closer to pre-teen. But, to her credit, she is a good actress.

Holy crap, I've written a book, on to the:

Leprechaun Leap Race Report:

Ah, screw it...The total results aren't out yet, but I felt really good about the effort and the end results. I know that I placed 10 of 27 in age group for the 5k and I averaged consistantly for both races. How does this affect my decision for next weeks registration? I don't know, but I'm more inclined to see have another go-round on the 50k and then move up. A more detailed race report tomorrow, after I get the results.
Besides, this thing has dragged on long enough...On On.

That Which I Cannot Do.

2011-02-25T15:40:00.000-05:00

The motto has always been, "Those who can't do, teach, and those who can't teach, administrate." So I guess take your weakest part of the triathlon world, and swimming is the most natural part for me.

And in this case, I worked as a swim official for the YMCA's Sectional Swim Championship this past Saturday, and all I can say, "Man, what a long freakin day." I know that I'm not a stellar swimmer, nor do I aspire to become one, just better than mediocre, but always looking to get better. Being a swim official means two things, I get the best view in the house, and I'm not sandwiched with a bunch of other parents in a poorly ventilated pool. The reason I love coaching is mainly the younger kids, watching them move in packs after a soccer ball, and the same goes for the pool, watching those little people pumping those arms and legs from one end to other. I applaud the effort and the fact that they've kept at it all winter long.

In short, my jobs were to watch strokes, turns, and relays and issue a DQ for infractions. During the morning session, kids 11-18, I only DQ'd one kid and that was due to a fluttering breaststroke kick which was blatantly obvious even to the casual observer. The rule is the give the benefit of the doubt to the swimmer, and I have no problem with that. However, during the afternoon session, ages 5-10, I was a turn judge and it got more interesting. Again, the younger kids are fun to watch, they swim to have fun, swim because, hey, its water. But they also make the most mistakes. With these guys, I have to see the infraction multiple times and, unlike a dual meet where you can tell the kid why they got DQ'd, at the Sectionals you just submit it to the Meet Ref and that is that. Total number of DQ's: 4. But what bothered me most, is that I called one that wasn't actually an infraction. Fortunately, it was caught, but if it had slipped through, a rather deserving team could've lost their spot at the District meet since their time was good enough to qualify for the meet. Even worse, I have the rule underlined in my rule book just so that I wouldn't make that mistake.

-Speaking of swimming, I've upped the ante on the swim workouts and a quick glance of the logs show almost 22,000 yards for the month of Feb. My favorite was the 2300 which consisted of 500 yd warmup, 500yd arm pulls, and 500 yds of frantic "why-in-the-hell-can't-I-get-anywhere-fast" kicking, and the rest was spent in meandering around the lane thinking I need a new hobby. I really hope that all the effort I've put in this winter actually will pay off in the spring.

-Can't run in compression socks, doesn't feel natural. But I can sit around the house in them and they feel pretty good. So now, I can play Black Ops and recuperate at the same time....bonus.

-If not for the fact that my oldest boy turned 10 yesterday, that I have the Pinewood Derby for scouts tomorrow, and a birthday party on Sunday, I might feel real depressed about the sewage backup in my basement. However, I have found that the clean-up has gone pretty smooth, or as well as can be expected for such an occasion, with a lot of beer and an iPod full of death metal.

-Snow. Fact of life, have snowblower will get out of driveway faster. Also don't have to have an excuse for not riding the bike either. But I would like to ride, that is the problem.

On On.

Evil Cookies

2011-02-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

Add blonde hair and glasses and this would be my daughter.

-A cake will sit in our house for a week and I will not pay a bit of attention to it. BUT, if its portable, and has a lot of chocolate chips, then it will travel...usually to the basement, if it gets that far. I have never met a cookie that I have never liked. I know those round discs of chocolate/oatmeal/peanut butter/etc are out there in the kitchen, and I feel that it's my responsibility to find them so that I can save my family from a horrible fate.

-Valentines Day is tomorrow and my wife said that I didn't have to get her anything. Sure, I'll go with that. I'll also go ahead and build an ice cave in the backyard and move my belongings out there as well.

-I signed up for the St. Patrick's Day races in March. When I say "races," I mean both the 5K and 10K distances. The 5k is at 9 and the 10K at 10 so I should be pretty good with that. The glacier ridge trail 30K is in April and the sign-ups for the oilcreek100 are a week after on March 19th, so I will have an idea if I want to chase the 100K (62miles) or just concentrate on lowering my 50K time.

-Seems like I've been concentrating mainly on running, but I've been steadily hammering the swim pretty well and as I have been adding distance and more sets of arm drags and kick drills, I noticed that the improvement that I had though I have made a few weeks ago were pretty much spot on. My "cycling" around the basement has been pretty good, working a lot on keeping the RPM's up, and more so than I did last winter. I have been been happy for the most part with what I've been doing, and I think this workout schedule has been pretty productive with the time that I have to get the work in.

-Time. Got to use what is provided for you. Looks like I've been promoted for the next 6 months and my time constraints are going to tighten a little more. I can deal with it, I just have to get the most out of the time I have on the bike, pounding pavement, and swallowing pool water.

-Speaking of schedules. I haven't updated the side schedule of the blog, but I'm looking at 4 tris, a duo, and a bi at this point. Should be a good year. Have been giving adventure races a look lately. I'm really getting to think that when the goal of a 100 miler is completed, that I might think about an adventure race. Maybe team up with my brother for another race. This time, we can use my "new" canoe, and not his version of the Titantic.

-I do love the Girl Scout cookies, especially the Samoas, and I buy a few boxes for various locations that I work at. Sort of like an emergency cookie stash. They may not last long, but they are there for those afternoon occasions. Anyway, I support youth organizations wholeheartedly, but when I look at what percentage my daughter's troop gets per box, and I pass that Taj Mahal of a Council office everyday, I get a little steamed. Someday, I'd like to just write a check for $50 to the troop and skip the cookies altogether, but I'm a cookie addict.

Happy Training.

Never, Ever Going to End.

2011-02-06T17:55:00.000-05:00

The ONLY way to get through winter!

I can only say that as far as storms go, I've seen worse. I've been careful to not be political, or at least steer clear of most political references, but well, it's my blog and I don't care: Global Warming, Climate Change, Al Gore...All are full of shit. If I had shredded documents, made up data, and denied FOIA (Freedom of Info Act) requests, I'd be sitting in a jail cell, or unemployed at the very least.....Just Saying.

Anyway, in this winter of discontent, I have gotten back into the run of things, have boosted the cycling up a little more and managed to keep the accelerated RPM's up as well. However, the swimming has been even better than I have hoped it would be at this point. I'm thinking the best reason for this is the lack of injuries, nothing in the way of illness that keeps me out of the pool, and I've been able to find enough ways to mix it up and make it interesting.

-Super Bowl Sunday today, and even though the Steelers are playing, I'm surprisingly apathetic. I would be diasppointed should they lose, but I'd not lose any sleep over it either. But, I have a good friend who lived in Waukesha, WI who sent me some Packers and Univ/Wisconsin sweatshirts and over the years I will watch them if they're on. Point is, the Packers are a class organization and I wouldn't care if they won either. No, the point is, I don't care period.

-Movie review: "Hot Tub Time Machine." I grew up on John Cusak films, two of my all time favorite movies are "Better Off Dead" and "On Crazy Summer." His other works are ok, but those are the best. But, then my favorite movie of all time is "My Name is Nobody" so what do I know. Anyway, I laughed for quite a bit of it, it is abrasive, and it reminded me of all the things about the 80's that I loved and hated all at the same time. The first half of the 80's I grew up in Oxnard, California area, ran my first races there, and felt all the influences of the 80's there. After my family moved east, I spent the rest of my formative years doing what every red blooded American teenagers do. Anyway, the movie was funny, crass, and for all that: 4 of 5 stars. Next movie in the Netflix rotation for training: Push. No clue how it ended up in my queue, but its here.

-Even with all the stretching, plyometrics, and everything else that I have tried in order to keep limber, but after watching the competitve cheerleading circuit that my daughter is in, I figured that traction would probably be where I ended up in the end. Amazing how nimble them little pixies are.

Not a lot to blog about, it's still winter, and it's not ending for another few weeks. I did look at the little world map on the side and noticed that I've had a lot of hits from Germany and some other European countries and it got me to wandering.....why? Is it confused with a porn site? Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But neither does a lot of things.

On On.

Oh the Weight and Other Plans.

2011-01-28T15:15:00.000-05:00

This week, in bullet format:

-A friend of mine found out he was diabetic the hard way, by almost going comatose. I went to see him in the hospital and as I was leaving, I stepped on the scale conveniently parked by the elevators. Yep, I'm gonna have to find an alternative to Oreos and coffee. Or eat a whole less than I have been.

-Went for a 3 mile run on Wednesday morning and Sports Doc was right again about how running on snow is like running on a beach. Both, she said, were not a really good idea due to shifting nature of the surface. She was great, but it sure irritates the crap out me how many times she has been right. Anyway, the run went pretty well, I averaged 8:44 miles and managed not to get hit by traffic. I have a 6 mile run scheduled for Sunday so that will be the test.

-Speaking of diabetes, my wife has been diagnosed officially since September, even though it has been a foregone conclusion for almost 10 years now. Since she took the classes and has started minding her diet, she has started dropping at weight at almost 2-3 lbs a month. I haven't said a word, not because I'm an ass, but because if I did, it would be taken as a patronizing.

-My swimming has been the most improved this winter, but I'm afraid that all that might be derailed based on the New Years Resolution crowd. The Y that I swim at has 4 lanes and the normal Tues-Thurs at 6 am group has been roughly 6 of us. But for some reason there have been an additional 3 or 4 showing up and even though I'm not a snob about sharing, I have been swimming there, same time, same place for the past 4 years. So yes, I think if someone has to wait, it'll be you Mr. Newbie. My favorite has been the future Olympian who spits water everytime he breathes.

-My two year plan for the Oil Creek 100 mile race might be put off by a large project that will be in full swing come October 2012. And by large, we're talking LARGE. Even with the problems that I seem to be having with my wheels, I'm still trying to hold on to the goal, but we will see. I still plan on signing up for the 100K race and if I can get my mileage up by the sign-up period in March, I think I will be quite all right.

-If I ever remember to scan my plyometric/stretch routine, I might try and post them. They seem to be working since I can actually do the whole routine now without feeling like the outsides of my knees are going to pop. I read an old article, we're talking a 1980's vintage Runners World type article, on the advantages of plyometrics and how it strenghtens the muscles and protects the ligaments. The traditional running and cycling is usually a forward only and trains the legs to protect in a forward/backward motion and not the side to side motions. This additional component strengthens all the muscles and allows more forgiveness if you're running on a trail and turn your ankle on a tree root. That sounded familiar. What I liked most about it was the tube socks and polyester shorts.

I got nothing else, and its snowing again...what else is new. On On.

Sunday Night Stuff.

2011-01-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

I love watching football, but it's probably just as well that I don't watch the Steelers, or I will teach my kids the second language that I learned in the Navy, so I don't bother to watch. For the most part, I've not watched a whole lot of football this year, just been too busy with the kids and some little projects around the house.

The mercury took a nosedive into the single digits with a windchill of minus so the test run for the leg was put off until Wednesday. The Sports Doc's plyometrics have been a bit of ball buster and the last time that I had done any, I was in high school and much better shape. I've been averaging almost 30 minutes of stretching and strength work a day, most of it broken down over two sessions a day, some in the morning and some before bed and the schedule has been working out pretty well. The legs have been feeling pretty good, no Planter issues, no Achilles issues, and the calves have been feeling ok too. I'm sort of looking forward to getting outside and trying it out again...just not in the freakin artic. So I walked the dog in my Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man suit.

The flu has been making its way around the family, so my wife and I are living on borrowed time as far as being healthy is concerned. The problem with school aged kids are that they pick up all the germs and bring them home as gifts. If I manage to stave off this one, then I'll have managed to have avoided the Up-Chucks for three years. Somehow, I don't think that is going to happen this year.

Bill Watterson was a genius. Too bad he decided to retire, because I miss comics like these:

On On.

Oh, The Travel.

2011-01-18T17:01:00.000-05:00

I have nothing this week, I've been on the road for work and jst been busy. The Sports Doc said to take another week off and gave more stretches and some plyometrics to make it all stronger. I'm back to stretching for 30 mintes and its a little long sometimes. But, what else can you do in hotel.

Oh, and $5.35 for wireless access Embassy Suites??!!! You suck....but it is a nice place to stay.

Hopefully more next week....On On.

Schedule and Life

2011-01-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

Developing a racing schedule, training, and still maintaining a healthy, happy home life is pretty much dependent on a lot of things. My wife is an awesome support crew, and a lot of times I don't expect her to come to some of these races, since they can be boring, and entertaining three fairly young kids can be difficult. I pay for my races out of my "allowance" so its not a financial issue, but if I scheduled as many races as I wanted to, then I'd be gone most Saturdays during the summer. That would go over real well, like pork in a mosque. Of course, the cost of racing has stayed fairly the same from last year, but it's not exactly a cheap date either. The entry fee my be $45, but when you add up all the costs associated with an event, you're probably closer to $100, and that's being fairly conservative.

As I have mentioned before, I don't have anything to prove to anyone. True, I may still be looking at that 100 miler in the future, but it isn't my guiding force in life. I learned in training for Louisville that the toll on family, time, and other interests can be pretty steep. Riding my bike to my son's ballgames by taking a 25 mile "shortcut" didn't sit too well with my wife, and the glare from my son didn't help either. I think a lot of times, triathletes looking toward that 140.6 goal get too fixated and don't appreciate the whole experience. Just ask anyone who has done the Full distance and they will tell you that the journey was just as good as the actual event. I realize when I'm swimming on Tues/Thurs mornings that if I think about it, I can almost picture the milky water of the Ohio River.

Right now, I'm looking at 4 tri's, a duathlon, the PI Bay swim, the biathlon, and the two trail races. I'm still nursing the calf by stretching, icing, and now I have some really cool stretches and some foam roller drills to complete the pain. I'm still hoping to compete in the 100K at the Oil Creek100, but if I don't feel 100% by the sign-ups in March, I'll stay with the 50K. That would be my 4th year in a row of a marathon or greater race, and that's not too shabby. Of course all this is subject to approval by my wife and the master calender that hangs in the kitchen.

Another possible issue is that I will be assuming a new job position in February for 6 months, and with a runway extension at the Erie Airport starting to ramp up, I find that my time may get eaten up even further. Most of the time, racing/training is a respite from the job rigors, and I've used my business trips to OKC to race in a couple of triathlons last June, and a Half Marathon the year before as an integral cog in my Ironman training, but the new position doesn't afford any of that. It just gives me 10 new people to babysit other than myself. And if any of them ever read that, I'd get a gigantic ration of crap.

As for now, I will try to keep my head oriented in the right direction, be smart about what I want to race, and remember that my family is actually more important that any athletic endeavour that may or may not be in my head.

On-On

Yep, Torn Muscle Wasn't Worth It.

2011-01-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

Sunday night as I got ready for bed, I noticed that my ankle had disappeared and that my foot was twice the size of the other one. So off to the doctor on Monday and she was more than nice enough but agreed with my wife that running the race on Saturday was stupid. Fortunately, the only damage are some micro-tearing of the muscle that runs along the shin and down toward the ankle. Otherwise, the rest of my leg structure is pretty decent and I got a pat on the back for all the stretching and corrective pain management. Just stupid for racing.

I was told to come back in two weeks and not run, but that I could swim and ride the bike, or even hit the elliptical if I so decided, not just the heavy impact type of exercises. So, was it really worth it in long run? No, probably not.

My happiness over the minimal amount of weight gain was tempered by the number that was displayed before my very eyes at the appointment yesterday. I managed to shed some pounds by taking off my jacket and work-boots, but holy crap, I haven't seen 199 in 5 years. There's gotta be something wrong with that scale....

New Years Day 5 Miler Race Report.

2011-01-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

First things first, happy new year and best wishes for the upcoming year.

Before I start the report, I learned two important things the last couple of weeks that I have had off of work and how their effect on my race this morning.
1.) When sled riding with my 3 yr old, the possibility of injury is remote, but add my 9 yr old, who weighs in at 95 lbs and have him fall on top of you, the odds more than quadruple. And I knew it hurt then, but I didn't think that it would affect my breathing and still lingering even now.
2.) Stretched real well (20 minutes,) on Wednesday before a short 3 mile warm up run got a mile down the road and the lower left calf tightens up like there was no tomorrow. It hurt so bad that I had to walk a half mile, stretch it out again and then I managed to finish with little problem, just a tad bit uncomfortable. So Thursday and Friday was spent in aggressive healing mode and when I woke up this morning, all seemed right in the world.

Weather was a balmy 51 degrees and raining when I walked outside at 7:30 this morning. I could've done without the rain, but I might have to do without my brother and father since every race I've done with them at Presque Isle has been in a downpour. Anyway, off to the race and even though my running has been good, I was slightly worried about the new injury that has seemed to come out of nowhere. Before I left the house, I had my wife wrap the lower calf for support and it seemed to be doing the trick...well, almost. There were several tri-club members racing, said hi to a couple of them, talked to a few other people I knew and juiced up the iPod for some tunes as I plodded around the flat as a pancake roads known as Presque Isle. The difference this year was that there were a few more people, due to the warmer weather, and the roads were clear, not frozen ice bars like last years edition.

Started the race further back then I should've, but picking off people is always good for the ego and I was moving real well. My tried and true tested method of picking off people by choosing a hot looking chick in the distance and then chasing her down was working like a charm. I was getting into the race when it occured to me that my iPod play list was crap. Motivation doesn't come in the form of Barry Manilow or Kelly Clarkson but they are what they are. The first mile went flawlessly, no pain in the calf, but the back pain from the sledding incident was making breathing an irritating event. At the 1.5 mile mark, the calf decided that it didn't want to play anymore.

There is running in pain, and running in discomfort. This was a combination of the two and I saw my mileage pace go from 7:20/mile to 9:15/mile in pretty close to 20 feet. I pretty much decided at this junction to just do what I could and see if I could keep running as opposed to walking. For the next mile I tried to listen to the music, but it didn't really seem to matter as the leg was pretty much screaming obscenties through the nerve endings. At the halfway point though, the rain returned and the calf just became bearable. I don't compensate for injuries when I run, they just end up aggravating something else and causing other problems. I felt pretty good at this point, and throttled the pace down to something manageable, so I was able to run and knew that whatever the underlying problem with the calf might be, will have to be figured out. In the course of all this, I did figure out what next weeks blog is going to be about, and that is the handling of injuries and training/racing.

The finish ended up being fairly anti-climatic, but I did achieve my goal of finishing under my age. In my first race as a Masters runner, nice way of saying that you're part of the over 40 crowd, I managed to finish in 39:57 and 81 of 304 Overall. As for my new AG, that was good for 13 of 25, and all things considered, I'm pretty happy with the fact that I was able to maintain a 7:59 mi pace overall. As I sit here with an ice pack wrapped around my calf it has actually occured to me that maybe running wasn't a good idea, but I haven't really been chocked full of good ideas in the past either.

The Erie Runners Club put on another great event and the post race spread was pretty awesome as well. My only hope is to figure out what the major malfunction with the calf might be and rectify it as soon as possible.

New Years Resolutions: Don't have any. I'm fairly happy with what I'm doing know, even if I'm screwing up. To my way of thinking, resolutions are just excuses for weaknesses....or something like that.

On On.

Merry Christmas.

2010-12-24T17:43:00.000-05:00

This week has been spent helping my wife by keeping my 3 year old busy while she shops. I did swim the last laps of the year, even got up at 5 am to do it, and have pedalled around the basement and ran once. But, the real fun was taking my youngest to go sled riding and being the only ones at the local hill. Just him and I for a little more than an hour going up and down and up and down. Putting him down for a nap and realizing that he only reads three books out of the 1000's in his room. Then following it up by falling asleep with him. He's a neat kid...just very, very busy.

Enjoy the holiday, remember that the training is for a hobby, not a full time job, and even then, you're probably taking some time off. Now is the time to be introspective of our lives and its meaning to other people. Even if I'm staring at that same 3 year old resetting the computer on my bike as I type.

My best to you and yours.

Still Motoring in the Cold.

2010-12-16T13:45:00.000-05:00

"Who's that dork running down the street?"

This week is momentous for a couple of reasons. First, I'm wrapping up my 2010 work year and I haven't had the chance to just "mail it in." Meaning, my employer is getting his fair share out of my butt, and then some. And second, I'm actually only going to complain very little. It has been pretty busy this week, the new round of snow and the cold that came with it pretty much has wiped out the first of what I had scheduled. Even though this is the off season, I still have to do something or I will be finding the next set of Christmas cookies in which to chow down on. I might have only gained a few pounds since Thanksgiving, but with two weeks off coming up, it's about to get real ugly. Besides that, I have the 5 miler on New Years day and I'd like to get somewhat close to last years time, or at least break 40 minutes.

I have been very good about getting into the pool, and after some kickboard work this morning, decided that I could do without that stupid styrofoam anymore. Some people look graceful and smooth, I look like the epiliptic walrus that was seen trying to do flip-turns last week. But, that is why I'm doing it, so that one day I can graduate to sleek manatee. Speaking of swimming, I worked my first event as a race official for the YMCA circuit that my son swims for, and it was interesting to say the least. The official guideline is to give the benefit of the doubt to the swimmer, and that was pretty easy to do for the most part. The DQ's were fairly blatant and if you talked with the kid after the event, they seemed to be OK with it. The worse part of it all, I DQ'd my own kid........He was ok with it after I took him to lunch at Pizza Hut afterward.

Before the latest round of storms, I managed to get out on Monday morning for what I hoped would be a quick 4 mile run. Little did I realize that the low visibility, the ice covered roads, and more than usual traffic turned the run into a 3 mile affair at 12:30 a clip. Hindsight tells me I should have stayed home and pedalled in the basement, but that whole 5 miler thing had me convinced. Insult-to-injury was prior to the run at home as my wife laughed at me as I left the house dressed for the snow/wind/cold in my 90's era windsuit, knit cap, gloves, and reflective vest, with the amber colored eyewear (which dampens the glare of headlights.) I'm glad she didn't take a picture though.

- Watched the finale of Hell's Kitchen and even though I didn't care, I'm glad the girl won. If for no other reason than to listen to the sour-grapes whining and complaining that the runner-up displayed. There's being disappointed, and then there's being a piss-poor sport. Man-up and be happy with what you accomplished.

-How come when I watch DIY and other home improvement shows I get the impression that any monkey can do what was done. But, if that is the case, why do I get the feeling my new birdhouse is going to get slapped with an "Condemned" sticker when the birds come back in the spring.

-Christmas Story: One of the greatest movies ever. When TNT plays it for 24 hours on the 24-25th, I usually end up seeing it 5 or 6 times. The house is now a museum with a gift shop and I guess it isn't too far from here. I'd love to get one of those leg lamp ornaments for our tree. I guess, and don't quote me on this, they have those moose cups, from "National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation" available there too.

Until next week: ON-ON

Winter Training, Now With More Snow.

2010-12-10T15:23:00.000-05:00

You know you have an event when the Weather Channel shows up on one day, and the Today Show the next. Over the past couple days we managed a nice 26 ,33 inches of the white stuff, and for those that believe that snow is 80% air, I offer you the opportunity to shovel that air. Oh, and you can start at the end of my driveway. The air mixes with road salt quite nicely.

Not even one of the heavy days.

I have managed to get out once in the past week and as much as I hate the cold and snow, it isn't that bad in the wee hours of the morning with no traffic, other people, or sane moments, just the crunching of snow, my iPod, and a few slick spots to watch out for. As I have been saying to myself over the last 9 years, I should invest in some Yak Tracks shoe accessories since my ankle and ligaments are taking the slow road to heeling, but I just never seem to pull the trigger and do it. One of the blogs I have been reading have been a big naysayer on NSAIDS, like ibuprofen, and how it actually has a detrimental effect on the natural healing process. OK, I'll give it try and we'll see how that works out, since I have time and curiosity.

Most of the time, on days like these, I tend to ride the trainer a lot more, and since I'm doing the selective P90X, which means I pick and choose according to what I want to hurt over the next couple of days, I don't have to go outside if I don't want to. I've had 4 continual days of running the snow blower and shoveling off certain areas of the roof, so getting outside is not high on my list of activities. But I have a race in 3 weeks so I will do it and like it.....or at least do it.

Swim workouts have been a lesson in expirmentation as well. I've been using the kickboard and shifting some breast strokes in, and its making the trips to the pool a little better. Since the weather is keeping the nun that I share a lane with at home, I have been using the extra space to try a few new things, like the butterfly, which has gone from abysmal failure to epiliptic walrus. I'm still keeping the 4000 yard weeks going, but winter is a tough time to get motivated to swim.

Factoids:

Holiday Weight Gain: 4 lbs.....not bad

Christmas shopping completed: 45%....very good for me.

Other than that, I have nothing of substance for this week. Maybe next week I'll do an expose on how adulthood is really like Junior High.

On On.

Off Season Musings...Snow Version.

2010-12-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Most of the time, I have a reason to write a post, but nothing this week. Hell, who am I kidding, I don't need a reason, it's my blog. It's started to become winter, and when the snow flies, so does my attitude. So, without further ado, and from the shallow reaches of my mind:

-When the uber swimmers kick your ass in the off-season, does it really count? I know that swimming is my weak link, and I'm happy with my 2000 yard outings twice a week, but come on, why are you still lapping me...while using the kickboards.

-I noticed that REV3 is branching out a bit more. Good for them. I hope that they take some wind out of the WTC's sails, since competition makes for lower prices. If they can avoid selling out, then the out of control costs of the Ironman, might make it worth while again.

-Been reading Trail Runner magazine, came in the goodie bag from the Oil Creek race. The trail running community is what I remember the triathlon community as being in the 1980's, when I started racing them as a teenager. A small niche of like minded souls who realized what a good thing they had.

-Speaking of Goodie bags, and those "environmentally" conscience people who want to ban them or get rid of the medals, or the belt buckles, or the plaques, or even the time honored event t-shirt, or whatever, because "they" think that people just stuff them in drawers, or because "they" think its somehow causing harm to the environment, I have one acronym for you: STFU. Yes, the goody bags have a lot of worthless ads and brochures, but its on recyclable paper...that should mean something.

-And while I'm on the "environmental" swing, let me take a moment to breathe deep before I lambast the whole, "Would you like to add an additional fee to offset your carbon output for your travelling to the event?" The answer is always going to be NO. If you spent less time writing the code that calculated the distance from my house to the event, and then used some bullshit figure to come up with a cost, and spent that time going outside to breathe on a tree, it would have been covered.

-I usually access this blog to read some of my favorite blogs, but I happened to notice the little map on the lower right had 904 visits. Amazing... I wonder how many less I'll have after this "masterpiece." In that vein, I never expected to have anyone in the follower box, but I have one, and that is good enough for me. Almost like Facebook. I joined for the tri club, but for some reason I have "friends."

-Speaking of those race shirts, I don't care if their not the technical shirts, with the wicking material, up until a couple years ago, they were all cotton. I've collected almost 30 years worth, have worn a lot of them out, but I have about 90 of them that are destined to become a quilt one day. The rest, they get worn, or turned into rags for various causes, or my kid's paint shirts for art class.

-I just looked at my Facebook account. I have 98 friends, which is probably 95 more than I would have thought. I can honestly say that I couldn't list half of them if pressed to.

-Hell"s Kitchen. I don't like any of the final four, but if there was something that I wish I was a little better at, it be cooking. I was watching Survivor but they kicked Jill Halmi-Behm off. She is one hell of a cyclist, was a national time trial champion if I remember right. If they had a cycling challenge, she'd have wiped them all out.

-I was looking at a job in Sarasota, Florida, but my wife has already balked at it. Some blah, blah blah about the grandparents, and roots, etc. So, I went and started the snowblower to move it into position for some snow this weekend. I bet I wouldn't need that in Sarasota.

-Putting in some decent mileage for the New Years Day 5 miler. I'm hoping to break last years time, but that would be incumbant on the conditions that morning. My brother and father are running it too. I noticed that my brother is entering more races these days. My wife told me that during an e-mail exchange, he told her that his chances are much better now that I'm in a new age group.

-Watching "Sherlock Holmes" while riding the bike in the basement. Not a bad movie, but different than what I remember the books as being. After I'm done, I'll grade it, and even review it. I used to think that Robert Downey Jr was a douchebag, but now he's a douchebag that can act.

-Maybe I'll add a book review in the near future. I'm currently reading a 1000 page history book that gives facts, not some assbags opinion of what the facts might have meant. I might be more of an engineer, but my college transcript is about 80 credits of history.

-Did I happen to mention its snowing and cold here.

-How can someone who hates cold and snow, also find that running in the cold and snow is actually almost enjoyable?

Until the next time.....on on.

ERC Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

2010-11-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

Rain and electronics don't mix too well, so I don't have any photos to commemorate the event from Thanksgiving, so I'm disappointed in that regard. However, I am proud of my 6 year old daughter and her completing her first 5K race. The time, the overall and age group placing, they mean nothing to her, or to me really. Getting her around the course, that was the real fun.

The race was held at Presque Isle State Park, which if you have read my other race reports, know that it is pancake flat and fairly boring, unless you like dreary weather and dormant trees. There were an estimated 4000 people signed up for the events, 10K, 5K, 5K walk, and I was hoping the weather would keep a few of them away, but no such luck. We decided to forgo the cattle trucks, or school buses, and find a place to park near the start. All, I will say is this: If your going to lie and tell me that I will get a ticket for parking on the side of the road, you better believe me when I say that I know the park rules. Didn't get a ticket and might have gotten someone in trouble over it too. Another thing, if your going to run a packet pickup for two hours, over two nights, then make sure that you use the two baydoors at the blood bank and not the man door at the side. A cluster only surpassed by some in the military.

Anyway, race starts, and we just meandered our way around the course, my dad and brother even stayed close by for the first mile. Kiersten had only raced in the Kilted Miles over the past three years, and in training, we only put in around 2.7 as our longest. I knew that we would be walking for a few short bursts, and we did, but she kept on plugging and chugging, and we eventually came around the 3.1 miles course in around 47:30. There aren't a lot of things that I can report about it, other than it was nice run with my daughter and I'm very proud of her. She ran further than she ever has before under less than ideal conditions, cold, wind, and rain, and finished. She was 26 of 31 in the female 1-10 AG and 1605/1926 OA. I, on the otherhand, was 52/53 AG and 1606, but I wasn't last and that is always my goal in a race. It's a hell of a way to finish the last race in this age range, another decade over and the world of Masters events ahead.

I didn't pig out for Thanksgiving, just enough to sleep through the 2nd half of the Patriots/Lions game. I've had a couple more beers than normal, but that happens sometimes, although very rarely anymore. Not a lot else to write about, I'm debugging a friends computer and wrapping this up so that I can play a little Black Ops in multiplayer mode. That is, after I assist my wife in getting the kids in bed. Always a catch in there somewhere.

On-On.

I've got....nothing.

2010-11-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

My wife would love one of those.

If there was ever a time that I had nothing to say, now would that time. I've been dealing with some IT issues with my wife's computer. It was the first computer I built....in 2003. The RAM is obsolete, the motherboard manufacturer went out of business in 2006, and even though I clean it out on a 3 month basis, it was clogged full of dust rabbits...just too damn big to be bunnies. BUT, that isn't the problem. What is the problem is that some of her friends are computer stupid. Thye have viruses. They spread viruses. I have chased them down, but now the computer is running ssslllllllooooooowwwwwwwlllllllllyyyyyy. It's one of a couple things, either I have another bug in the system, or, as I'm beginning to rule out, a hardware issue.

My daughter and I have continued to put in some mileage, if you call 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 miles a run mileage, and we've been registered, but it appears that the event is gonna sell out with almost 3500 people. Amazing that so many people want to run. My daughters division is Female age 1-10. I did a quick count and realized that she might have a little bit of competition. That, however, is not one of the reasons we are doing this. We're doing this so that she can get a little experience, and it might be fun. The weather forcast is crappy with a high of 40. I'm betting it'll rain too.

I really can't remember the last time that I had nothing to say. I do have a topic that I will hit soon, and that's the topic of half-assed coaches and the parents that support them.

Enjoy the holidays, eat what you want, and take time to be thankful for what God has blessed you with. The pool, bike, pavement, weights, whatever will still be there for the inevitable "I-shouldn't-have-eaten/drinken-so-much" hangover that you will feel the day after.

On-On.

"Off-Season" Training and "Coaching" My Daughter.

2010-11-11T18:20:00.000-05:00

Seriously??!! What is up with kids these days.

In the grand scheme of things, there really is no off season if you want to a.) stay in any kind of shape, i.e. gain about 20 pounds, or b.) not have to reinvent the wheel and spend all of next season just getting to the same point you were at this point right now. Of course, avoiding potential burnout is key as the weather is freaking cold, and the ass deep snow makes wanting to go for a run vs. staying in a warm bed a losing proposition. So, I decided that I will add a few things, like some extra strength sessions, and just a little more on the running build-ups. I will probably have to make some changes to my bike schedule come Spring, but we'll see how the winter plays out at the moment. I signed up for a 30K trail run, obviously by ankles and other pains have been forgotten, just south of here in Moraine State Park set for April 9th. I'm thinking we're going to get that last snow storm of the season about that time, so why not. My brother decided to join me as well, since, you know, misery loves company.

An old buddy of mine actually did request my training schedule, he has moved from San Diego to Pensacola, and wants to keep in shape. So, he's actually thinking about maybe giving a triathlon a shot. I told him that once he got one under his belt, he'd be all over them.

After the Oil Creek race, my daughter informed me that she wanted to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. She has been busy with a competition cheerleading squad, tumbling, dance class, and everything else a soon to be 7 year old girl likes to do. She has always liked running, having three Kilted Miles under her belt, and now it's the 5K that she is looking at. So, how do you get a girl to run for most of a 3.1 mile loop?

We haven't really been running a lot, family calender is pretty stocked with all kinds of crap. We have been putting in some good runs twice a week, not too long, but long enough for me to know that she might be able to run for most, if not all, 5K. I started with a 1.5 mile loop and have since moved up to a 2.4 mile loop this past Sunday afternoon. When my wife gave birth to our first, she told the doctor that she couldn't push anymore. He simply told her that if she could talk, she could push. It's that same conversation I have with my daughter when she talks for the entire, we're talking non-stop lip movement, and then half way though decides that she just can't go any further without walking.

Remember to thank God for this great country of ours and to remember that the freedoms we have did not come without sacrifice. Today, Veteran's Day, is a day that has meant a lot since I left the service in 1995, and hold in high esteem. I especially hold in high regard those who serve, and have served in combat theatres, and wish them godspeed. While I saw time in two combat zones, I didn't have nearly the worries or distractions that others have had. I have never complained about my time in the military, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I have raced in locations around the world that I look back on fondly.

On On.

How To Achieve Ironman Status in Simple Words.

2010-11-04T15:52:00.000-04:00

A blog post last week by Big Daddy Diesel last week, or a couple weeks ago, got me thinking about something. He was analyzing the details of what it takes to be an Ironman, and the right to slap that 140.6 sticker on the back of your truck, car, trailer hitch, etc, or get that tatoo that ranges from colorful to cool to "what-in-the-hell-were-you-thinking." Simply put, the hardest part is getting into a WTC event, if so inclined, or deciding between a REV3 or the Redman in Oklahoma City, filling out the application, writing the check, and putting it in the mail or hitting the "submit" button on the screen. That's the moment when you have thrown down your own gaunlet and decided to own your fate. How to pursue that is just a matter of choosing any of a 100 different paths. This is also the moment when you realize that the old adage that states that completing the task is not nearly as important as the journey is pretty close to correct. So here are a couple of truisms that I have garned from September, 2008 to August, 2009.

-Time: You need lots of it. If you're married, then you better have cleared it with the spouse first and then promise the kids that you will still be there, only after the afternoon run. Put all other hobbies on hold, and then proceed on this journey. You'll have lots of time to ponder a lot of things, because you'll be using a lot of time: In the pool, in the saddle, and pounding the pavement.
-Coaching: Not needed, helpful, but not needed. The main goal here is to finish, time may not be a goal, but you don't want to just crawl across the finish either, that would make a crappy finishers photo. You wouldn't have dreamt the dream if the clock wasn't in the picture either. I always had 12:30 as my goal time and used that as motivation during all the speedwork and tempo runs. Here is where the mental fortitude is tested as well. That same mental fortitude that will keep you moving when your mind and/or body is telling you to quit. By developing and following through on your plan, you know that you can, and will, finish. By being my own coach, I answered to myself when I didn't want to run that last 1600 @ 7:30 pace after running four previously. I can guilt myself into most anything, and I can be my biggest cheerleader too.

Training Plan: I developed a base training plan, written in pencil for those inevitable tweaks, in roughly two weeks. I google'd Ironman training plans, or several variations, notice that there are lots of them for sale, and lots of freebies. After bookmarking a couple of the more appealing one, I then utilized the Runner's World website and their awesome SmartCoach, before you had to log in or anything, and set-up training plans for the half-marathon and marathon. There were also two books that made it into my inventory, the most important being Championship-Triathlon-Training by George-Dallam which was a good read and an invaluable source of information for nutrition and some long forgotten tidbits of training. The other book, which utilizes a system of training over time intervals was Matt Fitzgerald's Triathlete-Magazines-Essential-Week-Training. It was interesting, but confusing when you have to look at the index everyday to figure out what the HH and HR and all those other acronyms are for. I don't subscribe to interval training for several reasons. The important thing for me, is achieving goals. I'm swimming 2.4 miles in the race, not 1:15. So, in training, if I can swim 4000 yards in the pool in 1:15, then I know that I'm on track. Putting me in the pool and telling me to swim for 1:15 means I may only put in 3500, and that isn't 2.4 miles. One last thing which is important: Use your weaknesses to gauge your progress. Meaning, if you feel your running is the worst part of the 3 disciplines, then work on developing that first. I put in swim time to ensure that not only did I not drown, but that I actually could finish in roughly an 1:30.

Nutrition: All those long bike rides that you will endure is your testing ground. I had a few pages of wrappers that I stapled and had comments and graded them accordingly. The bike portion is where you need to be chowing down on a regular basis, and you'll be riding long enough in training to know what you can tolerate and what tastes like it was stepped on in the yard. This is a BIG part of the race, but also a wildcard, but since anything can happen during a race, you have to have faith that you went in well prepared.

# of Races: I ran the Akron Marathon almost a year prior, but scheduled a Half, since I was in OKC and it happened to be a convenient weekend, but as for triathlons, I did and Olympic, a Half Iron, Muncie Endurathon, and then the Louisville race. The bulk of the time was meant for the training, and not burning myself out by getting into the race mode too many times. Quality workouts are key, and I can get those riding 85 miles at 17.5 MPH, learning how to eat and take in fluids on a timed basis. You want to peak at the Ironman race, not a month prior for a Half.

Mental: If you entered an event, then you have a small portion of Type-A running in your veins. Keep it simple, but know that the race is the fun part. The hard work is done between now and next June-September, or whenever the race is. The early mornings, the lost evenings out, the put off house work, it will still be there for when you're finished.

I know that most of this seems like gibberish, but really, I was successful, and if I could do it, then most anyone else can too. I'd even give up my plan if someone wanted to look at it. Just remember, what works for one person, may not work for the next.

On-On.

Offseason and Kudos.

2010-10-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

Really, is this sign necesary?

The offseason has officially started and all the ailments have started to heal, or at least calmed down to a dull roar. I have addressed the need to work on those areas that the trail race has pinpointed as being fairly weak. Those areas being anything associated with the IT band, we're talking lower back and the glutes, and the inner thigh region, which means I might have to scour Craigslist for the Suzanne Summers Thigh Master.

The new schedule is starting to get developed and the workouts are being tailored a lot differently for the next year to address possible injuries that absolutely derailed this years plans. I write the schedule in pencil so that it can be changed, but the length of time that I was off from running threw it all into a tailspin that made me pretty much say, "Screw it!" and took me back into the realm of making it up as I go along. The reason I created a schedule in the first place was to avoid exactly that. So, why don't I get a coach? Good question, would make filling out the paperwork a lot easier. I do a good job coaching myself, I have results from it, and I don't give up on workouts in the middle of them. If the plan of the day is track speedwork of say 4X1600 at 7:00 with 800 jogs between sets, with 2 mile warm-up and cool-down runs, then that is what the workout is. But, add the annoying Achilles issue, and well, did I mention tailspin.

My daughter informed me that she wanted to run the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving and that we needed to train. So I've taken her out for a couple of training runs of 2 miles and she has done very well. We do walk for a couple short stints, and then keep on chugging along. I try to tell her though that if she can talk, then she can run, but the problem with her is, she never quits talking. Everything that you can see on a road, is subject to a new discussion. That, and I never realized how much angst and drama there was in a First Grade classroom. I'm proud of her, we'll see how it goes.

One of the things I'm adding for this year, and the fact that I'm turning 40, is a little more in the way of weights, more core work, and my 7 favorite P90X workouts. Why not all 12, well, they aren't my favorite, so I don't have to. Actually, they are covered in some of the other areas and I will probably add them as well in the future. This is a trial, if I need to readjust something, remember, I'm writing the schedule in pencil.

Kudos to Big Daddy Diesel on his series win. Winning a single race takes a lot of hard work and a lot of effort, but to win a series takes twice as much effort and a lot more sustained ass kicking over several races to achieve. Like the new blog format too.

Another blog that I like to read is Life is a Tri, very short, to the point, and has some pretty interesting triathlon related Lists. His recent post was on Non-traditional place to live and train, and no, I can't say that Kansas ranks high on my list of places to be. I have no problem with the state, its like Oklahoma, only to the North a few degrees of latitude. Boone, NC, I could live there.

Enjoy the offseason and watch out for those trick-or-treaters.

Oil Creek 100 50K Race Report.

2010-10-21T23:22:00.000-04:00

Yes, that is me, and yes, that is me smiling. What is wrong with this photo is that I faked the smile, and what you see of the course isn't even close to what 90% of that course was like. At least this part was flat, did not have a rock, a root, or an oil pipe hidden under leaves and I actually felt like smiling. Oh, I can smile now, but I don't smile too terribly much when I walk up or down stairs or move around in bed at night. Disregard the grammar and spelling, I'm probably not proofreading it.

The Start

The Oil Creek 100 website offers these nice graphs as a way to get a "feel" for the course. And that is nice, but the elevation profile is missing a pretty, small, but vital, piece of information. That would be the switchbacks. If it were just 150 feet from the bottom to the top over the course of a mile, that would be great, but trust me, it wasn't. The first 3.5 miles are from the school, through a neighborhood, and then along the bike path. At the historic Boughton Acid Works, the fun and frivolity really began. I started out easy, or so I thought, and caught up with a group of about 12 that was moving at roughly a 9:45 pace. Not so bad, until we hit the trail and the hills and fun began. The single track trail pretty much kept the order that you entered the woods as the order that you were going to maintain for the next several miles. The etiquette is, if you are starting to slow, you pull off where its convenient and allow a few people to move ahead and then fall back in line again. I stayed in my group and ran steadily, when we ran, because I learned quickly, and was happier for it, that most ultra-runners will actually walk, although at a quick pace, up the larger and more technical hills. The 3.5 miles into the AS #1 through the winds was a mixture of rolling up and downs, mostly single-track trails with a lot of roots and an increasing amount of rocks. All this God made goodness was also nicely covered by falling leaves from the lovely trees that seemed to stretch for miles. But, at least I was surrounded by about 15-20 other racers as we started down a hill, yeah, we'll call it that, that just about killed my knees and made my right ankle just about scream as I hit more than my share of roots and rocks and I probably hyper-extended every other leg joint on my way down that hill into the aid station. It was also at that time that I came to the realization that there was not one level piece of real estate anywhere. It all sloped everywhere. But, hey, I still had a core group of people around me and judging from the comments I was hearing, were all in the same pain boat as myself, or so I thought as we sauntered on into AS #1, or Wolfkiel Run, which had a Christmas theme going and was even playing some Bing Crosby as I came into station.

AS#1 to AS #2:

The key, as I'm told, is to get what you need from the aid stations and then move on. That way your mind can't convince you to stop and throw in the towel. The previous night, in what I consider an amazing stroke of luck, I won a door prize and chose a Nathan's 2 liter H2O waterpack. I had taken it home, cleaned it, filled it up and moved my gels and iPod into its really cool pockets and brought it with me instead of my fuel belt. In the first 7 miles of this race, I had been faithful with the drinking, and really needed nothing from the aid station, but I walked through and gawked at the amazing amount of stuff available. I grabbed a couple of mints, another Hammer gel, and a package of crackers and struck out for the next phase. I know I wasn't in the AS for more than a minute, but the 15-20 other runners was narrowed down to 5 and as I left to go up the switchbacks, roots, rocks, and leave covered other dangers toward the next AS, the rest of the group had seemed to vanish into thin air. OK, no problem, I'll keep pace with these people and all will be good. From AS1 to AS2, the distance is roughly another 7 miles. The water stop is halfway between at the bottom of another hill and before an area that is notorious for rocks, rocks, rocks, and some rocks covered by leaves. In the distance to the water stop, a mere 3.5 miles away, I went from having others around me, to fullfilling an adage that I have known for years...."No man is an island, except for me in a race." I wasn't pulling 9:45 miles anymore, but I was running comfortably, and only my right foot, left toes, right knee, and left, lower IT band were singing the joys of the trail so far. I hit the water stop, alone, and refilled my half empty bag and decided that if I popped an earbud in my ear and no one was around to see it, would I be wrong. The trail from the water stop to AS2 had only one up-hill, which was surprisingly easy to run, and then a downhill that didn't have rocks, but it did have a couple of oil pipes covered by leaves that caught my attention, and left foot. It's also where I was photographed in the picture above a short time later. After running through there, I hit a road that lead into Petroleum Center and AS2, which was really cool because after crossing the bridge over the creek, the short jaunt threw the woods was lined with American Flags and a pretty cool Aid Station.

The Aid Stations are manned by what I would have to say are the best volunteers I have ever encountered. They were friendly, helpful, great selection of drinks, food, and there were some cute girls at all 3 of the stations. At this station, I decided to take a brief sit and heard a couple of girls, probably college age, talking in hushed tones. The one says, "I bet he probably is." and the other replies,"how can you tell," and since I'm the only one within 10 feet of them, I raise my head and ask, "What do you think I am?" and confirmed that I was the topic based on the 5 shades of red that the probably girl turned when I asked my question. I didn't get a chance to find out because I knew that if I sat any longer, I wasn't going to move. Total time in AS2: 5 minutes. Number of runners in AS2: probably 12. Number that left with me: 0. I guess that my odor offended.

AS2 to AS3:

After leaving AS2, there is a hill behind the state park office that just plain sucks. It was at this point that I realized that running was not going to be an easy task from here on out. I power walked that hill and actually passed 2 groups of other racers, one group belonging to the 100 mile race, and the other were part of the 100K, and I exchanged the normal pleasantries and it was on that hill, and almost tripping for the 1000th time over a rock hidden by leaves that I realized that 100 milers were my new heroes and that I can honestly lead a happy life should I never do a Century Ultra. This half of the race had quite a few wider trails, some really nice rock formations, with trees growing out of them, and at one point reminded me of a Jurassic Park with some huge ass ferns and a lot of pine needles. Oh, and the ever present ankle and foot grabbing roots and rocks. It was on this leg that I noticed that I had not seen an animal at all, and this in a park where there are bears, deer, porcupines, and bunch of other critters that I might have punted off the trail had I been able to lift my foot that high. And I say that because as I saw the oil pipe across the trail I had a hell of a time lifting my leg and actually smacked my already aching left toes on the stupid thing.

I kept my iPod bud on my ear (I'm still marvelled that the battery lasted all 8 hours too,) and since I was by myself, I started singing, and as I hit the chorus of LifeHouse "Halfway Gone" I ran into the Cow Run Shelter Water Stop and a group of Boy Scouts that were manning it. I checked in, and stopped long enough to re-tie my shoes and find out that there was a girl in her 20's that was competing in the 100K who had a heart condition and was supposed to get checked over at every checkpoint, by orders of her doctor. The rest of the trip into AS3 was a case study in power walking at roughly 15 min a mile, because I running just wasn't happening. Were there hills? You bet! Roots? Sure. Rocks? Check. Leaves covering all the above? Wouldn't have been complete without them.

AS3 to Finish:
This Aid Station was not the fanciest, but the volunteers, like everywhere else, were awesome, and it was here that I lingered for roughly 5 minutes while I figured out that the concept of running the last 9 miles or so was a figment of my imagination. It was also here that I got my pocket filled with a bunch of M&M's and

headed up the worse hills of the whole race. They weren't long, but it was steep. And my legs let me know it was steep. I belted out some more tunes and munched the chocolately goodness that was filled to 3/4 of my pocket. It was also at this point that the course trails grew wider and the rocks and roots a little less numerous, but still present, and still covered by leaves. I was maintaining my power walking pace and I caught by a lady who was doing the 50K and was making up the time she had lost earlier in the day. For roughly a mile, we talked long enough for me to find out she had a couple 100 milers under her belt, several 50's, and was doing this while a friend was running the 100 mile herself. She did mention that this race was not the easiest and that she would probably not be doing the 100 on this particular course. She also mentioned that she had 4 teenagers and that she was pressed for training. Anyway, I lost her at the Toy Run water stop, when I stopped to re-fill my bag, but I did pick up a fellow 50K competitor who power walked with me the rest of the way. Reed, from New Jersey, and I put up a good pace and we passed several competitors, including a 100 miler who flatly told us that he bit off more than he could chew and that he was done.

The last mile and a half in the woods is a steady downhill trek, followed by a steep downhill section that completed the assault on the knees, IT bands, inner thighs, and ankles. And within sight of the main road, I found one more leaf covered rock to twist my right ankle and this one did the real damage to some ligaments. In fact, it's still pretty swollen. Reed and I powered through the mile loop around Drakes Well, where oil was first discovered in 1859 I think, and then it was back to the school. We picked up a girl in the residential neighborhood and she convinced us that we had to run down the drive to the finish line. As we got down the drive, I saw my awesome support crew, wife and kids, and my only regret now, is that I didn't let my oldest two run across the line with me. I'm so used to the pricks at triathlons who don't allow it anymore that I just sort of had that in my head. I crossed the line, got a hug by the girl, shook hands with Reed, and got my belt buckle from Tom Jennings, who is a really good race director.

The obligatory "stopping the watch" finish with Reed from New Jersey.

Afterwards, I hugged the kids, apologized to them, and they were ok with that, and kissed the wife. The post race massage was awesome, so very, very thorough, and then I waited for my brother and dad. My brother came in a little more than an hour later and dad about 45 minutes after that. My wife had left and I stuck around to get a shower, eat and cheer on a few of the other competitors for the other races and the 50K.

Epilogue: My ankle is still swollen, but my daughter wants to run the Turkey Trot (5K edition) so we went on a training run today and she did 2 miles with no problem. I was proud of her. The foot was even fine with it. All other leg issues are working out with some stretches and I went to the pool Tuesday before I realized that the rest of the week is for nothing. Nothing more than stretches until Monday. Been a long season, and I need a couple days off.

As for racing Oil Creek 100 50K edition again, well, I'll see you next year. I highly recommend it if your interested in a trail race, an ultra, or a challenge. Or you like roots, rocks, and leaves that cover them.

Oil Creek 100 (50K) Results...or Holy Crap what a race.

2010-10-16T21:01:00.000-04:00

First thing first, this is one helluva race. My new favorite studs/heroes are 100 milers....and I don't say this lightly, but I think that finishing a 100 mile trail run might be more impressive than finishing an Ironman, although I will revisit that. My feet hurt, my ankles are swollen, I have a couple of torn ligaments, and my IT bands, knees, and assorted other body parts are screaming bloody murder at me. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that I may take a high powered pill reserved for kidney stone pain when I go to bed in a few minutes.

Anyway, the 31 mile trek took me 7:56:22, and I finished 58th overall. There will be a lengthy blog soon, cause it deserves some justice.

Oh sweet offseason.

Two of Three Barrels...Not Bad.

2010-10-14T13:55:00.000-04:00

With two days left before the big romp through the woods, I'm actually feeling like it's not going to be a bad thing. The not-so-good feeling that I was fighting last week ended up being a sinus infection and now that I'm on the antibiotic, I'm almost back to human feeling again. Almost. I told my brother that I have my built in excuse and maybe that's why I feel like nothing can go wrong on Saturday. The race director has put out more information, and as I trolled through the .pdf files, I realized that there's quite a bit that goes into being a race director of a trail run with three distances going on at the same time. This is the 2nd edition of the Oil Creek 100 races and they seemed to have learned alot from last year. I was only pacing last year for my brother and dad for the now-defunct 50 miler, and thought that it was well run then. It'll be nice to see how they top themselves this year. The 50 miler was changed to a 100K so that race is two loops on the course instead of one loop and a bunch of add-ons here and there. Regardless, I have looked pretty extensively at the course layout and almost have a game plan for the event. The elevation layout doesn't make it seem so bad, but do a side-by-side comparison and you'll wonder why the elevation profile doesn't seem to do it justice.

For the most part, I plan on being easy on the uphill portions and then working the downhills a little more than normal. The single track trail that it's on will make it a little more difficult to pass, but when your not expecting to pass anyone anyway, it becomes a moot point. There are several areas that are wide open, the aid stations seem to be well packed, and there are water stops in various locations. My only problem is that iPods are only allowed after noon, and that there are no mile markers other than knowing how far the aid stations are on the course. Just me, the trees, and the occasional other competitors. My wife tells me that should be good thing, mainly since I'm not much of a people person anyway, but I have been known to talk to other people in races, if nothing more than to pass the time. My case in point was the Akron Marathon. Otherwise, I've always loved the Dilbert cartoon where Wally says that the sooner you learn to think of other people as noisy furniture, the sooner you'll be happy.

My next post will be the race report. I'm fairly sure that land development and state parks will be involved somehow.

On-On

A week to wait...

2010-10-09T18:30:00.000-04:00

And I'm nursing a cold that I hope doesn't turn into a sinus infection or worse, into the chest where I have had a history of upper respiratory problems. There isn't much to be done other than continue the regimen of Sudafed and Robittusin cocktails. And I've managed to rest most of the week, meaning only one run, a 30 minute spinning session, and I skipped two days of pool time. Nothing more to gain from pushing it, the hills of Oil Creek will still be there. The rule of thumb has been, If it's in the head, keep on going, if it hits the chest, take a break. Still, no need to push it. Regardless, I paid the money, I'm towing the line.

The Ironman is being run today. I haven't seen any of it, just read a couple of blog entries, really can't say it benefits me to watch. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't care if my next one, meaning a Full distance race, was in Kona, because that is the Mecca for all triathletes. I know it would be a lottery thing, because there is no way that I have the time to devote to training and then to try and qualify. But knowing I'm in the event is a whole different story. Give me a slot, tell my wife we're going on a "working" vacation in October, and we're in business I always enjoy the Al Trautwig narrated version, even if it's abbreviated, but it's well done.

I've been doing some reading on the course, even though I have been on it before, but I am gifted with a sincere lack of direction. If I thought it would help, I'd carry a GPS, but with the staring at the screen and second guessing, I'd end up running headfirst into a tree. The weather here has been nice this weekend, crawled up into the upper 60's, which would be ideal race conditions for me. Next week, its supposed to be sunny, no chance of rain, and with a high in the 50's. We start at 0700, it'll be chilly, but it'll be do-able. There is a chance of rain this week, so I'm guessing that there will be some mud to contend with, and if last years pacing is any indication, I'm not coming back clean. The new shoes have helped, the road shoes were a little tight, but feel real good, and they're sized 10.5. The trail shoes, on the other hand, feel real good, and I'm thinking a few more miles on them will break them in just enough.

Question in my mind this week: Been reading a few blogs and have noticed something. Why do people like to take pictures of food? Some of them are ok, but some of them need a better camera, since the desired effect is missing, unless dog food is the effect you were going for.

Hockey season is in full swing again....and another opportunity for me to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins play like professionals and pee-wee league all in one game.

The Art of the Taper.

2010-10-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

Tapering for a event can go one of two ways, it is either 1.) maddening, or 2.) the greatest 1-2 weeks of any training plan. No matter what number you fit under, it seems that one prevailing thought is pretty much the same. You still feel as if you can get just a little bit better if you push just as hard those last couple of weeks. It's the emergence of that Type-A personality that makes up, oh, probably 90%, of most endurance athletes that creates these thoughts. In my case, I've had to play catch-up regarding the whole training plan, and I'm going into this taper session realizing that I am probably going to suffer greatly on a course that I have never completely run, at a distance that surpasses the marathon by over 5 miles, and under conditions that might be muddy, dry, or a combination of the two. I'm telling myself that it's a great big cross country race, only farther, and realizing that the only person who has to believe this load of crap is me, the manufacturer.

Most people look at the taper timeframe as a time to reflect on the hard work and wonder how much better they would have been if they had run just a few more miles, or biked up just another hill, or maybe swam another 100 or two along the way. No matter how the easing of the schedule works, time would be better spent thinking and planning for the upcoming event, and not pondering how catastrophic the past few weeks or months have been due to injury or scheduling difficulties. Show me the person who has had a flawless training plan over a year, and I'll show you someone who should be knighted or appointed to sainthood.
So, with that in mind, how is pissing and moaning going to help me in the 50K portion of the Oil Creek 100 trail race. It won't. I have a good idea on how I want to approach this race, and how I want to run it, but like every race I have ever entered in my life, I will be taking it as it comes. I'm looking forward to it really, but at the same time knowing that there is gonna be some suffering occuring.

-I bought two new pairs of shoes today, the Brooks Adrenalize GTS's were getting close to 600 miles and really starting to feel like it. I tried on a new pair of the GTS's, and tried on a pair of the Nike Structure Triax, and loved them both. But, because the Nike's have a higher rear posting, which supposedly are more caring of the Achilles and the heel areas, and after a very tough call, I chose the Nike's. However, I had to size up to 10.5 because the 10's were real tight and my toes were agonizingly too close to the front. The larger size was snug, and just as comfortable. BUT, I also picked out some trail shoes, of which choosing these little monsters may be a whole new blog in the future itself, and they are also, after trying on a couple of pairs, the Nike Structure Triax Trail version. Like the normal road shoes, just add Gore-Tex and waterproofing. Very comfortable, nice tread, but here's the kicker, they are size 10. Go figure.

-Have been tinkering with the site a little. I've decided to take the M-Dot off, and add the logo for the next race in it's place. I'm leaving the tri-club logo and the Louisville Ironman logo to signify that achievement. No, it's not a statement against "The Man" and their attempt to subvert the pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow sport of triathlon and the Ironman distance, it's a redundancy issue. I suppose that I could get rid of the Lousville logo, and leave the infamous log, but really, it's my blog and I'm making the call. Think of it as a salute to the race and the city, it was an outstanding event.

On On.

A Great Commercial.

2010-09-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

This is now my favorite thing on TV. I also wanted to see if messing with the HTML would have the adverse affects that I thought it would. It didn't.

The Race Season Never Really Ends...

2010-09-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

Even though the Presque Isle triathlon was my last official triathlon of the season, I realized this morning, in the pool of all places, that the season never really ends. Otherwise, why would I crawl out of bed at 5 AM drive a half hour and then put in 2-3000 yards of back and forth action. I wouldn't have to drive 30 minutes if the YMCA in town actually had a pool, the answer as to why it doesn't is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. However, I digress, I keep at the swimming and pedaling around the basement, and trudging through the snow all winter long so that I don't have to bust my ass to just catch up to where I was last March. This is the time of the year when training is throttled back, and the logs and schedule are scrutinized to see what could be done differently and more efficiently. As for what I did right, that is the subject of some debate and really ties in to what I royally screwed up. Maybe this is an argument for having a coach, since having two heads are much better than one in these cases.
As for current training, I have ramped up the run mileage significantly and am starting to get a good feeling going into October and the taper period before the Oil Creek 100 50K on the 16th. I am still very conscience of the Achilles and have limited any type of speed work to mainly tempo runs, but have added some pretty decent hill climbs, which tend to aggravate these type of injuries, as part of the three times a week regiment. I can't say enough about the stretching and the help that it has seemed to foster in the long run. I honestly feel a lot better and actually don't have near the soreness that I was experiencing a couple of years ago.
Other than running, I have been swimming, but haven't managed to get the bike out at all. Which really sucks since the weather has been downright awesome. If you want to count teaching my daughter how to ride without training wheels and pulling the youngest in the trailer behind my mountain bike. I have been spinning in the basement, so the movie review of the undetermined time frame will be brought back in a blog TBD.

And now, I have a question, and I wish I knew the previous owner responsible for this fiasco, but who would willing plant this over a gas line:

Did they not realize how deep those roots get? Oh, the other part of my training seems to be the winterization of the house and the raking and cleaning up of leaves around the yard. Yep, the joy of home ownership.

Happy training.

Philosophy of Racing and Training.

2010-09-16T21:10:00.000-04:00

In short, I have none. Well, none that matter in the context of this blog which is entirely meant to be about racing, training, and maybe a couple of other odds and ends thrown in for grins and giggles. I was forced to take a Philosophy course in college, in fact it was the last course that I took before graduating, and I wanted to ask when the indoctrination was going to stop. Amazingly enough, the professor lives across the street from me, puts his trash out with mine (long story,) but never knew I was in his class until I mentioned it one day several years later. He was sort of surprised and then next week told me that I must have worked hard since I got an A in the course. Worked hard....no, just fought to stay awake.

If I had to pinpoint a philosophy for racing, it would be desire to achieve a goal and getting the most out of the whole adventure, not just the end result. For instance, the enjoyment of crossing the finish line at 4th Street Live at the end of the Louisville Ironman was a culmination of 11 months of almost constant training. It was knowing that if I put in the effort at the time, I would be successful in the end. It was a philosophy of hard work = success. There is no magic formula, no elixir to be drank, I still have trouble drinking Gatorade, just putting a plan together and sticking to it. I'm not gifted with amazing athletic talent, but I have the ability to keep my eye on the prize and keep pressing on. The reason they say that endurance sports is 80-90% mental, is because it is so easy to talk yourself out of the hard stuff.

With me, I have conditioned myself to reach a goal mileage, usually dependent on the mileage of the race to be run, and when I've reached that goal, I know that I will be successful on raceday. For instance, when I completed my 16 miler when training for the Akron Marathon, I knew that I would finish the race. The rest of the training was geared toward speed, tempo, and endurance in general. I don't believe in running for a set amount of time, versus mileage for just this reason. I can run for 10 miles in an hour and a half or run for an hour and a half and only put in 8 miles. What has worked for me might not work for everyone, and vice-versa, but guess what, that is my philosophy. The Ironman distance was a little trickier. From a mileage standpoint, the Full distance is daunting to most people. I knew that if I could put in 4000 yards in the pool, I would be able to do the 2.4 miles in the Ohio River. And I managed to do the 4000 yards in the pool quite a few times and felt very comfortable doing it too. Now the 112 mile bike is a little different. I put in a lot of mileage in a week during the spring and summer, but in my mind knew I had to do a century to clear that mental hurdle. So on a hot and humid day in June, I pedalled one heckuva course around the area and 6 hours later watched my bike computer turn over 100 miles while averaging 18 mph. I was stoked and had reached an impasse with doubt, it wasn't if I would finish, but how long the race would take. The marathon was a done deal, I had finished less than a year earlier and had a great base.

Now, with a month remaining until the Oil Creek 50K, I'm not going to hit my marks, but my head is telling me that I will be successful. Why, who knows, it's a feeling I get because I've worked hard to overcome some nagging injuries and I'm not just "phoning it in" as far as training is concerned. Plus, as long as I don't think, I'll do just fine.

Happy training.

Friday and all is well...somewhere.

2010-09-10T09:51:00.000-04:00

If I had to complain about one thing, out of the thousands that I could possibly list right off the top of my head, it would be the Alternative Work Schedule, or AWS. In short, we have 80 hour pay periods 9 (two weeks,) you can work 4 days @ 10 hours, or a 5 day/4 day/with a Friday or Monday off, or just a straight 5 day/ 8 hour work day. When I was newly married and until my oldest son turned 3, I worked the 4 day work week and it was a good deal. But, as the kids got older, I got heavier, and I was only spending 2-3 hours with them before the bedtime evolution, I made the switch, got thinner, and now I spend 5-6 hours with the little vagrants. As I write this, I there is a pile of crap that is sitting in front of me that has to be done, projects that need closed out, and two contractors to be contacted to set up a meeting for bids. By 4 PM today, the pile of crap will be gone, the projects will be closed, and I will have two more dates in my Day Runner that will be gone. But that will only happen if the phone doesn't ring and the stupid ass secretary can actually function for longer than 30 minutes without bothering me about something that I have no clue about. But, why is it like that? Well, no one else is here. Of the 8 technicians here, I am it. They are either on their Regular Day Off or off to Oklahoma City for school. Next week, the manning improves to 3, if I'm lucky.

You know, I feel a little better now. But, I do have one slight racing issue to take up with. Last year, on my march to Louisville, I did the Muncie Endurathon in July as a warm-up for the big event. It is billed as the longest running half in the country and is a well run event. However, I think that they might have sold out. I don't blame the WTC for wanting to include all races under their banner, but calling it the Ironman Muncie 70.3, has cheapened it to the point that I'm sure running it again may not be an option. I applaud anyone who races in triathlons, and even more those that complete the half and full events. I don't care if it's in Kona or the Redman in Oklahoma City, it is still an amazing accomplishment. I really liked the Endurathon and my father and I were planning on returning either next year or in 2012, but I might have to rethink that. What bothers me, and it might seem trivial, is that I'm going to hear, and I already have, someone say, "Why yes, I did complete an Ironman." When asked what event, they will say, as I have heard say, "Ironman Kansas." Oh really Sparky, Kansas doesn't have an Ironman, it has a Half event, or as it used to be called in the 80's, a Tin Man Race. The whole 70.3 almost irritates me anymore.

Now, I am done complaining. Usually short bursts do the trick and keep life moving forward. On the training front, I am progressing nicely with the running mileage. I may not have the mileage totals that I want going into the 50K, but I will be close. The weather is getting cooler, and even though I hate cold, it's a lot easier to put in the longer mileage with the Fall approaching. I have still been swimming twice a week and putting in some early morning rides around the basement, but have been working on the running. As long as I keep up the stretching I've been doing real well and actually feeling pretty good throughout the day.

Well, this pile of crap on my desk is not going to flush itself into completion, so this is a short one. And for the record, the phone has only rang once during this blog and Worthless the wundersecretary only interrupted me twice. Today, might just work out after all.

On-On

Presque Isle Triathlon Race Report.

2010-09-01T21:37:00.000-04:00

This race has a special place in my heart. No, not that I'm sentimental, but it was a wake-up race back in 2005 when I was coming off the all-time high of 225 lbs. I raced like shit, I was out of breath, I really sucked to sum it all up. Previous to that, I hadn't raced in 5 years, when I competed in the 2000 West Texas A&M triathlon in Canyon, Texas, which I hear isn't run anymore. We had just moved back to PA in 2001, the first year of the PI tri, but we had a brand new baby, our first, I had put on several pounds of sympathy weight and the only movement that my bike had, was being moved from one side of the basement to the other. After the '05 edition, the lifestyle changed and well, the rest of my athletic career has been spent just basically doing whatever I present myself. Stuff, like an Ironman, and in 3 years, maybe a 100 miler. Or maybe, I succumb to the ice cream in the freezer 30 feet away and go back into "weight training" again. No, probably not, but I might still have some of that ice cream after writing this though.

Presque Isle State Park is supposedly the most visited state park in PA. Whether that is true, I don't know, but it's free, has quite a few beaches, clean for the most part and very, very flat. The highest elevation is 7 ft, and I'm pretty sure that is one of the bridges on the far side of the island. Originally, the swim and transition areas were held on the Lake Erie side of the peninsula, and I really liked it, but then after a couple years of nasty weather, 3-5 foot waves to swim in, and a flooded transition area, where you needed a pontoon to get to your bike, they moved it to the Bayside and what a difference that has made. The set-up was awesome, the entrance into the water very easy, and the layout of the transition area was about as good as it could get. So even if you don't get the thinning of the herd due to high waves, it's still has managed to get better.

PRELUDE: Arrive at the race site early enough to get a good place to park with my dad, who is an excellent support crew, and got set up in a part of the transition area reserved for the Tri Club, and amazingly enough not the best part of the transition area either. I managed to stretch pretty good and then the big decisions. It was 84 degrees, 80 percent humidity, but the water had cooled to around 75 degrees. For most swims, this is a no brainer just shorts, but there was some chop in that there water. So, yes, I opted for the wetsuit, and so did lots of others. Even if I got the wetsuit pretty cheap, I still have to get my moneys worth out of it.

SWIM: .35 Mile. I'm not exactly sure how a race director measures a swim course, but it seems that some .35 mile swims are not exactly equal to others. This one was a trapezoid shaped course in a counterclockwise fashion, and the bouyancy of the wetsuit was pretty good because the chop was worse than it seemed. To make matters worse, the top of my wetsuit was chaffing against my neck, and it was a giant pain in the ass, but after a shift in breathing patterns, I was good to go. And I just felt like I was swimming and swimming and swimming. I swam for so long, for .35 miles anyway, that I finally figured out why people swim from Canada to PA and not vice-versa. Anyway, the swim time ended up being 14:56. For all that, I was happy with it. No punches, elbows, attempted drownings, just long. To put in perspective, the winner, who swam a 52 minute split at Ironman Lake Placid finished in 9 minutes.

BIKE: 13 Miles. The transition was pretty quick and I actually jogged from the beach to the bike and my Achilles didn't so much as peep in any amount of pain. Something that hadn't happened in months.

This is the only time I ever had to get out the saddle the entire ride. I got up to speed in a hurry and pretty much was averaging 22 MPH and feeling very good. This course is made for speed and as long as you keep mashing on the pedals you'll have a great time and some pretty impressive speeds. But there is a pretty decent drawback to this speedfest though. and that is the scenery. It is a nice park, and it has lots of trees and wildlife, but if you race here, train here, and basically like to see something other than the same old crap, then this 13 miles of pavement can become tedious.

This is pretty much what you see the entire time: Obviously a Fall picture, but you get the picture.

I had some pretty interesting passes, mainly dealing with those who don't understand that staying to the right actually means staying to the right. I'm not a big talker in a race, and I am more often than not going to do the "On your left" and leave it at that. But, "On your Left" doesn't mean keep moving or drift further to the right. Mr Madone, which looks amazingly like Ironman 101's Trek, doesn't like to lock up it's brakes and neither do I. Nothing major, but there is a reason that every pre-race announcements always say, "Keep right." For it all, my bike computer said the total distance was 12.8 miles, time of 36:24, but I only averaged 20.4 MPH. I know I let up a couple of times, but not enough to have the average drop that much. It is what it is, I was pretty happy with it.

RUN: 3.5 Miles. Started out pretty good. Slight discomfort in the lower left leg, but we were moving pretty good. And we were not getting passed either, well maybe one or two, but I was finally hitting a stride, something that I can't remember happening in awhile. I caught up with a guy and for almost 3 miles we ran next to each other, until the turnaround where I stopped and got a drink. I managed to catch up again and we just kept plugging and chugging the entire time. At one point, and I never did get his name, just sort of said, "I would've died out awhile ago if you hadn't been keeping the pace." I sort of chuckled and as we hit the last 100 to 200 yards, he picked it up and I motioned him to get on it. The weather was hot and it was humid, but the run was fantastic and this has been the second triathlon this year that I have been pacing with a fellow competitor and has made for some great runs. This part of the race seemed a tad long as far, and I wasn't the first person to make that observation. My time split for the run was 28:31and honestly, for the distance, I thought I was a whole lot quicker. Achilles was not an issue on this day.

OVERALL: I finished with a time of 1:23:56, 97/431 Overall, and 16/25 in Age Group. My wife and kids actually enjoyed the time as well, and it was an opportunity for her to check out her new camera, and should we get through the 1000 page manual, might be able to take some real kick ass pictures. Most came out OK, but hey, it's a new toy. Great race, good way to end the triathlon season for this year, and some new knowledge to use next year. One thing I know, I still have a few pounds to lose.

Oil Creek Biathlon Race Report. (Might be lengthy.)

2010-08-23T14:04:00.000-04:00

The Oil Creek Biathlon is a pretty cool event. A small venue, run by a core of die hard bi-athletes, they top out at 80 competitors, but the most that I think have every run it has been 70. It's part of a larger Biathlon series and has all the fun of its more popular winter brother only you run instead of cross country ski. The course is a X-C course and if you want to know what kind of wax is best for skiing in 85 degree 90% humidity, then there is a thermometer type gauge that will show that as well. For the record, there is a recommended wax, I just couldn't pronounce it or even say it. The race is in the same valley as the Oil Creek 100 trail race, 50K though, that I will be racing in October, but this course is not used in any of the mileage for that race. Although the terrain is pretty close.

The start is time trial format. I was wearing bib #15 and at 10:15, I was sent off on the 1.2 mile course. The first 1/8 mile is a rise followed by 1/4 to 1/2 mile of downhill running on a trail that is about as wide as a vehicle in some places and then narrowed down in a few others. At the bottom of the downhill, the adage what goes down, must go up, and it does in a big way. The first 1/4 mile is a nasty little grade that my brother once described as "gradual." After the 10% grade, there is another 1/4 mile of uphill at a lesser grade, and then the turn back toward the start/range, which is slightly uphill but sort of flat all at the same time. What's strange is, this part of the run actually feels like the fastest part of the whole course. I've always figured that this was because coming off a nasty little uphill climb could make anything feel quicker. Anyway, this is the basics of the run course. During the first lap, I could tell that the speed wasn't there from last year, but I felt good and that my foot felt normal. The running theme for this race is exactly this: I have no clue what my time really was.

After running the loop, you enter the range, and if you have one of the fancy .22 range rifles fine, you pick it up, but if you don't you get one of the club rifles. Cool, I can't see spending $500-$2000 on a rifle that I'm only going to shoot once a year. I enter the range and they stick me in Slot #1. Which so happens to be the area in the bottom middle of the picture, or the first set of targets on the right. I figured they were lining the range up in Arabic. The first shots are in the prone position, you have five targets and five shots. My first shot was a hit. Man, I was almost stoked, until I missed the next 3 and figured that I could hit the last one. No dice. Didn't fire. I must have fired them all and not kept track. So I pull the breech back and out pops a bullet, oh hell, a misfire. Range guy looking over me says to go ahead and put it back in and take the shot. I screwed with that little bullet for almost 30 seconds and couldn't get my hand to stop shaking long enough to get in the chamber and keep it there. I tell the guy to screw it and I leave, knowing that I have 4 penalty loops to run.

The penalty loop is something that this race does, but for a lot of races, it's either a 30 second time penalty or a longer loop. This one is 70 Meters and it sucks. Fairly flat, but still, once your done, you still have to run the main course another time. Now, I mentioned once before, I am a believer in personal responsibility. Even if they have two sets of official penalty loop counters, you still have to count and complete the required penalty loops. Another incentive to shoot clean. The misfire sort of peeved me, but I ran my 4 laps and went back out for the 2nd of the 3 main circuits.

My Achilles was still good to go, and the 2nd loop of this race is almost like the 3rd lap of the mile back in high school track, or the next to last of anything else for that matter, pretty much a formality. I didn't feel any slower than the first lap, but sure as hell not any faster either. I chugged and plugged up the hill and hoped that the next round of shooting would be better than the first.

And was it? Not a chance. I get stuck in Shooting Corral #1 again, and promptly miss all 5 shots at the target. Or did I. As I pull the breech back, another bullet pops out, yep, another misfire. This time, the range guy put the bullet into the chamber for me, and I spent another 20 seconds trying to get the damn thing to fire. Would it? Nope, not at all. Not only am I running 5 penalty laps, I could've thrown a bullet, or the stupid ass rifle and gotten a better score. And now, here is where I got slightly bent. Officially, the penalty counters are supposed to remain silent as you perform your duty and do the laps. The two high school age kids that were sitting and observing started to count my laps and even though I knew I had two down, they were telling me I had three down. I ask for clarification and as I pass again, I'm told I have four down. Well, maybe I did screw up. So I run another lap and head out for the closing loop and the finish.

The whole way around the third lap, I couldn't get it out of my head that there was a problem with the penalty loops and I should have run another loop, just to be on the safe side. I also started to get slightly bent about the two misfires and when I checked my iPod for time, and realized that I was pretty far down from last years time. But that was a whole different time and I was in much better shape and didn't battle a nagging injury either. The injury did make an entrance when I was dodging a rather large mud puddle and stepped down hard on a tree root. It jarred the ankle pretty good, and resonated through the back of my leg, but wasn't as bad as it could have been. I finished fairly strong and pretty satisfied with the run portion for the most part, but results may vary.

Results may vary alright. For the misfires, I got a 20 second time bonus. I looked at the preliminary sheet and notice that I'm 9 seconds behind the Age Group winner. OK, I'll take 2nd in AG, but for all the screwing around with the gun, I only get 20 seconds. It is what it is. Now, the final sheet is placed and now I go from content to "Are you Shitting me" status in a hurry. Seems that I'm given a 2 minute penalty for not doing all the prerequisite penalty loops. Seems the two guys who were counting should have kept their mouths shut, and when it was all said and done, I'm now 3rd in AG and still not happy. Whatever my total time was, I really can't tell you, I am only going with what my iPod says. My final placing overall is still fairly cloudy and for the most part, I can only surmise, that I should have blocked out TweedleDee and TweedleDum and ran the penalty laps as I counted them. You live and learn on this one.

As a postscript, I was later contacted and told that the race directors had to do some "revisions" and my 2 minute penalty was rescinded and that I did run the correct number. Did I really? Who knows. They were going to send me a new sticker for my trophy and that they were sorry. Seems that the volunteers situation was very fluid this year, they had a few "back-outs" and "no-shows" and had to throw a couple people into the mix. I appreciated that, apologized for anything I might have said, which I guess I kept my mouth shut through it all, but really, there are only two sure fire ways to avoid what happened at this years race with next years. The first being, run faster. I was more than 3 minutes behind 2009 time. The second being, go to the range and actually shoot some practice rounds first. Shooting once a year just isn't going to cut it. Regardless, I still like this race and as I told the director's wife, this is always a fixture on my race calendar.

Up next: Presque Isle Triathlon this Saturday. It's a sprint race and the also the first triathlon back after a 6 year hiatus in 2006. Looking forward to it.

On-On.

Slacking.... of sorts.

2010-08-18T20:48:00.000-04:00

There is something about this picture that sort of reminds me of my life at times. Just don't know what it is:

I was supposed to have a race report for the Oil Creek Biathlon, but seems that I left my camera port at work. Usually this would not be a big deal, but I have been busting my ass the past week and a half and getting time to download the pictures or remembering to bring it home has been very low on the list. Sort of down there with the whale shit on the Life's Priority List. But, I have a couple of decent pictures that will actually make the Race report worth reading...maybe.

Anyway, the race was pretty much what I expected, the Achilles gave me no problems, other than the last loop when I stepped down hard on a tree root. But, the lack of mileage and substantial speedwork was pretty evident. It'll be in the report. I'm also big on the whole personal responsibility thing as well, and let's face it, it's why we train for, and race in, endurance sports. Not for personal responsibility, but for the personal nature of it. I don't like to blame others, but we seem to when things don't work out right. This too, will be in the report. And boy did crap not work out right.

And that report will be out Monday, since I'm off til then and taking the family to ride some coasters and play in the water. I have the last triathlon of the summer next week and feel pretty good about it for the most part. Been working on speed for the swim, and with 7' elevation gain on the bike, it's pretty much a time trial affair.

Have a nice weekend and I'll get that race report next week...I hope.

Cub Scouts and Competition.

2010-08-11T14:33:00.002-04:00

Before the normal blog, a small disclaimer. I didn't say coaches were bad. I said I didn't see the need for me to have one. Yes, it has been a long time since I have won anything, but I don't have the time to devote that I once had. I guess that as far as this goes, I learned at least one thing, someone actually does read this.

Anyway, my past weekend was devoted to my oldest son and cub scout camp. A ritual of summer for the past three years, where my wife and I take turns over the 4 days of camp. This year, I was the set-up man, getting the tent set up and the calender of events in order so that my son was where he needs to be. As a general rule, camping for me would entail staying at a Econo-Lodge or Motel 6, but over the past couple years I go with it, grin and bear it. I had managed to get in a couple of good runs in the past week leading up to the camp, and one last ride on the bike, so the training quota was more than adequate. Boy, that was stupid. I forgot how much hiking was involved and how much walking there was on top of that. Casa De Fiasco, that is known as our tent, went only twice as long as when I put it up in May, and that was with some help. Oh, how I hate that tent. But then the fun began.

Even if you know how to swim, Ross, my son, was wearing his swim team t-shirt, you still have to pass a swim test. A 75 yard front crawl, with a 25 yard backstroke, and a float of some undetermined amount. So 5 - 8,000 yards of swimming a week doesn't mean anything? Nope, nada, zilch. So the other adults, who had taken it prior, are lining up at the fence and then the games began. Two of them set their watches to time, another told one of the lifeguards that I couldn't swim, and yet another kept calling me Ironman. Funny, I don't wear the clothing outside of training, and I haven't said a word to anyone other than to a friend who wasn't paying much attention to what I was I doing. Anyway, the swim was awkward without goggles, but the lifeguard quit walking with me with the extended anti-drown stick when I made the first turn. My son did just fine, but I felt like a gauntlet of sorts had been thrown down.

The only time I tend to exhibit Type A personality traits would be in a competition setting. I can enjoy friendly competition, have been know to give my best 5% in a game, and with three kids, it helps to just be a little less caring of the end result. It's the reason that multi-sports, triathlons, and running have been so good for me. The only one to blame for poor performance is yours truly. But, if you want to see the epitome of doing it for fun, I look at my oldest. We got to the canoe/row boat portion of the camp, and he wanted to go canoeing again. Having raced canoes for 4 years in high school and another 2 while in college, post Navy, I can make that fiberglass, or aluminum in this case, move when I need it too. During the camp, they were offering free Slushies, the flavored ice drinks, if you found one of their Tiki dolls, or in this case, were the last boat holding onto the colored half a life ring. To get the ring, you had to touch the other people's boats, or loosely translated, ram them with impunity. Most canoes and rowboats had a mix of adults and their scouts, and only a couple had just scouts in them.

I wasn't that interested, but not Ross. He saw free Slushies and he wanted to win. So off we went. Over the 45 minutes of being on the lake, we got the ring 5 times and managed to hold onto it for about 15 minutes at one point. Ross was busting his little ass as well, and I was proud of him regardless. Told him at one point that he earned a Slushie for his effort and asked if he wanted to go back in. No, he wanted to win that shaved ice cold goodness fair and square. So off we went and as we rounded a bend, we managed to get the ring in a freakishly devious maneuver that I like to call "hiding in a overhanging tree branch" and then center punching the rowboat as it came by. Anyway, as we were making our get-a-way, the horn blew and we won. But, my shoulders let me know how long it had been since we last held a paddle.

Afterward, it was time to go to the climbing wall, where my son surprised me again, and then when our pack was done, they offered a chance to the adults and after me and Jay, another adult and friend, both made it to the top, they left us to hang until we sang them a stunning rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot." I swapped with my wife later than evening and decided that instead of riding the trainer after the other two went to bed, I'd do it in the morning.

The Summer Biathlon is this coming Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. I'd love to break the 30 minute barrier, but I still can't shoot for squat, and I'm not totally up to running par just yet. Race report next week. Side note to not racing the Border War Triathlon. Seems that there's a large scout camping trip, the organizers are expecting around 10,000 kids, that same weekend. My wife informed me of this when I was kicking around the thought of racing it anyway. She also informed me that racing wasn't going to happen, unless I could do it with the three and six year old.

Happy training.

What?! Another race not entered....

2010-08-04T18:15:00.000-04:00

And yet it is true. The 2nd Annual North Shore Border War Triathlon is scheduled for Sept 18th and I am not going to enter it. Why? Well, I finally am starting to run well and I need to be in the woods for the Oil Creek 50K so that I'm not stumbling all over the place and running in directions that needlessly tack on unwanted mileage. While it is a tad bit alarming that I have bagged three races in the past year, I guess that I'm comfortable with it as well. I suppose that the $45 entry fee for a Sprint is a little much, especially in light of the other toys that I need to buy in preparation for the trail, and a big house project, called closet extending, coming up. Anyway, the Border war is suposed to pit Ohio Tri clubs versus those of NW PA and Western NY.You don't have to be a member of a club, it's just billed that way. Last year, it was after the Ironman, on a Sunday, and if there was one word descriptions, it would've been cold. As in Cold water, Cold air temp, Cold wind blowing, and if there is one thing that I hate more than any other, it's the cold. Yes, I know, I live in Edinboro, where the Indian name for this area is translated, the "The little valley with the big snows." No one said I was ever smart though.

Now, on to coaching. As I have said, maybe, that I have no real need for a coach, and that's mainly because I have been coaching myself for almost 27 years, and been pretty successful. I read several blogs, have read a few books, and sifted the internet, but nothing quite compares to the tried and true of what has worked. Yes, I have had to tweak a few things, but for the most part, I am pretty confident in what I have been doing in the past working in the future. Sure I have had to make some adjustments with injury, but who hasn't. I don't think coaches are wrong, and I don't begrudge people who have them, because they have worked in most cases. I just can't see paying someone to show me something that I might already know, can gloam, is that really a word or a bad misspelling, from watching those people.

And with the aforementioned 50K race, I have set a new bar over the next 3 years. After I finish this 50K, I am going to sign up for the 100K next year with an eye on completing the 100 miler in 2012. With the injuries I've had over the last few years being primary run related, it is lofty, and sort of stupid, but something that the Type-A, which seems to occupy space with my competitive nature, has put down as a gauntlet. As with all things, I will take it as it comes, and nothing more.

No pictures this week, I have a Cub Scout camp to get ready for and I haven't packed squat yet. I guess between now and tomorrow at noon, I'll have it figured out.

On-On.

Kilted Mile Race Report and assorted.

2010-07-27T15:39:00.000-04:00

Not so much a race report because I spent most of the time in motivation and prodding of the orange, pig-tailed sweetheart in front of me. Otherwise known as my daughter. She's 6, and this was her 3rd Kilted Mile, each getting faster and faster. My 2 year old was obviously in the trailer and spent most of the time yelling at his sister than enjoying the view. My oldest boy, who is 9, was at an Outdoor expo in central PA with his grandfather, and had I known he'd be doing all the cool stuff they were, might have opted for that instead. No, doing this with my daughter is a lot of fun. She was 75th overall, 2nd in AG, and finished 10:31. The awards are huge chocolate bars with a ceremonial wrapper and very nicely done. She loves the accolades. I told her that she might have been faster if she didn't spend so much time complaining about her feet, her side, how hot it was, and that she couldn't breathe. I told her that it sounded like I was running with her mother. I was proud of her.

Anyway, the Kilted Mile is part of the Edinboro Highland Games, hosted by Edinboro University , and is a nicely run event with no frills and very small, $5 race fee. It encompasses one loop around the inner circle and had a finishing time of 4:33, accomplished by a grad student who was also a phenomenal EUP track and cross country runner. I had a finish of 10:32 which put me at 76 overall and 4th in my age group, which had 4 in it. I had put in a 5 miler an hour earlier to test the Achilles and so far, so very good. I can get up and walk, I can walk normally after swimming, and as long as I stretch, it seems to be happy with me. However, even if the time was a bit slow, and I was so far out of placing it wasn't funny, I had three different people, husbands of my wife's friends, ask me about doing an Ironman. It was sort of funny how the subject was brought up and how the tone of the conservation changed when I gave a brief training week during the time leading up to the race last year. I will always hang my hat on the accomplishment, but I'm always looking at maybe doing another, but only when the kids are older and this stupid house has a lot more done on it.

On Sunday, it was race support for a Duathlon with my dad and brother. I didn't race mainly so I could keep the heel happy and because my "A" races are in the not too distant future. Very unheard of for me not to race just about anything, but this is the 2nd time in the last year that I have bagged out. I always give the ideas to my family, but eventually decide that it's not going to happen. At least I was a pacer for the 50 miler last year, and support crew for Sunday's event. The galactic monsoon almost made me glad I didn't race, it sucked to spectate, let alone ride in that crap. Both did very well, and I'm glad I was there to see it.

Not a lot else to write, I have a lot going on right now, and I'm trying to at least keep current with this.

Happy Training.

Sometimes....the sport is meaningless.

2010-07-16T15:19:00.000-04:00

My best friend's mother passed away yesterday, she was 75, and had a fantastic life. 6 kids, a bunch of grandkids, and a lot more great-grandkids in the offing. She wouldn't want a fuss made about her, which was her usual stance about things, so I will oblige. She was one awesome lady, who lost her husband in the past year and still managed to have a good outlook on life in general. Sometimes in life you meet people who make instant impacts on you. She was one of those people. Almost like a mother in a lot of ways, it wasn't unheard of for her to get on my ass when Paul and I were up to something. She was Ginger Rogers, to my Fred Astaire at a couple of wedding receptions, and boy did she knew how to cut a rug. Here's to you, Martha... Give my best to Ron.

And as is usually the case when those that I know and love pass away, I often times think of the little things that I take for granted in life. The fact that my kids are getting older and the need to spend more time with them just enjoying them for what they are and what they mean for my wife and I. And it's times like this that I think that no matter how hard I train, or even if I train at all, I'm still living on the measure of time that God has given me. I will still race, and train, and do the things that I need and want to, but really, in the end it all means nothing. The cheesy side of it all, Life really is a journey, not a destination. The destination would mean you're dead, or just have given up.

Other than that, my training for this week has been a consistent week of home repair and other assorted household tasks. Been using the chainsaw and slave driving my two oldest as I clear out some dead branches around the yard. My best training has been in the pool, where I have added some new dimensions to the swimming, including some arm work and some kick-board action to boot. The Achilles is making progress as I was able to get in a 3 mile run with little problem, but a lot of that is the ability to soak and ice to keep it all happy. The better stretching habits are also working, and surprisingly, I'm not as stiff in the morning and before bed as I have been in the past 6 months. Go figure.

Anyone know where Eric is?

And here is a picture that makes me laugh every time I look at it. It might be cruel, but it's funny to me.

Tri In The Buff Race Report.

2010-07-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

If you've ever wanted to drive across Illinois and, well, throw in Kansas, Iowa, and a few other Plains states, here is a good indication of what you see. I suppose that I could fly from Erie to Oklahoma City, but why. I know these roads by heart pretty much and I actually only use the GPS for those little out of the way places, like "I know there is an IHOP around here...." or "Oh, there's my favorite Waffle House..." or better yet, "O.k, there is a White Castle here, or I can go to the one by the Indy airport..." As far the GPS goes, it is kind of nice to use as an archive of some of the more interesting places I've been to. The best places are those where there are no roads, just flags in the middle of nowhere with an Identifying mark. And about that flying, I know too much about too many of the people involved in the National Airspace to really want to. I'm not into getting groped by TSA, and there is no way that Mr. Madone was going to be tossed and smashed into the hold of an airplane multiple times. I've seen enough Ramp Rats to know that they just salivate at certain types of luggage. Anyway, I digress, lets get onto the Race Report:

Held by the Score-this organization, it is part of their summer racing season and I'm guessing the Buffalo Triathlon Club is also involved pretty heavily too, but that stands to reason being that it is on their playground. The event is held in Evangola State Park, just south of Buffalo, and is a pretty nice location for a race with lots of open road and well taken care of, even if it looks a little aged. My dad was my support crew for this one since we left at 5 AM and getting three kids and my wife out the door at that time is a triathlon by itself. We got there early enough that checking in was easy, getting marked was only a two minute wait and not the 30 minutes that would take place close to race time. It was also a "bagless" transition which meant throw your crap by your bike and keep it neat. Should you not have it neat, they made it a point to call you over the PA and invite your presence to make it that way. The transition was also being closed at 0745 and let me tell you, they had a guy standing at the entrance giving split times to closure. But with 4 races going on, it wasn't a bad thing to have some semblance of order and discipline. Really, my only complaint was the whole "green" thing that they were trying to project, and if you want to get me on a soapbox, start preaching to me about, ahem, global warming.

SWIM: The sun was out, the air temp was roughly 80, but the water was sitting at 73, or 72, or 71, or even 68, depending on who was talking on the constant PA chatter. I walked down to check it out and decided that bringing the wetsuit was a great idea. I had not had a chance to use it prior to this race, but it was going to be going the 750 M Swim. For a sprint race, 750 M is sort of unusually long, but it is was what it was. I tried out the suit, after squeezing my ass into it, and when compared to my previous suit, this one made me feel like a sausage. Anyway, the swim was a square format, with the outbound meaning some wave action and bobbing, plus some mouthfuls of Lake Erie. The short parallel and the inbound were actually very smooth and once I got my rhythm, was making some good time. Good time until I clocked, and we're talking a real good hand to cheek beating of a guy who felt that he needed to try and squeeze between two of us. I apologized as we exited the water, but he didn't seem to care, so call it the hazard of the triathlon swim. Sometimes I think water polo has nothing on the mass swims of a triathlon. Swim Time: 16:26.
BIKE: The wetsuit was fairly easy to peel off on the march up the hill to the transition, and after an uneventful change of gear, I was off and riding, and it didn't take long to get Mr. Madone's bike computer to read 20 MPH as I worked on passing those swim waves that went off before mine. The average speed was hovering at 21 as I hit the first 1/3 of the course and then it happened. One of the races was an event for first timers call "Try-a-Tri." Their race was a lot shorter in all regards and as they merged into the course, there was a glut of all kinds of bikes and people that didn't seem to know how to ride them. Hopefully they learn to stay to the right, and that when someone yells, "On your Left." that it doesn't mean move to the left. While I didn't crash, I had to bob and weave, as well as the rest of the Olympic and Sprint distance racers, for about 5 miles on course, which is how long the Try-A-Tri competitors were on a shared course. At one point, I came up on a girl on a moutain bike while climbing a hill, and her pedal was smaking her kick stand and it was loud. I slowed down long enough to tell her to take her foot out and kick the stand. She did and it must have worked because I heard a "Thank You" as I crested the hill and mashed down the gears again.
The road did have a few pretty unspectacular parts to it and dodging a couple of potholes that might have otherwise meant a punctured tire was about the only complaint that I had, but they were marked and pretty visible, and the communications such as the rider in front of me pointing down was a big help too. My speed might have varied due to the obstacles at time, but when I was free and clear, I was moving at a pretty healthy clip. The 14 mile course was hot, and the humidity was starting to be pretty noticeable too. Bike Time: 40:25

RUN: After another uneventful transition, it was on to the wildcard. For the month of June, I ran exactly 9.9 miles. 6.2 of that was in races in Oklahoma. The Achilles needed the rest and I was giving it and rehabing it through ice and salt soaks. Plus Ibuprofen and whatever else I could do to speed the process. But mainly, your just have to rest it. The first 1/4 mile was not real encouraging, but then it just sort of sorted itself all out. I was able to run and even though it was uncomfortable, it was manageable and I took it. The course was shaded, and had a cross country element to it as the course weaved through the park and one residential neighborhood before hitting some bike trails and then back into the park. I was striding and keeping pace with a girl from the Buffalo Tri Club and we both seemed happy to just use each other for pacing and motivation. The heat and humidity was pretty brutal, but I felt good, other than the lack of training which was pretty darn evident. The course was very pretty as far as run courses go, the scenery and grass portions actually made it feel a lot faster than I was. Well, it didn't hurt that I had a pretty girl to run and sweat with either. Run Time: 25:13 (Seemed a lot faster though.)

Final Result Tally: 53/221 Overall and 5/11 for my age group, which isn't really my age, but I won't go into that again. But for the record, I would have been the exact same in my real age group. Nothing lost in the end I guess. It was a good race, and there is a possibility that I might race it again next year. Especially since I now have actually seen the course and know sort of what to expect. I also have to give Tom's Restaurant a big thumbs up as well, it was a pretty good lunch spot on the way home.

This race shirt, crappy photography excepted, is 100% Polyester and, should you be a Laker fan, most acceptable. Will I wear it, or turn it into a dust rag? The purple edging is probably the only thing I don't like about it, the yellow is bright enough to use instead of my safety vest that I normally ride at 0600, so it has that going for it. While I do appreciate the moisture wicking, I would have opted for a better fabric.

Something coming soon.

2010-07-03T20:59:00.000-04:00

It has been a few days since I was last able to write, but since I've gotten back from Oklahoma, well, let's just say the "Honey-Do" list is a good one. Even have a race report from today's A Tri in the Buff triathlon, sprint edition, to post. Maybe even some pictures to boot.

Even though the race was well done, the shirt might be a contender for the Ugly Race Shirt edition that Tri-Diesel was touting. If you're a Lakers fan, you'd love the shirt. I'm not a basketball fan for that matter, but I will watch on occasion.

I'll get something new soon.

Happy training.

Happy Father's Day and Ode to Oklahoma.

2010-06-20T18:17:00.000-04:00

I'm spending this father's day away from the family, but will be leaving soon for the homestead and some quality time with the family. These work trips come and go, no real intervals to them, but they are what they are. My kids know that I love them and they usually don't care too badly because daddy usually comes home with some gifts for them. This time, I must admit, was a little better than most and I managed to bag the anniversary present for my wife this year. I'm crappy at Valentines and Birthdays, and above average at Christmas, but man, I do know how to nail the anniversary. She'll even admit this much. I love being a dad, and a husband, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

This race free weekend was spent with a long ride yesterday, at the ever present wind swept Lake Hefner, complete with morning heat and humidity, and today was spent by the pool. I laid by the pool and listened to some insurance adjusters from pretty much all over the country sing the "Pity Me" chorus while they drank beers and lathered on more sun tan lotion. The hail storms in early May cost a couple of these insurance companies some big bucks, but I'm sure that given the location, the premiums are probably taking care of it. I have had to be very stern with myself to keep from lacing up the running shoes to put in a couple of miles. I know that the heel is progressing nicely, but it still needs time to get the swelling down and stretched out so I can get back at it sensibly. I'll know that the Achilles is ready when I can get out of the pool and walk across the deck without limping.

This trip to Oklahoma has been well worth it. The work end of it most definitely, but in racing circles, I think it was well worth bringing bringing my gear and Mr. Madone on the trip. Even though these were my first races since the Louisville Ironman, I have begun to realize that I race with a totally different mindset than I have in the past. I pretty much have the ability to pick and choose how I want to race, and really if I even want to race at all. Who am I kidding, I'll pretty much race anytime. Oklahoma was a blast, I'm looking forward to my next trip back.

On-On

OKCC SuperSprint Triathlon Race Report....USAT Bashing.

2010-06-13T15:32:00.000-04:00

OK, I did have my phone, with the neat little camera that takes pretty decent pictures, but I left it in my truck, and in keeping with USAT direction, the Race Director wouldn't let anyone into the transition area until every competitor had finished. My truck keys were in my transition bag, which was sitting under my bike. Fair enough, and due to the type of swim and the time trial start, it was understandable. So a couple of craptacular pictures will have to suffice for now.

The Oklahoma City Community College, OKCCC, Aquatic Center was built for the former US Olympic festival, a money sucking venture, much like the real Olympics that used to course the country, in 1988-89. The pool is an Olympic sized thing of beauty, and there's a separate dive well, with depths of 19', with some huge towers for those that like to jump off and do flips. The few times that I have swam there, I've wanted to climb to the top and just jump off, you know, cannonball style, just to see. But, after watching Spike TV's "1000 Ways to Die" a few times, I'll just settle for the jumping off instead. Don't want to be the man who died of a water enema. Oh, all this information was obtained from the plaque in the lobby. But, it is a pretty nice place. As I mentioned in my last post, they have a tri club, separate from the OKC tri, and this crew charges $200 a year in dues. I said the pool was nice, not gold plated. Free race admission wasn't one of the perks either. Seriously, $200 for annual dues. You can't offer anything that I can justify that kind of coin.

The pack-out for the is event. I've gotten better at only bringing what I need, and not what I think I need. Really, I have a really bad habit of bringing a lot of useless junk with me sometimes.

SWIM: 500 Meters (9:55) On the race form, you had to specify a time that you could swim. So, I put down 9:15, which is pretty much what I have averaged before I submitted the time. This put me in the 68th of 210 starting position. Either there was a lot of sandbagging going on or just a bunch of bad guesswork. Anyway, with 30 second interval starts, I made up the stagger on 4 other people, and the 69th guy decided to swim right off my feet and pretty much followed me for 300 meters. Don't know why he didn't pass, he just didn't. I hadn't done a triathlon with a pool in 10 years, but it was actually pretty cool. The lanes were wide, the passing easy, and not one person could complain about not seeing past their fingertips and how dirty the water was. My take on the swim. Slower than I would have thought. I swam pretty loose and really enjoyed being able to pass people and not vice-versa.

BIKE: 13-ish miles. (38:32) I love flat. I hate wind. The 2 Loop course was a fairly protected "neighborhood" course, which meant not a lot of traffic and that the course pretty much went around the block in a 6-7 mile square. Leaving the campus, I followed a nice looking 25 year old, at least that's what her calf was marked as, and after I realized that I might be penalized for drafting, which would have been worth it, bore down into the 20-25 MPH winds coming out of the south. My bike computer didn't budge off of 16 MPH for the 1.5 mile southward trek. The short 1.75 mile west leg out was better, but that 2.5 mile trip back north on the opposite leg was a thing of wind aided beauty. Now, I love the RD's that will spray paint the big bumps and potholes as a safety and courtesy for riders, but when you look like you had an epileptic seizure with several cans of orange spray paint, it's time to ask the city to repave a road. We're talking a two-lane road that is sandwiched between Will Rogers World Airport and I-235 that had you pretty much moving from right lane to far left lane to center back to left, hard to right lane...you get the picture. I digress, as I turned onto the road, I noticed that I pretty much was able to shift twice in the span of a 1/10th of a mile and it wasn't until I closed the gap on a pack of riders that I looked at my computer again and saw a 26.8 MPH beaming at me with pride. I pretty much maintained that for the whole duration until the eastern turn of the box to start the 2nd loop. The 2nd loop pretty much ended being a repeat of the first loop only that I intentionally kept the speeds at 24 MPH on the magic leg so that I could conserve a tad bit of energy for the Achilles thumping to come. My take: Other than the wind, which you really can't help, this was the best piece of riding I have done in some time. I drank well, kept the shoulders from hunching, i.e. kept some semblance of form, and I felt really good.

RUN: (23:54) I had rested, iced, soaked, prescription creamed, stretched, and coddled my Achilles all week knowing that it wouldn't matter once I started running. I know that it is ultimately going to take a few weeks of not running to get me back to running for the events at the end of the summer. But, I was not going to miss this race, especially after paying for it. It might also be why my swimming and biking have improved too, since I'm spending more time on them. Anyway, the bad wheel made for some uneasy steps for the first quarter mile and if my lower left leg could have talked, it might have sounded a lot like the Boot Camp scene from Full Metal Jacket. I kept chugging and plugging, and I began to notice that it was getting a little warmer and the humidity was high, but I just kept at it. And then "IT" happens. About halfway into the run, the pain goes away and I start to hit a new speed in my stride. Why? Who knows, and how is beyond me. I hadn't passed but three or four people on the run and only two had come screaming by me. But, when "IT" happens, I go with it and go with it I did. I caught another 5 people in the last 3/4 of a mile, all with Race Numbers lower than mine, and felt pretty decent coming into the finish. Surprisingly, I wasn't real concerned with my time or where I finished, but I was 5 minutes faster over the same distance as last weeks race. Different courses, but same distance. My take: Other than the bad wheel, I will take it. Fact is, I need to rest it, and rest it I shall.

Overall, I finished 38th of 107, which is pretty decent to me. But here is where I tell USAT to suck it. I'm 39 years old. Every race registration form that I have filled out for any race, we're talking back to 1984 and my very first race, the St. Patrick's Day 5K in Port Hueneme, CA, has asked what age will you be on race day. But no, your organization has your age as of the end of December. The hell kind of logic is that. I'll be 40 then, which is fine with me, but don't make me race in an age group I don't belong in. Besides that, I don't expect to win awards anymore anyway. So, my finish, in terms of the USAT 40-45 AG, I finished a respectable 7 of 17. Well, gee, let's see where I finished in my actual age group? Oh, snap, I'd have been 3rd, of 16. I don't expect to win awards anymore, but when I actually do, in my own AG, then I'm a happy camper. Suck it USAT....

Anyway, the race was well run and I would love to do again in the future. This would actually be an ideal first timers triathlon. I will continue to swim and bike more and keep on rehabbing the Achilles by resting it and stretching better. I'm going to miss a real cool sprint race at Butler, and probably out for the Duathlon at the end of July, so my target date of return to action is the Oil Creek Biathlon in early August. I am signed up for an Olympic Triathlon in New York on July 3rd, but we're going to play that one by ear, seeing that when I signed up for it in February, I was running on all cylinders.

Route 66 Sprint Triathlon Race Report

2010-06-06T20:02:00.000-04:00

Every once in awhile, my employer sees the need to send me to Oklahoma City for some training. Most of the time these are one to two week stints, but on occasion, they have been known to be 5 or 6. So far, I've only averaged a trip once every 18 months or so, but lately that has come down to an annual basis. For all the years that I have been traveling here, this is the first time that I've been here in June. So, I searched the Tri Find website and found a couple races on consecutive weekends. I've learned a couple of things about the trips down here from Northwest PA, and the first being that I can entirely too much crap. I usually don't bring my family, and didn't this time because school isn't out yet. My wife just puts the weapons on full auto, gives me a guilt trip for the duration and sends me on my way. But when you add my triathlon stuff, and I'm packing like my wife and kids are coming with me. First, I'd like to thank Mother Nature for the good weather for the entire trip, congratulate Ohio for having no less than 25 state cops, (and that's after I started to count,) and Indiana for still not having paved I-70 from Indy to Terre Haute.

One of the other benefits of travel:

There is nothing quite as filling as 5 sliders and washing it down with small tanker of Diet Coke, or was it a Pepsi, either way, it was a Diet. Got to watch the weight.

Something else that I noticed as well, is that my achilles has decided to flare up again as well. I noticed a couple days ago while putting in a short run on Wednesday and having that familiar pain kick up at the end. So, with some more icing, rest, and ibuprofen, it might be really ready by maybe mid July. Maybe.

If I had known that my stupid phone actually took decent pictures. I would've taken with me. Lesson learned.

SWIM: Took place in Lake El Reno, not so much a lake as I would regard it, but large enough for a triathlon and a boat ramp. The swim was a return to the mad house wash machines that used to take place back in the 1980's. Not that I expect civilized, but this was just plain brutal. I didn't get kicked, or even punched, just swam over, rolled across, pawed at once or twice, and I even think at one point I might have been able to run part of the 500 M swim. The water temp was "measured" at 76 deg, but the air temp was at 80 and climbing real quick. Not sure why you'd want to wear a wetsuit with the air temp that high. And no, I don't think buoyancy really matters for as short a swim as it was.
As for my swim, I was pretty happy with it, being the first race, and when I had open areas to pick my way through, I did fairly quickly. Finishing Time, with transition included: 11:52.

BIKE: There's flat, and then there's Oklahoma flat. That's the same flat, only with a 20-30 mile headwind to give the illusion of hills. This was 13 miles of balls to the wall as fast a turnover as I could muster, and on the out-bound side, that was at the tune of 23 MPH. To be fair, there was a couple of rollers on the historic Route 66, but I never really missed a beat as hit the turnaround and realized that I wasn't doing too bad. The return trip meant wind, and my bike computer was telling me that I was still hitting at close to 19.5 MPH and the wind wasn't so bad, but man was it getting hot. The USAT cycle cops were in full force and even though I wasn't drafting, I still wonder why it seems that they are sitting on my ass just because they don't like me. Maybe they don't. Anyway, my finishing time for this leg was a surprisingly slow 41:22, and even though I didn't feel real sweaty, I didn't feel perky either and I was getting hot. I think the 5 minute drink intervals were helping out a lot.

RUN: About a 1/4 of a mile into the run, I knew that I was in some trouble. I wasn't trying to blister the course, mainly because I knew the Achilles was not happy, but it was pretty stiff regardless of how well I have been stretching. The heat and humidity was about 91, and it was only 8:30, and the humidity was hovering around 80%. That information gathered from the helpful camper next to the road at the turnaround. I have never liked the out and back type courses, but as we got closer to the finish, I managed to find some strength and actually pick off a half dozen people in the last half mile. The ankle was not happy about it, but its getting lots of rest and ice today while I write this. Also notable, this was only the 2nd time in my racing career that I actually puked after a race. Only this time I was away from the finish line and out of view of most people. Stellar time: 24:33.

Overall, I ended up 76 of 224 and 9th in my age group. Oh yeah, had I been in my actual age group, I would have been 5th of 25 instead of 9/16. Whoever the brainchild at the USAT that thought that was a good idea, needs bitch-slapped.

Overall, I'm good with this result. I'm not in the frame of mind that I was last year, or even in that shape. But, that isn't why I race. I race because its fun, and even though I didn't know anyone here, I met quite a few people who thought it cool that I actually came from PA to race in their event. Gee, maybe I should have thrown in the work part. On a side note, my hometown race, also held yesterday, was turned into a Duathlon because of the high bacteria levels in the lake. That kind of sucks.

KUDOS: To the OKC Triathlon Club for putting on a spectacular event and being a pretty decent organization. The price for the event was smaller than most, the swag bag was great, and the post race spread was decent too.

They have a small annual dues fees and as a guy told me, you usually end up getting it back in race discounts throughout the season. That's pretty cool. But, there is another tri organization that I will be scouting at this next weekends race to see if there annual dues fees is worth it. I will gather the evidence before I prosecute the case.

Happy training.

Back in the Saddle....take two.

2010-05-24T15:41:00.000-04:00

Pretty much seems every year that once I get ramped up into the training, I get a reality lesson in age and injury. These usually go hand in hand with the stubborn streak I have about not stretching. This year, it was the Achilles and as always, when I give it the Big Three, I am usually back to some semblance of order. In all fairness to myself, I have been pretty good about stretching mainly because I feel better if I have tried to limber myself up a little. But, since I mainly train at the butt-crack of dawn, time sometimes gets away from me and I forego the stretches for the shower and commute. Hence, the achilles tendon further aggravated by the Planter Fasciitis.

The Big Three is ice, usually twice a day for 15-20 minutes or about the amount of time it takes to play a game of Modern Warfare 2. Ibuprofen, the off the shelf stuff works just fine, and 10 days of no running, while wearing the Strassburg Sock at night. Then start stretching again at day 5 with much emphasis on hamstrings and IT band. Plus the two minutes wall stretch that keeps the Planters in line. Yesterday was my first run after a week and even though it was a little uncomfortable, it is manageable and I should be good to go as long as I ease back into the running and avoid the large hills. Hills, for some reason, always seem to make the Achilles feel really bad. As for the sock, what I originally thought was a hokey idea, actually has been surprisinly nice.

Been getting out in the mornings at 0545 and have noticed that really intense rides of 10 - 12 miles, at 18 - 19 MPH, make the quads hurt much more than rides of 40 - 50 miles at the 16 - 17 MPH range. Since the majority of my races are sprints and olympics, it makes sense to have a little interval work in the mix. My long rides are building up to 30 - 35 miles and I've noticed that riding outside for any distance is better than the hour of peddaling my ass around the basement. Someday when I have a computrainer, it'll be different, now its just old. And I have to enjoy the NW PA weather now, since it's likely to snow in the next week or so.

Movie review: Zombieland. Other than Woody Harrelson, and a Bill Murray cameo, this movie is pretty much a low budget type. But man, it is one awesome flick. I've been pleasantly surprised by it, and even thought about watching it again. Maybe I will, I haven't sent it back yet.

Now we're ready to race...

2010-05-18T14:02:00.001-04:00

First things first, my wife told me that the "Baby on Board" sign wasn't as funny as I thought it was. OK, point taken, but I still think it's funny. Besides that, what does she care, she never reads this anyway. Not that I know of at least.

The first triathlon of the year, and my first since Ironman Louisville , is coming up June 5th, and as per usual, I'm suffering from a bum wheel. The Achilles Tendinitis in my left leg started to flair up pretty good and I was actually was smart enough to quit running the past few days and that is helping out a lot. A long with the ibuprofen and twice a day icing. I've managed to get some extra needed cycling time in as well, and that will help out in the long run. I've gone against the grain this year and have scheduled back to back races, but being in OKC and having nothing else to do, why not. Even if they're sprint races, they're races and races are what I need to keep the motivation at least above the mediocre level.

As for the injury, call it the transgressions of youth and a real bad lack of stretching. Sure, I know what Runner's World says about Achilles Tendinitis and I know what my other favorite injury site Cool Running, Lower leg injuries, says as well, but I have a hard head and don't take kindly to stretching. But, it is times like this, where I'm out for a few days that it becomes evident to me that I need to rethink the 20 minutes a day it would take to avoid this problem. Stretching has its advantages, mainly it makes you feel a lot better in the long run, and it keeps you limbered up so that when the kids want to play an impromptu game of "ball tag" in the backyard after I get home from work, I can without worrying about pulling something. When I say pull something, it would be the groin pulls that I suffered while playing softball as a twenty-something in the Navy.

The two races in Oklahoma are the Route66 Sprint triathlon and the Oklahoma City Super Sprint Triathlon, which has a pool swim in one of the nicest pools I've ever swam in. I've spent a lot of time in OKC, but have only raced one while I've been there, and it was a half marathon last year. My big question is do I take my old faithful Bridgestone, which travels real well, or do I go with the my mean machine Trek? The "A" bike has not been on that long of a trip, and I'm not real thrilled about taking it, but it is a lot of fun to ride and might help me out in the long run. If there is one thing that I am confident in for these races, it's pretty much flat. Flat means constant turnover on the pedals, 90 RPM's over the entire course. Sounds good now, we'll see about that then.

Right now, it's time to go get some ice for the afternoon shift.

Happy Training.

Grumbled Laughter.

2010-05-07T15:17:00.000-04:00

Fridays are one of those days where I can start feeling good and by quitting time at 4:00, I can be pretty wrapped around the axle, read cheesed off, about something. Or the exact opposite, start pissed about something insignificant and end the day on a pretty good note. My day planner is written in pencil for Fridays just because I have a real nasty habit of making it up on the fly. Thank God I have a job that I can do that with.

On a ride last weekend, I was passed by a car that had the traditional "Baby on Board" triangle in the back window. I remembered the picture this morning when I was passed by that same car, has a rust spot behind the right rear wheel well, on the way to work. I also remembered that they gave me a lot of room to, so that was pretty appreciated.

I don't have a lot on my mind this past week, just starting to ramp up the training for as much as I can. Probably a good thing I am not on the Ironman track this year, the bike mileage is significantly lower than at this point last year. The weather has sucked a little more, and I am at least getting some spinning down in the basement, so I got that going for me. As for the rest of my life:

-My favorite time of the year. College kids moving out and the quietness of the neighborhood returns. Well, minus my wife yelling in our yard at the kids for something pretty well deserved.

-Happy Mother's Day. The kids have made cards, they're getting mommy some plants, as requested, and my wife is also getting a bottle of wine, cause I finished hers off. She shouldn't have tried to hide it in the basement. And why was she hiding it anyway, our kids wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. My mother is getting the obligatory card and chocolate, which she loves, and a visit from the grandkids. Makes her day.

-Movie Review: 2012. The reason I love "Day After Tomorrow" is because I get to watch New York and Los Angeles get pummeled by Mother Nature run amok. This movie adds a few more cities, especially Washington DC, and a lot of other places that I could care less about. I'd recommend it for no other reason than that.

- I should start a blog about home renovations gone wrong. I could add landscaping too for that matter. The looks of horror that my next door neighbors get on their faces when I rev up the chainsaw is utterly priceless. What I did last week wasn't so bad, what will send them into heart palpitations will be the falling of the firebush and other bushes that are sitting on top of my gas line (what dumbass plants deep rooted bushes over the gas line. Wasn't me.)

- My oldest two are in the throes of the local baseball/T-ball leagues and a couple of things are pretty clear to me. My oldest boy may like baseball, but his hustle is a little lacking. When he matures into his size, he is going to punish that ball, and I imagine a few of his classmates that pick at him. He's good natured, and most of the bantering is too, so that's a bonus. My daughter uses T-ball as an extension of her social life. Hitting, catching, and throwing are secondary when conversing with ones friend about the day's events in school.

-In the organized sports vein, I now know why I love sports like running, cycling, swimming, and other multi-sports. My success is dependant on me. I've played baseball, football, softball, basketball, and a slew of other team orientated sports and have had a good time and would do it again. But, I don't get as competitive with those as I do when when I put on the goggles and wade into a body of water not far from a transition area where my bike is parked. I like to have fun with other people, and I can get aggressive in a team sport, and most likely it will end up poorly. With the solo adventures, I only have myself to blame for what I may consider underachieving.

-Facebook. I'm starting to become annoyed with it. Been found by quite a few friends, but also a few nut job relatives as well. Curse you Tri Club for wanting to conduct business on this mongrel instead of on a website like normal organizations.

-Since the majority of my triathlons this year are of the sprint variety, I have decided to incorporate some interval work and hill climbs into my repetoire. I have to ride in the mornings, see kid's schedule above, and I have quickly found that 60 second hill sprints up the same 10% grade hill 8-10 times in a 45 minute set is worse than the 5X1600meter speedwork out on the track.

And finally,

-Two weeks into golf season and I have set one heck of a handicap, 18. Yep, that's right, a nice little 18. The smack talk of some of my co-workers that are in the league will end when I ask what was their finishing time for an Ironman.

Happy Training.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2010-04-30T08:57:00.000-04:00

This morning at work, I flipped the calender(s,) yes I have multiple calenders around my little hovel of an office, and I noticed that we are entering May. Other than the "No Shit" moment that it was May, it is also the start of the racing season. Last year, my first race was at the end of the month and ended a long 7 month string of training only. After Louisville Ironman I told myself that I had to have "reasons" to keep up the madness, that 7 months was just way too long to go without some reason for getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to hit the streets or jump into the pool. Which is one reason I decided to run in the Erie Runners Club Winter series.

However, even with the road races, I'm not wired for single event races anymore, I will still do them for the heck of it, but I almost need the multi-sport event, or at least a twist to the norm. That first triathlon of the year is always something to look forward to. This year, my first two, maybe even a third, triathlon are in June, and all in the Oklahoma City area. I can actually see that light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm actually looking forward to getting up in morning to pound it out. These will be my first Triathlons Post-Ironman, and while I could care less what others think of my performance, I do. My standards have been raised.

Misc stuff:

-I need to actually proofread these things before I post, I'm starting to write like my boss. I looked at a couple of the most recent ones and realized that my grammar and spelling just aren't cutting it. While I realize that I only created this as a repository of rambling thoughts, I have realized that people do actually read it. And if someone actually likes it enough to become a follower, thanks again to Big Daddy Diesel, then I might as well make it somewhat palatable.

On-On.

A "Business" Trip.

2010-04-26T18:23:00.000-04:00

The guy down the street from me works in the banking industry and travels to Houston quite a bit for actual, honest to God work. But lately I noticed that he's been taking his golf clubs along and going to Vegas and a few other warm places for business. I don't begrudge him that, it's his career and what he chose to pursue. I, on the other hand go to exotic places like Dubois, 50 miles west of State College, Pa where Penn State is located. Most of the time I am off to Oklahoma City, where we have a large training and logistics center and on those trips, I drive and haul the Pebble, my vintage 1987 23 lb Bridgestone, and the golf clubs for after hours training and recreation. On side trips like this one, I am usually limited to whatever cardio gear is in the hotel, like a clapped out stationary bike, and lots of stretching and core work. The work hours are usually long and just getting in that much is a victory sometimes.

On this trip, a friend from Rochester, NY was there and he wanted to visit Punxsutawny and Gobbler's Knob where Phil gives his annual shadow report. In the center of town, we found a park, where they have a festival every June and in a glass wall over the library, you can see the big rat doing what he probably does all the time.

Phil, probably doing what he does for 364 days of the year, or he's dead.

An interesting sidenote that I remembered was that this wasn't the first time that I had been in Punx, the last being in 1996 when I raced in a 50 mile Mountain Bike race not far from town. What I remember most is that they brought Phil and after they put him in his cage, they sat him at my feet. All I had to do was reach down and grab the latch and he had a 10 foot scamper to freedom in the nearby woods. That's if the fat ass could have wobbled that fast. As for the race itself, I dug up a finishing time of 7:53 and some pictures of a very muddy me. My father, who also raced but eventually dropped after the first lap, said I should be proud of it since the course was an asskicker. OK, I will go for that.

Where all the festivites take place on Feb 2nd. Honestly, I'd rather take the movie version.

Yes that is where they do the whole shadow thing. I don't know how they stuff that many people there, as many as 6000, becasue it isn't very big. And I guess that the all night bonfires and drunkfests are frowned upon and have been for that past several years. I love the movie, and like The Mummy and the Dazed and Confused, I will watch it when it is on. But having been there, and seeing that it is a good 1.5 miles out of town, it is sort of a downer. But, it was a lot of fun to visit and I'll still catch it on TV next 2/2.

Don't Drive Angry.

Oh Look, It's Snowing.

2010-04-09T15:19:00.000-04:00

When you live in the snow belts of the Great Lakes, you just expect this sort of thing. We had an 80 degree weekend last week, and Wednesday morning it was 72 degrees at 5:30 AM when I hit the pavement for a run around the town. Today, its mid 30's and snowing. Not enough to accumulate anywhere, but snowing nontheless. I'm not really going to bitch about it, since there really isn't anything I can do about it. What it does mean is this: More time in basement on the trainer. I can ride in the cold, and I can even ride when it's wet. But, I don't see myself out there in the wet and cold. Last year, in the midst of the Ironman training, I went out and suffered for the cause. This year, it's the basement.

Currently finishing up for the week at work and wondering what I can do to this blog to spruce it up. I need something else, but I'm sort of at a loss for what exactly. My training is pretty much a morning exercise and my afternoons are filled with kid's activities and home improvement projects. Not that it was a big deal in the long run, but I think my kids are glad that I'm spending the majority of my after hours with them instead of hopping on the Trek and spending the next couple hours spinning over the countryside avoiding traffic on 6N and the cranky dog on Old State Road. Honestly, I like spending the time with them too. My training has been pretty intense in the compressed timeframe and in some ways much more beneficial. I might have to compare notes after the first couple of races to see how the whole quantity over quality expirement works out. My only concern is the lack of real saddle time, lots of spinning on the trainer though. I always remember something that a former 7-11 cycling team rider Bob Roll once said, that the only way to improve on the bike was to put in the time.

Netflix (Partial) Movie of the Week: Rendition. A story with Jake Gyllenhall (and no, I don't care how it's spelled) and Reese Weatherspoon. Her husband is suspect in a terrorist attack in Northern Africa, he was in South Africa at the time. Gets taken by CIA for interrogation, and Jake, who was at the explosion, is the now acitng CIA station chief and is part of the interrogation.
That is as far as I got in the movie before my time was up on the bike. So far, the movie is pretty slow and they keep talking in Arabic and there are no subtitles, which might be my fault since I didn't check the settings first. Right now, the movie is slow and isn't helping. I probably should turn the computer up and see what instant movies are available. Anyway, I'll finish the review next go around when I've finished watching it.

On-On.

Field of "Dreams"

2010-04-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

The picture above is that of Sox Harrison stadium on the campus of Edinboro University. A Division II school, my alma mater, or at least the school where I finally received a degree, and really kind of a decent place for training. The all weather track is only 3-4 years old and the football/soccer/lacrosse field is only 2 years old, which makes it nice for the occasional plyometrics. Surprisingly, it isn't a real busy place, the gates are almost always open and on the occasion that the ROTC is around, or the athletic teams are on the field, they don't seem to mind if you use the track. Of course, the track team would probably frown, but at 0545, there aren't too many people who even come close to the place. And as long as the hurdles stay in lanes 3 and 4, there aren't too many obstacles to get in the way.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with tracks. Not that I can pinpoint any real negatives, or even many positives, I have always enjoyed the Point A to Point B something new every mile approach to running and cycling. I've had some good races in high school track, and even dropped almost 30 seconds off my two mile time during the District meet my senior year. That race easily being in my Top 10 of all time. Love em or Hate em, to me a track is pretty much the best place to take on actual speedwork. Tempo runs can be on pretty much any course, but for true, measured intensity, a track is pretty much the best bet. There is no guesswork, 4 laps = a mile and 8 laps = 2 miles. And, if I'm feeling real stupid, sometimes the Steeplechase course is set up and I have a chance to wash my shoes.

In a normal training year, usually October - September, I have three 16 week sessions, one geared toward a awesome 10K, the next toward half-marathons, and the last toward a marathon. Yes, I realize that only covers 48 weeks, but I need those remaining weeks to pretty much do nothing. My tweaks to the programs have been minimal, I have pretty much wiped out the quarters and replaced them with 800's since I have never been fast and if it's a sprint to the finish, then most likely I'm not going to win it.

So my speedwork is pretty much done in halves and miles. During the normal 16 week running cycle, I usually have 7 speedworks incorporated and the 9 Tempo runs. In the past couple years, since there have been marathons involved, my speedwork have been mainly of the mile variety. The first workouts usually start with 3 miles, at 8:00 pace, with the last workouts being 5 miles at 7:15 pace. The halves start arund 6 X 2:30 in the beginning and end around 12 X 2:15 toward the later end of the cycle.

The big question though, does it work? Quite honestly, I don't know really. My time has been dropping at a fairly exponential pace, but seriously will I ever see the sub-35 minute 10K times again? Does it even really matter? In a way, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, not really. With a slew of sprint triathlons, and a gnarly 50K romp in the woods in October, I pretty much have all the bases covered.

Happy Training.

Ramping Up The Training.

2010-03-26T19:37:00.000-04:00

Racing is fun. No matter how craptacular I feel or how tired or sluggish the muscles may feel, I always seem to get a little hitch in my step, a sort of giddy-up if you will as a race day approaches. Doesn't matter if its a 5K or the Ironman, I'm always looking forward to toeing the line. I bring this up mainly because I was trying to tell my 9 year old son that baseball practice was a necessary evil leading up to the first game in a couple of weeks. He loves to play the games, and loves going to his swim meets. What he doesn't like is throwing the ball or putting in the laps at the pool.

As I get my butt up in the morning at 5:00 am to get to the pool or to start the stretches before the run or on the bike, I realize that I'm not a big fan of the "practice" either. But, as he'll find out, the dividends it pays is well worth it later. I know that halfway into the run on Wednesday morning, I'm actually going to start enjoying quiet streets of the Boro and how quiet the campus of the college is too. I'm also surprised that the Coeds are sometimes still out and about too, I guess I don't remember the "Walk of Shame" starting that early. So, in that spirit, training, not the walk o' shame, I will give my theoretical thoughts of how this racing year is progressing.

SWIM: Even though I am primarily racing Sprints to Olympic distances this year, I am still maintaining the Ironman length swims for this Base-to-Aerobic buildup period. As of the start of this month, I have started to put in roughly 5000 yards a week now and added the intervals in the past couple of swims. My background is not in the pool, so the learning curve has been a constant for me. I guess my take has always been what am I supposed to work on if I never knew what exactly it was that I needed to work on. So this winter I asked a couple of swimmers/triathletes and cracked a book or two. Needless to say, I have worked hard in the water, but swimming has been the most consistent form of training so far this year.

CYCLING: If getting outside for the first time last Saturday is any indication, then it is going to be a long time before I'm in race shape, or at least what I consider race shape. I have been faithful about keeping my rear end on the exercise bike and doing the times, but I've also been real good about making excuses for not riding either. My solace is that I have more hours on the exercise bike this year, then I had at this point last year. But, I was also out of the house and riding along the snow covered landscape much earlier too. Let it be said, that there is no substitute for the real thing. The first ride last weekend was a 20 miler, mainly to check the trusty carbon fiber steed for any strange clicks, whirrs, and out of the normal, off the reservation issues that might have happened while it hung upside down in the basement. Other than the bike computer appearing to be dead, it ended up being a pretty uneventful ride. I think the computer needs a new battery....or at least I hope it does. I only got about 2000 miles on it if it is dead.

RUNNING: The base mileage is good, the interval and speed work leave a little to be desired. I have been putting in the intervals, but just not what the schedule calls for. Could it be injury, I'd like to say that, probably more like apathy. The speedwork has been almost non-existent, but it is nearly impossible to turn the quarters, halves, and miles over a foot of snow. Not impossible, but the times sure take a hit. I think the winter series races really helped me keep the base and aerobic conditioning, and that is really the battle anymore. The fast twitch muscles seem to make their grand appearance much earlier in the summer when I've taken time to develop the heart.

CORE/STRETCH: A new area to incorporate this year. Usually 20 minutes a day and I feel pretty good. Even during the downtimes its good to get a little more limber. I have several towers to climb this year at work, anywhere from 50' to 320' and I've learned that when my forearms and back start to get stiff, the rest of the body moves very slowly up the towers. My boss gave me a copy of the P90X ab routine the other day and I have yet to try it, but from what I watched, it might be worth the effort. I don't buy into much of the muscle confusion idea, but I do buy into working the crap outta the body and taking it to the limit. I'm a triathlete, I wouldn't have it any other way. But, mainly I started to become more core oriented when I realized that my new wetsuit will fit like a 2nd skin if I don't lose some of this Orca Whale figure. Not that bad, but close enough.

Happy training.

St Patrick's Day 10K Race Report

2010-03-15T20:17:00.000-04:00

About three weeks ago, I had to work an overnight shift and it didn't go as quickly as most of the night work does, so I slept in. It had started to snow as I was leaving and as I headed down the steps, I ending up missing a step and hurt doesn't begin to cover how bad it hurt. Still hurts and that's after a pretty aggresive ice, stretch, and heat program and since it was the same foot that I dislocated 13 years ago, I pretty much knew how to rehab it for the time leading up to the race. So, anyway, I knew that I was going to be snow blowing and to top it all off the kids had a snow day and I decided to sleep. I probably should have gotten up earlier so that I could hunt down the Boro sidewalk cleaner and bury his dumbass in the galactic mounds he left on my front walk. Regardless, I have the blower and it took about 20 minutes to plow the area out so that the mailman didn't have to traverse the three peaks. Sadly, all we got for mail that day was three pieces of junk mail and a Parenting magazine.
Now this is pretty much melted off and I'm so confident in the whole global warming ~~scam~~ that I have washed the Carhartts and they are currently hanging in anticipation of a summer storage in the attic.

This race was the last of the Winter Series for the Erie Runners Club and since it was dangling a fleece blanket for finishers of the series, was an entry that I decided to keep. I can only count a couple of races that I have entered that I didn't toe the line, due to injury and not malaise, and since the ankle was feeling good and the stretching was fine, I showed up for the event. There was as 5K at 9 and the 10K at 10 and the temperatures were hovering around 40 degrees, regardless of the 50 degrees that they're reporting it was, with a few showers every now and then. The attendance seemed decent, spread evenly between the 5 and 10K, and as I've noticed with the Running Club, well directed.

As for the run itself, it went fairly uneventful. The first three miles were spent wondering why I wore my jacket, had my beanie cap on, and if the gloves were really necessary. While I didn't overheat, I was getting warm and had the jacket zipped down midway and the hat bouncing on my head. Over the last few events, I've noticed that I still have the competitive intensity to "pick" a few targets and then start the "picking off" process. The I-pod volume was fairly low, so listening to the voice over of the kilometers was sort of difficult, but it let me know when I needed to pick up the pace a little more, even though its been years since I've had to try and convert kilometers to miles. The Ekidens (sic) in Japan being the ones that come to mind. At the turn-around, I remembered why I had the jacket and hat and gloves. The wind across the bay was blowing at a brisk 30 MPH and the cold drizzle was uincomfortable to say the least. While the pace didn't seem to let up, I did notice that the girl in the tights that I had caught about a quarter mile earlier, was passing me and not letting up. I was content to shadow her awhile, but never did pass her again and she eventually dropped my ass like a bad habit. Regardless, the wind and drizzle continued from the 3.5 mile mark to the 5.5 mile mark and really kind of sucked. The "target" in the nicely fitted tights had completely obliterated me and I was left to finish the last .7 of a mile pretty much alone. Something else I've noticed in the last few years, is that the old adage, "No man is an island..." doesn't apply to me. I tend to sort of find myself in a void between the fast and the not so fast. A little more speedwork might be enough to send me back into the first group.

Anyway, my finishing time was 47:19 which put me 61 of 257 and 10 of 25 in the age group. For the winter series, which I didn't know I had scored, I was 16th of 65 with a 10K-5Mi-10K composite of 2:13:26 pretty much holding a 7:40 pace for all three events. Happiness Index: Pretty good, really. Even with a bum wheel, which I managed to tweak again at work this morning, I think I have a good start for the coming season and something to shoot for next winter. The fleece blanket was also very nice and because I love good swag, it just might keep me coming back for more. Kudos to the Erie Runners Club.

This is probably the last race until the first triathlon in June. I have some work trips in the works and some other weekend obligations so I am busy until then. I'm also hoping that I can write a little, but we'll do what we can. The winter is now done, let's see what the spring and summer bring.

A Race Schedule...of sorts.

2010-02-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

Prior to last year, I had a pretty dependable schedule, 3-4 triathlons, a couple of run races, the summer biathlon, and that pretty much summed it all up. With the Louisville Ironman last year, I pretty much decided that I would try to keep the same core races and add a couple to the mix. All coupled with my promise to the significant other that I would be spending more time with the kids and her. Since I usually train at the buttcrack of dawn anyway, this shouldn't be too terribly hard to accommodate, or so I thought when I presented my 2010 racing schedule to her in October. As I have progressed into this year, I've added a few more items since the first draft, but sort of did that on the sly, more or less hoping she wouldn't notice. Has it worked? Nope, not even close. Didn't count on the fact that she was keeping track. So, in exchange for more races, the addition of more home projects and the promise that the next family vacation would not encompass a race of any kind. The last part being easy since I can only think of one vacation in 13 years of marriage where that was the case.

With a business trip to Oklahoma City on the horizon in June, I will be missing the Edinboro Triathlon, which is my hometown race and whose bike course is my main training playground. But, I was able to find two races in the OKC area, one being the Route 66 Sprint Tri and the OKC Community College Super Sprint Tri, so it's basically getting two sprints for the price of an Olympic. The beauty of my trips to Oklahoma, is that I am able to take my bike along and other than the obligatory work functions, have an unlimited amount of time to train. Sure the weather is hot, but the training is good and the golf courses allow me to lose more balls in another state and not just in PA.

My criteria for selecting races is pretty simple for the most part. Other than the Ironman, I have never had an "A" race to speak of. The Akron Marathon may have been the first race I really specifically trained all year for so I suppose that classifies as an "A" race. And also one that I highly recommend because it was well done, a nice course, and how can you fault a race whose director actually makes the effort to shake every finisher's hand. I would love to do it again, but this year I'm planning on doing the 50K trail race for the Oil Creek 100 to see how my feet handle the woods. This past year, I played Pacer for my brother for the last 14 miles after I had decided not to do the event myself, figuring I had punished my body enough for 2009. The summer biathlon that I have done the past 4 years is in the same location, and I have noticed that after developing planter faciitis, my feet have become sensitive to running on uneven ground, like the tree root lined trails that the two races have a plethora of. My only real criteria, the only exception so far being Ironman Louisville in 2009, I don't choose races that fall on the Lord's Day, or Sunday.

Is the ban on Sunday racing limiting? Yes. But do I mind that? No. My faith in God is pretty unshakeable, and the short amount of time that I spend on Sunday in church is pretty small in comparison to the innumerable blessings of life that I have had bestown upon me. All that aside, I have in the past year actually raced on Sundays, the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, I ran the Half, being the next to last one. I'm not deadset against all racing on Sunday, just have to be selective and mind the start times. This year, the Presque Isle Duathlon is on a Sunday, but it's start time is 7:00 am, so I have more than enough time to get to worship services at 11:00 am. There are a lot of events that I have had to pass up over the years, and I'm sure that there are some more that will present themselves in the future, but this is not a career, this is for fun. I say fun now, but I know that during some of these races, the word fun almost never seems to appear in my vocabulary until about an hour after the event is over.

I like the sidebar on the right that allows me to keep track of my race schedule. Several times in the past I've been asked how many triathlons I have completed. Quite honestly, I have no idea. My father, who has raced with me in the recent past and all through high school, and I think the number is getting close to 60 triathlons, and I guess that's fair enough. Depending on how long I decide to write this, will determine how accurate the count is going forward.

Something else I'd like to do with this blog over this race year, is actually put some pictures on it. Not just the depressing ones of the cataclysmic snows, but of actual races and something almost enlightening. Sure, I could take the camera with me when I run, but I could get the same result by shutting the lights off to my office and snapping a shot. The only difference being that my office is fairly warm, and the average temperature during my training runs this year has been 20 degrees. What a coincidence, that was what the water felt like in the pool this morning. I guess when they fixed the pump to the pool, they broke the heater.

Fair winds and following seas as we're probably going to get spanked by snow again through the weekend.