Get in The Water!

IM France - this is gonna be as long as my bike split

2009-07-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

IM France is done but what a day, what week.

Started off on the Monday before - I took PTO the week before the race and the week after. Actually pre-race started on Saturday - Franny and Katie took me for my traditional pre-race pedicure in Los Gatos. This place was really nice and had a better color of purple for my toes. Still looking for the right green though.

Monday morning I packed the bike then I went to Sports Basement for last minute Gu's, new socks and arm coolers. But SB didn't have my size int he arm coolers so Rich's crew had them speed delivered from the Presidio store to Sunnyvale for delivery on Tuesday. We'll see if they make it or not before I have to leave for my flight. Monday was Katie's birthday so I met her and Franny for lunch. I didn't know I would be at a girl's lunch - there were 4 others there also. Really felt like a third wheel or more like an old geezer with a bunch of teenagers. But they made me feel welcomed. Franny and Katie had a surprise for me - my own send off packet. A bit of a spoof on the typical LLS send off packets. Really funny stuff in there.

After lunch I went to see "The Hangover". Had a good laugh then went home for dinner.

Since my flight on Tuesday wasn't until 5:00 pm I was able to pack that morning. SB called me a few minutes before we were to leave and told me the arm coolers were in. So off we went on our way to the airport.

I was bit worried about the weight of the bike box and being charged extra if I was over the limit. Bristish Airways didn't even weigh it. I was really early so I went into the BA lounge - all those air miles from business travel was paying off. I was waiting for Frank and Christy to show up then via texting discovered they were on a later flight. Now I understood my 5 hour layover in London. Oh well.

Flight was uneventful - watched Gran Torino and some TV shows then slept. Arrived in London and hit the free lounge again. Waited for Frank and Christy to show up since we were on the same flight to Nice.

Flight to Nice again uneventful. Steve was there to pick us up but no bike box for Frank and Christy. Which turned out to be a good thing since the van Steve had barely fit our stuff as it was. No way we could have out a double bike box in there. Their bikes showed up the next evening.

The apartment we found on VRBO turned out to be great. 2 separate bedrooms, 2 separate baths, a large main room, kitchen and a balcony that overlooked the Promenade de Anglais.

We were pretty worn out from traveling but couldn't sleep. Finally fell asleep but promptly woke up at 3 am. Did this for 3 straight nights. Found out that it happened to all of us.

Thursday we did a swim in the Med right across from our apt. Pretty cool. The beach is all rocks though - a real pain to walk on. After the swim we went for a bike ride to St. Laurent - about 10 miles RT. Best part was finding a seaside cafe and having Nutella crepes, Pretty good stuff. We also went down and registered. Got our packets, bought some souvenirs then went back and got off our feet.

Friday we rented scooters and rode the bike course. This helped us get a good feel for the climbs. Frank and Christy were riding double and soon were on empty. Steve rode their scooter the next 60 km on empty until we found a gas station.

Saturday was bike drop off day. My time slot for drop off was at 2 pm. So we went for another swim before getting T-bags ready. Previous IM's here had trouble with bike security and a few were stolen out of transition. This year they scanned our race bracelets, linked that to a security tag that we had to attach to the bike then took our picture with our bike. Guess they didn't want any repeats of the previous years.

The bike corral was a long, long stretch - about the length of 3 football fields. And of course we were at the wrong end of the entrance. Fortunately for me - my group was the first so there wasn't much of a line. Not the case for the rest of us who had to wait longer. Once thru security I found my bike row - no specific numbers for my rack spot but I soon saw that others had placed their bikes in numerical order and so I followed suit.

T1 and T2 bags were dropped off with volunteers who hung them onto the racks. The guy who took my bike bag wanted me to see where he put my bag - I just wanted to take his picture with my bag but he thought I was taking a picture of my bag location.

After dropping the bags we got body marked. That's right - body marked the day before the race and only on our left arm and left leg. Next we picked up our timing chips and verified them on the laptop. Of course I held up the line as I had to take a picture of my screen.

Found Tate, Christy and Frank and watched them go thru the same process. Tate was anxious but felt ready. We had dinner at a spot close to the expo - The Buffalo Grill. An "American" type place that served hamburgers. Not exactly In N' Out.

Back to the apartment, set out clothes for the morning, set the alarm and was in bed reading by 8:30. Fell asleep pretty quickly and the alarm went off just as fast. I thought I had just fallen asleep but felt refreshed. Until I looked at the phone and saw it was Ann calling. WTF? Calling at 9:30 on the night before the race? I told her I had just fallen asleep and then promptly hung up.

The alarm finally went off and I got up to make coffee. Morning coffee always has a way to help me achieve a "sense of clear" - if you know what I mean.

I could hear voices outside our balcony and looked out to see other racers getting dropped off. A few minutes later I heard louder voices and looked out again - people were just leaving the nightclub from the next block over! They were just ending their day as were preparing for our long day.

Had breakfast, gathered our bags and we headed off to transition. Except I forgot my wetsuit - thankfully I was just at the bottom of the stairs. We walked down pretty quietly gathering our thoughts, thinking about the season, our honorees and our team mates back home.

I put my water bottles on my bike but then didn't see where to drop off special needs. Walked to one end of the bike corral only to learn I had to walk clear to the other side to drop them. Only good thing was all the pros at this end were already out of transition so the port a potties were wide open. I heard one loud pop! Someone's tire had just exploded. The announcer called out "Racer #345 we have bad news"!

Finally got my wetsuit on and made my way to the swim start. And there were Frank and Christy! Frank and I slotted ourselves in the 1:14 group near the back. I found myself suddenly very thirsty and wishing I had a water bottle. I was tempted to grab one on the ground but thought better of it. But there was one guy standing near us with a water bottle. I asked him for a drink and was surprised when he offered it to me.

Soon the announcer was counting down from 10. Then the cannon boomed and off we went. Getting into the water was easier than I thought it would be. The shore sloped down quickly so it was easy to take a few steps then just lay out and start swimming. There was no bunching up like it can get at CDA. I found some open water pretty quickly and started focusing on long smooth strokes with high elbows on the catch. It seemed effortless - just like I wanted. Then BAM - I got kicked in the face - that brought me back to reality. It was really hard to sight with the slight swells and the buoys were not that big. Pretty soon I saw the first turn buoy. Made the turn and promptly got clocked on my right ear by someone. But I did notice there was a yellow lane line connecting the buoys. And since I only breath to my right - I could sight with each breath on the line. Sweet! But after the third buoy the lane line seemed to disappear.

Fortunately they had created a chute out of large yellow buoys that was easier to sight on. I was hoping to be about an hour for the first loop. When I got out I saw I was at 51 minutes! The second loop was a bit longer than I thought. My goal time for the swim was 1:15. When I got to the end of the second loop I couldn't get out of the water due the steepness of the drop off and the back wash from the small waves. I grabbed onto a volunteer and dragged him down into the water. Finally got out and saw I swam a 1:17 - damn fine swim for me.

Transition was a long walk up a ramp and into the changing tent after grabbing my T1 bag. They had only one tent with a small side for women (there were only 250 total women registered) that was divided by a small banner. I noticed the men's side was pretty packed but the women's side had one woman already changed into her bike gear, about 10 guys in various stages on changing and one completely naked guy. I walked thru the women's side, helped one lady with her bike jersey then proceeded to the end of the tent to change. No volunteers to help as at other IM races but no problem. Took my time changing, then grabbed my bike and walked the mile to the far end of the bike corral for the exit. Others were running but I thought what the heck - I'm walking. About a 13 minute T1.

Hopped on the bike amidst the crowd and started an easy cadence. The first 10 miles are all flat. I must have had 1,000 people pass me in this stretch. Around mile 8 Steve caught up to me. He didn't have a slot so he was riding the course on his own after he did his own IM swim. Riding with Steve was the best part of the day. We hung out together the entire ride and he took good care of me. Mile 10 brought the first climb - a short (500 meter) but very steep climb. My HR was sky high at the top and it took a good 5-7 minutes to get back down. The next 15 miles were a false flat with a nice downhill leading to THE CLIMB. The climb was a 13 mile grind. Another 1,000 people passed me on the climb.

Rule #1 of Ironman is "nothing new on race day". I tend to flaunt the rules though. On course nutrition was Infinite - liquid carbs with some protein. I had used some on one training ride and it didn't bother my stomach. So I decided on race day to go with my 2 bottles of Carbo Pro and then switch to the on course Infinite. Stupid. They didn't have any at the first water stop. The following stops had some but it seemed to be watered down. I didn't experience any stomach issues but my calorie intake was now way down. Then the muscle cramps arrived. My quads just above my knees tend to ache - not so much a cramp just a sensation of driving a big nail into each leg. From experience I knew this would mean a very difficult and painful run. Oh well.

On the way to the top the hammies would then seize - I tried to ride thru it and stretch when I could but eventually had to stop. The inside of my thighs (sartorius) would then cramp - I was a mess. And of course Morty was with me all day - I must have stopped 5-6 times to massage my foot to relieve the burning. But what the heck - I was riding a great course in France with Steve. We stopped for pictures on the climb so we could have the hilltop village of Gordon in the background. A British rider - Oliver_ stopped and took a pic for us. He said we had 8km of climb left then it was downhill from there. Saw him throughout the rest of the day.

Finally made the top water stop only to realize we had 5km more of climbing to do. This area had a real moonscape quality to it - barren and arid. We could see other riders way above us and tried not to think too much about the continuing climb. Made it to the top and there was special needs. I shared a PBJ sandwich and a candy bar with Steve. Shared the gummies with Oliver when he came by. Then we were off on the downhills.

There were a few more climbs but nothing like we just did. Still, due to my cramping I could barely make it up these little inclines. The downhills were long and not too technical - except for the section of hairpin turns. We went thru one village where the street was only about 8 feet wide. At the end of the street we stopped to take pics of us riding thru it. Steve went back first and rode down the narrow street while I took the pics. Then it was my turn. At the start there was group of locals partying and handing some type of liquor. I took a cup which set them off cheering and slapping me on the back. Rode down the street then handed the cup off to some other local who promptly thanked me.

We were hoping to see Frank and Christy on the out and back. That way we knew they could make the bike cut off. We did see them as they started the out portion. There was one more climb but nothing as bad as the 13 miler. But there weren't very many people out there at all. Most of the water stops were packing up. Thank fully it was mostly downhill. I still had to stop and check on Morty a few times. As we were heading down the last downhill a couple of people passed us. But I knew as soon as we hit the flats we would catch them. Sure enough, soon as the road straightened and flattened we went into aero and started picking up the speed. We averaged 20+ mph for the last 15 miles. Steve stopped at the apt. and I went on into transition.

Another long transition as I took my time. Had to massage Morty and even applied some Alcis on my foot. That relieved the pain for the first 2 loops. The pain I had in the quads on the bike was starting to get worse. My 4:1 run/walk was working but I was slowing down. Got to see Tate finally. He was having some stomach issues and walking quite a bit. I was hoping to catch up to him but he could walk faster than I could run. I saw Frank as he was coming in off the bike. Turns out he had a major flat and his tire was trashed. Someone on the course had an extra and he had to hammer the last 30 miles to make it on time. Christy was just ahead of him by about 20 minutes so she was already on the run. I got to see her as we passed each other on each loop. The run is 4 loops of 10.5k each. Not too bad but it did get a lttle boring. Tate's family was cheering for him from in front of our apartment. That was great to hear and see someone twice on each loop.

The sun was hot and there was no shade. I ran thru the showers a couple of times but then ,my feet got wet and so did my socks. I took off the arm coolers and gave them to Steve. I'm sure he was happy to carry my sweaty arm coolers back to the apt. The last loop was tough. my quads were hurting with each step. My run portion was really slowing down. At the last turn around I couldn't run anymore. So I walked the last 3 miles. Until I got close and the crowd picked me up. You really do find strength to run the last half mile of an Ironman. I entered the finisher chute and had it all to myself. I weaved from side to side slapping hands with a bunch of people I didn't know. I could hear shouts of "Allez Dan!" and then saw the finish. Ran up, put my arms in the air and was really glad to be done.

IM France doesn't have catchers. So I got my medal and wandered over to the finisher shirt pickup. I had requested a size L but then thought it might be too small. So I asked for an XL - the lady looked at me kinda strange and said no. I thought she was just denying my request to swap but turns out they don't even order XL. The Europeans are so lean and fit they just don't see the need to order any XL sizes.

I found Tate in the massage tent and we talked about the race for a bit. Then all of a sudden there was Christy. She was worried about making the final cut off but finished with about 15 minutes to spare. There were post race fireworks that went off for about 15 minutes but we couldn't see them from the massage area. And none of us wanted to stand up and go watch them. Got a quick massage then some food - the post race food was lousy - some cold quiche thing, cold chicken wings and chips. I wanted pizza.

No TriBike so we had to collect our bags and our bikes. We had to do the reverse security for the bikes - they scanned our race bracelet, then the security tag - that brought up the pic they took of us with our bike the day before. After scrutinizing us and the pic they snipped the tag off and we were free to go. Walked back to the apartment and took the small elevator up. I took the elevator up and down for the next two days.

As we walked back I saw a homeless guy asleep on a bench. He was in that same spot 16 hours earlier as we started the IM day.

We were all so glad to be done. A very good swim, a very long, long, long bike and a long walk/run.

But #7 is now completed. On to #8 - IM Canada.

Thanks for reading.

Rudolph Rap

2008-12-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

Couldn't be outdone by CD - here's my white man rap on Rudolph -

There be dis homeboy Rudolph
A red nosed reindeer
He want to bring the hood
Some decent Christmas cheer

Now his nose it be so bright
They say 'dat when you see him
You be thinking that this Rudolph
Should be in some museum

All the other reindeers
This Rudolph they be dissin'
The scams of the hood
They make him be a missin'

Come the Fat Man with the beard
Who be bringin' all da toys
He tell all 'dem reindeer
You be stoppin' wit dis noise

Christmas Eve be here too foggy
All da presents in da sleigh
Rudolph with dat nose
You gonna light da way

The homeboys they start cheerin'
Now Rudolph their man be
They all start ta sayin'
You be makin' history

So now there's no mo dissin'
That ain't be what you hear
Cuz the Man be Rudolph
The Red Nose Reindeer

The 140.6 Mile Swim...

2008-07-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

...otherwise known as IM USA in Lake Placid. The trip started off great as we had easy flights with good connections to Burlington, Vermont. Then it was A nice drive to the ferry to cross Lake Champlain and a pizza dinner in Elizabethtown, NY. We made it to our hotel around 8 pm with no issues.

Friday we registered, got our gear bags and picked up the bikes. Gotta love tribike transport - so much easier than having to unpack and reassemble a bike. Rode back to the hotel then regrouped for a swim in Mirror Lake.

We just wanted to get a feel for the water and sighting since the course buoys were in place. Tons of people on the shore as the kids tri was just finishing. Those little guys are fast! Decided to just swim out to the third buoy, cut across to the return side and get out. At the second buoy we heard loud thunder claps and then it started raining - really hard. So much rain we couldn't see the next buoy! Thankfully there is a cable that runs underwater from buoy to buoy so we sighted on that then made the turn back to shore. It even started hailing a bit on us in the water! I read some other racer reports that said there was lightening strike near the shore at the end of the loop - they felt their felt tingling. Good thing we felt nothing but the sting against our faces.

Saturday was an easy day as we dropped off our bikes and gear bags at T1. We grabbed a lot of plastic shopping bags from the grocery store the night before so all of our gear bags and bikes were covered in a hope to keep things dry.

Sunday was up at 4 am, had pre-race breakfast and coffee. Saw my way to clear then went with the team to the start. At this time the skies were overcast but it was still dry. Dropped off our nutrition on our bikes then headed up the road to drop off special needs. Tons of people getting ready, lots of energy around and lots of volunteers helping out. As we were getting into our wetsuits it started drizzling - uh oh.

Walked to the swim start and it wasn't too wet as the rain stopped. The swim is a 2 loop course with everyone wanting to get on the buoy line and sight on the underwater cable. Ann, Bindu and I decided to start close to the boat dock but still back a ways. As the cannon boomed we walked a bit further out then started the swim. A we rounded the corner of the boat dock it really bunched up - I couldn't lay flat at all so it was a frantic dog paddle until we passed the dock. My heart rate shot way up. Once past the first buoy it was still crowded but now I could swim. I looked to my right and saw a sea of swimmers. No way I was getting into that washing machine- so I decided to stay left of the buoys and swim inside the buoy line. I could see the cable off to my right and kayakers to my left. I thought they would tell me to keep the buoys on my left but they never did. There were a lot of others with the same idea. At the turn around I had to take the buoys on my left so it got a bit crowded there but then it was back to the inside.

The return and the entire second loop were uneventful - I was able to focus on long strokes, gliding and front quadrant swimming. I didn't get kicked or grabbed much at all except for the turns. I did notice when we got out to start the second loop that there were a lot of umbrellas on the shore.

Got out of the water and saw my watch at 1:23 - not great but not bad at all. But the best part of the swim was no dizziness as I stood up. Then I noticed it was raining. I started to worry about the bike. 7 mike descents are not my favorite and doing one in a downpour is my worst nightmare.

Made it to T1 (which is a 400 meter run from the swim), got my bag and into the changing tent I went. Slow and smooth as I got myself ready for the bike. I lookeed around and saw lots of guys with shells, vests or jackets on. uh oh - I only had arm warmers and my tri top. The descent was gonna be a cold one.

On the way out of town we passed right by our hotel and there was my lovely wife Karen on the side of the road cheering for us. I stopped and asked her to get my shell from the room. So I had about a 10 minute rest stop waiting for her to return but it was worth it to stay warm. Once I started again Ann came flying past met me. I caught up and we rode together until the descent started. She went crazy fast down as I rode my brakes and made it safely to the bottom. I spent the next 45 miles catching up to her.

At special needs (halfway mark) I saw Ann again and we had a nice lunch together. The volunteers were great, they held our bags for us as we rummaged thru what we wanted and ate our food. These folks were just standing out in the rain serving us. Great volunteers! Did I mention it was still raining? Ann and I looked up to the sky and yelled "Is this all you got?" "Bring it on Lake Placid!" Maybe we shouldn't have been so arrogant as the rain never let up.

Off again for the next loop. I had seen Bindu on the first loop out and back so I knew he made it out of the water. That was the highlight of my day. Passing the hotel again I saw Karen, Shanti, Katie, and Coach Alex from NB. I always stop and talk a bit when I see friends and family. I told them I saw Bindu on the bike and was really happy he made the swim cutoff. They told me he swam a 1:29!! I was flabbergasted - where did that come from? He must have been sandbagging all year. We're gonna move him up a few lanes for next season.

The second bike loop wasn't bad despite the rain. Did I mention it was still raining? Again Ann went ahead of me on the downhills and I spent the next 45 miles trying to catch her. This time I never did.

Made it into T2 with a 7:03 bike time - with the 10 minute stop on the first loop I felt pretty good about this time. The rain may have been a blessing in disguise as it made me slow down on the bike. Leaving T2 I felt strong and the legs were working just fine - no cramps and no foot issues. I stayed with my 4:1 plan and saw I was doing an 11 minute pace. I could live with that.

I beat Ann out of transition but she caught up to me as were leaving town. So we ran together for the first loop. The rain let up a bit but as we left town it started up again. I worried about blisters since my feet were soaking wet. I was very lucky as none developed.

At the turn around back in town and at special needs (mile 13) we saw the fish known as Steve. He was about 2 miles ahead of us. He told me to catch up to him and we could runt he second loop together. So off I went to try catching him. Leaving town on the run is mostly downhill so I was able to run most of it. At the out of town out and back I made the turn expecting to see Steve but he was nowhere to be seen. Then all of a sudden there he was - but still doing the out while I was on the return. Seems I passed him while he was taking a potty break. Ann was right behind him. I had my own bladder issues - either I was very good with my hydration or my kidneys were just working overtime - I peed a record 13 times combined bike and run. Thank goodness I'm a guy and can pee anywhere.

As we headed back into town I was feeling great - no cramps, hammies were fine and no foot issues at all. It was still raining but starting to lessen a bit. I looked at my watch and saw I could PR if I ran the rest of the way. So off we went for the last 3 miles. We walked the last uphill into town then took off again. One more out and back then it was a slight downhill finish. The crowd is cheering, we were slapping hands with kids as we made our way onto the oval. Then there it was – the finish chute and clock. I looked up and saw a PR – only by about 45 seconds but still a PR. Steve was right there with me and Ann just a few minutes later.

We got our medals, t-shirts and hats then went to the food tent. They were just handing out freshly arrived pizza. Wow – was that ever good.

Then we saw Katie – she had our dry clothes bags – what an angel! Karen, Shanti and Katie had retrieved our bikes, took them to tribike transport and then had all of our gear bags in the car already! We felt so pampered and what a relief to not have to deal with the bikes or bags. And to have warm dry clothes was awesome. The rain let up as waited for Bindu and Mike to finish.

What an honor it was to watch Bindu cross the line and become an Ironman. He had an ear to ear smile that lit up the finish area. We got more pizza as we waited for Mike and the last of the NB team to finish.

And to bring it back to why we do this crazy thing – a woman stopped me in the finish area to thank me for what we are doing. Her 3 year old grandson is battling leukemia and she wanted us to know how much she appreciates what we do.

A very good day on a very, terrible rainy day. Ironteam was 10 for 10 with all starters finishing. And the flames were well represented – a guy from Boston TNT wants to buy flames gear and sent me an email already asking how he can get some!

Survival of the Fittest

2007-09-30T17:56:00.001-07:00

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

actually I ripped this off of craigslist but thought it was pretty funny

IMAZ - Race Day

2007-04-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Wow - what a long day.

Well - there's more to my race report than just that. It'll be long so get comfortable.

First - congratulations to all the Boston runners -all with sub-4 marathons in terrible weather. Won't be hearing "too cold to run" from that group ever again.

Saturday night saw an early dinner with plans to turn out the lights at 8 pm. Well, I got a little too interested in the book I'm reading and went until 8:30. I called the front desk, requested a 4:00 am wake up call and then set the alarm also. Can't be too careful. Good thing the bladder alarm is reliable because the alarm didn't go off and the call never came. I woke up at 3:45 closed my eyes again and then it was 4:05. Got up, made a latte (of course) then went down for breakfast. Saw my way to clear then had a little more breakfast. The hotel had a shuttle to the start so I was on my way at 5:30.

The start area had tons of people - 2100 athletes and twice that in supporters and volunteers. I found Glenn and checked in with him on how he was doing. Then we saw Raf from the NB team. He was in crisis mode - seems he forgot his wetsuit at his friend's house in Scottsdale. Even if he was able to get in touch with them and they drove his wetsuit to the start, they wouldn't have made it in time. So Raf was trying to psyche himself up into a no-wetsuit swim. He was more worried about treading water for the start (IMAZ is a deep water start) than anything else.

I suggested we walk over to the expo area and see if the Blue Seventy guys were there and if they had any demo suits he could rent. No luck - they were already packed up and gone. But the Trisports tent was open selling last minute gear items. We asked if they had any demo suits available - nope, but they did have some trade-in wetsuits. The guy said we could look through them and find one to use. The first one he pulled out was a TNT ORCA suit that fit him perfectly. Raf was now one happy triathlete. It had to be a good karma thing to pull the TNT suit out of the bin and have it fit just right. Raf had a good day from there on out.

I got my wetsuit on and we walked over to the start. The pros went off at 6:45 but they started letting in age groupers at 6:30. I didn't want to sit in the water for 30 minutes so Raf and I sat on the edge until about 6:50. The actual start is about 100 yards from where we jumped into the water. This gave us a nice warmup. I wanted to start towards the back on the left side. The swim start was not as chaotic as IMCDA - a good thing - no getting kicked in the head, nobody swimming over the top of me - not much of a washing machine at all. Probably because I started pretty far in the back and it's a wider start.

The swim is one loop so the turn wasn't too congested either. The downside was we started out to the east - right into the rising sun. I couldn't see anything, there was no way to sight on anything but other swimmers. I'm sure I zig-zagged a lot but made it to the turn and welcomed having the sun out of my eyes. I tried to focus on my stroke, front quadrant swimming, and maintaining my glide (sound familiar?). At one point I noticed my left hand doing a weird flipping thing as I started my recovery with that arm. I realized I wasn't finishing my stroke at all and was just flopping my hand forward. So I worked on that for a bit and tried to stay focused.

The very best part of the swim and probably the entire day - getting out of the water and not being dizzy or nauseated at all. This was huge for me considering at IMCDA I had a 30 minute T1 trying to get over the dizziness and stop throwing up.

Swim - 1:26

I took my time in T1 (13') and then headed out to my bike. They had us put all of our bike gear in the T1 bag so there was nothing by our bikes. They made us all go out the center aisle but a volunteer got my bike off the rack and brought it to me. That was cool.

My bike plan was to take the first loop very easy and then try to push it a bit more on each following loop. Going out was fun - I was cruising at 20-24 mph, not pushing at all. Made it to the turn around in just over an hour and then headed back. Holy crap - I've never ridden in that much wind before. My speed dropped quickly to 12 mph. Someone said later the wind was gusting to 40 mph. At about mile 30 I heard "On your left!" and saw Michael Lovato riding by me. Then I thought, hmm, he had a 15 minute head start on the swim, probably did it in about 50 minutes and my swim was 1:26 - so I figured he had about an hour head start on me and it took him 30 miles to catch me. Well, really to lap me but I held him off for as long as I could.

Morty didn't show up until mile 80. I had to stop and massage my foot it was burning so bad. Then at mile 100 I had to stop again and massaged the foot. Morty is a Morton's Neuroma in my right foot. The nerve behind the 3rd and 4th toes gets inflamed then burns then cramps to the point I can't move it at all. So stopping and massaging it was perfect. I had one bad cramp in my right thigh but was able to stand up and stretch and finally it went away.

On the Beeline Hwy part of the ride we were pretty much out in the desert. I kept hearing a muffled pop like someone in front of me or behind me blowing a tire. Or worse, something subtle going wrong with my bike. Fortunately it was neither- there was a gun range off to the right and it was just target practice I was hearing. But it fooled me each time I went by it.

The wind made the ride very difficult. Not only taking away much needed energy but very de-motivating as well. So I just got into aero, looked at the ground in front of me and pushed on.

Bike - 7:10

Second best part of the day - getting off the bike and actually feeling like I could run. My plan was to run 4 minutes, walk one. This worked great for me. I'd pass people while running then watch them go by me while I was walking then I'd catch them again. My quads started hurting around mile 16 then really started hurting at mile 20. So I walked for a bit longer, tried to do a 4 run, 4 walk for about 2 miles. At mile 23 I decided to run again. I found it easier to run uphills and walk the downhills. Just the opposite of what others were doing. The course wasn't really hilly - just the bridges over the river - but I ran up and walked down. Then I saw mile 25 and felt good enough to finish running the last mile. It was great to cross the bridge and be able to take the finisher's route instead of the loop #2 or #3 route. I had to do that twice already watching others finish as I headed out for another loop.

Run - 5:30

Overall - 14:24

So all in all - a good day. No flats, no falls, no dizziness and #4 IM is in the books. I really am a "Back of the packer" and feel pretty damn good about it.

Thanks again for all the support and good wishes.

Stayed strong, went long-
Dan

IMAZ Day 3

2007-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

The day started pretty easily. Slept in a bit or at least tried to - got up around 6:30 and fired up the espresso machine. Made a latte, saw my way to clear then went down for breakfast. For some reason I just did not want to get started on the gear bags. Finally about 10 am I laid them out on the bed and started the video. You'll see all the different bags and numbers at the start of the Day 3 video.

Made quick trip to Safeway to get water and a few other items. Then dragged myself back to finish putting together T1 and T2 bags. I guess by making these preparations it makes this Ironman real. Got the bags done, had a sandwich for lunch then headed over to drop the bike off and finish the video.

There are some amazing and very pretty bikes here. Probably close to $500k in bikes and wheels alone in the transition area.

I made my way to find my bike spot then remembered I needed to put on the bike stickers. Another good video opportunity. My bike spot will be very easy to find - it's at the end of a row right by the only orange porta-potties in that area. But Glenn got an even better spot. Check out the video.

Dropped the bike off, then went to drop the T1 and T2 bags. Another good spot for my bags at the beginning of a row just inside the entrance. Made some more video and also got a shot of where we'll be swimming. The Tempe Town Lake is really a dammed up portion of the Salt River. Should be a narrow start but with it being just one loop, the first turn shouldn't get too crowded.

After dropping off the bags I came back and put my feet in the hot tub. Just needed that strong jet to massage the bottoms for a bit. Plan is for dinner around 6 then in bed with the lights out by 8 pm. Not too hard for me really. Early wake up call at 4 am, latte (of course), breakfast, another clearing episode I hope, then off to the race at 5:30.

Best part of the day was walking thru the expo and stopping at the PowerBar tent. TNT signs up the coaches for the PowerBar Team Elite program. It's a way for Powerbar to market to coaches and hopefully the coaches will promote their products. At events they always give out special stuff if you say you're with the Team Elite. So anyways I'm getting more swag and the young girl helping me sees I'm wearing my Ironteam TNT t-shirt. She asks if I'm TNT and I say yes. She then thanks me for what I'm doing and tells me she's a leukemia survivor. Can you believe it? She thanks me. I was humbled - here's a young girl just starting her life and she battles cancer and survives. And she's thanking me. I really didn't know what to say other than thanks. But it really brought me back to why we are all training so hard and raising so much money. So people like her can be survivors.

Thank you all for your hard work and fundraising so far.

I hope you enjoyed Day 1 of Boot Camp - that's always a fun day - at least for the coaches. Have fun tomorrow with Day 2.

Here's the link to the latest video -

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:170151

Going long in the morning -
Dan

IMAZ Day 2

2007-04-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

IMAZ Day 2 started with the most important item of the day. Setting up the espresso machine and making a latte. Once that was done I went downstairs for the free breakfast at my hotel.

I went to the Expo area to meet Glenn for a swim. The new video starts with this area showing the bike transition and swim start. Not too much to see but there were a lot of people there for the practice swim. Maybe it just seems like a lot since it's in a much smaller area than IMC or IMCDA. Glenn and I got a nice swim done. The water was just chilly at first but then was very nice. The weather has been perfect. Well, except for yesterday. Very strong winds blowing a dust storm through Phoenix - gusts up to 45 MPH. My hotel is right under the flight pattern for Phoenix airport. With the wind blowing hard and the planes overhead - it sounded like a freight train in my room.

So anyways - we got a nice swim done. The water should be just fine for Sunday - temp is pretty similar to what we had at Wildflower for practice weekend. After the swim we got in line for registration. We stood in line for almost an hour. The funny thing was once we got to the actual registration area we were through it in about 10 minutes. I'm not sure what the hold up was for getting to this area.

Day 2 video shows the area where folks were getting ready for the practice swim, then the registration line, weigh in, instructions, more instructions and getting the timing chip. Plus a little bit thru the souvenir tent and then the free massage.

Or at least what I thought was a free massage. I forgot it was really the "Active Release Therapy" - which is still free but not quite a massage. The woman there worked on my quads and found some tender areas. She pushed pretty deep with her thumbs while I was stretching my leg back and forth. Probably good to work some of whatever is in there out a bit - but I was really hoping for the free massage part. Guess I'll have to wait until Sunday night.

Glenn and I also found Raf from the NB team. We walked to downtown Tempe for a quick lunch. Then Glenn and I decided to drive the bike course. It's a three loop course so we had to drive it three times to get a good feel for it. No, not really. Just drove the long road - Beeline Hwy - once and found the hills. After last Saturday's ride and the Calaveras loop before that - these aren't really hills. More like sustained "ups". The out ends on the uphill then we turn around and head down for the back into town part. Should be nice if the wind holds off.

After driving back in to town I went back to my room and rested a bit. Met up with Glenn again for dinner and the mandatory race meeting. Best news from the race meeting - each water stop on the bike route will have 4 port-a-potties - and a bike rack! What a great idea! A bike rack while you're dropping the kids off at the pool.

More tomorrow on putting the various transition bags, special needs and race numbers together. Then I'll drop off my bike in the afternoon and get a shot of the transition area filled with bikes.

Here's the link again for today's video -

http://www.vimeo.com/user:177522/clips

It's a big file so make sure you have some time and lots of bandwidth to download it.

Thanks again for all the good wishes.

Staying strong, going long (on Sunday) -

Dan

IMAZ Day 1

2007-04-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the sage advice for any Ironman is not do too much stuff just prior to the race that will add additional stress. So of course, I ignore my own advice. Not that I'm close to any type of sage or other herb.

Tuesday I got up early and went for a nice swim at Fremont with Mike and Dana. I realize just how much I've been slacking off when swimming on my own. Dana had me practice some drafting behind her and Mike (like I could keep up with them anyways)for a couple of 100's. Then they talked me into doing my taper set of 6 x 100's by doing the first and last at level 5 and the rest at level 7. I was able to stay strong throughout and even cranked out a 1:27 for one of them. I'm more of a 1:50 swimmer. That draft really helps even if I was 10 yards behind them. But the swim did a lot to boost my confidence.

Now for the stress part - last August I bought a new Honda Pilot. It was bigger than any car I've owned (and I've had a few) but I could pack my entire locker room into it and have room left over for other gear. Camping at training weekend was great since I could bring everything and more. But the gas mileage really sucked big time. So I made the decision to go look at the new Honda CR-V. I dragged Karen along with me - she's used to me doing this by now. I test drove a new one and decided to buy it. So Tuesday was spent mostly at the Honda dealer bargaining a bit - they really don't give in much on cars in demand. The CR-V is smaller, much smaller, but the gas mileage makes up for it. And it's more fun to drive, easier to park, costs less to fill up - did I mention the gas mileage?

Tuesday night I went to Sports basement for some last minute items and saw the team at spin. Lotsa good wishes and what? You bought a new car? Yep.

Here's the link to the video - http://www.vimeo.com/user:177522/clips

Wednesday morning I slept in. I was planning to leave around 9 am and after packing up the CRV and making the video - I was off. I was supposed to call Glenn and let him know what time I was leaving. We wanted to caravan down to my brother's house in SoCal. But of course, I didn't have Glenn's cell number - only his wife's Karen who was at work in her elementary school class. So I called a few people and left messages. Then I remembered my wife Karen was still at home. Called her and had her look up Glenn's info on last year's team website. Good thing they leave those up for a while. Eventually connected and told him I was leaving.

So finally I was off on 85 turning onto 101 towards Gilroy when I had a panic moment. I couldn't remember or visualize putting my running shoes into the car. Did I or didn't I? I couldn't remember. Oh well, it's only 85/101 - not too bad to go home and get them. But first I called Karen again - "Hey - did I leave my running shoes in the entryway?" Nope, she couldn't find them. But then I looked in my rearview mirror and could see them in the back. Phew... calm down, get to a Starbucks and everything will be fine. Stopped in Gilroy for a latte then headed over the Pacheco Pass to I5.

Heading down I5, listening to the new XM radio, looking at the gas mileage computer - did I mention how much better the mileage is over the Pilot? - then I look over at the car coming up on my me and see that it's Raf from the NB team. We tried to talk but with the wind and him being on my left side - I couldn't hear squat. I can't hear squat anyways and wouldn't recognize it if I did. So we pulled off at the next off ramp and called Glenn to arrange lunch. Turns out Glenn was about 30 minutes ahead of us so he waited at a Denny's for us. Mmmmm..., Denny's. Good Ironman training food. They had breakfast, I had a salad.

After lunch Glenn and I headed to Orange County and my brother's house. Had dinner at an Olive Garden - better Ironman pasta food here - then headed back for an early evening. My brother gets up even earlier than I do. But before we turned in - we had to play a little Wii. Glenn and I played tennis on the TV - that was fun but I think I started to develop a tennis elbow. Then we decided to do bowling. It was pretty funny watching the two new guys standing up with the controller in our hand and going thru the bowling motions. My brother, who's obviously played this game before, calmly sat in his chair and never stood up. He won.

So we were up and out of the OC pretty early this morning. Traffic was light except for a FedEx truck crash on I10 east of Palm Springs. That took us about 40 minutes to pass - there were FedEx packages all over the freeway.

Got into Tempe around 1 pm and checked in. My hotel is just a mile from the start. The hotel even has a shuttle set up for race morning. Cool.

This is probably more than you wanted to know so thanks for reading this far.

Tomorrow we're planning a morning swim in the lake then an assault on the expo and registration. I'll post a new video from the race site tomorrow.

Stay strong, going long on Sunday -

Dan

A Nice Long Weekend (and a long blog)

2006-11-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

For the past several years on the long Thanksgiving weekend I've had to travel to Chicago for a tradeshow on Friday. It is so much nicer to stay home and enjoy the weekend. And a long weekend it was in more ways than one.

Thanksgiving day started off with a nice Rancho run with Nicholas and Charles. the Booths caught Nicholas and me at the top of Rogue. We went up the backside of PG&E then added lower Wildcat up and over for about 10 miles. Then I went to join the Ironteam for a ride up Altamont and a few other hills. T-day dinner did not include any gorging at all thank goodness.

Friday I started off running at Rancho again and wanted to get some mountain points as well as a long run done. I'm one of the folks doing the "Rancho 500" - check it out at rancho500.com. I went up the backside of PG&E again and came back down then went up it again. I was planning to then do upper wildcat and the up and over on the lower part. But the up on lower wildcat, while short, just kicks my ass. So I went up PG&E again. Then decided to repeat it a 4th time and just head back to the parking lot by going down Rogue. I did 19 miles and got 48 points.

On Saturday Big Al talked me into doing a ride with him in the morning. But I needed my Rancho fix so I went out before the ride and ran about 8.5 miles. The ride was up Stevens County Rd to the out and back which was pretty doggone cold. That canyon is so shaded the temp dropped at least 10 degrees from the start. From the out and back we then went up Mt Eden and got warm then returned to the start after doing the backside of Mt Eden.

Karen and I went wine tasting in the afternoon. We usually go up to Napa/Sonoma but decided to forego the drive and stay locally. We went to David Bruce and Byington on Bear Creek Rd above Los Gatos. We hadn't been to either winery and was pleasantly surprised by both of them. David Bruce makes excellent pinot noirs and Byington makes a wonderful blend called Alliage. Of course we sampled and bought some of each. Then we headed to Ridge at the top of Monte Bello Rd. Ridge makes really great zinfandels - can you tell I like the deeper reds?

Well, since we were at the top of Monte Bello and I had my running shoes with me - Karen dropped me off at the top of the road and I ran down the Black Mountain trail into Rancho. It wasn't quite as much fun as I thought it would be. Incredible views from the top but a very steep downhill trail. And I took one wrong turn that was about a half mile detour. Then it started getting really dark. I was dreading another after dark ticket from the rangers. Finally made it into the parking lot about 40 minutes later than I told Karen to expect me.

Sunday I met up with a few folks to do PG&E backside once again. I wanted to get about 20 miles in so I would hit 300 for the Rancho 500. So I went out before everyone else arrived and ran 7 as a warm up by myself. Changed into a dry shirt, refilled the water bottle and took off with Glenn, Mark and Michael. Glenn and Mark gradually pulled ahead so Michael stayed back with me. Went up Rogue and up PG&E then back down. I needed to get some more hills and mileage so I did lower wildcat up and and down the switchbacks to the farm. Refilled the water bottle then headed back to go up the switchbacks. By this time it was starting to rain a little bit. Thankfully the switchback trail is mostly covered and protected from the rain. Went down to the top of the creek, did the bypass to the far parking lot then back to the start. Total of 21 miles to end the weekend right at 300 miles for the Rancho 500.

Everyone else was finishing up at Peet's so I still went and got my recovery latte.

All in all - a very nice, long weekend.

But I am a bit tired.

A Very Good Weekend

2006-11-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

For the Fall Tri team I had also signed up to do the Treasure Island International distance tri. TI was one week after I did the 1/2 IM in Phoenix. I was feeling pretty full of myself when I signed up for TI.

As I woke up at 5 am on Saturday morning I was thinking to myself - I could be at home warm and snuggly next to Karen in my own bed. When I set up my transition area I was thinking I could at home having a latte trying to decide which football game to watch. I started wishing I hadn't signed up for TI.

The water temp was about as good as it gets at Treasure Island - about 60 degrees. Actually pretty comfortable with a wetsuit. None of that painful numbness in the feet or hands. I thought I would swim about a 30-35 and ended up at 33. Out of the water and into T1 feeling pretty good after wishing I hadn't signed up at all.

The bike route at TI is just downright pathetic. Lots of 90 degree turns and the most uneven pavement of any triathlon anywhere - small potholes, large bumps that extend all the way across the lane and uneven areas where someone tried to patch the holes. I decided I would just take it easy, push it when I could and try to stay upright. Some of the turns got congested but overall most folks were looking out for each other. I was hoping to ride about a 1:15 and ended up at 1:18 averaging 18.9 mph. Best of all - no flats, no falls.

Off to the run. As I got into T2 I looked at my watch and saw that with an hour run I'd be right at about 3 hours which was my goal time. After my run in Phoenix at a 9:41 pace, I was thinking I could do this if my quads behaved. I went out at an easy pace trying to run a negative split. The quads were feeling fine so I tried to pick up my pace a bit. I was about at 14 minutes to the turn around and was pleased with that time. It meant if I could keep it up I'd run about a 52 minute 10k.

There were lots of TNT folks at TI since this was their main race. I heard my name called out and gots lots of support from my team mates and coaches. When I reached the turn around on my second loop I looked at my watch and saw I'd be well under an hour so I picked it up a bit more. I was feeling very strong and the quads weren't bothering me. Finished the run at 49:46 for an 8:01 pace. I was really happy with that pace after doing a 9:41 pace last week.

My overall goal was to be under 3 hours - I ended up at 2:47:54 good for 10th in my age group out of 25.

I felt great about my finish and realized that I'm a pretty average triathlete. I tend to never be in the top finishers but the I'm not in the bottom either.

Today's Ironteam workout was a recovery day and everyone is looking better and better. I felt so good I went out to Rancho to get some more miles and mountain points for the Rancho 500. Did 13 miles with lots of hills and no quads acting up.

All in all - a very good weekend.

SOMA Red Rock 1/2 IM

2006-10-31T09:59:00.000-08:00

Red Rock 1/2 IM was a pretty good day but I do need to learn to swim straight.

I was in Phoenix on business a few days before the team arrived. The weather was spectacular. Bright sunshine, warm days, cool nights but then I realized that 85 degree days were not the best for doing a 1/2 IM. My hamstrings tend to cramp in the heat.

The hotel was located in a great spot - just a few blocks from the event. The team arrived on Saturday and we proceeded to unbox the bikes and get them ready to ride. The evening pasta party filled me up and left me wanting to get to sleep. Good thing I slept well the night before - I usually don't sleep all that great the night before an event - waking up each hour or so until the alram goes off. Same thing happened on Saturday night.

So I woke up at 3:45 got some coffee into me and saw my way to "clear". Made it down to breakfast and met up with the rest of the team. The nice surprise of the day was the overcast skies. After days of brilliant sunshine I was expecting more heat. The day stayed cloudy through out the entire event. What a blessing.

I was a little surprised at the start - seemed the race directors let anyone into the transition and swim start area. Seemed like there were people, baby strollers and wetsuit clad athletes everywhere. After getting my nutrition and hydration all set on the bike I suited up and went over to the swim start. Met up with Jim who was in the wave before mine and we chatted a bit. Pretty soon the Quarterman waves were off then they started the 1/2 waves.

I was in wave #5 overall so 3rd of the IM race. My wave got in the water and we swam over to the swim start. The swim course is a large rectangle that went under a couple of bridges. The start wasn't as chaotic as the mass start of Ironman so I didn't get banged around as much. On the return from the first turn the course is funneled into an archway of the bridge. I couldn't believe the draft at that point - I felt like I was white water rafting it was so fast. But that was the only fast part of my swim. I was hoping to swim about 36-37 minutes. After making the last turn though, one of the safety kayakers paddled over to me and said I really should get back on the course or I'd hit some of the swimmers coming towards me. If I could swim straighter I'd be a bit faster. I was out of the water at 41 and into T1 at 43.

The race allowed wetsuit strippers and as I came out of the water I saw Coaches Meggen and Chris, Becky and my wife Karen. Got a quick kiss to my honeybunches then Chris and Meggen peeled my wetsuit off. At which point I immediately cramped up my right quad. It was pretty painful. We finally got the suit off and I sauntered over to my bike. I think I had a 5-6 minute T1 - I really like to take my time in there.

The bike course was really flat - and crowded. I thought I might be cold with the overcast skies but I never even got chilled. The bike was three loops and that's why it got a bit crowded. At times riders were yelling out "On your left" when there was no where for them to go or room to pass. By the third loop it spaced out a bit. I caught up to Jim and passed him only to have him pass me when I stopped at the porta potty. Caught up to him again later in the second loop. I also saw Amanda out there looking strong and steady. And I got to see Carol on one of her loops. She was attacking the hills - well there weren't really any hills - only freeway overpasses.

I was thankful for no flats and no falls. I finished the bike in 2:50 averaging 19.7 mph. Pretty good and at about where I thought I would ride.

Since I had turned my ankle on Monday prior to the race I didn't know how I'd be running. So I decided to do a run/walk strategy. 8 minutes running, 1 minute walking. I've learned if you use this strategy it's important to start off with it - don't wait until I'm tired then start or I'd never start running again. Lots of people were passing me during my minute walk but I knew I'd see them again. Some of them I'd catch again during the 8 minute run, some I caught during the second loop.

The ankle felt fine and I was running strong if not fast. I saw Coaches Meggen and Chris at about mile 11 and they ran with me to the last turn. That was great to have them with me to pace me for the final. I was hoping to have about a 2 hour run and ended with a 2:06. I was ok with that.

I wanted to do a sub 6 hour race. Overall time was a 5:49:14 - good for 28 of 47 in my age group. One of my race mantras is "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". I've found if I take it easy and don't rush through things on race day - I have a good day. I could have been faster, I could have swam stronger, I could have had faster transition times - but what the heck - I'm not gonna win my age group so why not take my time and enjoy the day?

I'm thankful to have been on a supportive team and have coaches and staff who were so helpful. I'm looking forward to the Treasure Island Olympic distance this Saturday. Hopefully my quads will have recovered by then.

Thanks for reading this far.

Stay strong, go long -

Dan

Practice tri and Rancho 500

2006-10-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

I joined the Fall tri team as means to re-connect with the LLS cause, raise funds and perhaps do a little recruiting for Ironteam. The season has been fun and short. The SOMA Red Rock 1/2 Ironman is this Sunday in Phoenix. There are only 4 of us on the team (out of 40 or so) doing the 1/2 distance but I think I'm ready.

Saturday was our practice tri at Stevens County park reservoir. The swim went very well - the water was very comfortable and I felt very smooth. I did two loops of the course for a total of about 1200 yards - finished in 23 minutes so just under a 2:00 per 100 pace.

When I got to the transition it seemed everyone was gone - well, they were gone since they were only doing one loop in the water. I took my time getting onto the bike. It was nice starting on a downhill - I could really get some speed going. Made it to the turnaround to see some of my favorite people - Ironteam!

On the second loop of the bike I got a flat. And looking back it was a good thing to have happen. I was riding my race wheels with the tubulars. I had a spare tire with me but I haven't changed a tubular tire on the road yet. The flat happened right at El Monte so I was thinking of just walking down to Main Street where I knew Ironteam would offer some help. Even though none of them ride tubulars - at least I'd get some "that sucks" and "sorrys" from them - and maybe even a ride back if I wanted.

Before I got to them though - Rick stopped along with his driver Bob in the SAG vehicle. Rick has done some tubular changing before so he gave me some advice and we got the new tire on and inflated. Once I broke the glue seal I think it was actually faster to change than a tire with a tube.

Made it back to transition in the park for the run. The best part of the whole day was when I started my second loop of the run.

Ironteam had come out to support the practice tri and to do their 3 mile run workout (3 miles, I know but it's still early in the season). Anyways - the start of my second was at the same time Ironteam was starting their run. I got to run with some of my new team mates and returning team mates as well. It was the best part of the day.

We had a nice BBQ afterwards offered by the Fall team and may have recruited one or more folks for the 2008 team. Can't tell you how proud and impressed I was with the Ironteam on Saturday. Thank you for the support on the course and for running with me.

And I'm also part of a group of runners doing the Rancho 500. It's a race to see who can complete 500 miles first - all done at Rancho park. This is my favorite place to run so it was easy to join this group. I was leading for a bit then strained a leg muscle so I backed off for a bit.

I went out today for a run with Capt Steve. I felt a bit slow and sluggish so we decided to make it a short run. It's still pretty dark out there at 6:30 am even with a head light. On the return from the hairpin turn, I stepped on a rock and rolled my left foot onto my ankle. Not the best thing to have happen 5 days before an event. So I'm icing it and won't be running any more this week.

The Rancho 500 has a long ways to go so I think I still have some time to catch people. Just hope the ankle is ready for the 1/2 IM this Sunday.

My Haunted House

2006-10-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

A scary story just in time for Halloween. My house might be haunted.

I was sitting in my favorite chair in the living room watching TV. Out of the corner of my eye I see a long, fuzzy shape that is sort of swaying a bit. I looked over to the entrance hall where the shape was and it disappears. A few minutes later I see the form again, fuzzy, long line kinda moving a bit. I look over again and once more it disappears.

So now I'm thinking that maybe I have a ghost in the house. Maybe some poor soul died in the house and has been looking for a way out but the door is closed. I have an active imagination when it comes to my own fears.

Next I'm standing in my kitchen. There's a door that leads into the entrance hall and what do I see out of the corner of my eye? A long, fuzzy shape that is swaying just a bit. My ghost is back. I try to steal a closer look but as I turn my head - it disappears. Just as I resume cooking - the fuzzy shape appears again in the corner of my vision. I try to study it for a bit without looking directly at it. It stays for a bit longer - I start to make out more of the shape when it suddenly disappears.

Back to the living room now on a different day - and the shape appears again. It's stalking me now. Toying with me, waiting to make its move on my soul. I look over at it and it quickly moves away and disappears. My wife comes home and I tell her about our haunting. As I describe the apparition - I discover my ghost is no more than an overgrown eyebrow hair.

Instead of an exorcism - I just needed a plucking.

Sentinel Olympic

2006-09-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

... or the race that almost wasn't. I signed up for the Sentinel tri in Santa Cruz a couple of months ago based on a suggestion from a friend. There were 6 of us planning to do this race and 5 dropped out. Oh well, a fun training day anyways.

Got up at 4 am so I could get some coffee in me and see my way to "clear". Loaded the Pilot then took off for over the hill at about 5. The transition didn't open until 6 am so I was there with plenty of time and even got a great parking spot.

For this race the bike racks are first come first serve. I got a nice one next to a tree so I had some extra space. Sentinel isn't big on the TNT radar for some reason. Saw a few folks from Kain I knew and also from Sheeper. Saw only 2 other TNT folks.

My wave went off at 8:20 for the swim. Made it down to the beach for a quick dip to get used to the cold. The water wasn't too bad. I wanted to be under 30 minutes for the swim and was surprised when I saw my watch when I reached the beach again - 28:30. T1 is up the hill across from the hotel so after a nice swim we had to make our way up the hill to get on the bike.

I thought it might be cold on the bike so I was prepared with arm warmers and a vest. Didn't need either. Even left off my gloves and skull cap. A really nice day for a tri.

I wanted to push myself a bit on the bike and was suprised again to see my overall speed was 20 mph. I did the bike in 1:12. The ride to Davenport and back is really fun - lots of up and down rollers that aren't too taxing.

Made it back into transition and thought I could hold an 8:30 pace for the 10k. Didn't quite work out that way - I think I was closer to a 9 minute pace. Might have made the 8:30 pace if it wasn't for that little trip into the woods at the turnaround. But the legs felt good once I got into a nice pace and best of all - no knee problems. And I was grateful Morty decided to sleep in today.

I think I did the run in around 57 minutes.

Overall, according to my watch - I did a 2:46. I was hoping to be around 2:45 but more on the under side of it. Maybe I'll get lucky when I see the official results.

Update - I wasn't lucky - official race results have me at 2:48 - rats.

Recovery Part Deux...

2006-07-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

...and I'm not even French. Whatever the heck that means.

My first couple of runs after IM CDA felt great. I was cruising back to my usual pace at Rancho and I was able to get to the top of Rogue in my fastest time all season.

The first time back in the pool felt great. I did a nice long workout and felt very smooth and fast - at least for me.

Then this week hit - I've done a couple of runs at Rancho that have probably been my slowest all year. I swam at Fremont today at lunch (missed the LA traffic in the morning with Kristin) and felt very sluggish.

Not sure what's going on - either the 75 mile bike I did with the team last weekend in the heat or the gallon of ice cream I've managed to consume in the last 10 days have contributed to my slowing down.

Or perhaps it's a combination of the two.

Time to return to the red wine diet.

That's where I whine about my weight while still drinking at least two bottles of good red wine each weekend. And at least one during the week.

Ahhh... - that's where the French comes into play - the French Paradox. If it works for Zidane it's good enough for me.

On the Road Again

2006-07-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

TNT added a new event that fits right into my Ironteam schedule. It's the Red Rock Half IM in Tempe Arizona on Oct. 29. Now, I could have done this on my own but where's the fun in that? The team experience is what I enjoy most and I get to raise money for a tremendously worthy cause. So I signed up as a participant.

Here's the link to my donation page if you'd like to help reach my fundraising goal -
http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/tntsvmbDRussel

This past week has been mostly running at Rancho. I haven't been on my bike or in the water since IM CDA. The legs are feeling good two weeks out from the IM. Guess that happens when you walk most of the marathon.

Saturday was the West Alpine ride. The day got hotter as it went along. By the time I got home it was 97 outside. It was fun to just be the water stop support and watch everyone as they went up Kings then also West Alpine.

Sunday was the long open water swim. I was on a surfboard offering support. My arms are still sore from all that paddling. I think I'll learn from Mike and station myself in one spot rather then try to keep up with the swimmers.

Sunday afternoon was a team BBQ. Lots of good food and red wine. The house is getting back into shape after the remodel. Most of the inside is done. Next up is getting the outside painted and then working on getting the lawn back together.

Off to Seattle for a day trip today. Back tomorrow afternoon.

Recovery

2006-07-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Made it back into town after a very relaxing trip home with the Booth's. We stopped at Dana's aunt's B and B outside of Boise for the first night. An excellent dinner with very gracious hosts and a beautiful setting. Next night was in Reno at a long time friend of the Booth's.

Friday I slept in - at least sleeping in for me. I was up around 7 and ready for a latte. Didn't do much more than unpack stuff and do some laundry.

Saturday - up early and went to provide a water stop for a few team mates who were tackling Mt. Hamilton. The schedule calls for a 100 miler in small groups. A good mental toughness day to experience being alone on the bike for a long period. These folks decided to take on Mt Hamilton, Calaveras Rd and Sierra Rd. Talk about mental toughness! It was great to see their smiling faces as they rounded the top to the observatory. Their sense of accomplishment was evident on their faces.

Sunday - met with a few folks for a swim at Fremont HS then a run at Rancho. Swam about 3,000 yards and felt pretty good. No dizziness at all in the water and had nice long, gliding strokes. Wish I had that last Sunday in Idaho. Rancho was warm as we did up and over with a twist. Ann, Christy and Karen were running it twice. I only did it once. Usually my quads are very sore even a week after an IM - this time they weren't sore at all. Maybe because I really didn't do much running last Sunday at all. I did experience a bit of light headedness coming down the creek. I think this was due to lack of food more than anything else. I quickly took in a GU and felt much better.

Monday - now I'm waitng for the cable guy to show up and finish his installation. He was here a few weeks ago and moved the existing cable box to the side of the house where we moved the electrical panel. Most of the remodel is done with a few touch up areas left. Can't wait to move stuff back into the house from the garage - hopefully we won't move everything back and can get rid of some of this stuff. The house was very cluttered before the remodel started. Then maybe a short ride this afternooon after some poolside reading and sunning.

Tomorrow I hope to spend some more time by the pool and maybe get another Rancho run done.

Just Another Long Training Day with Catering...

2006-06-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the day started with high hopes for a PR then quickly became a day of endurance and persevering.

The swim was brutal - I started halfway up the beach and entered the water feeling good. Surprisingly the water opened up and I was getting into a nice stroke - for about three strokes - then the pack just stopped as people sighted and waited for open water in front of them. This continued on until the first turn. I decided to move to the left of the bouys and swim inside them until the turn. I found more open water there but had to swim across a bunch of folks to get there. Then the turns were awful - everybody and their brother slowed down and then there are the clowns who have to swim over you. Lots of breast strokers with their frog kicks to the side - and into my side.

I made it to the beach after looking for the inside route of the bouys - first loop was 37:30 - I was hoping for around 34/35 but decided the mass start made me slower. A quick turn on the beach and I was off again. Looked for the inside line and made it to the first turn then the second turn back to the beach. Stole a quick look at my watch and saw 59 minutes - can I make it to the beach in 15 minutes? Sure would be nice. About halfway I paused to sight and got a little verticle - and vertigo. My head was spinning and I was severly dizzy. This happened to me at our CLear Lake training weekend 2 seasons ago. I was starting to have thoughts of dropping out.

I made it to the beach and tried to stand up. Looked at my watch and saw a 1:18 - 2 minutes faster than my Canada swims. But I was staggering - walking like a drunken fool. I saw Yun (he was one of the wetsuit strippers) and he got my suit off very fast. Dragged me up and sent me on my way.

Again, I staggered into the changing tent with my T1 bag. Found a end seat, sat down and started throwing up. Spent the next 20 minutes trying to recover from the dizziness and also throwing up. This poor kid who was volunteering didn't know what to do with me. Then I decided I'd try getting on the bike and see if I can keep from falling over. Saw Jeff, Michael and Christy on the way out - it's so great see friends on the course to offer support.

Started the ride and tried to keep the speed down and the cadence up. Saw several team mates on their way back from the first turn. Dana was moving at a vey good clip, heard Lori yell at me and saw Wass towards the turn around. Glenn passed me in the first few miles and was on his way. I was hoping I could catch up to Mike.

I was still feeling dizzy - I couldn't look down or to the side at all without feeling the world spinning around me. Finally caught Wass on the first long climb. He was looking strong as always. At about mile 28 I ate my PB/J sandwich and immediatley felt better. After tossing my early nutrition in the T1 tent, it felt good to get something in my stomach that would stay down.

My foot and Morton's neuroma was starting to bother me - to the point I needed to stop and massage it out. I found an aid station and looked for a shady spot to rub it out. Did I mention that it was about 100 degrees by now? The shady spot happened to be the med tent and the best news was they had some Vaseline. I had used, what I thought was plenty of butt butter but I was really chafing anytime I got into aero. I excused myself as I shoved a handful of the wonder jelly down my shorts. I turned to the woman volunteer and said "The boys thank you". She replied that the girls thank her also. I'm not sure she caught my reference.

On my way into town I saw Dana heading out to the overpass. She was at least an 1.5 hours in front of me. Made it to the turn around and saw Scott McAvoy from las year's team and also the good doctor - Steve. Steve was having tire troubles with 4 flats. The disadvantge to using tubular tires is that there's not too many others using them so if you run out of spares you're sorta hosed. I had an extra tubular so we rode together out of the bike special needs. It was really nice to have someone to talk with on the road. We road side by side for quite awhile and I thought we were sure to get a penalty. But the marshalls were generous and we didn't get penalized.

The second loop was feeling better as the dizziness and spinning was gone. But the heat was unbearable bouncing off the black asphalt. The hills were no worse than what we ride on at home but they felt like Old La Honda. Steve and I stopped at another aid station to let me rub my foot again. They gave us some wet towels to put on our heads to help cool us down. I looked on the ground and saw what I thought was part of a bike shoe cleat. I was thinking some poor soul lost their cleat. Then I realized it was the click part of my bike shoe that holds the strap on. Crap! I thought I was going to have to duct tape my shoe closed. Thankfully Steve saw that the screw was intact and I was able to re-fasten it. I also took the metasarsal pad out of my shoe and had no more foot problems at all. At least not from the neuroma.

Steve's gut was starting to shut down and he dropped further back. I lost sight of him at the dog track loop. Turns out he decided to drop out and not finish - a wise decision based on his condition.

Finally caught Wass who said his feet were burning and he couldn't push down on the pedals without pain. As I said earlier - it was a day of high hopes turned into challenging perserverance.

Finally made it back to T2 and got my run stuff ready. Stopped by the ART guy and had to wait about 5 minutes before he could work on my hamstrings. Headed out on the run and saw Mike Booth. We ran for a bit and talked about how tough the day was then he took off. I wanted to do a 4 minute run then a 1 minute walk. That 1 minute walk went by very fast. I kept this up through town and saw Dana in her street clothes - damn, I thought- she must have had an awesome race but then quickly found she had to drop out on the bike due to some severe gut issues. Another hard but wise decision. She and Mike Pickels ran with me for a few minutes then headed back to their post. I can't say enought about having friends on the course for support.

On the way back into town I saw Lori - she was having an awesome day. As I was heading in to start my second loop she was heading into the finishers chute. What a strong athlete she is.

Karen Rock was also in the group of parents and friends and while it was wonderful to hear her cheering support - I knew thne that she must have dropped out also. Seems the heat got several people who made a very smart choice in dropping out and not injuring themselves. I knew she was crushed after training all year for her IM only to have to drop out. But she made the right choice as did the others. Sometimes perseverance means making the tough choices and coming back to tackle the course again.

By this time I wasn't eating much at all. I was really looking forwad to my special needs bag and the gummy bears. As I was heading into special needs for the turn there was a newswoman from the local station doing a live report with her cameraman. I stopped and stood next to her and did my own race report - "Here live at IM CDA, the triathletes are battling the heat but still moving forward to hear those words at the finish You are an Ironman! - back to you at the station George". The newswoamn laughed and said at least I still have my sense of humor. The camera man just kinda looked bored.

By now there was no more running in me at all. So I remembered what Mike Booth said and started "Walking with a purpose". I even passed a few "runners" who were just shuffling along. My Ironman marathons are becoming just a long walk. I walked from mile 14 on. Every other aid station I would get ice and put it into my shorts just above my knees. This helped to ease the pain and the cramping and I'm sure was amusing to the volunteers.

My hopes of finishing before dark soon changed to hopes of finishing before midnight. It was pretty dark and lonely on the way back. Until I got into town - there was our Iron crew waiting. They all came out and ran with me down the finishers chute. I wanted them all to be in my finisher photo but they declined. So I got a few of them to join me in the post finisher's photo.

What a day. What a journey and it just keeps getting better. Or I just keep getting more and more senile.

Ready or not...

2006-06-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

tomorrow's still gonna happen. I stoppd by the Active Release Techniques tent yesterday and today. The guiys there worked on my knee for a bit and seem to think it's more of muscle tightness than a knee issue. Let's hope that's all it is.

Drove the course with the 'rents and Steve today. Looks a bit hillier than we expected. Not as long of climbs as Canada and nothing like what we've done at home.

Got back via the Walgreens for H20 and some razors. I've been told to shave before race day.

Gotta go get me a latte for the morning (keep it in the fridge in the room and zap it at 4 am). Then off to an early dinner with the group.

2006-06-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

Omigosh - Ironman CDA is here and is gonna happen whether I'm ready or not. And I don't think I'm ready. I tweaked my left knee at our Clear Lake training weekend and it's been feeling tight and a little painful ever since. I haven't done more than 4 miles running since then. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit more than concerned, well, maybe even scared.

I hear my team mates telling me I'm ready and will do fine and I have a solid base, etc. - but I won't know how I feel until Sunday morning.

The trip up here was great - beautiful scenery, fun with the Booths, a nice night in Bend with a good dinner. The area here is just gorgeous - clear skies, fresh air, lots of trees.

We'll be heading down to the swim start to do a short swim/run then hit registration and the swag tent.

Tomorrow we'll drive the bike course and check out the hills. Temps are in the high 70's low 80's - race day predicted to be in the 90's. But hey - at least there's no rain in the forecast.