New Trigeek Toys from Santa!

Ok what toys did Santa bring? No coal this year however, I was threatened several times by the wife if I did not pick something out soon. Santa always knows what I like though, so I picked out one of the GORE windstopper bike jackets. Wore it last night for a brick session, running about an hour yesterday evening. All I can say is "perfect" fits nice and snug, breathes, but stops the wind, fuzzy around the neck, so no scratchy, itchy stuff going on there. Sleeves zip off when riding the bike starts out cold but gets 30 degrees warmer by nooon (Typical NC Winter weather). Best of all the whole thing folds around itself into the back pocket in a small little ball - this has two velcro straps to hang somewhere on your bike. So it can start off cold, zipp out the sleeves a little later and if you are still riding and it gets real warm, just take it off and voila it stores by 2 simple straps of velcro around the top tube.

Ok here is where Santa got smart; did not ask for this, but Santa knows what I like. She (Wife is Santa) got me a Garmin Forerunner 305. Did not know quite what to think at first, but now that I have used it for several long runs, I am really starting to like this thing. Instant detailed info on everything from heart rate, distance, pace etc. etc. Perfect for my long runs; I went out while in knoxville for several 2 hour runs, turns out to be quite hilly in Knoxville. Thanks to the 305 I could esaily set an alarm to let me know if I pushed too hard on the hills and my heart rate went out of my training zone. When you are done, connect it to the laptop and downlaod the results into the traiing software for detailed analysis. Have not tried it on the bike yet but that should be really cool as well, since you can see the course you just road or create a course first and have it show you where you need to turn. Ever get lost on a long bike ride? I have, not anymore, not with the new GPS toy!

Santa is so smart!

Are you a "Die Hard"

Are you one of those Die Hards? Think back to that perfect day last Spring, weather was perfect, no rain, plenty of sunshine and a perfect temperature. You look out the office window and just know this is going to be a GREAT day to ride. You show up at the group ride and everyone is out, young, old, fast or slow they all show up. Everyone had a great ride and you can just feel the excitement and general good feelings in the air.

Now let's get back to reality, winter has started, the temperature drops, rain, snow, sleet possible. You cannot get outside during the week so all your workouts are done inside. By the weekend if you are anything like me, you are just dying to get outside and ride with some friends; talk about your week and just let the miles roll by. However you wake up, make that cup of coffee and take the dog out, holy cow is it cold; so cold I do not even want to know. Click on the weather channel, not much good news there either, the high of the day looks like a decent LOW. What to wear, how many layers, what socks? My feet always freeze no matter what I do. I grew up in the South I hate the cold, hell bring 105 degrees and I can handle it, anything below 50 and I am a total wimp. So you finally figure out what to wear, how many layers, pack up the bike, get that weird look from the neighbor (You can only imagine what he is thinking - That idiot is riding his bike TODAY?) Just give a nice wave and out you go to the ride. You show up at the designated start area, you are the first to arrive. Start getting ready to go, ok do I want that extra layer? If I take it off wear can I put it anyway? Ok let's roll - you look around 10 other people are here and doing the same thing. Sure enough you hear those famous words early in the ride (Only the Die Hards out today!) Wow 10 people not tood bad, you finish your 50,60,80 mile ride whatever you need and you think. Who are these people, professional atletes, maybe but probably not, Weekend warriors, Triathletes, Cyclist preparing for the race season? Maybe here and there but mostly just peopel who like to ride, stay fit and just ride with a few friends no matter what the weather. Well there you have it! That is what a Die Hard is and personally I have a lot of respect for all the brave souls out on days like this last weekend. Just damn cold! Brrrrrr!

If the shoe fits?

All you runners out there know the value of finding a good well fitting running shoe. For me that has been Asics for years. Tried low end to high end and if it said Asic I generally liked it. My foot is a little wide, not extreme, no big problems with pronation or funky feet. Pretty decent running stype (Pose) I guess, at least that is what I am told. Did I learn this, work on this? No, not really I just naturally run that way and I guess that is good. So back to the shoes, been wearing the Asics for years, usually buy a mid to high end shoe. In the winter I tend to look for more cusioning and longer lasting, during the race season I look for something lighter for racing ,but I don't usually go for the racing flats.

Last year my wife wanted to train for a half marathon and has issues with running like shin plints and hip area problems. She has not been runing long and so of course I gave her the "low down" on shoe fit,"don't go cheap", what appear to be small differences in shoes become BIG differences when running any significant difference over time, Buy shoes often, the shoe can still look great but may be broken down from too many miles and finallly find what works and stick with it talk.

So what did I do - "The exact opposite of course"! A few months back I deciced to buy some new shoes - still had a few months in the season and really like my last pair of Asics I had, so off to the store I go after looking them up online to see what the cheapest price I could find was. I have been doing this for a while now - look up what I want online and then see if the stores will match or beat the price. To my surprise they have everytime to date. BEST places I have found to buy shoes Dicks Sporting goods and Omega Sports with Omega being the best due to knowledgabel sales staff and inventory. However, this time I am at Omega looking for my favorite brand. "I am sorry sir we do not have your size", how about this comparable shoe from Mizuno? Normally there woudl be a quick response from me - "No I think I will stick with my Asics" Not this time, I made the mistake of picking up the shoe and it was noticably lighter and they had it on sale. Ok let me try a pair, I slide them on and immediately notice the sole is MUCH stiffer. The knowledgable sales guy says - you re correct they use a stiff but flexible shim in the shoe instead of the Gel like Asics. I think about it and say OK I will give it a try. My wife has quietly been sitting over to the side and comes over at this point. "Jerry are you sure, you have always worn Asics and you said "if you find what works - stick with it". Well you would think that after 10 years of marriage I would have learned by now that the "Boss" (Wife that is ) is always right.
So out I go on my first run, and yes the sole is much stiffer - long story short, my feet hurt on the bottoms when I return after only a 6 mile run. Does this phase me - No way! I wear the shoes to work and other places to help break them in (Something I never have to do with Ascis) finally after a good 2-3 weeks of wearing and running in the shoe, a few small but noticeable blisters I break the shoe in enough where it no longer bothers me. Or maybe I just got used to it? Either way I wear the shoe until it starts to break down and went out over the Thanksgiving Holiday period (Sales, Sales, Sales) to buy another pair of running shoes. Any guess on what I got. Asics 2110 - just put them on, they fit perfect, feel great, no break in time. Think you could get me to try something different in the future. I doubt it? Not because I learned my lesson, but becasue I have a secret weapon I plan on deploying each time I need shoes.

I am taking the wife along to keep me from doing anything STUPID!

Back to BASE

Ok so I am finally back training FULL schedule this week - I could not help myself and took a couple of hour long easy runs over the weekend to get the legs warmed back up. I must say I feel full of energy and ready to go after two weeks off. Weights this morning and swiming session at lunch will be a good start. I plan on working in this new class - supposedly a mix between Yoga and Pilates. Wonder what you would call that - Yo Ga Pil, How about Pi Late Yo Ga. Better leave that one to someone else. I will probably be the only guy in the class - that seemed to be the case when I was taking Pilates, oh well, trust me it will not be the first time I looked like an idiot in front of people in my life and I doubt the last time. So what the hell! I have done Pilates in the past and I thought it was very helpful. Everything I read says Yoga is great for Tri people and should be especially helpful with getting a more agressive fit on the bike. Free speed as they say, the more aero you can get while not losing power is the key. Working on the diet too, decided to really try and do the Paleo diet as much as possible. Joe Friel is definately the man in my book when it comes to Tri training! Basically most people like Gordo, Strause and others with there own web sites are just rehahsing what Joe "The Man" Friel has been saying and doing for years. Time to get rid of that Turkey Butt! See you out there!

It seems all I do is think about food!

OK I have only been off from training for one week and yes the rest felt good, but now I am starting to go crazy wanting to get out and run, bike, swim something. However, I know I need to rest one more week. However I admit I did do some easy weights on Monday and I will today the same at lunch as well. Just want to get the first initial soreness out of the way before I start back full training next week . See the picture on the right, this is what I am going to look like if I don't stop eating. Good Grief Charlie Brown it is down right unreal! OK so maybe I am kidding myself a little but it really is tough to control your appetite when you are used to training 6-7 days a week and burning more calories in one day than some do in 3 days. All I can say is someone please hide the turkey from me because that thing does not have a chance come Thursday!

I am an ALS Warrior

So here is my story about the "Blazeman". Sitting at the post race dinner in Clearwater on Saturday night, Delane and I sit down to eat and listen to the band and awards ceremony. Everything is setup right down on the beach, it is a beautiful evening, not a cloud in the sky with temps dropping into the 60s reuqiring a sweater or coat. Fish and chicken dinner, a little rice, desert of course. Yes my appetite is starting to come back. Can't do another beer though, I am such a lite weight now after starting this Tri thing, 3 beers and I am pretty wasted. I earned those beers today though so they went down just fine. Half way through the ceremony the anouncer tells the audiance he has a treat for us and ask us to watch this short video. The Video is about Jon Blaise - most people now refer to him as "Blazeman". His story is so insperational to my wife and I. Jon was a vibrant young athletic person who always wanted to do an Ironman, for years he played many sports and ran over 200 Triathlons of various lengths, but never an Ironman. However, life would deal Jon a tough battle, one in which he would show how much of an "Ironman" he truly is. Jon was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) but more commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". According to Jon, he knew at that very moment he would fulfill his dream of becoming an Ironman. Jon was awarded not just a chance at any Ironman race, Jon would race in the Kona World Championships in 2005 and boy did he. ALS had already started to ravage his body making it difficult for him to use his hands but this did not stop Jon. The video showed Jon's fight to overcome the ALS deamons and his triumph in becoming the first man to finish an Ironman with full on ALS. Jon's now famous "log roll" across the finish line was just the touch needed to make us never forget Jon. In the past few years I have done many cycling events and running events that were for great causes such as cancer or MS. My wife had ask me many times if I knew of any events that would help with ALS; but with ALS being such a rare disease there just seemed to be very little awareness and focus on this horrible disease. You see my wife and I have witnessed the killer ourselves. I met my wife about 14 years ago sailing on lake lanier. Before long I was meeting the family, a large family of six siblings. Andy her dad had an influence on me almost immediately. Andy and I had some similar interest and he was a geek pretty much like me. Strong and vibrant he had raised a large family and was now getting close to retirement. So like many, Andy and his wife Collette move to Kentucky to build their dream house on the water front. Andy worked tirelessly after retirement and built the perfect house for the two of them. Not much is known about ALS, but they do know that if your family has a certain gene then you will most likely develop the disease at some point in your life. However, at the same time people with absolutely no family history of the disease also get ALS. Andy knew his family had the gene and unfortunately Andy developed ALS and started showing symptoms very quickly just shortly after retirement. Delane and I had decided to get married and had set a date in late fall of that year but watching Andy it was clear he may not make it long enough to see the wedding. Something he told Collette he wanted to live long enough to see. Delane and I moved our wedding to July 5th of that year and Andy was there to see and rejoice in our day of happiness. It was not long before Andy was gone; it was tough seeing someone you had just got to know, go from being a strong and capable person to someone who had trouble speaking. You see ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes degeneration of some of the largest of all nerve cells, called motor neurons. Motor neurons control the movement of voluntary muscles. This was my first exposure to this disease, unfortunately that was not the end of it. Only two years later Delane's older brother also developed ALS. Darryl was just a great guy as well; this guy would give you the shirt off his back. Darryl and his wife Becky had worked to build up their body shop business. Darryl was known by everyone in town and if you wanted your car fixed right after an accident, Darryl was the guy to go to. Darryl would suffer with the disease for 5+ years before passing just a couple of years ago.

So as I sat listening to the Jon Blais story and watching the video, once again, I thought about Andy and Darryl and thought there must be something more that can be done. After the video they brought Jon and his parents on stage to a standing ovation. Jon spoke about how Ironman and he would now continue the battle for ALS awareness and hopefully one day a cure. Ironman will have one person wear the number Jon wore in his Ironman race in Kona #179 at each of their events. In additon, many ALS warriors came out to help in this year's Kona race by wearing ALS mesages on jerseys and contributing to the cause. More than 50 athletes did the now famous "log roll" just like Jon across the finsih line. Upon hearing all of this, it was like someone tapped me on the shoulder at the point and said. You know "You are now an ALS warrior - Right"? It was obivous how I could help and that is exactly what my wife I plan on doing. From now on, I will support the ALS cause in all my Ironman races and work to raise money and awareness of the disease. Pleas help me keep up the fight! Here is a link to Jon's web site where you can start to help.

ALS Warrior Poet

Ironman 70.3 World Championships Race Report

Not much more to say other than it was all the words people use to
describe great events all rolled into one - great, fantastic,
wonderful, special. I guess I will start with the swim practice the
day before. Perfect weather about low 70s at 8am calm water. Head out for a nice
swim to get acclumated to the water, get in my wetsuit, water temp abut 72 degress. Just hate that first bit of water trickling down the back - Burrr! After that everything is fine. Swimming back in I see a Coast Guard boat hanging out and chatting it up wiht the guys on Sea Doos (Safety Crew) so I decide to ask about current, you can bet the Coast Guard knows all the local currents.
He told me to expect a mild current to the north - which seemed to be confimred as I slowly drifted North away from the mark, while talking to them. He also confirmed we would have perfect conditions for tomorrow's race, low to mid 80s for a high and calm water. First time
I had been to Clearwater, really a great area, might go back for some
R&R one day. Noticed swimming back in the sun was dead in my eyes - should have
brought DARK goggles - Oh well (Live and learn). Took a short ride on the bike to test
eveything else and spin the legs a little - followed that with the
race meeting. They run everything just like a FULL Ironman race (So
now I know what to expect in Arizona April 2007). In transition you have 3
bags, one for each discipline - Volunteers help strip your wetsuit at T1 and you grab your bike bag which has all your gear accept your hemet - you can clip your shoes to the bike if you so desire. After the ride at T2 the volunteers grab your bike and rack it for you while you continue to the bag rack and pickup your running bag that has all your running gear, like shoes hat, shades etc.
Race day morning starts early. Nothing much to do since all your gear and bike had to be checked in the daybefore. It makes for a no rush effort on race morning with little or nothing to forget on race day. You can tell Ironman has perfected this system over time. Bottom line it simply works very well. Race day jitters - go for a short run to free up the nerves. Run feels good but not sure the nerves are gone. Everyone seems uptight. Very little idle chat, boy these guys are dead serious!
Get in my wetsuit and head for the start. Beach Start - Wave starts
but BIG waves 300 or more in my group, split by 5 minutes apart. My age group is 40-44 but they also decide to add the 18 -24 year old age group. this really stinks. I have been here before in local races. Nothing against the younger guys but they tend to "lose it in the water" and hammer the bike way too soon. However this is Worlds so clearly these guys should be better at keeping their emotions in check. Our wave is now lining up, I find myself about one 3rd back from the front of the pack and roughly somewhere in the middle. I know from previous experience this is going to be a slugfest and I will shortly be proven correct. Gun sounds! I am off, head for the water struggle several times with my goggles immediately leaking water. Seems no matter what I do sometimes I just cannot get the fit I want. Roll over on the back re-seat the goggles multiple times, getting tons of salt water in the eyes, finally get it right. Got killed, hit on the head, slapped in the back, run over from behind, nearly kicked in the face, you name it, it happened. The washing machine last the entire swim no way to find clear water to swim in with this many people but I was finally swimmming in my own space by about 400 meters or so. I am definately aenarobic - keep trying to calm myself down and get into any kind of rythum. Every once in a while I end up running into other people or them running into me. By this time though I am somewhere in the middle of the pack and just being towed along
nicely. Make the two turns and start heading back in, now we start catching some of the slower swimmers in the wave that started 5 minutes ahead of us (Blue caps we have purple caps) GREAT more people to contend with! I cannot see a thing between the sun and salt water eyes. I breath on my left and bouys are on the right, so every once in a while I roll right and pick
up a bouy - must have been swimming pretty straight since when I roll I always manage to be relatively close to the bouy. In the back of my mind I know I need to swim as if I am headed more to the right - towards the bouy to counteract the current. In my sailing days we would call this sailing high of the mark due to the current pushing you down. (thanks Coast Guard!) a lot of people do not realize they are getting pushed to the left by the current and thus swim farther while I am able to stay closer to the bouys and swim more of a stright line. Somewhere along
here is where I get the black eye (however I will not even know this
until after the race when my wife ask me what happened to my eye and
then as the day goes on it starts to turn black on the bottom corner -
(I never knew IM was a full contact sport!) the best I can figure is
when I roll to breath on my left the guy next to me landed a perfect
elbow in my eye. Swim over I forgot to start my watch but knew
what time I started the race so I thought I swam about a 35 minute leg
(typical for me - but it ended up being better - 33:42 that is a PR) After standing
up from the swim I had to walk all the way out of the water due to
cramps - never had this happen either, usually have no problems. Once again you have to deal with what race day brings and some things you simply have no control over. Don't panic, walk slowly the legs will come back I tell myself. Once blood started to flow to my legs again I was able to jog up the beach and over the timming mat. Into T1 and out on the bike, no problems here just a standard T1. Oh yea - I forgot a lady started laughing at me as I grabbed my bike going through T-1 they were playing a cool song on the radio and I started singing - I remember her pointing at me and laughing and saying - "Look at the singing Tri-Guy! Pretty funny in retrospect. Really not much happening on the bike, this is my strength, I stayed in my aero position really nicely, felt pretty good the whole ride and according to my splits held
a constant 22.3 or so average for the ride. Lots of people riding in
packs I hope they got penalties but it did not look like many were
handed out. 4 miles or so from the end of the bike is where this
knucklehead decides to ignore the cop directing traffic and he pulled
right out in front of me while I was doing about 30 or so down a
slight hill. Of course he hears everyone yelling and instead of
continuing on, he stops dead in front of me. I locked up the back
wheel and slid sideways and just knew I was toast but some how stopped
literally one foot from his right car door - had a few choice words
for him as I pedaled around the front of his car . At this point I
tried to calm myself down - get those emotions in check - that is just wasted energy! Let's just get the bike back to T2. Bike ended up being 2:30 and some change - decent (Fast course a few causway bridges to cross for hills but pretty much flat - a little wind on one
long bridge but not too bad) Home safe and through transition. Out we
go for the run, the first 3 or 4 miles I just felt bad, but that is normal and I am somewhat used to it, I knew the legs would eventually start feeling better. Mile 6 or so
it felt better. The course had us go over a causeway bridge 4 times
which made the run a little tougher than I anticipated. Comming home I
was definately on empty, a sure sign of this is when your heart rate will not go up but your legs feel like dead weights. Basically you are starting to bonk, not from aerobic (lung) issues but from Muscle fatigue/Mulscular endurance. This is the key to IM racing and something we all strive for in our training to develop - better Muscular Endurance. I knew I was not going to break 5 hours but I also knew I would be close and set a knew PR - so no complaints with that. Came home in 5:04 and some change, an 8 minute improvement over my Cancun 70.3.
Overall just a great day, a great experiece.
Overall
I was somewhere in the middle of the pack like 8 hundred and something
out of about 1600 or 1700 particapants. I was only 164 out of about
200 or so in my age group (tough age group). When I think about that I
qualified with a roll down slot and I am only in my second year of Tri
that seems about where my fitness is, but I know I can get to the
level many of these guys are at, I just need another year or two. I plan on taking a couple weeks
off but I am reenergized to start training for IM Arizona soon. All I
can say is I can guarantee you this 70.3 thing is going to be huge and
I think will shortly gain the respect that Kona does, giving more
athletes a chance to race a World Championship at this very fast
distance instead of the much different Full IM distance. The race
directors at IM said this is exactly what they are trying for. As far
as I am concerned they sure have a good start. So get out there and
race one of the 70.3 races and try to qualify for Clearwater - trust
me you will love it!
See you out there!
Got good SWAG (Shit we all get!)

P.S make sure to come back and look for my links about another even more rewarding experience I had in Clearwater. It is the "Blazeman" story. This one you cannot miss! During this experieince I was literally tapped on the shoulder as if someone was saying to me - that is you buddy, your ticket has been punched! I will be an ALS Warrior in my future Ironman races. Look for details in future posst.

My first post!

I am just getting home from Clearwater Florida and the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. But first a little back ground is in order. Over the next few weeks I will try to post some older races etc. to even things out a bit. I started Triathlons about two years ago, after a number of years of working and stressing out in an effort to find something meaningful in life. Once I was totally burned out and had some time to sit back and look at what I was doing; it was obvious to me that what I missed was my previous athletic life. A life that was a big part of who I was in my teens and my 20s. Since that time I had focussed on work and let my fitness get to embarrasing levels and my weight balooned to 30-40 pounds over what it should be. I purchased my first road bike about 3 years ago and found some group rides - I loved it from day one. Over time the weight came off and the fitness started to return. My job was - well just a job and in my oppinion the way it should be. No longer was I thining about work all the time, instead I was always thinking about the group ride that afternoon. Nothing wrong with having goals with your career but most people really have no life and think their job means everything. Of course they never admit this, they say things like my family comes first, etc. however these are the very people that you see working late, comming in early, claim to have no time for working out and eat fast food at lunch every day. This was me as well just a few years ago. Not any more, not for me. I have always wanted to ask these people just one questsion: Have you ever met a man on his death bed that said "I wish I would have just worked a little harder at work to get that promotion" I doubt it! A little later I will tell you about a true hero and someone who really understands the meaning of life; but for now let me use some of his words to give you more perspective as to what I mean about work and life in general. As "Jon Blazeman" would say I do not want to know what you do for a living, I do not want to know how much money you make. I want to know what your passion is. I want to know do you have the guts to go and try something even though there is a very good chance you may fail. I want to know that if you fail you have the guts to pick yourself up and keep trying. I want to know are you someone who ignores conventional wisdom in an effort to find wisdom. I echoe those thoughts and have found Triathlon a place to find peopel just like that. Maybe that is what is so appealing to me, "The people" the people you meet in tri are just great, you see very talented people that have been doing tri for years helping out pure amatuers like myself and you see those same veterans finding renewed strength from seeing the effort of the newly annointed in the sport.

Ok just getting back from Clearwater like I said earlier what a great experience. At the end of my second season in triathlon I had signed up for an innaugrual 70.3 Ironman in Cancun. Upon doing this I saw that Ironman was also starting and will be having the first ever 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thougt, "While that is cool" but knowing I was only in my second year of Tri and that I had not even done a half Ironman at that point I doubted I would be at that event. "Anything is possible" as Ironman said and after racing my first Half at Whitelake and training hard through the summer I went to Cancun in what I thought was pretty good shape. turned out to be barely enough - I finished 16th in my age group and grab a roll down slot to the Clearwater 70.3 World Championships. Needless to say what a year for me. I could not beleive it. I think this really proves a point - sometimes you just have to go for it and let the chips fall where they may, you never know and you will never succeed if you do not show up first. I learned a lot about myself and fell in love with Tri at that point. Sure I had done some local races but nothing compares to the way Ironman races are run and the competitors, volunteers and fans that are associated with such an event. So after finding myself qualified for Clearwater I knew I would be a Back of the packer due to the very talented people qualifying for this event but that was ok. I was there, I qualified and I will always be able to say I was at the very FIRST ever 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. In my oppinion this series and this championship will grow very rapidly and will be very competetive in just a few years and could even possibly gain a similar status that Kona has today. I guess time will tell. I had a great race, set a new PR for me, had perfect weather and had a great day. I will post a race report for Clearwater and Cancun and maybe a few other things in the next few days.