See Tom Tri

2011- time to get a trainin'

2011-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's decided - I'm going to do the RunTex Distance Challenge in '11. Fired up. I've been very focused on triathlon, it'll be a fun change to mix in a bit more running! Plus, what a great way to get my pooch's energy level drained a bit more.

Hope your early season is going well. It's starting to heat up here in Austin - time to get out on the trail and get that speed back!

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

2010-08-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty busy for me lately… between my recent trip to Seattle to spend time with family, closing on my first Texas house, and finishing the Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 triathlon with a respectable (hopefully) time there just hasn’t been much free time outside of that! I’m somehow managing to keep my career happy and progressing well (which is a fantastic thing) and some semblance of a social life, there’s nothing to complain about!

I have certainly been pondering one question for the past two to three months… why am I doing my second Ironman in November? I already ‘checked the box’ for having successfully completed an Ironman-distance triathlon in Coeur d’Alene in 2009… what is it I’m trying to find in Arizona this year? I’ve also learned a lot about how much more difficult it is to mix prep for an Ironman with career life… things were much easier in 2009 when free time was abundant during the peak of the training effort for IM CdA. I’m having more difficulty making it all happen this year, and honestly there are a bunch of things in life that I desire to give a greater amount of attention to than getting ready for another Ironman.

One other item worthy of note is having fun with your other-than-work interests… hobbies are supposed to be fun, that’s why we do this, right? I have a BLAST when I do half iron/70.3 events… but I don’t know that I love the Ironman distance events as I do the half iron/70.3 events. I’ve had a lot of trouble getting excited to do the long training this season. T here’s not that large of a difference between riding 110 miles and 70 miles in numeric terms, but wow… when you’re on the road actually doing it the difference is huge in terms of life impact. The same can be said between a 15mi run and a 20mi run… yes, it’s only 5 more miles, but the difference in life impact is far larger than the number can illustrate.

After giving this question as to why I am doing IMAZ ‘10 careful consideration for about three months, I’ve decided to withdraw from Ironman Arizona 2010 and instead race the Ironman 70.3 Texas (Austin) and the San Antonio Rock n Roll half marathon. I can’t get enough of the half iron/70.3 distance triathlon events, and it’ll be fun to get my running season started a bit early. In the meantime, not doing Ironman will free up more time (and mental bandwidth) to focus on other areas of my life that I’d really love to give more attention to… getting my house in order, spending more time with family, building more into my social life… and I can do all this while still enjoying the long distance endurance racing that I’m so in love with. It’s clearly the right solution for me.

Making this change is bittersweet; I really love the camaraderie that is built amongst my teammates as we train and race together for the longer stuff. I love supporting my teammates and sharing the experience as we all prepare to race, and I certainly plan on doing that as I would if I was racing.

Onwards and upwards!

Race wheels, tubes, tires, ...

2010-06-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

For those that know me well, you know I LOVE talking about equipment. I'd own 30 bikes if it was possible in any way. Having said that, one topic that's been on my mind a lot lately is trying to figure out what set of tires is best for a particular set of race wheels I have... thought I'd share some thoughts here on wheels, tires, and how they all relate to one another.

So, here's some random thoughts that hopefully could be of assistance as you consider your race wheel setup

- Aerodynamics, rolling resistance and weight are your key considerations... and in that order. Let's talk about each individually.

Generally, the deeper the wheel profile the more aero... i.e. a set of Zipp 1080s (~110mm rim profile depth) will offer a larger aerodynamic advantage concerning triathlon riding than a Zipp 404 (~60mm rim profile depth) would. There are many caveats here of course... two primary factors being rider weight and wind conditions. Deeper rim profiles can be more affected by wind conditions and lighter riders may have more difficulty handling them in stiff crosswinds. Being a taller guy, this isnt such a consideration for me, but may be for some. Personally, I race with a 60mm depth front wheel... while not being the ultimate in aerodynamics, it's a very versatile choice for many different types of wind conditions. I've raced with rim depths up to 90mm on the front, and have noticed a difference in crosswind bike handling, but nothing that would scare me away from using them again. Along with rim depth, choosing a tire that's well matched to the rim width you're using is a good call to ensure your best experience. If you're using Zipp wheels, use the zipp tires - they're designed to work together and work very well. Hed C2s use a 23mm width rim, so you have many great tire options available. I've heard of very good experiences with the Bontrager R4 aero tires - good rolling resistance, well matched to many popular aero wheels... make sure to get the width that most closely approximates your wheel rim width at the tire track.

Rolling resistance is basically the resistive forces against the tire (and by translation the bike and rider) generated by friction from tire to ground and from tube to tire within your wheel. A more complete description of rolling resistance can be found here (http://www.rouesartisanales.over-blog.com/article-1503651.html). A few years back, tubular tires/wheels were technically superior to their clincher counterparts concerning rolling resistance, but not so any longer - it's debatable how close they've become, but the data i've seen tells me that through use of a low rolling resistance clincher tire and a latex (not butyl) tube, clinchers can be from equal to superior to their tubular counterparts. Certainly this is a factor in buying decisions for wheelsets, given the far superior convenience of repairing flats that clinchers possess over tubulars. Personally, I've ridden both, but own only clinchers now. One flat in a race is all you'll need to make the switch like I did :) One additional factor is tire width... i'm not an expert on this topic by far, but have seen a good amount of anecdotal info that tells me you're best staying in the 21-23mm range... below that race rolling resistance becomes a large factor and above it aerodynamics become a concern.

Last but not least, weight. Yes, I agree with the viewpoint that both aero and rolling resistance trump weight. For 99% of triathletes, weight should be primarily lost on the athlete first and gear second. Concerning the gear specifically, I'm not going to launch into a large analysis of weight vs. aero or weight vs. rolling resistance (these topics has been well debated on the slowtwitch.com forums, I'd highly recommend you search there for more info)... I'm convinced that the 100 gram weight savings that costs an extra $1,000 is not justified. Weight is a consideration certainly, and lighter is always better... this one usually comes down to budget.

All said, my current recommendation is the Hed C2 series of wheels. I race with either a Hed C2 60 front and Hed C2 90 rear wheel, or a Hed C2 60 front and a Hed C2 disc rear wheel... with almost all racing using the disk (since aero always trumps other factors). I've been racing with Michelin Pro Race 3 tires - they're very low rolling resistance and offer decent flat tire protection. It's not the lowest rolling resistance tire out there, but it's one of the best and has served me well. Latex tubes of course.

Some measured values of tire rolling resistance can be found at the end of this article (http://www.rouesartisanales.over-blog.com/article-1503651.html)... not exactly up to date, but recent enough to be helpful.

Hope this helps! Thanks for reading!

Fun, Fast, ... or both?

2010-05-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

The debate raging in my mind lately is what I want to do with this triathlon hobby i've got going long term... cause it's just not going to be possible to continue to balance life with the current course/speed as I achieve my non-athletic goals. I don't want to stop, and I don't want to give up significant amounts of time in my results, so there's a challenge here worthy of a solution.

Ultimately, I think where I'm going to land is somewhere between go like hell and go like hell with the limited training budget I've allowed myself :) The slippery part of the equation for me is balancing competitiveness and fun... in my experience, if you're not careful they can be mutually exclusive.

Let's face it - I'm a competitive guy. I like competing. It's fun. I enjoy being challenged... and as long as I've put in all the effort I have to give, the outcome is all good. So, it's a bit tougher for me to not train with that in mind. Training with the race day in mind really helps me create intensity and that sense of urgency I need to push myself. Does that go away if I'm not shooting at as high of a target?

Finding the balance in being competitive yet still having a lot of fun on a more limited training budget... don't know when I'll have need to cross that bridge, but I can see it off in the horizon!

Tough on the eyes...

2010-05-04T10:28:00.001-07:00

Anyone up for a new iPad? I know I'm fighting back the urge to get one. It's pretty likely I'd put it to better use than this guy...

Are you struggling trying to understand your hydration needs? Hopefully this info can help.

2010-04-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

(To kick off this post, a few framing comments are needed...

1. I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, chemist, ... none of the above. The comments in this post are purely the product of my research on the web and of local resources including my personal experience. Please don't consider this to be medical advice in any capacity whatsoever.

2. Your mileage may vary - it's my hope that you'll add this information to your current mental database and therefore become even better equipped for sports nutrition success.

On to our regularly scheduled blog post...)

Hydration is about a whole lot more than just drinking water. I'm sure you probably already know that. But, the real question is this - how can you be sure that you've got the right formula to have confidence you're meeting your endurance sport hydration needs? Let's see if we can't add a few bits of info to answer this question and at least get closer to an answer.

A few things to consider in long course endurance racing.

• You can have a stomach full of water and still experience dehydration if you are electrolyte depleted.
• Salt capsules are not the same as electrolyte supplements... they both contain salt, but the electrolyte supplement also contains (generally speaking) potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
• It's unlikely that in endurance racing (half-ironman or longer) at higher temperatures you will get your electrolyte and hydration needs both met through a single product (drink, gel, powder). You may be one of the lucky ones, but it's unlikely.

So, it seems there may be some complexity here then. Let's talk about a few basic strategies that have worked for me.

1. Separate your hydration needs from your caloric needs! You may address them both through the same products, but consider their fulfillment separately in your planning. I'm not going to discuss caloric intake needs in this post at all - we'll discuss that one later.

2. Know your sweat rate (how to determine is below), and estimate your electrolyte needs. The sweat rate test is relatively easy, the electrolyte need determination may take some trial and error.

3. Know what products you use, what products will be on the course for your races, and make sure that you have a specific timetable at which times you will consume what quantity of what product. It's important to be a planner in this endeavor if you want to be successful.

4. Practice your hydration strategy in your training! Don't ever think that you'll just magically nail it if you're not planning and testing during training - we train to long and hard to leave something as important as hydration to guesswork.
Have you done a sweat rate test? If not, you should consider it.

Here's how you'd do it - from an article originally published in Runners World.

1. Weigh yourself nude right before a run.

2. Run at race pace for one hour, keeping track of how much you drink (in ounces) during the run.

3. After the run, strip down, towel off any sweat, and weigh yourself nude again.

4. Subtract your weight from your prerun weight and convert to ounces. Then add to that number however many ounces of liquid you consumed on your run. (For example, if you lost a pound and drank 16 ounces of fluid, your total fluid loss is 32 ounces.)

5. To determine how much you should be drinking about every 15 minutes, divide your hourly fluid loss by 4 (in the above example it would be 8 ounces).

6. Because the test only determines your sweat losses for the environmental conditions you run in that day, you should retest on another day when conditions are different to see how your sweat rate is affected. You should also redo the test during different seasons, in different environments (such as higher or lower altitudes), and as you become faster, since pace also affects your sweat rate.

Now that you know your sweat rate, you can begin to consider your electrolyte replacement needs.

From what I've read/observed, if your sweat test result yielded your needs to be 24oz of fluids per hour, a fairly average hydration formula would look something like this - 24oz of fluids per hour plus electrolyte supplements containing ~600mg of sodium (also including brand-specific proportions of the other electrolyte ingredients mentioned above). I'm sure this estimated baseline could be debated, but I'm willing to put a stake in the ground and recommend this as a starting point.

You can now begin to experiment with a few different electrolyte replacement products using your sweat rate result as a baseline for electrolyte replacement needs.

Remember that although electrolyte supplements (i.e. Endurolytes, S-Caps, SaltStick, Lava Salt, Thermolytes) may appear identical, there are DRAMATIC differences between them. As an example, lets look at the sodium content of each of the above caps (we spend so much time looking at sodium as it's the electrolyte in highest concentration in our sweat & urine):

S-Caps: 341mg
SaltStick: 215mg
Lava Salts: 158mg
Thermolytes: 150mg
Endurolytes: 40mg

Clearly quite a difference, and very important to keep in mind when planning for your electrolyte needs!

Personally, I'm a fan of Thermolytes, but also use SaltStick caps on occasion. It's very rare you'll see me without a little container of them on any long training effort. Visit your local endurance sports store or running/tri club and see what they have to say. Experiment to find your optimal mix.

Here's another possible approach that may yield some assistance as you determine your needs during long intense training and racing situations...

• If your drink "tastes" too "watery" you may want to increase your salt intake. For example, some athletes have had the experience that "the volunteers at that last aid station aren't mixing the Gatorade strong enough, it's way too diluted!" Well -- usually the drink's mixed right and that is your body's way of telling you that you're in fact diluting your own electrolytes, internally.

NOTE: There is no "salt craving" associated with this "watery taste." In fact, it's more a feeling of "water aversion.", as in it just doesn't feel/taste like something you want to drink.

• If your drink tastes too "sweet" or concentrated you may need to increase your water intake -- this is your body's way of telling you that you're dehydrated. If you come away from an aid station thinking the drink has been mixed too strong, or things simply taste too sweet, syrupy, or concentrated, your body may be telling you it needs water.

There's certainly more to write in the future about this, but hopefully this serves as a solid starting point if you were looking for one. If you're a bit befuddled trying to figure this all out, believe me, you're not alone... but once you get it figured out, you'll never be happier and will be en route to some outstanding performances!

(huge thank you to the many contributors to this information! Runnersworld.com, slowtwitch.com, and many many endurance athletes/coaches throughout Texas and California)

The 2010 Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas... aka Windybikefest 2010

2010-04-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

I now understand why everyone was so pumped about the weather conditions in 2009...

Ok, so probably need to start by describing myself to those of you who don't know me. I'm 6'3", ~190lbs. If you had a sailboat and had a need for some extra sail surface area, you could use me. I get as low as I can on the bike (and I can get pretty aero), but I'm still a big guy with a lot of surface area for the wind to grab on to.

Now that we've got that out there, let the race report begin.

The wind was pretty intense most of the weekend. Friday night, the winds reached up to 75mph... the sprint and olympic distance events for Saturday morning were converted to run-bike-run due to the high winds. The wind was so extreme that a police boat capsized in Galveston bay. So, hopefully you're getting the picture that this isn't the standard cyclist wind bellyaching. The bike course for this race is an out and back, flat as a pancake, and highly exposed. Staying low and aero is a big deal to have a good bike split here.

When the race kicked off, the water was pretty choppy - we had to work our way through some swells and decent waves (I heard someone say there were whitecaps, but I was pretty heads-down so didn't see them as much as experience them). I enjoy rough water swimming - reminds me of the Great Lakes - but it doesnt make for fast swim splits. Amongst my age group, I had a good swim split. Out of the water, into T1, and into the winds.

When I got out near the seawall to begin the 28mi straightaway (before the turnaround just past the opposite end of the island), the wind was like a slap in the face. As I continued to ride, it became clear it was more of a side wind with a bit of headwind. It made the course quite tough. I kept low and ground it out, but it became pretty clear about 15mi into the ride I should begin to let thoughts of a big PR go... that wasn't easy. But, when confronted with the simple choice of either continue to grind it out and possibly ruin the fun of the day or take it a little easier and be sure to have good memories of the race, the winner was the latter. Just doesn't make sense to put all of that effort into a race weekend and come away having not achieved my time goal AND having not had a good time racing. This is the reason we do it, to have fun, right? :) After the turnaround, sped up slightly on my way back to T2, but the wind was still beating me up pretty good. Back into T2, let the run begin.

I was very happy with how I managed the run mentally... wasn't my fastest run ever, but kept good paces for the first two (of four) laps, and took it a bit easier towards the end. Hit my hydration plan perfectly this year - a key goal of mine given the big problems I had on the run in 2009 with dehydration. All considered, my nutrition plan hit dead center for this race... and I get three more chances to practice it prior to IM Arizona later this year.

The finish, not a time I'm very proud of, but still did pretty well in my AG. I had hoped to go much faster, but that's ok - I'll live to fight another day. After my second attempt at this course, I'm trying to decide whether to keep after it in 2011 at this event and see if I can't master it, or to spectate... I'm sure I'll be there to take the start :)

Big props to all of my T3 teammates... many PRs, many first timers at this distance. Chris, Kevin, Carrie, Jen, Seth, Jason, John, Danny, Tami, Natasha, ... You're all a blast to train and race with, and I'm proud to be on the team with you. Coach Mo, you were a great help to many in keeping on target during that run - very much appreciate your words of encouragement and direction.

All considered, a great event - great weekend with friends, great weekend away from normal life to get some mental downtime, and a very well run race. Time well spent.

Thanks for reading!

What to do when another cyclist is hurt...

2010-04-19T14:37:00.001-07:00

Here's a clip from an outstanding article... full version can be found here (with thanks to 'Fat Cyclist' for the copy).

As a cyclist who sometimes rides with a female cyclist, I realize that how one acts may depend on who one is with, and have therefore helpfully segregated my findings into appropriate gender combinations.

If you are a male cyclist with an injured female cyclist, ...

Refrain from telling her how hot she looks in lycra. Now is not the time. Trust me.
Tell her how tough and awesome she is. By the way, she is very tough, and very awesome. Just in case you weren’t clear on that.
Tell her anyone else would be crying harder / acting more pathetic than she is, including you. But don’t use the words “acting more pathetic,” because that implies she’s being pathetic at all, which she is not.
Get her bike ready to ride again. The woman is going to want you to shut up at some point. This is a good time for you to fiddle with her bike and make sure it’s good to go.
Volunteer to make a tourniquet / bandage out of your jersey. But not until she’s on her feet and seems like she might appreciate your sense of humor again.
Describe the events leading up to the injury. Be expansive and generous with the difficulty of the triggering obstacle and / or event. She didn’t endo when she hit a rock. It was a big ol’ honkin’ ledge, and she darn near cleared it anyway. I’m not exactly sure why we all start telling the story as soon as the event happened, but it seems to help, and it seems to help more if you get started with the exaggeration right away.

If you are a male cyclist with an injured male cyclist, ...

Ask if he’s alright. Depending on how old you are and where you live, you should either end the sentence with “dude,” “man,” or “bro.” It makes the question affectionate and concerned-sounding without being too affectionate and concerned-sounding.
Lean his bike against a tree. He won’t trust any tweaks, fixes, or adjustments you make anyway.
Wait for 30 seconds before asking if he’s ready to ride. If he says he needs another minute, wait another thirty seconds and ask again. Repeat as necessary.
Describe the event, but feel free to trivialize certain aspects (such as the prime cause of the event) and enhance other aspects (such as the high-pitched scream the victim made upon suffering a compound fracture).

If you are a female cyclist with an injured male cyclist

Tell him how hot he looks in lycra. For guys, there’s no bad time to hear this, and even when we’re injured there’s a small part of us that’s wondering if our guts are sufficiently sucked in.
Otherwise let us suffer quietly. We’re trying to be manly and stoic. If you begin to describe the event, we’re going to think it sounds silly, because you’re not exaggerating our manliness sufficiently. If you call the injury on our leg a “nasty little scrape,” you’re making it that much harder to refer to it as a five-inch-long gushing gash when we recount it later.
Don’t touch our bikes. Unless we beg you to help us unclip.

If you are a female cyclist with an injured female cyclist

Honestly I have no idea. Do whatever it is you women do when you’re with each other. Like, talk about how much you miss us men. That’s what you do when we’re not around, right?

Hopefully y'all found this as entertaining as I did :)

Running form, swimming form... why not pedaling form?

2010-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

My tri team here in Austin TX, T3, just recently conducted a demonstration as to what the team can offer to its members concerning pedal stroke efficiency coaching. We had about 20 team members attend the demo, and I believe we'll end up having a good amount of those who attended the demo participate in a form-focused coaching session related to their pedaling efficiency.

I bet you're thinking, "Hey, that's great Tom. Why do I care about this?"

For some reason, it seems the normal triathlete operates under the philosophy that it's all about hard training... volume, volume, volume. We normally, when learning the sport, don't pay very much attention at all to specific technique work until one of two things happens...

1. We get injured (99% of people fall into this camp)
2. We stop getting faster through volume alone

When starting out in the sport, the opportunities to improve in each of the disciplines are plentiful, and offer almost instant return on training investment. If you're getting out to train, you're getting faster - almost no way to get that one wrong. As we get more experienced and the volume begins to pile up, inefficiencies in form begin to turn into wear and tear that can turn into injury, or stagnation in improvement.

If I had my first year of triathlon to do over again, I'd do it much differently - I'd focus almost exclusively on form, and in all of the disciplines. That effort spent will certainly yield two things...

1. Reduced risk of injury
2. Overall better performances with greater capacity for improvement with volume

The particular example that's kicking off this thought process for me is the bike... nowhere in endurance sports is the extreme volume philosophy stronger than cycling. It seems to work in most cases, but I'd imagine that even those who don't encounter injury using the volume philosophy would achieve even better results through greater focus on proper pedaling efficiency. Early this season, I've made a point to spend more time on the Computrainer... the spinscan tool can help identify weaknesses in your pedal stroke and provides real-time feedback as you ride to let you see for yourself if changes you're implementing are helping to correct them. Using this tool along with a trained (hopefully USAT certified) coach can help you get there even faster.

Certainly, running is probably an even stronger case for this point - increases in quality of running form can enable running speed/efficiency far faster than volume ever could, and with greatly reduced risk of injury.

Are you running with a group that has quality coaching resources? Are you focusing on form rather than volume in your efforts to gain speed? Have you ever used a resource such as the computrainer to determine where to focus your cycling form improvement efforts? If you're saying 'no' to any of these questions, I'd recommend you give it a shot! You'll love the results.

IMO, an excellent read - Shimano and Advocacy

2010-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Certainly worth a few moments of your time to read (or scan) through...

Shimano's Advocacy

Spoiler alert - here are some of my thoughts/impressions.

Shimano - a $2B company, with 80% of its revenue coming from cycling ($1.6B) and the remainder primarily from fishing equipment ($400M). Clearly the dominant player in both industries, probably moreso cycling... though I do not claim to have the grasp on the state of the fishing equipment industry that I do on cycling.

Cycling and fishing, politically speaking, are roughly at opposite ends of the spectrum... cycling is generally more leftward leaning (environmentally conscious, etc) and sport fishing (not industrial fishing - key distinction) is generally a bit more to the right (environmentally conscious for sure, yet more focused on freedom of access rights and opposed to catch restrictions).

As you'll note reviewing my previous blog entries, I'm not normally want to comment on affairs political in this space. However, this one for some reason is striking me as comment-worthy... why would a company take a strong political position that's primarily opposed to the general beliefs represented by 80% of its revenue (and by translation customers/constituents)? Curious to say the least. Additionally, if the statement that their market share within the fishing equipment space isnt as dominant as that within the cycling market, this strategic direction becomes even more puzzling.

Anyway, a worthy read for anyone with a particular bent towards environmental affairs or interest in Shimano as a corporate entity. I'm always interested to hear more about advocacy efforts undertaken by the companies that provide products I consume - there are always many options available to the consumer; Ideally, I desire that my dollars spent not only provide me with the goods/services I want, but also support the beliefs I espouse.

Hopefully you enjoy the article too!

iPhone + Blender = ?

2010-04-12T12:41:00.001-07:00

Hydration and Lonestar 70.3...

2010-04-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

The Lonestar 70.3 in 2009 was a story of contrasts for me... the first story being the combination of swim, T1, bike, T2 and the second being the run. Thought I'd share in the hope that there's some key learning I could pass along to any who may be racing this event in the near future.

The first story...

Swim, T1

The swim was fantastic for an early season swim. While I was not even kinda approximating a straight line and learned it was key to swim with your mouth closed while in saltwater, it was a moderately fast day, and a good crowd - very sporting. A little bumping around, but nothing overtly combative or inappropriate. Sight lines were very clear and easy, and I rather enjoyed the bit of current and chop we encountered; reminded me a tiny bit of big lake swimming rather than the smaller lakes we normally race in for the local triathlon circuit. T1 went smoothly – I was fortunate enough to have received a very low number, and our bikes were racked according to race number (I love it when race organizers do that). T1 complete, off on the bike.

Bike and T2

Straight, flat, a little breezy. Lonestar 70.3’s bike course is basically like riding a trainer for the amount of time it takes you to cover 56 miles. If you stop pedaling, you slow down. No hills to coast down, no real terrain variety. All considered, I did enjoy it… we had very little wind to battle, and I can only pray that conditions will be as friendly in 2010 as they were in 2009.

I did discover through this style of racing that my aero position on the bike, as well as the flexibility needed to maintain that position for this length of race, were considerations that would need a larger portion of my attention throughout the season. I’m generally not one of the world’s most flexible people, and staying in an aggressive aero position for 2.5 hours was not yet a trick I had in my bag. However, I had a very solid bike, a solid T2, and thus began the run.

Run

The run is where the wheels fell off. Up to this point in my racing career, I wasn’t quite aware of the fundamentals of proper hydration beyond fluid intake… the primary missing piece being the role of electrolytes. I began the run looking around 4 months pregnant; had a ton of water onboard, but none of the electrolytes my digestive system needed to process it. Therefore, the most curious thing happened – while I had a surplus of water in my stomach, I was dehydrated and getting worse by the step. Your body goes through a few different phases when progressing deeper into dehydration…

1. You feel thirsty – dry mouth, etc.

2. You stop sweating

3. You begin to feel cold, possibly with goose bumps.

4. To say it politely, your stomach ‘empties’ from whence it became full J

So I was solidly in step 4… once per lap. It was a four lap run. That was not pleasant. The key learning for me – while water and sports drink are important, separating the plan to satisfy your caloric needs from your hydration needs is key. Your nutrition plan should have two distinct phases – caloric needs, hydration needs.

Thus was born my love for Thermolytes. I began using Endurolytes – an excellent product made by Hammer Nutrition - but soon realized through a good amount of research and numerous discussions with friends/teammates that they just didn’t pack enough punch for my particular needs. When you see me racing, it’s a guarantee that if the race is longer than a 10k (which is pretty much everything these days) not only will I have a tube of Thermolytes on my person, but I’ll have a spare in T2 in case something happens to my first. I consider them as important any other key need – body glide, timing chip, etc.

How’s your nutrition plan for long course these days? Do you separate your caloric needs from your hydration needs? If not, you may want to consider it!

See you at lonestar… errrr, the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas (name changed for 2010).

Back to the future?

2010-04-08T17:57:00.001-07:00

Yeah, no idea why that last post was a time warp :) This post and the last post were made 4/8/2010.

The Protest Duathlon

2010-03-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

Participated in the Protest Duathlon on April 3rd - my first duathlon ever. That was a blast! Big thanks to the Austin Duathletes - put on an outstanding event.

Run 1: 12:03 (6:02/mi pace)
T1: 0:19Bike: 26:17
T2: 0:19 (consistent, huh? :))
Run 2: 12:49 (6:24/mi pace)

Total time: 51:51. 3rd overall, 2nd in my age group.

Here's Carrie, Phil, any myself showing off the 'hardware' after the awards ceremony. Like my bunny ears?

... here's hoping racing season keeps me upright and moving fast!

FOTC Friday

2010-03-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Enjoy.

The End Game

2010-03-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how many different conclusions you can reach by changing your vantage point on the exact same things... for example, work/career. Here's two totally different viewpoints that lead to different conclusions, but yet are both entirely valid.

Nobody on the death bed made mention that they wished they'd spent more time at the office.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

Now I understand that's a bit of a reach, but nevertheless it is a valid example. Being a passionate person, I don't really do many things halfway... therefore I am frequently assessing how I'm spending my time and whether that's what I really want to be doing. One paradox I've been running into for years (and seem to be bumping up against a lot lately) is present-focus vs. future-focus... no matter what situation you're looking at in the present, the assessment you'd make of the exact same situation in the long run will differ - and sometimes by quite a bit.

This blog tends to be a bit triathlon/running focused, and that's sort of the intent. The thoughts I'm having right now weighing short-term vs. long-term aren't exclusively related to tri, but there certainly is application. When considering how to do this sport for a lifetime, taking a short-term view and a long-term view result in very different results/benefits as well as courses of action. It's a blast as far as a lifestyle choice - can't beat the people you meet along the way, every finished race is a personally meaningful accomplishment, and the cardiovascular health benefits can't be beat. But, it is highly resource consuming... whenever large amounts of time and money are involved, it's always worth some serious consideration concerning the real value to you.

So, having said all that, I'm looking forward to a year of almost exclusively long stuff in 2010. 2011 will almost certainly be an Ironman year for me again (my 3rd), but we'll see what else makes its way into 2011. 2012 is a total wild card at this point.

Let the fun begin. How many days until Lonestar 70.3? I better get back to training!

Need a Monday morning laugh?

2010-02-22T07:10:00.001-08:00

Too funny...

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=286672743938&ref=nf

Bag of sugar and salt? Seriously?

2010-02-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Infinit... especially on those long training/racing days, the lemon-lime when concentrated tastes like a margerita (especially when you're feeling a little loopy from the distance)... but wow am I in the wrong business. $50 for a bag of sugar, salt, some protein powder and flavoring? I seriously need to get after starting a supplement company.

2010 season plan complete.

2010-02-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

Looking like I've figured out what my 2010 race calendar will end up being...

3m Half Marathon - Austin, TX (completed)
Austin Half Marathon - Austin, TX (completed)
Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon - Dallas, TX
Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Galveston, TX
Capital of Texas Triathlon - Austin TX
Ironman 70.3 Boise - Boise, ID (tentative)
Lake Pflugerville Sprint Triathlon - Pflugerville, TX
Couples Sprint Triathlon - Austin, TX
Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens - Lake Stevens, WA
The Austin Triathlon - Austin, TX
Halfmax/Myrtle Beach Triathlon - Myrtle Beach, SC
Ironman 70.3 Texas - Austin, TX (tentative)
Ironman Arizona - Tempe, AZ

Busy year! I'm focusing more on the longer stuff these past few years, and really enjoying it. I'm certainly doing Ironman this year and next (Ironman Canada); we'll see if it's halves only for me after that. Ironman certainly takes your entire life over for the preparation needed to achieve a good result.

I'm fired up about what this year has to offer! Let's get it rolling!

Back in the saddle

2010-02-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

It's kind of nice that the long stuff is starting to feel familiar again. Rode 34 and ran 7 this weekend, and it felt short... very short. Gotta love recovery weeks. It's great to get readjusted mentally to the training flow. It'll be a bit tougher to get motivated this week, given the not-so-stellar weather, but I'm sure I'll manage :)

I managed to score an underwater housing for my digital camera for a song on ebay... allows me to take video to look at swim technique and see where I can focus on improving. I like it... and hopefully there will be some more fun uses for it in the future - less training motivated and more warm ocean snorkeling :) I'll have to see if I can find a place for some of that in the calendar.

Regaining life balance is always so tough this time of year when the early year work crunch is on and training is back with a vengeance... but I'm happy to say it's starting to come together nicely!

Cold and colder weather, Halfmax '10

2010-02-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hopefully this weather will take a break and let us have some sun and warmth pretty soon. It was entirely too cold to ride outdoors this weekend - forecast indicated 38F, was actually 31F at 9am. Wow. No way am I getting out for that on the bike!

It wasn't a whole lot warmer Saturday morning, but still with the sun was quite nice to get out for a run. My 2nd double digit run of the year went quite well... kept a good mid-aerobic pace for 10mi around my favorite town lake loop. That 10mi town lake loop is a godsend - no way you can cut that long run short if you're 5mi away from the car! :)

Received my invite for 2010 Halfmax today... even though I've already registered for the event, it still felt nice to receive the invite. Was fired up about how well Halfmax '09 went... hoping for an even faster result for '10. I'd love to make TeamUSA again this year for Worlds '11... Vegas baby!

Getting rolling in 2010...

2010-01-21T11:34:00.001-08:00

Let's see if I can't be a bit more consistent this year in keeping this thing updated :)

For 2010, its looking like I'll be racing a bit less and doing longer events. So far, the plan is...
Lonestar 70.3 - Galveston, TX
Rev3Tri Quassy Half-Iron - Middlebury, CT
Lake Stevens 70.3 - Seattle, WA
Myrtle Beach Half-Ironman (Halfmax) - Myrtle Beach, SC
Longhorn 70.3 - Austin, TX
Ironman Arizona - Tempe, AZ

We'll see about Quassy and Longhorn... would love to do all of the above, but I'm also planning on doing a few events here in town, so it might get to be a bit much. Total shocker that there are more races I'm interested in than I can physically do, huh?

3M Half Marathon is this weekend... i'm in better shape this year than last, so we'll see how it pans out. I decided to go kinda hard last year, but weighed more... we'll see how motivated I'm feeling race morning. I'm working to be more disciplined in keeping my early season intensity in check this year to ensure I finish strong for IMAZ. It's a struggle... tough to hold back when I feel so fresh from having taken time off!

More later. Hope you're all having a great new year so far!

Halfmax bound...

2009-09-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

All my stuff is packed, in the car, ... ready to go. Leaving for OK tonight. Fired up.

Big weekend...

2009-09-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Heading to Oklahoma this weekend for the edman Triathlon, in which I'll be doing the half iron distance. This is sort of a special race for me, in that it's the age group national championships for the half-iron distance; if I do well at this race, I can potentially get a spot on Team USA for the 2010 Half Ironman World Age Group championships. Wow. Rewind 5 years, and this was inconcieveable... I weighed ~250lbs, couldnt run a mile without stopping at any pace, and wasnt even on the road to having it pulled back together. All that, after having raced bikes for years prior to that and been in the best shape of my life. Needless to say, i'm quite fired up about this weekend.

Triathlon has not only brought fun into my life in terms of the challenge and fitness, but also some outstanding people. Heading up to OK with my friends Dionn, Kevin, Carrie, Tami, Dina and Maurice (all teammates as well). Really looking forward to that trip.

Who would have thought OK could be so exciting!

Stay tuned for more.

Packed in weekend...

2009-09-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

Who's ready for some more racin'??? That'd be me.

Friday - Zilker Relays
Monday - The Austin Triathlon

Fired. Up.

Seriously, I love racing. The getting up when its still dark, playing your fired up music in the car, body marking, setting up transition, the always-way-too-long-wait-for-the-start-even-if-it-is-only-5-minutes, and then bang! You're off. Then, you get to enjoy the payoff for all that hard work. It's such a blast.

On another note... anybody else fired up about the start of college football season? I am so IN.

Go State.

Spending energy...

2009-08-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

When I made the transition from college life to being out on my own (and REALLY out on my own - moved out of my home state not having more than a handful of acquaintances in my new state), it became quickly apparent that I was going to have to increase the amount of things I could manage at any one time - family, friends, job, housing, money, hobbies, ... we all know what the list looks like for each of us. This of course was years and years ago... so why write about it now? I was thinking today about how that process never really ended :) I've got a bunch of great things going on in life right now, and they all want my time/energy/resources/... and i'm having to prioritize like never before. It's kind of fun actually - going through periods like this is very clarifying when it comes to understanding your own priorities.

Maybe this is what kicked off the thought process... I had the opportunity to have dinner and play games with some very close friends last night, and seeing how deeply and quickly their son was able to immerse himself in the game we were playing was amazing. It made me consider the delta between the life of a 9 year old vs. that of someone my age. Wow!

So, having said all that, the next level of thinking brings me to how awesome it is to have such a full life. I've got so many fun, challenging, rewarding things in life all pulling for my attention... what a great problem to have! If I only had any passion for keeping my home in more consistently orderly shape... :)

Just for fun, here's a pic of just a small bit of the crew from this past friday's Austin Duathlete's 'dress up as a douchebag' pub run... enjoy.

Shifting the focus

2009-07-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun things to me about triathlon is the continual challenge concerning focus... what sport to focus on for what blocks of training. I'm entering the part of my season where running should be my focus, but recently I've rediscovered my love of cycling and I just can't seem to get the running focus to supplant my desire to be on the bike. So, time for me to get some discipline and start running like I should be! Maybe I can work in more bricks... :)

This concept doesn't just apply to my athletic pursuits... last week my group had a week long training effort, and the ramp to that event (as well as the delivery) required a bit more of me than previous. It was a blast... I'm fortunate professionally in that I really enjoy my industry and the people I work with. Given that we primarily serve non-profit, our firm (while for profit) has a tendency to take on the persona of our customers, and it makes for a very fun environment. So, the focus last week had to shift towards work life a bit, and that's fine... it was time well spent.

Who's coming out to join in on the Pure Austin Splash 'n Dash this weekend?

Pre-race music...

2009-07-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Think I may have come across the best pre-race get fired up music yet. Don't need quantity, just quality...

Down Rodeo - Rage Against the Machine
L'Via L'Viaquez - The Mars Volta
Broken, Beat and Scarred - Metallica
Can't Truss It - Public Enemy
Mountain Song - Jane's Addiction

Winner winner.

Getting back after it.

2009-06-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Going to the gym last night was a significantly different experience than last week :) My legs work again - even ran at a pretty good pace for a short distance. Looks like I'm successfully shaking the Ironman funk off. Very much looking forward to re-engaging in training.

Luckily, the post CDA celebrations continue... I'm guessing this week will be the last significant week of out and aboutness for the T3 crew before the training regimen begins to ramp back up (depending on who is doing what upcoming events). Next big thing for me? Longhorn 70.3, closely followed by the pre-CIM tuneup San Antonio RnR Half Marathon, and then, the final 'A' event for me in 2009, the California International Marathon. I've got my work cut out for me.

Life's been a lot of fun lately - some unexpected fun surprises, and a few very much expected fun times with friends enjoying being post-Ironman. My crew of friends is very loose and looking to have fun - it's kind of like December in June. I'll take it.

A few of us are starting to look into 2010 and see what fun lies ahead. With family moving to Seattle, i'm quite confident the Lake Stephens 70.3 will be on my calendar. There's been talk of the St. Croix 70.3 and the Hawaii 70.3 as well. It'd be great to get back on a beach for a few days. We'll see how it pans out!

So long IMCDA '09. Time to move onwards and upwards!

One week ago I became an Ironman...

2009-06-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Back in real life for one week now. It's wild how much of a transition it's been to get back to the normal pace of life. There are some perks to being through the race... sleeping in, staying out a little too late, having one beer more than is sensible when training :), ... everyone's been in a celebrating mood since the race.

So, a few post IM thoughts from IMCDA 2009...

- I have the best brother anyone could ever have. It's quite a hardship on him professionally to be out of the office, and to have Juli and Matt prioritize being there for this event meant more to me than I could express in a blog. Wow. I just can't imagine what going through this experience would have been like without having their love and support before, during, and after. Going through the finishers chute was super emotional for me, but seeing them there screaming their heads off in the front row (probably having had to fight their way in to get such a great spot) was amazing. Matt, you have no idea how special your being there made the whole weekend for me.

- My friends are rockin. Chris and Kevin are not only super rockin dudes in regular life, but we also share a passion for the sport of Triathlon that enables us all to have shared experiences that just can't be had any other way. I'll remember how rockin it was to run the marathon portion of the race with Chris, my homie who I did the greater majority of the training to get there with (and not to mention his wife Steph and son Ryland, who both were there to share this crazy ride with - you are both rock stars!). I'll remember how Kevin was there for me to do whatever I didn't have hands to do myself (and some stuff I did!) all weekend long, from leaving Austin through the race and then returning to Austin. I'll also remember how fun the warm-up swim the day before was... just such a cool experience. Fellas, you kick major azz, and I'm a lucky dude to have such rockin friends.

There are a ton of people who were a huge part of this experience for me... I'm sure I've left a few thank yous out. There were so many people who played a role I'm sure that's the case. For you, please know that every moment of encouragement, help, motivation, companionship, ... that you were there for was there with me as I crossed the line in CDA, and will continue to be with me as life moves forward beyond there.

I am an Ironman, and I didn't get there alone. To my friends and family, I love you all very much.

4 more days...

2009-06-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

All the training is done. Wow.

I can remember...

- Being pretty tired after just a few lengths at barton springs.
- Wondering why people took ice baths and if they helped at all.
- Thinking yoga was kind of silly and I could just stretch more instead.
- Massage feels great and I'm sure helps in recovery, but is more of a luxury than a need.
- Thinking the water at the ski ranch is kind of dirty, but its ok I guess...

Wow.

A few things I've learned (and relearned) so far in 2009...

- You can go as long as you want with the proper nutrition and pacing. Big shout out to Infinit and Thermolytes.
- Ironman training is not meant to be completed alone. Big shout out to my teammates/training friends. No way would I be as ready without you.
- My body just barely made it through the training injury free, thanks entirely to proper rest and recovery - big shout out to yoga, ice baths, and massage/PT at Performance Wellness.
- No matter how much multisport you do, there's always new technique to learn/distances to conquer/training focus areas/people to meet/destinations to visit/...
- The water at the ski ranch is flat rancid, and I will be a healthier person if I never come in contact with it again.

Serving the world of non-profit through software...

2009-05-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

So here I am at the end of the 2nd week of my new career of providing the world of non-profit with tailored software solutions. So far, it's been great. I think the opportunity for this career to be rewarding above and beyond anything I've previously done professionally is definitely there. I am confident that this position is also the next step I was looking for to continue to make a larger strategic impact professionally. All good thus far!

This coming weekend is the Capital of Texas Triathlon... I'll be competing for the 3rd straight year at the olympic distance. Went 2:40:01 last year, including a flat tire, pretty below average transitions, and a horrible run. All prep has been great to this point, and I'm feeling great going into the weekend. I've got a pretty aggressive goal for 2009, so wish me luck!

And a tribute to the remaining weeks prior to Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2009...

Ironman taper
It will be great to sleep more!
June twenty-first is close

I love me some Flight of the Conchords...

2009-04-20T20:18:00.001-07:00

Monday Haiku

2009-04-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Future thoughts
Want to travel a bit more
Warm ocean beach

Endless training fun
No need for a social life :)
More Triathlon

Note: Viewpoint of author not entirely reflected in above haiku... :)

Winner winner

2009-04-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Due to the sheer amount of entries into the 'haiku as tattoo' contest, I've decided to segment the entries into a few categories...

1. Overall Winner
2. 'Relationship' based, using that term quite loosely
3. Non-'Relationship' based

The winner in the 'relationship'-based category is... Blythe!

Oh the men I've dated
Tom, Dick and Harry
Who the hell are they?

Tattoo Location: Posted on your left rear end cheek to cover up the heart with Tom's name in it.

Next up, the non-'Relationship' category winner... Kevin!

Tattoo on my face.
Wish it were written backwards.
Then I could read it.

Tattoo Location: Assuming the face based on the 1st line

Honorable mention in this category goes to Shorey - check the comments for the contest posting to see her outstanding Haiku.

And, the overall winner... Matt!

I am a commie
Also I like Frosted Flakes
Kick me in the nuts

Tattoo Location: This should be tattooed on the forehead.

There was a close second by Erin and Alisa... see the comments for the contest posting. It's a winner.

So, Blythe, Kevin, Erin, Alisa - I owe you a drink :)

Thanks to everyone for getting one in there! More contests to come. Haiku rocks.

Contest - please comment on this with your thoughts...

2009-04-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Alright, a friend and I were talking about haiku tonight, and agreed that one of the worst tattoo ideas ever would be a really awful haiku. Hence, a contest was born.

Here's the contest. Please submit a comment to this thread with your idea for the worst possible haiku to have as a tattoo... and if you want, you could also include the location for the tattoo to be placed. The winner will get something food related - details to be announced.

The more the merrier - please give it a shot! :)

It's Business Time

2009-04-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Feet

2009-04-13T12:20:00.001-07:00

Monday Haiku

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

Rainy morning
Do my long run later?
Monday :)

Easter

2009-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everybody - I hope you all had a blast with your friends and family. I'm quite sure that not everyone who reads this is of the Christian persuasion, but all the same I hope today was a great day of reflection whatever your existential viewpoint may be. Personally, I celebrated Easter with attending church with a good friend, enjoyed a post-service BBQ, and had an outstanding dinner and game night with friends covering the entire spectrum of religious viewpoints. Variety was the order of the day!

Also, it was nice taking a step back from training for a day. Heavy day for me tomorrow, since I was set back by this morning's rain - Long run still requires my attention :)

Hope you all have a great Monday, and had an opportunity today to consider the existential bits of life...

Thoughts from Lonestar (brief race report)

2009-04-10T13:25:00.001-07:00

And now, for the obligatory medal picture...

The Lonestar half was fun, and will be a fixture in my schedule moving forward. Fun.

The race...

Swim: Ocean swim, two turns, as straightforward as a swim gets. The saltwater was an issue for some, but other than getting a salty taste in my mouth no issue there. I really enjoyed it, and had a good swim split. Not a PR for the half iron swim distance for me, but close.

Bike: The most accurate thing I could say would be that the bike was almost exactly like riding a trainer for 56mi :) There were very few turns in the course, and it was near dead flat. This is a course that was built for speed. There were some big numbers posted for average speed. Big time PR for me for the half iron bike leg.

Run: This is where things fell apart for me... wasn't aware how far I was behind in my hydration until I got a short bit into the run - it quickly became apparent to me that not only was I dehydrated, but I had lost a ton of salt. I'm not normally a salty sweater, but I was that day! Not even close to a good time for me in the run, but a great learning experience and certainly something to build on.

All in all, a great weekend and a very fun race. The run was a good character builder, and a good reminder that I need to re-examine my nutrition plan; I think it's time for me to make my nutrition plan as automatic as possible and end the ongoing experiment.

Many, many thanks to all my T3 friends and other fellow competitors - even for those who had a tough day, there was a great feeling of camaraderie on the course.

Short and sweet today - more to come on life as well as tri :)

Monday Haiku - Tribute to the Lonestar Half-Iron Triathlon

2009-04-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ocean swims are great fun
Maybe next time I'll drink more water
Salty clothes

Monday Haiku

2009-03-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

Quarry swimming,
I love the open water!
Wow, that's cold.

Deep Thoughts

2009-02-26T19:30:00.001-08:00

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." - Jack Handey.

Reason why the internet is awesome can be found here.

Random thoughts...

2009-02-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

- There are very few Saturday mornings that aren't windy in central TX in January and February.

- The honeymoon isn't completely over with Obama, but it looks to be headed that way.

- I love craigslist, ebay, ... anything internet-based peer to peer.

- Facebook status lines = everything twitter has to offer. There's no way twitter is here to stay.

- Thank god for massage, yoga, chamois creme, ...

- First impressions are as accurate and inaccurate as they've ever been.

- Can't wait for Barton Springs cleanup to complete, and can't wait for the quarry lake to warm up.

The Austin Half Marathon

2009-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

The Austin Marathon (aka the AT&T Austin Marathon circa 2008)... that course is no joke. We took it at about 85%, but I can imagine how I'd feel if I'd done the whole marathon or if we'd done the half at race pace. Wow. In a way, it makes me want to do the full next year. Maybe if I do the RunTex Distance Challenge... ;)

Anyway, it was a blast. Ran it with Chris, Matt, and Ben... who all kicked mucho ass (and not to mention also had 60 miles of cycling in the hills in their legs from Saturday, just like me). Very well run event - aid stations were well staffed, start was (relatively) on time, drop off/pick up was easy, and there were lots and lots of cheering fans... that's the best part. Conspicuous lack of sponsorship this year; what is normally the AT&T Austin Marathon was simply the Austin Marathon this year. C'mon big companies... get on it. Everyone knows we are in tough times, but I'm sure maybe just one of your underperforming executives can take a little lighter bonus so that thousands of distance athletes can get some nicer swag! Hahahahah

All in all, here was the weekend...
Saturday: 60 miles on the bike with ~3800ft of net elevation gain = 3122 calories
Sunday: 13.1 (more accurately 13.17) miles running = 1570 calories

All in all, time to get some pizza.

Running speed work = hungry.

2009-02-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

So, here's last night's workout... T3 wednesday night track runs are one of my favorite workouts of the week, and are also by far the hardest of the week in terms of intensity.

Warm Up
Set 1 = 3min @ half marathon pace, 3min @ 10k pace, 3min @ 5k pace. rest 1:30 between each rep.
Set 2 = 2min @ 10k pace, 2min @ 5k pace, 2 min @ faster than 5k pace. rest 1:30 between each rep.
Set 3 = 1min @ 5k pace, 1min @ faster than 5k pace, 1 min all out.
Warm Down

Paces I used for the workout...
Half Marathon = 7:20min/mi
10k = 6:40min/mi
5k = 6:00min/mi
Faster than 5k = 5:35min/mi
All out = as fast as the legs would take me :) Managed to get under 5min/mi on this one... but man did it hurt.

I love track days. We worked it pretty darn hard last night.

More yoga for me today :)

Yoga, yoga, and more yoga...

2009-02-10T07:01:00.001-08:00

I've been on a massive yoga kick lately. Went to yoga class last week tuesday, sunday, and then again yesterday. It's a bit of a surprise to me how good it is for post-run recovery, even with it being a bit exerting. I was having some achilles issues with my right leg, went to a 60min yoga class, and bam! gone. The stretching didn't work nearly that well after the run. There's definiately something to this yoga stuff. Maybe it'll make me into the flexible gumby I aspire to be :)

One thing I find really interesting about yoga is the variety in methods of instruction, especially as it relates to the strength of attachment to eastern religion. Some seem to go pretty deep on the religion ties, where others seem to place less focus there and more on the movement and position. Have to say I have a strong preference for the movement/position focus... I find myself squarely in the Christian camp, but still can appreciate the origins and benefits of the practice. Ultimately I find a great deal more in common than different in their lines of thinking, but normally I'm not looking to the gym to be the place that religious instruction is given, ya know? :)

The fun thing is that now, I can do this...

... all sorts of craziness is coming in the future for me. Cirque d'Soleil here I come!

One month down, five (or so) to go...

2009-02-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

I ran one of the more fun Austin races on January 25th... the 3M half marathon. It's a really fun course - there are long sustained sections of downhill running, which makes for a fast course. Downhill running is a pretty specific skill - it can be an easy way to get some free speed, but also can beat you up pretty good if you don't know how to do it efficiently. This is my second year running the event, and I made a very large improvement over last year's time as well as setting a new personal record for the half marathon distance. There were a bunch of T3ers out there to give it a go, and some very impressive performances! Thanks to all who came out to run and a special thank you to those who came out to cheer us on!

This past weekend was a tough one for training... Saturday's plan called for 50mi on the bike (mostly hills) followed directly by a 30min run, and Sunday called for a 15mi run. I just didn't feel all that good through the workouts, but I did get through them - Having gotten through them feels pretty great. Even when workouts don't go all that well, they still accomplish their purpose, and have the added benefit of building mental toughness as well. All considered, I'll take it.

I seriously need to start getting some yoga in - as I get more flexible I'm realizing there's some serious benefit there in terms of being comfortable on the bike, and that's clearly something I want. So, off to yoga classes more often for me starting this week.

Now, a completely unrelated topic - In helping my homie Chris work on his son's Pinewood Derby car this past week, I began to remember how much I enjoy woodworking... that's something I used to spend a great deal of time on before moving to Austin, and something I will certainly get back into when life settles a bit more and I have a more suitable place to do so.

A few pics just for fun...

Here's what the bottom of the car looked like after we'd made the cutout for the weight... most peeps who do the pinewood derby use additional weight to make their car go faster. To make it look nice, Chris wanted to hollow out a section and place the weight inside the car. Here's what it looked like before we filled it...

Note the two cavities in the car in the pic above - large and small. The intent of the smaller cavity was that if the car was over the max weight, he could just dig that weight out with a screwdriver prior to the race. Turns out we could have added even more weight and been legal to race :)

Here's a pic of the bottom of the car after adding the filler material, prior to sanding and painting...

The Pinewood Derby is a bunch of fun. For those of you who have never done the Boy Scouts thing, take a look at this page for information on the Pinewood Derby.

Hope all of you are well! Talk to you later!

Last night's run and a need to swim more...

2009-01-22T07:27:00.001-08:00

Last night's run was a blast, and a pretty nice butt kicking all at the same time.

Warm-up and drills
3 sets of the following - 3min 10k pace, 2min 5k pace, 1 min all out with a very short rest between each.
Warm-down

... but here's the thing... we went way faster than we should have for all of the suggested paces. It was invigorating. Something about doing that work in a group setting with people you know and respect makes it hurt less and able to push myself harder. We were hauling butt for pretty much every iteration.

I've got to get a plan together to get in the water more often... seriously. My 'fall back on previous experience' plan had awesome results last year, but I know I can go faster. Maybe I'll get back to pinballing around in the pool with T3 soon... or maybe the quarry will warm up beyond 55F :)

Went to Vivo (Austin Tex-Mex restaurant) and Juan in a Million this past week... both were pretty good stuff. I can vouch for the fajita tacos at Vivo, and the migas plate was enormous at Juan. Mmmmm... migas...

Welcome back to speed work

2009-01-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

1.5 mi warm-up run and drills...
6 x 800m @ 3:35, 3:30, 3:15, 3:08, 3:08, 3:07
1 mi warm down and stretching

Welcome back to the season of speed work for me. I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.

Tomorrow - 2hr spin, core. Maybe a swim if it's nice? I need to get in the pool more.

Pajama pants

2009-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

I used to be one of those 'no pajamas' people. I don't know why. Now that I was given Homer Simpson pajama pants for Christmas, pajamas have completely taken over my life. I'm not quite going to wear them in public, but being totally honest I have considered it. I now also have Super Mario Brothers and Playstation pajama pants.

Seriously, they're taking over.

Off to bed for me... core workout class comes early tomorrow morning.

Stretching and massage implements

2009-01-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

Isn't multisport fun with all of the gizmos we use to keep from getting injured? Here's a sampling of some of the often used implements of health in my arsenal (listed in order of how much use they enjoy from me) ...

- Triggerpoint Kit - all of the painful goodness that it brings to bear...
- Foam Roll - aspires to be as painful as the TP kit, but falls just short
- Yoga Toes - if you don't know about these, look into them :) they rock.
- The blue plastic calf stretcher thingy
- The Stick Massager
- Strassburg Sock

... and I'm sure there are many more that I'm not aware of that get a great deal of use out there. Wow. I'm in the wrong business.

Anybody watching the UT-OSU game tonight? For you non-midwesterners, OSU can also mean Ohio State University (not just Oklahoma State :)). I'm calling this one UT by 14 at least. Hate to say it, but my Big Ten teams really underrepresented this year... I believe the only Big Ten team to get a bowl win was Iowa. Ouch.

And now a brief pause for Charles to contemplate the strange naturally occurring hole in his toast... and why consecutive pieces of bread with the same naturally occurring hole werent used to make his breakfast...

See all of you T3ers for some spin and post-spin burritos (the fastest growing Austin tradition :)) tomorrow night. Chipotle and Freebirds must miss me big time...

Getting the training season rolling again...

2009-01-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

Kicked off the training season for IMCDA this weekend with a 2 hour ride yesterday (hills, hills, more hills, and throw in some headwind for good measure) and a 7mi run today (7:30/mi pace)... whew! Its nice to get it rolling again - the good old metabolism is running a bit higher and the sleep is a bit more coma-like these days! Felt like hard work for both, but also felt good to shake off some of the dust.

Starting training in earnest this week with the T3 IMCDA training plan. Here we go!

P.s. - Have a favor to ask please... if you read this thingy, do me a favor and leave me a comment when something strikes you as noteworthy... I seem to only get comments from friends (verbally) when I don't write for a while :) It'd be nice to hear your thoughts!

The Rev and Texas weather

2009-01-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hope y'all had a rockin new years eve. Michelle and I went to see one of my favorite bands, the Reverand Horton Heat at La Zona Rosa. Rockabilly just seems more fun in Texas. I always love his shows; there's such a wild variety of people that show up to see the rev. As expected, they put on a great show, and we were also lucky enough to be smack dab in the middle of the sea of balloons the club dropped on the crowd to celebrate the passing from 2008 to 2009 at midnight. Cool.

Hope everyone got a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful morning! Got in a relaxed 5k with Michelle and Stathi this morning, followed up by a brief swim at the springs. Wow, was i a complete train wreck in the water for that first length :)

As I see it now, I'm carrying a lot of the results from all of 2008's hard work into the beginning of 2009, and I'm fired up about it. Still working to get my head around starting up the hard sessions again - especially the track and hill work - but the hard sessions were some of the most productive. Time to become best friends with dietary discipline and structured life again :) And just when I found out about the $6 pizza deal at Little Caesars...

One month later,,,

2008-12-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, I promise updating this blog is going to be more consistent from here on out :)

Have you ever just taken pictures of things that strike you as funny for travel pics? Give it a shot sometime. I normally find that those are some of my personal favorites. It seems that taking pictures of funny signs are usually the best pics...

A few fun pics from my recent trip to Cali for Christmas...

Somehow I'm not buying this airplane blanket as having been sterilized and sealed for sanitary purposes as United claims...

Most intense family reunion volleyball game ever...

I definitely need to visit this casino more... hey, free pie! It's no lie! :)

IMCDA training getting rolling in earnest this coming week... I'm so ready to get started, especially now that I've gotten my bout with food poisoning out of the way. That was a rockin 24 hours, lemme tell ya! :)

Hope you all had a rockin christmas, and have a great new year celebration tonight. Please, be safe... sooo much craziness on NYE. Looking forward to 2009!

Brief hiatus, but I'm back!

2008-12-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hola :) Sorry for the long delay. For those of you who know me well, life has been more than a bit insane lately, but now I'm back! Thanks for sticking with me.

So, the marathon... what a great experience. The San Antonio Rock n' Roll Marathon was the first marathon distance run of my life, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here's proof that I was enjoying it... me at mile 25.5... and no, the cop wasn't there for me... :)

There's a few things that I already knew, a few I doubted, and a few I learned on the run about marathoning...

1. Marathons are split into two equal halves - the first 20 miles and then the last 6.2. Trite, I know, but 100% true. The run didnt get hard until somewhere between 20 and 21... then it got pretty challenging. Luckily I held my splits steady for the entire run - T3's training plans really work.

2. Nutrition remains key to any long event. Happy to say I got it right in a big way that day. Here's the plan I used...

- 1.5hr before race - took my sportlegs, had an odwalla protein shake, a bananna, and a 24oz bottle with nuun.

- 30min before race - got rid of nuun :)

- one race started, did one gel (hammer or carbboom) every 40-45min and endurolytes every 60-70min. May have been a bit heavy on endurolytes, but didnt have problems. At water stations, had either water or cytomax depending on how I felt at the time (not critical to my electrolyte or calorie intake strategy).

Nutrition remains a key element to any long event. Trust me on this one. Make sure to train the way you race, even with nutrition.

3. I'm not a fan of race directors putting hills less than a quarter mile from the race finish, but it was a nice challenge.

4. The big question on my mind prior to the start - which is harder, half-ironman tri or a marathon? A solid half-iron time is about 2 hours longer than a solid marathon time... but the marathon is certainly more of a challenge in terms of endurance. Skill, the half-iron is still more challenging, but for sheer physical endurance the marathon is more of a challenge.

The race organizers ran a great event. Hats off to them. If you're anywhere near San Antonio (or likely any of the rock n' roll series events), give it a go. It's a blast. Apparently they had 35,000 ppl participating in either the full or half. Craziness.

Here's proof that I finished :)

I'd be remiss not to give a strong 'what up' to the best race support crew in the world... Chris, Stephanie, Michelle and Stathi. Having your help and encouragement in training, on race morning, through the race, and to share it with at the end made this experience so much more than just a run. Hope I can add to your lives as much as you added to mine that day. Big up.

So, it's been a few weeks of medium to low-key training... have to start getting back to it soon! See you at the workouts!

Tapering is harder than training...

2008-11-12T06:32:00.001-08:00

So, I've been informed that my blog has been somewhat lame lately :) hahahah. I'm gonna try to fix that. Life has been exploding lately with new things to deal with, so readers, please accept my sincere apology while I figure out a new routine to get this monster regularly updated within.

Very much looking forward to doing the marathon on Sunday! It's gonna rock. Weather is supposed to be great, been feeling great in the little bit of working out I've been doing lately, ... everything is lining up really well. The touch of plantar fascia problems I was dealing with seems to be responding to the treatment its been getting.

This is funny, but most of all I want to get the marathon past so I can start training regularly again! How strange is that. Training seems to be one of the most regular parts of life these days... tapering just doesnt float my boat like being able to hammer out a run or bike workout does. It's nice to get that super tired but accomplished feeling a few times a week. Yes, I know, I'm sick mentally, but I love it. Something very empowering about it.

Well, that's all for this moment. I'll post again soon - I promise :)

Opportunity knocks...

2008-11-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Change = opportunity.

From my viewpoint, reaction to change is one of the best measures of positivity in a person's character. If change = opportunity (maybe even mixed in with a little uncertainty), you're all good. If change = fear and self-doubt, there's an underlying issue that needs to be understood and addressed. Understanding your reaction to change is a great way to understand where you're head is at.

Change = opportunity.

Ya know what's awesome?

2008-10-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what's awesome right now to me...

- the fact that my brother and his wife are coming to CDA to cheer me on for my first IM
- nothing left but taper prior to the San Antonio Rock n' Roll Marathon
- the fact that I don't always get what I want - gives me something to strive for
- having rockin friends
- My Spartans beating Michigan in dominant fashion. 35-21 was the official score, but we all know they missed the first touchdown call *badly*... to me that game is 35-14.
- swimming more - a lot more lately
- my bike - new fork and all
- having a successful but challenging life
- starting my Christmas shopping

Weekend festivities

2008-10-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend... never run so much before in a two day span in my life.

Saturday-
Ran 18 miles. Wow. That's a new longest run ever for me. The fun part? Ran a 8:00/mi average. Had been planning on a race pace at San Antonio of 8:30/mi... if this coming weekend's 22mi run goes as well, may have to drop that goal a bit :) Fun with friends up north in the afternoon, on to lots and lots of football. My Spartans got absolutely taken apart unfortunately, and it seemed Mizzou didn't bring much more with them to play TX than MSU did to play OSU (TX is looking very strong this season... we'll see if they can keep it up). Carrie, thanks for not blogging about the OSU v. MSU game. Ouch.

Sunday-
IBM uptown classic 10k. Had no idea how I was going to feel. Finished my warm-up with my homie Quirk, and started feeling pretty good. Ended up going 44 flat (7:05/mi), which was a new PR for me. Think I could have taken it down around 42:45 or so if I hadn't done the 18 the day before, but that one will have to wait for another day :) New PR for the Quirker too - great job man. Rode the Mt. Bonnell loop with Stathi and Michelle, and then on to a football-filled afternoon (mmmm... chicken nachos... mmmm).

Great weekend. I'm exhausted :)

Opportunity

2008-10-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Opportunity is an interesting thing, isn't it? Right now, I'm bucketing opportunity into two different categories...

1. Opportunities that you want to have, that you've either created through endeavor or have stumbled upon through blind luck.

2. Opportunities that come your way through circumstances you don't like... example - the fact that I'm not a professional athlete allows me the *opportunity* to learn how to manage many facets of life that all want more than their fair share of my time all at once. This isn't the thing prompting this ramble from me, but hopefully it serves to help describe the category?

Seems to me perspective is everything concerning responding to either #1 or #2; probably more applicable to #2, but certainly applies strongly to both. Seems that the #2 bucket of opportunity can be a great test of intrinsic character... (massive reframe alert)... not getting what you want not only can build character, but also can help to provide a checkpoint as to how we're doing at the moment the category #2 'opportunity' presents itself. I'm happy to have the opportunity to challenge myself to assume/retain the proper mindset, but very much looking forward to a smoother road soon.

So, on to the boring athletic stuff.

Ran a quick 13 this morning with a very speedy T3 friend. Good run, but stomach problems all morning. First half of run was all uphill (kinda continuous, no real recovery) and thank god for the 'what goes up must come down' thing on the 2nd half of the run. Was pretty proud of myself that I stuck to it and finished strong - almost set a new PR for the half marathon. I'll be curious to see how the longer runs go in my prep for the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon. Big props to my run buddy and teammate Kevin - great friend and outstanding athlete. Not to mention my great friends Chris, Stephanie, and Ryland - who upon hearing I was having stomach problems got in their car to come find me and make sure I was ok. I'm very blessed - my friends are truly outstanding people.

Sunday night swim was absolutely rockin... it's always fun, but tonight I trained it rather than just got a leisurely swim in. All of the work (resistance, core, mornings at Barton Springs) is paying off. Still there's lots of great training time between now and the first tri of '09...

Note from Saturday night... Dave Attell is hilarious. I've always thought that I have a relatively edgy sense of humor, but wow... I'm sooo in the kiddie pool compared to that guy. Wow.

Great pic...

2008-10-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

I wonder if there's another door behind this one...

How rockin was this...

2008-10-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said that it's just great being part of T3? Well, here's what it looked like running by the team tent on the Longhorn 70.3 run course...

Every time I ran past the team tent, everyone was up and cheering their heads off. That was such an encouragement during a very challenging run. How cool is that? :)

Halfmax

2008-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Looks like I can also add Trisports.com Halfmax National Championship qualifier to my 'done' list for 2008! That's kinda fun...

I better keep at the training so I can grab that Clearwater 70.3 championship slot in '09... :)

Longhorn 70.3, Texas Tri Series, ...

2008-10-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

2008's tri season is in the books with the completion of the Longhorn 70.3 this past Sunday. Wow... what a race. Course was quite challenging as expected, the run was an absolute bear, but I loved every minute of it.

Highlights:
- New PR for the swim (officially 26:40, but since it was probably ~200m short, I'll call it a 29:40)
- New power PR for the bike - 311 watts normalized over 56mi! Previously best was ~270W, and that was for an olympic distance (~26mi)!
- Solid transition times - ~1:30 combined faster than Vineman 70.3
- Not a great time in the run, but a great effort. No lie, it was the hardest run course I've encountered in a triathlon.

Not so Highlights:
- Run time. Bleh. I know I can do better.
- Having my elbow pads for my aerobar stolen off of my bike in transition. Not so cool. However, the McGyvered duct tape and sponge creations made in desperation did very well :)

- Feeling about 90% of the way there on understanding that nutrition plan, but still some work to do

Can't say enough about how great it was to have done the event along with many of my T3 teammates. What a great group of people, and what a gritty, tough group of athletes. I've seen some of the best come out of people through endurance sports in my life, and some of the very best of it all through my experience with T3. I'm very proud to be a part of the team - from what I've experienced, my fellow T3 teammates are some of the most dedicated, hard working, intelligent and group success oriented people in the sport. Way to rock it, T3.

I am learning this year how much I love the 70.3 distance. Guess I'll have to wait and see what a full Ironman event feels like in 2009 to completely make that call, but as I sit here today, the half iron distance is by far my favorite. It's got such a great balance of different challenges - endurance, speed, pacing, strategy, nutrition planning, ... all have to be taken into proper consideration.

Finishing the Longhorn 70.3 makes it two 70.3 events completed for 2008... had never done this distance prior to this year. Also, finishing the Longhorn 70.3 also completes the Texas Triathlon Series for my 2nd straight year.

It was just a great feeling crossing that line Sunday.

ACL and gettin my Longhorn on...

2008-09-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

ACL wrap up...

Bands that I dug...
- N.E.R.D
- Galactic
- Kevin Fowler
- The Mars Volta
- Foo Fighters (kinda)
- Silversun Pickups
- Gnarls Barkley
- Iron and Wine

Other acts I saw...
- Beck
- Blues Traveler

Dug the music, but mostly enjoyed the people I went to the show with... I've got some great friends :)

Also, now I understand why a bunch of people were going 'bandito style' and putting a bandana over their faces... the level of dust there was amazing! It looks like it's snowing in the pics I took!

Hopefully we can get Lenny Kravitz and The Rev Horton Heat to play ACL again soon, cause I'm 100% IN if they do!

T minus very few days until Longhorn kicks off. In full taper mode now. I'm all kinds of energetic from having a significantly lighter training load this week... can't wait to turn all of it loose on Sunday. It's on.

Long time no speak...

2008-09-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

After a busy weekend of training and ACL, I'm bushed :) In short, it was a great weekend. More on ACL shortly.

Longhorn is less than a week away now :)

Marathon Relay

2008-09-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

Having a 2009 plan is very motivating... I put out more effort in this past Saturday's ride like I wouldn't normally have without having such clear goals for next season. It was rockin... I'd normally do something like 240-250 watts (normalized power); on this ride I did 292 watts :) Fun. Seems many on the team had a great ride that day... it's so much more enjoyable to get out and put in a hard effort on the bike when it's a bit cooler out.

Sunday's Silicon Labs Marathon Relay was another great experience. Our team of five - The Quirks (Chris, Steph and Ryland), Michelle Metzler and myself were the five members of team 'Blue Thunder' (name chosen by Ryland). Like every race this time of year, I hadn't decided how much effort I really wanted to put into it prior to the start, and then took off at full speed as soon as my leg began :) The race was comprised of five legs - 10k, 11.1k, 11.1k, 5k, 5k - I took the 2nd leg (11.1k). Average pace for me was 7:08/mi - I was very pleased. The first half of the course was quite hilly, and I held a consistent 7min pace throughout both the hilly and flat sections of the course. Ended up with 49:11 for my 11.1k leg of the race. Our overall team time was 3:36:28 (average pace of 8:15/mi). But that's not the important part of the race... :)

Ryland, Chris and Steph's son (all 8 years old of him) ran a 32:35 5k! He's 8 years old! I'm sure he beat at least half of the grown adults on the course - a rockin effort out of him - not to mention the rock star treatment he received from everyone cheering along the way!

Team 'Blue Thunder' ended up achieving 2nd in our division - we were pleasantly surprised :) Very fun event - would highly recommend giving it a shot in 2009!

Spin fun and a rockin volunteer party

2008-09-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

I'm digging these morning core and spin sessions more and more... think I might make a habit of the thursday AM spin too. Ugh. Time to find out how to get more sleep - maybe go to bed earlier?

Speaking of going to bed earlier... the Austin Tri volunteer party was a BLAST last night. Wasn't expecting food or an open bar, and they had both - what a great way to show your volunteers that they're appreciated! Also had a bit of luck and won a Trigger Point starter kit! Always pays to know who won the women's overall at Kona last year... :)

Given all of the long course stuff I've got planned for next year and how much fun it was helping out with the transition area at Austin Tri (and swim at the S&T), think I might volunteer my way through most of the TX tri series next year...

Hope you're all having a rockin Thursday.

Fall cleaning

2008-09-16T08:10:00.001-07:00

Doesn't it feel great to get rid of stuff? I've been in a minimizing mode for about 4 months now, and it's shocking how much stuff I've donated/sold/trashed/given away/... and honestly I don't think I have that much stuff to begin with! These days, if I own it and it's not bolted down or used on a very regular basis, it's got a pretty good chance of making it's way to eBay/Craigslist. It's so nice living 'lighter'.

I truly do need to get out and swim more. For a while now a group of friends and I have been getting out for Sunday night swims, and I really enjoy them... even when we're out to put in some serious work. It's rockin training (if we're out there to train and not just fool around :)), and the after swim food is probably better than the swim anyway! Think I'll put some thought into how I can add a bit more swimming to my life...

Two completely different runs and a plan for '09

2008-09-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Weekend run fun...

Loop 1: 7:15ish pace, 7mi
Loop 2: 7:45ish pace, 7mi

Loop 2 was a lot easier than loop 1 :) Did a bit of 2009 planning with my T3 coaches this weekend, and one thing I need to begin doing is picking up the paces a bit more on the longer runs. So, no better time to start than now! Ran loop 1 with Joe and Logan, and half of loop 2 with Chris... had a bunch of friend out on the trail getting their distance in.

All in all, a pretty good weekend for training... a bit over 3hrs on the bike on Saturday (around 270W NP) , ~14mi run and a short swim on Saturday. Feel pretty good heading into the week.

A bit more about planning for 2009... I'm very excited about the plans my coaches and I were able to put together for the coming year. Made a few changes to the race calendar I had cobbled together (cut out a few 'for fun' races to focus more on the primary goals), but mostly all is in place.

Major goals for 2009:
- Sub 5 hr 70.3 (expect to get this one done at the Lonestar Half)
- 11:30 or better at IMCDA

... and here's where it gets fun :) If I go 11:30 or less at IMCDA, going to drive to qualify for the 70.3 Championships in Clearwater FL at the new 70.3 in Augusta, GA. If I go over 11:30, will use my time at Lonestar to qualify for Halfmax (half iron distance tri) in Las Vegas.

So, if things go the way I want for 2009...
- Sub 5 hr 70.3 at the Lonestar Half
- 11:30:00 or better at IMCDA
- Qualify for 70.3 World Championships at Augusta 70.3 (probably would mean ~4:37:00)
- Compete in 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL

So 2009 is a 'go for it' year for me in a big way. I'm anxious to get started!

Rest Day

2008-09-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

I love me some rest day... this has been a great training week, it's nice to have a day to recover. If the weather holds off from Ike, should be a very intense weekend - 70 on the bike tomorrow and somewhere between 15-18 running on Sunday. I'd be ok with doing the bike indoors, but 15-18 on a treadmill? That's what I call cruel and unusual punishment!

Spent some time looking at what I'm planning to do in 2009 this week... I'm pretty fired up about it. A races = IMCDA, St. Anthony's (FL, olympic), and a late season 70.3 yet to be named (possibly Halfmax, Augusta 70.3 (new for 2009) or Muskoka 70.3 (Canada). Planning on a little more travel in 2009... seems triathlon is a great hobby to combine with travel! Speaking of which, I should add the St. Croix half to my calendar...

College football prediction of the week - Michigan State vs FAU: MSU 28, FAU 24. Should be a great game.

Injury magnet

2008-09-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Let's take quick stock of where my fantasy football team is at... I'm calling them the 'all-injured team'

Tom Brady, my #1 overall pick - out for season, ACL
Marques Colston - out 4-6 weeks, injured finger
Marion Barber - bruised ribs. Going to play, but bet Jones gets more of the carries
Chad 'Ocho Cinco' Johnson - Injured shoulder. Playing, but doing a whole lot of nothing

Seriously. If you want to know who is going to get injured in the NFL this season, just ask me if I drafted them :)

... and I think I'm going to start making a habit of T3 core on Wednesday mornings. It's rockin.

What do you mean 'that bike doesn't fit you'???

2008-09-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Triathlon version of 'fat guy in a little coat'...

And the winner is...

2008-09-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Winner of 'one of the funniest things I've seen in recent memory' is...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/16771/saturday-night-live-snl-digital-short-iran-so-far

Lovely.

Wearing many hats...

2008-09-09T13:19:00.001-07:00

Is it just me, or has this week been pretty intense so far? Whatever it is, it is *really* is kicking it up a notch this week! I need a few more hours in the day. Either that, or I need to schedule a massage badly :)

T3 run was rockin it out yesterday evening. We did partner run/crosstrain sets, where one of the two ran a ~1000M lap (~200M sharp uphill, ~500M flat, ~300M downhill) while the other did sets of squats, jumps, pushups and jumping jacks (and a short bit of recovery while the runner completed the lap). Props to Ben - we did 6 sets and then one more just for good measure :) Rock on homie - way to work.

I came into yesterday's run pretty charged up yesterday... it was a crazy nuts day at work, and there's no doubt that fueled me a bit more than usual. Triathlon is a great release - very productive way to use all that stored up energy!

IM Wisconsin finish line video and a little football

2008-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty interesting experience today watching a chunk of the IM Wisconsin finish line video today while waiting to see a good friend finish her first IM. The interesting part was seeing people's reactions to completing this grueling, ~12hr effort - some elated, some nonchalant, some very fired up, some emotional, ... the whole range was represented. The ones I'm always fired up to see are the 50-60 year old dudes/dudettes that are multiple time finishers come across - can't help but be pretty impressed. Don't know if that's what I'm going to want to do when I'm that age, but you never know!

BTW, there's a prize for reading this blog right now :) It's undeniable... I am a big nerd when it comes to working on bikes. I just dig it; No idea why. So if you're reading this and need a hand with something on your bike and want a hand, feel free to drop me a line and we'll see what we can do. Having a chance to work on a friend's bike today reminded me of how fun I find it to be.

On a completely unrelated note, I am fired up that it's football season again! My Spartans took care of business this week and got their first win! Rock on. Hopefully many more to come.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and are looking forward to a successful and productive coming week :)

Love me some bikin'

2008-09-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

Got my first look at the Longhorn IM 70.3 bike course today... fun ride, but challenging. It's got a decent amount of elevation change, and a decent amount of chipseal (love those Texas roads). On race day I think it's very doable though. Glad we rode it today - now I know what I'm training for! :)

I took out a kayak during the team swim to help out in case anyone got into difficulty (which no one did thankfully). I've been swimming a ton lately, and didn't feel like getting more in that particular morning. Really glad I ended up doing that - it was very fun to see how everyone swims, and I learned quite a bit of little technique things I'm going to try out next time I'm in the water. We've got some people who really know how to move in the water on the team. It was impressive. And for those who aren't quite as smooth in the water, I was impressed by their tenacity and dedication... kinda cool to know the people in the water and what's going on in their lives, and to see it play out in how they approached their swim this morning. Maybe that's a had-to-be-there kind of deal, but it was a cool experience to have had.

Super eventful ride. Went out with a few fellas who clearly were looking to blast through it - not my preference this particular day. Rode for a bit with a few different groups (mixing in a few random hill repeats to go tell Brian I accidentally told him to go the wrong way - oops :)), ended up getting in with a few very, very fast fellas on verrrry expensive bikes to pace back up to where I wanted to be (wherever that ended up being). Ran into Erin and Dionne along the way, and finished up the ride with them. We had a lot of fun... I'm going to refer to Erin and Dionne as the 'hammer twins' from now on.

The post ride BBQ was a great time, and very relaxing. Seemed like everyone who came out to ride stuck around for a couple of hours... this is probably one of my favorite things about the people in T3. While it's the training that brings us together initially, its my impression that the people on the team genuinely enjoy each other and like spending time together. That's a special thing.

All that fun stuff, topped off with my Spartans pounding Eastern Michigan 42-10. I'll take it :)

Hope you all had a rockin Saturday.

Early get up

2008-09-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

Barton Springs is pretty rockin on Friday mornings apparently. This is new information to me, as this morning was my first experience with getting up way too early on a Friday to visit the springs. As much as the cold water makes for a somewhat unpleasant awakening from the half-awake morning stumbly state, it was a lot of fun (not to mention a good swim workout). Met up with my bro Chris to get in a few 200m intervals, and we went through them pretty fast... pretty much race pace or a couple of seconds below. Doing laps in a 25m pool is near unbearably boring to me, but doing intervals in the springs is a lot of fun... many more elements of being in open water.

One of the other fun things about the springs in the morning is the people - seems there's a good variety. Older/younger, faster/slower, athlete/just for fun, ... but all were very friendly and seemed to be in good spirits. Had a very positive feeling about it.

It's been fun getting in the water more lately - going to have a lot of that this coming weekend, and a WHOLE lot of that prior to IM CDA.

Happy Friday!

Opening thoughts...

2008-09-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Thinking about starting a blog today moved me into a strangely introspective mood... talk about unexpected. Anyway, here's what came out. Thought this would be a good way to kick this crazy creation off, since most of it from here on out is likely to be a kinda lightweight :) Here's one of my favorite quotes (author unknown)...

"Happiness is not an accident. Nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design."

Certainly there is pure chance that plays a role in our lives, but I do believe for the most part that we are at cause; the effect is largely the result of what we set in motion through action.

Having said that, I truly love what chance brings into our lives. Whether it is people, circumstances, events, opportunities, ... whatever... chance in my opinion has a lot to do with the extremes - some good, some bad. In my opinion, we have to have those extremes to really experience what life is.

Anyway, that's my kick off thought for this blog :) More random thoughts to come.

This marathon thing...

2008-09-04T12:51:00.001-07:00

So here's what I'm pondering... why exactly am I doing the San Antonio RnR marathon? :)

Reasons to do it-
1. Haven't yet done a marathon
2. Probably should do one prior to IM CDA
3. First time that there's a RnR series event in TX, and that's kinda fun
4. It's a short drive for what's reputed to be a great event
5. I already signed up :)

Reasons not to do it-
1. 26.2 miles is a long way
2. Training to run 26.2 miles is a lot of running (aka a lot of early weekend getups rather than late nights out with friends)

It's gonna be a blast actually - just working to get my head around what it's going to mean to be trained up for it. Almost done with the training plan. I'm actually really looking forward to being able to focus on only one sport for a little while. It'll be a lot of fun.