No Limits Day 10

Vs.







Oh the joy of Rocky 4, when American underdog hero Rocky Balboa defends democracy and avenges the death of his mentor at the hands of his communist adversary Ivan Drago.

I thought about the training scenes in that movie as I went through my strength run last night on the treadmill. See I really wanted to be running my hill repeats outside, even had the perfect two minute hill to run up to do it, but ended up settling for the RDR (red digital readout) of the treadmill.

It made me compare the spartan training program Rocky had in the Soviet Union before the big fight, living in an unheated cabin, sawing logs, slowly running up mountains in waist deep snow, carrying logs on his back, pull ups in the barn. His constant sidekick Paulie, the definition of Common Man Syndrome, drinking beer, leaning against the wall and spewing, 'come drink with me' comments as Rocky rips out a 1,000 decline crunches on converted buck board.

In contrast the stoic Ivan, training in his million dollar facility, running as fast as possible on an incline treadmill, doing clean and jerks with 405 pounds, testing his punch power on a computerized punching bag.

I wish I could have trained last night like Rocky, but ended up getting the job done like Ivan.

I got home late. Nothing would have been nicer than laying down and hitting the sack. However, I train with No Limits right now, so I pulled out the trainer and put in a 75 minute bike ride.

No Limits Day 9

Over 5 hours on the Ironman Arizona bike course for Sunday Day #9. I rode for 4:30 of actual pedal time, average speed of 18.1 mph, 80 miles. The time out on the course was a bit longer because the Good Doctor had four rear flats, yes four flats. He went through all his supply's on the first lap and all of mine. Had I not turned around on his second flat of the first loop, he would have been stuck on the highway for a bit.

But we limped it in and then with both of us on empty as far are damage control goes, rode down to an open bike shop and reloaded. The issue turned out to be the seam tape inside the tire between the rim and tube. His was hard plastic like you would find wrapped around a bale of magazines or a box. It had split and was jamming into the tube.

As I found out on the second loop my seam tape is cloth, as I had a flat. I must say I had my best change out ever, five minutes on a rear.

My RPE (rate of precieved effort) on loop one was about a five and felt great. I pushed it hard on loop two since I (and the Good Doctor) were way behind the group, up to about 7.5 RPE and the last ten miles, my legs were plenty tired.

Anyone reading this and doing Ironman Arizona, should be prepared for some decent headwinds along the Beeline Highway.

No Limits Day 8

Effort, Effort, Effort, good people my RPE (Rate of Precieved Effort) was awesome.

It was a 4,000 yard(2.27 mile) swim workout. I was the only one to finish all sets. After some mentoring on my stroke, it all just clicked. At first it was just a couple of strokes, then a length, then a lap, then two, then 400 yards, then my last 800 yards, everything felt strong. I did not do any times on my laps but based on me leaving my normal competition on the other side of the pool and staying close to the stronger swimmers out there, I would say when I was on, I took 20 seconds of my normal 2 min 100's.

After a longish transition for the run, I stuck to my 5:1 plan and took 15-30 seconds of my overall mile splits. I was running a 8:08-8:28 pace then walking a minute. My HR was in the mid 160's running but my RPE was around 6.0-6.5 outta 10. It was only a 50 minute run according to plan but I could have easily kept going. I was as fresh finishing as when I started. In fact I ran a 3 minute negative split coming back and had to run serpentine through the parking lot to make the full 50.

There is no limit to what you can achieve. I challenge all of you to make a commitment to just 39 days of training with No Limits. Until the end of February what can you do to improve yourself that you know you can do, know you should do, but right now do not do.

No Limits Day 7

A late post for Day 7, Friday, which is apropos since my No Limit for the day was also late in coming.

Mistress sorely wants to put FRP (a thin hard plastic sheeting) up around the laundry room to protect the walls from her dog who has chewed himself some nice holes. My outdoor ride was but on the back burner to help her get the materials.

I tried to get in some core work while Mighty Mo watched a movie but he found the most comfortable place to be was on my lap as a was doing crunches on a Swiss ball. So much for that.

At 8:30pm which is getting towards the late side for me, I pulled the trainer out and put in a solid hour while watching the Shield on Tivo.

Can't let a day slide. Time is precious.

Gear Review- iPod mini

The mini has been replaced with the iPod nano so this review is partially on the impact of the iPod family on training and how functional the components are to use in real world situations.

The iPod mini.
If you have the ability to buy a mini online, I would strongly reccommend the 6 gb version over the 4 gb. The mini is no longer in production by Apple, however I have been told by Apple that mini owners will still be able to purchase accessories and recieve adequate repair service. I will explain repair service later.

I perfer the mini over the nano for one simple reason, size. There comes a point were small is too small. The nano which is basically the size of a debit card folded in half, is so small and light I am afraid I will lose it. The mini has heft to it. It fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. The mini also come in a variety of colors. The nano, white and black. The black almost demands upgraded skin protection due to significant scratch awareness.

The second reason is storage. The highest capacity mini is 6gb, the nano is 4gb. Rumor has it that a 8 gb nano will come on line soon and that would be well worth the wait if true.

The mini is not as technologically as advanced as the nano, with its color screens and non-skip flash drive, but easily makes up for it in larger screen size and click wheel. This is especially important when considering that music selection changes, for athletes, usually happens with a body in motion, in my case mostly running. Thelarger grayscale screen makes it super easy to read the words. The nano also includes one more line of text on screen so not only is it a smaller screen, it packs more words on it, which are smaller.

Repair.
Apple has the best warranty I have ever seen. If you have a problem with your iPod, any version, take it too the closest Apple store and if they encounter a known warranty issue with your unit, like say a frozen screen, they will simple give you a brand new unit. If any songs or contacts are can be retrieved they will sinc the units. I have actually encountered a problem with my first mini, the details I will not get into, but it was a painless process to get a new unit. Your iPod will be replaced with the exact replica except for the original 20 gb units which are automatically upgraded to 30gb units. The mini's right now and the foreseeable future will get mini's as replacements. Apples finds it easier to simply replace than repair.

iTunes.
Each unit comes with iTunes software. It is also free online for everyone else. As a music browser it is great. Very simple to use. It also keys into the iMusic area for downloads. However I would steer everyone to this MP3 store for cheaper prices on purchased music.

Accessories.
The products you can buy for any iPod are staggering. Let me just go over the basics of what you should know going into an iPod purchase. First, ditch the provided earbuds, use them for backups and leave them in the junk box of your car. There are many other quality earbuds that come with rubber moldings that provide a custom fit for your ear canal. Expect to spend between $19 and $25. I have found that for running I need something that has an even greater grip in my ear and also to combat some of the rusting that occurs from sweating. So I purchased a pair of waterproof earbuds. The fit is not as good as say a pair of foam ear plugs or shooting plugs but do a great job of staying in the ear even during the most strenous of running, jumping and bending exercises.

I have purchased two different cases for carrying. The provided belt clip is junk, just toss it away. There is a huge market for leather cases and thin rubber shells in every color imaginable but instead I would opt for a clear hard plastic shell. Its no frills and actually protects your investments instead of dolls it up and hides it simplicity. Plus a hard plastic shell will save you tremendous heartache from say a drop from a moving bike. *cough*cough* The nice benefit of a hard plastic form fitting shell is that it slides in and out of your pocket very easily. The thicker leather cases or the silicon/rubber/neophryne skins are quite tacky which is good for the tactile grip but lousy when trying to get in and out of a pants pocket.

A good arm band is also important but ubiquitious so no further explaination needed.

Car charger/FM tuner.
Apple should just get this out of the way and include it as an item in the newly purchased iPod box. This should be in your basket when you buy your unit. The listed battery time is 18 hours on the mini yet I have never been able to get over ten. Battery power has a lot to do with the configuration of your personal settings but even on the most basic of functions it will take some real stretching to hit that number. The peice is much like a cell phone charger, a bell shaped adapter that inserts into a 'cigerette' socket or now called a power socket is attached to a long cord that has an adapter that fits your iPod unit. Unless you have a much older version of iPod any shelf unit should fit all iPods except the shuffle. Along the cord, usually at the power socket, is a switch or unit that allows you to tune your iPod into a FM radio channel and play your unit through your car stereo system. Which brings us too...

Podcasts.
Perhaps the greatest thing about any mp3 is the ability to download podcasts and listen to them when your driving around, or biking around, or running around, you get the point. A podcast is bascially someone recording a session of themselves talking about a subject then uploading it online. I of course listen to endurance related podcasts which are generally triathloncentric but there are literally thousands of different podcasts that can be listened too. I personally have over twelve hours of podcasts stored on my iPod and listen to them when I am tired of talk radio or when I am shopping.

Tip of the year.
This is my own little treat to you based on real life use of an iPod. The scenario is simple. Your computer crashes. All your music is wiped clean. It will take hours to reload all your CD's and then sort through the songs you just want to keep. All the songs you purchased online are gone and you have to repurchase them. If you have an iPod that stores videos, movies and digital pictures you might as well face it; life is over.

Well the tip is that your iPod is also a portable jumpdrive. By just going through a few steps, you can UPLOAD everything from your iPod to your pc. Imagine the scenario above, but now knowing that by using these instructions, every playlist and podcast can be copied from your unit back onto your computer in the exact order you had them. The exception being the music that was in iTunes but not sinc'd to the iPod. This is also a great tip if you decide to download a friends iTunes library to your iPod and then go back to your pc and upload it into your iTunes library.

A change of venue

This is a FYI that next week I will be dropping the ".blogspot.com" from my web address and moving to a .com address thanks to Okolo and his amazing company.

Do nothing now, I will give you the link for your bookmarks, rss feeders and blogline accounts early next week.

No Limits Day 6

This No Limits journey just in one week has really focused my attention. When I envisioned this in the beginning I considered only how to increase my physical training. Now I realize that Ironman is more than physical conditioning but total body alignment and mental knowledge.

That being said, my No Limit for Day 6. I have had a feeling for the last two months that my Polar HR testing had given me lower indications than I really have. In particular it listed my max HR as 180 and my resting pulse as 70.

The Polar software is great in that when the information is downloaded it will show how much training time occurred in six different HR zones. As I reviewed my runs, it should way too much time is Zone 5 and 6. Considering that many of those runs were 13-18 miles, it is simply not possible to maintain those HR's for that long a distance. I also factored in my Rate of perceived Effort (RPE) and there is no way that I could run that many miles at 95% of my max HR. Furthermore I have had my resting pulse measured between 60-64 bpm for many months.

I have long held that the 220-age calculation is inaccurate based on increase efficiency and aerobic endurance and when I began studying my hypothesis I found this article that gave me some comfort that I wasn't a conspiracy theorist.

My goal for this year and perhaps I will include it in my 39 day program is to have a VO2 test for running. However, the Triathlete Training Bible down plays VO2 and HR zones for lactate threshold and pace, (pgs. 30-44). I must confess I have never taken a LT test, nor now how to do one. I will find out though.

Reading many online training articles, researching through some personal reference guides and reviewing my RPE and HR compared to distance and then including an established new resting HR, I believe my max heart rate is between 194-200 bpm not 180 as diagnosed by Polar test software. When those numbers are updated into the software it makes all the statisical information make much more sense.

The point is that we should not take for granted the established models. Especially in light of the article I hyperlinked above dismissing the superiority of 220-age. Its a good start point but don't discount your own RPE and aerobic endurance. This just goes to show that a good HRM with training software can help establish baselines and track progress but you may have to dig deeper to get to the real numbers.

Intense not Tense

Its important to make the distinction between being intense and being tense.

Intense: Possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to an extreme degree.
Tense: In a state of mental or nervous tension.

I am focused intently on completing an Ironman in November. My sleeping and waking dreams put me on the course, in the swim, on the bike, in the run.

Sometimes, okay a lot of times, I get tense about it. Like the swim, my true limiter. One way I am tense is I have been doing a lot of pool swims the last few months. I know that when I go back to the lake, I will be using my wetsuit which gives me much buoyancy. However, I get tense thinking about swiming in the lake without the suit.

I am focused intensely to overcome this so when the time comes I don't lose it mentally. See I believe that by being intense, either in the triathlon sense or the business sense, it brings focus to overcome 'issues', instead of having a pie in the sky approach to 'issues' and then having to get tense about it when it blows up in your face.

For example, I am intense with my employees because I want them to succeed. They know my instensity is all about them executing the systems perfectly because it is what's in their best interest to make money at their job. If I wasn't intense and allowed them to do poorly, then I would start to get tense because I would have pressure on me to correct behavior that I allowed to occur under my supervision.

In your training dreams and business careers, make sure to up the intensity to decrease the feelings of dread you get from being tense.

No Limits Day 5

Training for the day was a 60 minute run. Instead of just lacing up and running out the door, I drove to South Mountain and ran the trails enjoying the freedom of desert.

No Limits Day 4

This was to originally be published on Wednesday the 25th, however Okolo's awesome news on me winning a contest sponsored by his company took presedence.

I think I have as good a plan as any for the the next few weeks in my No Limits Challenge to myself and I applaud those of you who have taken the challenge upon yourself as extra incentive to prepare for your upcoming season.

As I contemplated this 39 day experience I knew that I could very easily push my body into the overtrained area and that is very counterproductive to the idea. I also began to think about some of the limits I have put on myself in the past and carry to today. A big one is my body's reaction to certain foods. It was not too long ago that I thought eight bowel movements before noon was normal. I thought everyone woke up after eating a bowl of ice cream with an upset and 'hollow' feeling stomach. Wasn't taking antacids daily normal?

Then I masterfully struck upon eliminating dairy (lactose) and viola, 70% better. Then I started to think about gluten intolerance since I noticed the same thing with wheat products. But I was never really sure about anything. I had field testing on myself but not scientific evidence. So during my 39 days of No Limits I vowed to be tested for food allergies to get to the bottom of my stomach (pun intended).

So day four was spent in three different doctors offices. The first was to Simon my rehab guy who worked on my lower legs, quite painfully I might add, and adjusted my left ankle which was locked up. Then we experimented with some taping around my arches to see if it helps with my lower back problem (quadrus lumbarum) to maybe look at some inserts. Maybe.

Then to the Mighty Mo and Mistress' allergist where I was poked for numerous allergies and all were negative.

Then to a lab across town for a blood draw and a 'kit' for the homework which I will turn in this morning. The kit included two bottles and a spoon, glove not included. Cheap bastards.

Now on top of all this fun yesterday, Mistress, Mo and I all came down with a 24 stomach flu. Its not food poisoning, its not food poisoning. If I say its food poisoning Mistress will never cook again. So its not food poisoning. Ever. Plus my mom got some of it to so thats a strong indication of something going around. So I got to go through my whole day, with my stomach churning and ready to unload on me too.

Oh don't be sorry for me. It happens. The stomach flu that is. Can't dodge them all.

The big thing is that I am now well prepared for the results of my blood work and other test results and by the time this challenge is over I will truly have solutions to my Limiters.

Blessing Keep Coming

I have been vexed over my header for months. Pat did a great job of working with me on my site overall, but he and I were both a bit frazzled over the header form. So he did a great job of whipping one up until I became inspired.

I got inspired by seeing the new crop of headers out in the blogesphere created by Bloggerheadz, a company a fellow Triathlete Alliance member, Okolo, belongs too. I saw they were running a contest for best slogan and tossed out about twenty off the top of my head, which is how I work best.

I never thought I had a chance at winning this contest since someone else had put up close to three dozen before me. Now this great 'Favor' come my way. What blessing. Thank you so much Okolo.

We have started our first communication and I know that based on his superb work with Wil and the headz I have seen around, he will do great things.

I'll Be Honest For You...

Another day, another crucial conversation, this time with 'Pat'.

Pat is bemoaning that the weight is up to a level that very uncomfortable, thirty pounds over normal.

So as you people know, I ask the Why question;
"How's your eating?"
"Lately I've been eating like crap...eat for comfort...eat bad because I'm depressed..."
"What did you eat today?"
"I had bowl of bran cereal for breakfast and a turkey sandwich for lunch so far."
Hmmm. "Did you eat chips with your sandwich?"
"No."
"Soda?"
"No."
"Well Pat I can't help you if your going lie to me. Lets face it you didn't get 30 pounds overweight eating like this."
"Well today was a good day."
"Well you didn't add 30 pounds by stringing together a bunch of 'good' eating days Pat. How do you normally eat?"
"Like crap."
"Thats right, like crap. Now tell me how you really eat...."

I am not picking on Pat because poor Pat suffers from another condition of Common Man Syndrome, eating denial.

When presented with reality, most people will subconsciously illustrate themselves in the best light. See Pat already told me the diet was bad, but when confronted with a specific question about eating habits, spun a best case scenario at me that did not add up to the facts. When I probed deeper then the truth came out.

This is a typical person who needs to be honest about their weakness and create accountablity with themselves. I would recommend education on nutritional information, like calorieking.com and a food journal.

No Limits Day 3

Normal recovery day, lets spice it up a bit and get in some No Limit. Legs were feeling pretty hammered from a hard training week following the Chang half so scheduled a 90 minute deep tissue massage. Followed up later that night with a 15 minute full on core workout. For those of you who have heard about core training but never done it, 15 minutes is plenty.

There is no limit to what you can achieve. I challenge all of you to make a commitment to just 39 days of training with No Limits. Until the end of February what can you do to improve yourself that you know you can do, know you should do, but right now do not do.

No Limits Day 2

I finished a good 40 mile ride and started my 3 mile brick run. At a 1/4 mile, my left shin seized up in a massive shin splint. The pain, oh the pain, you all know the pain I am talking about.

I considered turning around and limping the distance back to the truck but I didn't. I limped, I stretched, I ran and I walked myself the 3.5 miles back to my truck. I stayed fairly true to the 5:1 program.

Towards the last 1/4 mile my left ankle was locked up and my foot dragged, making that noise like something is stuck to the bottom of the sole. But I am working out with No Limits. A shin splint as bad as it is, is something that may occur at Ironman, and I can't let that hold me back from my goal of finishing.

There is no limit to what you can achieve. I challenge all of you to make a commitment to just 39 days of training with No Limits. Until the end of February what can you do to improve yourself that you know you can do, know you should do, but right now do not do.

No Plan without Goal

Someone, lets call this person 'Sally' , asked me about how to find a good plan to start training to run 3 miles. I told Sally that I would write one up, all I would need is a timeline, a goal to reference and her current running ability and history. I offered some tentative dates of 5k's that are run in the Valley.

Sally was adament that she didn't want to run a 5k, nor would she give me a timeline that fit into her schedule. Sally was very 'dodgy' with all my questions except that she wanted to be able to run 3 miles.

My point here is not to beat up on little Sally. My point here is that goals are best met when there is a sense of urgency attached to it. A plan without a goal is not a plan. I can get anyone to run 5k, barring medical conditions, but when asking any quality fitness professional a question, they are going ask the why or what.

Many times I have responded to internet questions about protien intake with, "What are your goals?" Why buy expensive protien powders if you already get enough protien in your diet? Why ask for a 5k plan if you don't have a reason to run the distance.

My answer to Sally is, "Run every other day, be consistent, increase no more than 10% a week and you will be able to run a 5k between 30-60 days."

The part that hurts is that Sally like many other people out there that suffer from a specific condition of Common Man Syndrome, expecting results overnight. Just getting a plan from a personal trainer is not going to get someeone to run 5k. Just like just having a health club membership is going to get you into shape. The other part of the equation is The Why.

No Limits Day 1

I am so glad that I could convince so many of you to join the NO LIMITS 39 day tour. I will post daily a short blurb of what I did the previous day to train without limits on top of my regualar posting. Just a very short surmation to keep you all in the loop.

I must confess as easy as it sounds Day 1 was very hard for me.

I commited to a 5:1 run/walk plan and stuck to it. Physically it may seem a break of training. Mentally though it really worked a number on me.

The workout for the day included a 3,500 yard swim workout, drills included and then a 3 mile run.

Later in the day was 50 pushups with a 38 pound boy on my back.

There is no limit to what you can achieve. I challenge all of you to make a commitment to just 39 days of training with No Limits. Until the end of February what can you do to improve yourself that you know you can do, know you should do, but right now do not do.

No Limits

A challenge to all of you.

I want you to commit until the end of February, essentially the next 39 days, to train with NO LIMITS.

I know most of you, myself included, could all do more in our training. We all have 15 minutes, 30 minutes an hour or more in a day that instead of giving over to Common Man Syndrome we can apply towards base building, or corrective action.

So commit, along with me to spend the next 39 days carving out that non-goal building time and devoting it to strengthing your body. It could be going for a run for 15 minutes or swimming another 500 meters. It could be spending time on core exercises every day or finally doing those corrective stretches that you know you should be doing to fix your tight hamstrings or back.

I am not asking for you to do this for the rest of your life. 39 days. Just 39 days of you training your body as if you have NO LIMITS. For 39 days you are focused like a laser on making your body better for the coming triathlon season. Whatever your doing, you know, you know, you can do more. Whatever that is do it.

Make 2006 the Year of Breakthrough.

My 2nd Fridge

Here is my second fridge or the 'beverage' fridge to hold all my personal training stuff and the root beer of the Mistress.

BTW I do not drink soda pop. This is for family and guests. In the summer there will be a half rack of beer, for after hard workouts (c'mon you would too) and small bottles of Gatorade or Propel. Uusally those are in there but I have been mixing powdered Gatorade lately.

Oh the bike

Have been hammering the bike this week. Actually been using my mountain bike too.

This morning after bible study I am going out for a ride with my pastor. All told this week should be about 9 hours on the bike with the scheduled Sunday ride included. Its hard to calculate distance since the moutain bike riding is so different. A one hour ride could only be a 4 mile distance, but talk about a leg workout.


Train hard, rest hard, have fun.

Murphy's Law #445

To estimate the time it takes to do a task: estimate the time you think it should take, multiply by two and change the unit of measure to the next highest unit. Thus, we allocate seven hours for a five hour ride.

Team Tri-Geek Dreamers

Team 'Tri-Geek Dreamers' and the Triathlete Alliance are going to be in the April issue of Triathlete Magazine.


Last November I wrote a letter to Mitch Thrower the editor of Triathlete Magazine. I explained to him that over a dozen people, whom had never met except through the internet, mostly through Tri-Geek Dreams.com had come together in a bond of friendship, comraderie and commitment to sign up for Ironman races in 2006. These individuals are ranging in age from college student to grandmother and will be the first all internet triathlon team to enter an Ironman event.

I also wrote about the entire Triathlete Alliance and how we dedicate hours of our time posting on our training and give encouragement and advice to each other through our seperate blogs. We have truly formed a team of triathletes that is as strong as any local group. Most of us have never met and will not meet until we finally arrive for our races. The group continues to grow daily and through our personal love of the sport we are bringing new people into the sport and giving them the courage to create their own triathlon-centric blogs.

Yesterday I got a response back from Triathlete Magazine and they told me the good news and have asked me for some more information. I will be talking to them within the week.

How cool is that.

I am Pysched-AMENDED

I really should not have done that last post. I don't like to be left hanging either.

I was so elated that I wanted to tell someone, everyone, that something very cool is going be happening. I am waiting for just one last thing before I post. Its more a matter of respect or courtesy that I wait than anything else.

But I promise this, I will post no later than tomorrow noon on it. That is officially enough time to cover my bases.

I am so Pysched- AMENDED

I really should not have done that last post. I don't like to be left hanging either.

I was so elated that I wanted to tell someone, everyone, that something very cool is going be happening. I am waiting for just one last thing before I post. Its more a matter of respect or courtesy that I wait than anything else.

But I promise this, I will post no later than tomorrow noon on it. That is officially enough time to cover my bases.

I am so Pysched- AMENDED

I really should not have done that last post. I don't like to be left hanging either.

I was so elated that I wanted to tell someone, everyone, that something very cool is going be happening. I am waiting for just one last thing before I post. Its more a matter of respect or courtesy that I wait than anything else.

But I promise this, I will post no later than tomorrow noon on it. That is officially enough time to cover my bases.

I am so Pysched

Blessing and favor are coming from so many places!

I am so excited. I am so stoked. I am so amazingly and completely just gonzo over a piece of information I got today.

What is even the best part, the most awesome part, is that it involves all of you. Well not all of you; well all of you in some way but some of you in everyway.

Get your TriGeek on and your TriFreak on folks. Your minds are about to be blown.

Fast and Furious

The days have been coming at me pretty quickly. On Monday I gave two units of blood for my rest day after Changs. I know what you phlebomosits are thinking, it was called a Power Red procedure so its okay. Later that night I got to jump in my spa for about a half hour. Nice.

Tuesday, (wait this is Wednesday right?) Tuesday, I did an audit at one of my locations. Then because I love my job, I worked too long (I usually spend 10-12 hours a day in the clubs) and had to miss my swim workout to be home by 8pm. I hung with Mighty Mo until he went down and was pulling out the trainer when I got a message to meet at 0500 for a 25 mile ride. So away went the trainer and I prepped for the ride and then got my morning stuff prepped for the 15 minute window I have between getting home and Mistress leaving for work.

It was very cold, well it was about 40 degrees, I know wah, wah, but it was fun. It will be a double day since I will do the swim workout tonight like I had planned. My first double in a few weeks.

Right on. Loving Life.

I feel guilty

I have not been keeping up with other blogs very well. Normally I have been pretty much up to speed on everyone but over the last week it has gotten away from me. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal but for some reason tonight I just felt compelled to leave all of you a note that I am reading all your stuff but may not be able to comment on all your stuff. I am behind like 160 posts. You people have been doing a lot.

Since my handheld is not supporting blogspot comments or sign ins, I will be reading your posts on the fly and sending personal e-mails to those that I have. Which is really frustrating for me because I have so much to say.

Its life, I got to live one.

Race Report #1 2006- PF Chang's half marathon

Race Report#1 2006

Personal Conditions
As I have posted many times in the last month, I was originally signed up for the full marathon as a cap to my run build for 2006. It was to be my fourth official marathon race, though I have done that distance or greater in training workouts throughout my life. My longest run ever has been 30 miles. But I digress and feel like I am alibi-ing this race.

I had some issues getting any of my 20 milers done in December and then I caught influenza over New Years. So I adjusted for the half giving myself a no time limit run, which in reality is, “Please Lord nothing longer than 2 ½ hours.” I have never run ½ marathon in more than 2 hours.

Pre-Race.
In the past it has been very difficult to get down to the starting line since you have to stage at the finish line and bus in, with 34,000 people converging on two off ramps it gets crowded. So I decided to go way too early. I think I was on the second bus that left at 0500. Considering the half started at 0830 I had lots of free time. At least the weather cooperated and it was around 60 degrees instead of the 45 that was forecasted. There must have been over 600 port-a-potties around the starting areas. My body was getting a little amp’d up and would guess I used six of them before the crowds arrived. There never can be enough port-a-potties for 34,000 people but it really was a feat to get as many as they did out there. On top of that, I never had to walk along the front of them or cut through lines to move around. A roped off area of just walking traffic was set up behind the stalls. Great segregation.

Just before race time I ran into Trimama and TriDaddy and we said our final sentiments before going to the corral which was quite a feet with 20,000 runners around.

The PF Chang ½ Marathon
To cut the exposition my stopwatch showed 1:59:45. Someone e-mailed me that my chip time is 2:02. So I have gone over my two hour mark in a half, but in reality I am pretty happy with that time. It’s a blessing I did that time on the severe lack of running I have done in the last month and to do so relatively injury free.

The race ended up being 64% woman, so there was lots of visual motivation. Woman with running figures are so beautiful. Triathlete woman can seem a bit skinny in the upper body whereas runners tend to have a bit more proportion. I know, many corollary’s can be made, its just an off the cuff observation.

A couple of triathlon observations. In the corral, I got to speaking with a group around me. I am not afraid to butt into conversation. A couple thought running marathons were nuts compared to the half but when I mentioned Florida Ironman, one guy went nuts. He was dead set against thinking I would finish a distance like that. I don’t think he was doubting me so much as he just had this intense mental build up that all Ironman triathletes are superheroes.

While I was running I picked up a conversation a lady was having with two other runners. She said she had done a triathlon last year and might do one this year. She said she did a half Ironman; 700 yard swim, 12 mile bike and 4 mile run. I about gagged on tongue but just kept running with a smile on my face.

There was a group of about 30 of us who all had the same rough pace. One of them was a girl; mid-20’s, blond, running in a bright red triathlon/running bikini. On the back of the bottoms, (you can guess the area), was the team’s name, “Team Nice Ass.” Modesty prevents me from making any other comments.

This is the first time I have run the Rock n Roll half and I was a bit disappointed on the bands. On the full, there is one band per mile. On the half, Trimama and I thought there was only maybe nine bands total.

My pace ended up being around 9:19 per mile which is nice. I have run faster 13.1 runs in training but the 0300 walk up along with the adrenaline of the event, led to a good run based on my current running level.

Post Race
I do know this; I can not manage a 9 minute mile at Ironman. I think I will start to incorporate some of Nancy's run walk technique, but to honest and with no disrespect to the tens of thousands of people who have used a run walk schedule, it will difficult to adapt to. I have been a pure runner for 20 years. I have run a 3:19 marathon. I have run a 1:38 half. But I am no longer a pure runner, I am a triathlete. I am going for an Ironman. As such, I have to put aside my ego and embrace techniques that are proven to work. Nancy has really opened my eyes to her method of madness with her Goofy Challenge. When I sat in on John “The Penguin” Bingham seminar Friday, he also talked about the run/walk technique. So I will be open-minded to this in my training.

I found Trimama and TriDaddy in the family reunion area lounging and celebrating. Trimama also had a great run; I won't spoil her publication though. Tridaddy also did much much better than he was expecting. We hung around for about an hour, talking, stretching and yes even toasting with free beer given to racers. Hmmm, whenever Trimama, Tridaday and I met we drink beer. What a great tradition that will continue through November.

Coming home I was pretty wiped out. But Mistress pulled out the stops and got a friend to hook up the Jacuzzi by the time I got home. No I couldn't jump right in, since the water had to warm up. By the time the water got into the 90’s it was 9 pm and I was falling asleep watching 24. So tonight fo’ show’.

What the future holds
Today my knee is still pretty sore, the legs are what they are after a long run. I will need to get off the soft-pack and start getting my asphalt runs under my legs. I do think that had a lot to do with my knee. I was going to swim today, but there is a massive blood shortage in the valley and I have been getting a call every night for a deposit, I am an O+ universal donor. So today is a rest, give blood day and tomorrow the pool.

It was brought up today in my Monday meeting to do some sort of 2007 PF Chang charity run for the Phoenix Children’s hospital. Since Mighty Mo and about four other executive kids all have had extensive work done there, we have a heart for the place. They thought about having me run the full next year as the fund raising runner. I have listed my aversion for running for charities and feel no different about this, unless of course I don’t have to do any of the fund raising, I just have to run.

However, I have already talked to someone about being a wheelchair volunteer for the full next year. Each wheelchair racer has a cyclist who follows them along the course. If they get into trouble, like say a flat, they change wheels out for them. I think that would be a cool volunteer position.

Chang Shui

A little play on words. Should be Chang Swag, but Trimama came up with this idea talking about an expensive sweatshirt purchased by Tridaddy on the low-low expo discount.

Here is my aforementioned PF Chang Swag picture from Friday's expo.
My computer is still fighting with me getting stuff done. So uploading my Race Report will be this afternoon. FYI, NEVER NEVER misplace or toss software CD's. They saved my 'glute' this morning. Now if I can only get Excel to run.

Race Update

For all of you madly surfing before 24 starts I thought I would give you a short post and then expound with my race report tomorrow.

Had a really good run. It went much faster than I thought it would and was not disappointed with my time. (I have to leave something for the report now).

I ran into Trimama and TriDaddy just before the start and then we met up after. Go figure I live in this fricken state and the only people I find afterwards that I know live in Minna-so-cold. The other guys ditched me for Hooters. Bastard's.

Yes I heard a world record was reached, it was the talk of the finishing area. I will look more into that tomorrow.

I actually feel kinda beat up. My knee's are pretty tender. I am going to loosen up by doing the weekly grocery shopping at Walmart...aaahhh crap, Mistress just left with my iPod in truck. Thats going to make this trip hurt...Mistress is going to the butcher for some NY Strip steaks (I think, stop pinning me down here, I'm not allowed to cook or BBQ remember)... and Mistress with the coup of the day, got someone to wire the jacuzzi up and warming the water up to nice 104 degrees for me by tonight. Oh yeah baby. Its hot tub time.

Florida Ironman Powers Unite

Finally got to sit and chat with Trimama and her Kahuna-esque husband. Having met the Kahuna personally I can vouch for it.

Mistress, Mighty Mo and I met them for dinner at a swank Brewery and Eatery on their way to watch some football at relatives.

Trimama is very funny, engaging and can down a beer and talk football with aplomb.

I mostly spoke with TriDaddy since Mightly Mo was hogging all the Trimama time with his dinosaur imitiations, and he is a really great guy. I didn't know he was running the half as well, must have missed that post somewhere. Anyway we got along great.

So now I have met one, two, three, four actual Triathlete Alliance Bloggers and an assorted cast of characters mentioned about online and I am truly blessed. I had no idea that putting myself out into the Blogesphere a little over a year ago, by just commenting on Tri-Geek Dreams, that I would have been so touched by those others that took a chance and spoke up like me.

This is a great world.

Trimama brought something up at dinner that really resonated with me. I sit at my terminal and I post up my training and my thoughts towards Ironman. I connect online with dozens of bloggers going to or supporting Florida Ironman. No one from my area, that I have a personal, physical connection with is going there to be with me.

Meeting Trimama and TriDaddy tonight made realize one thing. A big thing. Even though a great big group of us are going to Florida, most of us will have never met. We made commitments to each other and personal and financial sacrifices with our families based on a ethernet relationships. Meeting them tonight crystalized this point- I won't be there alone.

Ironman Florida has been counting down on my site for over 200 days. My commitment started the day I paid the entry fee. The connection of relationship started at dinner tonight with the clinking of fresh pints of ale.

And we will eat again, Trimama and I, on November 5, 2006, toasting margaritas and saluting our success and to the success of all our other Florida bound Ironmen and maidens.

And numbing the pain of the M-Dot tattoos we got hours earlier.

Cheers.

PF Chang Expo

I thought this was a great expo. I have been to many expo's and like a (crass analogy to follow), like a little girl, I am led by my base behavior to buy things.

Last year I really wanted to buy a Boston Athletic Association running shirt but only one booth carried them and they didn't have my size. This year I began my wanderings there and luck have it I got one in my size in red. Yeah I know, I have never run Boston and I never will qualify, which is why its easy for me justifying getting it. Plus it doesn't look like a normal cotton participant shirt. Plus red pyschologically means elite and if I can claim I have never run Boston, but I am wearing a red Boston Athletic Association shirt, then subconsciously I still win. What a wicked web we weave...

First an admonishment. Trimama, you don't call a friend AFTER you leave the expo while he is still there waiting for you. Though good timing on the call...which I will explain right now.

Trimama reminded me to look for Jessi Stensland at the GNC booth, which I was standing 10 feet from in a 100,000 square foot civic center. I hung up with Trimama and introduced myself to Jessi and said that we have a mutual friend, the Tri-Geek Kahuna. She replied, "You're the second person to say that today." I asked her if the other person was a VS thong wearing, hot Trimama who leaves friends hanging so they can go to a sister in laws for dinner and Jessi said I described her perfectly.

Jessi and I got a very few minutes to talk about another mutual friend and professional triathlete, Joe Umphenour and how her training is going at Athletes Performance right now. My office is about a 1/2 mile from that world famous training studio so we talked about training around the area, since we have pounded the same pavement. But she is famous and I am not so she had to move along.

I walked down one aisle and a woman thrust a bag in my hand that looked suspiciously like a green and white Krispy Kreme bag. Lo' and behold upon further inspection in the bag was two doughnut holes. So I nibbled on the holes plodding behind what I thought was just a slow moving group down the aisle when another woman thrust a clear plastic cup in my hand with a golden fluid inside. Upon imbibement, it was beer. Ummmm. Beer.

Good Lord, praise God, someone finally had the notion to put two booths next each other that made sense. The Krispy Kreme booth and the Micholob booth were side by side. Hallelujah.

I met John, "The Penguin" Bingham and he was great, he told me they shouldn't have put his booth next to the fudge popcicle booth and when I told him about the doughnut/beer duo down the way, he quickly excused himself to do his own recon.

I stuck around for his seminar that he gave which was really funny. A running comedian. He was talking about all the craziness at the Disney Goofy thing last weekend that he did. I have read his books and try to read all his columns. Try to find some more of his stuff if you can. Great story about how he got into running.

One of my training partners is a contractor working on site at the civic center holding the expo so he came down and we hung out for a bit.

Murphy's Law, my camera will not connect to the pc to download the picture I took of all my stuff. Here is the stuff I bought:
Boston Athletic Assoc coolmax shirt.
Triathlon lisence plate holder.
Triathlon Freak oval decal.
Body Glide.
Swim Bike Run performance socks.
The Stick.

Well no luck on getting the jacuzzi wired up and running so it looks like I am not going to get that great soak after the run. Oh well, can't win them all. At least I got that cool shirt.

Since you asked...

"If you never attempt more than you know your capable of you will never achieve all that is possible."
Me

I had a whinny little candy assed post ready to go up this morning and I ditched it. Its not right. So what if I feel like a Big Fat Pig. So what if I procrastinated with my dry cleaning and wore workout pants, a company logo'd dri-fit and running shoes to work. Its an acceptable model of dress for trainers but not my personal standard. My stomach has been causing me problems this week, like I had never stopped ingesting dairy. See all whinny little candy assed stuff. There was more.

The reason I ultimately didn't post it is that all these 'things', these piffles in life, are because they are inconsequential to my goal of Ironman. I have to have the moral courage to overcome this trivial crap and get on with my life.

Hell yes I am frustrated that I am dropping from the full to the half this weekend. I didn't get enough long distance time in December. Does it present my pysche with a chink in the Ironman armor. Absolutely.

But I am better than that. PF Chang's run is not my goal. My goal is bigger than a marathon. I have run marathons already.

I didn't post my original, now I am getting angry with myself, I didn't post that original bitching post because I am not here to demotivate all 3 people who read this blog. I am here to energize you, motivate you, inspire you to do more with your life. I want people to read my posts and feel that they should drop down and do ten push ups or lace up and go for a run. I don't want to bring people down. I want to lift people up, instill in them a spirit of triathlon. I want prospective triathletes and new comers to find strength in me, so they can find the strength in themselves.

Yeah there is going to be future posts that I relate depressing details about my son's health or other troubling or niggling aspects of my life, but those are not excuses for quitting my goals and eliciting sorrow from readers. One of my daily affirmations is,

"I bring my own weather with me."

Meaning: I can't let someone else's problems bring me down. I have compassion, I have empathy, if I am asked I may offer guidance. But it sure as you-know-what, ain't going to bring me down or distract me from my destination. I have personal responsibilty to myself to solve and overcome my issues. Just like I expect others to do that to themselves. My goals are bigger than someone else's victimization or pity party. Conversely I am not going to bring that to my readers.

Please understand that I am not saying to you personally, you don't matter, you do, because you are a positive person if you come here to CMS. All of you do matter. I mean mostly those people we have around us that are downers. You know them, you know you do. I felt like a downer after reading my unpublished post.

Protect yourself from soul-suckers and dream killers, even if its yourself. Especially if its yourself. I felt like I did that in my unpublished post. I hope this makes up for it.

Try Again

I had a decently written post ready to go up about whats been going on during this taper week.

I tossed it.

I re-read it and it sounded little a little whiny bitch session. So for now nothing to say. Its better to say nothing if the only other stuff is little whiny bitch stuff. So I will post later today after the PF Chang expo and what I am sure is at least one or two goodies that I will buy there.

There always are The Shiny Things

Murphy's Law #877

When it rains, it pours.

What's the reason.

The sensory overload of information in our society moves us at a million miles a minute making us feel like bytes of data streaming through our computers. Multi-tasking. 15 second news bites of murders, accidents, negativity. 30 minute mindless sitcoms. Bumper to bumper traffic of iron jockeys one lack of a blinker turn away from Road Rage. Can't let your children play in the street like you did at their age.

Bills. Commitments. Disappointments. Expectations in people not met. Ambivalence to the higher ideals you represent.

Sound familiar?

All that seems to vanish with the splash of my legs dropping into the pool. All that seems to vanish when I clip into my pedals. All that seems to vanish when I tighten up my laces.

Life suddenly slows to the beating of my heart. To the exhale and inhale of vital oxygen. All disappointments and fears suddenly slow to the speed of my life on a tropical vacation. Life's distractions move into 'Island Time' as I do what I so desperately need right now, right now what I need is to center myself.

Find my true self. The self that I dream about. The me I want to be all the time but can only be when I train for Ironman. I know an hour from now, may two, I'd love for it to be three or four, I will have to re-enter the life that pulls me from my center. That makes me feel unbalanced.

I don't train for for triathlons because it will save the world. But maybe it will save me. I don't leave my family for hours on end to swim or bike or run because I don't love them. But maybe it will allow me, through results, to love myself.

There is so much beauty in the world that goes unnoticed. The smile of a child. The unconditional love of a dog. A sincere apology.

The greatest beauty of all however is loving yourself. Of being honest with yourself. Being transparent with the person inside. Making changes that finally enable you to overcome the obstacles in your life. Maybe its not even that big.

Maybe it just enables you to gain back some sense of the self-worth that you lost along the way. Repairing the scabs that turned into scars from the asshole boss or the person that betrayed you in a relationship.

When I train for tri's, I love myself a little bit more.

Secret #2 Revieled

A great day is here and new era has been born.

Today my latest secret project has been launched. Several months ago, the Good Doctor (aka Jeff Banas) and I were talking about triathlon and he said, "Hey, lets statrt a tri club together." It was more a statement than question.

From there is was many meetings and thoughts about what we would stand for, how we would be different, oh goodness, what would we call ourselves. I had about 40 thoughts but the Good Doctor nailed it out of the park, AzTriClub.

There are many people to thank for their efforts and I will do so in a greater way (with hyperlinks) once I can get to a proper internet portal but a tremendous thank you to FlabbyIronman for his assistance in basically designing the AzTricClub logo for us. I gave him my ideas based on what I looking for and he ran away with it. He did a dozen different looks and this is the one that we loved the most. Thank you Brian for your awesome aid.

Also I would like to thank John Hyte, who is a founding member of the AzTriClub and who designed our website. John is a detailed IT guy and honestly I couldn't tell you all that he does that qualified him to put up our site, but such is the crutch of genius, most people have no clue what you do. Funny thing is I met John a year ago when we staged next to each other at a triathlon transition area and that was that. Four months later I get invited to a lake swim and there he is. God works in mysterious ways. John is signed up for Ironman Arizona and is also a husband and father of three, the littlest under two years old.

Our team colors are orange and blue. We chose these because they are highly visible on a race course. We are having jerseys created this month.

Go now to AzTriClub and then come back and give me some feedback on the site. Its about 90 percent done, just some odds and ends to continue loading. If you notice anything off or broken links, holler back. And we have a forum now as well. Please become a member of the forum. We will be adding review sections and would love to tap some of you from product writing. Feel free to do your own thing on the forum as well.

Now the hard part is done, AzTriClub is a really unit. The easy part is bringing in new and prospective triathletes and helping them reach their goals of finishing a race.

Click on graph for enlargement

No HRM strap yesterday so only altitude information, which is all I want to discuss anyway. I also started the Polar about 30 minutes into the out and back ride, so the graph looks lopesided and it shouldn't be.

If you'll notice at the backside of the second highpoint, the graph climbs to a short peak and then should, SHOULD, begin a decent parallel to the front side of the first peak. Notice it does not do that.

No, mine because I missed the turn, goes up and up and up. I really need to photograph this last peak since it looked like I was going the opposite way up an Olympic ski jump ramp.

Well thats my graph for the month, just kidding. I will try to get more posted.

Left it All...

Cliffs missive to me Friday about my Sunday 4 hour ride, kept going through my mind, especially during the last ten miles. he wrote, "...Take it slow. Make sure your butt is sore before your legs are sore."

It was a beautiful ride, following the last half of the original Ironman Arizona course, before they moved to the new 'metro-centric' 156 turn course through downtown Tempe. The course had headwinds and hills combined which made for a slow ride out. Coming back I missed a turn in downtown Fountain Hills and instead of a slightly rolly course through town I ended up with four massive rollers that only added five miles but took probably 15% of my total effort to accomplish. I hope I can get the altitude off the Polar to show those. No downhill was worth the uphill.

By the 55 mile mark lactic acid was swelling the ol' quads. I ended up limping in. Let me rephrase that, on the last mile, (66) I made it back to the truck on my last gear. Yes, the "Oh-God-this-is-flat-residental-and-I-am-in-my-steep-hill" gear.

Only two of us actually rode the whole course. I was the only one who actually had four hours of pedal time, my Cateye only records time when the wheel rolls. I left every ounce of energy out there on the course. Which I suppose is the best way to start the year the year off.

Lets do it again!

Training Camp

Bolder has a way of making me think. I left him a smarmy message about endless summer training on 148* asphalt as compared to training at altitude like he lives at.

To put my thoughts in context, I was not really happy with my training in December. 30 days of work crammed into 17, then possessing zero training management skills while looking after my son by myself on vacation, then getting the flu.

Last night I talked to Mistress and explained that I wanted to leave sometime this spring for a secluded four day training camp up in Flagstaff. She thought it was a great idea.

What I going to do is rent a cabin in the woods around 'Flag' which sits at 7,000 ft above sea level and put in long days of running, cycling and mountain biking. If I can find a pool somewhere then great, a lake even better, if nothing, fine. Nights would be spent in triahlon study and periodization planning through Ironman, meditation and prayer.

It think it would be a tremendous lift to my training and even better a massage for my soul.

You may think this strange but Mistress and I seldom take vacations together. We have travel vacations together like Las Vegas, Mexico or to see family at least once a year she goes on trips without me and I take one vacation a year without her. In 2005 it was my backpacking trip to Yosimite. In 2001-2004 it was summer fishing trips with the guys in Montona. In 2006, its Ironman Florida. It actually makes our marriage better, we think, if we can have some time away from each other to recharge the batterys.

This morning was a struggling 3,000 yard pool workout, which I cut short by 600 yards because I was having a hard time breathing.

Blah Blah week

Got some good runs in but a blah week overall for training. Have had some pesky computer problems that are down right frustrating me into 12 and 13 hour days. Thank God in some small case to System Restore on computers. But lets move on.

Today is Bible Study, then work on transfering files over to the iPaq that arrived on Thursday and then a three hour meeting starting at noon. I left my gym bag at the office so hopefully I can motivate into an hour run or so afterwards. My runs this week were not long but faster paced. I will try to keep the lid on tight today. If no run then a ride on the trainer for sure.

Saturday is a pool swim and Sunday a 50 miler or 4 hour ride. Not sure if I will do the whole enchillada as I haven't been on the bike since I got sick and even that ride felt strange. Hopefully it was just tired legs or the rear tire rubbing on something after I had to change the tube quickly before the ride.

As you can see from the time, my insomnia is still present though I thought I had licked it by getting solid sleep the last three nights. Still last gasping I suppose. I should have been asleep two hours ago and won't for probably another two.

Stay Strong Everyone.

Murphy's Law #467

Law of Fat

Fat expands to fill any apparel worn.

One more Shiny Thing...

Okay TWO new Shiny Things to mention this week. Hey, it is New Years. I can't compete with Kahuna podcasting and Wil podcasting AND having a new website, so I buy stuff.

Actually this was a gift from Mistress to me for our 10th wedding anniversary so I had little to do with it, except pick out the model.

She bought us a Jacuzzi. Yes an actual brand name Jucuzzi, model number J-325.

Its part of their sport massage line or recovery line or some such thing. Mistress thought she had to close me on it being good for me after all the hard training workouts for Ironman, but come on, you can't bullshit and bullshitter. She want's it for herself too. Me, well I will call it also a performance bonus based on my good faith with the Training Contract we have.

Our house came with a spa hook up outside from the previous owners so there is no additional costs. A cover comes with the tub and I closed the salesman on including the delievery and some extra chemicals. I also saved 12% on the overall price by having him work in some rebates and other stuff, so we walked out the door with a total price less than floor price.

Delievery and install will be next week. It was going to be at the end of the month but I heard him on the phone find out that the model I wanted had just arrived Monday at another location and I closed him to pressuring his boss into giving me that floor model so I didn't have to wait, of course his boss wasn't happy about having a gap on his showroom floor, but I don't flippin' care.

Cash is King.

A New Shiny Thing

Lets get the triathlon part out of the way, today is a 7 mile run and a bicep/tricep workout. While I am training I will thinking about the new toy in transist right now...


I. Am. A. Gadget. Whore.

Wait I think whores make money on themselves not spend money on themselves.

I. Am. A. Gadget. Guy.
That sounds better.

I am a firm believer in 'Technology Accelerators'. I consider myself an inpulse 'Wanter' and deliberate buyer. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I have been trying to go paperless or less-paper since Cascio came out with a scheduler twenty years ago. I have looked at Palms and such for a long time but the technology never met my needs. I've used laptops their too big for my needs. Now I find out that with Windows Mobile 5.0 I can use Word, Excel and Outlook interchangably between my desktop PC and a pocket PC, in my case the new HP Ipaq 2495...

This already has more almost double the clock speed of my last laptop (520 MHz Ipaq vs. 300MHz laptop) and double the RAM memory (192 mb base vs. 96 mb maxed out). Because I use primarily Excel to run my spreadsheets this is awesome. I will save myself two days of work each month by inputting directly to Excel instead of writing on a print out then transcribing to excel later.

Plus it has Bluetooth and wi-fi built in (not even an option on the laptop) so I can real time my work to my partners while in the field or answer e-mail in a Starbucks from all my various accounts AND I think I will be able to blog on the road. No more waiting to get to a desk to catch up on Bloglines.

I also picked up a Bluetooth wireless foldable keyboard so I can type instead of write my meeting notes and be faster at typing into the Ipaq. With a 1 gigabyte storage card, I can carry all my company's most important documents with me as back up and not have to go back to my office to send follow ups.

Plus...well its shiny... and it looks pretty... and I want it...and I got the company to pay for it. Hey its cheaper than an assistant.

New Song

I promised two things about the music at this site. I wouldn't change my music every other day and that the music I played would be motivating.

This new song is from the Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack. Its called "Battle Without Honor or Humility".

I love that the song builds its momemtum into a cresendo at 2o seconds and at 45 seconds opens up even more.

Ah...what was that?

On New Years we went to my parents for dinner since my godparents drove into town to see The Mighty Mo, oh and us too.

Ironman came up, since its pretty much always on the top of my mind and I am brainwashing everyone about it and Mistress mentions that she, my mom and Mighty Mo would drive up to see my mom's parents in Ft. Meyers when WE'RE over there.

"Excuse me, what did you say dear?"
"When we go to Florida with you next year for Ironman."
"Well its 305 days away, not next year, well technically it will be next year for the next 5 hours, but wait a minute, YOU'R going to Florida?"
"Well I just assumed...wait you don't want me to go?" sniff sniff.
"Well I already booked the room and I just figured you didn't want to go so I only got a room for one plus a bed big enough for any hookers I pick up."
"Oh okay, well I actually didn't want to go so thats a relief."
My mom, "Well I will go with you if you want?"
"Mom, I don't have any room for you...the hookers. Think about it."

Do any of you have issues like this?

A family timeout

The Mighty Mo got his first set of motorized wheels, with this sleek 2 h.p. quad runner.
Here he contemplates making a run for the front door, which he did and yes he did
power down the street with me not far behind.

His new bike helmet, to be used with his quad runner. He refuses to wear any other type of hat. He has worn this helmet longer than anything else in less than a week.

He loves his stuffed animals. He just loves animals, probably since he is
around them more than little human kids.

Snow sharks

CATCH THE FEVER

Have you caught the fever?

What fever?

THE FEVER!

Okaaaaay...what fever?

TRIATHLON FEVER BABY!

I have caught the Triathlon Fever. The good news is that once caught its almost impossible to lose and the great news is that is highly contagious. The Fever is not a bad thing, it's an awesome thing. Imagine a world where everyone has this Fever. Imagine if the media reported a pandemic of FEVER on par with the bird flu.

The Fever for most people starts upon seeing their first transition area. The a racing of their heartbeat and the loss of verbal control upon seeing all those shiny bikes with aero bars and Zipp disk wheels makes you wonder, "Does carbon fiber smell as good as it looks?"

Then later that day, the other symptoms start to exhibit. First is the selfish thought triathlon training would help you lose that last 5 or 10 pounds (*cough*15 or 20*cough*). From where you're at physically you see only thin, muscular people in tight clothing or people you think are close to your physical shape but doing something that at that point you never considered possible for your body type.

Then the mental as you realize, "Man, everyone is so freaking nice. The volunteers, the freaking volunteers are super motivated. This is a very positive and motivating place."

Then the emotional, "I could finish a triathlon."

At this point the triathlon fever is still susceptible to the virus called Common Man Syndrome. CMS brings an arsenal of self doubt and the fear of leaving the comfort of the couch. It is recommended that an already infected triathlete make contact with someone fresh with Fever between 24 and 36 hours after witnessing their first triathlon or else CMS may counteract a future training partner.

I am excited about the world of triathlon, my personal place in that world, my level of training and how all that has changed my life and the changed the lives of people around me.

Have you caught the Fever?